Chapter 5: Money Issues
Not only are there great scholarships at the Louis-le-Grand, but the quality of teaching is always recognized as good. It was founded in 1563 as a Jesuit missionary school called the "Collège de Clermont", which, from its foundation, attracted the displeasure of the University of Paris because it was completely free of charge for students attending the school. The Louis-le-Grand struggled with the University of Paris for more than two hundred years after that. In 1762, the University of Paris triumphed when the Paris Assembly passed a resolution expelling the Jesuit administrators and placing the school under the administration of the University of Paris, which was also renamed the Louis-le-Grand in order to flatter Louis XV, the king at the time. The University of Paris seems to have won this bicentennial marathon. What the University of Paris never expected, however, was that it was from this secondary school, under its own control, that the real rival of the University of Paris arose.
In 1766, the Louis-le-Grand began to establish examinations for the qualification of teachers. Since then, in order to assist the candidates, it has opened a corresponding teacher training college. This teacher-training college was the predecessor of what would become one of France's most prestigious universities, the École Normale Supérieure de Paris.
It is such a secondary school that Joseph wishes to enroll in today.
Generally speaking, it is quite difficult for students from out of state to pass the qualifying exams of Louis-le-Grand. First, the student had to be recommended by the bishop of some local diocese, and then he had to be able to pass the school's selection process. But these were not particularly big problems for Joseph. Being the godson of Bishop Myriel, it wasn't hard to get a recommendation, and passing the selection wasn't difficult for a traverser who'd done a master's degree in later life. Just the expense of attending this school was the one thing that stood in Joseph's way.
After the University of Paris took control of the Louis-le-Grand, the original policy of not paying for students to travel was put to death. Honestly, though, today's fees aren't that high. They're almost nominal. But the thing is, Paris is expensive for a hundred things, and it's not easy to live there. Being a day student in Paris costs a lot of money for lodging and food. Although Louis-le-Grand scholarships are high, no one gets a scholarship right away when they enter the school. So today, Joseph is in desperate need of start-up capital.
Joseph knew his father didn't have much money in his hands. Carlo had been Paoli's assistant officer in his day and had fought the French for the independence of Corsica. Later, although he submitted to the French, he had to curry favor with the governor of Corsica in order to retain his nobility, which cost him a lot of his savings. He should not be able to come up with much money now that he has six other children to support.
Joseph then wrote a letter to Bishop Myriel asking for his help. He knew that Bishop Myriel was part of a sympathetic Jesuit order (Which, by this time, had been suppressed by Pope Clément XIV. But its influence remained, and many of the styles of Bishop Myriel were clearly influenced by the Jesuits). So the letter specifically refers to the Louis-le-Grand as the "Collège de Clermont". It also vaguely reveals an interest in theology.
Soon after, Bishop Myriel wrote back to Joseph. The bishop praised Joseph's piety, but at the same time, he told Joseph that he was not advocating that Joseph commit himself to the Church now.
"My child, there are many paths that God has ordained for man, and becoming a priest is not the only path that is in accordance with God's will. I think you are still too young, and it may not be right to make such a decision too soon. Maybe you should experience something like love, wealth, or power again. After this, perhaps you will truly understand what kind of path God has prepared for you.
Also, I am very supportive of your desire to get an education in a better school, and you know, son, that in my heart, you are my son. What father wouldn't be filled with joy to see his son up and running like this? At this point in time, when he reaches out to you for help, what father wouldn't want to reach out and give him a hand? But as you know, I'm not a very rich man, so I can only get a hundred and fifty francs for now, so I hope that helps.
Considering you're only an eleven-year-old (which I always tend to overlook sometimes), going to Paris is a long way away. It's really reassuring for me to go to such a faraway place alone. Father Alfonso happened to be going to Paris on business, and as I counted the days not very far from the time you intended to set out for Paris, I asked him to bring you the one hundred and fifty francs and to go with you to Paris. In Paris, the cost of living is so high that one hundred and fifty francs won't support you for very long at all under normal circumstances unless you live in one of those neighborhoods full of bottom feeders. It's actually not bad to live there. I lived in a place like that when I was younger, where you can see darkness darker than darkness and find innocence whiter than whiteness in that darkness. A place like that can give you a lot of insight and even hammer your soul. If you were a little older, sixteen, then I think you could live in a place like that for a while. But now ... the law and order there are so chaotic that leaving you there nowadays is like leaving a little lamb inside a wolf's den. So, I have found a place for you, between the Latin Quarter and Saint Marceau's pass, there is a Franciscan chapel, and Father Jean-Jacques, the native priest there, is a friend of mine, and I think he can provide you with a humble but relatively safe cabin ..."
On the same day that Joseph received this letter, his brother Napoleon was notified of his enrollment in the military academy at Brienne. Ten-year-old Napoleon was happy to say goodbye to his brother and get ready to run off to the school he had his heart set on.
"O my foolish brother." Seeing Napoleon's face full of joy, Joseph couldn't help but judge him again, "Do you think the crows at the Military Academy of Brienne are pure white? I'm sure it must be the same inside that certain Brienne Military Academy as it is here, full of fools who think they're noble, and you're just jumping from one fire pit into another."
"Sancho, what do you know? I'm going to the Military Academy in Brienne to learn, what does it have to do with whether there are idiots there or not? Is the sum of the interior angles of a triangle not one hundred and eighty degrees in their books because it's all idiots there? What does any of this matter as long as you learn something useful?"
"Of course it matters." Joseph said, "O my foolish brother, even if it is a Damascus knife, it takes a hammer and an anvil to shape it. Where do you go to forge your blade when you're surrounded by a puddle? So remember to write to me often when you get there so I can teach you well. It saves you from rusting away and rotting in the middle of a rotten pit."
"You're the biggest shithole in the world." Napoleon was still a tough talker.
"Hahahahaha ...," Joseph laughed heartlessly.
After sending Napoleon away, another half-month passed, and it was almost time for the examinations at the school of Louis-le-Grand. And at this time, the same Father Alfonso, whom Bishop Myriel had mentioned in his letter, arrived at École d'Orton.
After taking his leave of absence from school, Joseph followed Father Alfonso on the stagecoach to Avignon.
It's May already, and it's one of the most beautiful times of the year. The stagecoach came out of Marseilles and sped along the main road to Paris, the warm spring breeze blowing in through the windows and sweeping into the carriage the stray scents of the various wildflowers that bloomed along the roadside. Looking out from the carriage, on both sides of the road, and in the crevices of the dark green wheat fields, flowers of every color bloomed, those deep pink ones being talus, the lavender ones being mescaline, and the red and yellow wild moonflowers. Occasionally, a few not-so-tall lilacs can be seen along the roadside, waving their deep purple inflorescences in the spring breeze.
There were six people in the carriage, including Joseph. A cleric, a child, two middle-aged men in their thirties dressed as merchants, and a young couple. Except for the ladies, they were all wearing long pants. (In France, nobles always wore tight, short over-pants and stockings below the knee; commoners wore pants.)
A few people sat in the wagon, not having much to do anyway, and made casual small talk.
"Father, are you also going to Paris?" A thin merchant asked.
"I'm going to Notre Dame for something." Father Alfonso replied, "This is our bishop's godson, who is going to Paris to take the entrance exams for the school of Louis-le-Grand. I'm going the same way as him, so I'm just in time to take him."
"Ah, it's not easy to leave home at such a young age to study in Paris." The skinny merchant said.
"It can cost a lot of money to get to to Paris to study." Another merchant chimed in, "It's only a few hundred francs a year."
"It doesn't cost much to attend Louis-le-Grand itself." The husband of the young couple spoke up, "The Louis-le-Grand has high scholarships, but it has high requirements for its students, the first is to have a recommendation from the church, and the second is to be able to pass the selection process for admission."
With that, he turned to Joseph and said, "Son, what subjects are you good at?"
Joseph replied, "I can read and write Latin, and I am also fond of mathematics and natural philosophy."
"Mathematics is the language in which God created the world. Natural philosophy is another way for us to approach God." The young man said, "It's nice that you can love these."
"There is only one way to approach God, and that is through the Church, sir!" Alfonso said seriously.
"You are correct." The skinny merchant hurriedly agreed while drawing a cross on his chest.
"The Church and the Bible are certainly the only way to get closer to God." That young man also hurriedly retracted his previous words, but he added, somewhat less willingly, "However, isn't this world precisely the work of the God of Heaven? All praise for the world is ultimately praise for the God of Heaven."
"I love that." Joseph interjected.
Alfonso was going to say something else, but after hearing Joseph's words, he stopped talking.
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