Marriages are contracted only through mutual inclination; dowries have been abolished.

Education is governed by the ideas of Rousseau, and is directed, in a narrow spirit, to the promotion of morality.

Italian, German, English, and Spanish are taught in schools, but the study of the classical languages has disappeared; Latin does not help a man to virtue.

History too is neglected and discouraged, for it is "the disgrace of humanity, every page being crowded with crimes and follies." Theatres are government institutions, and have become the public schools of civic duties and morality.

[Footnote: In 1769 Mercier began to carry out his programme of composing and adapting plays for instruction and edification.