It seemed to Rabourdin, in the first place, natural to unite the ministry of war with the ministry of the navy.

To his thinking the navy was one of the current expenses of the war department, like the artillery, cavalry, infantry, and commissariat.

Surely it was an absurdity to give separate administrations to admirals and marshals when both were employed to one end, namely, the defense of the nation, the overthrow of an enemy, and the security of the national possessions.

The ministry of the interior ought in like manner to combine the departments of commerce, police, and finances, or it belied its own name.

To the ministry of foreign affairs belonged the administration of justice, the household of the king, and all that concerned arts, sciences, and belles lettres.