[Sidenote: Bonaparte's Centralizing Tendencies]
As in administration, so in all his internal reforms, Bonaparte
displayed the same fondness for centralization, with consequent
thoroughness and efficiency, at the expense of idealistic liberty. His
reforms of every description--financial, ecclesiastical, judicial,
educational,--and even his public works, showed the guiding hand of the
victorious general rather than that of the convinced revolutionary.
They were the adaptation of the revolutionary heritage to the purposes
and policies of one-man power.
[Sidenote: Financial Readjustment]
[Sidenote: The Bank of France]
It will be remembered that financial disorders had been the immediate
cause of the downfall of the absolute monarchy as well as of the
Directory. From the outset, Bonaparte guarded against any such
recurrence. By careful collection of taxes he increased the revenue of
the state. By rigid economy, by the severe punishment of corrupt
officials, and by the practice of obliging people whose lands he
invaded to support his armies, he reduced the public expenditures.
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