However clear and energetic his artistic convictions may be, his mind is absorbed by the preoccupations of the ruler: It is not enough for him that his edifice should be monumental, symmetrical, and beautiful. As he lives in it and derives the greatest benefit from it, he wants first of all that it should be fit to live in, habitable for Frenchmen of the year 1800. Consequently, he takes into account the habits and dispositions of his tenants, the pressing and permanent wants. But these needs must not be theoretic and vague, but verified and defined; for he is as accurate as he is shrewd, and deals only with positive facts. "My political system," says he to the Council of State,[3101] "is to rule men as the mass want to be ruled... By constituting myself a Catholic I put an end to the war in La Vendée; by turning into a Moslem I established myself in Egypt: by turning ultramontane[3102] I gained over the priests in Italy. Were I to govern a population of Jews, I would restore the temple of Solomon. I shall speak just in this fashion about liberty in the free part of St. Domingo; I shall confirm slavery in the Ile-de-France and even in the slave section of St. Domingo, with the reservation of diminishing and limiting slavery where I maintain it, and of restoring order and keeping up discipline where I maintain freedom. I think that is the way to recognize the sovereignty of the people." "Now, in France, at this epoch, there are two groups of preponderant desires which evidently outweigh all others, one dating back the past ten years, and the other for a century or more: the question is how to satisfy these, and the sagacious constructor, who estimates them for what they are worth, combines to this end the proportions, plan, arrangement, and entire interior economy of his edifice. II. The Revolution Ends. Necessities dating from the Revolution.--Lack of security for Persons, Property, and Consciences.--Requisite conditions for the establishment of order.--End of Civil war, Brigandage, and Anarchy.--Universal relief and final security.