I suppose, if the interview was a little more laborious than usual, it was because I was set upon by three good-natured torturers at once, who took down my remarks each according to the needs of the particular newspaper he represented. Out of this cooperative effort appeared one article especially which went the round of the press, giving a fairly correct account of my views upon the religious crisis in France. The collegiate department, which begins with boys at about thirteen and leads them on to philosophy or corresponding branches, is like our secondary education. It leads to one or the other of the baccalaureate degrees which is conferred by the institution itself. This privilege of giving degrees is granted generously by all the States of the Union to important educational establishments.
Public opinion values a diploma according to the repute of the college that grants it.
This is a sort of controlling influence upon the abuses to which so liberal a State system might readily give rise. Our own centralization of education has its abuses, too, which impose burdens upon the public finances and restrict the rights of parents and teachers. At Notre Dame there is a Minim department, which consists of boys from six to thirteen years of age. These little fellows have their own house, St. Edward's Hall, and also their own chapel, play-rooms, park, and field for outdoor games. There are about a hundred of them, and, with the exception of three or four courses reserved to the University professors, their education is in the hands of the Sisters of the Holy Cross.