, 1879-08-15

letters: 4 .n.tter'nE Of Latin sna d5esk j. .1a
LANGUAGES, and Il is always p!etmns
but between iii. i, Jeerco coo q cia..lcaty, and -
tnsahe worship of It clicrishcd by t4c EraVheards
and saecs ot tic soFbonnc,-"ho Know ~
bctler,-there Is a wide md unsounGa!)lo quit
jcsuIis out Of tl's iieid would BE- 10 improve tho
methods Of education III the Lycccsi 70 make
the lectures {now 10 tifcasy md unsatislyiilEl ..
the eorbonnc moro attractive nntl approptlata
to the wants Of Students. TO replaco the clatsi.
cal fct!si, By the cu,t!vatton Of modern lar.
9lages, mathematics, historg, a'!d Feo9laony
to give thu complatest liberty of teaching I" a''
sccts, anu-to
DEAr THEM ALI
at the public examinations; 10 clenu6a inc
wrotchcd rookcsira NOW doing duty a. cot!cersi
10 give tic 6Oy8 spacious p)aygrounaa a'lo ulosu
frequent outlligs; 70 transfer the LYcecs ifom
tile plnGuc-hnuntcd atmosphere o1 faf,s hno .,c
great provincial towns TO- ts eMunfHs @ tsae,,s -
lfttlo mora than would suffice to Keep
them on the bort1cr-ltnc OF starvation.
Lastly, It ID absolutely necessary TO rcn'aeo tne
ticg do as they like, unchecked by The feeble
protests Of putllc opintou) bT younger, mose m
tciiKent. moro liberal. and better.pa|d meo,
who will not be influenced By prlvase pressure
in aardlng trlzes. or cy political eo,scfa 81; ,
present generation nre Influenced bv both 6ut
tiis French arc 80 used to lhr ubuscs Of Tic Uni
vcraltv that they lavo not energy or courage
enough to sweep them awar. .......-.,
Tlle wholo French University system may DO
said to ho
CONCENTRATED m THE soNnoNNE,
An old, dirty, tumblc-down. unvenerablc, mi!
cllarActcrlcss building III the uefChG0ft,ood Of
the Boulevard 81. Michel. Here, and at ihe
College de Fsupce. round tilc corner, are deltv-
cred the public lectures on literature, 6cscncr.
ttlp016rv srEin11 n Ht1nnOHen tn FOfNnlItH
aro held tic examinations for the, d.
Rrces OF Misunderstanding, bache-
| ller.os.sc!cnccs, L!cehttate, and Doctor
| Nothing gives ono 80 good an idea OF the In
sutllc!cncy Of the University us these lectures
md examinations. Tile former nre attcnded
almost entirely by old men, and bue-stocksnEa
| OF uncertain age, except. perhaps IN tWo or
~ absent, At the examinations .he must intol.
erablc lctteney ts shown TO candidates; md 1t
is more than whispered tint favor, Interest, mt!
private friendship often decide tne question OF
animation Il far lower than ut the Oxford OF
Cambridge B. X. "cxasns,n alll tho candidates
come IL tie scratch frequently Ia state OF
! SUBLIME AND DlsonAcERul 1osoHANcE.
I huyc myself beard thirty or forty questions OF
geography and history put to onc candtuste
without single correct answer being c!!elsed
Greek and Latin. Having had occasion to orc
sent myself as competitor for Academic hon
| ors at tile sorbunne. havc been given to un
durstand, in yelled mud decent phrases, that I
recommendation from some dlguitasy Of tht
Untverslty might bo Of use to me. nnd that I
dcfcrtnttal visit 10 the ExaminInE Board woult
do me no llarul. Ono youth, questioned as tt
the whereabouts Of Normandy, vaguely hlutct
Tint It was "near Roueu," In my hearing; al,t
another was wholly ignorant Of thu sltuat!on Q
Algeria Iu relation to his native town Of
| Toulouse! And he has plascdt
With State education In this lamcntabl
plight, aud q powerful opposition Ut tn
Catholic schools, the Universally Of FEane
seems
not ONLY USELESS, BUT DANGEROUS.
A French scientific man Of my acnunintanr
opcc rcmnrkrd to me TINT the eorbonue pee1e'
goo1 confederation to Improve It. III
measure would be extreme but don't thln
too extreme. for the OCCASION. "Dcspcsat
diseases require desperate remedfcs"; an
while tic Sorbo1lne stands, and eorbonne prc
fessors are what they are. the University Q
France will be unpopular With Frenehmen an
HARRY Mg1rzcn.