New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-12-28
FRANCE IN GERMANY.
COLONIES TWO CENTURIES OLD.
Berlin. December 6.


college, or gymnasium. has bcen conducted upon
the same principles that prevail in the similar
preparatory schools of France The pupils f'-
o;ye ins+ruction IN rcIcion and morals They
also receive course of Latin. rhetoric, philosophy
and mathematics in order 10 fiji them for the Sla'e
service II was thus established this school bY
the King of Prussia Frederic !, and bN roS"i
ordinance in 1893 and the same French coic2e
then founded is still in existence. and has Jus'
celebrated its b-cen,ennial anniversary l"S
college has had It's ups and downs, ana At VI,
time had a very unenviabe reputatioh' anu
parents refused 10 send their children there ms
patronage withdrawn, il became the resort Vi d
the refractory and undesirable pupils VINO h"'
been expelled from other schools OF befi'h' -
that in reality, it merited the appeHauoh' 'e
"Colleoe of the Refugees But Of late. under the
supervision Of the present faculty. 1t has peeh
Greatly improved. and is now one OF 'he MUS,
important in Berlin The institution is Iocafo
in one of the most fashionable quarters OF oilc
CITY. and will accommodate 800 day scholais
Last winter il was rumored that the Emperor
intended Ia send his children 70 this schooi anu
the fact that Professor Schnattcr the prlhcAP"',
had been invited to dine at the palace served
10 give color 10 the story ms causeu l"s'''
S,oscker considerable uneasiness for there are
lowing the Ivceum course, and. this being the
case. it would. he thought. he necessary TO pre-
serve the children of the Emperor from such as
sociation. Concerning this there was
bill passed last year. according TO which the
lows were 10 found schools of their own
The idea however did not seem TO become popular
q, once and il is extremely doubtful II Pastor
Stoecker will he called upon in future to superill-
tend the education of the Imperial children. How
rver that NAV be- the Emperor assisted the other
dav at the ceremony of the bi-centenarN. INT ne
evening the pupils rendered in French Coppee s
q Iuther de Cremone" The instruction is entirely
in French as soon as the pupils enter the third
class The college severed its connection with the
French colony at Berlin some time ago ana Is
now conducted under the personal Inspection OF
the Minister of Public Instruction But in spite
of this its history is indissoluhly connected with
that of the French refugees. and one of the hrSt
deputations which on Wednesday brought their
congratulations to the manager was that OF The
French ConsistOry at Berlin.
II is remarkable fact that atte- the
lapse of two centuries the descendants
of IIuguenot refugees from the revocation
of the Edict of the Nantes number Just about The
same as at first This is not true of French reiu-
gees alone but of those from Switzerland, the
Palatine, Flanders and Italy. There were mum
bered in Prussia IL. $50 in 1893: and there are
now 12,7?0 according TO the census OF 1854.
Their numper remains practically the same a.
though they have diminished in proportion TO the
rest of the population. There were 5.'t1 rcta-
gees in Berlin in 1908 ; there are now 6,5'2. hul
during the interval Berlin has passed from fifty
30 fifteen hundred thousand inhabitants. The art
with which the little nucleus Of the population
Iftrit, tiIr los
Is, TO say the least, remarkable. Al the begin
ming of the century the refugees still spoke
French; they had their French judges and French
schools, and formed a social group by themselves
1t was the year $50 which saw the disappearance
of the French refugees who still spoke the mother
tongue. To-day the GermaIizing Of the French
refugees is complete. Their family names alone
recall their ORIGIN. If they have anything French
in their physognomy, ii is not apparent. When
a refugee bears German name, which Is ire
quenty the case, owing TO the original name being
Germanized in the course of marriage, II is abso-
lutely impossible 10 distinguish him from any
other German For this reason many Of the news
papers have declared that Professor Koch is the
descendant of a French refugee named Cog The
last, however is but an idle conjecture. and en-
tirely without basis. On the other hand, many
Germans bear French names without ever having
belonged to the colony Professor Dubois Ray
mond, for instance, is Of Swiss origin, and The
former Minister of War, Nordy du Vernois, is not
down on the list Of refugees. At present the
refugees have neither their language, their judges
nor even their original names bat the old " Frcncl
colony" still exists and does not seem 10 be Il
sny danger Of dying out. IhS is because Inc
refugees have not only their historical! souvenirs
but they have preserved, as in the pas, thei
their
and their plOus institutions.
The community of the French Reformed con
stitutes one Of the forty varieties of Protestant
ism in Prussia. They are mentioned particularly
in the pages of the QulnQucnnlal census, which wa
announced few days ago in Berlin. The mas
of the population in Berlin Is Indifferent 10 mat
ters of religion, there being but one church TO
10000 inhabitants But the refugees among thcI
seem to have preserved all the religions ardo
I which animated them in former times. They nav
six pastors and four churches. In this calcula
ton they prove themselves 10 bc twenty time
more religious than the other Berlinese In ore q
their churches the service is still conducted i
French twice during the month. According 10 III
laws which are entitled the Presbvtcral Con
stitution," the laymen are represented in the mai
agement of affairs pertaining to the Church. I'll
pastors are assisted by deacons, elders and ii
heads of families. There are also laynen VII
Oficate with their pastors in many of the rich II
lgious institutions the French Hospital, the Hou'
The Marmite." the Sol pour Liyrc, and Il
Mont de Pete" have disappeared, but there r
main the CLOTHES Committee, the emplOymei
agencies for domestcs in search of situations az
the " Poor Estate. OF the fifty French col0ni
founded in Prussia at the close Of the seventeen
century there still remain dozen. with or wit
out special pastors. These are at koenigsber
Ma gdebourg. PotSdam. Schwcdt. Stettin, Stra
bourg Marche. Angermnnde, ctc or thcse
may be said that the colony at Berlin is mut
the most Important
W. Tolln pastor Of the WaOOn French Con
munity at Magdebourg. who has received a call
Berlin. conceived the idea Of Il mammoth associ
ton. composed Of all the lluguenOt refugees
Germany. His call, issued scarcely two mont
ago. has everywhere met with the most hearty n
proval. and it is generally believed that his pr
ect will Ike successful. The new association W
help 10 preserve among the refugees the scntmc
of unity and the continuance Of loyalty 10 the
traditional customs.