The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-13
UNIVERSITY OF PARIS
NEARLY 10000 STUDENTS ENTERED
IN ITS VARIOUS BRANCHES.
Life of Inha bitnnts of the Famous
Latin Quarter-''Trilby" a study of
Actual Conditions There.
W. E. curtis's Paris Letter in Chicago

different colleges of the University of Paris,
several times as many as are found in any
other educational institution in the world.
The University of Berlin stands next
in numbers. with a total of 1929 students
upon it's rolls of whom 1855, however. are
not regularly matriculated, which means
that they are simply attending lectures
without going through the usual fOrmali-
ties, that they do not intend to present
themselves for examination and are not
candidates for degrees. There are 29.127
regularly matriculated students in the
twenty-one universities of Germany Mu-
Mich stands next to Berlin, with 1921,
and Iiepsic is third, with 1919 students.
There are a number of universities in
France, but that at Paris offers such SUI
perior advantages that the others are at
tended only by students who prefer to re-
main near their own homes or desire the
instruction of some particular professor.
In the University of Paris there are over
ten thousand medical students. At Vienna
there are about enc thousand more. In
Paris there are eight thousand students
at the School of Fine Arts. Some of them
have enrolled their names only for the pur-
pose of obtaining admission to the model
rooms and securing other advantages while
they pursue their studies in the studios OF
outside artists who are not connected with
the university. Over one hundred lectures
are delivered daily in the various schools
of science, philosophy, medicine, law, di-
vinity belles-lettres and other branches OF
the University of Paris.
There are about 1900 American students
in Paris, most of them in art and about
nine hundred in Berlin, most of them in
music philosophy and the sciences. In
France the degrees and diplomas are grant
ed by the national government and not oy
the universities, as in England Germany
and the United States. These diplomas and
degrees convey special rights and privi-
leges which cannot be enjoyed by foreign
ers, and therefore, it has been d1fhcult Tor
an American student to obtain a degree
from the University of Paris unless ne be-
comes a citizen of France. This condition
of affairs although it has added dignity
to the degrees and diplomas and mas Deen
conducive to the high order OF oechnlcaI
ability which distinguishes the learned pro-
fessIons in France, has repelled foreign
students in every line of study except art,
and has compelled Americans to seek the
advantages of the German universities
For several years a committee of Amer
lean educators, with the cooperation OF
sympathetic friends in France, have been
trying to obtain concessions in this respect,
and they have finally succeeded IN persuad-
ing the Conseil SUPERIOR de Ilnstructlon
French educational system to create new
degree in the scientific and literary
branches for the benefit of American stu
dent% These new degrees are called the
doctorats universitaire, and can be obtained
by all foreigners. The standard or learning
and the severity of the examination are
the same that are required for the full reg
ular degree, but the doctorat uniVerstta1re
carries with it no professional immunitieS
or privileges. It is granted under regula-
tions provided by the council Of the uni
versity and is delivered in the name or the
Conseil SUPERIOR de INSTRUCTION Publique
by the president of that body. in the same
manner as the regular degree granted TO
French scholars.
SEVERE TRAINING OF BOYS.
AS in the universities of Germany, Eng
land and other countries of Europe, the stu
dents at the University of Paris are not
required to attend lectures unless they
choose to do So and have complete control
of their own time and conduct unless they
go in for degrees, when they must submit
to examinations that are severe tests of
their knowledge. In France, as in Germany,
boys are first sent to gymnasiums when
they are twelve or thirteen years OF
age, and spend five or six years in study
and under discipline that is much more Sc
we're than is that of the preparatory schools
and colleges of the United States. 1t is
severe ordeal but when they pass their ex-
aminationS and are admitted to the univer-
self.government and to judge Of their own
interests. All restraint is thrown off. This
suddenly acquired liberty usually causes
them to plunge into dissipation and indulge
in idleness as a recreation from the restric-
tions to which they have been subject
ed. According to tradition, this dissipation
will continue for one year; until the student
is either satiated with vice and pleasure
and settles down to serious study or falls
to pass his examinations and leave the
university. Therefore, the morals of the
students are much lower than are those of
the students in American colleges, and the
Latin quarter of Paris, in which they re-
side, is the scene of the ruin of a great
many young men, 1t is a dangerous thing
for a foreigner who is accustomed to the
to attend theUniversity of Paris until he has
reached the age Of discretion. The tempta-
lions are greater than in any other
city, and no social pleasures are offered him
except those which the students provide for
themselves. They are not usually such as
American mothers would approve.
The grisette seems to be a part or the
university system, as essential as the library
or the laboratory, and she is very inter-
esting person. She generally comes from
the shopk eeping class of Parisians and the
families of artisans, and she understands
that the attachments she may form Will last
only during the six semeSters, or three
years, which constitute the university
course. When her lover receives his diploma
or his bachelors degree their relations are
dissolved forever, unless he chooses 10 make
her a rare exception and introduce her from
the Latin quarter into new scenes and sur
roundings. Thus the grisettes are passed
down from class to class until they get old
and lose their attractions. Then they be-
come concierges, or mattresses, or take UP
dressmaking for the younger generation that
has followed them into student life. Fer
haps they may set up wineshops or take In
washing or marry labcring men.
At the Bal Butler one night a pretty girl
related to me that she left the Latin quar-
ter for a year after the departure OF
certain American student from Paris ana
took a place he obtained for her In Shop.
The hours were short, the wages were good,
the labor was light, and her employers were
very kind to her, but they were not con-
genial or sympathetic. and she despised peo-
nile whose aspirations were Sordld and VINO
were always talking about money and trade.
Therefore as soon as her tiine was UP sne
returned to the university" as she put 1t.
She would have gone distracted ii she had
heen compelled to remain away another
wear She would rather live in garrett In
we're refined and intellectual, she said, than
in a palace on the other side of the river.
"TRILBY" A TRUE STORY.
Such girls are sincere. They are willing
to share the poverty and privations of the
students as well as their prosperity and
take their breakfasts without murmuring
at the fountain of St Sulpice. as the pro-
verb goes-which furnishes nothing but wa
ter-when their personal attractions might
purchase them a life OF luxury in other sec
lions of the city. "Trilby' is a true story
a composite of the experiences of many
poor girls. of whom she Is an accurate
TYNE They know no better life than they
tied, and therefore their untaught souls feel
no consciousness of shame. The grisetteS
are not always wicked, nor always gay.
Their moral perceptions are not as acute
ms Dp0DlE.