Year: 1878

OF August, 1872. Within rifle shot
is the College of France in whose
worn chapel reposes all that
is mortal of the great Armand, dnc
de Richelieu; and a little beyond
rises the mighty dome Of the Pan
theon, where, in the days of the
Revolution, a naked courtisane was
worshipped as c agoddess. The bos-
relief above the door was the work
Of the grert sculptor David who sat
as president of the Convention
which sent Louis the Sixteenth
to the scafold Mirabeau and Marat
were buried here, and monu-
ments were erected to Voltaire and
Jean Jacques Rousseau. It is only
thirty years ago last June since it's
affairs and it's porch were covered
with blood, and that the great
square around it was filed with the
carcasses of the slain.


On every side are dusty book
stores and cheap stands, where
secondhand literature is retailed
and where the seeker after know
ledge may find anything suited to
his needs, from translation of
the Iliad to Fasquelles. French
grammar. It is in this quar-


ter that the students dwell,
and those having sons to educate
would do well to see how they live.
They come here from every quarter
Of the world the booer who has
been lucky in the diamond fields of
South Africa sends his son here.
The planter Of Cuba, the Grandee
Of Spain, the fortunate miner of
California. The idea has been
industriously circulated that the
schools of Paris are so superior that
like advantages cannot be found
elsewhere. Perhaps this is so.
The measureless power of the ma
ton which has enriched the world s
treasury with the marvellous know
ledge of Arago, Leverrier, Gay
Lussac, Cuvier and thousands up
on thousands of others cannot be
overestimated; but in ninety nine
cases out of hundred, it is pur.
chased at price that no father or
mother would be willing to pay.
Science is here, deep and profound.
Here, in the late hours of the
night, from the little narrow win
dow lights may be seen Pickering
where students are striving to un-
rayel the most intricate Of nature S
mysteries. Your sons may come
back to you able to weld a steady
knife where the nerves culver and
the life goes out; every fiber Of the
human frame may lay before him
like a map; he may unfold the
wonderful history of the stars; all
the hidden secrets of nature may
be known to him !; he may be able
70 tell you how layer after layer
was piled upon this ponderous
globe from the time that it was
shot a molten mass from it's parent
sun to the instant when God said :
"Let there be light" All know
ledge in the heavens above, or in
the earth beneath, or in the waters
that are under the earth may be
his, but he will come back to you
heartless, soulless, Goddess, doubt
ing the honesty Of his own father
and the virtue of his mother, and
the chastity of his wife and his sis
ter. Here, among the cloisters oi
knowledge, is an atmosphere OF
rottenness and Righteousness scarce.
ly conceivable by those who have
not witnessed it. In this quarter
is the Infamous Closerie des Lilas,
where the students hold their week
ly balls; women destitute Of shame,
covered with gew gaws, painted;
bedizened and powdered, lure the
poor flies to the broad highway Of
ruin. Phrynes driven out from the
more respectable associations o1
their class here find refuge and
companionship. On a fashionable
night carriages may be seen rolling
up here from every quarter. A long
line of pedestrians hold the side


walk gradually working their way
towards the door within the place
swarms like a hive, and the grand
dancing hall Illuminated by myriads
of lights, is brilliant as the day. In
the centre an orchestra Of accom-


plished musicians perform the most
raVishing music. -Four couples rush
from among the throng and com