in Italian literature; at Caen, a chair of Norman literature and art; at Poitiers and at Clermont, chairs consecrated to the history of the province. But all this does not prevent the teaching of the same chemistry at Lyons as at Bordeaux.

The movement toward these varied creations appears to me very wise because it tends to attach the faculties to the region in the center of which they are installed; because it will naturally lead them to love it and will result in their finding in the sympathies of the region, in the liberality of citizens justly proud of their little provincial possession, inexhaustible resources. This will enable them, thanks to the freedom which this law imparts, to develop the special local features of their work. In effect they will henceforth only be limited in respect to those matters that concern the obligatory courses of a general character.

It should be observed further that the funds for the greater part of these chairs, these courses, laboratories, and observatories, which I have just enumerated, have been furnished, either in whole or at least one-half, by the cities, departments, or sometimes the regions.

Having thus disposed of the objection that the interests of special instruction would suffer from the new law, the minister proceeded to consider its effect upon the national character of the institutions.

The possibility of this character he illustrated by the German universities, to which he paid a noble tribute as "vigorous factors in the national evolution" and "the incarnation of the national idea."

In replying to certain objections against the law the minister found occasion to contrast the ideal of the newly constituted universities with that of the old universities, and also with that of the Imperial creation. Only the principal points of contrast dwelt upon are here summarized. So far as possible that is done by verbatim citations.

In the universities of the Middle Ages theology held first place. The new universities "will be, above all, secular and free."

The old institutions were essentially "international." "The University of Paris in the thirteenth century was as much foreign as French; that is to say, the students of foreign countries, those who were divided into 'nations,' English, German, Flemish, were perhaps more numerous than the French." But in the university of to-day the national character predominates, and the end to which their instruction is directed is national. In the old universities the separation between the different orders of instruction, between theology and law, between law and medicine, were strongly marked. They had no internal unity. Now, it is precisely the establishment of this internal unity that is sought in the proposed reform.

The universities of the Middle Ages, and this should be particularly noted, were poorly endowed. The professors refused to accept new colleagues in order to secure for themselves all the revenues of the corporation, all the profits from tuition fees. We have the spectacle in the seventeenth century of such a university, that of Bourges, reduced to be the fief of a father-in-law supported by his son-in-law.

It is precisely because of poverty that the French universities have given nothing to the Middle Ages and to modern times, because it is impossible to accomplish anything for science without instruments and without material. Now, we desire, as is well known, universities amply endowed to fulfill the mission that we propose to confide to them.

We desire for our universities modern manners as well as modern studies. Between the universities of the Middle Ages and those of to-day there is nothing in common; nothing excepting the name; nothing apart from the idea, always just, that those who desire to study should associate themselves together.

We realize that science being so extensive professors ought to devote more time to their students, to become their intimate collaborators. We realize also that science

being so vast in its variety, and each of its divisions and subdivisions forming in itself a science, it requires ample equipments, and a numerous teaching body, and for this work the resources of an association united to those of the State are none too great.

In considering the objections of those who hold that the new measure is contrary to the spirit of the French Revolution, the minister showed that the charge is unfounded, first, as regards the instruction proposed. This is to be general in its nature, encyclopedic as it were; but "the encyclopedia is the very essence of the eighteenth century itself," "it is the French Revolution itself."

The work of the lycée, as proposed by Mirabeau, was "to teach letters, sciences, and arts." Condorcet defined the lycées as "establishments where all the sciences will be taught in their whole extent." How does this differ, asks the minister, from the universities proposed by the new law? "This idea of the lycée," he says, "this university idea, that is not of special schools, but of schools for general knowledge, was discussed during the entire period of the Convention, and among its advocates are to be found Romme, one of the authors of the revolutionary calendar, Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, and Robespierre."

The reaction against this university idea, according to the minister, was the work of the Consulate and the Empire. Napoleon was devoted, and that in an ever-increasing degree, to special schools. The cause is easily understood, for they met his immediate and pressing demands for officers, magistrates, engineers, and doctors.

As to the faculties that he created-that is, the 27 faculties of letters and the 27 of science-"this apparent luxury of provision was in reality only poverty and weakness." The faculties of Napoleon were recruited from the neighboring lycées (not the lycée of Condorcet, but that of to-day, which is also a creation of Napoleon). The professors of the higher classes of the lycées constituted in effect the faculties of letters and of science, and the "proviseur," or principal, of the lycée was the dean of the faculty.

And moreover the faculties thus constituted were simply examining juries.

There were, it is true, illustrious professors-in the faculties of Paris, many celebrated and glorious. Some such might be mentioned in the provinces also; but this does not obscure the fact that the general state of superior instruction was that of mediocrity and sterility.

In contrast with this conception of higher instruction, comprising on the one hand special schools intended to supply candidates for certain professions necessary to the State and on the other isolated faculties having no proper being, stands out the liberal conception of 1789 in respect to education, the encyclopedic conception embodied in what were called lycées in the time of Condorcet and in what are to-day called universities.

While from some quarters it had been urged that the proposed universities would have too much liberty, from others the complaint was heard that they would not have enough. The minister observed that the two objections refuted each other. For himself he disclaimed any

desire to repress their free development. "I believe," he said, "that it is the essence of a republican State, developing in all directions the consequences of its own principle, to put freedom everywhere together with universality; not alone in letters and in science, but also in the arts."

The actual innovations made by the law into the existing system as explained by the minister relate to finances and programmes.

The universities will have the full control of part of their funds, with respect to others they will have a determining voice, and for the rest they will be limited to the mere privilege of giving advice or opinions. It will be the same with the programmes of study. These will comprise portions obligatory upon the universities, because they correspond to the examinations and decrees prescribed by the State; but there will also be a wide margin for free options. From the funds which will belong to the universities and which for the most part will be provided by benefactions at their own disposal, the universities may create whatever instructions they desire, courses in Egyptology, in Assyriology, but they can not restrict the courses which the State judges to be necessary and which are maintained by the funds of the State.

As to the general reorganization of public instruction, the law makes no changes. There will still be a rector at the head of each academy. Above the council general of each university there will be the superior council with its permanent section; the professors and "agrégés" (associated professors or fellows) will be appointed; the project of law voted exactly as at present. Although appointments to professorships are made by the President, upon the advice of the minister, this is now scarcely more than a form, since the choice of the minister is greatly restricted. "There are not many countries," said M. Rambaud, "where the minister upon the presentation on the one side of the faculty interested and on the other of the permanent section is obliged to appoint the person whose name heads the list."

All things considered, the future universities will be as independent. as the German universities. The only restriction imposed upon the former relates to the programmes. This is explained by the difference between the French diplomas and the German.

The new project, far from destroying the University of France, will, in the opinion of the minister, give it a higher value. It will also have the effect of drawing benefactions into the treasuries of the new universities.

Already, under the impulse of the recent movements, bequests to the amount of $600,000 have been received from private sources. Montpellier has been unusually favored in this respect, having received $300,000 in a single legacy. At Paris two chairs have been privately endowed, one of the history of the French Revolution and a second by the Count de Chambrun of the history of economic doctrines.

The minister was followed by M. Louis Liard, director of superior

instruction, who confined himself chiefly to the statistics pertaining to his department. The following are the principal facts brought out in his statement.

From 1884 to 1895 there was a notable decrease in the public expenditure for superior instruction. The State appropriations in the former year were $2,310,471. In 1895 they were $2,628,415, but during the same time the receipts from fees increased from $781,200 to $1,326,400; that is, while the expenditure increased by $300,000 the receipts increased by $540,000.

During the same period the net expenditure for a student declined, being $109 in 1884 and only $54 in 1895. In no country, said M. Liard, not even omitting Germany, does a student cost less.

For the purpose of comparison with the resources of the French universities, M. Liard submitted the following statement as to German universities. The total receipts he gave in round numbers as $4,740,000, derived as follows: From endowments and revenues, $600,000; from fees for courses, examinations, and matriculation, $540,000; subvention from the State, $3,600,000. In France, if the amounts received during the year by the establishments of superior instruction and which are turned into the treasury be subtracted from the State appropriations for the same, it will be found that the net cost to the State has been only $1,301,825.

It is desirable to note further that the net cost of a student is 271 francs ($54). In Germany the net cost to the State-that is, after deduction of the university revenues-is 645 francs ($129). It may be noted further that the expenditure for a university student per capita of the population is in Switzerland from 96 centimes to 1 franc (19 to 20 cents), varying in different cantons; in Germany it is 37 centimes (7 cents), in France it is only 16 centimes (3 cents).

Far from being excessive, as some have urged [said the director], the contribution from the State is actually insufficient. Take, for example, the budget of the Paris faculty of medicine, which comprises more than 4,000 students. The budget is considerable, but divided between the varied and important services, consider how small the appropriation for each. For the chemical laboratory only 5,215 francs ($1,043) per annum; for the physical laboratory a sum total of 1,460 francs ($292); the laboratory of histology, 2,020 francs ($404); the laboratory of anatomy, 1,250 francs ($250); that of therapeutics, 2,015 francs ($103); that of legal medicine, 1,720 francs ($344); of hygiene, 2,470 francs ($194); that of surgery, 1,190 francs ($238); that of comparative and experimental pathology, 2,470 francs ($494). This is pitiable.

I will now give the sums allowed for materials for each of the clinics of the Paris faculty of medicine. These are also mere pittances; no other word can be used. The medical clinic of the Hôtel Dieu receives 1,930 francs ($386); the surgical clinic, 1,200 francs ($210); the medical clinic of the "Charity," 1,610 francs ($322); the surgical clinic of the same hospital, 1,720 francs ($344); the medical clinic of the "Pitié," 790 francs ($158); the surgical clinic, 1,190 francs ($238).

The situation is nearly the same for the faculty of sciences at Paris. You know the éclat that this faculty has imparted to superior instruction and the discoveries by which it has contributed to the progress of science. Well, the appropriations for the laboratories, for the cost of instruction in this faculty, which comprises 25

experimental branches, is only 60,000 francs ($12,000); that is, about 2,400 francs ($480) for each.

The Bordeaux faculty of sciences, which has 10 experimental branches, receives only 14,500 francs ($2,900); that is, about 1,450 francs ($290) each. That of Lille, for 11 experimental branches, receives 15,550 francs ($3,110), or on the average 1,400 francs ($280) for each. The same penury for the libraries. The university libraries have been constructed and already well furnished, but how meager their budgets, especially by comparison.

Compare, for example, Strasburg and Nancy. Strasburg receives annually for the material of its library 72,500 francs ($14,500); Nancy only 21,625 francs ($1,325); Göttingen, which may be compared with Lyons, received 55,887 francs ($11,177); Lyons only 24,000 ($1,800); Halle has 30,000 francs ($6,000) and Poitiers 11,750 francs ($2,350).

M. Liard called attention further to what has become a matter of absolute dishonesty in the financial system.

The students pay certain fees annually for the use of libraries, laboratory facilities, etc. These sums are turned into the public treasury. As the number of students increases the product of the fees increases also, and since the State appropriations are not proportionately augmented, it follows that a part of the income from fees goes to the profit of the State instead of to the benefit of the institution and the students.

For example, at the Paris faculty of medicine the student is charged 50 francs ($10) for the use of laboratory the first year and 40 francs ($8) for the second and third year each.

In making up the balance between the funds from these fees which are thus received into the treasury and the appropriations allowed by the State for the same purpose, it appears that by reason of the increase in the number of students the resources of the faculty are actually reduced by an average amount of 21 francs, 34 centimes ($4.26) per student.

It is the same with the superior school of pharmacy, and with all the faculties where practical work is maintained. One of the most important of all the faculties is that of medicine and pharmacy at Lyons; the number of students who took part in the practical works in 1895 was 1,065. The amount allowed for these works in the budget of public instruction was 19,350 francs ($3,870) or 18 francs 17 centimes ($3.63) per student, but the amount turned into the treasury from the fees paid by the students on account of the experimental work averages 45 francs ($9) each.

The same thing occurs with respect to the libraries. Each student pays a library fee of 10 francs ($2) per annum. At Paris, in 1895, the total receipts from this source were 63,200 francs ($12,640). The appropriations from the State for the university library and for the libraries of the faculties of medicine, of theology, of law, and of the superior school of pharmacy, collectively, for the purchase of volumes and for subscriptions, were only 45,900 francs ($9,180). It is fully recognized that this is an injustice that ought not to be tolerated, and for this reason, among others, the new law has been submitted, which will put an end to these abuses after January, 1898.

Under this law the State will continue its appropriations as heretofore, but after the law goes into operation each university will retain the laboratory fees, library fees, and fees for courses as expressed in article 4.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION TO THE FRENCH FACULTIES.

The Report of the Commissioner for 1894-95 contained an account of important efforts for facilitating the admission of American students to university privileges in France. The initiatory impulse to this