It is becoming more generally recognized that, except in special cases, an American student has no need of going abroad to secure what was formerly unattainable at home. At the beginning of the twentieth century the situation of America as regards education is radically different from what it was at the beginning of the nineteenth century. With the rapidity with which changes take place as time goes on, the chances are that the changes that will have taken place at the opening of the twenty-first century will be even more remarkable to contemplate than those which have occurred during the century just closed.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century there existed a strong intellectual sympathy between France and America. Benjamin Franklin, during his ministry in France (1776-1785), had more to do with stimulating this friendly feeling than any other American in those early days. Thomas Jefferson, however, Franklin's successor as Minister to France (1785---1789), was no whit behind his illustrious predecessor in encouraging these relations between the two countries. It was while in Paris that he conceived the idea of founding an academy of arts and sciences at Richmond, Va., which should have branches in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. But before his plans could be matured the French Revolution interrupted them. Nevertheless, upon his return to America the higher education continued actively to interest him. He corresponded with the French political economist, Dupont de Nemours, upon this subject. The result of this correspondence was that the French scholar published an essay embodying his own ideas in regard to education in the United States. French was then the language of international communication. France had, through her distinguished writers, contributed powerfully to enlarge science. In Jefferson's opinion the only two modern nations whose career deserved to be closely studied were France and England.

The trend of ideas, as shown by Jefferson's attitude, turned gradually but persistently in another direction, towards Germany. The scholarly methods and work of the Germans became appreciated. Edward Everett was the first American to take the degree of doctor of philosophy, at Gottingen, in 1817. His example was followed by such well-known Americans as George Bancroft, Basil Gildersleeve, and William Goodwin. In this country, Yale University was among the first of the institutions of learning to confer this degree, in 1861; Harvard followed in 1875, and Johns Hopkins in 1878. In all of these institutions the reasons for conferring this degree were practically those for which German universities gave it. That is, essentially, that in addition to college instruction the student must have had long training at a university in original investigation and proven his right to be recognized as a master workman by university examination and the publication of some results of original research.

The Old Sorbonne. Façade.

Thus it will be seen that if France and England hold places of importance in the world of science, they are not the only countries whose ways of investigating subjects and accomplishing results are considered worthy of attention. Particularly since 1870, Germany has developed remarkably, both materially and intellectually. During the nineteenth century the prestige of England, due largely to the admirable administration of her colonial possessions, has not failed to receive due recognition. Moreover, the ties of kinship, mutual interests, and common language are factors that must ever attract American students toward English university centers. It is, therefore, easy to understand why Americans went to the universities in Berlin, Leipsic, Bonn, and Heidelberg, as well as to Oxford and Cambridge. The influence of Americans who received their training in German universities and are employed as teachers in many institutions of learning throughout the United States has been very sensibly felt. This is one of the reasons why hundreds of American students could be counted in German university centers. The inducements held out to foreign students in Germany were attractive. They were hospitably received, and upon presenting their credentials from an institution whose standing is known, were ordinarily duly matriculated. Two years of serious work along their chosen lines, together with a thesis showing some originality and hard work, and the passing of an examination upon the entire field covered, constituted a fair guarantee of receiving the degree of doctor of philosophy. The value of this degree to a young man intending to make teaching in his own country his life work nobody will be disposed to question.

The advantage, in all branches of learning, of a sojourn in France, and especially in Paris, are unsurpassed. Nevertheless, even for Romance studies, our students have gone in considerable numbers to Germany. There, as has just been shown, besides a hearty welcome and advantages of a high order, it was possible for them to secure a reward in the shape of something tangible, which upon their return home might prove of the most valuable assistance in obtaining positions. These advantages were, generally speaking, very clearly understood by American students. Why was it, then, that our students, who during the past fifty years have known so well how to take advantage of the opportunities offered for study in England and Germany, have not been attracted towards a friendly country no less distinguished in letters, arts, and sciences than the other two foreign countries?

In the first place, because the organization of the higher education in France has hardly been known. Almost everybody in the scholastic world has heard of the Université de Paris, of the Sorbonne, and of the Collège de France; also, perhaps, of the Université nationale de France, the École pratique des hautes études, and sundry academies or universities in different parts of France, like Toulouse, Montpellier, Bordeaux, and Grenoble. But just what these institutions are, their relation to the State or to each other, whether they receive foreign students, or if so, whether degrees are granted, were questions not readily answered by those of us not making a specialty of educational topics. The vicissitudes, moreover, through which educational institutions along with everything else in France passed during the French Revolution, have served to make the status of higher education seem more complex than it really is.

The Université de Paris still exists, bearing at least the name of the celebrated old seat of learning that came formally into existence about the middle of the twelfth century. A century later, Robert de Sorbon, the chaplain and confessor of St. Louis, founded in the University of Paris a school of theology. This school became one of the constituent parts, and the predominant one, giving its name to the entire theological faculty in the University; and today the University of Paris itself is everywhere familiarly known as the "Sorbonne," although the latter school ceased to exist in 1790. The provincial universities in France arose to meet the wants of the districts where they were, at different epochs after the founding of the University of Paris. There were twenty-five of them, of which Toulouse, founded in the first part of the thirteenth century, and Montpellier, in the latter part, were the oldest. The Collège de France was founded by Francis I, in 1529. The king believed that the University of Paris was devoting too much attention to some subjects and not enough to others. It was designed to promote the more advanced tendencies of the time and to counteract the scholasticism taught in the University. The École pratique des hautes études is a unique institution of comparatively recent origin, dating from the Second Empire (1852).

These names, then, so often heard in connection with the subject of education in France, have indicated institutions whose status was clearly defined and easily understood. Why is it, then, that these establishments do not stand forth clearly cut like Oxford, Cambridge, Göttingen, and Bonn? Both the names of the French universities, as well as the institutions of learning themselves, have a haze about them that is absent from similarly organized faculties of learning abroad.

The principal reason for this vagueness is that at the time of the Revolution the entire system of education was revolutionized. The University of Paris, as well as all the provincial universities, was suppressed. The hand of Napoleon then made itself felt in the new organization. Centralization in education became the order of the day. The universities, originally independent, were consolidated into one great institution, the Université nationale de France, of which the Université de Paris and the faculties at Toulouse, Montpellier, and elsewhere in the provinces were sections known as academies. The whole system of education was directly under the minister of public instruction, entirely a government affair. Everything went on automatically and with such clockwork precision that it was said the minister could tell a visitor not only what subject was being taught throughout France at a particular time, but the verb itself that was being conjugated just then in all the schools.

Since those times there have been a great many changes, covering the entire educational field in France. Together with colonial expansion and the reorganization of the army, the educational transformation is the most considerable undertaking the government has accomplished. Characterized briefly, it is this:

Public instruction has been developed in all directions and withdrawn as far as possible from the influence of the church. The laws relating to primary instruction have been improved and elementary education has been made free and obligatory. Moreover, France has awakened to a realization of the benefits to be derived by making her educational centers attractive to foreign students. Before the act of July 10, 1896, higher education was entirely under the control of the minister of public instruction. The act of July 10, 1896, did away with State control of the institutions for higher education, giving to them an independent existence of their own. Thus this act abolished Napoleon's consolidated organization, the Université nationale de France, and restored the academies to their former status of universities. These institutions are no longer under State control, for the regulations governing them are made by the University Council, a body consisting of the principal members of the various faculties. Moreover, the French universities now have a legal standing like that of individuals, and may receive bequests or gifts from any one desiring to aid them financially; formerly they could not receive gifts of money.

The innovation that is of most interest to American students is one made especially to attract them, as well as foreign students in general, to the various French seats of learning, the fifteen universities in the different sections of the country. It pertains to degrees, and especially to the doctorate. Formerly the only possible way for a foreigner to secure a French diplôme or degree from any educational institution was by undergoing the same training and passing the same examinations prescribed for a French student. The French diploma confers rights upon the one holding it. For instance, the graduate who has received a degree from the medical school has the right to practice in France; the graduate, likewise, of the school of pharmacy has the right to open an apothecary shop; so, too, the law-graduate has a right to practice law and to aspire to judicial government positions; and the graduate of the different "écoles normales" has the right to give instruction in the institution of the grade for which he has fitted himself. The French student begins at the age of sixteen a series of examinations, the first of which is the baccalaureate, a degree which represents, speaking broadly, attainments somewhat beyond those of our high-school graduates but considerably below those of our best colleges. He then goes on passing an examination yearly until he has reached the age of twenty-four or twenty-five years, when he should pass his final examination for the doctorate. These regulations still hold good for French or foreign students who desire to practice the learned professions in France.

Most foreign students, however, and particularly our own, have no intention of pursuing studies with a view of competing with natives or of profiting pecuniarily by their foreign acquisitions elsewhere than at home. As a rule, American students desire certain advantages procurable by a residence of about two years in the foreign country. They usually have had a college course at home and have no desire to spend nine years in France in order to become doctors in their specialties. Moreover, they can ill afford to spend two years of hard work in a foreign country without having an opportunity at the end of that time to possess a substantial guarantee vouching for the genuineness of their efforts. From the French standpoint, it was not possible for the French institutions to exempt foreign students from the regular course or to credit them with work done in foreign parts, without, in most cases, giving them an undue advantage over their own students. By any such method, the foreign student could secure a State degree in a relatively shorter time than the native. The problem was to adapt the curriculum to meet the wants of foreign students while preserving intact the rights of French students. This the act of 1896 accomplished, by authorizing the universities to create titles of a different character from the ones conferring State rights or privileges. In no case can the former degrees be considered a substitute for the latter. These new degrees were known as "University degrees," instead of "State degrees."

The different universities in France, in accordance with the act of July 10, 1896, have created doctorates. The regulations pertaining to acquiring this title are made by the university conferring it, but practically the principle governing the bestowal of the degree is the same in all of the sixteen French universities. The State degrees remain as before, open to all foreigners who care to submit to the same ordeal to obtain them as do the native students.

It may now readily be seen that the higher education in France is practically upon the same basis as that in the universities of Germany or at the graduate schools of the well-known universities in our own country. The system governing the reception of foreign students, the splendid advantages offered, and the bestowal of the doctorate by the universities in France, are all along similar lines that in Germany have long proved attractive to Americans. The requirements enabling a student to pursue the courses in any one of the sixteen French universities---fitness shown by examination, or by the presentation of a diploma, or certificate or degree, from a college or school of high standing---are practically the same as those called for in order to pursue courses in any one of the twenty-six universities in Germany. The sixteen French universities, each with four or five faculties (Letters, Law, Science, Medicine, Pharmacy), now stand forth as clearly defined as the twenty-six sister universities in Germany.

The act which has effected the great changes described in the organization of the French educational system, and particularly changed the attitude towards foreign students of all the institutions for the higher education in France, is so important that before going on to speak of the different universities it will be of interest to learn something of the prime movers who brought about modifications so beneficial and so far-reaching.

It seems a little odd that an American who, like many of his countrymen, after finishing his college course in America, had completed his studies in Germany by taking the degree Ph. D. at Halle, should have been the first to bring the matter of reorganization of the higher education in France to the attention of the French authorities. After having made, in 1895, quite a thorough examination of the principal schools in Paris, particularly the Sorbonne, Collège de France, Ecole des hautes études, Mr. Harry J. Furber, a graduate of the University of Chicago (1886), and for a number of years a student abroad and in foreign universities, came to the conclusion that the advantages which it might be possible for American students to procure in Paris were extraordinary. He then asked himself why it was that, notwithstanding, there were but thirty American students enrolled at the Sorbonne, while at the same time at the University of Berlin there were over two hundred. Moreover, if a count were made of all American students pursuing courses in the twenty-six German universities, the sum total of more than a thousand would offer a still more unfavorable and striking contrast for France to the total number of American students enrolled in the latter country's sixteen university centers. As regards the number of artists and sculptors studying in Paris, the sum total of Americans among them proved clearly the superior attractiveness of the French capital to them as an art center over all other places. Mr. Furber realized that if the figures showed in the domain of letters so marked a predilection on the part of American students for German university centers, the inducements offered there in science and letters must be far superior to those offered in France. He then found what has already been shown; namely, that the regulations in force, while doubtless well adapted to the needs of French students, were entirely unsuitable to the wants of foreign students, and particularly Americans. Mr. Furber then drew up a memorial stating the case clearly to M. Poincaré, the minister of public instruction. These ideas, of which a summary has here been presented, were given to the general public in an article published in the Journal des Débats, of June 7, 1895, by M. Michel Bréal, a member of the Institute and a professor at the Collège de France. Moreover, M. Bréal made a strong plea for the advantages offered outside of Paris by the provincial universities. Nowhere, he said, could French life in all its intimacy and purity be so well studied as in the different French provinces. As examples of admirably equipped institutions, he cited those of Lyon and Lille; while others peculiarly endowed by nature with a rare climate and superb physical attractions are Dijon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Montpellier. Were he to begin life over again, he would be a student nowhere else than at Grenoble, the great natural beauties of which are so familiar to so many of our tourists. Paris, he concluded, may well be kept for the last semester and fittingly crown the foreign student's sojourn in France.

The result of this article from the pen of so distinguished an educator as M. Bréal was the formation, about a fortnight later, of a committee composed of the best known and influential men in the educational world in and around Paris.

M. Bréal addressed the meeting, supporting by word what had already appeared in print. The discussion was participated in by MM. Bonet-Maury, Gréard, Lavisse, Maspéro, Paul Mellon, Paul Meyer, and Parrot. In the course of the discussion, the sympathy and encouragement of M. Hanotaux, the minister of foreign affairs, and of M. Poincaré, of public instruction, were clearly shown by their approval of the plan to form a Franco-American committee. On the other hand, Mr. Furber voiced the equally hearty support of His Excellency, the ambassador of the United States, for this movement towards closer intellectual affiliation. A commission was then and there (June 26, 1895) appointed to study into the question of how to facilitate the entrance of American students into French schools, and what inducements might properly be held out. So important and far-reaching have been the results attained by this commission that it must be of interest to American students to know who the men are who have been instrumental in securing for them such magnificent opportunities for study as are now to be had at a mere nominal cost in France. The members of the French commission were MM. Bonet-Maury, Professor in the Theological School; Michel Bréal, of the Institute, Professor in the Collège de France; Bufnoir, Professor in the Law School; Darboux, of the Institute, Professor in the Scientific School; Giry, then Professor in the Ecole des Chartes ; Lavisse, of the French Academy; Levasseur, Professor in the Collège de France; Maspéro, of the Institute; Paul Mellon, Secretary of the Commission; Paul Meyer, of the Institute, Director of the Ecole des Chartes; Gabriel Monod, Professor in the Ecole pratique des hautes études; Schefer, of the Institute, then Director of the École des langues orientales vivantes. The name of the French ambassador to the United States, at that time M. Jules Cambon, was afterwards added to the list.

To cooperate with this commission and aid the members in rendering their efforts as effective as possible, in accordance with Professor Furber's suggestion, the following committee, chosen from distinguished American educators, was appointed: President Angell of the University of Michigan; President Dwight of Yale University; President Eliot of Harvard University; President Gilman of Johns Hopkins University; G. Brown Goode, Assistant Secretary in the United States National Museum; E. R. L. Gould, Secretary of the International Statistical Association; President G. Stanley Hall of Clark University; Wm. T. Harris, U. S. Commissioner of Education; S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute; President Seth Low of Columbia College; Simon Newcomb, U. S. N., Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac; President Schurman of Cornell University; Andrew D. White, ex-Minister to Germany; President B. L. Whitman of Columbian University; Carroll D. Wright, U. S. Commissioner of Labor. The commission and the committee together constituted the Franco-American Committee.

The New Sorbonne. Façade	The New Sorbonne. General View.

Immediately an active campaign to further the common cause was begun by both the members of the commission and those of the committee. In the way of propaganda, one of the best contributions appeared in the Forum, New York, May, 1897, from the pen of Simon Newcomb. This article was entitled "France as a Field for American Students." The advantages to be had by the American students at the Sorbonne, Collège de France, and Ecole pratique des hautes études were well set forth. The article appeared before the creation of the degree of doctor of the university; nevertheless, the comparison between the French system then in vogue and the German system is luminous and will repay reading at any time. Another able article, most sympathetically written, and showing the friendly feeling between France and America during critical periods in the history of both, aimed to bring about closer intellectual relations in the immediate future. This article, by Professor Raphael George Lévy, of the École libre des sciences politiques, was published in the Revue internationale de l'enseignement for February, 1897. In 1899, the Franco-American Committee, 87 boulevard Saint-Michel, published a pamphlet containing in one hundred and thirty-eight pages a clear account of the system of higher education in France, together with the changes recently effected, end making requirements for the doctorate perfectly clear. This publication has done much to do away with the lack of comprehension in regard to the status of the French universities. The Comité de patronage des étudiants étrangers, office in the Sorbonne, issued a luminous pamphlet, entitled: "New Diplomas of the French Universities; doctorate, license diplomas, certificates of studies; for the especial use of foreign students." Finally, in 1907, there appeared in the October number of the Echo des deux mondes, issued in Chicago, perhaps the best French periodical published in the United States, a concise summary of information upon the entire subject, with practical hints to aid students going to France for study. This summary was entitled "Conseil aux Américains," and was written by M. Robert Dupouey of the faculty of the University of California. The substance of this useful article appeared in English in the University of California Chronicle, vol. IX, No. 4, 1907, and was also separately printed.

There seems now to be hardly any reason why a student intending to study abroad should not obtain quite as clear an idea of the university system in France and the opportunities it offers as of the German university system and its advantages. To all of the above mentioned articles, and especially to the useful report of the Franco-American Committee, the writer of the present article desires to acknowledge his indebtedness.

Of the sixteen French universities, the University of Paris, or the Sorbonne, is by far the most renowned. It possesses traditions, like those of Salerno and Bologna, that only centuries of existence can give. The most influential scholars have been and still are connected with its teaching force. Of the original building constructed by Cardinal Richelieu in 1629 for the Sorbonne, then the theological faculty of the University of Paris, the Church is the only portion that has been preserved. Since 1885 extensive building operations, only recently finished, have been going on, and now the University of Paris possesses one of the finest and costliest structures for educational needs to be found in all Europe. The front of the building is on the rue des Ecoles, just opposite the Hôtel de Cluny, the site of the palace and baths of the Roman emperors. The beautiful new home of the University of Paris is the seat of the French Academy and of the faculties of Letters Science, and Theology. The large amphitheater in the interior of the building, where public functions take place, will hold three thousand five hundred persons. This hall contains statues of Sorbon, Richelieu, and Rollin, who so identified themselves with the university, and of the eminent French scientists, Descartes Pascal, and Lavoisier. At the end of the hall is the celebrated painting The Sacred Grove, by Puvis de Chavannes. Other portions of the interior of the Sorbonne are beautifully decorated by celebrated artists.

At the five faculties constituting the University of Paris, law, letters, science, medicine, and pharmacy, the total number of students registered and in attendance at the courses during the year 1906-1907 was 15,789. The lectures are free to the public. In some cases in which the subject itself or the lecturer is popular, the halls are apt to be crowded, and to obtain a seat it is necessary to be on hand early. The courses in literature are much frequented by ladies. This fact has been made the subject of much good-humored pleasantry by French writers. In Edouard Pailleron's comedy, Le Monde où l'on s'ennuie (which was very successful and now belongs to the repertoire of the Comédie Française) the author has amusingly set before the public the kind of fetich worship offered to a popular professor by his fair constituency. There are, besides the free lectures, courses called "cours fermés," where the personnel is restricted to the competency of those desiring to pursue them.

As regards impartiality in granting equal advantages to men and women, as well as liberality in offering educational opportunities that are almost absolutely free of expense to all, France is unsurpassed by any other nation. The function of offering examinations and giving degrees is kept rigidly distinct from that of offering instruction. The student pays for the former, but the latter is, save in rare instances, absolutely free.

Inasmuch as the department of science is strictly separated from that of letters, the courses given at the Faculty of Letters will be found to be much along the lines laid down in the catalogs of American universities and applicable to the courses given in the college proper, omitting those devoted to the sciences and mathematics. In brief, they consist of culture studies, and largely of those so highly esteemed of old, and which, coming down through the ages, still hold their own amid the multitudinous subjects that are claiming recognition because of rapid changes in civilization.

These long-accepted and cherished studies are Philosophy, History, Greek, Latin, French, Foreign Language and Literature, Political Economy and Sociology, all of them in their different phases and relations to allied topics; in a word, the humanities, using the word in the broadest possible sense. A subject not usually put down in the curriculum of American colleges or universities is Geography, to which much attention is given in the faculty of letters of all the French universities. Like the other subjects making up the courses, it is gone into very thoroughly, and there appear courses in modern, ancient, physical, colonial, and commercial geography. Political Economy and Sociology figure on the prospectus of the faculty of letters of the University of Paris, yet not as prominently as in the law-school course. It is in the latter faculty that the subject is almost wholly pursued in all, or nearly all, the other French universities. French Literature, French History, and French Philosophy appear to be the centers to which attention is strongly directed. It is undoubtedly due in a large measure to this fact that France has in the past produced such brilliant philosophers, historians, and litterateurs. This trend in the direction of studies certainly appears sensible from a practical standpoint, for it would seem to be a duty to be well informed in regard to what directly concerns one's native land and those who influence thought within its borders.

Besides the ancient languages, Greek and Latin, whose literature and philology receive a good share of attention, Sanskrit and Comparative Grammar of the Indo-European languages are studied under some of the foremost scholars in this department of linguistics. European literature, undoubtedly, embraces considerable of the best in the field in northern and southern Europe. The stress appears to be laid rather on the literary side of language than on the philological. This feature is in contrast with the curricula in some of the higher institutions of learning in the United States, where the emphasis is rather on the linguistic or philological side of language than on the literary. The two foreign languages to which most time and attention are given at the University of Paris are German and English, fully warranted by their importance. Paleography, generally speaking, is a subject that appears quite prominently in the courses offered by the faculties of letters in France, and for the study of which Paris has opportunities that are unsurpassed. American Institutions and Literature have within recent years been given a place.

The Faculty of Sciences at the University of Paris embraces purely scientific subjects. They are treated widely in all their many phases, just as letters are in the Faculty of Letters. The subjects pursued are: Astronomy, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics in all the higher branches, Mechanics, Mineralogy, Physical Geography, Physics, Physiology, and Zoology. No subjects, for instance, like Language, Letters, or Political Economy, such as are taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, more or less in connection with work in science, are found on the program of studies of the Faculty of Sciences. The former subjects are considered as belonging to the department of letters, and to this latter faculty, consequently, they are relegated. The prominence given now in some of our scientific schools to Engineering, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture is due to the development of these subjects in recent years in this country. Although these topics are not to be found on the program of the French faculties of science, the subjects themselves have long received the most careful attention in French technical schools.

The Faculty of Law of the University of Paris offers about forty courses given by as many different professors. Compared with the courses given in our law schools of good standing, the Paris courses are not so technical, and, speaking broadly, have considerable more educational value. There are no less than fifteen courses on political and economical science, a number of which, like Comparative Social Economy, Public International Law, History of Economic Doctrines, are of much general interest and value. Judging by the program of courses recently made at the Boston University School of Law, that is, the introduction of courses on International, Colonial, and Consular Law, it would appear that in the future more such courses as are offered abroad, and which are of educational value to all, are likely to be given in our law schools here. The impetus in this direction is in a large measure due to national expansion.

The courses offered by the Faculty of Medicine are similar to those that appear on the programs of our best medical schools. About sixty professors give as many courses either at the school itself, in the Place de l'Ecole-de-Médecine, or at various hospitals in the city. As pointed out in comparing the announcement of the law-school courses with similar ones in this country, the French medical schools likewise may possibly offer a few more popular or less technical courses than can be found in the American schools of medicine. At least the subjects of some of the courses, Hygiene, Physiology, Biological Physics, and Biological Chemistry, suggest courses of educational value that may not be and probably are not intended exclusively for specialists.

The studies pursued at the Ecole supérieure de Pharmacie are Analytical Chemistry, Galenic Pharmacy, Mineral Chemistry, Natural History of Medicaments, Physics, Zoology. Over a year of study is required at the school, and finally the presentation of a thesis containing personal research, which the candidate for a degree is called upon to elucidate.

As already stated, there is no longer a sixth faculty, that of the Ecole de Théologie protestante. The courses, however, at this school continue to be given by ten professors, and are similar to those laid down in the curricula of many Protestant theological schools in this country. They include Ecclesiastical History, Evangelical Ethics, German, History of Philosophy, Lutheran Dogma, New Testament, Old Testament, Organization of the Reformed Churches in France, Patristics, Practical Theology, Reformed Dogma, Revelation, and Holy Scripture.

The fifteen universities outside of Paris and in the different sections of France are Aix, Algiers, Besançon, Bordeaux, Caen, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Nancy, Poitiers, Rennes, Toulouse. As their curricula are modeled in a measure upon that at the University of Paris, no detailed description of them is necessary. None of them possesses, for obvious reasons, the unrivaled opportunities found at the University of Paris. Nevertheless, by this is not implied that they are lacking in attractiveness either of natural or intellectual resources. Indeed, the natural attractions of many of these institutions appeal to many more strongly than the city advantages of Paris. With the exception of the universities of Besançon and Clermont-Ferrand, which have only the three faculties, Letters, Science, and Medicine, the remaining provincial universities have four faculties: Law, Letters, Science, and Medicine; or five, counting the schools of Pharmacy, usually comprised in the medical schools. Toulouse had, like the University of Paris, before the law of December 9, 1905, of separation of church and state, a faculty of Protestant Theology. The universities of Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Nancy, and Toulouse are among the most important, by reason of their equipment and advantages, of the provincial universities. Some of the others, however, have in some respects advantages superior to any one of the six just named.

It is possible, too, that each one of these university centers, by reason of its situation, or of particular circumstances, may possess, and probably does possess, superior advantages to any other for pursuing special branches. Thus, because of the fine laboratories, extensive collections, agricultural stations, botanical gardens and museums in Bordeaux, Agriculture, Natural Sciences, and Chemistry applied to industry are all especially studied. Among the courses at the Faculty of Letters serving to differentiate the curriculum from that offered by other institutions are found: History of Bordeaux and the Southwest of France, Language and Literature of the Southwest of France, Hispanic Studies. The University of Lille, in the ancient capital of Flanders, near the Belgian frontier, possesses very fine material as well as intellectual equipment. Among the courses at the Faculty of Letters, one will hardly fail to note, because not found elsewhere, Walloon and Picardy Language and Literature. The situation of the university in the heart of the Walloon district is in itself an advantage in pursuing this specialty such as no other university possesses. The University of Lyon, in one of the finest cities in France, not far from Switzerland, possesses exceptional advantages for the study of Archaeology. Industrial and agricultural Chemistry holds an important place among the sciences. The influence of the silk industry, as well as of the metallurgic industry of the region, is traceable among the courses offered by the faculty of science. The study of Psycho-physiology is one of the specialties of this university. In the department of letters a course on the History of Lyon is noticeable. The University of Montpellier is a most active intellectual center. The Faculty of Medicine, to which Rabelais belonged, and added lustre by his efforts in its behalf, still retains its ancient prestige. The Jardin des plantes is one of the finest in Europe. It contains a great number of rare trees and plants. Botany and Natural Sciences are among the most popular studies at Montpellier. Moreover, the Comite de patronage des étudiants étrangers has recently issued a circular from the Université de Montpellier, announcing that during the winter semester of 1908-1909, courses adapted particularly to foreign students will be offered. The program, embracing subjects in French, Italian, Spanish, and Romance Philology, appears very attractive. Among the courses in letters at the University of Nancy, in the ancient capital of Lorraine, are to be noted one on German Philology, another on History of the East of France.

The Sorbonne. Amphitheatre	The Sorbonne. Peristyle.

At the University of Toulouse, in the ancient capital of Languedoc, more attention is given by the Faculty of Letters to the study of the Spanish language and literature than elsewhere in France. The annual competition on the subjects of poetry and eloquence still takes place in Toulouse, pleasantly commemorating the famous Jeux floreaux, instituted there in 1323. At the universities of lesser importance than those just named, courses in certain subjects will be found which do not appear at all elsewhere. Thus at Aix, in Provence, not far from Marseilles, the Faculty of Letters offers several fine courses on Provençal History, Language, and Literature. The University of Caen, situated in the very heart of Normandy, offers a course on Norman Art and Literature, which cannot but be of considerable interest to students of art and architecture. Grenoble, in the midst of the Alps, not far from Italy, is beautifully situated, possessing the warmth of a southern sun tempered by the coolness of the mountains. There is an Italian colony in the town, and the Faculty of Letters offers a course in Italian Language and Literature, a subject not found upon the curricula of the other faculties of letters, excepting Clermont-Ferrand, which is considerably farther away from the immediate vicinity of Italy. The facilities for pursuing science, especially geology and botany, at Grenoble are very fine. The summer courses, together with the superb natural attractions of Grenoble, are beginning to attract thither many foreign students. Through the initiative of the Alliance Française, now making a vigorous campaign at home and abroad in the interest of French language and letters, holiday courses are now given in Bordeaux, Boulogne-sur-Mer (in connection with the University of Lille), Saint-Malo-Saint-Servan (in connection with the University of Rennes), and Villerville-sur-Mer. A number of universities and schools in France and Switzerland have joined in the movement either independently or in connection with the Alliance. Courses are announced for the summer season of 1909 at Besançon, Caen, Dijon, Grenoble, Lyon, Nancy, all provincial university centers, at Lisieux, Bayeux (both in Calvados, Normandy), at the Institut-Moderne, Marseilles, and at the Lycée for girls in Versailles under the direction of Mme. Kahn; also at the universities of Geneva, and Lausanne, and at the Academy of Neuchatel, in Switzerland.

The University of Clermont-Ferrand, in the capital of the old province of Auvergne, in the center of Southern France, like Grenoble, is in the midst of the mountains. Clermont is the center of a most important volcanic region and possesses unique interest not only for geologists and mineralogists, but for geographers as well. The University of Dijon, in the town of that name, capital of the old province of Bourgogne, offers a course on the History of Burgundy; the University of Poitiers, in the old province of Poitou in Western France, where famous battles occurred in olden times, offers a course on the History of Poitou; the University of Rennes, in old Bretagne, offers a course in Celtic Language and Literature; the University of Besançon, in Franche-Comté, of which Besançon was the capital, a course in Russian; also one on the History and Geography of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, in which epoch Besançon played an interesting part.

It will now be clear that while the provincial universities offer courses in law, letters, science, and medicine quite similar to those described as given by the University of Paris, they make up in a measure for what they lack in variety by offering special courses, for which they have advantages superior to any that can be found elsewhere. The law-school courses are in many cases broadly educational as well as technical. The scientific courses are thoroughly practical, as the names of some of them suggest: Industrial Electricity, Industrial Chemistry, Industrial Physics. The medical schools are the equal in excellence of the schools of law, letters, and science. The provincial universities, following the example of the University of Paris, are gradually introducing the doctor's degree for foreign students into their various faculties. An American student who desires to receive this degree as a recompense for successful work in France will have in the future only the perplexity of deciding where he can most advantageously spend his time.

It remains to speak of several institutions, some of which are not connected with the government, of no less interest to American students than those just described. Many of these are termed "écoles libres," libre being used here in the sense of independent, and not, as sometimes supposed, of free in the sense of tuition free, although such is often the case.

First in importance is the Collège de France, rue des Écoles, over the portals of which is seen the inscription Omnia docet. Here science and letters in their most advanced stage are taught by more than forty of the ablest specialists in France. The late lamented Gaston Paris was administrator of the institution, and his colleagues in their specialties are well known to scholars making researches in like fields everywhere. Some of the French professors whose visits to America or whose writings have made their names particularly well known to men of letters in this country are Joseph Bédier, Michel Bréal, Gaston Deschamps, Louis Havet, Pierre Janet, Leroy-Beaulieu, E. Levasseur (who succeeded Gaston Paris as administrator of the Collège de France), A. Longnon, G. Maspéro, Paul Meyer, Morel-Fatio, A. Reville, Georges Blondel.

Very similar in its aims is the École pratique des hautes études, Sorbonne. Over one hundred professors have charge of the instruction. The school is divided into five sections, each comprising broad divisions: 1° history, language, and philology; 2° mathematics and mathematical sciences; 3° physics, chemistry, mineralogy; 4° natural sciences; 5° religious sciences. The most complete liberty in regard to pursuing one's chosen subject exists. The professor meets his students when and where it is most convenient, and continues his work with them for as long or short a time as may be deemed practicable. Each student may be pursuing some one particular part of a subject, in which case the student and professor come together by appointment, and carry on the special research in whatever manner they may consider most profitable. No examinations are given nor are any degrees conferred. Probably no school in Europe stands higher in its field or is more widely and favorably known than the École pratique des hautes études.

The École des langues orientales vivantes, 2 rue de Lille, is, perhaps, one of the best known of the kind. In it are taught the leading oriental living idioms. The professors are assisted by native teachers. The students pursuing the courses do so for political, commercial, or philological reasons. Quite a number obtain positions as interpreters in eastern countries.

The École nationale des chartes, 19 rue de la Sorbonne, founded over eighty years ago, is frequented by specialists in archeology, philology, history, and diplomacy. They come from all parts of the world, attracted by the unrivaled resources of the school. The advantages, particularly for the study of paleography, because of the abundance of rare manuscripts, are unsurpassed.

The École libre des sciences politiques, 27 rue Saint-Guillaume, fulfills a most useful mission. Here an excellent preparation can be had for the various administrative careers in the government, in conformity with the five sections composing the entire program: 1° interior administration; 2° finance; 3° political and social economy; 4° diplomacy; 5° law and history. There are no examinations to enter. A course can be taken for two or three years. A diploma is given when evidence is shown of good ability to investigate problems. There is an enrollment fee of $14.00 a year.

Social doctrines may be profitably pursued at the Collège libre des sciences sociales, 28 rue Serpente. Of such institutions as the Muséum d'histoire naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, where courses are given in zoology, anthropology, and kindred subjects; the École nationale supérieure des mines, 60 boulevard Saint-Michel, for the training of mining engineers; the École des ponts et chaussées, 292 rue Saint-Martin, for bridge-builders and constructors; the Conservatoire des arts et métiers, 292 rue Saint-Martin, for sciences and their industrial application, in all of which the instruction is absolutely free, nothing need be said other than that they represent the best modern types of the kind. Such schools as the École nationale et spéciale des beaux-arts, 14 rue Bonaparte, for the study of painting, sculpture, architecture, and allied subjects, and the Conservatoire nationale de musique et de déclamation, 15 rue du Faubourg-Poissonniere, for vocal and instrumental music and the study of the voice, will long continue to attract, as in the past, foreigners from distant countries.

It is perhaps needless to say that the mere enumeration of special schools that offer the foreign student as well as the native a most attractive program of studies, either entirely free or at a nominal cost, would make a long list. It must here suffice to note two well-defined advantages that American students of art and language may profit by, if disposed to make use of them. The American Art Association has over two hundred members. Its function is that of a club. It gives opportunity for American students and artists to meet together informally and enjoy each other's society. The Association now possesses fine quarters at No. 2 Impasse Conti. A large art library, fine reading rooms, recreation-halls, and a good but inexpensive restaurant contribute to the comfort of the members. The club is somewhat like the St. Botolph, in Boston, in that art exhibitions are held in the rooms quite frequently. It is well worth while for a student of art, intending to remain a year in Paris, to become a member immediately upon arriving. The fees are ten francs initiation and twenty francs membership annually.

The second advantage is that offered during the summer months by the Alliance Française, 186 boulevard Saint-Germain, to students of the French language. Two series of courses are given, the first during the month of July, and the second during the month of August. Students are able to secure diplomas at the end of the course after an examination upon it. The fee for either course, which embraces, besides a large amount of instruction, lectures, etc., many desirable privileges, is twenty dollars. The Alliance has been wonderfully successful in Paris, and hundreds of students and teachers pursue these courses yearly. This success has encouraged the projectors of the movement, aided by the government, to start a similar movement in the nature of a propaganda outside of France. The object is to encourage the pursuit of the French language and literature and to attract favorable attention to France. Some idea of how successful the movement has been in this country may be got from the fact that at the present time there exist here and in Canada more than two hundred Alliances Françaises, or branches, groups, as they are called, of the central organization in Paris. Moreover, some of these groups are very flourishing, the one in Boston, for instance, having annually for several years more than four hundred members. This group in particular has been very ably managed by Professor de Sumichrast since taking charge of its interests in 1900. Lectures and entertainments in French, all of a high order, are given fortnightly. During the years 1901, 1902, and 1903, the Boston group, at its own expense, sent over to Paris, each summer, a teacher in the public schools to enjoy the advantages offered by the Alliance in Paris. It is well to be familiar with the work of the Alliance Française when preparing, whether here or abroad, to make a study of French life, literature, and language. In this way it is quite possible to keep abreast of what is going on in a rather extensive circle of French interests. Both Frenchmen and Americans of distinction are connected with the organization, and directly or indirectly may be of signal service to a student. Perhaps the simplest way to get posted quickly is to send for the Bulletin officiel de la Fédération de l'Alliance Française aux États-Unis et au Canada, 1402 Broadway, New York City.

It is beginning to be quite evident that the day is past when thoughts, ideas, and the possession of truth are national and the property of one particular people. The tendency of this generation is fast towards denationalization. Foreign methods when proved to be better than our own are no longer looked upon askance because they are foreign, but are beginning to be adopted; just as abroad practical American ideas have found widely a favorable reception. The intrinsic value of ideas is an asset too precious to be long ignored by any wide-awake nation.

In 1897, Ferdinand Brunetière gave a course of lectures in French at Johns Hopkins University which were notable and besides attracted popular attention. He was invited to Harvard University, where he gave three lectures on Molière. The charm and magnetism of the man will not easily be forgotten by anyone privileged to hear him. Since that time the French lectureship fund provided by Mr. James Hazen Hyde of the Class of 1898 has made it possible for Americans to pass in review a long line of distinguished French men of letters; for not only have these gentlemen lectured at Harvard University, but after finishing their course there, usually have also lectured in many places in the United States and Canada. The distinction of the lecturers and the variety of the topics treated has naturally called attention to France, a country for which American sympathy has been strong and lasting from old colonial days. The following are the names of the eminent lecturers who have visited our shores and their subjects:

1898. René Doumic: Histoire du romantisme français.
1899. Edouard Rod: La Poésie dramatique française.
1900. Henri de Regnier: Poésie française contemporaine.
1901. Gaston Deschamps: Le Théâtre français contemporain.
1902. Hugues Le Roux: Le Roman français et la société française.
1903. L. Mabilleau: Idées fondamentales de la politique française.
1904. A Leroy-Beaulieu, de l'Institut: Christianisme et democratie.
1905. René Millet, ambassadeur: La France et l'Islam dans la Mediterranée.
1906. Anatole Le Braz: La France celtique.
1907. Vicomte G. d'Avanel: Histoire économique de la France.
1908. André Tardieu: La France et les alliances.
1909. Abel Lefranc: Molière.

Nearly all of these men have, after visiting us, recorded their impressions of American life in books that students will have pleasure in familiarizing themselves with. This is likely to have a broadening effect upon their own point of view of a foreign country. Moreover, under the auspices of the Alliance Française, or possibly, at times, independently, Germain Martin, Jules Huret, André Michel, F. Funck-Bretano, Louis Madelin, Edmond Rossier, Bonet-Maury, Marcel Poète, and other Frenchmen of note have lectured in various parts of the United States and Canada. Distinguished Italians, Angelo de Gubernatis, Novelli, Guglielmo Ferrero, have also addressed many groups of the Alliance.

So much activity on this side of the water has initiated a reciprocal movement in France. In 1904---1905, through the generosity of Mr. Hyde, who has done so much to promote a good mutual understanding between France and America, Professor Barrett Wendell, of Harvard University, was invited to deliver a course of lectures on American literature at the Sorbonne and at the university towns in France. Students who intend studying in France will do well to profit from Professor Wendell's experience by reading his book, "The France of Today." He was followed by Professor A. C. Coolidge; and he in turn by Professor George Pierce Baker, also of Harvard University.

Of late years a number of French students have registered in our leading universities, and not only pursued courses, but given instructions and lectured in French at the university and outside. This idea of foreign students coming here to study in our institutions has been favorably received and encouragement is offered them to come. In 1896, for the first time, a fellow of the University of Paris, Charles Cestre, was sent to Harvard. An interesting contribution by him on the French Universities will be found in the Harvard Graduates' Magazine for December, 1897. About eight years later, in 1903-1904, a fellowship of the Cercle Français de l'Université Harvard with a stipend of $600 was offered by Mr. Hyde and has been since then continued annually. The French fellow is selected by the Minister of public instruction in France. According to the conditions of the fellowship, the young Frenchman is expected to give a certain amount of assistance to the department of French and other Romance languages. He is also to be admitted to any courses of instruction in the university he is qualified to pursue. These young men occasionally assist in the annual production of the Cercle Français play. The appointment of the American exchange fellow to Paris, to benefit by the fellowship offered in return by the French ministry of public instruction, is made on the recommendation of the president of Harvard University. The incumbents have been George Wallace Umphrey, 1903-4; Robert Bell Michel, 1904-5; Charles Marshall Underwood, 1905-6; Arthur Fisher Whittem, 1906-7; Warren Barton Blake, 1907-8; Samuel Montefiore Waxman, 1908-9. The same conditions govern the incumbent of this fellowship as those of the James Hazen Hyde fellowship offered by the Cercle Français. The"boursiers," or fellows from France at Harvard, have been Robert Dupouey, 1903-4; to whose article, Americans in French Universities, reference has here twice been made; Henri Baulig, 1904-5, now an instructor in French in Harvard College; Méderic Tourneur, 1905-6; Edmond Jean Eggli, 1906-7; Jean Marie Giraudoux, 1907-8; Maurice Chelli, 1908-9.

About fourteen years ago, Baron Pierre de Coubertin made four foundations for the study of French literature; one each at Princeton, Tulane, the University of California, and Leland Stanford. By way of reciprocity, there are now the University of Paris: 1° The duc de Loubat's foundation at the Collège de France for the study of American antiquities. The late Léon Lejeal used to lecture in this course. 2° Mr. James Hazen Hyde's foundation at the Sorbonne for the study of America, American Ideas and Institutions; lectures in English by the American exchange lecturer. 3° The proposed foundation by some American bankers and financiers at the law-school of the University for the study of the History and Outline of American Law; lectures in French, in 1904-5, by Charles F. Beach, Jr., a noted American lawyer and student of economic problems.

Perhaps one of the best known of all the foreign traveling fellowships is the Bourse du Tour du Monde, founded by Albert Kahn in 1898. This bequest provides for sending around the world "Cinq jeunes agrégés de l'université," each on a fellowship of $3,000. An account of experiences in foreign countries by thirteen of these young men during the years 1898, 1899, and 1900, will be found in "Autour du monde, par les Boursiers de voyage de l'Université de Paris" (Paris, Felix Alcan, 1904). The book is useful in giving the American student who studies abroad an excellent French point of view. Occasionally one of these graduate Frenchmen remains in a foreign country some years, as in the case of M. Louis Allard, who taught and lectured a year or more in Laval University, Quebec, and for the past two years has been one of the regular instructors in French in Harvard College. This year (1908) a young woman, Mlle. Elichabe, is one of the holders of the Around the World Fellowship. Her lectures in different parts of the country have been noteworthy.

A few of the largest and best-endowed institutions of learning in this country, such as those already named, are well provided with traveling fellowships. The catalogs of a number of our colleges call particular attention to such special advantages; at Boston University, for instance, the Ada Draper fund of $25,000, the income of which is to be applied "to enable the most meritorious and needy student among the young women to be sent to Europe after graduation to complete her studies." In this way students, sure of their future, are able to concentrate their whole time and thought on the main object of their foreign residence.

Thus, from what has been shown, the signs of the times seem to point not only to a mutual desire on the part of France and of this country to bind more cordially together the old intellectual ties of sympathy that were so strong in the days of Franklin and Jefferson, but to a common world understanding that shall ultimately do away with intellectual barriers between nations. That a movement so thoroughly in accord with the best spirit of the times should be fraught with success is the earnest hope of all who desire the moral and intellectual advancement, not only of France and America, but of all civilized nations.