THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE 7 



French literature. Strange to say the leaders of the Eevolution did 

 not interfere with the work of the professors of the college, but even 

 increased their pay. They changed the name Koyal to National, but 

 otherwise approved and favored the institution. This fact alone is 

 sufficient to indicate the place which it was filling and the affection the 

 people had for it. 



It was one of the few institutions in which every one seemed to 

 have confidence. Napoleon added a chair for Turkish, Louis XVIII. 

 one for Sanscrit and one for Chinese. In 1874 a chair was established 

 for instruction in political economy. Since that time other chairs 

 have been added, till it is now possible in this college to receive instruc- 

 tion from competent men in well-nigh every branch of learning. 



This college is peculiar in the liberties it grants its students. There 

 are no examinations, no diplomas, no degrees. One listens to such pro- 

 fessors as one wishes, comes and goes as one likes. There are no 

 registrations. The more famous the lecturer and the more popular 

 the subject, the larger the audience. Few, save specialists, care for 

 the lectures on Hebrew or Chinese. Those on French literature are 

 the most popular. The largest of the nine lecture halls is then 

 crowded. Women are always present. Those on Latin literature are 

 fairly well attended, as are those on the middle ages, those on esthet- 

 ics, those on the history of art and those on morals. It was on this last 

 topic that Michelet delivered his famous course and was heard each 

 succeeding year with increased interest. Yet this college with its forty 

 professors, while affording the very best advantages for those earnest 

 and faithful students who are able to appreciate the value of its 

 lectures, is not well suited to the wants of young men and young 

 women who care less for hard work than for personal pleasure. There 

 are two semesters, the first beginning the first week in December, the 

 second the week after Easter. Vacation begins between July 20 and 

 July 30. 



The University of Paris 



A very different institution is the University of Paris, which, with 

 the colleges grouped around it, like the Navarre and the Sorbonne, 

 has been in the front rank of European universities since the end of 

 the twelfth century. It became prominent, indeed, about the year 

 1170. It grew out of the schools connected with the churches of 

 Notre Dame, St. Genevieve and St. Victor, and for some years the 

 chancellor of Notre Dame claimed the right, as the quasi head of the 

 university, to grant its licenses. A charter for a corporation with 

 special privileges was given by Philip Augustus in 1200, and seven 

 years later the students of the university were allowed an ecclesiastical 

 trial. By 1229 the contests between townsmen and students had be- 

 come so frequent and so bitter that many of the latter went over to 



