212 THE ADDRESSES, LECTURES, ETC., OF 



since 1860 it has been placed under the direction of the Minister 

 of Agriculture and Commerce. 



It is not my intention to advocate the establishment of an 

 Ecole Poly technique with its superior adjuncts, the Ecole des 

 Mines and the Ecole des Pouts et Chaussees in Great Britain, 

 for the simple reason that we reqnire no Government engineers 

 to direct our public works. The Ecole Centrale differs in its 

 organization essentially from that of the Ecole Polytechnique, 

 insomuch as it makes no promise of employment to its students, 

 depending for its success upon the amount and character of the 

 technical education it may succeed in imparting to the majority of 

 the students that pass from its walls into practical life, and it 

 is thus one which recommends itself specially to our ideas of 

 independent action. 



The only establishment in Great Britain comparable with the 

 Ecole Centrale as regards metallurgy is our School of Mines, 

 which, if it were installed in a capacious building, and had other 

 branches of knowledge added to its curriculum, might easily, 

 under the guidance of such men as Percy, Smyth, Fraukland, and 

 Huxley, be developed into an institution which would give rise to 

 beneficial results difficult to over-estimate. 



In addition to the Ecole Centrale many other schools are 

 established in France, foremost amongst which stand that of the 

 Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, where, under the able direction 

 of General Morin and of M. Tresca, both Membres de 1'Institut, 

 an education is provided intended for the class of foremen or 

 head workmen cf the manufactories of the capital. The students 

 have the great advantage of the admirable collection of models 

 and specimens, which gives the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers 

 a world-wide reputation. The courses are public and gratuitous, 

 and attract larger numbers from other classes than those for which 

 they are intended ; foreign professors and others who take an 

 interest in the progress of technology being often present. 



There are, besides, local schools scattered throughout the 

 country, such as the Ecole des Mineurs de St. Etienne, intended 

 for managers of mines, where the instruction is more elementary 

 and more practical than that of the Ecole des Mines, and the 

 Ecoles des Arts et Metiers at Alais, Chalons, Aix, Angers, and 

 elsewhere, where foremen and works managers are trained. Besides 



