16 INTRODUCTION 



university work. Paris, as Goethe and Humboldt 

 declared, and as those who are acquainted with French 

 scholars today will heartily reiterate, is full of intel- 

 lectual opportunity and charm. The admirable courses 

 of instruction offered in every department of knowledge 

 are fully set forth in the present volume. If in 

 some fields there is room for improvement of the facili- 

 ties now available for research, we have the strongest 

 assurances that these will be rapidly augmented. Thus, 

 from the intellectual standpoint, the scholastic attrac- 

 tions of Paris should leave nothing to be desired. 



But may not the student ask for more? May he not 

 hope to find, hi the country he Visits for graduate study, 

 the inspiring qualities of an advanced civilization, the 

 high ideals of a nation devoted to progress in the finest 

 sense? Let us test France from this viewpoint. 



Glance at the past, and realize how deep-rooted is 

 her culture. The courtliness and taste of the old 

 regime, its refinements in art, the elegance of its litera- 

 ture, the lasting contributions to civilization made by 

 its greater statesmen, still find expression in the life 

 and institutions of Paris. And this rich heritage stands 

 free from the defects of an earlier social structure and the 

 aggressive ambitions of imperial days. France, fortu- 

 nate among nations, has conserved the good and rejected 

 the evil experienced in her national progress. The 

 dark passions of the Revolution have utterly disappeared, 

 giving place to the spirit of liberty, equality, fraternity, 

 truly expressed in the national life, and uniting France 

 and the United States by unbreakable bonds. 



But the present, not the past, must determine the 

 student's choice. Here he will not hesitate, for France 

 stands, as all the world knows, at the highest level of 

 her moral attainment. The baseless charge of deca- 

 dence, the ignorant depreciation based on an imperfect 



