APPENDIX I 1 



EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES FOR AMERICAN 



STUDENTS IN FRANCE; WITH A HISTORY 



OF THE RECENT CHANGES IN 



ITS UNIVERSITY SYSTEM 



I. PAST AND PRESENT. 



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 educa- 

 tion 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 (17761785), 

 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 rela- 

 tions between the two countries. It was while in Paris that he 



*[By Professor JAMES GEDDES, JR., of Boston University. 

 This valuable article, containing a history of Franco-American university 

 relations, first appeared in Bostonia (October, 1903, January and April, 1904). 

 It was separately reprinted. The first edition was soon exhausted. Owing to 

 repeated calls for the article, it finally appeared in the Waverley Magazine (Sep- 

 tember, October, and November, 1908), the organ of the North American 

 Teachers' League. In its final form, the article was thoroughly revised, con- 

 siderably augmented, brought to date of 1913, and reprinted. By consent of 

 the author, it is here reproduced, with several omissions and a few verbal 

 changes. ED.] 



347 



