THE NATIONAL, GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



355 



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Photograph by H. C. Ellis 



A PERIPATETIC PURVEYOR OP FLYPAPER 

 He sells it rolled, so that the purchaser will not feel stuck up by his purchase 



I inquired as to the origin of some word 

 or the theory of some science, voila! an 

 animated discussion immediately, a sift- 

 ing of opinions, a peeping into diction- 

 aries and encyclopedias, an astonishing 

 volley of facts, and when the subject is 

 dropped it is because that subject has 

 been perforated, riddled, heartlessly dis- 

 membered. 



But if it has passed through the dis- 

 secting-room its anatomy has forever 

 been made clear to me. In other words, 

 vague, sentimental reflections seem rather 

 distasteful to the twentieth century 

 Frenchman, and his bravery in acknowl- 

 edging and facing facts might well be 

 imitated to some degree by our own coun- 

 trymen. 



in the French schools 



Your Frenchman, from the boy in the 

 lycee to the professor in the university, 

 is sure that complex life can be reduced 

 to a comprehensible system ; his tenacity 

 in developing and defending a logical 



system worked out from a given defini- 

 tion is wholly admirable. 



Indeed, to one who has seen the lacka- 

 daisical air of the average American stu- 

 dent toward the class-room discussion of 

 some purely abstract idea, this French 

 zeal in defending an intellectual point or 

 theory, this seizing upon an abstraction 

 as a sort of object of faith to be debated 

 upon with enthusiasm, to be battled over 

 if need be, comes as a pleasing shock. 



If, therefore, any American still clings 

 to the old-time opinion that the French 

 are a frivolous people he should imme- 

 diately revise his theory. They are start- 

 lingly serious and their very seriousness 

 has led throughout their history to what 

 has been called their tragic antagonism of 

 conviction. 



Such intellectual alertness would not 

 allow any people to remain contentedly 

 unanimous, but on the other hand has 

 led to internal hatreds among the French 

 so keen, so heated, that only a common 

 intense patriotism has preserved safety. 



