Page images
PDF
EPUB

ORGANIZATION AND CONDITION IN 1869.

The organization of the school, which is fixed by a Decree dated Nov. 30th, 1863, is of a military character. There is a staff of military officers in addition to, and quite separate from, the staff employed in the duties of instruction. The pupils wear uniform, which, however, is more civil than military in appearance. They are formed into four companies which together constitute a battalion; and, although they are not actually subject to the penal code of the army, the discipline maintained and the punishments inflicted are entirely military in character. The military establishment remains exactly as it was in 1856, and consists of: The Commandant, a General Officer, usually of the Artillery or the Engineers, at present a General of Artillery.

A Second Commandant, a colonel or lieutenant-colonel, chosen from among the former pupils of the school; at present a colonel of Engineers.

Three captains of Artillery and three captains of Engineers, as inspectors of studies, chosen also from former pupils of the school

Six adjutants (adjudants), non-commissioned officers, usually such as have ⚫been recommended for promotion.

Slight changes have been made in the civil establishment; it now consists of:— 1. A Director of Studies, at present a colonel of Engineers.

2. Seventeen professors,* (two additional professors for history) seventeen Répétiteurs and assistant Répétiteurs, and five drawing masters. Of the 17 professors, two are at present officers of Engineers, and one an officer of Artillery; the remainder are civilians, of whom three are members of the Academy of Sciences.

3. Five examiners for admission, and five for conducting the examinations at the school. All of these at present are civilians.

4. An administrative staff consisting of a treasurer, librarian, &c.; and a medical staff.

The general control or supervision of the school is vested, under the War Department, in four great boards or councils, viz. :

1. A Board of Administration, composed of the Commandant, the Second Commandant, the Director of Studies, two professors, two captains of the military staff, and two members of the administrative staff. This board has the superintendence of all the financial business, and all the minutia of the internal administration of the school.

2. A Board of Discipline, consisting of the Second Commandant, the Director of Studies, three captains of the Military Staff, and one major of the army, selected from former pupils of the school. The duty of this board is to decide upon cases of misconduct.

3. A Board of Instruction, whose members are, the Commandant, the Second Commandant, the Director of Studies, the Examiners of Students, the Professors, and two captains of the Military Staff; and whose chief duty is to make recommendations relating to ameliorations in the studies and the programmes of admission and of instruction in the school to

In 1856 there were only 15 professors; there are now two additional professors for history, the study of which has been recently introdued at the school.

† Formerly two professors of the school were also members of the Council of Discipline, but the professors have now no voice in matters of discipline.

4. A Board of Improvement (Conseil de Perfectionnement), charged with the general control of the studies, and formed of:

The Commandant, president,
The Second Commandaut,

The Director of Studies,

Two delegates from the Naval Department,

Two delegates from the Department of Public Works,
One delegate from the Home or Finance Department,
Three delegates from the War Department,

Two members of the Academy of Sciences,
Two examiners of students,

Three professors of the school.

The delegates from the public departments are appointed by the respective ministers; the members of the Academy, the examiners, and the professors are selected by the Minister of War. The real management of the school, so far as the course of instruction is concerned, is in the hands of the Conseil de Perfectionnement; it will be seen that of the 18 members composing it more than half are entirely independent of the school, and are men of eminence in the various public services for which the instruction at the Polytechnic is preparatory. One of the chief duties of the Council is to see that the studies form a good preparation for those of the more special schools (Ecoles d'Application) for the civil and military services; and the eminent character of its members gives great weight to the recommendations they make to the Minister of War. The annual expenses of the school, as extracted from the Budget for 1869, are as follows:

Pay of staff, professors, &c.,.

Instruction, maintenance, examination of candidates, cloth

Francs.

331,850

ing, books, &c., .

321,073

Francs.

Outfits for 30 new pupils at 600 franes each....... 18,000
Allowances (premières mises) to 25 exhibitioners on
admission to the military services at 750 fr. each 18,750

36,750

Maintenance and repair of buildings,.....

30,000

Total sum charged in the schools estimate,....

719,673

Add regimental pay of 28 officers and non-commissioned offi-
cers employed at the school,......

85,515

805,188

237,000

Cost to the State,..

568,188

t

Total expenditure,.

Deduct repayments from pupils,..

Or about 22,7201.

The chief changes that have been made in regard to the course of instruction since 1856, may be summarized as follows:

1. The more elementary portions of chemistry and physics which are required in the entrance examination, but which were formerly repeated at the school, have been omitted. The course of instruction in these subjects is now confined to the more advanced portions which do not enter into the entrance examination. 2. The mathematical courses have in some points been slightly curtailed, and the number of lectures in French literature and German have been diminished. By the modifications thus made in the programmes, it has been found possible to shorten the whole course of study and to increase the length of the vacations. 3. The subject of "Military Art," which formerly entered into the final exam

ination is no longer taken into consideration in determining the order of merit of the pupils. In this respect the course of instruction may be said to have even less of a military character than formerly. Topographical drawing is the single military subject which has any influence on the final classification of the pupils, and this only to a very slight extent.

4. History has been introduced as a subject of instruction. This change was made in 1862. The course comprises general history, both ancient and modern, but more especially the history of France in modern times. The introduction of this subject appears to have arisen partly from a feeling that an acquaintance with history was a necessary element of a liberal education, and partly from a wish to meet, to some extent, an objection often made to the Polytechnic course of instruction, that it was too deficient in studies of a literary character. History, however, like military art, is evidently still regarded as a subject of only secondary importance and has no influence on the final classification. 5. A diminution has been made in the number of examinations during the course, by the suppression of one of the half-yearly examinations by the professors (interrogations générales, as distinct from the interrogations particulières) in each year. Further reference will be made to this point when speaking of the examinations at the school.

6. The importance of written exercises in determining the respective merits of the pupils has been decreased, apparently from the difficulty of establishing a security that such compositions were the unaided work of the individual.

The following table shows the present course of instruction during the two years, and the alterations which have been made in the number of lectures in each subject since 1856:—

[blocks in formation]

chemistry,

[blocks in formation]

Architecture and buildings, construction of roads, canals, and railways,...

[blocks in formation]

French composition and literature,

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

In connection with several of the courses, such as descriptive geometry, stereotomy, machinery, and architecture, much drawing is done by the pupils; hand sketches are taken of the diagrams shown in the lecture-room, and finished drawings are afterwards executed in the salles d'étude. In addition to this, 30 attendances of two or three hours each, distributed over the two years, are especially devoted to drawing more elaborate plans and elevations of architectural constructions and machinery. The practical applications of the theoreti cal instruction are limited to manipulations in the laboratory in connection with the course of lectures on chemistry and physics. Towards the close of the second year the pupils are also taken to visit some of the large manufacturing establishments in Paris, in order to gain a practical acquaintance with machinery. All the subjects taught at the school are obligatory, but history and military art, as already stated, have no influence in determining the order of merit of the pupils in the final result.

The only instruction in practical military exercises, which is compulsory upon all, is that in drill. The pupils are exercised under arms in company drill, and are also occasionally drilled as a battalion; but very little importance is attached to this point-the only really military portion of their training. Drill goes on only for about three months in each year during the spring and summer, and even during this brief period only takes place about twice a week. By the regulations of the school the pupils should be exercised in musketry practice, but although they are armed with the Chassepot rifle this regulation is never carried out. Instruction is given in fencing and gymnastics, but attendance at both is voluntary, and scarcely more than half the pupils take advantage of it. Neither riding nor swimming are taught at the school.

The school year commences about the 1st of November, and terminates about the first of August. Some seven months of the year are given up to lectures and the ordinary routine of study; about two months are occupied with the annual examinations and private preparation for them; the remaining three months--August, September, and October-are the vacation. In addition to this long vacation, from eight to twelve days are allowed after the periodical examination, which takes place near the end of February, at the close of the first portion of each year's study.

One peculiarity in the arrangements of the school is that the subjects of each year's course are not all studied simultaneously. The lectures in the main subjects of instruction-those which, as a rule, present the most difficulty-are divided into courses which continue only during a certain portion of each year. Thus in the junior division, analysis and descriptive geometry are the mathematical subjects studied during the first three months, or three months and a half. The course in them is then concluded; an examination by the professors (interrogation générale) is held in these subjects, and they are laid aside for tho remainder of the year, though they enter into the examination at the close of the year. Their place is then taken by a course of lectures in mechanics and geodesy. Similarly in the second year, analysis and mechanics are the subjects of the first course of lectures, at the termination of which there is an examination; and for the remainder of the year no further lectures in them are given, stereotomy and military art taking their place.

The subjects involving as a rule less difficulty—such as history, French literature, German, and drawing—are spread over the whole year, forming generally the evenings' occupation.

PRUSSIAN MILITARY EDUCATION IN 1869-70.

CHANGES SINCE 1856.

THE following remarks are gathered from the "Report of the Military Education Commission presented to both Houses of Parliament," in 1870, in continuation of the Report submitted in 1856, on the Systems of Military Education in France, and Prussia.

1. The chief alterations that have taken place in the system of military education in Prussia since 1856, are as follows:

(a) All the educational establishments have been very much enlarged, owing to the increase in the army which has taken place since 1866.

(b) The educational requirements for a commission remain in principle the same as they were the double examination for the rank of officer, and the exaction from every candidate for a commission of proof of both general and professional knowledge being still the peculiar feature of Prussian military education. There has been, however, a constant tendency to raise the standard of the preliminary examination in subjects of general knowledge, and to insist more strongly upon a sound liberal education as a condition of obtaining a commission. The number of Abiturienten, or men who have passed through the complete course at a public school, entering the army annually is now four times as great as it was in 1856, and there is the strongest wish still further to increase their number.

(c) The Cadet Schools in their general character are unaltered; the introduction of the peculiar class of the Ober-prima in the Upper Cadet School at Berlin is the most important modification made in their organization. The proportion of officers supplied by the Cadet Schools continues much the same as it was in 1856. The feeling in the army, however, against preparatory military schools appears to be increasing; a strong opinion is entertained as to the narrowing effects upon the mind of exclusive class education; and a preference is very generally exhibited for officers who have had the ordinary education of civil schools. At the War Schools (Diossi, on Schools in 1856), the Artillery and Engineer School, and the War Academy (Staff School in 1856), a decided opinion was expressed as to the intellectual superiority of the Abiturienten over those who have been educated in the Cadet Corps.

(d.) The arrangements for the professional instruction of officers of corps have been very much altered. These officers now have their education up to the time of obtaining their commissions in common with candidates for the line; their special instruction does not commence at the Artillery and Engineer School until they have been in the service three or four years. For the Artillery, the course at this school has been reduced to one year, and made strictly practical in character.

(e) The course of instruction at the War Academy, or Senior Department, has been considerably modified; though still comprising many subjects of an entirely unprofessional character, their number has been reduced; the attention of the students is more concentrated upon military studies than formerly, and a larger amount of time is devoted to practical work. In short, the object has been to render the instruction less purely theoretical than it formerly was. (f) The most important change, however, which has been made is in regard to the War Schools-the Schools at which officers of all arms receive their

« PreviousContinue »