wn account; its aim has been to install and
furnish under its own roof all the general, collateral, accessory and
ornamental studies which, far or near, could be of service to its own
pupils. No longer content with turning out competent and practical
men, it has conceived a superior type, the ideal model of the engineer,
physician, jurist, professor or architect. To produce this extraordinary
and desirable professional, it has designed some excessively difficult
impressive lectures.[6364] To be able to make use of these, it has given
the young man the opportunity not only to acquire abstract, multiple,
technical knowledge, and information, but also the complementary culture
and lofty general ideas, which render the specialist a true savant and a
man of a very broad mind.

To this end, it has appealed to the State. The State, the contractor
for public instruction, the founder of every new professional chair,
appoints the occupant, pays the salary and, when in funds, is not
ill-disposed, for it thus gains a good reputation, an increase of
granting power and a new functionary. Such is the why and wherefore, in
each school, of the multiplication of professorships: schools of law, of
medicine, of pharmacy, of charters, of fine arts, polytechnic, normal,
central, agronomic and commercial schools, each becoming, or tending to
become, a sort of university on a small scale, bringing together within
its walls the totality of teachings which, if the student profits by
them, renders him in his profession an accomplished personage.
Naturally, to secure attendance at these lectures, the school, in
concert with the State, adds to the exigencies of its examinations, and
soon, for the average of intellects and for health, the burden imposed
by it becomes too heavy. Particularly, in the schools to which admission
is gained only through competitions the extra load is still more
burdensome, owing to the greater crowd striving to pass; there are now
five, seven and even eleven candidates for one place.[6365] With this
crowd, it has been found necessary to raise and multiply the barriers,
urge the competitors to jump over them, and to open the door only to
those who jump the highest and in the greatest number. There is no other
way to make a selection among them without incurring the charge of
despotism and nepotism. It is their business to have sturdy legs and
make the best of them, then to submit to methodical training, to
practice and tra