ert and myself, and to show us over the whole
institution. The Medical Faculty comprises a dean, Dr. Desplats, and
twenty-three professors; the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, a dean,
Dr. Margerie, and seven professors; the Faculty of Sciences, a dean, Dr.
Chautard, and nine professors.

The buildings of the University now occupy two sides of an immense
square in one of the finest quarters of Lille, and when fully completed
will occupy the whole square. As they now stand they are by far the
most striking edifices in Lille, and would do honour to any city in
Europe. The area covered by them, I should say, is larger than that
covered by the University of London, and certainly, from the
architectural point of view, they need fear no comparison with the
London establishment. The library, which is admirably arranged, already
contains about 80,000 volumes, and the apparatus of the scientific
schools is admittedly better than that of any institution in France. The
outlay already made here exceeds 11,000,000 fr., or about 240,000_l._
sterling, all of which has been contributed freely by the Catholics of
this region.

On the face of things it appears to me that the existence of this
University is somewhat inconsistent with the notion that 'the religious
sentiment is dead in France.' The classes are now attended by between
four and five hundred students, for whose accommodation three 'family
houses' have been already built, in which students are lodged at an
expense of from 1,000 to 1,400 fr. a year, and when the academic
buildings now in process of construction are completed, more than a
thousand students can be thus lodged. Two dispensaries, a Maternity
Hospital, under the charge of Sisters of Charity of St.-Vincent de Paul,
together with the large Hospital de la Charite, are directly connected
with the clinical service of the medical faculty, and are so
administered as to render the most important services to the industrious
population of the city. The Electrical Department of the Faculty of
Sciences is particularly well equipped, and one of the assistants in
charge of this department, who showed us some improvements recently
devised here in the working apparatus, surprised me by the extent and
minute accuracy of his information as to all the most recent progress
made in the applications of electricity to machinery, and to the arts on
both sides of the Atlantic.

I was not surprised, however, to learn from M. Arthaut tha