"There is no king in Europe who is more accessible in his kingly capacity than King Oscar. It is true that during the summer months anybody who seeks after the conversation of kings can enjoy a chat any day on the front at Ostend with Leopold of Belgium, who is always ready for a crack' with strangers of respectable appearance, but there the King of the Belgians is under an incognito.

The audience-room at Stockholm is open to all. No other form of presentation is needed than the mere formality of writing one's name in a book three days before the open reception is held, which takes place every week, while the King is in Stockholm, on Tuesday afternoons. Here people of every class and of all parts of the two kingdoms, to say nothing of curious foreign ers with their red guide-books in their hands, may be seen in communion with their monarch, -bulky farmers from the north, squat Lapps, bronzed sailors, and frock-coated townsmen. He has a word for them all."

Besides original works, the King has published many translations, especially from German. He is an early riser, and a hard, systematic worker, -altogether, a very sympathique character, as the French would say.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE FRENCH
THEATER.

M. D'AVENEL, in continuation of his series

of articles on the machinery of modern life, begins in the second June number of the Revue des Deux Mondes a section on the theater. Although, as is well known, the mounting of stage plays in Paris is, as a rule, much less expensive than in New York and London, it is still interesting to see in what directions French managers spend the money that they have available. In one respect there can be no doubt that English and American theaters compare favorably with French ones namely, in the precautions against fire. The French fireman is a soldier who is serving his three years with the colors, and counts the days before his release with the impatience of a schoolboy awaiting the holidays. M. d'Avenel found in one of the Paris theaters the scribbled words, "318 days more to-morrow morning; indeed, the firemen are so fond of writing on the walls these pathetic inscriptions that one often sees notices posted forbidding the practice. Further, by an extraordinary piece of administrative stupidity, there are never the same firemen at a given theater on two successive nights, with the natural result that they are not suffi ciently acquainted with the geography of each theater to be of much use in the event of a fire.

To pass on to the actual arrangements behind the scenes, M. d'Avenel complains of the smallness of the wings in French theaters; this is particularly the case in the new Opéra Comique, the architect of which was so anxious to provide staircases and corridors and foyers in front that anything like a procession passing across the stage has to go through the manager's office. The accommodation for scenery is not less meager; in most of the French theaters, as a rule, it will only take the necessary scenery for four or five acts, and if more is wanted it must be brought from the quarters at Clichy, where is situated the storehouse of scenery which is common to all the theaters which receive a subvention from the state. Recently the government sold the other storehouse which it possessed.

SHIFTING SCENERY.

It is a curious and perhaps rather melancholy experience to go through a miscellaneous assortment of scenery; here is a bit of bosky dell carefully numbered "Romeo IV. 3," which means that it is wanted for the fourth act of "Romeo and Juliet." Of course, the more elaborate pieces of scenery require a large number of workmen to operate them. At one theater, where a piece was played in as many as twenty scenes, the staff of mechanists numbered 80 men, of whom only 12 were employed in the day-time, while at the Opéra the workmen at night vary from 100 to 130, with 75 men employed all day.

M. d'Avenel describes in great detail the in. genious devices adopted by theatrical managers to produce the various illusions on the stage, and it is curious to note the strength of tradition which, for example, will firmly prevent the change from day into night or from night into day, which may be demanded by the play, from being effected with a reasonable gradation, which, though only taking a few minutes longer, would greatly assist the illusion in the spectator's mind.

176,000 POUNDS OF HAIR.

As regards the dresses of the actors and actresses, the theaters which receive a state subvention have workrooms in which the clothes are made, while the other theaters order them from various shops. Among other interesting facts which M. d'Avenel tells us is that concerned with the amount of hair required for theatrical wigs and beards; the mere weight of hair annually required in France for this purpose is not less than 80,000 kilogrammes, or about 176,000 pounds avoirdupois. About half this vast mass of hair comes from French heads, the other half from Scandinavia, Hungary, Italy, and, above all, from China and Japan.

IN

THE CHILDREN'S EXHIBITION AT PARIS. N the Revue de Paris, Madame Tinayer describes delightfully a delightful exhibition. By a happy inspiration, the charming "Little Palace," which is one of the permanent buildings erected in connection with last year's great exhibition, has been filled with every kind of exhibit connected with children and infancy. The French, as a nation, are devoted to children-some people think too devoted; for the French child, save in some exceptional cases, really lives with his parents, even one-year-old babies being often, for instance, present at all the family meals. Accordingly, in this exhibition the tastes of all those interested in children, from the practical and from the sentimental point of view, have been consulted; and side by side with model cradles, patent feeding-bottles, and all kinds of baby incubators may be seen a marvelous collection of toys, ancient and modern, and a unique set of paintings and portraits of lovely and famous children of both past and modern days.

"WHEN I WAS LITTLE."

Every visitor to this exhibition," says the writer, "cannot but feel, as he walks through the room, recollections of his own childhood crowd upon him, and even the most frivolous cannot but be impressed by the curiously fleeting character of childhood." Nowhere is this more shown than in the section of the exhibition where are gathered together the portraits of famous. people in early youth, including touching counterfeit presentments of the luckless Louis VII., the King of Rome (the Eaglet), and the Prince Imperial

DOLLS WHC ARE ORPHANS.

Every woman who remembers how great a part dolls played in her life will look tenderly at the great collection of orphan dolls here gathered together, and which range from medieval wooden images, dressed in gorgeous brocades and cloths of gold and silver, to the modern poupée, who bears an almost startling resemblance to real life. The little arms which once nursed these dolls so tenderly are now, for the most part, dust; and yet these orphan dolls seem surrounded by an atmosphere of love and protection far more than do their modern sisters, who, however perfect and lifelike in appearance, have never been played with, and are, when all is said and done, only trade exhibits.

OLD-TIME SCHOLARS.

One section of the exhibition shows us schools and scholars of every century, and it is pleasing to learn that in this matter the world has become

really more humane. Those pictures, for instance, which show medieval schools nearly always chose to describe the unfortunate scholar being severely punished. Royal children were not exempt from blows, and Louis XIII. prob. ably owed his lifelong delicacy to the brutality with which he was treated by his tutors. Near by may be seen curious drawings done by children who afterward developed into the great painters of their day.

THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND RELIGIOUS TENDENCIES OF YOUNG FRANCE.

THE editor of La Revue, thinking that France may be at a turning-point, and certainly is at a critical period, of her history, has conceived the idea of collecting, through their presidents, the views of all the chief associations-political, religious, and social-into which French youth has banded itself together. The results, given in the number for June 15. are as instructive as the views expressed are contradictory. Monarchists and socialists, Catholics, anti-religionists, and ecstatic advocates of a new religion, antiSemites crying d bas les Juifs," and federalists. On the whole, the tone of the French youth is hopeful, but the brightness is twice overcast by the darkness of the most hopeless pessimism. The general opinion, indeed, is that there is much rotten in the state of France. This is quietly taken for granted by one and all. WHO IS TO BE THE MOTHER OF THE NEW FRANCE?

Coöperation, association, taking power from the state to give it to organized, intelligent labor, -in some form or other the coöperative idea has considerably more votes than any other.

Republicanism also finds many fervent advocates, the monarchists' claim being voiced by a solitary individual. France, says one writer, is to fulfill Victor Hugo's ideal and be a Christ among the nations. Republicanism, provided that it unites with the necessary strength the maximum of justice, is more likely to give France the glorious future the dawn of which seems to him already breaking.

Religion is naturally held by some, and especially by Catholic associations, to be the one solution for all France's difficulties. One representative thinks that the old religious principles being dead, a new religion must be founded. Another pleads for a religion of humanity; a third for

socialism transformed into a religion," "able to glorify life on earth and exalt human dignity," adds a fourth. Besides the advocates of the new religions, those of orthodox Catholicism are ar rayed in considerable force.

"Republicanism, strongly tinged with socialism," that is the dominant note of young France of the twentieth century.

"THE

GERMAN SCHOOLS.

HE English School and Its German Rivals" is the title of a very interesting article in the Contemporary Review for July. The writer. is Mr. R. E. Hughes, and his views are all the more interesting because he apportions praise and blame very impartially, and is by no means a partisan of the educational system of either country.

The first thing he notes is that the German school is philosophical and logical, whereas the British school is like the British constitution,

it works well, but nobody knows how or why. Mr. Hughes by no means thinks that everything is in favor of the German system. He says:

"I believe that the most valuable factors, such as the elasticity, originality, and self-help, which characterize the democratic system, and which cannot be summed up and estimated in a comparison such as I am making, are of much greater value than that beautiful symmetry and philosophical unity that undoubtedly characterize the more highly organized system of Germany."

KINDERGARTENS.

In Germany, infant schools do not exist, being replaced in large towns by kindergartens, for children under six years old. The German kindergarten class has never more than ten pupils, which is a great advantage over the British class, which contains sometimes sixty.

Mr. Hughes says that it is a mistake to think that French and German children get more schooling and leave school at a later age than English children. In France, a child may leave school at eleven if he pass certain examinations. Where the English child has eight or nine years' schooling, the French or German child has only seven or eight. In one respect the Germans are, however, much superior, and that is in average attendance.

CURRICULA.

As to curricula, Mr. Hughes says:

First, that there is a philosophical basis to German education; and, second, that no practical work in science worth speaking of is done in German primary or higher primary schools, and indeed I may add in but a few secondary schools either. Neither do we find that the girls are taught either cookery or laundry work, nor is manual instruction taken up in the German schools to anything like the extent that we might imagine; for example, in the wealthy and progressive city of Cologne not a single school gives

manual training a place in its curriculum. Indeed, the German teacher is perfectly candid; he laughs at what he calls these new fads of the English teachers,-manual training, technical education, and what not. Now, I hope you will not misunderstand me. I am speaking of the average German teacher, neither conservative nor revolutionary, but typical. If Germany ousts England from the markets of the world, it will not be because her technical training is better than ours,—in fact, I think it is not,—but because either her primary or secondary schools, or both, are superior, as training-grounds, to the corresponding English schools. Personally, I believe that if England loses her commercial inadequate system of secondary schools." supremacy it will be because of her inefficient and

German children are taught their own language very carefully, and all dialectical idioms eliminated. Handwriting is generally very good. Arithmetic is taught on the blackboard and orally, rarely with books and slates. In elementary science England is ahead of Germany, but in modern languages she is, of course, behind. Germany, teaching is a fine art; but there is, says Mr. Hughes, a certain amount of formalism in it.

In

The teaching is sometimes too stereotyped in character, and the originality and resource. fulness characteristic of the finest teaching are often lacking in the German teaching of to-day. Still, with all this, the more I study and think about the German teacher, the more I admire the care with which he builds up the new knowledge firmly upon the old, the honesty with which he performs his task, never allowing a sense of injustice or injury to interfere with the due discharge of his duties; the enthusiasm with which he is imbued, the high conception he has formed of the obligations of his profession, the candor with which he gives his opinion, and the selfrespect that animates him in all his actions, these are traits which unite him, in my mind, to all that is best in our English teacher."

THE THREE-YEAR COLLEGE COURSE. N most of the recent discussion of the shortened

of the fact that several hundred Harvard graduates have already received degrees after only three years of college study, and presumably should be able to furnish testimony of more or less value as to the advantage or disadvantage of the shortened course. President Thwing, of the Western Reserve University, has thought it worth while to collect the opinions of these men on the wisdom of completing a college course

in three years, and in the July number of the Forum he presents a summary of the replies he has received.

The men who have taken the shortened college course all assent to the general proposition that the length of the course should be made to depend on the student himself. Who are the men' who should complete their course in the three-year period? President Thwing classifies them thus:

"The men who should complete their course in the shorter period are of three classes. 1. Those who use a college education as a means of fitting themselves for professional study and prac tice should be content with the shorter time. In particular, those students who purpose to become physicians should complete their college work in three years. To the student who is to become a physician the question of time is a serious consideration. Not only has the medical school lengthened its course from two years to three and from three years to four, but post-graduate studies and training demand an additional period of four years. The deans of our best medical schools are now advising their students to spend eight years in professional study. To the four years spent in the medical school should be added one or two years in a hospital, and also two or three years of residence abroad. Such a prolonged curriculum demands that time be saved at whatever point it may be possible.

2. The need of economy in time is not confined to the medical school, although it is there most highly accentuated. A consideration of quite a different character applies to other professions than the medical. The student who goes to college in order to secure training for professional purposes not infrequently finds that in three years he has received all the training of which he is naturally capable. Further training would prove to be overtraining. Overtraining is a training in which no proper response is found in the man himself to the stimulus given from without. The stimulus to think is applied to the mind overtrained; but the mind does not think as a result of the stimulus. An influence which would usually quicken the mind now proves powerless. The mind has become stale. It has lost interest. It has no spring, no buoyancy. Its mood of eagerness and enthusiasm is supplanted by a mood of indifference and sluggish

despite the too common contrary opinion, to be charged with laziness. But, of course, there are college men who are lazy, and, of course, too, they are more numerous than they ought to be. The best method of dealing with such men consists in simply obliging them to work hard— to work ten hours a day for six days a week and for more than four weeks of every month. For men of this type, the shorter course is undoubtedly the better. It must be remembered that a man may even be indolent for three years and still graduate at their close. A physician writes me I entered college from Phillips Academy, Andover, and went through largely on my fitting-school training, developing such lazy habits that another year could not have changed me for the better.' Certainly, for a man of this type three years are ample.

"The man, too, who is inclined to be scatterbrained and desultory in habits of thought and study finds a gain in the shorter period. Concentration of intellectual power represents, of course, one of the most precious results of a college course; and this concentration is fostered by the three years' period. One of the chief advantages of the examination system, for instance, is the necessity of applying all of one's powers to a definite duty for a specific time, an advantage which is specially precious for the man of loose intellectual habits."

IN SOME CASES, FOUR YEARS BETTER THAN THREE.

President Thwing admits, however, that the three years' course is subject to serious objections. In the first place, there are fewer opportunities for general reading and for special investigations. The tendency of work done under such straitened conditions is in some degree narrowing.

"The longer period, too, is of peculiar value to those men who are slow of development. Such men are more numerous than is usually supposed. They do not find themselves, they do not come to themselves, until the last half of the college course. To them the freshman year is the continuation of the senior year of the fittingschool. The sophomore year shows some signs of development. The junior year gives evidence of increasing power. But it is only in the last year that these men really prove the worth of the stuff which is in them. Every college officer knows of scores of such sluggish men. It would be a misfortune, some would say it would be a shame or a sin, to deprive these slow-growing plants of a fitting opportunity for develop ment. In most colleges, the last half of the course is, for these slow-moving men, the period of blossoming and of fruitage. Any cutting off from the length of the college course would

"For the men, too, who go into business a distinct disadvantage lies in the shorter period. The merchant or manufacturer has small opportunities for living what may be called the life of the spirit. He knows better than most college officers can know that the idols of the market contend against the idols of the library. Therefore, it is well, and more than well, for him to put himself while at college into as close relationship as possible with those gods to which he will find it hard in his business life to pay proper devotion. He must make his peace with them in advance; for his absences from their temple will be numerous and prolonged.

I am also sure that for certain men of rare power and endowed with ample means no training can be too long or too rich. I have in mind those men who are to become the leaders of humanity. They represent those radiant souls to whom the race is to look as wrecked sailors look at the stars. Freed from the necessity of earning a living, and blessed with rich personal endowment as well as with many objective advantages, they are trustees of the highest interests of humanity. If they become physicians, they embody in themselves the right and duty of research. If they become lawyers, they are 'students of the science and history of law, and not practitioners of its art. If they choose a life of leisure, they use leisure as an opportunity for doing noblest things for the community,-things which possibly no one else would do, and which the community as at present organized can hardly do for itself. They are trustees for the race, genuine shepherds of the people. For these men should be provided the richest cultivation during a prolonged period."

SAVING THE CHILDREN.

IT T was Mr. Charles Loring Brace who pointed out, fifty years ago, a way to bring up city waifs outside of "institutions." He advocated the placing out" of the children in farmers' families in the middle West. The New York

Children's Aid Society has placed more than twenty-two thousand children in such family homes, and the results have justified all that Mr. Brace claimed for his method. In concluding an article contributed to the Bibliotheca Sacra for July on "The Child-Saving Movement," the Rev. Hastings H. Hart, secretary of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections, says of the Brace plan of dealing with dependent children :

This policy has been definitely adopted by

ready producing valuable results. In those States, orphan asylums and children's homes are no longer used as permanent homes in which to bring up children to adult years, but simply as training-schools, hospitals, and temporary refuges. The interior cities contain a much smaller number of institutions for children, relatively, than are found in the older cities, whose policy was established before this system came into general use. For example, the city of New York has about 24,000 children in institutions of various kinds, while the city of Chicago has only about 4,000 in institutions.

ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES OF "PLACING OUT."

"From an economic point of view, the placingout system has very great advantages; for example, the Illinois Children's Home and Aid Society, only eighteen years old, has 2,100 wards under its care in family homes, children under eighteen years of age. This society has three small receiving-homes with a joint capacity of about ninety children. There is invested in these three homes about $20,000. The entire expenditures of the society for all purposes for last year were $36,000; but should the society decide to return to the old plan of bringing up children in insti tutions, it must first build for the accommodation of these children, at a cost of not less than $300 per bed, or $630,000. Provision must then be made for the maintenance of these children, at an annual cost of not less than $100 per child, or $210,000 per year. The economic advantage of the child-saving plan is apparent.

"No cost is too great if necessary in order to save neglected children, but the children who can be placed and kept successfully in carefully selected family homes are better off than they can be in even the best institutions. The outlook for the homeless child was never so full of hope as at the beginning of the twentieth century. Great social betterment is coming from the wiser care society is learning to give its waifs."

THE PREVENTION OF TUBERCULOSIS.

THE second American Congress of Tuberculosis, held in New York City, May 15-16, 1901, brought together many eminent physicians. In his opening address as president of the congress, which appears in the Medico-Legal Journal, Dr. A. N. Bell said:

"The nature of tuberculosis is now common knowledge. All intelligent persons now know that it is contagious, and that it is the most universally prevalent and fatal disease that afflicts the human race. Yet it is known to be prevent