arriver tôt ou tard, et la crise sera incalculable dans sa marche et ses résultats. . . .'

After reading these lines one might and even ought to ask oneself what kind of language Metternich would have used if he had not thought fit to affect, with regard to the Entente Cordiale, an indifference which almost amounted to disdain? On the other hand, we cannot, I think, insist too much on the fact that already, towards the middle of last century, the most authoritative representative of that policy of domination, which was one day to become that of the Central Empires, perceived that the only real obstacle to the realisation of his programme lay in the establishment of the Entente Cordiale between France and England. In 1845, as we have seen, Metternich laboured to destroy it for the second time, and, as we know, in this he succeeded. In August 1914, Austria hurled herself upon Serbia, and Germany did not hesitate to violate the neutrality of Belgium and to throw down that frightful challenge to the civilised world because, taking up on their own account the words and the appreciations of the great stage-manager of the Congress of Vienna, these two Empires persisted in believing that 'l'Entente Cordiale n'est qu'une fantasmagorie,' and refused, in spite of all evidence, to admit of the existence and the solidity of the 'monstrueuse jonction' between the United Kingdom and the French Republic. Metternich, as we have seen, foresaw the danger without succeeding in averting it. He could hardly have believed that he was speaking the truth when, in inditing his Mémoire autobiographique in 1852, he wrote: Je suis l'homme de ce qui était.'

Commandant WEIL.

Art. 2.-THE

LEARNING.*

CONTRIBUTION

OF RUSSIA ΤΟ

I HAVE little doubt that most of your previous lecturers on Russia began by pointing out how little is known in this country about the subject. I also feel impelled to begin my lecture on Russian learning in rather the same way. I am sure that most of you know something about the wonderful achievements of Russia in literature-about Pushkin, Turgenieff, Dostoiefsky and Tolstoi. You have no doubt from time to time enjoyed the musical creations of great Russian composers, such as Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Glazunoff. Perhaps you have also seen reproductions of pictures by our most important painters, Repin, Vereshchagin, Seroff, Somoff, Bakst. I am, however, almost certain that few people in England are aware that the Russian nation is not only the creator of a great Art, but has also opened up a vast field of learning of world-wide importance, a learning which, though still in its youth, has revealed fresh horizons and enriched mankind with many precious gifts. Let me begin by acquainting you with the series of Institutes, where year after year systematic and indefatigable enquiries in the sphere of learning are being carried on. After this I will tell you briefly what results have thus been achieved in certain branches of knowledge. I will finish by citing statements made by one or two of your leading English authorities relative to some of our best Russian savants.

Russian learning grew up and developed in close conjunction with one of the most important but least known institutions of Peter the Great-the Russian Academy of Science. This Academy laid the foundation of systematic learned enquiry and created higher Russian education. It still remains the central point of the vast and complicated network of institutions having a purely scientific object. I will not speak of the history of the Academy of Science, for such a digression would take up too much time. I will confine myself to remarking that, after a number of years when the members were exclusively foreigners, chiefly Germans, the Academy

* Lecture delivered in the University of Manchester on April 25, 1919.

became purely Russian as regards its membership as well as its methods of learned work. Let me describe to you the constitution of the Academy. There are in it three departments: first, the department of Mathematics and Physics; secondly, the department of Russian Language and Literature; and thirdly, the department of History and Philology. Each of these departments is divided into a series of 'chairs,' which are sometimes held jointly by several specialists. These 'chairs' form groups called divisions, e.g. that of Oriental Language and Literature, that of Classical Philology and Archæology, that of History, etc.

All the members of the Academy are employed by the State, receive salaries, and devote themselves to learned work. Several of them are at the head of some learned Institution or other, itself concerned with similar learned work. Many of these institutions have a worldwide reputation; for instance, the famous Observatory of Petrograd in Pulkovo; the Meteorological Institute, combined with a seismological Institute having many branches in the country; a splendid Zoological and Paleontological Museum, one of the best in the world; a Museum of Ethnography and Anthropology; an Asiatic Museum containing a unique collection of Oriental MSS., etc., etc. You may judge of the productiveness of the Academy by the number of its publications. It would weary you were I to enumerate the titles of the periodical and other publications issued by it. I will merely point out that the Academy has the exclusive use of a large printing-house which employs some hundreds of workmen; but even this establishment is unable to deal with the whole of the material supplied by the members. All the contributions and books printed by the Academy are subjected to a vigorous censorship by the Academy itself, which determines their scientific value; and they are only printed after they have been accepted at the General Meeting of the Department.

Nor is the work of the eleven Universities of Russia (Moscow, Petrograd, Kazan, Kieff, Odessa, Harkoff, Perm, Saratof, Tomsk, Warsaw (now Voronezh), Jurieff (Dorpat)) less productive. As regards their constitution, these universities most closely resemble the German model, but they have their own peculiarities which are

chiefly due to their local position and their history. The General Boards of Professors which govern the universities do their best not only to transmit knowledge to the students, but also to make the universities so many laboratories in which learned enquiry can be pursued. The academic qualifications demanded of a professor are of a more stringent nature than is customary in Western Europe or in America. On leaving the University, every candidate for a professorship is obliged to pass a severe and complicated examination in his special subject. He is further obliged to write, print and defend two original learned theses at a public meeting of his faculty. He thus becomes possessed, one after the other, of the degrees of Master and Doctor. The standard demanded in these theses becomes higher every year. Only Doctors of the corresponding branches are entitled to Chairs in the University. It is the aim of the University to create as many learned workers as possible. The most capable students remain attached to the University in some permanent way. They receive bursaries and are sent abroad so that they may embark upon original work of their own. Every attempt is made to secure the best possible libraries, laboratories and clinics in every university. Excellent work is done in the medical faculties. The Institute of Experimental Medicine in Petrograd, the Military Medical Academy in the same city, the clinics of Moscow and Odessa, have always been, and are now, true seminaries of scientific knowledge. Good work is done in the fostering of scholarship among the students by the so-called 'Seminaria,' which possess special libraries. In each seminary the students form a group round the professor, and are engaged on advanced studies.

The line of development which characterises the universities hitherto open to men only is also to be observed in the courses of higher study open to women. Although of no very ancient standing the oldest of them, that of Moscow, being only 150 years old-these universities have been no less active in the solving of learned problems than has been the Academy itself. To these universities we are indebted not only for a series of wonderful discoveries, but also for the deepening and broadening of our knowledge of Russia itself. We also

owe to them the fact that the highly qualified scholars of Russia may now be numbered, not by tens, but by hundreds and perhaps by thousands.

A very prominent part in the development of Russian learning has been taken by private learned societies and by certain official State organisations having some learned purpose in view. The great work lately done for the study of the geography and ethnography of Russia was done almost entirely by the Russian Geographical Society. Most of our knowledge of the Archæology of Russia is due to the great Archæological Societies in Petrograd, Moscow and Odessa, to the State Archæological Commission, and to the periodical Archæological Congresses. The study of the geology of Russia has lately been concentrated in the hands of the State Geological Committee. The work of collecting, classifying and studying the extensive records of Russian History is chiefly done by the States Archæographic Commission and by many private societies, both in Moscow and Petrograd. The private societies of Kieff, Odessa and other towns and many provincial Record Commissions, as well as the archives of certain State Institutions, have taken an important part in this work,

These facts, scanty as they are, suffice to show how the interest in learning and learned work has spread over the whole of Russia during the last few decades, and also how great has been the increase of persons gradually drawn into the vortex of scholarly achievement. An attempt made by the Academy to enumerate the learned forces of Russia gave quite unexpected results. The Russian Minerva,' an annual publication, now to be printed by the Academy, will form an imposing volume of many hundreds of pages.

In addition to these Institutes, I must also mention the Russian Museums. The Hermitage at Petrograd is known to all, by name at any rate. Every one has heard of the great historic and artistic treasures contained in that Museum. Its creation was a great scientific achievement, which we owe to the Emperor Nicholas I. The Hermitage was and is an important centre of learning; its publications have earned for it an honoured name in the scientific world. Nor does this museum stand alone in Russia. In Petrograd itself we have two splendid