The following table gives a view of the routine in summer:—
| 4½ A.M. | to 4¾ A.M. | Dressing. |
| 4¾ “ | to 7¼ “ | Military exercises. |
| 7¼ “ | to 8¼ “ | Breakfast, cleaning, inspection. |
| 8¼ “ | to 9½ “ | Lecture. |
| 9½ “ | to 9¾ “ | Recreation. |
| 9¾ “ | to 11¼ “ | Study. |
| 11¼ “ | to 1 P.M. | Drawing. |
| 1 P.M. | to 2 “ | Dinner and recreation. |
| 2 “ | to 4 “ | Study of drill-book (théorie) or fencing. |
| 4 “ | to 6 “ | Study for some, riding for others. |
| 6 “ | to 6¼ “ | Recreation. |
| 6¼ “ | to 8 “ | Riding for some, study for others, |
| 8 “ | to 8½ “ | Supper. |
The entrance examination is much less severe than that for the Polytechnic; but a moderate amount of mathematical knowledge is demanded, and is obtained. The candidates are numerous; and if it be true that some young men of fortune shrink from a test, which, even in the easiest times, exacts a knowledge of the elements of trigonometry, and not unfrequently seek their commissions by entering the ranks, their place is supplied by youths who have their fortunes to make, and who have intelligence, industry, and opportunity enough to acquire in the ordinary lycées, the needful amount of knowledge.
Under present circumstances it is, perhaps, more especially in the preparatory studies that the intellectual training is given, and for the examination of admission that theoretical attainments are demanded. The state of the school in a time of war can not exactly be regarded as a normal or usual one. The time of stay has been sometimes shortened from two years to fifteen months; the excessive numbers render it difficult to adjust the lectures and general instruction so as to meet the needs of all; the lecture rooms and the studying rooms are all insufficient for the emergency; and what is yet more than all, the stimulus for exertion, which is given by the fear of being excluded upon the final examination, and sent to serve in the ranks, is removed at a time when almost every one may feel sure that a commission which must be filled up will be vacant for him. Yet even in time of peace, if general report may be trusted, it is more the drill, exercises, and discipline, than the theory of military operations, that excite the interest and command the attention of the young men. When they leave, they will take their places as second lieutenants with the troops, and they naturally do not wish to be put to shame by showing ignorance of the common things with which common soldiers are familiar. Their chief incentive is the fear of being found deficient when they join their regiments, and, with the exception of those who desire to enter the staff corps, their great object is the practical knowledge of the ordinary matters of military duty. “Physical exercises,” said the Director of Studies, “predominate here as much as intellectual studies do at the Polytechnic.”
But the competition for entrance sustains the general standard of knowledge. Even when there is the greatest demand for admissible candidates, the standard of admission has not, we are told, been much reduced. No one comes in who does not know the first elements of trigonometry. And the time allotted by the rules of the school to lectures and indoor study is far from inconsiderable.
[EXAMINATIONS FOR ADMISSION—STUDIES AT THE SCHOOL.]
The examinations for admission are conducted almost precisely upon the same system which is now used in those for the Polytechnic School.[18] There is a preliminary or pass examination (du premier degré), and for those who pass this a second or class examination (du second degré.) For the former there are three examiners, two for mathematics, physics, and chemistry, and a third for history, geography, and German. The second examination, which follows a few days after, is conducted in like manner by three examiners. A jury of admission decides. The examination is for the most part oral; and the principal difference between it and the examination for the Polytechnic is merely that the written papers are worked some considerable time before the first oral examination (du premier degré,) and are looked over with a view to assist the decision as to admissibility to the second (du second degré.) Thus the compositions écrites are completed on the 14th and 15th of June; the preliminary examination commences at Paris on the 10th of July; the second examination on the 13th.
The subjects of examination are the following:—
Arithmetic, including vulgar and decimal fractions, weights and measures, square and cube root, ratios and proportions, interest and discount, use of logarithmic tables and the sliding rule.