[8.] The principle carried out in France is that special military education should not be begun until a comparatively late age, and should be founded upon a groundwork of good general education in civil schools. The only approach to a junior military school in France is that of La Flèche, and this is mainly a charitable institution; the pupils, it is true, learn drill, but beyond this no special military instruction is given them. The course of study is the same as that at the Lycées or ordinary civil schools, and the pupils are under no obligation to enter the military service. Nor can the Polytechnic be called an exclusively military school; even those who enter the Artillery and Engineers from it have their education in common with civilians at the very least until the age of 18, and in the great majority of cases their strictly professional instruction at Metz does not begin till 20 or 21. The very earliest age at which a special military education commences in France is 17, which is the age of admission to St. Cyr, and comparatively few enter the school before 18 or 19. The knowledge required for admission to St. Cyr is entirely such as is acquired at civil schools, and so much importance is attached to a good general education that the degree of either bachelier ès sciences or bachelier ès lettres is made a necessary qualification for admission to the examination, while the possession of both degrees gives considerable advantage to a candidate. The principle of deferring the commencement of special instruction has even received extension since 1856; the age of admission to St. Cyr, which was then 16, has been now increased to 17, and the junior school of La Flèche has been made even less military in its character than it was at that time.
[9.] When a professional education has once commenced, the principle appears to be that it should be almost entirely confined to subjects which have a practical bearing on military duties. Mathematics, as a subject by themselves, do not form part of the ordinary course of instruction at any of the special schools. The previous course at the Polytechnic secures of course very high mathematical attainments in the candidates for the Artillery and Engineers who enter Metz; but at Metz itself the study of mathematics is no longer continued. In the same way at the Staff School a knowledge of mathematics as far as trigonometry is required for admission, and their practical applications to operations of surveying enter into the school course; but no part of the time spent at the school is devoted to mere theoretical instruction in pure mathematics; yet the officers of the Staff Corps are intrusted with the execution of those scientific surveys which in our service are in the hands of the Engineers.
St. Cyr offers to some extent an exception to the rule that the course of study at the special schools should be of an exclusively professional character, as the instruction given there during the first year is partly of a general nature, embracing history and literature. This, however, arises from the fact that the students from the Lycées generally show a deficiency in the more literary subjects of a liberal education, and a portion of the time at the school is therefore spent in completing and improving their general acquirements. A knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, and plane trigonometry is required as a qualification for admission, but beyond a very brief revision of these subjects, and a voluntary course for candidates for the Staff Corps, mathematics are not taught at the school. It would seem indeed that, except in the case of candidates for admission to the Artillery and Engineers, mathematics do not hold so prominent a position in French military education as is generally supposed in England to be the case. For staff and regimental officers the main requisite demanded seems to be a practical knowledge of trigonometry as required for surveying.
[10.] Much time is devoted in all the French schools to drawing in its various branches; some hours daily are invariably given up to the subject; indeed the time spent upon purely geometrical drawing appears almost to be excessive. The great importance attached to the drawing of machinery is a peculiar feature in all the schools. Landscape drawing is one of the regular subjects taught to candidates both for the line and the Staff Corps.
The theoretical instruction given at every school is supplemented by visits to numerous military establishments, manufacturing departments, and fortresses. This is also a feature in the system of military education in Prussia; in both countries it seems to be thought desirable to afford young officers a practical insight into the working of the various establishments connected with the army. In the case of officers of the Artillery and Engineers it appears in France to be made a special object to cultivate a mechanical genius, and to secure a thorough acquaintance with manufacturing departments with which their professional duties bring them into contact.
Military law and administration (comprising financial and other regulations connected with the army), and drill, riding, and fencing in the way of practical exercises, form part of the education of officers of all branches of the service; in drill, lectures explanatory of the drill-book are invariably given in addition to the practical instruction.
[11.] The system of instruction in all the French military schools is more or less that of the Polytechnic. Lectures attended by large numbers, enforced study of fixed subjects, the execution of all work under close supervision of the instructors, and frequent periodical examinations, are everywhere found. Active competition is the leading feature of the system; the students are perpetually being “kept up to the mark.” A fixed period of two years is in all cases assigned to the course of study; the course can not be completed in a shorter time, and the regulated period can not (unless under quite exceptional circumstances) be exceeded.
It seems also to be thought that, as a necessary consequence of the strictly competitive system, the subjects upon which the competition depends should be exactly the same for every student. No choice of studies is allowed; those which enter into the examination are equally obligatory for all. The only exception to this rule is at St. Cyr, where in languages a choice between German and English is given.
No pecuniary rewards are offered to the students at any of the schools. The bestowal of the numerous bourses which are granted to those admitted to the Polytechnic and St. Cyr is regulated entirely by the poverty of the candidates, without any regard to their ability.
[12.] The education of officers in France is entirely concluded before any regimental duty has been done. The French system is in this respect the exact opposite of that pursued in Prussia, where no professional instruction, as a rule, is given until a certain amount of service with the troops has been performed. There are in France no establishments for the instruction of officers of some years’ service, like the Staff College in England, or the Artillery and Engineer School and the War Academy in Prussia.