er to the country
arising out of the system. To send a youth from home, withdrawing him
from the watchful care of his parents at the most dangerous period of
his life, namely, between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one, is of
itself a doubtful proceeding; to send him to Paris is in many cases
certain ruin. This is not a mere hastily formed opinion, and probably
the expression of it may not find a welcome in every quarter. But it is
historically true. No one has written a more flattering account of the
Roumanians than Edgar Quinet.[64] Writing in 1857, he touches with as
much delicacy as possible upon their defects and shortcomings, and hints
that their vices are copied from the French; and he goes on to say:[65]
'The sons of the boyards come to complete their education with us....
The danger for these young minds, which are exposed without control to
so great a fascination, is that even our vices appear to them to be
sanctioned' (_consacres_). It is true he does not discountenance a
system which brings grist to the mill of the French academical
institutions, but warning them against the pitfalls of Paris life he
says: 'Let them continue to visit us.' Well, they have continued to
visit them for twenty-five years longer, and if the reader would know
the result he must enquire of the Roumanians themselves. No doubt
opinions differ. There are persons whose views are entitled to great
respect, and who approve of this sending of the youth abroad in
preference to letting them obtain an imperfect education at home,
speaking with satisfaction of sacrifices which are made by persons with
straitened means to secure a polite education for their children. On the
other hand the views of professional men and of men of the world largely
predominate in the opposite direction. Omitting what were doubtless
exaggerations, such as that 80 per cent. of the youths who go to Paris
return with a perfect acquaintance with the French language, the
_cancan_, and nothing more, we are assured that a large proportion fail
to derive such an amount of benefit as to justify the outlay; that they
acquire French vices and luxurious habits; and that on their return they
do not hesitate to express their distaste for home and home
occupations.[66] Education abroad, we were told, is incompatible with
true patriotism. As already stated, these views may be exaggerated; but
when the drain upon the country which necessarily results from the
system is borne in mi