Ten Sieges of Paris [pp. 586-587]

586 CONSOLATION-TEN SIEGES OF PARIS. [MAY 20,
walls for the students, and the professors sit upon a raised platform
in the front; the chaplain occupies a small pulpit against the wall,
and before this is the president's chair, which is the same chair in
which Franklin presided at the meetings of the Institute in Philadel phia. Over the chapel is the library, which, though it is not very
large, is a choice collection of books. Upon the shelves are many
rare and valuable works, and, hanging upon the walls, are portraits
of the old college presidents and many of the more distinguished
professors.
Leaving the library, and turning to the right, we come to the main
college building, in which are situated all the lecture-rooms. Ascend ing the staircase on the side of the building toward the library, the
first room we come to was occupied by the late Professor Anthon.
The walls of the room are hung with portraits of eminent Greek
scholars, such as Porson, Hermann, and others of like character. The
doctor was an able and indefatigable instructor, and, though some what strict, always endeared himself to his pupils. Dr. Short, the
Professor of Latin, now occupies the room.
The next room is the president's. On the same floor are three
other lecture-rooms, but, as they have no particular associations connected with them, we will pass them by, and ascend the stairs. Ihere,
at one end of the hall, are the rooms of the Professors of Mathematics
and Astronomy, and at the other those of the Professors of Greek and
German. Ascending still higher, we come to the lecture-room of the
Department of Chemistry. This is somewhat larger than those which we
have seen hitherto. The seats rise one above the other, and the room
is provided with galleries. All the instruction in this department is
given by lectures, illustrated by suitable experiments. On this floor
are also the rooms of Dr. Torrey. These contain his immense herbarium, a magnificent collection, which is equalled in size by only one
or two in the country. This is the collection from which "The Flora
of America" was compiled. Here Dr. Torrey delivers lectures on
botany to those of the senior class who choose to attend them.
The only remaining lecture-room is that of the Professor of Physics. This is by far the finest room in the building. It is lighted by
windows in the front and rear, and by a dome in the centre of the
ceiling. All the instruction here is also by lectures. The apparatus
is contained in glass cases, arranged around two sides of the room and
-the galleries. It is very extensive and very fine, particularly the in*struments for polarizing light. Here is the largest Nichol's prism
which has yet been constructed, the first Holtz's induction-machine
which was ever brought to this country, and many other rare and
curious instruments.
We have now completed our survey of the college-buildings, and
will conclude with a few words a6out the government and internal
direction of the institution.
The college is under the direction of a Board of twenty-four Trustees, of which the Hon. Hamilton Fish, our present Secretary of State,
is the chairman. Four of these are ex-oqfficio members, the rector of
Trinity Church, the senior minister of the Reformed Dutch Church,
the senior minister of the Presbyterian Church, and the president of
the college.
The branch schools are managed by a committee of the trustees,
with associate members, except the School of Medicine, which has
trustees of its own. The whole faculty of the college consists of the
president, with seventy-two professors and assistants, of which twenty
belong to the School of Letters, or the college proper, and the remaining fifty-two to the associate schools.
The present president is the Rev. Dr. Barnard, who succeeded Dr.
King in 1864. He was for many years Chancellor of the University
of Mississippi. It was under his direction that the great telescope in
the Dearborn.Observatory of Chicago was constructed. It was made
by Alvan Clark, and was designed originally for the University of Mississippi, but, on the temporary suspension of that institution, it was
sold to the Dearborn Observatory. Dr. Barnard is a man of great
scientific attainments. Among the faculty also are many distinguished
names; as, Dr. Drisler, the editor of the well-known Greek lexicon of
Liddell and Scott; Professor Peek, formerly of West Point, and author
of many mathematical works; Dr. Short, formerly president of Kenyon
College; Professor Rood, who has made many discoveries in Natural
Science, especially in relation to the electric spark; Professors Day
and Chandler, both well-known chemists; Dr. Willard Parker, the
eminent surgeon, and many others.
WILLIAM B. HooPEa.'
CONSOLATION.
HERE are once-beloved faces
1 We gaze on no more,
As we stand in the places
That knew them of yore;
Death came not upon them,
Their smiles still are bright,
But strangers have won them
And live in their light.
Yet age has its wrinkles,
And life has its cares;
And each passing year sprinkles
A few silver hairs:
They must watch the cheek shrivel,
And greet the gray hair;
But to us'tis unchanging For us ever fair.
There are ties that must bind us
Though severed for aye;
There are sear leaves that mind us
Of love's summer day;
There are hopes that still flatter
When Hope long has fled,
Like the flowers that we scatter
With tears o'er the dead.
But dearer, though broken,
Such ties may become,
More sweet than if spoken
Our dead hopes and dumb,
Than the triumph and gloom
Of a fatal success
Which turns into curses
The things that should bless.
ROSSITER JOHNSON.
TEN SIEGES OF PARIS.
HERE is no capital which has so often provoked and undergone
attack. The first mention of Paris in history records an investment. Fifty years before Christ, it was the stronghold of the Gauls.
Labienus, the most able of Coesar's generals, in that year marched an
army against the rebellious place, and, after crossing the Seine, forced
the insurgents to evacuate it. Before retreating, Vercingetorix, the
chief of the Gauls, burned what there was of a city. But the site was
too eligible not to invite the building of a new town. Like Berlin,
Paris originally was confined to an island formed by a river, and surrounded by inaccessible swamps. No sooner had the Germans conquered France, than Chlodwig, the leader of the invading tribe, recon.
structed ancient Lutetia, and made it the centre of the new empire. During the time his descendants held sway in France, it remained their principal fortress. When their authority began to decline, the defence cf
Paris against a foreign enemy gave such prestige to one of their generals as to enable him to usurp the throne of the decaying dynasty. Before this, however, Charles le Gros, a degenerate scion of Charlemagne,
had found himself attacked at Paris by the Normans. A helpless imbecile, he had no choice but to make his peace with the predatory
bands, no matter at what cost. On the occasion of a second raid, however, Paris gallantly held out for a whole year, under the command of
Count Otto, one of the king's nobles. So great was the renown Otto
acquired by this feat of arms, that, on Charles's death, in 888, the
Frankish nobility elected him their king. A nephew of this Otto was
Hugh Capet, the ancestor of the Bourbons.
In the mean time, the German conquerors of France, comparatively
few in number, had become absorbed by the subject nationality, and
every now and then had a brush with the old country whence they had
proceeded. In 978, when the German Emperor, Otto II., was celebrating the Festival of St. John, at Aix-la-Chapelle, he was surprised by
King Lothaire, of France, at the head of an army of thirty thousand
men. The German Emperor returned the compliment, and, having
586
CO00SOLATIOA 0. —TEN sSIEGES OF PA 4RIS.
[.AAY 20,