Abstract
FROM the brief telegraphic reports published in some of the English newspapers, readers in this country may have observed that the hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the Institut de France was celebrated last week in Paris. These reports, however, convey but a feeble impression of the real character of the celebration. The Institute is an establishment of which Frenchmen of all classes and of every shade of political opinion are justly proud. They look on it as a living embodiment of the culture and intellectual power of France. It stands above and beyond politics. Forms of Government may come and go; kings, emperors, and republics may arise, flourish, and disappear. But the Institute remains unshaken, quietly pursuing its career, and sustaining with marvellous success the intellectual glory of the nation. No wonder, then, that amid the turmoil of parties, the strifes of Parliament, and the endless changes of Ministries, many men turn to the Institute as the only stable institution, which royalists, republicans, socialists, and anarchists seem to be alike agreed in respecting.
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The Centenary of the Institute of France. Nature 52, 637–638 (1895). https://doi.org/10.1038/052637a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/052637a0