THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 21, 25 January 1913, Page 14

THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE

The Institute of Franc© lfl rather a British institution. That is to Bay, it seems to have' grown up casually by means of private legacies, from time to time. The revolutionary spirit does not seem to have touched it at mil. And it is 4 there in the building suited to "a third-class bank,"- says th© French 'magazine, Je Sais Tout, that the "Immortal!" of the Academy ait upon, chairs uphol* stored in green velvet, ornamented with gold._ The Academy, however, is widening its doors. Carpentier, th© composer of "Louise," and other operas and choral poems, has been admitted, and will have to put off for a time his rather eccentric dress for the robes of officialdom! > The annual income of the Institute amounts to little over a million francs. But various buildings have been left to the body by various people. For instance, the Chateau d© Chantilly, buUt upon th© ci te of th© famous house of the Conde family and the Hotel- Thiers, bequeathed by a niece of the great statesman, are among th© possessions of the Institute. The latter conUins M. Thiers' library. It is situated in the Place St. Georges, Paris. Another recent acquisition was Le Chateau do Chaalis, left by Madame Andre, who has bequeathed a palace of artistic treasures in th© yard Haussmann. The scientific side of th© Institute's life finds expression in Le Chateau Observatoir© d'Abbadia, which js equipped for " study. The famous Chateau de Nohant, where George Sand lived and died, is another possession of' this unique institution. But to the literary world it is not the ancient land' mark or th© museum that attracts nearly so much as the Academy, concerning which two stories may be told. In 1694, M. de Montyon gave 12,000f to b© invested #in the names of the King and Dauphin, to provide a prize for acts of valour. Up to th© time of th© Revolution it was awarded ten times. It went on one occasion to. a labourer, who declined to deprive the < testator's family of money that h© considered belonged •by right to them; and another recipient was a shopkeeper who had broken the fettera of a prisoner of the Bastille. The Institute, not being wealthy, allows- very little to sthe Academicians, who.-, -however',' naturally, 'are men of established reputation, if not great wealth. On© of them, Labiche, was dining with a lady who liked to know eVert-, 2lng2 Ingl '« . How . miich does a member of th© 'Academic Franoaiee' get?" she asked. The member replied s "One only obtains a thousand francs, but— (looking a* hi« plate and at his hostees)-one is