12. "The latest researches concerning Arras in the thirteenth century, and Adan de la Hale." By Professor A. Rambeau, of the Mass. Inst. of Technology. [Read by title.]

Professor Rambeau continues and brings up to date the statements contained in his short history of the critical study of Adan de le Hale's dramas since the year 1779, the second part of a paper read by him before the University Philological Association, Baltimore, May 15, 1896, upon Maître Adam d'Arras and the Beginnings of French Comedy. An abstract of this paper has been published in the Johns Hopkins University Circulars, vol. xv, No. 126. The last works mentioned there, in the history of the critical study of Adan de le Hale's plays, are Ernest Langlois' Interpolations du jeu de Robin et Marion, in Romania (July, 1895), and his popular edition of Le jeu de Robin et Marion par Adam le Bossu (1895). They contain valuable results, many, or rather most, of which have been, and could be, easily derived, as the author himself, no doubt, admits, from the very arrangement of texts in Professor Rambeau's palaeographic edition of Li jus du pelerin, Li gieus de Robin et de Marion, and Li jus Adan (1886).

In the meantime the following important works have been published in France:

(1) Alfred Jeanroy et Henri Guy, Chansons et dits artésiens du XIIIe siècle (Bordeaux, 1898), to be compared with Gaston Paris's compte rendu in Romania (July, 1898); (2) Henry Guy, Essai sur la vie et les œuvres littéraires du trouvère Adan de le Hale (Paris, 1898).

Both these works, and principally the second and larger one, throw much light upon the history of Arras, a centre of wealth, culture, and literary achievements in Northern France in the thirteenth century, and upon the history of French poetry, and especially the drama. Mr. Guy's essay owes a great deal-much more, indeed, than he seems to be willing to admit-to Leopold Bahlsen's excellent dissertation, Adam de la Hale's Dramen und das "Jus du pelerin" (1884, 1885). It arrives, however, at more extensive and, as it would seem, better and safer results, since its author has been enabled by favorable circumstances to make use of a great many thirteenth century documents hidden in French archives and libraries which refer to Arras, contemporary poets and friends or protectors of poets, and to persons and events mentioned or alluded to in Adan de la Hale's works.

It is likely that several of those results would be modified and rectified in a great measure, if some other competent scholar would study all these questions "an ort und stelle,” and examine carefully the sources themselves from which Mr. Guy has derived his statements and opinions, and perhaps also some other pertinent documents that might be discovered in the medieval records of Northern France and Belgium.

THIRD SESSION, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28.

The third session of the meeting was opened by the President on Thursday at 2.30 p. m.

The Auditing Committee reported that the Treasurer's accounts were found to be correct.

The Committee on Place of Meeting reported in favor of accepting the invitation extended by the Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. C. C. Harrison, to hold the next meeting of the Association in Philadelphia. This report was accepted as indicating the Association's preference of place for the holding of the proposed Philological Congress (see Proceedings for 1898, p. xv f.). The Secretary was authorized to act on behalf of the Association in the final determination of the matter by correspondence with the societies taking part in the Congress.

The committee also reported an invitation extended by President Charles W. Eliot to hold a meeting of the Association at Harvard University. The Association thereupon voted to accept President Eliot's invitation for the Annual Meeting of the year 1901.

Professor Edward H. Magill, as chairman of the committee on "International Correspondence" (see Proceedings for 1898, p. xxii), read the following report:

The subject of a correspondence between students of different nations who are pursuing the study of the modern languages having been brought to the attention of this Association last year by a paper presented at the annual meeting at Charlottesville, Va., and afterwards published in Modern Language Notes for February, a committee was appointed to report upon this subject at the next annual meeting of the Association. In pursuance of this appointment, your committee have exchanged views by correspondence and held one meeting for final consideration of the subject before presenting their report.

A full report upon the origin, progress, and general condition of this correspondence was prepared by Professor Gaston Mouchet, of the École Colbert, Paris, Vice-President of the Franco-English Department, early in the present year, which has been translated and published in the June number of Education (Boston), and circulated widely among the teachers of modern languages of this country. It will be seen by this report that a correspondence between professors and teachers of different countries, called the Correspondance Pédagogique Internationale, has now become an important part of this work, and is under special charge of the large French committee, of which Professor Buisson, of the Sorbonne, is President.

The two points especially emphasized in the discussion last year were: first, an investigation of the whole subject of the international correspondence with a view of determining its usefulness as an aid in modern language instruction; and, secondly, the consideration of the desirability of appointing a standing committee to make the subject further known in America, and, if found desirable, to act as an intermediary agent with foreign committees in obtaining correspondents. Toward these two points the attention of your committee has been especially directed.

The idea of this international correspondence in its present form was first introduced by Professor P. Mieille, now of the Lycée de Tarbes, France, and first applied to France and England, he being a professor of English in that Lycée. It has now been a little more than three years since this introduction, and aided by the Review of Reviews, London, Editor W. T. Stead; the Revue Universitaire, Paris, Eds., Armand Colin et Cie.; the Manuel Général de l'Instruction Primaire, Paris, Eds., Hachette et Cie.; and the Concordia, Paris, Ed., M. Lombard; it has made much progress in the two countries where first introduced, and has also extended to Germany, Italy, Spain, the United States, and Canada. From a letter of the inventor of the system, Professor Mieille, under date of September 27, we extract the following: "Everywhere where the professors have taken the subject to heart, the correspondence has succeeded well. In France alone more than 200 institutions for secondary instruction, and nearly 300, including the free colleges and the normal schools, have adopted the correspondence. But there are still a certain number, especially in the free schools, which remain behind." Professor Mieille has recently addressed a letter to the Directors of these schools throughout France, which will, he thinks, be the means of bringing into the work most of the schools not already engaged in it. In this letter he refers to the various journals and individuals who have promoted the correspondence, including, besides those already named in this report, Miss E. Williams, Professeur aux Écoles de Sèvres et de Fontenay aux Roses, and in charge of the Women's Section of the Franco-English correspondence, whose address is No. 6 rue de la Sorbonne, Paris; and Dr. K. A. Martin Hartmann, of Leipsic, who has established a bureau there for the correspondence of German students,

with students of other nations who are pursuing the study of the modern languages. From this letter of Professor Mieille to the Directors of Public Instruction, we quote as follows: "After three years of existence it may be said that the Correspondance Scolaire Internationale has proved a success. Without having yet realized the marvellous results which have been predicted for it, it has modestly made its way, and the few critics which it excited in the beginning have not resisted the logic of facts nor the eloquence of figures. More than 10,000 correspondents, at the lowest estimate, exchange 20,000 letters per month, and more than 200,000 per year, which is an unanswerable proof that the correspondence has definitely taken its place in our system of instruction in modern languages. The majority of our professors have quickly appreciated its practical advantages, and have definitely adopted the method in their regular instruction."

With reference to the desirability of a general introduction of this correspondence in our own literary institutions, the following considerations are presented experience shows that, with ordinary oversight, the international correspondence stimulates interest in the work in two ways:

First. By bringing students into some degree of intimate contact with contemporary foreign life, thus contributing to their general culture and broadening their ideas and sympathies.

Secondly. By furnishing an obvious motive to correct composition in the foreign tongue.

Other incidental advantages also arise:

First. The benefit derived from comparisons of the mother tongue and foreign idiom involved in the correction of errors in foreign correspondents' letters.

Secondly. As the vocabulary employed by the foreigner will almost always be that of ordinary intercourse, the foreign letters furnish an abundance of those genuine colloquial phrases, the memorizing and repetition of which are so valuable and so highly recommended in the report of the Committee of Twelve (Section VII, 2).

In dwelling upon these advantages the committee does not wish to make extravagant claims, nor forget that the solid usefulness of the plan lies within certain limits. For example, it is not to be expected that, in a given class, a majority, or perhaps even a third, should voluntarily take up the work, and prosecute it faithfully for a satisfactory length of time. Moreover there will always be some who undertake it from curiosity, and who will soon find the real labor irksome. These are they that have no depth of earth. But because some fail to profit by an opportunity is no reason from withholding it from others, and experience shows that in an earnest class, with a wide-awake instructor, a good proportion will conscientiously undertake at least one correspondent.

This committee is, therefore, united in believing that the international correspondence can, with average students, be made a valuable adjunct to foreign language study, especially in the earlier years, and that it certainly

deserves a full and impartial trial by interested teachers. After all, it is only one more means toward creating something of the foreign atmosphere in the class room, and that this is an advantage does not, we believe, require argument.

The amount of attention that can be given to this work in the class room will depend upon circumstances, and will vary in different institutions. In class work time is a very important element, and surely but little if any time can be given for the correspondence in class in large institutions, where French and German are taught by instructors to blocks of 125, as is sometimes the case. In smaller classes some reading of letters received, and comments upon them, will be found interesting and profitable. But even where no time can be given in class, the correspondence carried on by the students themselves can be made very profitable, and the advantages of it are soon seen by the more rapid and satisfactory class work of those who are thus engaged.

We therefore conclude that in view of the various considerations presented in this report, the subject is one which may well claim the serious attention of the representative body of professors and instructors of modern languages, and we would respectfully recommend that this committee be continued (with some names added), and that its duties shall be to propagate this system of correspondence throughout our own country, and cooperate, as way may open, with foreign committees to secure correspondents, to impart more of system and coherence to the work, and make a report of their labors to this association at the annual meeting next year. We may mention in closing that high schools are making inquiries as to the introduction of the correspondence into their classes, and it seems to us that such correspondence should be encouraged in any of our schools among students who have pursued the study of the foreign languages under competent instructors for even a single year.

We add further as encouragement in this work that on the 29th of May, 1897, the Modern Language Association of Saxony, Germany, issued a circular letter drawing attention to their central bureau for establishing the international correspondence between German students and those of other nations pursuing the study of the modern languages. This movement is largely promoted by Dr. R. A. Martin Hartmann, whose address is Koenigliches Gymnasium, Leipsic, Germany. Dr. Hartmann states in a recent circular that their central bureau has enrolled the names of about 6,000 students in the past two years, and that 475 institutions for the higher education in England, France, Germany, and the United States are engaged in this correspondence. He further states that twenty-nine of these institutions are in the United States, and that nearly all of these have entered upon this work since January last. You will therefore perceive that the attention drawn to the subject at the Charlottesville meeting last Christmas, the report of Committee of Twelve on Modern Languages, since issued, and the labors of this committee have not been without important practical results.