tinguished adherent of the State school system declares that in these State schools the pupils are "moralement abandonnés". As regards the intellectual ability shown by Jesuit pupils, it will suffice to see the lists of the successes obtained by them in the École Centrale, the Polytechnique, the Military Academy of Saint-Cyr, and the École Navale.[1]
The following statement will illustrate how the anti-clerical press fabricated proofs of the inefficiency of Jesuit colleges; it shows also that Jesuit pupils are not behind others in branches other than classics, mathematics and sciences. In 1875 a student in the law school at Poitiers published these facts: "A short time ago the journal of M. Gambetta, the République française, had taken the trouble to occupy itself with the Law Faculty at Poitiers and its students. According to M. Gambetta the said school comprises two clearly distinct classes of students: those from the Lycées, and those from the Jesuit colleges. The latter are good for nothing and obtain no prizes, whereas the former carry off all the laurels. Now in point of fact, at the distribution of prizes in the law school for 1874-75, which took place last Thursday, the reports show the following results: In the 3rd year, the 2nd prize for French Law and the 2nd prize for Roman Law were awarded to a Jesuit pupil. In the 2nd year, of the four distinctions two were given to Jesuit pupils. In the 1st year, all five distinctions, two medals and three honorable mentions, were awarded to Jesuit pupils."[2]
