schoolmaster. Frederick issued an ordinance, that a school should be kept in every village, and that a competent subsistence should be provided for the schoolmaster by the joint contribution of the lord of the village and the tenants. Felbiger, an Augustine monk, belonging to a convent at Sagan, travelled to different countries to obtain an acquaintance with the best modes of teaching. After spending some years at Berlin, to obtain a perfect knowledge of the best method of instruction in the schools of that city, he returned to Sagan, and made the convent to which he belonged a seminary for candidates as schoolmasters. Pattern schools were established at Breslaw, Glatz, and other places, on the principles he had adopted, and all candidates for the office of teachers, were obliged to attend these seminaries, and to practise the method in which they were there instructed. The clergy, no less than the teachers, were required to go through this process, because the superintendence of the teachers was to be committed to them. After these preparatory matters had been carried into effect, an ordinance was published in the year 1765, prescribing the mode of teaching, and the manner in which the clergy should superintend the system. The teachers were directed to give plain instruction, and upon subjects applicable to the ordinary concerns of life; not merely to load the memory of their scholars with words, but to make things intelligible to their understanding, to habituate them to the use of their own reason, by explaining every object of their lesson, so that the children themselves may be able to explain it, upon examination. The school tax must be paid by the lord and tenants, without distinction of religions. The boys must all be sent to school from their sixth to their thirteenth year, whether the parents are able to pay the school tax or not. For the poor the school money must be raised by collections. Every parent or guardian who neglects to send his child or pupil to school, without sufficient cause, is obliged to pay a double tax, for which the guardians shall have no allowance. Every curate must examine, weekly, the children of the school of his parish. A general examination must be held annually, by the deans of the districts, of the schools within their respective precincts; and a report of the condition of the schools, the talents and attention of the schoolmasters, the state of the buildings, and the attendance of the children, made to the office of the vicargeneral, who is bound to transmit all these reports to the royal domain offices, from which orders are issued to supply the deficiencies of the schools, and to correct any abuses that may be found to prevail. If one school suffice for more than one village, neither of them must be more than half a German mile, or two

and one-fourth British miles, distant from it in the flat country, nor more than half that distance in the mountainous parts.

This system had at first many difficulties to struggle with, from the indolence of the Catholic clergy, and their consequent aver sion to the new and troublesome duty imposed upon them. Their zeal was alarmed at the danger arising from this diffusion of light to the stability of their church. They considered the spirit of innovation, and the spirit of inquiry, as equally their natural enemies; and the system still finds a certain degree of resistance from the penurious economy, and the stubborn love of darkness, which still prevail in some parts of this province. But in so far as it has been acted upon, its operation has proved a blessing to multitudes. As a proof of its extensive effects, the number of schools, in 1752, amounted only to 1552; but in 1798, their number was more than 3500; and many other facts, equally clear, attest the progressive increase of knowledge, and a desire for improvement. Before the seven years' war, there had scarcely ever been more than one periodical journal or gazette published in Silesia at one time; but in 1801, there were no less than seven. teen newspapers and magazines, which appeared by the day, the week, the month, or the quarter; many of them upon subjects generally useful, and containing valuable information and instruction for the people. At the former period, there were but three booksellers, and all these at Breslaw; but in 1801, there were six in that capital, and seven dispersed in the other cities. The number of printing presses, and of bookbinders, had increased in a similar proportion. Agriculture and manufactures, too, have been vastly improved and extended; so that Silesia is, at this mo. ment, one of the most flourishing districts of the Continent. The habits of the people have been signally improved; and they have become among the most intelligent, orderly, and industrious, in Europe.*

Wirtemberg, Baden, Bavaria, &c.-In Wirtemberg, during the last thirty years, the system of education has been very greatly extended and improved. A public school is established in every parish, and, in some instances, in every hamlet. The master receives, as in Scotland, a fixed salary from the parish, exclusive of a small fee from the pupils, varying according to their age, and the subjects in which they are instructed. The fees are fixed by government, and are everywhere the same. Exclu. sive of the salaries and fees, the masters are furnished with a

* See President Adams' Letters on Silesia, Quarterly Journal of Ed ucation, and Glasgow Geography, vol. iii.

house, a garden, and, in most instances, a few acres of ground, corresponding to the glebes of the Scottish clergy. The law requires that the children should be instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic; and it is specially enacted, that they shall be instructed in the principles of German grammar and composi tion. The books used in the schools of Wirtemberg and Baden, are very superior to those used in similar establishments in this country. They consist of geographical, biographical, and historical works, and elementary treatises on moral science, natural history, and the principles and practice of the most important and useful arts. In all the large schools, the boys and girls are kept separate. The girls, in addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic, are taught all sorts of needlework, the knitting of stockings, the making of clothes, &c.; receiving at the same time lessons in the art of cookery, the management of children, and other departments of domestic employment. The supervision of the schools is intrusted, in every parish or commune, to a com. mittee, consisting of a few of the principal inhabitants; the clergy of the parish, whether Protestants or Catholics, being always ex officio members of the committee. This body is intrusted with the duty of inspecting the school, and is bound to see that the master performs his duty, and that the children attend. No particular system of religion is allowed to be taught in any of the schools of Wirtemberg, and most of the other Germanic States. The tuition of this important branch is left entirely to the clergy and the parents of the children, so that the sons and daughters of Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, Quakers, &c. frequent the schools, and live in the utmost harmony.

The greatest desire prevails among the lower classes that their children should enjoy the advantages of the excellent education provided for them; but the government, not trusting entirely to this feeling, has enacted regulations, by which every individual is compelled to send his children to school, from the age of six to fourteen years. The public functionaries transmit regularly to government, once every six months, a list of the children in their respective districts, who have attained their sixth year; and they are bound to see that they are sent to school. In the event of the parents being unable to pay the school fees, a statement to that effect is prepared by the parochial authorities, and the fees are paid by the public.

In Bavaria, the beneficial consequences resulting from the establishment of a system of national education, have been more apparent than in any other European country. Half a century ago, the Bavarians were the most ignorant, debauched, and slo

venly people, between the Gulf of Genoa and the Baltic; but, during the last thirty years, no people has ever made a more rapid advancement than they have done, in the career of knowledge and of civilization. The late and present kings of Bavaria, have not only swept away myriads of abuses, and established a representative system of government, but they have laid the only sure foundations of permanent and real improvement, in the organization of an admirable system of national education. A school has been established in every parish, to which every one is obliged to send his children, from the age of six to fourteen; Lyceums, Colleges, and Universities have also been instituted, for the use of those who are desirous of prosecuting their studies; and every facility is afforded for the acquisition of the best instruction, at the lowest price. The following is a summary view of the principal seminaries in this country :-Three universities, seven lyceums, eighteen gymnasia, twenty-one colleges, thirtyfive preparatory schools, sixteen houses of education, seven for higher branches, two boarding-schools for girls, seven normal schools, one school for foreigners, two schools of law, two veteri nary schools, two schools of midwifery, and two royal schools. The public, or national schools, amount to 5394; the inspectors to 286; the teachers to 7114; and the pupils of all classes, to about 498,000;—and, since the population of Bavaria is about four millions, it follows, that not less than one-eighth of the entire population is at school, which is a higher proportion than what attends the schools in Scotland.

Mr. Loudon, the talented editor of the "Gardener's Magazine," who travelled over most parts of Wirtemberg, Bavaria, and Baden, in 1828, bears the most unqualified testimony to the excellence and efficiency of the system of public instruction adopted in these countries, and the beneficial effects which have resulted from its operation. "From what I have seen," says he, "of Wirtemberg, I am inclined to regard it as one of the most civilized countries in Europe. I am convinced that the great object of government is more perfectly attained here, than even in Great Britain; because, with an almost equal degree of individual liberty, there are incomparably fewer crimes, as well as far less poverty and misery. Every individual in Wirtemberg reads and thinks; and to satisfy one's self that this is the case, he has only to enter into conversation with the first peasant he meets; to observe the number and style of the journals that are everywhere circulated, and the multitude of libraries in the towns and villages. I did not meet with a single beggar in Wirtemberg, and with only one or two in Bavaria and Baden. The dress of the inhabitants of Wir

temberg, as well as those of a great part of Bavaria and Baden, appeared to me to indicate a greater degree of comfort, than I had ever observed in any other country, with the exception, perhaps, of Sweden, and the Lowlands of Scotland."

The above sketches were written two or three years ago. Since that time, M. Victor Cousin's "Report of the State of Public Instruction," has been published, and translated into English by Mrs. Austin. This report, which fills nearly 340 pages, contains a very full, but rather dry detail, of the whole machinery of education in Prussia. From this document it appears, that, in 1831, there were 22,612 schools, and 27,749 schoolmasters and mistresses-that the total number of children under fourteen years of age was 4,767,072; the number between seven and fourteen years, 2,043,030, out of which, the number of children attending school was 2,021,421, or nearly a sixth part of the whole population, which is estimated at about twelve and a half millions. It does not appear, from this report, that infant schools are established in Prussia, or any institutions for the instruction

of young persons from the age of fourteen to twenty, or upwards;

nor can we learn, from any thing stated in it, that an intellectual principle is uniformly acted upon in the details of education. The system presents too much of a military spirit and character, throughout all its departments, corresponding to the nature of a despotic government; and it would require a very considerable modification, before it could, with propriety, be adopted in a republic or a limited monarchy. Many deficiencies in the system likewise require to be supplied. Yet, notwithstanding all its defects, it has already produced a benign influence on the knowledge and moral conduct of the inhabitants of that country; and, in a short time, if Britain does not immediately bestir herself in the cause of education, the Prussian population will be among the most enlightened inhabitants of Europe.

France. Notwithstanding the numerous scientific characters which have appeared in this country, and the discoveries and improvements they have made in the physical and mathematical sciences the provision for public instruction, particularly in the southern departments, is very defective. The Revolution of 1789 annihilated almost every existing institution, and those for public instruction among the rest. For a period of nearly five years, a whole nation of thirty millions of people remained without any regular education. It was, indeed, enacted by a law of the 13th September, 1791, "That a system of public instruction should be organized; that the public schools should be open to every one; and that no fees should be charged for the elementary