Greek and schoolmaster were correlative terms, and alike epithets of derision. I afterward," he continues, "found, as I advanced in life, that they had abundant reason for their opinion; and that'the greatest scholars are not always the wisest men.' But how it happens, that a mind enriched with the knowledge of so many things, is not made thereby more active and lively, while the commonest native understanding is able without any cultivation to comprehend the thoughts and conclusions of the noblest intellects that the world has ever produced, this, I confess, I can not explain. 'Whoever must needs incorporate the thoughts of so many strong and mighty brains with his own,' said a young lady to me once, in allusion to a certain acquaintance of ours, 'can not do it, without first compressing his own brain, and drawing it into a smaller compass.' I might perhaps conclude, that, as plants are choked by too much moisture, and lamps quenched by too much oil, so it is with the activity of the understanding through too much study, and too great a burden of knowledge; for, through the vast diversity of subjects among which its attention is divided, it is plunged into endless entanglements, and is crippled and clogged by the weight under which it staggers. But the fact is ; quite otherwise; for the mind expands in proportion as it is filled. In proof of this assertion, we can point to many examples of antiquity, where men, who have proved equal to the discharge of high public functions, men who have shown themselves great generals or able statesmen, have been at the same time very learned."

As we observe, Montaigne does not overlook the fact that in Julius Cæsar, Pericles, and others, great attainments in knowledge harmonized admirably with practical efficiency. Yet he is the panegyrist of the Lacedæmonian method of education, which he places in bold contrast with the Athenian, much to the disadvantage of the latter. And not satisfied even with this expression of his views, he adds, "We are taught by examples, that the study of the sciences renders the disposition weak and womanish, rather than unyielding and brave. The strongest government at present existing in the world, is the Turkish; for there the people are trained to prize arms, and to look with contempt upon learning. I find too, that Rome was greatest, when the people were ignorant. The most warlike nations in our day are those which are the most rude and uneducated. The Scythians, Parthians, Tamerlane and others, are examples of the truth

of this remark."

Aside from this overestimate, this idolatry, we might almost term it, of barbarism and brute force, we find in this chapter many very excellent educational hints, which agree essentially with what has already been quoted. Take for instance the following:

"If we look at the customary method by which instruction is imparted to us, we shall not be at all astonished that neither scholars nor teachers are made either wiser or more learned thereby. The care and expense which our fathers bestow upon our education absolutely aims at nothing further than to fill our heads with knowledge; but to cultivate the understanding and the heart is not so much as thought of. If we exclaim, in the hearing of the people, concerning a certain person passing by,-'O, the learned man!' and concerning another, 'O, the good man!' you can not withhold them from fastening their glances and their regards upon the first; so that a third person would be justified in turning upon them, and crying out, 'What a pack of blockheads are ye all!' We are particular to ask concerning any one, Does he understand Greek?' 'Does he read Latin ?' 'Does he write poetry?' or, 'Does he write prose?' but whether he has become better, or more judicious, (and these after all are the main points,) we do not so much as think of. We should inquire, who is the wisest, not who is the most learned. If the mind of my pupil has not received a better direction through study, and if his judgment has not been matured by it, it is my opinion, that his time would have been much better employed in playing ball; for then, at least his body would have grown stronger and more healthy. Look at him on | his return home, after so many years spent at the university; who is less prepared than he to set about any thing practical? And the most noticeable thing in him is, that his Greek and Latin have rendered him more stupid and more arrogant than he was when he first left his home. He ought to have returned with a full-grown and well-conditioned intellect, but it has on the contrary become dwarfed and puffed up with vanity."

This attack upon an over-regard paid to the intellect to the neglect of the moral nature, upon an anti-utilitarian spirit, and upon all mere exercises of the memory,-all this, is an exact fore-shadowing of Rousseau. So likewise are the following passages against dead learning, without the power or the skill to vitalize it.

"What avails it if we fill our stomachs with food, unless it is digested and changed into nutriment, unless it gives us strength and growth? We rest so entirely upon the shoulders of other men, that our own powers at last utterly fail us. Shall I arm myself against the by the aid of a passage from

fear of death, I am forced to do it Cicero. Do I seek consolation for myself or for my friends, I obtain it from Seneca. But had I been educated aright, I would rather have drawn consolation from my own breast. I do not love this vicarious and mendicant serenity. We must be taught by means of

the knowledge of others, it is true, but we can never become wiser, save through our own wisdom."

"My unlearned countrymen call these highly accomplished gentlemen, in their droll way, 'overdone with study;' and truly it almost seems as if they had studied all their inborn understanding quite out of their heads. For, on the other hand, do but look at the hind or the shoemaker; they keep the even tenor of their way, and speak only of that which they know; but these fellows, while exalting themselves, and parading the knowledge that swims about on the surface of their brains, fall into perplexity, and stumble at every step. Galen they may chance to know; but they know nothing of the disease of their patient. Their heads may be full of law; but how to manage a cause in court, this they do not understand at all. Of each and every thing they shall have learned the theory; but some one else must be looked up, when it comes to the practice."

"But it is not enough that our education be not an injury to us; it ought to make us better. We have in France some Parliaments, that examine the officers, whom they are to admit, only upon their knowledge; others, on the contrary, test their understandings also, by presenting them with some law case, that they may give their opinion upon its merits. These latter appear to me to proceed in much the most appropriate and judicious manner. And though, in such an office, there is need of both, yet knowledge is of less value than a sound judgment. For as the Greek verse expresses it, 'learning is useless, unless the mind control and direct it; and, would to God, that we were so fortunate in the matter of our administration of justice, as to have our courts gifted with as much understanding and conscience as they now possess of knowledge. 'But alas, we do not learn how to live, only how to talk.'"

We now take our leave of this eminently original, and judicious, yet light and sarcastic writer, who, by the aid of an unperverted common sense, looked upon the world with a far greater distinctness of vision, than the scholar, imprisoned, as it were, in the fetters of a dead classical formality, could by any means hope to do. In a bold and striking manner he uttered all his thoughts without any constraint, and without once asking himself what pedants might say of him. How much he effected by this course, and what universal favor he has met with, is attested by the many editions which have been demanded of his Essays, and by the influence, which he exerted not only on his contemporaries, but also on the most distinguished men of succeeding generations, and especially on Rousseau.

XII. PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN SARDINIA.

BY VINCENZO BOTTA.

Late Professor of Philosophy in the Colleges of Sardinia.

(Continued from page 64, Vol. III.)

VI. SCIENTIFIC AND ARTISTIC ESTABLISHMENTS.

To complete our exposition, we add a short account of some of the principal scientific and artistic establishments, which though not dependent on the Department of Instruction, yet greatly conduce to the general culture of the people, to the advancement of science, and are the standard of the intellectual development of the country.

ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.-This academy was founded by private individuals, such as the Counts of Saluzzo, Lagrange and Cigna, who were soon joined by other celebrated men, as Alioni, Foncenex and Morozzo. In 1783, this private association was transformed into a public institution by a special privilege bestowed upon it by the Duke of Savoy, Victor Amedeus III., and very soon was illustrated by the names of Dantoni, Robilante, Debutet, Napione, Prospero Balbo and many others of great scientific or literary reputation. In more recent times the greatest men of the country have belonged to this academy, as the great chemist Giobert, Bidone the mathematician, Diodata Saluzzo the poetess, Provana, Lascaris, Bessone, Boucheron, and Rosmini.

The Academy is divided into two classes, one of mathematical and physical sciences, the other of moral, historical and philological sciences. When complete it numbers forty resident members, twenty for each class; its officers are a President, Vice President, and a treasurer. Moreover, each class is presided over by a Director and a Secretary. Besides these forty members who must be residents of Turin, the classes are allowed to elect ten other national members, either within or without the State. There are also twenty foreign members, ten for each class, among whom we find the most celebrated men of Europe. The number of corresponding members is not determined by the by-laws, and can be increased at the will of the academy. Each class offers, every year, a reward of a certain sum to the best work on some specified subject: twenty-four annual pensions of six hundred francs each are secured to the eldest members of the academy.

In 1759 the first volume of the Academy was published under the title of Miscellanea philosophico-mathematica societatis privata Taurinensis, which was received with great favor by all the scientific bodies of Europe. From 1759 to 1773 four other volumes were published, under

the title of Melanges de philosophie et de mathematique de la Societe Royale de Turin. Since 1783 the transactions of the Academy are published under the title of MEMORIE DELLA R. ACADEMIA DELLE SCIENZE DI TORINO, the first series of which embraces forty volumes. The second series of the publications, which first made its appearance in 1839, now numbers fourteen volumes.

The hall of the meetings of the Academy is adorned with the busts of its three founders, of King Victor Amedeus III., Denina, Vernazza and Gerdil. The Academy possesses a very rich collection of medals and coins, Greek, Latin, and modern, of which a catalogue was published some years ago; this collection was presented to the academy by one of its members, M. Lavy, who gave also to the institution eighteen marble busts of ancient Romans, which adorn the great Hall of the public meetings of the academy. It possesses besides a choice and rich library, which contains the acts of all the principal scientific Associations of the world, and a hundred and thirty-five Mexican volumes, seven hundred and seventy-eight from the United States, seventy from the Phillipine Islands, a hundred from China, forty-eight from the East Indies, and thirty-two Arabic and Syriac. In the palace of the academy, which was built according to the design of Guarini, we find also a Hall containing specimens of industrial works, models, drawings and lithographies, which is called the Hall of Arts and Mechanic Professions.

ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY.-This institution was designed for the children of the officers of the army, and is located in a large building, near the palace of the king. It was built by Charles Emmanuel II., after the design of Amedeus of Castellamonte, and was finished by Mary John Baptist, his widow, while Regent of the kingdom. During the minority of Victor Amedeus II., the original object of this academy was to receive the pages of the court and young men belonging to the nobility, and to instruct them in the use of all kinds of weapons, in horsemanship, dancing, mathematics, and belles-lettres. Though from the accounts of Alfieri, who was a pupil of that academy, we can not say that the instruction given at that time by the institution had any claim to high scientific excellence, still it had even then acquired great reputation for the accomplishments of the pupils, so that even at that time many Russian and English noblemen placed their children under its direction. In the course of time the academy passed through many successive improvements and reforms, and as it now stands, has for its object the instruction in the art of war of young men intending to become officers in the army. There are two courses in the academy, one of five years for the ordinary departments, and the other of six for the learned departments. The first graduates non-commissioned officers, and the second lieutenants; who, however, must remain two years more in the institution, for the school of application, serving at the same time in some regiment. The various branches of instruction are intrusted to twenty professors, viz.: of Analysis and Mechanics, of descriptive Geometry, of Mathematics, of physical Science,