(3) Elementary education is not gratuitous, as a rule, except for those who can not afford to pay for it; and in secondary schools instruction is not, as a rule, given free of charge, except in the case of scholars who are not only too poor to pay, but have distinguished themselves, when gratuitous instruction is generally available. In some schools, however, there are only a certain number of free places; but to these, in some cases, in consequence of royal and private legacies, free dinners and suppers, or free dinners, are attached. Fees, however, are in all cases low. Generally chil. Iren have to buy school books, unless in cases of poverty.

(4) Although the gradation of schools is not in all places the same, infant schools are generally the first (although not a compulsory) grade; and these children generally attend from the ages of two to six, but they are by no means always State schools. Indeed, infant schools are not favored in Germany; they tell you "it is settled by all the medical authorities that children have no business to begin to learn before they are six years old." In the land of Froebel I expected to be impressed with the perfection of the kindergarten schools, and to find them form a part of state education. In both respects, however, I was disappointed. The infant schools I saw did not excel in discipline or intelligence those that I visited in England and elsewhere; and although they, like all others in Germany, are subject to Government inspection, probably their voluntary character has some bearing upon the absence of special excellence. They are in Germany considered advantageous institutions, although a lady there, the wife of a professor, told me that she regarded them with disfavor because rich people send their infants to them instead of giving the children the superior advantage of home influence and training; and even were it not so, she considered them as only good to the extent of keeping the children off the street, because she is of opinion that they cause children to dislike both play and work. An experienced school inspector in Germany, although considering the schools in question distinctly desirable, also told me that a danger of such schools was found to be that the children acquire habits of playing in school which they carry into the primary schools. Instruction is not gratuitous, the fee charged being generally about three marks per month.

(5) Primary day schools (Volksschulen) are the first compulsory stage of German education; but many parents have their children educated at the commencement in a preparatory gymnasium (Vorschule), where they remain till about the age of nine, when the secondary school course commences. Class numbers are generally regulated by law. There are no standards, but the time table is a part of the school law and the school regulations of the country. Home lessons are usual. There is nothing special to remark concerning school buildings, except that in the cities they are very fine.

(6) Supplementary (continuation) schools (Fortbildungsschulen), which are virtually secondary schools held in the evenings and on Sunday mornings, are everywhere the next stage, and are especially intended for deepening and extending the knowledge of apprentices after leaving school. But these only apply where a child does not attend a secondary school. Attendance at these schools in many States is compulsory, but not so everywhere. In all cases some preparation for industrial occupations, is taught in them. Instruction in supplementary schools is not in all States gratuitous, although where not gratuitous the fees are always low. In Prussia all tuition is charged for in some, and in others French and English alone are charged for as extras. In Saxony, on the other hand, there is no charge made. The half-time system does exist, but to no great extent.

(7) Public secondary schools, which are almost always day schools, exist in all the States; but there is not everywhere the same gradation. Where the organization is complete they, and the higher educational establishments, mainly consist of: (a) preparatory schools (Vorschulen) for children from about the age of six to nine; (b) modern schools (Realschulen) preparatory for the upper modern school and the polytechnic; (c) upper modern (Ober Realschulen), in which there is no Latin taught,

and which specially prepare for entrance into the polytechnic school to continue scientific education; (d) polytechnic schools or technical universities; (e) classical schools (gymnasien) preparatory for any of the faculties of the university, or for the polytechnic school; (f) universities, of which there are twenty exclusive of the academies of Münster and Braunsberg, which provide the ultimate course of instruction. In all secondary and higher schools in Prussia fees are charged; but the main support of such schools accrues from the State or municipality. So in Saxony, where the fee is £6 a year. There is no provision at the public expense for the secondary education of girls in some States, but in Berlin, at all events, in the case of a girl who has distinguished herself at a primary school and whose parents are too poor to continue her education, the State pays 484 marks per annum for her tuition at a private school. Science and art training, but especially science, are everywhere fostered. Workshops are not yet introduced into the primary schools, but drawing is therein universally and well taught, and there are apprenticeship schools.

The regulations to insure thorough qualification of all teachers are strictly enforced, There are no pupil-teachers. In the Royal seminary at Berlin for training-masters, pupils must be at least sixteen years old upon entering, and they are not allowed to teach before they have at least attained the age of nineteen and have passed their examination satisfactorily. The education is not gratuitous, except for those who are too poor to pay, in which case it must also be shown that the applicants' testimonials are good. There are probably at this institution 20 free places out of accommodation for 200 pupils. Admission to a normal school can only be obtained after passing an examination, and the term of study there varies from three to six years; and religious instruction is included in the course. There are some normal schools for the training of mistresses, although they are not so numerous as those for masters, "Because in German countries women are much less used in teaching than men. This is especially the case above the three or four lowest classes. They think that many of the subjects in the classes above are not fit to teach." And Mr. M. Arnold thinks the result satisfactory. A part of the training in all such schools consists in practising teaching under the guidance of a preceptor. The main duty of a head teacher in Germany is considered to be that of supervision, and therefore he undertakes only a limited number of lessons. The salaries are very small, and no part of the pay is dependent upon examination or attendance results. Pensions are granted, but deductions are made from salaries for the pension fund; and there are also voluntary benefit associations formed by the teachers for provision in case of sickness or death.

The school year runs from Easter to Easter, and important examinations, both written and oral, are arranged to take place before Easter and Michaelmas. On the results of examination depends the promotion of students from one class to a higher. In addition to ordinary inspections, each primary school in every third or fourth year is carefully inspected by an expert member of the board of education. There are no state scholarships in primary or secondary schools. Scholarships are provided only in the universities by Royal or private legacies, and are not awarded unless to scholars who combine the two conditions of (a) being poor, and (b) having distinguished themselves; and even then the scholarships are comparatively very small. In all States private as well as public schools are under state supervision; and where the teacher does not possess the necessary diploma from a "Wissenschaftliche Prüfungs-Commission," he must hold one from a seminary or normal school.

Not only is there as a rule a school library for pupils, but a school library for teachers, as a part of the regular apparatus of a school.

Material differences between States.-The material differences between some States in educational matters relate principally to the (a) gradation of schools; (b) conditions relative to providing religious instruction; (c) payment of or freedom from fees; (d) compulsory attendance at supplementary schools; and (e) university regulationsas, for instance, at Leipsic and Jena, where students unable to pay may, by petition, obtain leave to attend without fees.

The report of Dr. Laishley has been quoted thus extensively because it. states the conditions of the German schools without bias or prejudice.

V.-STATISTICS OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN AMERICA.

The population of the United States in 1887 was estimated at 58,713,000. The common schools, including primary, grammar (or intermediate), and high schools, had enrolled in the same year 11,884,944 pupils. This is 20.38 per cent. of the population, or about 1 per cent. more than in Prussia and about 6 per cent. more than in France. If we add to this the percentage of students in secondary institutions not belonging to the common schools, such as academies, colleges, etc., namely, 0.35 per cent., the percentage rises to 20.73.

While this would seem a very flattering state of affairs, it must be stated that the number 11,884,944 is only one basis of computation, inasmuch as it represents the entire number of pupils enrolled. Another basis of computation is found in the average number of pupils attending. That number is considerably less than the number enrolled, namely, 7,682,000, or 13.09 per cent of the population; or, with the addition referred to, 13.44 per cent. But since the basis of computation which yielded the percentage in Prussia (17.2 and 19.51 per cent. respectively) is the number enrolled, or "inscribed," as the technical term is in Germany and France, the same number must be used for the United States.

VI.-CRITICISM OF THE AMERICAN SCHOOLS.

Dr. R. Laishley gives much prominence in his report to the American schools. He first sets forth the main principles recognized in the United States as relating to education; then sketches in bold, but essentially correct, lines the organization of the common school and the efforts in behalf of secondary instruction, indulges in some criticism which seems fair, coming from an outsider, and then concludes his report by saying:

In the American system there is much that induces commendation; especially (a) Large powers of local government, including powers of direct local taxation. (b) Compulsory attendance laws so far as they exist, although they exist only to a limited extent. (c) The promotion of technical instruction, including prominence given to drawing. (d) The requirement in certain States respecting the knowledge of the influence of alcohol on the human body; and (e) The provisions, as far as they extend, against the improper employment of children. But public education in the United States has not arrived at that condition which justifies its imitation as a complete system.

For instance, respecting the States generally, there exists the want of adequate provisions affecting, (a) school accommodation, (b) compulsory education, (c) length

We purposely choose the statistics of the year 1837, though those of 1888 are at hand, in order to afford a fair comparison with Prussia and France, the latest available statistics of which are of 1886-87.

of school terms, (d) training, standard of qualification, and appointment of teachers; (e) religious instruction, (f) physical training, (g) inspection, (h) infant school arrangements, and (i) injurious employment of children; involving an unjustifiable amount of illiteracy, incompetent teaching in too many cases, religious friction, and a very general absence of that thoroughness, without which veneer is apt to take the place of substance-causes which, as it seems to me, must, if unamended, not only retard the progress, but sap the core of any nation.

There must, however, be much to learn, even if there be not everything to imitate, for apart from the large questions which may, with especial advantage, be studied in connection with the States, and in addition to much that may be commended, to arrive at a clear perception of error, must be a distinct gain. Moreover, the immense mass of data on educational subjects not only relating to the States, but to all parts of the world, annually collected and gratuitously distributed by the Bureau of Education is indeed a most valuable contribution and aid to educational progress, and deserves to be extensively and gratefully availed of.

VII. THE SCHOOLS OF FRANCE.

Until recently France has had no system of schools that admitted of a comparison with those of the United States. Since the year 1871, or since the beginning of the new republic, however, France has made great progress in public education. Indeed its efforts in behalf of common school education have been so enormous, and their results so astonishing, that a comparison with the efforts in our own country seems quite proper.

The population of France in 1886 was 38,218,903. As will be seen from Diagram III, the primary elementary school there extends its course over only six instead of over eight years as in Prussia and here; but this course is followed by a two or three years' course in superior elementary schools, which may be said to be still in their infancy. The elementary schools are preceded by the maternal or infant schools, institutions similar to but not identical with the kindergarten in Germany and the United States, only with this vital difference, that they are organically connected with the primary school. Hence, definite statistics concerning their number of pupils are not lacking as in Germany and America. These infant schools in France had in 1886-87 741,224 pupils, which number represents nearly 2 per cent. of the population.

The primary elementary schools, institutions similar to the German people's schools, contain 5,487,589 pupils in 1886, or 14.45 per cent. of the population. Now, 14.45 per cent. is about 6 per cent. less than in the United States and 2.77 per cent. less than in Prussia. If the fact is considered that the course in the elementary schools is two years (respectively, one year) shorter than in Prussia, the apparent discrepancy between these two countries vanishes, and it would seem that compulsory attendance works out a corresponding result. Again, if we were to deduct all the pupils over twelve years in this country, the percentage would fall lower than it was stated (20.38 per cent.).

The addition of the extremely small number of pupils in France who avail themselves of the advantages offered in the superior elementary

schools (not quite 40,000), and the number of pupils in the various public secondary schools (not quite 100,000), raise the average per cent. of the population but little, namely:

Since we have for the United States and for Prussia excluded in our calculations the kindergarten and university, we must do likewise for France.

The French elementary schools, primary and superior, are attracting the attention of other nations in no small degree. They are not only endowed lavishly and provided with costly apparatus, such as is found neither in the American common schools nor in German people's schools, but an experiment is at present being made in connection with them, the progress and results of which are watched closely on both sides of the Atlantic, to wit: The Government has decreed that manual training be introduced as an integral part of the curriculum. In 1887 100 of 174 boys' elementary schools in Paris had commodious workshops for work in joining, turning, wood carving, and forging.

VIII-CRITICISM OF THE FRENCH SCHOOLS.

Dr. Laishley, whose views have been quoted on German and American schools, expresses himself quite fully in regard to the French school system. He says

The present state system, as revised by the laws of the 16th of June, 1881, and 28th of March, 1882, should be a peculiarly interesting study, as being the most absolute one existing of gratuitous, secular, and compulsory education. And the enactments just mentioned, which entirely changed the main features of primary education in France, were passed by reason of the views prevailing there, that "in France the preliminary condition of all progress was the secularization of education; " and that the laws in question "would enable France to resume the march onward which was begun by the revolution of 1789."

The great education question, which has been agitated in France for some years, has been whether the priesthood, or the bulk of the people, shall have the dominating influence over popular education. The people have prevailed; and accordingly education in all the national educational establishments is exclusively secular. And by the law passed in 1886 “in public schools of every description all instruction is to be given exclusively by laymen." Whether this will eventually be profitable has yet to be proved; inasmuch as the legislation is too recent to enable the system to be deemed yet other than as an experiment in France. But meantime the friction is obviously great; and hostile influences bitter and powerful.

Special features.-The special features connected with this system appear to be(1) The eager national intention to render it as perfect as possible; (2) In pursuance of that intention, the munificent, indeed, the lavish, expenditure upon education; (3) The absence of any religious feature, but the system purports to be absolutely neutral in, and not hostile to, religion; (4) The special attention paid to the promotion of industrial training by means of gratuitous schools, classes, and lectures, and