especially the grafting of such training upon ordinary primary school education; (5) The organization of, and provision for, teaching and inspection in infant schools and classes; and (6) The remarkable percentage of attendances at the primary schools. The state, far more absolutely than elsewhere, controls the complete education of the people.

Gratuitous and compulsory phases.-Instruction in all primary, including infant schools, is now gratuitous. School necessaries also are provided without charge; and in Paris penny dinners are provided by the municipality, which dinners, in the case of really poor children, are gratuitous. There are no separate free schools for paupers, as in England.

Compulsory attendance now applies to all children from the age of six (complete) to that of thirteen (complete). If, however, they are receiving instruction at home, or at a private school, or obtain a "certificat d'études" (which is possible to obtain at eleven), they are exempt. In respect of this certificate, Matthew Arnold says: "The boy who gets a 'certificat d'études' has, I think, been better trained and has more to show for his schooling than the boy who has gone through the standards;" whilst the royal commissioners for technical instruction state that the examination "will probably not be considered more difficult than that of the children in our English schools who pass the fifth standard and have taken up one or more of the special subjects.

The only other excuses allowed are: (a) One applicable to half-time scholars, viz, that a school board may, subject to the consent of the departmental council, exempt children employed in trades or agriculture from one of the two daily attendances-so "that children can only be employed as half-timers in trades or agriculture, under the age of thirteen, by the joint consent of the communes and of the department, unless at or above the age of eleven they have obtained the 'certificat d'études;'" (b) illness of the child; (e) death of a member of the family; or (d) hindrances resulting from accidental difficulty of access to the school. And all other excuses will have to be judged by the scholastic commission, a body constituted for the purpose of enforcing regular school attendance.

Owing probably, however, not only to the public desire for education in France, but to the strict supervision exercised by the authorities, and the punishments imposable in case of irregularity in attendance, the school attendance is excellent, especially in cities; and it is computed "that 10 per cent. is the maximum absence for any school in Paris, while in a very large number of schools the total average of attendance exceeds 95 per cent.

Children are protected by law against premature employment, but the law does not seem to be, in some of the departments, officially carried out. Proper books recording the attendance at both public and private schools have to be kept, and absences reported, and even private head-masters neglecting to do this are liable to be repri manded or suspended.

School age-There is no definition of school age, or any law respecting it, except that relating to compulsory attendance. The "écoles maternelles" admit children from two years of age, and from M. Ferry's report on the organization of superior primary schools, coupled with the facilities provided by the state for the promotion of adult education, it is evident that it is against the policy of France to impose any limit of age.

Infant schools. The infant class, or the maternal school, is the initial, although not, as applying to any under school age (six), a compulsory stage. Of infant schools or classes, the following points seem worth consideration: (a) The object of and method adopted in them, including the adoption in great part of the method of Froebel; (b) the addition of an infant class to a primary school when a separate school is impracticable; (c) the limitation of numbers for each teacher; and (d) the fact that infant schools are not only taught exclusively by females (who must be,

This is an error; twelve is the maximum in the primary school.-[ED.

however, of a certain age, and qualified), but also inspected by "departmental lady inspectors," and "general lady inspectors," nominated by the minister. It should, however, be added that the appointments of departmental lady inspectors are not yet regularly and generally established, by reason of the expense; although it is hoped that it will be possible to perfect the organization in a few years. Private infant schools are subject to supervision similarly to other private schools.

Elementary primary schools.-The next grade is the primary school proper, where instruction is always understood to be, whatever may be the number of pupils and classes, divided into three courses of two years each-(a) Elementary, from six to eight years of age; (b) Intermediate, from eight to ten, and superior, from ten to twelve. An additional course of one, two, or three years is provided under certain circumstances; but this course, although annexed to the elementary schools, is ranked in the category of superior primary education.

In all the above-mentioned courses industrial work, or, at all events, what may be deemed to be practical preparation for it, is in the programmes both for boys and girls; and, indeed, in many primary schools, including a considerable number of those in Paris, instruction is given in handicrafts.

The ordinary number of pupils in an elementary primary school, at least in Paris, is from 300 to 400; and the average size of the classes ranges from 40 to 50 pupils, and must not exceed 50.

In every primary school there is a hall, where there are lavatories and movable tables whereon the children can take at noon their dinner meal, and near to there are culinary arrangements for preparing or warming up the children's food. Where there is not a special hall for the teaching of gymnastics, the children can march or perform gymnastic exercises in the dining hall, or have recreation there in rainy weather; and in such a case a part of it will be devoted for the deposit of the children's clothing. The playgrounds are, as a rule, small; although they are considered indispensable for a primary school.

Both Mr. Matthew Arnold and a prominent member of the London school board consider that the French elementary schools are in advance of the English; and the commissioners state that the ordinary schools of France (primary and secondary) excel the English ones as a preparation for the technical school.

Superior primary schools.-The next step is the superior primary school, an institution entirely distinct from the elementary primary school; and here the course comprises at least two years of studies, and here also manual instruction is pursued; although there are also schools established mainly for apprenticeship instruction purposes, superior primary schools include also higher elementary technical schools. The object of the establishment of superior primary schools is found stated in the report of October 29, 1881; and their organization in a letter from M. Ferry to the prefect, dated November 6, 1881. There are no optional subjects. Special masters attend to teach music, gymnastics, and sometimes drawing, which is said to be more advanced than in English schools. The ordinary school hours are from 8 a. m. to 4 p. m., one hour and and a half interval at noon, and one hour 4 to 5 p. m. for gymnastics. The income available for expenditure on primary schools is derived mainly from the state and the communes. The state supremely controls, in the case of all primary schools, through the minister of public instruction.

Secondary and higher schools.—(1) Substantial public money aid is given by grants and in scholarships, which latter are provided for colleges, lyceums, and faculties, as well as for superior primary schools, and the aid is contributed respectively by the state, the departments, and the communes, and is very munificent. (2) Instruction in secondary schools is not gratuitous, but the fees payable by scholars are very much less than in similar establishments in England, owing not only to the grants, but to the low salaries paid to professors and teachers of all grades in France. (3) The admission of young children into the lower divisions of both the communal colleges and lyceums for special elementary preparation is worthy of note, and also (4) the fact

that modern languages and science have been largely substituted in the secondary schools for Latin and Greek.

Technical instruction.-No pains are spared, especially to develop the manual genius of the artisan classes. This is done not only by the blending of industrial theory and practice into the primary school course of study, and by evening schools, Sunday, apprentice, and continuation schools and classes, but by science and art schools for adults and others, and by lectures of all kinds; all which instruction is gratuitous, except in some cases a nominal fee for admission to lectures. The evening instruction is considered the most striking feature of the present condition of educational effort in France.

Physical training.—Physical training occupies a prominent position in the school programmes. It is provided that even the infant schools and classes shall be exercised in gymnastics, graduated to favor the physical development of the child, whilst in reciting in the regulations of primary schools the triple object of education, physical education is placed before either of the two other objects, and it is provided that in addition to evolutions and exercises which can accompany the movements of the class, gymnastic exercises are to be had every day, or at least every two days, in the course of the afternoon. In the communal colleges and lyceums the exercises occupy four lessons per week of half an hour's duration each.

Private schools.-Private schools are not under general state control, yet they are subject to state supervision in respect to (a) morality, (b) sanitary arrangements, (c) the keeping a register of and reporting absences, and (d) so that the books used be not such as are contrary to the actual constitution or principles of the government.

Teachers.-The "brevet de capacité" requirement of the law of June 16, 1881, and the further provisions of the law passed in 1886, render the proper qualification of teachers indispensable. The subject of normal schools therefore has become, not only to the state but to the teacher, an especially important one; and in all the departments there are excellent state normal schools for the training of masters and in many for mistresses. Examinations are held for admission. Pupils enter at eighteen. The course of study is for three years. A primary school, in which pupils are exercised, is annexed to each normal school, and near outside is a maternal school. The institutions are boarding schools, although a certain number of half boarders and day scholars are received; but instruction and board are given gratuitously. There is no religious teaching.

There are also two superior normal schools, one at Fontenay-aux-Roses for girls, and one at St. Cloud for boys, for the purpose of training teachers to superintend teaching in normal schools. Applicants for admission must be at least twenty years of age, possess the superior certificate granted to teachers, and succeed in an admission examination which comprehends written and oral proofs of capacity, including the practice of teaching. Both classes of establishments are national institutions, nonecclesiastical and mainly residential in character.

Teachers for primary schools must be exclusively laymen, and are nominated on the proposition of the inspector by the prefect of the department (province). The inspector, however, "always acts in concert with and takes the opinion of the rural municipality before naming the teacher."

The pupil-teacher system is virtually defunct in France, the former system of monitors which somewhat corresponded to the English pupil-teacher arrangements having become substantially a thing of the past. Women are much more fully employed as teachers than in Germany and Switzerland.

Professors and teachers of all grades are very poorly paid; and if Victor Hugo's definition be correct, that the schoolmaster in France is the highest functionary of the state, they certainly do not pay their highest state functionaries adequately. Every teacher has a right to a pension after twenty-five years' service. It is calculated at the rate of one-half of the highest salary earned during the last six years

of office. Toward the pension fund, deductions are made from salaries. Gratuities are given.

Inspection. The inspection is excellent, although there is no special feature, except that of lady inspectors for infant schools. All inspectors, chief, departmental, and primary, are nominated by the minister, and are recruited from amongst

the masters of elementary schools. Each department (province) of the country has a departmental inspector, and as many primary ones as there are divisions or districts. The inspectors' salaries, compared with those of the teachers, are high. The National Educational Association of France agreed that regular medical inspection should be made in every school to avoid epidemic or contagious diseases and injury to eyesight.

Medical inspectors are now employed in large cities.

IX.-SUMMARY OF COMPARATIVE STATISTICS.

Before entering into the minutiae of the work performed in the schools of Prussia and France, it seems well to review the statistics found on previous pages.

For every one hundred inhabitants in 1886-87 there were in public schools between kindergarten and university :

United States
Prussia..
France

In the

Enrolled.

In attendance.

For the lower schools alone the percentage is as follows:

FRANCE.

X.-OTHER POINTS OF COMPARISON.

All the Prussian schools mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs are public, excepting a few in the second group (see Diagram II); that is, they are open to the poorer children, provided the means are furnished them, but in that case special talents must entitle them to the opportunity of associating with aristocracy and plutocracy. The public schools as such are obnoxious to certain exclusive circles, hence they maintain private schools to which none but their own children are admitted. These exclusive institutions are omitted from the foregoing diagram, ED 89-4

since the comparison is to be between the American common school and such institutions in Germany as are similar in scope and aims.

Tuition in the American common school is free for all children of legal school age. Some States even fix the minimum at four years, while others fix the maximum at sixteen and eighteen years. In Germany, or, to keep within the boundary of comparison, in Prussia, free tuition is granted only to the indigent stratum of society. Though it is the ultimate aim of both the legislative and executive branches of the government to make tuition, at least in the people's schools, free of charge, as yet it has remained a pious wish. Only in rare cases, in the capital Berlin, for instance, the city government has carried this into effect throughout the city's school system.

It is a well-known fact and everywhere admitted that each class of schools in Germany is eminently successful within the limits of its scope; it must be stated, however, that the several classes are not in organic connection with each other, chiefly owing to the different, and even conflicting, demands made upon them by their patrons and the Government. The courses of study in schools of one and the same class frequently differ materially. If a pupil of a Prussian people's school applies for admission to a middle or high school, he may be set back . two, three, and four years, as the case may be, because he lacks knowl. edge of foreign or classic languages. This is merely an illustration of the heterogeneous nature of the various classes of schools.

Here in America, without national school supervision or legislation, the courses of study of common schools thousands of miles apart are so nearly alike that a pupil of the eighth-year grade of a Philadelphia city school may be safely admitted into the same grade of a San Francisco city school without danger of unduly retarding or promoting him. Or, a pupil who has gone through the lower schools in a small town of the West may apply for admission to almost any public high school in the land; he is reasonably sure of finding himself on a level with the requirements of admission.

Though we classify our grades into primary, grammar (or intermediate), and high schools, there is no essential difference between them in treatment of either object or subject. But in Germany, as will be shown later on, there is not only no uniformity, but even antagonism between the different classes of schools. It is easy to see that while this may be a fruitful source of competition, it is not conducive to harmony, and tends to retard the nationalizing of the schools of Germany.

XI.-DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THE COURSES OF STUDY IN PRUSSIAN SCHOOLS.

Before the reader is made acquainted with the minutiae of the different courses of study in graphic presentation, a few statements concerning the characteristics of the three groups of Prussian schools may precede a comparison with the schools in this country.