Report on education in Europe

Preface

The origin and nature of the following Report, which has been ordered to be printed by the Trustees of the Girard College for Orphans, will be best explained by prefixing to it the instructions directing the tour, during which the information embodied in it was collected. These instructions were di'awn up by the Committee on Scholastic Education,* who werecharged with this duty by the Board of Trustees.

Board of Trustees of the Girard College for Orphans, Septemher 19, 1836.

A. D. Bache, Esq.,

President of the Girard College for Orphans,

Philadelphia.

Dear Sir: — I enclose a copy of a resolution, passed by this Board on the 19th July last, authorizing you to visit Europe, under the instructions of the Committee on Scholastic Education. I also enclose, in quadruplicate, a commission from the Board, certified by the Mayor of Philadelphia, stating the objects of your mission, and asking the aid of all friends of science to facilitate your inquiries. The financial arrangements for your salary and expenses are, as you know, com-

* Consisting of Nicliolas Biddle, Chairman, W. M. Meredith, J. M. Keag-y, J.C. Biddle, S. V. Merrick, and W. W. Haly, Esq'rs. The Board of Trustees has since had to regret the decease of Dr. J. M. Keagy and J. C. Biddle, Esq., two of its most attentive and efficient nicmbers.

IV PREFACE.

pleted. It remains only for the Committee to add their instructions for your government.

Your familiarity with the subject of education, and your personal acquaintance with the views of the Board, of which you were a member, supersede the necessity of any detailed explanations in regard to the purposes of your voyage, or the best means of axjcomplishing them ; and the Committee will, therefore, confine themselves to such general instructions as may regulate the course of your movements and inquiries.

The Board of Trustees are charged by the City of Philadelphia to prepare a system of instruction for the Girard College for Orphans. For this purpose they are anxious to have the most accurate information of the best means used for the same purpose elsewhere, and you have been selected to obtain it. Your object, then, is to visit all establishments in Europe similar to the Girard College; and as these are found principally, if not exclusively, in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Prussia, and the rest of the states of Germany, these countries will form the natural limits of your tour. Accordingly, all institutions in each of those countries resembling the Girard College, or any others which promise to afford useful information in organizing it, you will see and examine. Your own reflection will readily suggest the points of information desired; and I will, therefore, merely enumerate a few, which may serve as a basis for your own extensive inv^estigation. Of every establishment visited by you, we should wish to know —

1. Its history, general administration, and the nature and extent of its funds.

2. Its interior organization and government ; the names, titles, and duties of all the persons employed in it.

3. Who are admitted to it, and the forms and terms of admission, and where it is professedly for the education of orphans who are considered as orphans.

PREFACE. V

4. The number and classification of the scholars, and their term of residence.

5. Their course of studies, in the minutest detail, from the commencement to the end of their residence in the institution, with the text-books and other works used.

6. As a part of that course, specially important to the Girard College, we should desire to know the regulations or the practice by which, among a large body of scholars, a portion, after continuing for some time in the institution, are permitted to begin their active career in life — while others, with greater aptitude or greater willingness to learn, are carried up to the higher branches of education. The nature and the mode of that discrimination would be highly interesting — as would also be —

7. The precise extent to which moral and religious instruction is proposed to be given, and is actually given, and also by whom and in what form that instruction is conveyed.

8. The mechanical arts taught — the mode of teaching them — the models, tools, and implements of all kinds employed — and the manner in which the practice of these arts is mingled with the routine of studies.

9. The system of rewards and punishments in regard to studies or personal conduct.

10. The general police and discipline of the school.

11. The amusements — gymnastic exercises — games of all kinds, uniting instruction with agreeable relaxation — together with the number and extent of the vacations, pecuniary allowance, or personal indulgences to the scholars.

12. The diet and clothing of the scholars.

13. The regulations in regard to health, hours of study and of rest, arrangement as to sleeping and eating, and the whole routine of each day's employment.

14. The expenses of the school, including salaries and all incidents, with the average annual expense of each scholar.

VI PREFACE.

15. The structure of the buildings, the arrangement of dormitories, refectories, play-grounds, and work-shops, illustrated by drawings, where they can be procured.

16. As a proper foundation for similar statistical inquiries in this country, you will collect all the information you can in respect to the proportion of orphans to the rest of the community.

These general heads of inquiry, which you can easily multiply, will indicate the wish of the Board that your examination should be thorough and practical. They already possess, or may easily obtain, all that books can teach on the subject. It is your especial duty to study the actual working of the machinery of education; to domesticate yourself, if practicable, in these institutions, and, by your own personal observation, to distinguish what is really useful from what is merely plausible in theory.

It is this anxiety that your investigation should be complete, which induces them not to fix at present any period for your return. How much time it may require cannot now be safely determined. They rely confidently on your diligence, and are sure that you will not prolong your absence without ample reason. While, therefore, they are very anxious to open the College with the least possible delay, they deem it so much more important to begin well than to begin soon, that they postpone naming any limit to your stay in Europe, until you are able to apprize them of your progress.

In respect to the purchase of books and apparatus, mentioned in the resolution of the Board, it is not their wish that you should, at this time, purchase a library, or an extensive philosophical apparatus. You will only inquire where they can be best procured hereafter, and, in the mean time, limit your actual purchases to text-books and other works used in schools, or which may assist your inquiries: to models, drawings, and such philosophical instruments as may be necessary or useful in

PREFACE. Vll

opening the College, or which you may deem it expedient to procure in anticipation of the larger collection.

The materials and information thus acquired you will, on your return, present to the Board of Trustees, and at the same time, or as soon thereafter as practicable, you will prepare a final Report, with a plan for the government and instruction of the College — the result of all your examination and reflection.

In the mean time, you will keep the Board constantly advised of your movements.

With my best wishes that your mission may be as pleasant as I am sure it will be useful, I remain,

Your's, truly,

(Signed.) N. BIDDLE, Chairman.

Contents

PAGE.

Part First

INSTITUTIONS FOR. THE EDUCATION OF ORPHANS AND OTHER DESTITUTE CHILDREN.

CHAPTER I. Eleemosynary Institutions of Great Britain, 11

Education Hospitals for Boys, at Edinburgh, 12

Notice of the Orphan Hospital, 13

Description of Heriot's Hospital, 13

Description of George Watson's Hospital, .... 32

Description of John Watson's Institution, .... 38

Notice of Cauvin's Hospital, 47

Eleemosynary Schools of England, ....... 48

Description of the Liverpool Blue-coat School, ... 48

Notice of Henshaw's Hospital, or tlie Oldham Blue-coat School, 56

Description of the London Orphan Asylum, Clapton, - - 58

Description of Christ's Hospital, or the London Blue-coat School, 65

CHAPTER II. Orphan-houses of Germany, 83

Introductory Observations, 83

Description of the Orphan-house of Hamburgh, ... 83

Notice of the Orphan-house of Altona, 93

Description of the Franke Foundations at Halle, - . . 94

Description of the Military Orphan-house at Potsdam, • - 115

Courses of Instruction in the Military Orphan-house at Annaburg, 125 Notices of the Civil Orphan-houses at Potsdam and at Little

Gliencke, 129

Description of the Orphan-house of Frankfort on Maine, - 131 Description of the School for Soldiers' Children at Struppen, near

Dresden, 137

Description of the Orphan-house of St. John at Prague, . - 140 B

X CONTENTS.

CHAPTER II. Primary or Elementary Schools, 170

Introductory Remarks.

Elementary Instruction in Great Britain, 174

General Account of the Provisions for Elementary Instruction in England, Ireland, and Scotland.

Juvenile Training School of the Glasgow Education Society, - 178

Sessional School of Edinburgh, 189

Elementary Departments of the Madras College at St. Andrew's, 194 Noticeof the Circus-Place School of Edinburgh, ... 196

CHAPTER III. Primary Instruction in France, 199

General Organization of Primary Instruction.

CHAPTER IV. Primary or Elementary Instruction in Holland, - . - . . 202

General Organization, &c.

A Primary School at the Hague, 209

Comparison of the Burgher Schools and French Schools with the

Schools for tlie Poor, 218

CHAPTER V. Primary or Elementary Instruction in Prussia, ..... 220

General Account of the Organization, &,c.

Primary Schools for the Poor, at Berlin, - - - - . 231 Observations on the Burgher or Middle Schools, ... 235

PA«E.

Seminary School of Weissenfels, 237

Dorothean Higher City-scliool of Berlin, - . . . . 240

Higher Burgher School of Potsdam, 261

Remarks on the Primary Instruction of Prussia, 268

CHAPTER VI. Elementary Instruction in Saxony, &c., 271

General Organization, Sec. Schools of Dresden and Leipsic. Burgher

School of Leipsic, 278

Notice of the Model Burgher School of Frankfort on the Maine, - - 287

Chapter VII

Primary Schools of Baireuth in Bavaria, with Special Reference to Doctor

Graser's System of Education, ....... 291

SCHOOLS OF THE ELEMENTARY CLASS INTENDED TO PREPARE FOR SOME PARTICULAR. OCCUPATION IN LIFE.

Chapter VIII

Schools of Agriculture and Industry, . . . . n, - - 303

Rural Schools of Switzerland, «&c., ....... 305

Agricultural School of Hofwyl, 306

Rural School of Carra, 310

Agricultural School of Templemoyle, near Londonderry, . . 311

Manual Labour School of Ealing, near London, . - • 315

Lamartinidre Industrial School of Lyons, - . . - . - 318

CHAPTER IX. Seminaries for the Preparation of Teachers of Primary Schools, - - 323

Introductory Observations.

Seminaries for Primary Teachers in Prussia, 327

Seminary of Weissenfels, 330

Seminary of Berlin, 342

Education of Teachers in Holland.

Notice of the School for the Education of Teachers at Haarlem, 346 Normal Schools of France.

Primary Normal Schools of Versailles and Dijon, . - - 349 Schools for Teachers in Switzerland.

SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

CHAPTER X. General Divisions of Secondary Instruction, 362

Observations on the Secondary Instruction preparatory to the University Courses.

Xll CONTENTS.

PAGE.

Secondary Schools of Great Britain. General Remarks, - - - 365

The Academy of Edinburgh, -....-- 368

Notice of the Glasgow Higii-School, ..... 374

Notice of the Belfast Academy, ...... 379

Notice of the Belfast Academical Institution, .... 381

The Hill Street Institution of Edinburgh, and comparison witli

the Academy, 382

The Grammar School at Rugby, 390

Courses of Instruction at Harrow Grammar School, - - 398

Comparison of Rugby and Harrow, &c., .... 399

St. Domingo-House School at Everton, near Liverpool, • - 402

Bruce-Castle School at Tottenham, near London, - - - 409

CHAPTER XI. Secondary Instruction in France, ....... 417

General Organization of the University of France and of Secondary Instruction.

The Royal Colleges of France, 424

Normal School for the Education of Teachers for the Secondary

Schools, 440

CHAPTER XII. Secondary Instruction in Prussia, ....... 450

General Division of the Schools.

Organization of Classical Secondary Schools or Gymnasia, ... 451 Frederick William Gymnasium of Berlin, ... - 470

Cologne Real Gymnasium of Berlin, 471

Gymnasium at Schulpforta, ....... 472

Comparison of the Studies of the Frederick William Gymnasium at Berlin, of the Cologne Real-Gymnasium at Berlin, and of the

Schulpforta Gymnasium, 477

General Remarks and Comparisons of the Secondary Instruction of different Countries, 503

Secondary Schools belonging to the Second Division, or preparatory to the

Mechanic Arts and Higher Trades, ....... 517

Royal Real-School of Berlin, -...-.. 517

City Trade-School of Berlin, 523

Notice of the Fitzthum Gymnasium and Blochnian Boarding School at

Dresden, 533

SUPERIOR SCHOOLS.

Chapter XIII

General Remarks on the Classification of Superior Schools, - - - 536 Universities and Special Schools of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce.

CONTENTS. XIU

PAGE.

Notice of the Schools, of Roads and Bridges, and of Mines, of

France, 561

School of Arts and Manufactures of Paris, .... 563

Notice of the Boarding Institute of Arts at Charonne, . . 572

Schools of Arts of Prussia, 573

Institute of Arts at Berlin, 574

Polytechnic Institute of Vienna, 583

School of Mines of Saxony, at Freyberg, .... 589

Institute of Agriculture and Forestry at Hohenheim, - - 595

Naval School of Austria, at Venice, 600

Appendix

No. I. List of Documents collected in Great Britain, France, Switzer-

land, Belgium, Holland, Germany, and Italy, ... 609 No. II. Distinctions to be drawn between Institutions for the Maintenance and Education of Orphans, and those for other

classes of children, 643

No. III. Rules of Heriot's Hospital, Edinburgh, relating to those who have passed through the institution, and are serving an apprenticeship, 644

No. IV. Queries to be answered by Apprentices from Heriot's Hospital

to their masters, and keepers of the houses where they board, 645 No. V. List of Studies and Distribution of Time, prepared for John Watson's Institution, Edinburgh. Distribution of Time at Heriot's Hospital, Edinburgh. List of Text-books used at Heriot's and George Watson's Hospital, Edinburgh, at the Madras College, St. Andrew's, and the High School of

No. VI. Documents relating to the Admission of Pupils into Cauvin's

Hospital, 651

No. VII. Tables of Diet in various Eleemosynary Institutions, . . 653 No. VIII. Table of the Order of the Day in Eleemosynary and other Schools, both primary and secondary, showing the amount of time occupied in study, exercise, &.C., .... 655 No. IX. Example of a Bible lesson in the Glasgow Model Infant School, 656 No. X. Method of teaching to read, called " Reading Disentangled," 657 No. XI. Remarks on Education by Mr. Emanuel de Fellenberg, - 658 No. XII. Remarks by the Rev. Dr. Arnold on the Study of the Classics, 661 No. XIII. Brief Notes of Orphan Statistics, 665

ERRATA.

The following errata should be corrected as affecting, in general, the meaning of the text.

On page 5, line 17 from top of page, /or " western" read southern, bottom, erase one of the "its."

" before " impossible" insert sometimes, top, for the semicolon after " exercises" />Zace a comma, bottom, /or "require" read requires, top, for " insures" read insure.

" insert " Intellectual Education" at beginning of line, bottom, for " infraction" read infractions.

" for " amout" read amount.

" for " gospel" read gospels, and/or " works" read books, top, for " introduction" read introductory.

" for " ten" read two.

" insert after " credit of," first, bottom, /or "composing" read comparing.

" for " body" read board, top, for " recite" read have recreation.

" for " branches" read bachelor, bottom, /or "Olto" read Otto.

Note, for « 380,381" read 398,399, top, erase " at a quarter to seven." bottom, /or "Frey burgh" read Freyberg.

" erase the colon between "described" and "at Potsdam." 589, 14 top, for " Freyburg" read Freyberg.

593, 15 " " " "

6,

8,

15,

18,

7&8,

28,

50,

76,

112,

125,

129,

151,

305,

386,

391,

409,

435,

477,

504,

534,

15 &1

540,

573,

REPORT ON EDUCATION.

TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE

GIRARD COLLEGE FOR ORPHANS.

Gentlemen :

Having completed the tour of examination into the state of Education in Europe, undertaken by your direction, with especial reference to the organization of the Girard College for Orphans, I beg leave to present to you a Report upon the information collected.

The more immediate direction of my mission, as President of the Girard College for Orphans, w^as devolved by the Trustees upon their Committee on Scholastic Education, from whom I received detailed instructions. In these I was directed to visit the institutions in the principal countries of Europe, which might be supposed to afford useful information towards organizing the College, to procure text-books, and other works used in the more remarkable schools, and the more important works on Education: and to collect such philosophical instruments, models, and drawings, as might be useful or necessary in opening the College, or as might seem to me desirable to be purchased in anticipation of the larger collections.

My arrangements for leaving home were completed at the close of September, 1836; and after having visited the chief countries of Europe, which were the most interesting for my undertaking, I completed my tour in October, 1838. It is almost needless to say, that I am now not only ready, but 1 anxious to render available, as soon as possible, in the organization of the Girard College, the knowledge which has thus been acquired.

It will be the design of the present Report to state in what way I have executed the instructions of the Committee of the Board of Trustees, and to present the result of the inquiries which they directed. Their instructions contained, besides the general indications of the objects of my journey, suggestions as to the mode of securing these objects, which I found highly useful, and for which I feel very grateful. The most important purpose of my mission was the examination of institutions for Education, and my Report will principally consist of descriptions of these, and remarks upon them. The other objects were secondary, and even incidental.

Whoever has even glanced at the part of the Will of Mr. Girard, which relates to the endowment of a "College for Orphans," must have perceived that he intended no ordinary Orphan Asylum to be created with the immense fund which his liberality intrusted to the authorities of the city of his adoption. Mr. Girard has put himself in the place of a father to the orphan, and has determined that talent shall have all the opportunities for development, by education, within the reach of children the most favoured by the circumstances of their parents. This view has been prominent in all the measures taken by the City Councils of Philadelphia, in the execution of their trust; and the Board of Trustees, to whom they have delegated the direct control of the Institution, have, by their President, officially asserted this same understanding of the founder's wishes. A due execution, therefore, of the instructions of the Scholastic Committee, required not merely an examination of orphan-houses and elementary schools, but of the various modes of education and grades of instruction. This task I undertook with real distrust of my power to do it justice, notwithstanding the encouragement extended by the choice made of me, by gentlemen for whom I entertain a high respect. I must be allowed to say that, in the course of attempting its execution, I have spared no personal exertion, and that, though I may regret it was not in abler hands, my conscience acquits me of having wasted any part of the time or means so liberally placed at my disposal by my fellow citizens.

Before entering upon the descriptive portion of my Report, I propose to give a brief sketch of the views and circumstances which guided me in the distribution of time in the different countries visited, and to present some of the general features of public education peculiar to each of them.

While there can be no doubt that the general principles of education must be founded upon those of human action, and hence be common to all nations, it must be admitted that systems framed from such general laws would require considerable modification to render them applicable to different countries. Differences in political and social organization, in habits and manners, require corresponding changes to adapt a system of education to the nation; and, without such modifications, success in the institutions of one country is no guarantee for the same result in those of another. The difficulties, however, of working out a plan of education, from observation, appeared to me much greater at the outset of my undertaking than they do now, that I have seen how very many of the essentials are common to all well organized institutions having the same scope. A consideration of these difficulties induced me to make Great Britain the first point of my tour, since it was reasonable to infer that the successful methods of education there might be more easily transplanted, being more directly applicable at home than those of other countries. The examination of some of the more interesting institutions there occupied rather more than eight months; and, lest this portion of time should appear too great in comparison with that devoted to the Continent, it may be well to state the circumstances which absolutely required so considerable an allotment. Owing to the absence of any regular or central system of education, and of any general responsibility in the management of its institutions for public instruction, and to the entire freedom of individual effort, more time is required to obtain access to, and examine the establishments of Great Britain, than of any other country which T visited.

A proper idea of the general arrangements can be obtained only by a study of particular cases, and each institution requires to be approached individually, and often in a different way, to secure a profitable entrance. As entirely different ideas frequently prevail in the organization of institutions of the same class, it is not sufficient, as it usually is elsewhere, to see merely a specimen to judge of the whole. For the special objects of my tour, the eleemosynary institutions were to be carefully inspected; and in the number of its Educational Charities, its Orphan Asylums, Blue-coat Schools, and Education Hospitals, Great Britain exceeds every other country in Europe. The city of Edinburgh and its vicinity alone contain five such institutions for boys, and no two of these are exactly alike in their regulations and administration, so that it was necessary to visit all to form precise ideas of their arrangements. If this be true of establishments having similar objects, in the same city, it may be inferred of those in different parts of the kingdom, and facts fully sustain the inference. It is true, to such an extent, that in preparing descriptions of these schools to present to the Board, I have found it difficult to classify them, so that by presenting, in detail, one institution as the type of a class, I might avoid the too great extension of this Report. The management of these institutions, the observation of which formed an important part of my duty, may serve in many points, especially in all that relates to the material comforts of life, as a model to those of other countries, in many of which I freely admit that more just ideas in regard to instruction prevail. Upon a review of the results of my visit to the institutions of Great Britain, it appears to me that the time was well bestowed, though more profitable experience in regard to instruction was acquired in less time in some of the countries of the Continent.

After completing a tour through some of the institutions of Ireland, Scotland, and England, I crossed to the Continent, and visited, in turn, the principal schools of France, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, and the chief States of Germany, making also a rapid visit to Italy. The same subjects of inquiry did not, of course, interest me equally in these different countries, and I

IPfTRODUCTIOlV. 5

proceed to pass briefly in review their respectiv^e points of interest.

In Great Britain, the charitable institutions for education occupied most of my attention. There, as in oth.er countries where similar establishments exist, and where no great or recent change has been made in public instruction, the instruction within them resembles more nearly that of the schools of the same grade in general, than in countries where such a change has been wrought. While engaged in visiting them, I did not neglect, however, institutions which afforded a less direct prospect of advantage. To illustrate by an example; although Heriot's, the Watsons', and other hospitals for education at Edinburgh and Glasgow occupied a large share of my attention while in Scotland, I visited, more or less in detail, at Edinburgh, the Model Infant School, the Circus-Place Preparatory School, the Sessional School, the High School, the Academy, the Western Academy, the Hill Street Institution, and the University ; at Glasgow, the Infant and Juvenile Schools of the Education Society, the diflerent departments of the High School, and the University, I also made an excursion to St. Andrew's, to visit the Madras College founded by Dr. Bell.

In France, the general system of education, especially as modified in its lower departments, and the schools for science and the arts, formed the special objects of examination. The orphans are, in general, associated with the foundlings, and distributed through the country at the expense of the state; the system presenting nothing, as far as my inquiries led, either for approval or imitation. The plan, of which I venture to speak thus freely, must not be confounded with the excellent system in the Grand Duchy of Weimar, which, though similar in appearance, differs essentially from it. In Weimar, orphan children, deprived of both parents, are distributed among families, as nearly as possible in the same station of hfe as the deceased parents, and a real superintendence, both moral and intellectual, is exercised over them by officers specially appointed for the purpose, and by the parochial clergy and schoolmasters.

In Switzerland, recent and great efforts, consequent upon the

G INTRODUCTION.

advance of true liberty, have been made among the republics, in behalf of general education. The school of Pestalozzi, at Yverdun, occupies a prominent place in the history of education ; and the institutions of Fellenberg, at Hofwyl, have been frequently desciibed. Others of great merit, but more recently established, are less generally known, and some of them will, as far as my limits allow, be noticed in this Report. I cannot, however, enter into the particulars requisite to present the striking results which the last seven years have produced in many of the cantons.

The common school system, as well as the eleemosynary institutions of Holland, deservedly attract much attention, and afforded interesting subjects for examination. There are peculiarities about both, and experiments have been made there which bear upon some of the most interesting questions in education. I need only refer, here, to those of the method of mutual instruction, and of the manner of supplying teachers; the latter of which experiments has led to a conclusion in favour of schools for teachers, which appears to me irresistible.

Among the institutions of the different states and free towns of Germany, I visited more or less in detail those of Prussia, Saxony, Austria, Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Nassau, Weimar, Frankfort, Bremen, and Hamburgh. The condition of public instruction, in general, in the diflerent states, as well as of the different departments of it it in the same state, is very unequal. Prussia is at present decidedly in advance of the other larger German States in the education of the people, especially in the manner and matter of the instruction. The ease with which every point connected with the schools is ascertained, is remarkable^ and I look back to the time spent in them, and in intercourse with their teachers, as one of the most profitable portions of that occupied by my tour. As the various accounts which have been given of public instruction in Prussia have, in general, referred to the system more particularly than to the schools, I shall, in this Report, touch more briefly upon the former, and go more into detail in regard to the latter. By reference to their spirit and minute arrangements, it is easy to see where

INTRODUCTIOIV. 7

they would apply as perfectly in a republic as in a monarchy. The instruction in many of the charitable institutions of that country has not kept pace with that in the schools in general, though there are others which have even led the way in improvement. Weimar has followed closely the Prussian model in its system of education, and the schools of Nassau may be said to be derived from the same source. The schools of Saxony were once famous throughout Europe, but the primary schools appear to have lost that rank; they are novi^, however, rapidly improving, by the same means which produced the present advanced state of instruction in Prussia — the education of teachers. In Bavaria, changes of system have been too recent to render general remarks of any value. I shall, however, give an account of the method of Graser, introduced into the schools of a section of the kingdom. In Austria, public instruction remains nearly on the footing upon which it was placed by the reforming emperor, Joseph the Second. There can be no doubt that it was once much in advance of the times, though the elementary department is at present behind that of most of the other German States. They still adhere to the incomplete plan of educating teachers in ordinary schools, and to antiquated methods of instruction. The Schools of Arts in Austria rank, however, with the best in Europe, and receive liberal encouragement from the government. Of the many institutions which have claimed my attention, it would be entirely impossible to give even a meagre sketch within the limits appropriate to a Report,* and if it were practicable to go into details respecting all, many would be found not to repay the pains taken in reducing to paper a description of them. In making the selection, which is thus necessary, I shall endeavour to bring to the notice of the Board the countries in which the different departments of education are best carried on, and to give a sketch of the system of education, illustrated by the minutiae of as many individual institu-