all men to be philosophers or statesmen; but we confidently trust, and our expectation of the duration of our system of government rests upon that trust, that by the diffusion of general knowledge, and good and virtuous sentiments, the political fabric may be secure as well against open violence and overthrow, as against the slow but sure undermining of licentiousness. We rejoice that every man in this community may call all property his own, so far as he has occasion for it, to furnish for himself and his children the blessings of religious instruction and the elements of knowledge. This celestial, and this earthly light, he is entitled to by the fundamental laws. It is every poor man's undoubted birthright, it is the great blessing which this constitution has secured to him, it is his solace in life-and it may well be his consolation in death, that his country stands pledged, by the faith which it has plighted to all its citizens, to protect his children from ignorance, barbarism and vice." "The reader will not forget that it was in Massachusetts these words were uttered, and that they were applied to the state of education in the Northern or New England States; but in justice to the American union, it must also be recollected that the system so deservedly lauded in the North, has been gradually extending its influence to other States than those in which it was originally founded; and it must be a patriotic, and, perhaps, not an unreasonable hope in the mind of every American, that the fruits of their educational system may be so matured, that in every state, by such an orator as Webster, such language as I have quoted may be used with truth.

* The Americans were early alive to the importance of founding colleges as well as primary schools. Harvard College was founded in 1638; a period in which the aggregate population of Anglo-American Colonists was less than the present population of Victoria:-yet Harvard College was established by one of the small States.

CHAPTER VI.

THE next general educational effort made in any country, was that which was sanctioned by the celebrated Act, constituting the parochial schools in Scotland, in 1696.

Before reviewing the aspect of school affairs in Britain, however, I propose to glance at the various continental powers of Europe, and to give a summary of what has been done by those which are considered most influential on the destinies of society at large.

The example of Prussia perhaps deserves study in the first place; since it appears that so long ago as in 1765, Frederick the Great made laws, by which he placed the means of instruction within reach of the inhabitants of an entire province-Silesia. Amongst the many claims of public characters, for good and evil report, it ought never to be forgotten, that in a restless age, and even amid the horrors of war, so wise a scheme was propounded by a warrior, within twenty years after the cession of the province of which the conqueror thus became the benefactor.

Here, again, I shall become a debtor to a celebrated American-Adams, (once President,) who has given in his letters on Silesia, some valuable information on the subject I have in hand. "At the time of the conquest of Silesia, education had seldom been made an object of the concern of governments; and Silesia, like the rest of Europe, was but wretchedly provided either with schools or teachers. In the small

towns and villages, the schoolmasters were so poorly paid, that they could not subsist without practising some other trade besides their occupation as instructors; and they usually united the character of the village fiddler with that of the village schoolmaster. Even of these there were so few, that the children of the peasants in general, throughout the province, were left untaught. This was especially the case in Upper Silesia. 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, The superintendence of the schools was prescribed as the duty of the clergy." Felbiger, an Augustine monk, assisted Frederick in procuring information on the best modes of teaching; and at Breslau, Glatz, and some other places, schools, akin to normal schools for the training of teachers, were established. Mr. Adams thus continues,"After all these preparatory measures had been carried into effect, an ordinance was published in the year 1765, prescribing the mode of teaching as adopted in the seminaries, and the manner in which the clergy should superintend the efficacious establishment of the system. The regulations of this ordinance prove the earnestness with which the King laboured to spread the benefits of useful knowledge among his subjects. The teachers are 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 the lesson, so that the children themselves may be able to explain it, upon examination. The candidates for schoolkeeping must give specimens of their ability, by teaching at one of the schools connected with the seminary, in presence of the professors, that they may remark, and correct anything defective in the

candidate's method. 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 in 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 vicar-general, who is bound to transmit all these reports to the royal domain offices, from which orders are issued to supply the deficiencies in the schools. This system was at first prepared only for the Roman Catholic schools, but it was afterwards adopted by most of the Lutheran consistories. It had at first

many difficulties to contend with. The indolence of the Roman Catholic clergy was averse 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 alike the spirit of innovation and the spirit of enquiry as their natural enemies. But the firmness of the government overcame every obstacle. Before the seven years war, there had not been more than one periodical journal or gazette published in the province at one time; while there are now," (the period at which Mr. Adams wrote,) 66 no fewer than seventeen newspapers and magazines which appear by the day, the week, the month, and the quarter, and many of them upon subjects generally useful, and which contain very valuable information on all the most interesting topics of discussion."—

G

So far says Mr. Adams on this point, and there is scarcely any traveller to Silesia, who has not recorded his admiration of the advanced state which the country has reached in consequence of its ample means of instruction. Silesian writers themselves applaud it, and I quote from the English Quarterly Journal of Education, the statement that "the revolution effected by the introduction of the system of universal instruction, is stated by native writers to have been not less important, though of a slower and milder character than that of Luther. The habits of the people have been signally improved, and they have become, as every one knows, among the most intelligent, orderly, and industrious in Europe."

The Reviewer was wrong; there is a person who does not know anything of the sort; and who, in the midst of his ignorance, hazards an assertion, which looks very much like proof, that all the Silesians and the Reviewer are wrong, or that he, who is ignorant of what every body knows, is wrong. Dr. Poulding, the Roman Catholic Archbishop in Sydney, said, in 1844, in evidence, before a Committee of the Legislative Council, that Prussia and Sweden, were the most educated countries and the most depraved." He had, probably at the time, forgotten the debaucheries of Roman Catholic and libertine France, when, in 1744, drunk with excesses under the Bourbons, and in 1793, delirious with the mad passions of unrestrained power, stupified but not tempered by unbounded ignorance. But whether he had, or had not forgotten this, I question whether he will persuade the world that he knows more of Silesia than the wisest of the Silesians: and I am happy to say that the Silesians still rejoice in their opportunities of learning; for I see in a Table (shewing the state of public schools in Prussia, in 1846,) annexed to this chapter, that the district of Breslau, in Silesia, true to its early advantages, appreciates them now, and sends more children to school than are sent by any other district in Prussia.