matter are voluntary, and at leisure. Physiological learning is of such rare emergency that one may know another half his life, without being able to estimate his skill in hydrostatics or astronomy; but, his moral and prudential character immediately appears.

Those authors, therefore, are to be read at schools that supply most axioms of prudence, most principles of moral truth, and most materials for conversation; and, these purposes are best served by poets, orators, and historians.

Let me not be censured for this digression, as pedantic or paradoxical; for, if I have Milton against me, I have Socrates on my side. It was his labor to turn philosophy from the study of nature to speculations upon life; but, the innovators whom I oppose are turning off attention from life to nature. They seem to think that we are placed here to watch the growth of plants, or the motions of the stars. Socrates was rather of opinion that what we had to learn was, how to do good, and avoid evil.

Οτι τοι εν μεγαροισι κακοντ' αγαθονε τετυκται.

Of institutions, we may judge by their effects. From this wonderworking academy, I do not know that there ever proceeded any man very eminent for knowledge: its only genuine product, I believe, is a small history of poetry, written in Latin, by his nephew, Philips, of which, perhaps, none of my readers has ever heard.*

That in his school, as in every thing else which he undertook, he labored with great diligence, there is no reason for doubting. One part of his method deserves general imitation. He was careful to instruct his scholars in religion. Every Sunday was spent upon theology; of which he dictated a short system, gathered from the writers that were then fashionable in the Dutch universities.

He set his pupils an example of hard study and spare diet; only now and then he allowed himself to pass a day of festivity and indulgence with some gay gentlemen of Gray's Inn."

To these disparaging remarks we add a few sensible comments, by Rev. John Mitford, in his elegantly written life, prefixed to Pickering's Aldine edition of Milton's Poetical Works.

"The system of education which he adopted was deep and comprehensive; it promised to teach science with language, or rather, to make the study of languages subservient to the acquisition of scien tific knowledge. Dr. Johnson has severely censured this method of instruction, but with arguments that might not unsuccessfully be met.

* We may be sure, at least, that Dr. Johnson had never seen the book he speaks of; for it is entirely composed in English, though its title begins with two Latin words, "Theatrum Poetarum; or, a complete Collection of the Poets, &c.," a circumstance that probably misled the biographer of Milton.

The plan recommended by the authority of Milton seems to be chiefly liable to objection, from being too extensive; and, while it makes authors of all ages contribute to the development of science, it, of course, must reject that careful selection, which can alone secure the cultivation of the taste. We may also reply to Johnson that, although all men are not designed to be astronomers, or geometricians, a knowledge of the principles on which the sciences are built, and the reasonings by which they are conducted, not only forms the most exact discipline which the mind can undergo, giving to it comprehension and vigor; but, is the only solid basis on which an investigation of the laws of nature can be conducted, or those arts improved that tend to the advantage of society, and the happiness of mankind.

Johnson says, we are not placed here to watch the planets, or the motion of the stars, but to do good. But, good is done in various ways, according to opportunities offered, and abilities conferred; a man whose natural disposition, or the circumstances of whose education lead to pursue astronomical discoveries, or the sublime speculations of geometry, is emphatically doing good to others, as he is extending the boundaries of knowledge, and to himself, as he is. directing the energies of his mind to subjects of the most exalted contemplation."

Having, in the foregoing extract from Dr. Johnson, introduced an ungenerous fling of that great but prejudiced writer against the patriotism of JOHN MILTON, because, in the absence of any other opportunity of being equally useful to the cause in which his heart was enlisted, and until he was summoned by the parliament of England and its great Protector, "to address the whole collective body of people, cities, states, and councils of the wise and eminent, through the wide expanse of anxious and listening Europe," he saw fit to employ his great abilities in illustrating, by pen and example, the true principles and method of a generous and thorough education, "the only genuine source of political and individual liberty,-the only true safeguard of states," and to defend the cause of civil and religious freedom by his publications, we will let the great champion of the commonwealth of England speak for himself, and refresh the patriotism of our own times by a few of his burning words, uttered over two hundred years ago in his "Defensio Secunda pro Populo Anglicano."

"But against this dark array of long received opinions, superstitions, obloquy, and fears, which some dread even more than the enemy himself, the English had to contend; and all this under the light of better information, and favored by an impulse from above, they overcame with such singular enthusiasm and bravery, that, great as were the numbers engaged in the contest, the grandeur of conception and loftiness of spirit which were universally displayed, merited for each individual more than a mediocrity of fame; and Britain, which was formerly styled

the hot bed of tyranny, will hereafter deserve to be celebrated for endless ages, as a soil most genial to the growth of fiberty. During the mighty struggle, no anarchy, no licentiousness was seen; no illusions of glory, no extravagant emulation of the ancients inflamed them with a thirst for ideal liberty; but the rectitude of their lives, and the sobriety of their habits, taught them the only true and safe road to real liberty, and they took up arms only to defend the sanctity of the laws and the rights of conscience.

Relying on the divine assistance, they used every honorable exertion to break the yoke of slavery; of the praise of which, though I claim no share to myself, yet I can easily repel any charge which may be adduced against me, either of want of courage want of zeal. For though I did not participate in the toils or dangers of the war, yet I was at the same time engaged in a service not less hazardous to myself, and more beneficial to my fellow citizens, nor, in the adverse turns of our affairs, did I ever betray any symptoms of pusilanimity and dejection, or show myself more afraid than became me of malice or of death; for since from my youth I was devoted to the pursuits of literature, and my mind had always been stronger than my body, I did not court the labors of a camp, which any common person would have been of more service than myself, but recorted to that employment in which my exertions were likely to be of most avail. Thus, with the better part of my frame I contributed as much as possible to the good of my country, and to the success of the glorious cause in which we were engaged; and I thought if God willed the success of such glorious achievements, it was equally agreeable to his will that there should be others by whom those achievements should be recorded with dignity and elegance; and that the truth which had been defended by arms, should also be defended by reason, which is the best and only legitimate means of defending it. Hence, while I applaud those who were victorious in the field, I will not complain of the province which was assigned me, but rather congratulate myself upon it and thank the Author of all good for having placed me in a station which may be an object of envy to others rather than of regret to myself.

I am far from wishing to make any vain or arrogant comparisons, or to speak ostentatiously of myself; but, in a cause so great and glorious, and particularly on an occasion when I am called by the general suffrage to defend the very defenders of that cause, I can hardly refrain from assuming a more lofty and swelling tone than the simplicity of an exordium may seem to justify and as much as I may be surpassed in the powers of eloquence and copiousness of diction, by the illustrious orators of antiquity, yet the subject of which I treat was never surpassed in any age, in dignity or in interest. It has excited such general and such ardent expectation, that I imagine myself not in the forum or on the rostra, surrounded only by the people of Athens or of Rome, but about to address in this as in my former defence, the whole collective body of people, cities, states, and councils of the wise and eminent, through the wide expanse of anxious and listening Europe. I seem to survey, as from a towering height, the far extended tracts of sea and land, and innumerable crowds of spectators, betraying in their looks the liveliest, and sensations the most congenial with my own. Here I behold the stout and manly prowess of the German, disdaining servitude; there the generous and lively impetuosity of the French; on this side, the calm and stately valor of the Spaniard; on that, the composed and wary magnanimity of the Italian. Of all the lovers of liberty and virtue, the magnanimous and the wise, in whatever quarter they may be found, some secretly favor, othesr openly approve; some greet me with congratulation and applause; others who had long been proof against conviction, at last yield themselves captive to the force of truth. Surrounded by congregated multitudes, I now imagine that, from the columns of Hercules to the Indian Ocean, I behold the nations of the earth recovering that liberty which they so long had lost; and that the people of this island are transporting to other countries a plant of more beneficial qualities, and more noble growth than that which Triptolemus is reported to have carried from region to region; that they are disseminating the blessings of civilization and freedom among cities, kingdoms, and nations."

IV. PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS IN PRUSSIA.

SMALL NORMAL SCHOOLS FOR RURAL TEACHERS.

THE following Regulations of two of the best small (nebeusen) Normal Schools are taken from M. Cousin's "Report on the State of Public Instruction in some of the States of Germany, and especially of Prussia." The author introduces them with some remarks on this class of Normal Schools in Prussia. It is no longer true that all of the smaller seminaries are private establishments.

The small Normal Schools are almost all private establishments, but the government aids and watches over them, without subjecting them to the same publicity it requires of its great schools.

The small Normal Schools differ, generally, from the large, not only in the number of pupils, which is much smaller, but above all as being nurseries of village schoolmasters for the very poorest parishes. This is their proper object; this it is which gives them so peculiar a character, so profound a utility. The great schools, it is true, furnish masters for the country as well as for the towns; and their pupils,-those at least who receive the stipendia, or exhibitions,-are for many years at the disposal of the gov ernment, which sends them where it likes; a right which, from the wellknown rigor of the Prussian government in making all public servants work, we may be sure it exercises. But in every country there are parishes so poor, that one would hesitate to send a schoolmaster of any eminence to live in them; and yet it is precisely these miserable villages which stand in the greatest need of instruction to improve their condition. This need, then, the small Normal Schools are destined to supply. They labor for these poor and backward villages. To this their whole organization, their studies, their discipline, are to be directed. Unquestionably, the great Normal Schools of Prussia are entitled to the highest respect; but never can there be veneration enough for these humble laborers in the field of public instruction, who, as I have said, seek obscurity rather than fame; who devote themselves to the service of poverty with as much zeal as others to the pursuit of riches, since they toil for the poor alone; and who impose restraints on every personal desire and feeling, while others are excited by all the stimulants of competition. They cost scarcely any thing, and they do infinite good. Nothing is easier to establish,-but on one condition, that we find directors and pupils capable of the most disinterested, and, what is more, the most obscure devotion to the cause. Such devotion, however, can be inspired and kept alive by religion alone. Those who can consent to live for the service of men who neither know nor can appreciate them, must keep their eyes steadfastly fixed on Heaven: that witness is necessary to those who have no other. And, accordingly, we find that the authors and directors of these small schools are almost all ministers of religion, inspired by the spirit of Christian love, or men of singular virtue, fervent in the cause of popular education. In these humble institutions, every thing breathes Christian charity, ardor for the good of the people, and poverty. I shall lay before you a description of two;-one hidden in a suburb of Stettin, and the other in the village of Pyritz in Pomerania.

Stettin has a large Normal School, instituted for the training of masters

for the burgher schools. An excellent man, Mr. Bernhardt, school-councilor (Schulrath) in the council of the department, was the more powerfully struck by the necessity of providing for the wants of the country schools. He founded a small Normal School for this sole purpose, and placed it not in the town, but in a suburb called Lastadie; he laid down regulations for its government, which I annex nearly entire.

Small Primary Normal School of Lastadie, near Stettin.

1. This school is specially designed for poor young men who intend to become country schoolmasters, and who may, in case of need, gain a part of their subsistence by the labor of their hands.

2. Nothing is taught here but those things necessary for small and poor country parishes, which require schoolmasters who are Christians and useful men, and can afford them but a very slender recompense for their toils.

3. This school is intended to be a Christian school, founded in the spirit of the gospel. It aspires only to resemble a village household of the simplest kind, and to unite all its members into one family. To this end, all the pupils inhabit the same house, and eat at the same table with the masters.

4. The young men who will be admitted in preference, are such as are born and bred in the country; who know the elements of what ought to be taught in a good country school; who have a sound, straightforward understanding, and a kindly, cheerful temper. If, withal, they know any handcraft, or understand gardening, they will find opportunities for practice and improvement in it in odd hours.

5. The school of Lastadie neither can nor will enter into any competition with the great Normal Schools completely organized; on the contrary, it will strive always to keep itself within the narrow limits assigned to it.

6. The utmost simplicity ought to prevail in all the habits of the school, and, if possible, manual labor should be combined with those studies which are the main object, and which ought to occupy the greater portion of the time.

7. The course of instruction is designed to teach young people to reflect, and by exercising them in reading, writing, arithmetic, and singing, to put it in their power to instruct themselves, and to form their own minds. For the humblest peasant ought to be taught to think; but to enlighten him, to make him a rational and intelligent being, does not mean to make him learned. “God willeth that all men be enlightened, and that they come to the knowledge of the truth." 8. The instruction ought to have a direct connection with the vocation of the students, and to include only the most essential part of the instruction given in the great Normal Schools.

9. The objects of instruction are-religion, the German language, reading, writing, arithmetic, and singing. To these are joined the first elements of geometry, easy lessons in natural history, narratives drawn from national history (particularly that of Pomerania), and geographical descriptions. The principal object, and the foundation of all education, is religion, as learned from history and the Bible. The principal books are the Bible, the psalter, and the catechism. The school of Lastadie will also strive to excite and cherish in its pupils a love of nature, and to that end will cultivate a taste for gardening and planting.

10. In treating of all these subjects, the pupils must be trained to speak in pure and accurate language; for after the knowledge of religion and of nature, there is nothing of which the children of peasants stand so much in need, as to learn to express what they know with simplicity, truth, and accuracy.

11. The students know enough, when they speak, read, and write well; when they can produce a good composition in the German tongue; when they can calculate with facility and with reflection, and when they sing well; they know enough when they are thoroughly versed in the Bible, when they possess the most essential notions of the system of that universe which they have constantly before their eyes, of that nature in the midst of which they live: they have attained much, when they are Christian, rational, and virtuous men.

12. The period of study is fixed at two years. The first year the pupils learn what they are hereafter to teach to others; besides which, they assist at the lessons the masters give to the children of the school annexed to this small Normal