has marked her course for the past two or three years, and her schools have much declined. Shelbyville, in Shelby County, has a fine Union School, under the superintendence of Mr. James H. Moore. Lafayette for the past two years has had graded schools. Her school-houses are tolerably good. A. J. Vawtee, Esq. is Superintendent. Fort Wayne, in the northeastern section of the State, has recently established graded schools, under the supervision of Mr. Geo. A. Irvin. Still more recently, Lawrenceburg, in the southeastern part, has made a movement in the same direction. These are all the places in the State where the schools are sustained throughout the year by a special school tax. Many places, however, support a public school during a considerable portion of the year, making up the deficiency of the State tax by voluntary contributions. The cause of free schools is most emphatically in its infancy here. It has many opponents. These are of two classes. The selfish, who object to taxation, and the ignorant, who are not merely indifferent, but in many cases are absolutely opposed to having their children educated. The number of adults in Indiana who cannot read and write is not only greater than in any other free State, but larger even in proportion than in most of the slave States. The wages paid to teachers, as may be supposed, are not as great as in Ohio or Illinois. It will be seen from the above statement that many discouragements await the school-teacher, and it will be many years before the obstacles which now embarrass and obstruct the free-school system will be removed. But to the earnest, faithful teacher, there is a pioneer work to be done which is not without its attractions. Progress in the Western States is more marked and rapid than in the Eastern. It has no conservatism to combat, no old and worn-out theories to explode, and no deep-rooted prejudices to overcome. The establishment of township libraries has been an efficient auxiliary to the cause of popular education. The funds of these libraries have been raised by a tax of a quarter of a mill on the dollar, and twenty-five cents on the poll. Three such levies have been made, and the amount expended thus far has been $252,333. The books are distributed to the townships in proportion to the number of children between five and twenty-one. The Report of the Superintendent gives ample evidence of the good which these libraries are silently accomplishing, and without doubt, among the many school-library experiments which have been tried, the township library system of Indiana is the most successful. Another valuable aid to the educational interest is the formation of a State Teachers' Association, which was effected three years since. Its sessions are semiannual (in August and December). Two years since, this Association made arrangements for the publication of a School Journal, and a year since employed a State Agent to lecture, hold institutes, form county associations, and collect educational information. Messrs. E. P. Cole and J. Harty have been thus employed. The School Journal has been well sustained, and during its second year had nearly two thousand subscribers. The establishment of a Normal School is most ardently desired by a large portion of the teachers, and their efforts have been exerted strongly in this direction at each meeting of the Association. As yet, however, there appears to be little prospect of success. The wages of teachers in the State are low. Superintendents of Schools receive from $800 to $1,400 per annum ; Principals of High and Grammar Schools, from $500 to $ 900. The salaries of female teachers in the lower grades of schools are from $200 to $300. The salary of the Superintendent of Public Instruction is $1,300, with $500 per year for travelling expenses. There are many flourishing private schools in the State. Among these are the McLean Female Institute and the Indiana Female College, at Indianapolis; the Asbury Female Seminary, at Greencastle; the Brookville College, at Brookville; Greenmount College, at Richmond; Whitewater College, at Centreville; Presbyterial College, at Dunlapsville; Friends' College, at Richmond; Manual Labor School, at Annapolis; the Academy of Mr. H. T. Morton, at Princeton; New Albany Female Seminary, at New Albany; Farmer's Institute, at Lafayette; Manchester Academy, at Manchester; and many others. COLLEGES. HANOVER COLLEGE, South Hanover. This is one of the oldest institutions in the State, and is under Presbyterian control. Founded in 1832. FACULTY. Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D.D., President, Prof. of Biblical Instruction, Psychology, and Ethics. Rev. John Finley Crowe, D.D., Prof. of Rhetoric, Logic, History, and Political Economy. Rev. S. Harrison Thomson, A.M., Prof. of Mathematics and Mechanical Philosophy. Rev. William Bishop, A.M., Prof. of Greek Language and Literature. Rev. J. B. Garrit, A.M., Prof. of Latin Language and Literature. Augustus W. King, Prof. of Natural Science. William Cochran, John McMurray, Tutors. Rev. J. Finley Crowe, D.D., Librarian. Number of students, 137. FRANKLIN COLLEGE, Franklin. Under the control of the Baptists. FACULTY. Rev. Silas Bailey, D.D., President, and Prof. of Theology and of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy. John S. Houghom, A.M., Prof. of Agricultural Chemistry and kindred Sciences. Mark Bai- Number of students, 113. WABASH COLLEGE, Crawfordsville. FACULTY. Rev. Charles White, D.D., President, and Beecher Prof. of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy and Political Economy. Edmund O. Hovey, A.M., Rose Prof. of Chemistry and Geology. Caleb Mills, A.M., Principal of Normal School. James D. Butler, A.M., Prof. of the Greek and German Languages and Literature. Samuel S. Thompson, A.M., Williams Prof. of the Latin Language and Literature. John L. Campbell, A.M., Prof. of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, and Astronomy. Atlas M. Hadley, A.M., Principal of the Preparatory Department. G. W. Bassett, A.B., Tutor. Number of students, 167. INDIANA ASBURY UNIVERSITY, Greencastle. Under the control of the Methodists. Founded in 1837. Daniel Curry, D.D., President. NORTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN UNIVER- Under the control of the Campbellite Baptists. This Institution is now in its third year only. Its acting President is Professor John Young. Messrs. Benton, Hoss, and Challen are the Professors. The institution numbers about 125 students, most of whom are in the English and preparatory department. INDIANA UNIVERSITY, Bloomington. SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. STATE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION. Officers for 1858 (chosen December 31, 1857): — President, Barnabas C. Hobbs, Annapolis. Vice-Presidents, E. P. Cole, Bloomington; J. A. Dean, Greencastle; H. D. Roberts, Pendleton; J. L. Campbell, Crawfordsville; L. A. Estes, Richmond; Thomas Olcott, Moore's Hill; and H. C. Moore, Shelbyville. Recording Secretary, B. T. Hoyt, Indianapolis. Corresponding Secretary, H. B. Wilson, New Albany. Treasurer, S. T. Bowen, Indianapolis. The last meeting of this Association was held in the Senate Chamber at the Capitol, December 29, 1857. INDIANA SCHOOL JOURNAL. This Journal is published monthly at Indianapolis, at $1 per annum. The Editors are as follows:- George B. Stone, Resident Editor, Indianapolis. W. D. Henkle, Mathematical Editor, Richmond. Associate Editors: Caleb Mills, Crawfordsville; G. W. Hoss, Indianapolis; G. A. Irvin, Fort Wayne; E. P. Cole, Bloomington; Miss M. A. Wells, Madison; M. J. Fletcher, Greencastle; Miss C. R. Chandler, New Albany. 21 XXVII. ILLINOIS. Capital, Springfield. — Area, 55,409 square miles. - Population, 1855, 1,306,576. THE unparalleled, influx of immigrants from nearly every State in the Union, and from many portions of Europe, into Illinois, originally led to embarrassment in the organization and consolidation of great public interests. Almost all the settlements by citizens of the United States were commenced since 1800. In 1809, Illinois was erected into a Territory. And, in 1818, it was admitted into the Union as an independent State. But the increase of population did not, of necessity, prepare the way immediately for a thorough school system. The Legislature, however, early recognized the claims of education; and various provisions, such as forming a school fund, naming the Secretary of State, ex officio, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and appointing county and township officers, were early adopted. The school fund consists of the donation of land, by Congress, the avails of which have already (1856) reached $2,953,594.52, with unsold lands estimated at $ 500,000 more. The Surplus Revenue Fund ($ 580,433.89) was also appropriated to the schools. The larger part of this fund is under the control of the several counties and townships, to which it was distributed by the State, to be applied to the purposes of the grant. Besides the office of State Superintendent (which, until 1852, must be regarded as a merely nominal appointment, cumbered as the Secretary of State necessarily was with official duties of his own), the law provided for a County Commissioner, who was ex officio County Superintendent, with little to do besides apportion the money correctly, and observe that it found its proper destination, and a township treasurer, who, following out the pecuniary relation of the State as a creditor of each township in respect to the schools, was ex officio Township Superintendent. There were Township Trustees, and District Directors, who were the more responsible agents, upon whom depended the internal management of the schools. All these officers were required, by a law which many of them never pretended to observe, to make "full and adequate reports to the State Superintendent." In 1855, the State Superintendent (this office having been separated from that of Secretary of State since 1852, and made elective by the people once in two years), under instructions from the previous Legislature, presented a very complete bill for the establishment of a common school system, the leading principles of which were, -1. That property should be taxed by the State for educational purposes; and, 2. That the avails of a State tax for such an object should be dispensed in the same manner as the affairs of government are administered, and on equal terms to rich and poor districts. This bill was adopted; but not without many so-called amendments, some of which may impede its success. Happily, the principal outline was pre 66 served. And the officers of the system are, -1. A State Superintendent of Public Instruction, elected bienually by the people, to whom the usual duties of such an office are committed. 2. A School Commissioner for each county, chosen by the Boards of Education, biennially. He must be a "person of literary and scientific acquirements, and of skill in the art of teaching." It is his duty to attend to the collection of all demands in favor of the county, or any of its townships, and to make an apportionment of the funds "according to the number of white children under 21 years of age." The portion of the school funds which have been distributed to any county is exclusively under the management of the County Commissioner. He is required to "visit the several schools as often as practicable, and note the common method of instruction and branches taught, and give such directions in the art of teaching in each school as to him, together with the directors, shall be deemed expedient and necessary; so that each school shall be equal to the grade for which it was established; and that there may be, as far as practicable, uniformity in the course of studies in the schools of the several grades respectively; and he shall carry out the advice and instructions of the State Superintendent." 3. A Township Board of Education, elected biennially by the people, and consisting of five directors; or any township may elect to have the County Commissioner discharge all the duties of this Board of Education. The Board of Education is required to establish in the township a sufficient number of common schools for the education of every person over the age of five and under the age of twenty-one years; and make necessary provision for continuing such schools in operation for at least six months in each year; and longer, if practicable." It must provide school-houses, supply the fuel, make needful regulations, exercise a general supervision of the schools, visit each one once in every month of its sessions, appoint all the teachers, contract with and pay them, or "dismiss them at any time for incompetency, cruelty, negligence, or immorality"; and it may, in like manner, after due inquiry, suspend or expel any pupil. It is also the duty of the Board of Education to forward, on or before the second Monday of October, annually, and at such other times as may be required by the County Commissioner, or by the State Superintendent, a statement of the condition of the schools, embodying, especially, such "statistics and information in regard to schools as the Commissioner or the Superintendent may require.” 4. County School Conventions are provided for; of which the County Commissioners are ex officiis the presiding officers, each in his own county. These conventions are authorized to organize, in their respective counties, Teachers' Institutes, for the instruction and improvement of teachers; and they may appropriate from the public funds such amounts as they may deem necessary for the maintenance of such Institutes. 5. An Examining Committee, consisting of two persons associated with the Commissioner, to examine teachers, and give certificates to those who are deemed qualified, which are valid for two years, and may be renewed by the indorsement of the Commissioner. And no teacher is entitled to receive any payment for |