for offenses, in England and Wales, between 1836 and 1848, not fewer than 304,772, or more than 90 per cent., were uninstructed.

Passing Ireland—another monument of the evil effect of a Church establishment upon public instruction-Scotland affords a very satisfactory illustration of the benefits afforded by general education. Her parochial schools are justly distinguished. The foundation of the system was laid in 1494, when it was enacted, by the Scotch Parliament, that all barons and substantial freeholders throughout the realm should send their children to school from the age of six to nine years, and then to other seminaries to be instructed in the laws; that the country might be possessed of persons properly qualified to discharge the duties of sheriffs, and to fill other civil offices. Those who neglected to comply with the provisions of this statute were subjected to a penalty of £20. In 1560, John Knox and his compeers held the following memorable language, in the "First Book of Discipline," presented to the nobility:

66 'Seeing that God has determined that his kirk here on earth shall be taught, not by angels, but by men; and seeing that men are born ignorant of God and of godliness; and seeing, also, that he ceaseth to illuminate men miraculously, of necessity it is, that your honors be most careful for the virtuous education and godly bringing up of the youth of this realm. For as they must succeed to us, so we ought to be careful that they have knowledge and education to profit and comfort that which ought to be most dear to us, to wit, the kirk and spouse of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of necessity, therefore, we judge it, that every several kirk have one schoolmaster appointed; such an one, at least, as is able to teach Grammar and the Latin tongue, if the town be of any reputation. And further, we think it expedient that in every notable town, there should be erected a college, in which the arts at least of Rhetoric and Logic, together with the tongues, be read by sufficient masters, for whom honest stipends must be appointed; as also that provision be made for those that are poor, and not able by themselves or their friends to be sustained at letters.

"The rich and potent may not be permitted to suffer their children to spend their youth in a vain idleness, as heretofore

they have done; but they must be exhorted, and by the censure of the kirk, compelled to dedicate their sons by good exercises to the profit of the kirk and commonwealth; and this they must do because they are able. The children of the poor must be supported and sustained on the charge of the kirk, trial being taken whether the spirit of docility be in them found or not. If they be found apt to learning and letters, then may they not be permitted to reject learning, but must be charged to continue their study, so that the commonwealth may have some comfort by them; and for this purpose, must discreet, grave, and learned men be appointed to visit schools, for the trial of their exercise, profit, and continuance; to wit, the ministers and elders, with the best learned men in every town. A certain time must be appointed to reading and learning the Catechism, and a certain time to Grammar and the Latin tongue, and a certain time to the arts of Philosophy and the other tongues, and a certain time to that study in which they intend chiefly to travel for the profit of the commonwealth; which time being expired, the children shall either proceed to further knowledge, or else they must be set to some handicraft, or to some other profitable exercise."

In 1615 the bishops were empowered to establish a school in every parish; and in 1696 the defects of this law were supplied by another, which provides for the means of support. The landlords of each parish were required to build a school-house and a dwelling-house for the master, and to pay him a given salary, at first from £5 to £11, and subsequently, as the value of money diminished, from £16 to £22 per annum. In addition to this, the teacher receives fees from the pupils, from 2s. 6d. to 7s. 6d. per quarter. It has been usually expected that a Scotch parish schoolmaster, besides being a person of unexceptionable character, should be able to instruct his pupils in the reading of English, in the arts of Writing and Arithmetic, the more common and useful branches of practical Mathematics, and that he should be possessed of such classical attainments as might qualify him for teaching Latin and the rudiments of Greek.

It would be no easy matter to exaggerate the beneficial effects of the elementary instruction obtained at parish schools, on the habits and industry of the people of Scotland.

It has given to that part of the British Empire an importance to which it has no claim, either from fertility of soil or amount of population. The universal diffusion of schools, and the consequent education of the people, have opened, to all classes, paths to wealth, honor, and distinction. Persons of the humblest origin have raised themselves to the highest eminence in every walk of ambition, and a spirit of forethought and energy has been widely disseminated.

At the period when the act of 1696 for establishing parish schools was passed, Scotland, which had suffered greatly from misgovernment and religious persecutions, under the reign of Charles II, and his brother James II, was in the most unprosperous condition. "There are," wrote Fletcher of Saltoun, a celebrated Scotch patriot, in 1698, "at this day in Scotland two hundred thousand people begging from door to door. Many murders have been discovered amongst them, and they are a most unspeakable oppression to poor tenants. There are such outrageous disorders, that it would be better for the nation that they were sold for the gallies or the West Indies, than they should continue any longer to be a burden and a curse upon us.'

No country ever rose so rapidly from so frightful an abyss. In the autumn circuits or assizes, for the year 1757, no one was found guilty, in any part of the country, of a capital crime. And now there are very few beggars in the country, nor has any assessment been imposed for the support of the poor, except in some of the large towns, and in the counties adjoining England; and even that is so light as scarcely to be felt. In a large part of the country, nearly the whole population is able to read and write; but in some parts, chiefly in the Highlands, the parishes are so extensive that there are many who have no means of education within reach. Latterly, also, the population has advanced so rapidly, that the parochial system, though it continues tolerably effective in rural parishes, became almost powerless in large towns, and Scotland began to descend rapidly from her foremost place among educated nations. Fortunately, however,

a happy rivalry has been excited among the different religious bodies, urging them to strenuous exertion in erecting schools by means of voluntary subscriptions, supplemented by Parliamentary grants. If sectarian influences could cease altogether, instead of being strengthened by rivalry, nothing would be wanting to restore the proud position of Scotland in the cause of education. Her example, as she stands, is of great value.

The remote and bleak island of Iceland illustrates what has been observed among the Norwegians and Swedes, namely: the prevalence of family instruction, when schools are difficult of access. Although Iceland has its college, with eight professors and eighty pupils, and sustains a few public schools, yet domestic education is universal, and the people are intelligent. Their intellectual capacity is of a superior order. Peasants often are masters of the Greek and Latin languages; many of the most valuable works of European literature have been translated into the native tongue; and even the poems of Milton are read and appreciated at many of the cottage firesides.*

The foregoing review of the career and condition of education in Europe, exhibits one interesting fact, that wherever the family is most firmly rooted in the affections of the people--the predominant institution of society-there is precisely where the school is most prosperous and influential. There is entire harmony, therefore-not the antagonism sometimes asserted to exist-between the rights of the parent and the duties of the teacher. Their earnest and cordial co-operation is the crowning excellence of the most successful systems of public instruction in Europe, especially those of Germany and northern Europe.

* In this rapid outline of the educational condition of the European States, Spain, Portugal and Italy have been omitted, so meagre and inadequate is their provision for that purpose. Sardinia and Tuscany are not entirely inactive, while Turkey, by an edict of 1847, has established a system quite on the plan of northern Europe. It includes elementary schools, attendance at which is compulsory on all Mohammedan children

CHAPTER II.

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS OF THE ATLANTIC STATES AND BRITISH POSSESSIONS.

THE high distinction belongs to New England, and prominently to MASSACHUSETTS, of first proclaiming and establishing the principle, that it is the right and duty of government to provide, by means of fair and just taxation, for the instruction of all the youth of the community.

This common school system is one of the most ancient institutions of MASSACHUSETTS. Indeed, it is only since the period of Independence, that any other schools have been known to her laws; the earliest incorporation of an establishment for instruction, below the rank of the university, being that of Phillips Academy, at Andover, in 1780. The first free school of the colony was that of Boston, where in 1635, five years from the settlement of that peninsula, the inhabitants voted in town meeting, "on the thirteenth of the second month," "that our brother, Philemon Permont, shall be entreated to become schoolmaster for the teaching and nurturing of youth among us." That he served only a short

who have attained their sixth year; middle schools, in which among other branches, Geography, History, Geometry, and Composition are taught, and colleges, arranged under the different heads of Military, Naval, Medical, Veterinary, Agricultural, etc. Most of the medressehs and colleges have libraries attached to them, containing a respectable list of works in various branches of literature. The authorities relied upon for the foregoing summary are, American Annals of Education, I, 244; North American Review, XLVII, 274; Barnard on Normal Schools; Encyclopedia Americana; Blackie's Imperial Gazetteer.