fuse, desultory, or unconnected lessons are a waste of time; they leave no permanent traces on the memory; they confuse the minds of children, instead of instructing them and strengthening their faculties.

Certain moral consequences also flow from the adoption of skillful methods of teaching. The relations of regard and respect which ought to exist between the master and his scholars are liable to disturbance, when, from his imperfect skill, their progress in learning is slow, their minds remain inactive, and their exertions are languid and unsuccessful. A school in which the master is inapt, and the scholars are dull, too frequently becomes the scene of a harsl.er discipline. Inattention must be prevented-indolence quickened-impatience restrained-insubordination and truancy corrected; yet all these are early consequences of the want of skill in the master. To enforce attention and industry, and to secure obedience and decorum, the languid and the listless are too often subjected to the stimulus of coercion, when the chief requisite is method and tact. The master supplies his own deficiencies with the rod; and what he cannot accomplish by skill, he endeavors to attain by the force of authority.

Such a result is not a proper subject of wonder, when the master has received no systematic instruction in method. To leave the student without the aid of method, is to subject him to the toil of analysis and invention, when he has neither the time nor the talent to analyze and invent.

The Report of 1843 dwells on the several methods previously noticed in the extracts already made from the Report of 1841, and concludes as follows:

These several Methods have now been tested by experience on the most public theater, and have become an important part of the instruction of masters of elementary schools. The Manuals in which they are embodied render their acquisition comparatively easy even to those who do not enjoy the advantage of receiving lessons in the art of teaching by them from adepts. The school of method will place within the reach of the schoolmasters of the metropolis the means of acquiring the requisite skill; and the body of schoolmasters, whom the Normal Schools will annually disseminate, will diffuse them through the country. Every school conducted with complete efficiency by a master trained in a Normal School, will become a model to neighboring schools which have not enjoyed sitilar advantages. On this account alone, it is important that no student from a Normal School should commence his labors in the country until he has acquired a mastery of the methods of teaching these necessary elements.

In a course of instruction extending over a year and a half, a student ought to spend three hours daily, during six or eight months, in the practice of the art of teaching in the village school. When the course of instruction is necessarily limited to one year, four months should be thus employed, and during the entire period of his training, instruction in method should form an element of the daily

routine in the Normal School.

By such means alone can a rational conception of method be attained, and that skill in the art of conducting a school and instructing a class without which all the labors of the Normal School in imparting technical knowledge are wasted, because the student has no power of communicating it to others.

In the Report of 1847, the Inspector, Mr. Moseley, makes the following remarks:

There is one point of view in which we cannot but speak of the labors of this institution with unmingled satisfaction. It stands out honorably distinguished from all others as a place where THE METHODS OF ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION are recognized as legitimate objects of research, and where TEACHING IS STUDIED AS

AN ART.

That shifting, dreamy state of the mind which is associated with mechanical pursuits, such as have usually been the previous pursuits of the students of training institutions, does not readily pass into a close and continuous application of the understanding, any more than, in respect to our bodily health, a state of constant physical exertion gives place quietly to a sedentary life. A laborer is not easily converted into a student. It is not to be done by putting a book be

fore him. He may sit with that book before him for months, and yet never begin to learn.

Such a man requires to be roused from that mental apathy which has grown upon him by the disuse of his faculties, and to be taught the secret of his powThis is best effected by the direct contact of his own mind with that of a vigorous teacher, and for this reason oral instruction is specially adapted to the business of a training school.

ers.

A system which limits itself to this expedient of instruction will probably, however, fail of some important results. The teacher must also be a student. Unless this be the case, the lessons he gives in his school will echo every day more faintly the instructions he received at the college. Each lesson should have had its preparation. However humble the subject, or the class of children to whom it is addressed, there is probably some information to be gathered from books which is applicable to it; and it is in the direction of such applications that lie the legitimate studies of the teacher-studies not less valuable in their influence upon his school than upon himself.

The labor of oral instruction is, however, so great, that to adopt it in respect to ever so small a number of students, supposes the union of several teachers; and thus is obtained that division of the subjects taught among the teachers which enables each to confine his attention to a particular class of subjects, and thereby himself to acquire not only that greater knowledge of these subjects, but of the best means of teaching them, which is essential to his success.

It is not only, however, because each teacher teaches better, that a favorable influence is to be attributed to the labors of various teachers in an institution like this, but because there is an awakening and stimulating power in the rude attacks made by a succession of vigorous teachers-each with a different subject, and an energy concentrated in it-on a sluggish understanding; and in the dif ferent impressions they leave upon it.

There are phases in every man's mind which adapt it to receive impressions from one teacher rather than another, as well as from one subject rather than from another. And thus, between one of a succession of teachers and some individual student, there may be established sympathies which no other could have awakened, and there may be commenced a process of instruction in some individual mind, which the united labors of all the rest could not have moved.

If any thing had been wanting to confirm in our minds the favorable opinion which has been earned for it among the friends of education, by the many admirable teachers it has sent out, the experience of our examination would have supplied it.

Fifty-four young men were assembled who, originally educated here, had for various periods of from one to seven years been in charge of elementary schools. An opportunity was afforded us of forming the personal acquaintance of these men, and each of them taught in our presence one of the classes of the village school.

The impression we received of them from these efforts was eminently favorable. Nor was this favorable opinion shaken by an examination of the papers written in answer to the questions we proposed to them. Although their course of regular instruction had in many cases long ceased, the knowledge they had acquired had not been lost. It was evident that their education had been of that kind which has a tendency to perfect itself, and that the process of instruction commenced here in their minds had gone on.

XII. SECONDARY EDUCATION

IN

SAXONY.

WE are indebted for the following account of the gymnasium or school for secondary instruction in Saxony, mainly, to Dr. Hermann Wimmer, of Dresden. Dr. Wimmer* was educated in the common school, gymnasium, and university of his native country; was trained for a classical teacher in the philological seminary of Hermann and Klotz, at Leipsic, and was for several years professor in the Fitzhum gymnasium or Blochmann college at Dresden, one of the best classical schools in Germany.

The gymnasia of Saxony are partly boarding and partly day schools. The most celebrated of the former at Meissen, Grimma, and Schulpforte, were established at the date of the Reformation by the electors of Saxony on the foundation of the old monasteries or cloisters, the buildings and funds being thus diverted from ecclesiastical to educational purposes. These schools are known as Fürstenschulen, or Prince schools, or Klosterschulen, or Cloister school, from the circumstances of their foundation. These old boarding gymnasia are called, by Dr. Wimmer, the hearths of classical learning in Germany. The gymnasium of Pforta, (schola Portensis,) was opened for pupils in 1543, the funds of the old monastery having been sequestered by the electoral Prince Maurice, on the advice of Luther, for this purpose. In 1815, the school passed with the province in which it is located into the dominions of Prussia. The foundation yielded, in 1838, a revenue of $30,000, on which one hundred and seventy beneficiaries (intraners) were lodged, boarded, and instructed. In most of the boarding gymnasia there are a class of pupils, (extraners,) whose tuition is free, but who board, at their own expense, with the professors. Besides the Fursten, or Prince schools, there were in all the large cities, a gymnasia supported by municipal taxation and private tuition, and managed by the municipal authorities. But within the last few years most of the gymnasia have been merged in the burgher or higher elementary school, leaving eight or ten to be aided and controlled by the government, and which are continued as classical schools. These are open day schools, and are situated in the larger cities, where the parents of most of the pupils reside.

Between the Fursten, or strictly boarding schools, and the open or day gymnasia, there are two of a peculiar character-the Thomas school at Leipsic, and the Blochmann-vizthum gymnasium at Dresden. The

* Dr. Wimmer is now (1852) engaged in preparing for the press in Dresden, his observations on "Education and Religion in the United States"-the results of his visit to this country in 1850-51. The work will be sold by B. Westermann & Co., 290 Broadway, New York.

Thomas school is partly a classical and partly a musical institution; more than half of its students form the great vocal choir of the Thomas church, and is celebrated for its performances on Saturday's and Sunday's. Those students called alumni, have their tuition and board free, and in the latter part of their college life earn some money by their occasional singing. A similar musical class exists in connection with other city gymnasia, but the musical instruction is not carried so far. We give a more particular account of the Blochmann institution.

BLOCHMANN-VIZTHUM GYMNASIUM AT DRESDEN.

The Blochmann-vizthum gymnasium combines within itself a classical, and a rcal or scientific school, and a preparatory school, or progymnasium. It is both a boarding and day school, and partakes of a public and private character, being under the direction of the government authorities as a public school, and supported in part out of funds left by Count Vizthum at the beginning of the 17th century, for the education of children of the Vizthum and other noble families, and for a number of poor boys who are clothed, boarded, and educated as companions of the young nobles to stimulate them by their zeal and diligence.

All the boarding students, about eighty, are distributed into nine rooms. The occupants of a room are under the special care of one of the teachers, who has generally an adjoining dwelling-room. He is interested in their moral and intellectual welfare, is applied to by the teachers who sce any thing in their pupils to commend or to blame, and by the parents who wish to hear something about their physical or spiritual health; he gives the allowance of money for buying books, clothes, or whatever they want; briefly, he is the representative of the absent parent, and enjoys usually the respect, confidence, and love of his pupils. They come but occasionally and for a few moments to their room, to get books or something else out of their secretaries, or in stormy days they are allowed to pass a leisure hour there; but the neighboring teacher has no oversight of them, unless he is disturbed in his studies by their noise, and then he gives them to understand, by knocking at the door, that he is at home, which generally suffices to prevent any further interference. The order of the day is exclusively committed to the Inspectors of the day. For every day two professors are intrusted with this responsible office, so that every officer has the ambiguous honor and the tiresome task of sharing with a colleague for one day of the week the command over the whole. On that day he must see that the students rise (at 5 o'clock in the summer, at 6 in the winter,) must be present at the first breakfast, superintend the study hours from 5 A. M. to 8 P. M. (all study in four adjoining class-rooms,) lead singing and praying in the chapel, keep order before the lessons begin, ascertain whether all the teachers in the nine classes are present before he leaves for his recitation or lodging-room, must be in the garden at the time of second breakfast from 9 to 101, in stormy days go over the classes and rooms, and so again froom 11 or 12 till 3, when the lessons commence again and continue till 4; and again from 5 till 8 are study hours, in which he must be every where and nowhere, and on Wednesdays and Saturdays he must be the walking or bathing-companion of half the section. At 8 is supper time; at 9, the great mass must go to bed, and only such students of the superior classes as are to be trusted, are permitted to study until 10, when the tired inspectors take their last round through the bedrooms, to ascertain whether all are asleep or are likely to be in good order, and then, unless something extraordinary has happened during the day, satisfied with themselves and their day's work, they retire to their rooms. Except the day scholars, no pupil is allowed to leave the house to make a social visit without a ticket of permission from his special tutor, signed likewise by the director, where the time of leaving is mentioned and the statement of the time of arriving and leaving again is expected from the hand of the visited person.

Besides the three or four study hours, under the superintendence of the two inspectors, which are considered sufficient for the necessary preparation and repetition, the students are bound to be in the garden, walking, running, playing, or exercising in some way. It is in this free time, also, that lessons on the piano, in

singing, gymnastics, fencing, dancing, and riding, are given. Only the last hour of the evening is allowed to the older students for staying in their rooms. In this respect the Vizthum gymnasium takes the extreme view, and, for aught we know, the practice of studying in the room, adopted by the other colleges, seems to be generally preferable to that of studying in full classes. But it is the authority of the older students, on which the practicability and the success of studying in common rooms, without the inspection of quite as many tutors, chiefly depends, and the character of the institution as well as the demand of rational supervision, seem to have been the causes of an arrangement not sufficiently comfortable to make studying the great pleasure of life, as one might experience in the common rooms of the Fürstenschool, or in the private chambers of students in city gymnasia. There is a conference of the twelve chief teachers on Saturdays, the Director being Chairman and the youngest professor secretary, in which the events of the week are spoken of and disciplinary measures taken. The private teachers have no access but in cases where they are particularly concerned. Every professor has the right of punishing, and the private teachers may apply for it to the inspector. To make use of that painful right, the teacher as such is but rarely forced, oftener in the quality of inspector, and it will be understood, almost never as special tutor. Corporeal punishment is forbidden. The common penalty is deprivation of one of the meals; the highest is imprisonment. It happens in the Blochmann institution, that to malefactors of inveterate habits flogging is applied, but only to those of the two preparatory classes, and by decree of the conference, and in presence of the directors. In the common gymnasia, where professors and students meet with each other only in the recitation rooms, there is less chance of transgressing laws, the law of the class-room being but one, and that every moment impressed upon the mind of the would-be-transgressor by the presence of the law-giver and judge, but habitual indolence and laziness will meet with something more than a sermon on diligence, which would be like casting a brilliant pearl before a swine; a few involuntary study-hours for making a Latin ode appeals better and more successfully to the stubborn heart. It is never too late to mend; hence expulsion from the college is and ought to be a rare case, and such a victim has usually gone, before, through the dark hole called carcer, which is known to ninety-nine per cent. of the gymnasiasts more by name than by sight. There is generally speaking, in the German gymnasia, a strict discipline, without any Spartan severity and without Basedow's philanthropical sweetness. course, there have been a great many students who never, in their college life, heard a harsh word nor saw a stern look; but others, who are not well prepared, or are inattentive, or noisy, or have written their compositions carelessly, or committed a misdemeanor that comes to the ears of professors, are generally dealt with in good, plain German, and "without gloves," and a repetition may lead, by a long graduation, or rather degradation, to the hole. In the common gymnasia, the professors do not interfere with the private life of the students, unless some charge is brought against them by a citizen.

Of

A gymnasium ordinarily consists of four classes, called Prima, (the highest, or séniors,) Secunda, Tartia, and Quarta, (lowest, or freshman,) and each of these classes are usually divided into two parts, upper and lower. In this institution there are six classes, including the progymnasium.

Pupils are received into the progymnasium at nine or ten years of age, and with the attainments of the elementary period. In this school, which has two classes, they remain until from thirteen to fourteen. Its courses are the following: Bible history, and religion, the German language, the Latin, French, history, arithmetic, knowledge of forms, geography, natural history, drawing, and writing. From the upper class of the progymnasium, the pupils pass to the gymnasium, in which there are four classes. The courses are of religion, Latin, Greek, German language and literature, French, mathematics, history, geography, natural philosophy, natural history, music, and drawing. From the fourth or lowest class of the gymnasium, the pupil who is not intended to go to the university enters the "real gymnasium," or scientific school, in which there are two classes, and the duration of the studies of which is one year less than that of the classical gymnasium. In this the French and English, and the scientific studies, replace the classics, except a portion of Latin, which is still kept up. The courses consist of religion, German language and literature, Latin, French, English, mathematics,