statesmen; but we confidently 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, barbarity, and vice."

These are noble sentiments and views, worthy of being adopted and reduced to practice by every government under heaven; and we trust the period is not far distant when the British senate, and every other legislative assembly in Europe, shall have their attention directed to the arrangement of a system of universal education, on an expansive and liberal scale, and with such generous and disinterested objects in view.

There are no States in the Union, nor perhaps in any country in the world, so amply provided with the means of instruction, as the States of New York and New England. In New York, in 1829, there were no less than 8609 common schools, affording education to 468,205 young persons, which was rather more than a fourth part of the entire populati n! and it is probable, that, since that period, the number has considerably increased. In Scotland, which is reckoned one of the best educated countries in Europe, it is found, that only one in eleven, out of the entire population, has the benefit of education.-In New England, free schools have been endowed by benefactions from different individuals, and the funds thus bequeathed by charity, or public spirit, have not been devoured by the cormorants of a grasping oligarchy, but prudently and carefully administered.-The education given at these schools, too, is vastly superior to what is obtained at our parish schools. "The general plan of education at the public free schools here," says Mr. Stuart,* “is not confined to mere reading, writing, arithmetic and book-keeping, and the ancient and modern languages, but comprehends grammar, mathematics, navigation, geography, history, logic, political economy, rhetoric, moral and natural philosophy. These schoo s

"Three Years' Residence in North America."

being, as stated in the printed regulations, intended to occupy the young people from the age of four to seventeen, and to form a system of education, advancing from the lowest to the highest degree of improvement which can be derived from any literary seminaries inferior to colleges and universities, and to afford a practical and theoretical acquaintance with the various branches of useful education. There are at present in Boston, 68 free schools, besides 23 Sabbath schools, in all of which the poorest inhabitant of Boston may have his children educated, according to the system of education now specified, from the age of four to seventeen, without any expense whatever. The children of both sexes are freely admitted. The funds of those schools are derived from funds and bequests from individuals, and grants from the legislature and corporations; and enable the trustees, consisting of twelve citizens elected by the inhabitants of each of the twelve wards of the city, with the mayor and eight aldermen, to give the teachers salaries, varying from 2500 to 800 dollars a-year. The assistant teachers have 600 dollars. The trustees elect their teachers, and vote their salaries yearly, and no preference is given on any principles but those of merit or skill. No expense whatever is incurred in these schools for the children, except in books. The richer classes in Boston formerly very generally patronized teachers of private schools, who were paid in the usual way; but they now find that the best teachers are at the head of the public schools, and in most cases prefer them-the children of the highest and lowest rank enjoying the privilege, altogether invaluable in a free state, of being educated together.

"In the adjoining State of Connecticut, it has been ascertained by actual reports, that one-third of the population of about 275,000, attend the free schools. The result of the recent inquiry into the state of education in the State of New York, which adjoins New England, and is almost equal to it in population, is very much, though not entirely the same.-It is proved by actual reports, that 499,434 children, out of a population of 1,900,000, were at the same time attending the schools, that is, a fourth part of the whole population. Although the public funds of New York State are great, these schools are not entirely free; but free to all who apply for immunity from payment. The amount of the money paid to the teachers, by private persons, does not, however, amount to one-third of the whole annual expense, which is somewhat less than a million of dollars.”

Besides the seminaries appropriated to the instruction of the mass of the population, the United States contain no less than seventy colleges, in which the ancient and modern languages, the

mathematical sciences, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Logic, Christian Theology, and other branches, are regularly taught, as in the European universities; but with more attention to the moral and religious conduct of the students. About the time of the American Revolution, in 1775, there were 10 colleges; from 1775 to 1800, 13 were established; from 1800 to 1814, 11 were added; and from 1814 to 1834, no less than 36 colleges have been established. In these colleges, 5500 students are prosecuting their education, in the different departments of Literature and Science. The American Education Society is just now educating 912 young men for the ministry; the Presbyterian Education Society has 612 students under its charge; the Northern Baptist Society has 250. The whole number at present educated by these Societies, including the Episcopalian, German, Lutheran, &c. is 2000. These are exclusive of a very large number who are paying the expenses of their own education, and who are equally pious and promising.

It is to the numerous establishments of education-the extensive range of instruction they embrace-the opportunities of instruction afforded to the lowest classes of the community-the superior degree of comfort they enjoy-and to the elevation of character promoted by their free institutions, that we are to attribute the non-existence, in most parts of the United States, of what is usually termed a mob or rabble, and that depredations are less frequent, and property more secure, than in other countries. In the Southern States, indeed, the means of education are not so extensive, nor has society advanced to such a state of moral and mental improvement, as in the Northern. The reason is obvious. These States, with a most glaring inconsistency, still continue the abettors of slavery, in its most disgusting forms. More than one-half of their population consists of slaves, who are deemed unworthy of enjoying the blessings even of a common education. A spirit of haughtiness and domination prevails among the influential classes, barbarous amusements among the lower; and Christian morals, the finer feelings of humanity, and intellectual acquisitions, are too frequently disregarded.

Silesia. -This country, in consequence of the exertions of Frederick the Great, is now richly furnished with scholastic establishments. Prior to 1765, Silesia, like the rest of Europe, was but wretchedly provided either with schools or with 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. 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. Felbiger, an Augustine monk, belonging to a convent at Sagan, travelled to different countries to obtain an acquaintance with the best modes of teaching. After spending some years at Berlin, to obtain a perfect knowledge of the best method of instruction in the schools of that city, he returned to Sagan, and made the convent to which he belonged a seminary for candidates as schoolmasters. Pattern schools were established at Breslaw, Glatz, and other places, on the principles he had adopted, and all candidates for the office of teachers, were obliged to attend these seminaries, and to practise the method in which they were there instructed. The clergy, no less than the teachers, were required to go through this process, because the superintendence of the teachers was to be committed to them. After these preparatory matters had been carried into effect, an ordinance was published in the year 1765, prescribing the mode of teaching, and the manner in which the clergy should superintend the system. The teachers were 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 their lesson, so that the children themselves may be able to explain it, upon examination. 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 of 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 vicargeneral, who is bound to transmit all these reports to the royal domain offices, from which orders are issued to supply the deficiencies of the schools, and to correct any abuses that may be found to prevail. If one school suffice for more than one village, neither of them must be more than half a German mile, or two

and one-fourth British miles, distant from it in the flat country nor more than half that distance in the mountainous parts.

This system had at first many difficulties to struggle with, from the indolence of the Catholic clergy, and their consequent aversion to the new and troublesome duty imposed upon them. Their zeal was alarmed at the danger arising from this diffusion of ligh to the stability of their church. They considered the spirit of innovation, and the spirit of inquiry, as equally their natural enemies; and the system still finds a certain degree of resistance from the penurious economy, and the stubborn love of darkness, which still prevail in some parts of this province. But in so far as it has been acted upon, its operation has proved a blessing to multitudes. As a proof of its extensive effects, the number of schools, in 1752, amounted only to 1552; but in 1798, their number was more than 3500; and many other facts, equally clear, attest the progressive increase of knowledge, and a desire for improvement. Before the seven years' war, there had scarcely ever been more than one periodical journal or gazette published in Silesia at one time; but in 1801, there were no less than seventeen newspapers and magazines, which appeared by the day, the week, the month, or the quarter; many of them upon subjects generally useful, and containing valuable information and instruc tion for the people. At the former period, there were but three booksellers, and all these at Breslaw; but in 1801, there were six in that capital, and seven dispersed in the other cities. The number of printing presses, and of bookbinders, had increased in a similar proportion. Agriculture and manufactures, too, have been vastly improved and extended; so that Silesia is, at this moment, one of the most flourishing districts of the Continent. The habits of the people have been signally improved; and they have become among the most intelligent, orderly, and industrious, in Europe.*

Wirtemberg, Baden, Bavaria, &c.-In Wirtemberg, during the last thirty years, the system of education has been very greatly extended and improved. A public school is established in every parish, and, in some instances, in every hamlet. The master receives, as in Scotland, a fixed salary from the parish, exclusive of a small fee from the pupils, varying according to their age, and the subjects in which they are instructed. The fees are fixed by government, and are everywhere the same. Exclu sive of the salaries and fees, the masters are furnished with a

See President Adams' Letters on Silesia, Quarterly Journal of Ed ucation, and Glasgow Geography, vol. iii.