Paid for teachers' wages in colored schools, beside public money.. Collected by tax for children exempted.. do rate bills for teachers' wages. 1,360 88 30,753 24 830,190 93 GREAT EDUCATIONAL SCHEME FOR INDIA. The Report to the President of the Board of Control for the affairs of India just made by Mr. Macaulay (the historian), Lord Ashburton, and others, will, when adopted, effect one of the greatest changes that has ever been made in the educational courses of this country. The Civil Service of India is to be opened to the youth of the United Kingdom. There is to be no more Cannon-row or Leadenhall-street patronage. The Report bears the mint-mark of Mr. Macaulay's mind in every part; and so obvious has this been to his fellow Commissioners-to Lord Ashburton especially-that the brilliant Commoner signs the report before the able Peer. Let us add that it behoves every parent in the three kingdoms to make himself master of its contents. When the recommendation of the reporters are put into prac tice, the memorable saying that education in England has been endangered by some of her most eminent sons will, thanks to Mr. Macaulay, be no longer applicable to the present generation. The Report has taken a com. prehensive view not only of the educational wants of India, but of Great Britain at large. The studies of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, and Dublin, have one and all had proper attention paid to them in this masterly scheme of education in the nineteenth century. INFLUENCE OF RAGGED SCHOOLS IN LONDON. At a recent meeting of the London Ragged Schools, Mr. Alderman, and Sheriff Wire, said they could tell them, from their experience of the city prisons, that since the establishment of ragged schools, juvenile crime had diminished fifty per cent. This is a great fact, and cannot be too extensively known, as a most powerful argument in support of such institutions. UNITED STATES. The following condensation of the last annual report of the superintendent of public instruction in New Jersey, shews the position of education in that State:-164 townships in that State have made school reports for the year, and 26 have not. Number of school districts 1426, an increase of 18 over the previous year. Number of children between 5 and 18 years 168,031, of We have received a copy of the annual report of the Superintendent of whom 25,380 attended school three months and less; 26,958 for six months PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK, 1854. Public Instruction. 953,454 Deducting this number from the whole number of children, as above mentioned, and estimating the minor students attending colleges as equivalent to academic pupils over 21 years of age, and there remain, as not having attended any school, in 1853, 233,255-being a fraction less than 20 per cent. of the whole number. If from this number the farther deduction be made of those between the ages of four and six, who might have been justly considered too young to attend school, and of those between sixteen and twenty-one years of age, who had completed their school course, it is believed that the number of children neglecting instruction altogether was comparatively small. The number of children reported as attending school during the entire year, was............ 13,591 and less; 24,968 for nine months and less, and 26,658 for the whole year. Number of pupils in attendance over 18 years of age, 1076; whole number taught 105,040, an increase of 7903 over the previous year. Amount of money raised and appropriated for school purposes during the year $388,571 86, an increase of $53,552 47. Number of teachers employed 1981, of whom 1201 were males, and 780 females; the average salaries of the former being $347, and of the latter $203.-Globe. Literary and Scientific Intelligence. MONTHLY SUMMARY. Mr. J. G. Barthe, now in Paris, is about to publish a work on Canada, in two volumes. The subjects to be embraced in this work are the past history of the present French race in Canada, their politics, literature, customs, &c., and an account of Mr. Barthe's efforts to effect an affiliation between the Canadian Institute and the French Institute. He makea a present of 250 volumes to the Canadian Institute, of which he is a member....L'Academie des Sciences of France has recently presented Mr. Barthe with 50 splendid volumes for the Institut Canadien, valuing, says Mr. Barthe, over 6000 francs....A large library of books, as well as an adequate supply of newspapers and periodicals, have been despatched for the use of the sick and wounded in the British hospitals in Turkey....At the recent meeting of the British Association for the advancement of Science, the Earl of Rosse, who was in the chair, delivered his annual address, after which the Copley medal was presented to Professor Muller, of Berlin; the two Royal medals to Drs. Hooker and Hoffman; and the Rumford medal to Dr. Arnott for his new smoke-consuming firegrate. Lord Wrottesley has been elected President of the Royal Society, in succession to the Earl of Rosse....The Public Ledger, a daily paper of London, has a circulation of 115 copies. It was established a century ago, and was once the leading journal, having among its contributors such men as Goldsmith. It has now sunk into the organ of the auctioneers, and makes a profit of $4,000 a year on its advertisements....The Belfast School of Design has been closed. It was eslablished in 1849; and the Board of Trade then guaranteed, in effect at least, an annual grant of £500 towards the maintenance of an entirely untried project. The school has now been closed for want of funds. The Limerick school has also been closed....We regret to hear that Martin's celebrated picture of "Belshaz zar's Feast" was irrecoverably injured by a late railway accident....Mr. W. Carleton, the celebrated Irish writer of fiction, announces through the columns of the Nation, that he is about to leave Ireland forever, and to close the remainder of his life in Canada....An English paper says that Macaulay, the historian, being lately desirous of obtaining information respecting eighteenth century poetry as material for his new volumes, took his way from Albany to Whitechapel, and bought a roll of London ballads from a singing boy. Happening to turn round as he reached home again, he perceived that the youth, with a circle of young friends, was keeping close to his heels. "Have I not given you your price, sir ?" was the great man's indignant remonstrance. "All right, guv'nor," was the response, "we're only waiting till you begin to sing."....A French paper states that Lord Brougham has placed the following inscription over the entrance of his chateau at Cannes: "Inveni portum; spes et fortuna, valete. Satis me lusistis; ludite nunc alios." That is, "I have reached my haven; hope and fortune, farewell; you have sported with me enough; now find another dupe." Lord Brougham's French neighbours construe this as "an announcement of his intention to retire from public life, and to pass the remainder of his days among them in the genial climate of Var." However that may be, the adoption of such a motto, at the end of the career of such a brilliant statesman, is a very instructive fact. He stands forth like Solomon at the end of life, writing" vanity of vanities" on all....The memoirs and letters of the Rev. Sydney Smith, privately printed by his daughter, Lady Holland, will be published, it is said, with certain omissions, early in the present season. The few who are permitted to see the work are delighted with the letters....Mr. Tupper, the author of " Proverbial Philosophy," has given a gold medal for the encourage ment of literature in Liberia. LITERARY ANNOUNCEMENTS. There is said to be quite a stir in the English Literary worfd at the the present time. Many new books are announced to be in course of preparation, and among them are some which will attract much attention, as well from the reputation of their authors as from their intrinsic literary merit. Lord John Russell is preparing two more volumes of Moore's Life and Letters. Sir David Brewster is about publishing the memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton, aud Thackeray, besides his Christmas book, is getting ready a second course of lectures upon English literature. William Howitt has under way a note book of adventures in the wilds of Australia, and Tennyson, the poet laureate, is composing a poem upon the battle of the Alma. It is currently reported, also, that two additional volumes of Macaulay's History of England will soon make their appearance... Among the literary promises for the ensuing spring is one of a complete edition of Lord Brougham's works, edited by himself. The noble Lord is even now engaged upon the task, for Messrs. Griffins, of Glasgow. The volumes are to issue quarterly ....Washington Irving breaks silence at length. Putnam, of New York, announces a new work by Geoffrey Crayon, similar to the "Sketch Book.", The title of the new volume is "Wolfert's Roost," and other Papers.... Chevalier Bunsen, the late Russian ambassador, who resides now in Heidelberg, has finished his manuscript on Egypt's Position in Universal History," which is soon to appear; he is now engaged in writing a critical Life of Jesus Christ. DEATHS OF LITERARY PERSONS. John Gibson Lockhart expired at Abbotsford on the evening of the 25th Nov. He was a man of note on various grounds. He was an author of no mean qualifications; he was the son-in-law of Scott: and he was the editor of the Quarterly Review after Gifford. Without being a man of genius, a great scholar, or politically or morally eminent, he had sufficient ability and accomplishment to ensure considerable distinction in his own person, and his interesting connections did the rest. He was a man of considerable mark. ....The Rev. Dr. Kitto died on the 25th Nov. at Canstatt, near Stuttgardt. By a singular coincidence he died on the same day as Mr. Lockhart, as mentioned above. Dr. Kitto was a man of great perseverance and ability. And although blind for many years, he has contributed most largely to Biblic a criticism and literature. He has also written interesting and valuable works on the "Lost Senses"—and of which he could touchingly write from painful experience....Mary Russell Mitford the poetess and writer died last month at Reading, England, aged 68. Miss Mitford was the authoress of "Our Village," and other tales, and her works have long been popular....Others. Death has laid a heavy hand upon England during 1854, and taken away many illustrious and celebrated men, among others the Marquis of Anglesey and Professor Wilson; among lawyers, Plunket, Denman, and Talfourd; among literary men, besides Wilson, James Montgomery, Crofton Croker, Lockhart, Samuel Phillips, and F. K. Hunt; among artists, John Martin, Clint, Ramsey, Brokedon and Bartlett. DEATH OF TWELVE SCOTTISH JUDGES SINCE 1850.-One of the most noticeable circumstances in Scotland is the demise of another Judge of the Supreme Court-Lord Robertson,-who dropped down suddenly and expired in his own house, at Edinburgh, on the 10th ult. The mortality which has occured in the Scottish Bench is unexampled. Since Lord Jeffrey's decease, in 1850, no fewer than nine of the thirteen judges of the Court of Session then on the Bench have died, besides three appointed since 1850. These twelve judges were Jeffrey, Mackenzie, Moncreiff, Lord President Boyle, Fullarton, Medwyn, Cunninghame, Cockburn, Robertson, Dundrennan, Anderson, and Rutherford, the three last named having been appointed subsequently to Lord Jeffrey's death. The vacancy caused by the demise of Lord Rutherford has been filled up by the elevation of Mr. Craufurd, Solicitor-General of Scotland, who takes the title of Lord Ardmillan, and who is succeeded in his former office by Mr. Thomas Mackenzie, sheriff of Ross and Cromarty. Lord Robertson was called to the Bar so early as 1815, and raised to the Bench in 1843. As a lawyer he was eminent; but law was not his only attainment. He was a man of remarkable humour, and of late years, to the astonishment of the public, he revealed a vein of poetry for which he had not received credit. MONUMENT TO WORDSWORTH.-A fine statue of white marble from the chisel of Mr. Thrupp, has just been erected in Westminster Abbey, to perpetuate the memory of the poet Wordsworth. It represents the author of the "Excursion" sitting in the open air, in a contemplative mood, as if communing with nature, under whose habitual sway he may be said to have lived. He is resting on a moss and ivy-mantled stone or knoll, with the green sward at his feet enamelled with flowers; the legs are crossed; his right hand and arm are wound gracefully round one knee; the left hand, with the fore finger slightly uplifted, is laid upon an open book, which the poet has just been reading; the eyes are bent, in pensive admiration, upon the flowers at his feet: and the spectator may fancy him saying "To me the meanest flower that blows can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." As yet, no inscription appears upon the base of the monument; but the Rev. Dr. Wordsworth has caused a copy of the poet's Sonnet on Baptism to be placed in immediate contiguity to it, as if it were in contemplation to make that part of the inscription. The statue is not habited in the modern costume. VETERANS NON-COMBATANT.-Another year reminds us of the veterans in literature, art and the stage, still in the body among us. Our oldest poet is, of course, Mr. Rogers-now in his ninetieth year. Our oldest historian is Mr. Hallam-now in his seventy-fourth year. Our oldest critic is Mr. Wilson Croker-now in his seventy-fifth year. Our oldest novelist is Lady Morgan-but we shall conceal her Ladyship's age. Our oldest topographer is Mr. Britton-now, if we remember rightly, in his eighty-third year. Our oldest topographer in point of publication is the historian of St. Leonard's Shoreditch, whose first work was a quarto, published before 1779. We refer to Sir Henry Ellis, still the active Principal Librarian of the British Museum. Mr. Leigh Hunt was a poet with a printed volume of his effusions in verse, and his own portrait before it, more than half a century ago, and is now, in good health, in his seventy-first year. Our oldest artist is Sir Richard Westmacot, the sculptor, the father of the Royal Academy. AGES OF BRITISH STATESMEN.-Lord Lyndhurst, 83; Lord Brougham, 76; Marquis of Lansdowne, 75; Earl of Aberdeen, 71; Lord Hardinge, 70; Lord Palmerston, 70; Lord Raglan, 67; Lord John Russell, 62; Earl of Derby, 56; Earl of Harrowby, 57; Earl of Clarendon, 55; Earl of Malmesbury, 48; Earl Grey, 52; Earl Granville, 40; Earl of Carlisle, 53; Duke of Newcastle, 44; Lord Cranworth, (Lord Chancellor,) 64; the Right Hon. Sir James Graham, 62; the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, 45; the Right Hon. H. Labouchere, 57; the Right Hon. E. Cardwell, 42; the Right Hon, A Mr. Page has settled the controversy as to the authorship of the "Vestiges of Creation." "At the time the 'Vestiges' was published," Mr. Page says, "he was engaged as one of the literary and scientific collaborateurs of the Messrs. Chambers. The first time he saw it was in the hands of Mr. William Chambers, who came into his room one day with the remark, 'Here is a curious work making some sensation,' and requested that he (Mr. Page) would write a notice of it for the Journal (Chambers' Edinburgh Journal). For this purpose, Mr. Page took the work home, and he had not read twenty pages of it before he felt convinced that it was the production of Mr. Robert Chambers. When asked for the review, he said he could not prepare one for two reasons: 1st, that he did not think the work suited for notice in the Edinburgh Journal: and 2nd, because he believed it to be the production of Mr. Robert Chambers. Mr. William Chambers received this announcement with apparent surprise, but denied all knowledge of the matter; and there the subject dropped. Some time after, however, and when the work was being severely handled by the reviewers, Mr. Robert Chambers alluded to the matter, affecting ignorance and innocence of the authorship, upon which Mr. Page remarked, that had he seen the work before going to press, he could have prevented some of the blunders. The consequence of this remark was, that Mr. Robert Chambers sent him the proof sheets of the second or third edition of the 'Vestiges,' with the request that he would enter on the margin any corrections or suggestions that occurred." DURATION OF VEGETABLE LIFE. Lord Lindsay states that, in the course of his wanderings amid the pyramids of Egypt, he stumbled on a mummy, proved by its hieroglyphics to be at least 2,000 years of age. In examining the mummy after it was unwrapped, he found in one of its closed hands a tuberous or bulbous root. He was interested in the question how long vegetable life could last, and he therefore took that bulbous root from the mummy's hand, planted it in a sunny soil, allowed the rains and dews of heaven to descend upon it, and in the course of a few weeks, to his astonishment and joy, the root burst forth and bloomed into a beauteous dahlia. DISCOVERIES AT MEMPHIS. state of Memphis was until quite recently a matter of great doubt, and when that was discovered it was not thought at all likely that any remains of the temple of Serapis could be brought to light. BASSWOOD PAPER.-We were agreeably surprised yesterday morning by finding, among our excharges, a copy of the Albany Evening Journal of Saturday, printed upon paper made from Basswood by the Foudrinier machine, and without the slightest admixture of rags or any size.—Owing to the small quantity of pulp furnished to the machine, the labor was performed by the hands, and, therefore, there is a slight inequality in the thickness of the sheet; but, as an experiment, the thing is a success. The readily as the English linen paper. Few new inventions start off as triumsheet is white, smooth, and exceeding tough, and can be written upon as phantly as this, and we are sanguine that within one year from this time, the basswood paper; improved as time and experience shall teach, will be taking the place of paper made from rags.-Buffalo Express BOARD OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, COUNTY PEEL. OTICE is hereby given, that a MEETING of the BOARD of PUBLIC held in BRAMPTON, at the School House, on TUESDAY the 20th day of March, at NINE O'Clock, A. M.; for the EXAMINATION of COMMON SCHOOL TEACHERS and the transaction of other business. N°INSTRUCTION of the SECOND SCHOOL CIRCUIT, County of PEEL, will be All Candidates for License, previous to being admitted for Examination, TEACHER WANTED. WANTRST OF SECOND CLASS CERTIFICATE. Parties applying to the undersigned will state whether they have attended the Normal School, what Certificate they hold, and the amount of Salary required. WILLIAM D'CEW, School Trustee, S. S. No. 5, North Cayuga, March 9th, 1855. THE NORMAL SCHOOL TEACHERS. HE present Session of the NORMAL SCHOOL for Upper Canada will CLOSE on the 15th of April next. Trustees and others in their applications to this Department for TEACHERS, will state distinctly the Class of Teacher, Male or Female, which they may require, whether 1st or 2nd (no 3rd Class offer. Applications should be sent in not later than the first week in April. Certificates are issued); and the amount of Salary which they may be able to N.B.-The next Session of the NORMAL SCHOOL will commence on the 15th of May, and end on the 15th of October, 1855. Education Office, Toronto, February, 1855. EXAMINATION OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL MASTERS. COMMITTEE of EXAMINERS of CANDIDATES for MASTER TSHIPS OF COUNTY GRAMMAR SCHOOLS in Upper Canada, having recently met to make the preliminary arrangements requisite for carrying into effect the provisions of the GRAMMAR SCHOOL ACT, as set forth in the 2nd clause of the 14th Section, have decided on holding their EXAMINATIONS for the present, quarterly, on the FIRST MONDAY of BUILDINGS, commencing at THREE o'clock, P. M. THOS. J. ROBERTSON, JANUARY, APRIL, JULY, and OCTOBER, respectively, in the NORMAL SCHOOL Head Master, Normal School, U. C., Chairman. [N.B —All candidates are requested to send in their names to the Chairman of the Committee at least one week prior to the first day of examination.] BOOK RICHMOND'S OF LEGAL FORMS AND LAW MANUAL, FOR THE LEGAL TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS. ADAPTED to the use of County and Town Officers, Merchants, Clerks, We have had occasion, says the Literary Gazette, to notice, at different times, the explorations of the ruins of Memphis, made by M. Mariette, by direction of the French Government during the last few years. M. Mariette has just returned to Paris after having completed his operations. The most important result of these is the discovery of the famous Serapeum, or the temple of Serapis, which was supposed to have been entirely destroyed. The sand and rubbish have been completely cleared away from the remains of this great and most ancient monument. It contains numerous representations of Apis, and statues of Pindar, Homer, Lycurgus, Pythagoras, Plato, and Euripides; and it is preceded by a sort of alley or passage, on each side of which are Egyptian sphynxes, about 600 in number, and which is terminated by a number of figures, representing the strange way the Grecian gods united with symbolical animals. Thus a striking proof of the junction of Egyptian and Grecian art has been obtained. M. Mariette has also discovered the tomb of Apis. It is cut out of the solid rock; and consists of a vast number of chambers and galleries. In fact, it may be compared to a subterranean town. In these rooms and galleries there were found a great number of monoliths, containing dates, which will be of great chronological utility, and others bearing epitaphs on, or, if we may use the expression, biographical notices of certain of the oxen which were severally worshipped as Apis. There have also been found statues as old as the Pyramids, and in an astonishing state of preservation; they are executed with great artistic skill, and are totally free trom that inelegant stiffness of form which characterises early Egyptian sculpture. Some of these statues are in granite and are colored, and the colors are quite fresh. A number of statues of animals, but not so well executed, one of these representing Apis, almost as large as life, and colored have likewise been discovered; as have also numerous bronzes, jewels, vases, and little images. All the statues and other moveables have been conveyed to Paris, and are to be added to the Museum of the Louvre. The greatest credit is due to M. Marriette for his All communications to be addressed to Mr. J. GEORGE HODGINS, skill and industry in making his discoveries; they are only inferior in Education Office, Toronto. archæological importance to those of Mr. Layard at Nineveh. The precise TORONTO: Printed by LOVELL & GIBSON, Corner of Yonge and Melinda Streets. Mechanics, Farmers, Professional Men, Justices of the Peace, Coroners, Sheriffs, Bailiffs, and to the use of all persons in every station of life. Address "WELLINGTON H. RICHMOND, Toronto, C. W." Office and dwel ling: Caroline Street, three doors from Queen Street. N. B.-Legal Forms and Law Manual, price 15s. currency. Bill Books, 18. 8d., 5s. & 7s. 6d. Also, Time Books, 74d. & 1s. 3d. Mercantile Calcu lator (or Dumb Check Clerk), price 3s. 9d. The Montreal "Literary Gar land," bound, price 6s. 3d.-In no case will either of the above-named Works be sent by Post, or otherwise, unless the amount in money is remitted in advance. Address as above.-Toronto, January, 1854. ADVERTISEMENTS inserted in the Journal of Education for one halfpenny per word, which may be remitted in postage stamps, or otherwise. TERMS: For a single copy of the Journal of Education, 5s. per annum; back vols. neatly stitched, supplied on the same terms. All subscriptions to commence with the January number, and payment in advance must in all cases accompany the order. Single numbers, 74d. each. CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. EDUCATION, TORONTO: APRIL, 1855. I. Report of Public Schools in Boston III. Education in New South Wales... IV. The Educational Institutions of Turkey V. The Sanskrit Element in the English Language VI. EDITORIAL.1. Grammar School Regulations, Religious exercises. 2. Vacations and Holidays in Union Grammar and Common Schools. 3. Encouragement to teachers trained at the Nor mal School. 4. School-books from Canada to the United States VII. Opening of the John St. Free School, Toronto. I. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.-1. Monthly Summary. 2. Critique on Byron. 8. Meteorological results, Toronto, for 1854. 4. Nineveh relics XI. Library Notice and Advertisements 49 52 53 55 Canada. No. 4. PAGE and arithmetical tables. Children enter at four, and are expected to be qualified at eight for admission into the grammar schools or next higher grade. Except for special reasons, satisfactory to the committee, no child is allowed to remain in a Primary school after he is eight years old; but for the exclusive benefit of those who, from defective early education, or inferiority of intellectual capacity, may have reached that age, without being fitted for the grammar school, there are several intermediate schools, or schools for special instruction, where children of ages varying from eight to twelve or fourteen are engaged in studying the same lessons as are taught in the Primary schools. Each school contains, on an average, fifty pupils, under the care of a female teacher. 56 57 59 61 63 64 Having recently, at your request, visited Boston, for the purpose of making myself acquainted with the School system and organization of that city, I beg leave to Report: That in the city of Boston there are, in all, 219 public schools, of various grades. These are the growth and development of the last 220 years-the latin school having been founded as early as 1635. All the public schools, however, established in Boston prior to the year 1819, required that every child should be able "to read the English language, by spelling the same," before he could be admitted; nor could any child under seven years of age, no matter how well he could read, gain admission into one of the city schools. Since that time, a system of PRIMARY SCHOOLS has been gradually organized, and now spreads all over the city, embracing within its ample folds 10,000 children, grouped together for instruction in 196 Primary schools. In these the course of instruction extends over four years, and is limited to reading, spelling, enunciation, pronunciation, drawing and printing on slates, oral arithmetic, Until the commencement of the present year, the primary schools were under the charge of a committee entirely distinct from the general school committee. It was composed of 196 members, each of whom had charge of one school, and was expected to give it his personal attention, and to report on its wants and management to the Primary school committee once every three months. This division of the school authorities into two distinct Boards was long deplored by those most interested in the educational welfare of the city; but, although a reform had been anxiously sought for some time past, no change was effected till the close of last year, when, by an ordinance of the city council, the primary school committee ceased to exist, and all the public schools were placed under the immediate control of the general school committee. Next in rank above the Primary schools are the GRAMMAR SCHOOLS-20 in number, and averaging each about 500 pupils. Some of these are designed exclusively for boys, some for girls, and others for both boys and girls. Five are conducted under a peculiar organization. In each school-house there are two large rooms or halls of equal size, one above the other, in which accommodation is provided for 300 or 400 children. The upper room is uniformly occupied by a grammar school, and the lower by a writing school. Each department is placed under the control and instruction of a master and a distinct set of teachers, and is kept almost as an entirely independent school. The pupils in each section, being about equal in number, are divided into four large classes, and these are sub-divided into as many divisions as will, in the opinion of the master of each school, facilitate the progress of his scholars. By this "twoheaded" system-so-called because the two masters hold equal rank, have equal authority, and receive equal salaries-the pupils are placed under the government and instruction of one set of teachers one half of the day, and then under the somewhat different government and instruction of another set of teachers the other half-and are thus kept alternating from one room to the other, from one set of teachers to the other, every school-day in the year. Originally all the public schools in Boston were organized after this plan; but since the commencement of the present century, experience has evinced that its practical working is clumsy and unfavorable to the continual and rapid advancement of the pupil in knowledge, and it has, therefore, been very much modified, or rather completely changed, where it was possible to make the requisite alterations in the buildings. The remaining fifteen grammar schools are conducted on a different plan. Each building contains a large room or hall, in the upper story, capable of holding 200 or 300 children, and from seven to ten class-rooms, each fitted up with seats and desks to accommodate 60 or 70 pupils; and is occupied by a single school, divided into as many departments as there are class-rooms, all under the control of a head master or Principal, who has the direction of the whole course of instruction. Children are admitted in the grammar schools from the primary schools on the first Mondays of September and March, provided they are found, on examination by the master, to be able to read easy prose; to spell words of two syllables; to distinguish and name the marks of punctuation; to perform, mentally, simple questions in the four elementary rules of arithmetic; to answer readily any combination of the multiplication table; to read and write Arabic numbers containing three figures, and the Roman numerals as far as the sign for one hundred; and to enunciate clearly, and distinctly, and accurately the elementary sounds of our language. The grammar school course extends over six years for boys and eight years for girls, and embraces reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, geography, history, mapdrawing, grammar, composition, book-keeping, linear-drawing, and natural philosophy. Algebra, geometry, the philosophy of natural history, and human physiology may be introduced, when in the opinion of the master, any part of his scholars can attend to them without neglecting their other studies. The staff of teachers consists of a master, with as many assistants as there are departments in the school, two of these generally being males, and the others females. The master has the care of the senior or most advanced department, but, as he is required to examine, in person, the classes of the other teachers from time to time, he is provided with a female assistant who superintends his division while he is thus engaged. Each grammar school master receives a salary of $1500 per annum; each sub-master, $1000; each usher, $800; each master's assistant, $400; and all other assistants, $250 each for the first year's service, $300 for the second, and $350 for each succeeding year. By the time a boy has reached the age of fourteen, he is expected to have passed through the several departments of the grammar school and to have qualified himself for admission into the ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL. This Institution was established in 1821, with the design of furnishing the young men of the city, who are not intended for a collegiate course of study, and who have enjoyed the usual advantages of the other public schools, with the means of completing a good English education and fitting themselves for all the departments of commercial life. Any boy over twelve years of age, who stands a satisfactory examination in reading, writing, spelling, English grammar, arithmetic, modern geography, and the history of the United States, is eligible for admission into the English high school. The prescribed course of studies is arranged for either three or four years, and includes linear-drawing, ancient geography, general history, book-keeping, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, natural philosophy, chemistry, geology, logic, intellectual philosophy, English literature, the French and Spanish languages, declamation, moral philosophy, political economy, natural theology, and Paley's Evidences of Christianity. It is supplied with a very extensive and valuable set of philosophical and mathematical apparatus, and contains 180 pupils, under the care of five teachers. The LATIN SCHOOL is designed for instruction in the languages. Boys can enter at ten, and, after going through a six years' course of study, fit themselves for matriculation into any respectable college or university. In it four teachers give instruction to 200 pupils. At the summit of the Boston school system is the city NORMAL SCHOOL, instituted in 1852, for the purpose of giving those pupils who had gone through the usual course of study in the grammar schools for girls, an opportunity of qualifying themselves for the duties of teachers. It is divided into two departments-a Normal school, in which 150 female students, between the ages of 16 and 19, are taught by a master, with three assistants; and a Model school, containing about 150 children, in which the students-in-training are required frequently to assist, for the purpose of acquiring experience in the application of correct principles of instruction and discipline, under the direction of skilful teachers. The prescribed course of instruction in the Normal school is arranged for two years, and its aim is to fit the pupils for the duties of teachers, by making them familiar with the most approved methods of teaching, and by giving them such command of the knowledge they have acquired, and such facility in imparting it, as shall enable them to originate methods of their own, and to apply them successfully to the instruction of those who may afterwards come under their care. I have thus given a brief and very imperfect sketch of the several parts of the Boston school system, and I now solicit your attention to a few general facts respecting it as a whole. The entire government and supervision of all the public schools in the city rests in the general school committee, which consists of the Mayor, the President of the common council, and twenty-four members, who are elected annually-two for each ward. The Mayor is chairman, and appoints the various committees, among which is a visiting committee for each school, consisting of five members for the English high school, five for the Normal school, five for the Latin school, and three for each of the other schools. These committees are required to visit their respective schools at least once a month, without giving notice to the instructors, and to report quarterly upon their wants and general efficiency. Two years ago, the Board, feeling how vastly important the trust reposed in them by their fellow-citizens, and how impossible it was for persons actively engaged in business like them, to give that minute attention and vigilant supervision in every department of their school system, which is essential to its thorough efficiency and success, appointed a city superintendent with a salary of $2,500 per annum. It is his duty to devote the whole of his time and attention to the improvement and superintendence of the public schools; to pass continually from one to another, and critically examine them; and to make, from time to time, such suggestions to the Board as he considers would tend to render their various educational institutions more perfect. Since this office was created, it has been filled by Mr. Nathan Bishop, under whose talented and energetic direction the schools of Boston are said to have more than doubled their efficiency within the past two years. The city annually expends about $350,000 upon its public schools. It has invested in school-houses about $1,500,000. The whole amount of money raised yearly, by taxation, for city purposes, is about $1.200,000. Hence, it appears that, at present, somewhat over 29 per cent. of the city taxes is appropriated to school purposes. During the last fifteen years the proportion has varied from 25 to 34 per cent., or from one-fourth to one-third. The population of Boston is about 150,000; and if the amount expended for schools were raised per capita, the proportion paid by each man, woman, and child towards the expenses of the public schools would be a little over two dollars. The number of voters in Boston is somewhere about 22,500. If the expense of the schools were divided equally among them, each would have to pay about $15. The whole number of pupils annually attending the various public schools is about 22,000; the total yearly cost of educating each child is therefore about $16. Such, then, are the general features of the Boston public |