with excellent effect be so extended as to branch out into complete courses of drawing and writing.

As this plan results from an extended experience, the number of hours of instruction, per week, necessary to secure the results, is an important datum, and as such I have retained it, whenever it was inserted in the original programme.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF BERLIN.

The capital of Prussia is well supplied with public educational institutions of various grades, from the Krippen, (or mere nurseries for children whose parents are obliged to labor away from their homes for their daily support) and Kleinkinderbewahranstalten, (or institutions for the care of children between two and four, resembling infant schools, but not doing much in mere instruction,) to the university, with its departments of law, theology, medicine, and philosophy, and schools of preparation for gardening, agriculture, commerce, trades, and the mechanic, and fine arts. Of these, we have selected for description a few which belong to the department of primary education as understood in this country, as well as two which rank abroad with secondary schools, but correspond to the grade of public high schools, as now organized in our large cities, as parts of their systems of public instruction.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.

The elementary schools of Berlin are not organized as a part of a system of public instruction; they are partly private and partly public; some of them are intended exclusively for the poor, and are supported entirely by the city, and others are private establishments, in which the tuition of such poor children as attend, are paid by the city. In the burgher, or higher class of primary schools, as well as in the gymnasia and real schools, there are classes which belong properly to the elementary schools. In 1827, Mr. Reichelen, member of the school council, devised a plan of organization for a class of schools for poor children in Berlin, differing in some respects from that adopted in the kingdom at large. From the document embodying this plan we make a few extracts for the sake of explaining the organization of the schools, and illustrating the difference between these schools for the poor and our common schools.

Although, in the middle class, the co-operation of the parents and the influence of families may be depended on, the contrary holds with children of the lowest, whom it is often necessary to withdraw as much as possible from the baleful influence of the bad example of their parents. In the case of these children, the exertions of the school are wholly unassisted.

In the new organization, the two sexes should be separated; which will not increase the expense, provided the schools be so proportioned, as that one complete school shall contain two divisions having seventy-five each, one for boys and one for girls; these two divisions forming but one parish school for three hundred children, in one building.

The special character of the instruction proper for poor children, is defined in these two words, prayer and work.

The subjects of instruction for the first class should be:

1. For religion: the Bible, catechism, the positive truths of Christianity.

2. For the German language: language considered as the expression of thought; the most general rules of grammar, clear and intelligible pronunciation, reading and orthography.

3. Writing.

4. Arithmetic, to fractions and the rule-of-three, inclusive.

5. Singing, and particularly exercises in sacred choral music.

For the second class of boys, the most general elements of the natural sciences, of geography, and national history, as well as the elements of geometry and linear drawing should be added.

For the second class of girls, instruction in needle-work, knitting, &c.

For boys of from six to ten years of age, first class, twenty-six lessons of one hour each per week, from eight to eleven, and from two to four, every day; thus:

3 hours for religious instruction, (principally narratives from the Bible.)

12 hours for the German language, pronunciation, reading, orthography, &c.

5 hours for arithmetic; 3 for the slate as far as division, and 2 for mental arithmetic.. 4 hours for writing.

2 hours for singing, (without counting the verses sung at the beginning and end of each day.)

26 hours.

For the second class of boys, from ten to fourteen years old, thirty-two hours of lessons per week, from eight to twelve, and from two to four, every day; thus:

6 hours for religion, instruction in the Bible, and catechism.

10 hours for the German language, reading, grammar, intellectual exercises.

5 hours for arithmetic, on the slate and in the head.

4 hours for writing.

2 hours for geometry, and linear drawing.

3 hours for natural philosophy, geography, and history, &c.

2 hours for singing, "(not including the verses sung morning and evening.)

32 hours.

Girls' school, first class, from six to ten years old, twenty-six hours' lessons a week; thus:

3 hours for religion, (narratives from the Bible.)

7 hours for the German language.

3 hours for arithmetic, on the slate and mentally.

3 hours for writing.

2 hours for singing.

8 hours for needle-work, &c.

26 hours, from eight to eleven, and from two to four.

The second class of girls, from ten to fourteen, thirty-two hours' lessons; thus:

6 hours for religion.

8 hours for the German language.

4 hours for arithmetic.

3 hours for writing.

3 hours for singing.

8 hours for needle work, &c., (in the afternoon.)

32 hours, from eight to twelve, and from two to four.

A child shall be in a condition to pass from the first class to the second as soon as it can read well.

It may perhaps seem strange, that in this plan of study no mention should be made of the time devoted to exercises of the memory and the mental powers. But the committee has considered that these exercises are included in the course of study, which keeps the memory and intellect constantly in action. The lessons in the German language will always furnish exercises of this kind; and in charity schools, above all others, it is necessary to avoid whatever is superfluous.

The children of the lowest class have generally received an ill bent from the example of their parents; the strictest discipline is therefore required. Order, neatness, activity, prompt obedience, are by no means the least important things a child has to learn. The kind of instruction, the gravity of the master, his devo

tedness to his pupils, are of themselves a solid ground-work for discipline. But rigor is sometimes necessary; and in a school for the poor especially, discipline should be inflexible in cases of disorder or indolence. But let the masters never forget, that the severest measures of discipline should be pervaded by a sentiment of tenderness and love, which chastises only to improve.

There are seven evening schools in Berlin. It will be sufficient to institute three more of fifty scholars each, two for boys and one for girls. The three ablest and most zealous parish schoolmasters shall be engaged to give from eight to twelve hours' lessons a week in the evening, for which they shall be paid a hundred thaler, (15.) Reading and writing will be constantly taught there, and two hours a week devoted to religious instruction.

A greater number of evening schools will be opened, if they are found to be wanted. Before entering upon a detail of the expenses which the city must bear for the support of fourteen parish charity schools, we will mention the very slight revenue which these schools can draw from other sources.

1. A government order, dated January 30, 1827, directs that in every parish charity school each pupil shall pay a fee of one silber-groschen (about five farthings) a month, in order not to violate the principle, that every father of a family is bound to contribute something to the school, even though he should claim for his children the favor of a gratuitous education; for the exaction of this trifling payment does not take from the instruction its gratuitous character, and this imperceptible charge produces nevertheless, in a school of three hundred children, the sum of 120 thaler, (18.)

2. Amongst the poor, many who are unable to pay the terms of private schools, can nevertheless very well give, besides the groschen per month fixed by the minister of public instruction, a further sum, varying from five groschen as a minimum, to ten as a maximum. Out of three hundred children, this would apply to at least a fifth; and the minimum five groschen for sixty children, will give a revenue of 120 thaler, or 1680 for the fourteen schools, (1367.) This extraordinary fund (Aushulfe-fund) may be appropriated to the maintenance of the evening schools, to the instruction of children of a higher class who have fallen into poverty, and to rewards or pensions for schoolmasters in their old age, or to methodological courses for their improvement; so that the town would have no other expense to support than that of the fourteen parish charity schools.

3. Finally, the donations which the generosity of the citizens may give to the schools, but which can not be calculated on here, will form another resource for improvement in the education of the poorer classes.

The excellence of a school depends entirely upon the master; the choice of the master is therefore a matter of the first importance. In a school for the poorest class especially, where every thing is to be done, and where the master has constantly to struggle against the pernicious influence of the family and companions of the child, he should possess devotedness to his calling, patience, knowledge, an aptitude and taste for teaching; and with all these qualities, that rare disinterestedness which induces perseverance in a career at once humble and unaltering, and that enduring serenity of soul, that pious zeal which alone can secure prosperity to a school.

The masters who are examined and declared capable, shall be appointed for life; nevertheless, in case of negligence or misconduct, they shall be dismissed without appeal, by an order from the town authorities, approved by the school board.

Care should be taken, that whenever it is possible, the wives of the schoolmasters shall instruct the little girls in needle-work.

The immediate superintendence of each poor's school shall be specially confided to a committee consisting of one of the clergymen of the parish, named by the town school committee, and a member of the administration of the poor's fund, charged specially with the inspection of the external business of the school.

The supreme superintendence resides with the poor's administration and the town school committee, of which the Stadt-Schulrath, or school councillor for the town, shall always be a member.

The under masters shall be subject to the head masters; they may be dismissed at will either for incapacity or misconduct.

The purchase and maintenance of buildings for the schools in the various quar

ters, the choice and superintendence of the masters, the administration of the school funds belong to the administration of the poor.

The charity board of each quarter, the clergyman, and the officer charged with the special superintendence, shall attend to:

1. The admission of pupils.

2. The control of the attendance at the schools.

3. The departure of the pupils.

4. The annual reports.

1. As there will be fourteen parish charity schools required, the town will be divided into fourteen school wards, or districts, each having a complete school, (boys and girls.) All parents living in each district, shall apply to the charity board, and particularly to the special officer, to obtain admission for their children to the school.

This adinission shall take place generally at two periods of the year, Easter and Michaelmas, at the commencement of the course.

The officer shall determine whether the child shall be admitted gratuitously, (always paying one groschen per month,) or be made to pay from five to ten silbergroschen, which will form the extraordinary fund.

This sum shall be paid in advance, from month to month, to an officer of the charity board chosen for this purpose, and shall be added each month to the extraordinary fund.

When the number of pupils fixed for each class of boys or girls (seventy-five) shall be complete, no more shall be admitted, and applicants shall be sent to the neighboring schools.

2. The regular attendance at the school shall be an object of special control and the most active vigilance; for this is the source from which flow all the advantages the school can produce. It would be very fortunate if parents and children were always willing of themselves to facilitate the measures adopted to secure regular attendance at the schools. Unhappily this is not the case, particularly in great cities. Although it is lamentable to be forced to use constraint, it is almost always necessary to commence with it; though in a town so populous as Berlin, its enforcement is attended with much difficulty.

In order to draw to the school all the children of an age to attend, the schoolmasters shall keep a register of attendance, and shall send, at the end of each month, an extract from this register, pointing out those who are most frequently absent.

The poor's commission, or one of its members, shall send for the parents, and if the excuses are insufficient, shall warn and threaten them. Every three months a list shall be made of the parents who will pay no regard to the repeated remonstrances of the commission, and the poor's administration shall then have recourse to means of constraint, conformably to section 48, of title XII.,* in the second part of the general code, which adjudges the penalties for this offense. As an example to others, it would be well to publish, from time to time, a list of the parents who shall have been fined for not sending their children regularly to school.

But it is not enough to insure, as far as possible, this regularity in the children who come to school; other measures are needed to secure that no poor child whatever be deprived of elementary instruction. In great cities there are always a considerable number of unfortunate persons who have no fixed residence, who are shifting about every quarter, every month, and often every day. We see only one way of coming at these, which is this: to communicate with all the private establishments of elementary instruction, that are not under the direction of the town, and to arrange that, at a certain time, all the primary schoolmasters in the town, without exception, shall deliver to their pupils a certificate of attendance, the form of which shall be printed and sent to all the schools. The parents shall be obliged to show these certificates. At the same period, the municipal police, or commissions chosen from among the citizens, shall, by the aid of the census tables, effect a general and simultaneous inspection of the whole town. The list of the parents who shall not have shown the certificates of attendance at school, shall be made up in each district, and they shall be summoned before the correc

* See page 95.

tional police and fined according to law, and compelled to enter their children in the schools.

The execution of such a measure would doubtless depend much on the zeal of the authorities intrusted with it; but difficulties should not deter us from the performance of the sacred duty of remedying so deplorable an evil.

3. The law requires that the instruction of the school should be continued, until the clergyman charged with the examination of the children shall deem them sufficiently enlightened on the subjects most important to a rational being of their class. No fixed age will therefore be named at which they shall quit the school. This will be determined by an order from the master of the school, and the clergyman charged with the special inspection; and since nothing superfluous will be taught in any parish poor's school, this decision will depend upon the child's having profitably gone through the course of instruction of the school, and acquired those moral qualities which its influence ought to have produced.

It will in general require at least six years fully to accomplish the end of an intellectual and moral education. Thus, the greater part of the children who enter at six or seven, will be sufficiently instructed at thirteen to quit.

The leaving of the school shall take place only at two periods of the year, Easter and Michaelmas, after a public examination. At the end of this examination, the ecclesiastical inspector and the master of the school shall make a list of the pupils who may quit. There shall be delivered to each a certificate of departure, the form of which shall be printed; and the most distinguished shall receive, by way of encouragement, books suited to their capacity; the expense will be defrayed by the extraordinary fund.

It would also be very useful that the citizens should be bound under a penalty not to take into their service or apprenticeship any child who had not a certificate either of departure or of attendance.

4. The annual reports of the ecclesiastical inspector and the officer of the charity board will serve to measure the progress of the schools. They shall treat of the internal state of the school; of the instruction and discipline, as well as the household expenses; and shall point out imperfections, to the remedy of which the poor's administration and the school board shall direct their efforts.

Dr. Bache makes the following remarks on this class of schools in 1838:

There are at present nine public elementary schools in the city, but if the classes were confined to seventy-five pupils each, as originally intended, fourteen schools would be required, according to the calculations of Mr. Reichelen. The number of pupils, however, in charge of a single master, is greater than that just stated, thereby impairing essentially the efficiency of the schools.

The masters receive fixed salaries,* the fees which they collect, being paid over to the school committee. Of the two schools of this kind at Berlin, which I visited, one came up to the requirements of the law in the branches of instruction, except in the omission of linear drawing. In the other, both drawing and natural history were omitted. In the first, the branches were: 1. Religious instruction. 2. Reading. 3. German language. 4. The geography and history of Prussia. 5. Arithmetic. 6. Elements of geometry. 7. Weights and measures of the country. 8. Natural history. 9. Writing. 10. Singing. In none of these schools is the physical education of the pupils attended to. In each there a girls' school, separated from that of the boys, and giving similar instruction, except that a portion of the time is occupied in works appropriate to the sex.

According to rule, these schools should have two classes for each sex, the head master teaching the first, and the assistant the second; in one, however, the two classes were sub-divided, forming four. The lowest class learns to read and write a little, and is then promoted. In the school of two classes, the lower contained pupils from six to nine, and even ten years of age, and the upper class pupils from

The salary of the head master of both boys' and girls' schools, is two hundred and twentyfive dollars per annum, besides which he has his lodging and certain allowances, amounting to from seventy-five to a hundred and twelve dollars. The pupils pay at the minimum three, and at the maximum thirty cents per month. In one of the schools which I visited, the fees amounted in all to about nine dollars and seventy-five cents per month, the two-fifths of which, forming the master's perquisite, amounted therefore to about forty-seven dollars a year.