Educational Entelligence.

CANADA.

n Schools in the Talbot District-Extract from the Report of the Rev. William Clarke to the Council.

Education Office, T. D., Simcoe, Feb. 6, 1849. VARDEN AND GENTLEMEN,-Since I have had the honor of receiving hands the office of Superintendent of Common Schools in this , a period of five years has elapsed, during which I have felt it my present you with an annual Report, embracing topics of interest ted with the educational department committed to my trust. During st year there have been ninety Schools in operation, which, with w exceptions, I have personally visited and examined; and, I am to report, that there has been an advance on the previous year, the time during which they have been kept open, and also in the t and diversity of instruction communicated; several branches of having been introduced into many Schools, which were untaught Still, in some sections the cause has rather retrograded than othervhich may be attributed to the following reasons:

Local differences and prejudices.

he deficiency and variety of School-books.

he parsimony of the people; and

he scarcity of well qualified and accredited Teachers.

tlemen, the latter will at once be apparent when I inform you that r District there are not more than sixteen Teachers of the first class, cnty-four of the second; while there are between fifty and sixty of rd or the least qualified class.

uch a state of things you will at once perceive that there must, of ity, be some sections suffering all the consequences arising from cient Teaching. It is, however, important to observe that there is tion of six first class Teachers, as compared with the previous year, those sections where there is cordial co-operation and a remuneralary, Teachers of the first class are readily obtained; but where s known antagonism and poor pay, such Teachers are of course ng to engage.

may show that unreasonable expectations or hasty animadversions not be indulged. Some of the third class Teachers receive certifirom School Visitors, any two of whom are authorized to give them. e cases the employment of an insufficient Teacher is to be attributed Trustees themselves, who are anxious to keep the School open the bed time at the lowest price, while not unfrequently your Superint has to decide whether there shall be a modicum of instruction or t all; whether there shall be half a loaf or no bread. Only let correct les be diffused, let the importance of education be pressed home he public mind, and then we may patiently but confidently hope first class Teachers are multiplied and settled among us, through dium of that valuable institution, the Provincial Normal School, aracter of our Schools will be gradually improved, and the best of imparting instruction will generally, if not universally, prevail. ifton Common School Examination, Feb. 9th.-There are is of fifty scholars attending this School, and it was most gratifying the great improvement they all exhibited in the various branches ning taught them by their able and most indefatigable Teacher, M. WATSON, lately from the Normal School, Toronto, who has been ree months in charge. The new and much improved system of g introduced by him, has already produced the most admirable and ial results. The following is the Report of the Visitors :

"Grafton, 9th February, 1849. e, whose names are subscribed, have this day examined the School by Mr. Wm. Watson, in School Section, No, 2. We were highly 1 with the appearance of the School, and with the spirit and accuith which the Scholars went through the various exercises. Mr. 1 evidently devotes much attention to the instruction of the scholars ted to his care, and particularly to their intellectual improvement. vere examined in Geography, the elements of Mechanics, Natural ', Mathematics, and Grammar, besides the more common branches; all the exercises acquitted themselves with great credit. On the ve consider Mr. Watson eminently qualified to act as an instructor "WM. REID, Min. Presby'n. Ch.

h.

self of the opportunity of visiting the College at St. Hyacinthe. We learn from a Montreal paper that "immediately after arrival at St. Hyacinthe, the company visited the College, and were introduced to the Reverend Superior, after which they assembled in the large hall below, where an address was delivered to His Excellency by one of the Students, to which His Lordship made an appropriate reply in French, and requested that the rest of the day should be granted to the Students as a holiday.”

Central Town School of London.--The Canadian Free Press, in a lengthened article on the advantages of the projected scheme of the Town Council, London, C. W., to establish an efficient system of Common Schools in that Town, remarks as follows:-"Another recommendatory feature in the projected Seminary is, that the Salaries of the Teachers being included in the general taxes of the town will occasion scarcely a perceptible difference in them. The Trustees will be relieved of the disagreeable necessity of suing for Teachers' salaries; and the honorable feelings of sensitive children will be saved from the pain and the shame of being turned away from school for want of school fees."

House of Assembly in Committee on the Appropriation of 1,000,000 Acres of Land for the Support of Common Schools in Canada, Feb. 27.Hon. J. H. PRICE laid on the table a message from His Excellency, recommending an appropriation for the support of Common Schools. Mr. PRICE stated that the object of the motion he had to submit to the Committee was to set apart a sufficient extent of wild lands to produce £100,000 per annum. The lands thus set apart to a specific fund would not only be preserved for that most useful purpose, but would, according to all experience, sell for a much higher price than if sold by the Crown Lands Department. Thus the Clergy Reserve lands produced much more than other Crown lands, because the parties who purchased obtained credit, and could pay much more than otherwise. The hon. gentleman concluded by moving that it is expedient to raise a yearly sum of £100,000 on wild lands for the support of Common Schools.

Messrs. ROBINSON, SHERWOOD (Toronto), WILSON, and Col. Prince, complimented the Ministry upon the introduction of this Bill; and the latter gentleman expressed his wish to see some provision made for the education of the colored population, which was very difficult to obtain at present, owing to the repugnance on the part of the white population to mix with them.

In answer to Mr. CAYLEY, Mr. PRICE stated that it was not the intention of the Government to propose any change in the present grant of £50,000 per annum, till the new fund derived from the land produced more than that sum. It was proposed to set apart one million of acres specifically for the purpose, and to invest the whole of the proceeds of the Crown lands for the same purpose.

Hon. H. J. BOULTON suggested, as a part of the plan, the setting apart a piece of land in each locality by way of a glebe for the school-house and school-master.

The resolution being carried, the Committee rose, reported progress, and obtained leave to sit again.-[Pilot.

Catologue of the University of Victoria College, 1849.-By the politeness of the Reverend Principal, we have been put in possession of the Catalogue of this College, by which it appears that the total number of Students for the year just closed was 140, being an increase of 25 over the preceding year. We congratulate the Students of this Institution upon the following Prizes, which, we have no doubt, will have a salutary influence on their minds in their efforts to obtain that knowledge which is more precious than gold, and which alone can qualify them to compete, with credit to themselves and with honor to their country, for the more influential, useful, and responsible stations in the community.

By His Excellency the GOVERNOR-GENERAL,-"THE ELGIN Prize,”—
Paley's Evidences of Christianity.

THE PRESIDENT'S PRIZE, 1st and 2nd,―General History.
THE TRUSTEES' AND VISITORS' PRIZES, -Classics.
PROFESSOR PADDOCK'S PRIZE,-Mathematics.

Connected with the Catalogue is an able, interesting, and most useful Address, delivered before the Faculty and Students, by the Principal, the Rev. Dr. MACNAB, at the opening of the present session. This Address, though designed particularly for the young gentlemen.connected with the College, may be perused with profit by any who are endeavoring to improve or cultivate their minds.-[Christian Guardian.

Common School Improvements in Brantford." To the Mayor and Council of the Town of Brantford.-The School Trustees beg to report that the state of the Public School of the Town of Brantford is inadequate to the wants of the Town from the increased and increasing number of pupils. The Trustees beg also to state that the old School-house is unfit for use, and they recommend the purchase of a parcel of land for the purpose of erecting a suitable house in the most healthy, central and convenient part of the Town. And as in duty bound, &c.

The proposition, we understand, to purchase two lots from the Odd Fellows, was entertained by the Council, and a High School is to be erected thereon immediately,-both of which will cost from £500 to £600. Brantford Courier.

New District Superintendents.-The following important appointments have recently been made by the Municipal Councils of the respective Districts, named:

The Rev. JOHN FLOOD, of Richmond, to be Superintendent of Common Schools for the Dalhousie District, vice the Hon. HAMNETT PINHEY, resigned.

The Rev. WILLIAM FRASER, of Lochiel, to be Superintendent of Common Schools for the Eastern District, vice WILLIAM MILLAR, Esquire, resigned. The Rev. CHARLES FLETCHER, of Goderich, to be Superintendent of Common Schools for the Huron District, rice JOHN BIGNALL, absconded.

College of Regiopolis.—The Roman Catholic Bishop, Clergy, and laity of Kingston have lately had a meeting to petition the Legislature to provide more effectively for Collegiate Education in connexion with their own Church. Similar meetings for similar objects have been held in different parts of the Province.

Appropriation to Common Schools, Nova-Scotia.-The House of Assembly, Nova-Scotia, have lately passed a Resolution, appropriating £15,000 for the support of Common Schools in that Province.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

Schools of Art and Design in Ireland.—The Earl of CLARENDON, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, at a recent meeting for the distribution of Prizes in the Drawing School of the Royal Dublin Society, stated, in the course of his truly eloquent speech, that "Schools of Design are about forthwith to be established not only at Dublin, but at Belfast and Cork. The accommodation afforded in this noble edifice, the successful School of Drawing which already exists here; the Library; the Museum; the Botanic Gardens; the Statue Gallery: the collection of casts, to which an important addition has been this year made by government; but above all, the liberality with which the interests of Art and Science are here promoted give this Society a claim to the preference in the location of the Government School of Design. Of the usefulness of such important Institutions I can have little doubt, and still less that it should be here productive of even greater results than in England. For it is not as an unmeaning compliment that I say that the Irish are in my opinion far more apt to learn -they possess much greater ingenuity and much more natural taste than the English. And yet, when I see the improvement that has taken place in England-the greater beauty of form and purity of design that has been introduced into our various manufactures-when I observe that which may be called the renaissance-the regeneration of taste in England; and when I know how much that is attributable to the schools of design, or rather perhaps to the acknowledgment of our deficiencies, they tend to produce, I think it is not too much to expect that Ireland, although deprived of the advantage of a fair start, will not be behindhand in the race of competition, where application and ingenuity, correctness of eye, and facility of hand are indispensible to successfully uniting beauty and utility, and adapting them to objects for which there is a constant demand. I trust then that from these industrious schools of art, in Dublin, in Belfast, and in Cork, competing with each other in honorable rivalry, there may issue artists who will not alone do credit to themselves and their country, but will find opening before them new and profitable fields of employment; because with the increasing taste for decoration, and the absolute necessity for improved designs in all our manufactures there has arisen a demand for skilful designers which as yet is far from being satisfied. I would instance a case which I believe was lately brought before the Statistical Society, it is that of the manufacture of ornamental muslin in Belfast employing between 150,000 and 200,000 persons, the success of which is entirely dependent on the novelty and gracefulness of the patterns, and yet the whole of the designs are brought from Great Britain or the Continent; and I have also been

informed that upwards of 180,000 is annually sent Ir simply of the ornaments on the wrappers in which th

and it would be easy to give innumerable instances v artistical skill and ingenuity, which I am sure exists

Queenwood Agricultural College, Engl "Harmony Hall" where Robert Owen with his infic to carry out, on a small scale, their views for the reg and to establish the Millennium, has been lately con tant Educational Institution, Owen's establishmen up, Mr. Edmondson of Tulketh Hall, near Preston, take a lease of it and carry out on a more extended principles for which he is distinguished. The celebra M. de Fellenberg at Hofwyl, Switzerland, is the mo upon which Queenwood College is conducted. The classics and all other subjects usually taught in Gram don News.

New Medical College, Calcutta.-The foun very large Medical College has lately been laid at Ca Dalhousie, Governor General, assisted by the civil and of that famous "City of Palaces," together with the m cil of Education, &c. The ceremony is said to have posing description. The College, including the sit Rupees.-[Ibid.

Mass Ignorance in England and Wales.-E with sixteen millions of people, contain nearly eight write their names, and not less than five millions unable tongue.-[Ibil.

Improvement in the Elementary Schools of C Ireland. The schools for the gratuitous, or nearly gra of the lower classes have recently been brought to a l fection. The model-schools both of the National, and I School Societies, the Lancastrian Schools for Manches the great schools in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the n lished by the National Board in Ireland, are conduc leave little to be desired in the way of literary education

Jews at the English Universities.—At the exam cluded at Trinity College, Cambridge, we rejoice to find a Jew, occupying a prominent position in the first c honor never before enjoyed by Jews in Great Britain.-[

Parisian School Statistics.-There are in Par ments of primary instruction, capable of receiving 56, 28,472 boys and 28,149 girls.

UNITED STATES.

State Normal School in Michigan.-The Legis gan has lately passed a law establishing a Normal Scho

Children in Schools in the City of Buffalo.9,999 children, between the ages of five and sixteen, the City of Buffalo.

Harvard University.--The Hon. JARED SPAR been appointed President of this University, vice t EVERETT, LL. D., resigned. SIMON GREENLEAF, Esq ceived the appointment of EMERITUS, Professor in the Hon. E. EVERETT was chosen a permament member of seers, in the place of the Hon. J. Q. ADAMS, deceased. address was voted to Dr. EVERETT on his retirement fr of the University.

Common School Education in Massachusetts.165,000 children attending school in Massachusetts, 3,65 than four years old. The amount collected for educatio from the State appropriation, for the year 1848, was $75 000 more than were paid any previous year.

Free Academy, New-York.-D. C. Pell, Esq has presented the sum of $500 to the Board of Education interest of which is to be expended in procuring a prize deserving scholar in the FREE ACADEMY lately munifice the Board of Education. An engraving and descriptio Academy will be given in a subsequent No. of this Jou

Editorial Notices.

PROVINCIAL SCHOOL OF ART OR PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE.he valuable paper of Mr. HIND on this subject, (to which we ferred in our last number) will be found on a previous page; and hope the subject of it will engage the attention of the Legislare before the close of the present Session. After the establishent of such a Provincial Institution, it would soon be easy to tablish an elementary branch of it in each County or District own of Upper Canada.

TEACHERS FROM THE NORMAL SCHOOL.-The Superintendent Common Schools in the London District writes :- "Those of r Teachers who have attended the Normal School are highly pular, and, in their increased efficiency, furnish very plain evince of the usefulness of that Institution."-This is in harmony ith what is expressed elsewhere in this number by the Superinndents of Common Schools in the Brock and Talbot Districts, d in accordance indeed with what we hear from all parts where eachers from the Normal School are employed. There may, owever, be exceptions; and to prevent an undue responsibility eing attached to the Normal School in regard to any such excepons, we may remark that a mere certificate of attendance which ay have been given to any student who has attended the Normal chool, was never intended as a certificate of qualifications, UNLESS MENTIONED IN SUCH CERTIFICATE, but only an acknowledgment the good character and conduct of the party concerned while tending the Normal School.

IRISH NATIONAL SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL-BOOKS.—A Dublin corres›ndent of the New-York Observer says "The National Educa on Board's Model and Training Schools for Teachers are unsurassed in Britain; from them the Schools, educating half-a-million pupils, are supplied with Teachers; and their School-books are sed in Scotland, and are about to be introduced into the National chools of England."

The National School-books of the Dublin Board of Education ave been recommended by Her Majesty's Privy Council Committee Education-another good endorsement of the judgment and roceedings of the Board of Education for Upper Canada in regard these excellent books.

SCHOOL INSTRUCTION IN THE NIAGARA DISTRICT.-In a letter om a friend in the Niagara District, dated the 6th March, it is ated-"The Niagara District will continue to do its duty with gard to Education. We have now almost of our children of hool age enjoying instruction in the public and private Schools; d I think this year we will increase the attendance to nearly 1. Fe will have another School Celebration in September, which, I st, will altogether eclipse the former one."

It is for the people concerned. to say whether the District of iagara shall not be equalled or excelled by every other District in oper Canada.

SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE.-We hope that every Trustee, Teacher, rent, and Friend of Educational Improvement, will read the paper aich is concluded in this number on School Architecture,-the efulness of which, we have thought, would be impaired by dividing Plans of School-houses will follow.

THE EDUCATIONAL REPORTS for Upper and Lower Canada have been laid before the House of Assembly, and have been ordered to be printed the former on motion of J. C. MORRISON, Esq., the latter on motion of the Hon. Mr. LAFONTAINE.

We are happy to find by the following remarks of the Montreal Witness of the 12th inst., that the Editor of that paper is at length yielding to the force of evidence on the subject of Free Schoolsnotwithstanding his intimation of a contrary opinion in allusion to the Journal of Education for April, 1848. We are persuaded that the system which we have sought for the last three years to introduce into Upper Canada will soon be as generally entertained here as it now is in Massachusetts and other Eastern States.

"COMMON SCHOOLS OF MASSACHUSETTS.-' -The Common Schools of Massachusetts are now brought to a wonderful degree of perfection, and are all free, in the fullest sense of the term. They are without charge, and the children of the highest and the lowest in Society meet upon an equality in them. A friend, who recently witnessed an examination of one of those Free Common Schools in Boston, speaks in the highest terms of the very superior description of education conferred in them. Indeed, so excellent is it, that wealthy persons were taking their children from superior and select schools, and sending them to the Free Common Schools, on account of the superiority of the latter. It is worthy of remark, however, that the Head Master of the School in question had a salary of $1500, and deserved it. These Free Schools are now generally considered by Americans, we believe, to be a great means of uniting all classes of the community in one common affection for their country and and each other."

PROVINCIAL NORMAL SCHOOL.-The next Semi-annual Public Examination of the Provincial Normal School will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the 10th, 11th, and 12th of April. The Summer Session of the School will commence on Tuesday, the 15th of May. All candidates must present themselves during the first week of the Session.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS-To the 10th March, inclusive.

Rem. for Vols. I. and II., from Jacob Keefer, Esq., Rev. Dr. Burns, J, Arbuckle, Esq. (P. E. Island,) John W. Gamble, Esq., A. Thiese, J. B. Osborne, Esq., Col. E. W. Thompson, K. Tully, Esq., Rev. E. Wood, Hon. J. H. Cameron, M.P.P., and Geo. Gurnett, Esq.; for Vol. II., from J. McKay, W. A. Johnson, Esq., J. C. Moulton, H. Dickhout, Rev. C. Flumerfelt, Supt. Wellington District, Clerk Wellington Dist. (54 copies), Warden Gore Dist., J. Sangster, Rev. Geo. Murray, H. Willson, Esq. (2), Supt. Niagara District, (on account of 180 copies ordered by self,) Rev, J. Neilson, Rev. W. Pollard (2), Supt. Gore District, R. Blush, D. McLean, George Brown, Esq., Supt. Simcoe District (13), J. S. Howard, Esq., F. Hyde, Esq., P. Shaver, J. L. Biggar, Rev. Mr. Glekie, T. Brown, Hon. Judge Macaulay, A. McLachlin, I. B. Piper (3), Supt. Niagara District (30 extra copies,) Supt. Brock District, Clerk Colborne Dist. (2). Supt. Midland District (Muni. Coun. order for 172 copies), Clerk Bathurst District (120 copies, 1848 and 1849), Supt. Talbot District (11), Supt. Johnstown District.

*Back Nos, supplied to all new Subscribers.

Neatly Stitched copies of the FIRST VOLUME of this Journal, with handsomely printed Covers, can be obtained through the Post, on application to Mr. HODGINS, Toronto, Price 5s.

TORONTO:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY
JOSEPH H. LAWRENCE.

TERMS:-5s. per annum, in advance; or 73d. for a single copy. *All communications to be addressed to Mr. J. GEO. HODGINS, Education Office, Toronto.

This fine engraving presents a beautiful view of the Free Academy of the City of New-York,-an institution designed to impart, without charge to pupils, a scientific and practical education to those youth who have passed through the City Common Schools, but who do not go to a University. The style of the building is that of the Gothic Town Halls of the Netherlands-being, says the Architect, "at the same time the strongest, the cheapest, and the one best adapted to heat and ventilation." The length of the building, exclusive of all projections, is 125 feet, and the breadth 80 feet. The height to the eaves 65 feet, and to the top of the globe 100 feet. The height of the towers 110 feet. The building is divided into basement, three stories, and a great hall under the roof. The basement is 9 feet in height, and is arched to afford ground for exercise in bad weather. In it are also the Porter's lodgings, the Chemical Laboratory, and the closets for the hats and clothes of students. The first, second, and third stories are divided into four great rooms by two wide spacious halls, which are carried through the centre of the building longitudinally and transversely. Two of these rooms, on each floor, are again divided, affording smaller rooms for recitation, &c. Above these stories is the great hall, 125 feet long by 66 in breadth, divided by the king and queen posts of the roof (which are made ornamental,) into three aisles, the centre one of which is 40 feet in height, and the two side aisles are each 20 feet in height. The ceiling of this room is of wood immediately under the roof of which it forms a part, and it is ornamented with carved ribs of wood, in the manner of the old

English college halls at Oxford and Cambridg windows at the ends and by dormers in the the finest collegiate hall in America. The ex without the furniture, is $46,000.

This Academy was established by the Boar City of New-York in 1847, in pursuance of the Legislature on memorial of the Board, and question of its establishment should be subm the City, and should be concurred in by a given: The question was so submitted on the 1847, and 19,904 votes were given in fav to 3,409 against it. The act of the Legis Board to erect a building at an expense of $ by tax annually for its support, the sum of of a proportion of the State Literature Fund, from other sources. Admission into the Aca confined to those who have been pupils in the City.

This noble institution was opened with im the 27th of January last; and the plan of in course of study between that usually pursued and that followed in the Polytechnique schoo do the people of New York provide for the practical education of the humblest of the Would that their example were followed in all of Canada!