inspection of the copy-books of the pupils, I could tell whether drawing were taught in the school or not;-so uniformly superior was the hand-writing in those schools where drawing was taught in connection with it. On seeing this, I was reminded of that saying of Pestalozzi, somewhat too strong,-that without drawing there can be no writing."" p. 133.

The following account of the mode in which geography is taught in the German schools, is highly graphic and interesting:

"I will describe, as exactly as I am able, a lesson which I heard given to a class a little advanced beyond the elements,—remarking, that, though I heard many lessons given on the same plan, none of them were signalized by the rapidity and effect of the one I am about to describe.

The teacher stood by the blackboard, with the chalk in his hand. After casting his eye over the class to see that all were ready, he struck at the middle of the board. With a rapidity of hand which my eye could hardly follow, he made a series of those short, divergent lines, or shadings, employed by map-engravers to represent a chain of mountains. He had scarcely turned an angle, or shot off a spur, when the scholars began to cry out, Carpathian mountains, Hungary; Black Forest mountains, Wurtemburg; Giant's mountains, (RiesenGebirge,) Silesia; Metallic mountains, (Erz-Gebirge,) Pine mountains, (Fichtel-Gebirge,) Central mountains, (Mittel-Gebirge,) Bohemia, &c. &c.

In less than half a minute, the ridge of that grand central elevation which separates the waters that flow north-west into the German ocean, from those that flow north into the Baltic, and south-east into the Black Sea, was presented to view,-executed almost as beautifully as an engraving. A dozen crinkling strokes, made in the twinkling of an eye, represented the head-waters of the great rivers which flow in different directions from that mountainous range; while the children, almost as eager and excited as though they had actually seen the torrents dashing down the mountain sides, cried out, Danube, Elbe, Vistula, Oder, &c. The next moment I heard a succession of small strokes or taps, so rapid as to be almost indistinguishable, and hardly had my eye time to discern a large number of dots made along the margins of the rivers, when the shout of Lintz, Vienna, Prague, Dresden, Berlin, &c., struck my ear. At this point in the exercise, the spot which had been occupied on the blackboard was nearly a circle, of which the starting point, or place where the teacher first began, was the centre; but now a few additional strokes around the circumference of the incipient continent, extended the mountain ranges outwards towards the plains, the children responding the names of the countries in which they respectively lay. With a few more flourishes the rivers flowed onwards towards their several terminations, and by another succession of dots, new cities sprang up along their banks. By this time the children had become as much excited as though they had been present at a world-making. They rose in their seats, they flung out both hands, their eyes kindled, and

their voices became almost vociferous as they cried out the names of the different places, which under the magic of the teachers crayon rose into view. Within ten minutes from the commencement of the lesson, there stood upon the blackboard a beautiful map of Germany, with its mountains, principal rivers and cities, the coast of the German ocean, of the Baltic and the Black seas; and all so accurately proportioned, that I think only slight errors would have been found had it been subjected to the test of a scale of miles. A part of this time was taken up in correcting a few mistakes of the pupils; for the teacher's mind seemed to be in his ear as well as in his hand, and notwithstanding the astonishing celerity of his movements, he detected erroneous answers and turned round to correct them. The rest of the recitation consisted in questions and answers respecting productions, climate, soil, animals, &c. &c.

Many of the cosmogonists suppose that after the creation of the world, and when its whole surface was as yet fluid, the solid continents rose gradually from beneath the sea,-first the loftiest peaks of the Andes, for instance, emerged from the deep, and as they reached a higher and a higher point of elevation, the rivers began to flow down their sides, until at last,-the lofty mountains having attained their height, the mighty rivers their extent and volume, and the continent its amplitude,-cultivation began, and cities and towns were built. The lesson I have described was a beautiful illustration of that idea, with one advantage over the original scene itself, that the spectator had no need of waiting through all the geological epochs to see the work completed.

Compare the effect of such a lesson as this, both as to the amount of the knowledge communicated, and the vividness and, of course, the permanence of the ideas obtained, with a lesson where the scholars look out a few names of places on a lifeless atlas, but never send their imaginations abroad over the earth; and where the teacher sits listlessly down before them to interrogate them from a book, in which all the questons are printed at full length, to supersede on his part all necessity of knowledge." pp. 136-37-38.

There is a class of lessons in the Prussian schools, called "Exercises in Thinking," upon which Mr. Mann dwells at considerable length:

"These lessons consisted of familiar conversations between teacher and pupils, on subjects adapted to the age, capacities and proficiency of the latter. With the youngest classes, things immediately around them, the schoolroom and the materials of which it had been built; its different parts, as foundation, floor, walls, ceiling, roof, windows, doors, fire-place; its furniture and apparatus; its books, slates, paper; the clothes of the pupils, and the materials from which they were made; their food and play-things; the duties of children to animals, to each other, to their parents, neighbors, to the old, to their Maker,— these are specimens of a vast variety of subjects embraced under one or another of the above heads. As the children advanced in age and attainments, and had acquired full and definite notions of the visible and tangible existence around them, and also of time and

space, so that they could understand descriptions of the unseen and the remote, the scope of these lessons was enlarged, so as to take in the different kingdoms of nature, the arts, trades and occupations of men, and the more complicated affairs of society." pp. 139-40.

In these exercises, we are told, that there is no restriction as to subjects, and no limits assigned as to the degree or amount of information that may be imparted on the topic selected for the time being. These matters are left wholly to the good sense of the teacher, whose object simply is, to impart useful knowledge on various subjects, suited to the capacity and state of progress of the pupils.-a knowledge which may afterwards be reduced to the regularity of a system, when their minds have attained to sufficient maturity and strength to grapple with an entire subject, and to comprehend clearly the various relations which the parts bear to each other and to the whole:

"For years," he says, "their lessons are free from all the technicalities of science. The knowledge they already possess about common things is made the nucleus around which to collect more; and the language with which they are already familiar becomes the medium through which to communicate new ideas, and by which, whenever necessary, to explain new terms. There is no difficulty in explaining to a child, seven years of age, the distinctive marks by which nature intimates to us, at first sight, whether a plant is healthful or poisonous; or those by which, on inspecting the skeleton of an animal that lived thousands of years ago, we know whether it lived upon grass or grain or flesh. It is in this way that the pupil's mind is carried forward by an actual knowledge of things, until the time arrives for giving him classifications and nomenclatures. When a child knows a great many particular or individual things, he begins to perceive resemblance between some of them; and they then naturally assort themselves, as it were, in his mind, and arrange themselves into different groups. Then, by the aid of a teacher, he perfects a scientific classification among them,-bringing into each group all that belong to it. But soon the number of individuals in each group becomes so numerous, that he wants a cord to tie them together, or a vessel in which to hold them. Then, from the nomenclature of science, he receives a name which binds all the individuals of that group into one, ever afterwards. It is now that he perceives the truth and the beauty of classification and nomenclature."

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"The Prussian teacher has no book. He needs none. He teaches from a full mind. He cumbers and darkens the subject with no technical phraseology. He observes what proficiency the child has made, and then adapts his instructions, both in quality and amount, to the necessity of the case. He answers all questions. He solves all doubts. It is one of his objects, at every recitation, so to present ideas, that they shall start doubts and provoke questions. He con

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nects the subject of each lesson with all kindred and collateral ones; and shows its relation to the every-day duties and buisness of life; and should the most ignorant man, or the most destitute vagrant in society, ask him 'of what use such knowledge can be?' he will prove to him, in a word, that some of his own pleasures or means of subsistence are dependent upon it, or have been created or improved by

it.

In the mean time the children are delighted. Their perceptive powers are exercised. Their reflecting faculties are developed. Their moral sentiments are cultivated. All the attributes of the mind within, find answering qualities in the world without. Instead of any longer regarding the earth as a huge mass of dead matter,-without variety and without life,-its beautiful and boundless diversities of substance, its latent vitality and energies, gradually dawn forth, until, at length, they illuminate the whole soul, challenging its admiration for their utility, and its homage for the bounty of their Creator."pp. 142-3.

On the subject of religious instruction in the Prussian schools, Mr. Mann makes the following statement:

"Nothing receives more attention in the Prussian schools than the Bible. It is taken up early and studied systematically. The great events recorded in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament; the character and lives of those wonderful men who, from age to age, were brought upon the stage of action, and through whose agency the future history and destiny of the race were to be so much modified; and especially, those sublime views of duty and of morality which are brought to light in the Gospel,-these are topics of daily and earnest inculcation, in every school. To these, in some schools, is added the history of the Christian religion, in connection with contemporary civil history."

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"In all the Protestant schools, Luther's Catechism is regularly taught; and in all the Roman Catholic schools, the Catechism of that communion. When the schools are mixed, they have combined literary with separate religious instruction; and here all the doctrines of the respective denomination are taught early and most assiduously. I well remember hearing a Roman Catholic priest inculcating upon a class of very young children the doctrine of transubstantiation. He illustrated it by the miracle of the water changed to wine, at the marriage feast of Cana; and said that he who could turn water into wine, could turn his own blood into the same element, and also his Contrary, then, to the principles body into bread to be eaten with it. of our own law, sectari nism is taught in all Prussian schools; but it is nevertheless true, as Professor Stowe says, that the Bible can be taught, and is taught, without it." pp. 144-45.

The following remarks are made on the subject of vocal and instrumental music in the Prussian schools:

"All Prussian teachers are masters not only of vocal, but of instrumental music. One is as certain to see a violin as a blackboard,

in every schoolroom. Generally speaking, the teachers whom I saw, played upon the organ also, and some of them upon the piano and other instruments. Music was not only taught in school as an accomplishment, but used as a recreation. It is a moral means of great efficacy. Its practice promotes health; it disarms anger, softens rough and turbulent natures, socializes, and brings the whole mind, as it were, into a state of fusion, from which condition the teacher can mould it into what forms he will, as it cools and hardens..”p. 145.

The character of the Prussian teachers is highly commended:

"I speak of the teachers whom I saw, and with whom I had more or less of personal intercourse; and, after some opportunity for the observation of public assemblies or bodies of men,-I do not hesitate to say, that if those teachers were brought together, in one body, I believe they would form as dignified, intelligent, benevolent-looking a company of men as could be collected from the same amount of population in any country. They were alike free from arrogant pretension and from the affectation of humility."

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"Among all the Prussian and Saxon teachers whom I saw, there were not half a dozen instances to remind one of those unpleasant characteristics,—what Lord Bacon would call the 'idol of the tribe,' or profession,-which sometimes degrade the name and disparage the sacred calling of a teacher. Generally speaking, there seemed to be a strong love for the employment, always a devotion to duty, and a profound conviction of the importance and sacredness of the office they filled. The only striking instance of disingenuousness or attempt at deception, which I saw, was that of a teacher who looked over the manuscript books of a large class of his scholars, selected the best, and, bringing it to me, said, 'In seeing one you see all.'

Whence came this beneficent order of men, scattered over the whole country, moulding the character of its people, and carrying them forward in a career of civilization more rapidly than any other people in the world are now advancing? This is a question which can be answered only by giving an account of the seminaries for teachers." pp. 145–46.

From this portion of Mr. Mann's Report, we shall make liberal extracts, as the subject is of great importance, and is very fully treated and ably handled by him. The number of institutions of this kind, which exist in Prussia, is not stated, but we are happy to learn, that it is sufficiently large to supply the schools of the whole country, from those of the lowest to those of the highest grade, with teachers of mature age, benevolent disposition, unaffected manners, and ample qualifications, both moral and intellectual, to teach any and all the branches of an ordinary education in a practical and