in any measure, dispose, those who cherish the common welfare and intelligence of this people to equal and excel the provisions of every other country, in their generous cares for the moral advancement of this.

In page 97 mention was made of the elementary books used in the Prussian schools. The books used in those schools, in the Duchy of Saxe Weimar, and in general, all over Germany, are books of adaptation. The few common class books taught in all the popular schools of Saxe Weimar have been thus described :

"The first class-book is designed for the youngest children; it contains in regular gradation, the alphabet, the composition of syllables; punctuation, slight stories, sentences or proverbs of one verse, &c. These sentences,' said the great French philosopher, Cousin, struck me particularly; they contain in the most agreeable shapes, the most valuable lessons, which the author classes under systematic titles-such as,

our duty to ourselves; our duties to men; our duties to God, and the knowledge of his divine attributes-so that, in the germ of literature, the infant receives also the germ of religion and morals." "

The second book is like the first in kind. It does not contain pathetic, didactic, and poetical scraps-it advances the moral, and commences scientific instruction in strict connection of parts.

"The second book for the use of children, from eight to ten, is not only composed of amusing sketches, the author touches upon matters of general utility. He proceeds on the just idea that the knowledge of the faculties of the soul ought a little to precede the more profound explanations of religion; under the head of a dialogue between a father and his children, the book treats, first, of man and his physical qualities; secondly, of the nature of the soul, and its faculties, with some notions of our powers of progressive improvement, and our heritage of immortality; and thirdly, it contains the

earliest and simplest elements of natural history, botany, and mineralogy."

The third book is a continuation of the second. It examines the rational nature of man-the distinction between him and brute animals; and thence deduces the moral obligations. It inquires, What am I? What can I do? What ought I to do, and avoid doing? The most intelligible terms -a matter of infinite importance-and the clearest illustrations are made use of to express and enforce the moral responsibilities. The geography, and also the history of the country in brief, are subjoined.

"The fourth book addresses itself to advanced pupils; it continues the subjects of the preceding books, but amplifies them, and explains the political structure of society; "it proceeds to conduct the boy, already made rational as a being, to the duties of a citizen. Such are the four class-books used in the popular schools of Saxe Weimar. Such is the foundation of the united, intellectual, and lofty spirit of the subjects of that principality."

The highly moral and rational character of these school books is clearly indicated by the preceding statement.

Basedow.

Among the practical reformers of popular education in Germany, John Bernard Basedow, is entitled to particular mention. This man, the son of a wig-maker in Hamburg, suffered much in his early life, from harsh treatment and neglected education, so that he fled from the paternal roof, and engaged for a year as a domestic servant, with a physician in the province of Holstein. His father afterwards persuaded him to return to his protection, and placed him in the Gymnasium of his native city. There he was suffered to give private tuition after his sixteenth year, and thus supported himself.

In 1753, when Basedow had attained the age of thirty, he was chosen professor of moral philosophy and belles lettres in the

academy of Soroe in Denmark. His active and enlarged mind could not limit itself to the interests of mere learning, or of a single institution. The improvement of education in all its applications, formed, in his apprehension, the best enterprise that a true philanthropist could engage in; and in order to call general attention to this subject, he published a work on the Morality of all Conditions, which first expressed to the world his views of a practical reform in school education; and his lectures on morality and religion, which were attended by many of the young nobility and their tutors, also expressed opinions of the same character. Basedow was afterwards removed to the Gymnasium at Altona. Wherever he resided he made himself acquainted with persons most eminent for learning and influence, and he did not fail every where to enlist their sympathies in his favourite project.

In that he was happily encouraged by his most enlightened friends. Count Bernstorf, the wise and excellent minister of