dexterity in reading, writing, and cyphering. The religious instruction is confined to a soulless learning by rote. Instruction in language, singing, drawing, and in exercise of the intellect, are wholly wanting. The influence of the teacher on the mind and character of the scholar, or his own mental cultivation, are not so much as thought of. Thus then a system of tuition, the lifeless mechanism of which was fifty years ago appreciated in Germany, and laid aside for methods better calculated for the true culture of man, has been adopted by France, England, &c., with an ardour which betrays total Ignorance of the advance of the science of education in Germany. The village schoolmasters of Germany do much more to form the minds of their pupils than Lancaster and Bell can do; and no German who knows what his country possesses, can recommend a system of teaching which may indeed be of use in harmonizing the lowest mob of England or of France, but where men and christians are to be formed, is defective and ill contrived.

A system of education is nothing without an unfailing supply of competent masters. It is the fashion to apply the "free trade" maxims to every thing. Reasons enough present themselves why such maxims are wholly inapplicable to this matter, but there is no room for them here. It may once for all safely be denied that the people can be judges of the quality of teachers as they are of bread er of shoes. To this the hundreds of children in the middle classes whose whole childhood is consumed in experimental wanderings from school to school, and the thousands and ten thousands of the lower, whose parents know little more than the fact that they pass a certain number of hours daily in a given room, can bear witness. The evil is an irrepairable one. Not only is the portion of time consumed in a bad or imperfect school irrecoverably gone, but bad habits of all kinds are acquired which no future education can entirely eradicate. The candid and rational among the less educated classes are glad to be aided by the friendly judgment of their more instructed neighbors on this point; and would, I doubt not, readily admit the advantage of having some better security than their own opinion, or rather conjecture, for the competency of the instructors of their children.

In every country where primary institution has been carried to a height, the necessity of establishments of this kind has been felt. In spite of the length of this preface, I cannot resist the temptation to add the following curious and valuable details on the history of seminaries for teachers, for which I have again to acknowledge my obligations to the learned author of the article on national education which appeared in the Edinburgh Review (No. 116) and which first called the attention af England to Mr. Cousin's report,

It is almost humiliating to have to notice another objection to this scheme of national education,-viz., that it is foreign; an objection, which if carried through and acted upon consistently, would render the intercourse between civilized nations absolutely barren. But since there are, it seems, still persons with whom it has weight, it may be well to quote M. Cousin's striking appeal against similar prejudices in Faance. "National rivalries or antipathies would here be completely out of place. The true greatness of a people does not consist in borrowing nothing from others, but in borrowing from all whatever is good, and in perfecting whatever it appropriate. I am as great an enemy as any one to artificial imitations; but it is mere pusillanimity to reject a thing for no other reason than that it has been thought good by others."

REGULATIONS

OF THE

School Committee of Boston.

According to the City Charter, twelve gentlemen are annually elected, one in each Ward of the City, who, "jointly with the Mayor and Aldermen, constitute the School Committee for said City, and have the care and superintendence of the public schools."

The public schools of this City consist of one Latin Grammar School, one English High School, nine Grammar and Writing Schools, including one for Africans, and sixty-four Primary Schools, including three for Africans; in which instruction is freely given to children of both sexes.

CHAPTER I.

Regulations relating to the Board of the School
Committee.

1. At the first meeting in each year which shall be held on an early day, in the month of January, the Board shall be organized by appointing a Chairman, a Secretary, a Visiting Committee or Sub Committee for each

Organization.}

school, consisting of at least seven for the Latin & English High Schools respectively, and of three for each of other schools, a standing committee on books, and a standing committee of reíerence, with the primary school committee.

Chairman.

2. The Chairman shall preside at the meetings of this Board, shall call any special meetings thereof when he shall deem it necessary, or at the request of any two of its memDuties of the bers in writing, and shall be the organ of communication with any other branch or branches of the City Government relative to any votes and doings of this body which may have respect to a co-operation with them in the transaction of business; copies of the same having been duly furnished by the Secretary.

In the absence of the Chairman his place shall be filled, pro tempore, by the Board.

Duties of the Secretary.

3. The Secretary shall have charge and custody of the records of the Board and of all papers directed by them to be kept on his files; he shall keep a fair and full record of all the proceedings of the Board, in each case stating the commission, and the names of the committee; be shall notify the meetings of all committees when requested by their chairman; and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him.

4. The visiting or sub committees shall visit their respective schools at least once each quarter of the year, and as much ofDuties of visit- tener as they can make it convenient, for the ing or sub com's. purpose of attending carefully to all the exercisQuarterly Ex-es of each class; of inspecting the school bill aminations., Sand inquiring into the deportment and progress of the pupils, in order to commend good conduct and improvement, and discountenance negligence and vice. It shall be their duty to embrace these opportunities to converse freely with the instructors on the affairs of the schools, to elicit from them such occasional suggestions as may be turned to their benefit, to encourage the faithful and deserving instructor in his arduous duties, and to detect and mark delinquencies.

Quarterly Reports.

The chairman, or some member of each sub committee, shall make a report in writing at each quarterly meeting to the school committee of their examination and its results, and of several circumstances above specified which may have occurred, and of any accommodations or indulgencies they may have granted to any instructor, or any alterations they may have authorised in their particular school. And at each quarterly meeting, the chairman, or any member of each sub committee who may be present, shall be called upon for such report; and in case of omission to make it the school committee shall pass a vote enjoining the sub committee to proceed without delay in the performance of such duty, and shall adjourn to receive their report.

The sub committee shall visit their respective schools at least one week previous to the annual exhibitions to select the candiAnnual exami- dates for the medals, and shall critically examine nation for Me- members of the first class for this purpose.dals. They shall have power to award not exceeding six medals in each school, excepting in the Hawes school, where

not more than four, and in the African school, where not more than two shall be awarded to either sex; and it is understood that no scholar who has received a medal shall at any time afterwards be a candidate for another in a school of the same rank. "General scholarship" shall be taken into consideration in the assignment of medals.

The chairman of each sub committee shall return the names of the successful candidates to the Secretary of this Board, at least three days previous to the day of exhibition.

Difficulties in the schools.

Vacancies a. mong the instructors.

The sub committees shall give their advice to the instructors on any emergency, and take cognizance of any difficulty which may occur between the instructors and the parents of pupils relative to the government or instruction of their school. An appeal however to the whole Board is not hereby denied to any citizen. In case of a vacancy in any school in the place of either of the instructors, the sub committee of the school shall, if they think proper, procure a temporary supply, and give notice of such vacancy to this Board, that they may proceed to fill the office in question. In addition to these specific duties of the sub committees, it shall be their duty generally to make any temporary arrangement they may think proper relative to the discipline and instruction of their schools, or the convenience of the instructors in cases not provided for by the general regulations of this Board. The chairman of each sub committee, or special, or standing committee, shall call a meeting of the same immediately after their appointment, when the times of future meetings and such other arrangements shall be agreed on as shall be deemed by them expedient. All the official acts of such committees shall be done in meetings of the same duly notified by the chairman, and shall be expressive of the sense of a majority of any such committee, and when reported to this Beard shall be submitted in writing.

General du

ties of sub com

mittees.

Meetings of sub committees.

5. Although the interests of the schools demand sub committees of this Board, each member of it shall consider it his duty Duty of each to exercise a watch over the literary and moral member of the improvement of every public school in the City, Board. and to afford personal assistance at their visitations, exhibitions, and on all other occasions, according to his ability and convenience.

minations.

6. At the quarterly meeting in May, two examining committees shall be annually appointed by this Board consisting each of Committee for three members, the one for the English Gramthe annual exa- mar Schools, and the other for the Writing Schools; each of which Committees shall be joined by as many other members of the Board as can conveniently attend. Each of said committees in the month of May or June visit all the schools for which they are appointed, and critically examine the pupils in all the branches taught therein, in order to ascertain the condition of the schools, and shall report previous to the annual election of the instructors, that the appointments of the board on that occasion may be judiciously made. A similar annual and critical examination shall be made in the

month of May or June of the Latin School and of the English high school, by the respective visiting committees of those schools; and a similar report for the same purpose and embracing the same objects shall be made by these committees.

Committees for annual exhibitions.

At the quarterly meeting in August, committees shall be annually appointed who shall attend the annual exhibitions, shall bestow the medals on the pupils to whom they have been previously awarded, and shall exercise such control over these exhibitions as they may judge proper. It is desirable that some one of the committee who examined the candidates for medals should bestow them.

7 In the month of August annually, all the instructors in the public schools shall be elected, and their salaries voted, and no alteration in the amount of salary of any instructor shall be made at any

Choice of Instructors.

other time.

Committee for primary Schools

The masters of the several schools shall be elected by ballot, the other instructors shall be elected by nomination of their respective sub-committees, after they shall have conferred with the masters with whom said assistant instructors are to be associated. 9 In the month of January annually this board shall nominate and appoint a suitable number of gentlemen, whose duty collectively it shall be to provide instruction for children between four and seven years of age, agreeably to the direction of the town at the institution of the Primary Schools: and shall authorise the committee of these schools to organize their body and regulate their proceedings as they deem most convenient, and to fill all vacancies occurring in the same during the year; and this board will respectfully receive from them such communications as they may please occasionally to make on the subject of those schools. 10 Stated quarterly meetings of the school committee shall be held on the second Tuesday of February, May, August, and November, at four o'clock P. M. at the room of the Mayor and Aldermen.

Quarterly meetings.

Quorum.

11 A mojority of this board is required to constitute a quorum, for the transaction of any business.

CHAPTER II.

Regulations common to all the public schools under the immediate superintendance of the school committee.

Instructions.

1. The instructors in all the public schools shall hold their offices one year, unless sooner removed by this Board; and no continuance or preferment of them in office shall be predicted on any considerations but those of moral and literary qualifications and practical skill.