On the 26th December last, the Imperial Council decided on the reference made to it by the Paris Academy, finding, as the only inaccuracy in the | charges laid against the students, that No. 3, instead of quoting Proudhon's sentiment, "Dieu c'est le mal; la propriété cest le vol," had used these not very dissimilar words, “ Guerre â Dieu! le progrès est la;"

that whatever had been said or done had been said and done on foreign soil; pronouncing it more shameful, if possible, to outrage the flag, the Government the social order, and the religion of one's native country abroad, than to do the like at home, confirming the sentence of the Paris Academy, except in the case of one student, whose exclusion from the Faculties of Paris is to last for only two years; and decreeing that, of the six other students, who are expelled from the Paris Academy for ever, five should be excluded from all the academies of the empire for two years, and one for one year.

voking insurrection. No. 3 is charged with having proposed that, instead of the various ribbons marking nationality, only red ones should be used; and with having endorsed Proudhon's sentiment, "Dieu, c'est le mal; la propriété, c'est le vol." No. 4 is charged with having exclaimed at Liege, "We are revolutionists, socialists, atheists ;" with having demanded, on another occasion, the abolition of Chris-repelling the objection founded on the circumstance tian morality; and with having thus invoked civil war at a meeting in Brussels :-"There is another Congress which we are preparing with all our might, a very different one from that of Liege, one that will be held in the streets, and which our muskets will bring to a close." No. 5 is charged with having bought the black flag which was substituted at Liege for the national colours; and with having made bad worse by the violence of his manner and language when asked for explanations of his conduct by the Academic Commission of Inquiry. No. 6 is charged with having proclaimed at Liege the necessity of unfurling the red flag; and with having uttered in a meeting at Brussels these words: "We must meet again on the field of battle. I have but one word to say-To arms!" No. 7 is charged with having helped to raise the black flag at Liege; with having declared the 21st January 1793 the most glorious day for the French people; with having insulted the French consul in a meeting at Liege; and with having uttered at Brussels these words: "Citizens, I require of you an oath. We are men. Well, let us swear hatred to the middle classes, hatred to capital; let us claim for work-no, that is an abstraction-for workers their right; let us unite, let us crowd round the red flag, which a poet once threw down, understanding but too well that it was a call to arms. The people, struggling and triumphing, the people was not generous in 1830 and 1848; it was duped. We must decide whether we shall endure slavery any longer."

The Paris Academy, whilst expelling the seven students from all its own Faculties for ever, made a reference to the Imperial Council on the question whether these students should not be excluded for a time from all the academies of the empire. The students, on the other hand, one of whom, No. 7, can be no youth, having been condemned so long ago as 1832 for some offence as Editor of Le Travail, denied that their words and deeds had been accurately described, and maintained that in no case could they be made amenable to French Academic discipline for what they might have said or done beyond the French frontier.

Meanwhile, a speech, reported in L'Epoque, characterised the sentence of the Paris Academy as "purely arbitrary," and "an outrage on personal liberty." These expressions were considered by Government an insult offered to an authority established by law; and a first warning-not a communiqué, but an avertissement, three of which extinguish a newspaper in France altogether was accordingly sent to the Editor of L'Epoque.

The School and Telegraph.-In small towns the telegraph is to be worked by the teacher of the Government primary school. It is argued that in small towns the telegraph bell will but seldom ring; and that the primary teacher possesses the requisite knowledge and intelligence. It might be added that he is already a Government functionary, and likely therefore to be faithful to the ruling powers.

Ministerial Report, 11th December 1865.-The following are the most important passages:

"Complaints having been made that the Government allowances to masters were irregularly paid, a strict inquiry has been made, and 54,000 cases of delayed payment in 1864 have been ascertained. In one half of these cases, the delay was under a fortnight; but in the other half of them, it exceeded a month, and reached sometimes to several quarters. Effectual measures have been taken to remedy this irregularity.

"Two years ago, nearly one half of the 11,000 female teachers in the Government schools were receiving a salary under £16 a year; now there is not one receiving less than £18 a year.

"In 1861, a teacher's retiring allowance, after thirty, forty, fifty, even fifty-five years' service, was, on an average, £2. In 1862, the average was raised six shillings; in 1863, nine shillings more; in 1864, seven shillings more; and this year (1865), it will amount to nearly £4, or nearly double what it was in 1861.

"The school libraries, consisting of school books for the use of indigent children, and of useful and entertaining books for circulation among adults, are in charge of the schoolmasters; on which account it is desirable that all schoolmasters should be acquainted with the art of book-binding. The example of the Macon Normal School, where all the pupils are taught this art, should be universally followed. Nothing can be less costly or more simple: a space of six square feet, a table, a book-binder's press, a

knife, and a little goodwill would enable the teacher | gymnasia) the same class-rooms, the same teachers,

to keep all books connected with the school, and those of the mairie too, which are usually under the teacher's care, in perfect order. This is one of the small things which contribute to the success of the greatest; for an unbound volume quickly perishes, and to preserve books, is to preserve the good they do. "Horticulture has been the object of special at tention during the past year. To every normal school a garden is attached; and the careful cultivation of it is insisted on, not only for the sake of the immediate produce, but also that the pupils may, on becoming masters, introduce, wherever they go, the best vegetables and fruits, and the best modes of cultivating them.

"During the current year, the Government inspectors, instead of confining their visits to the normal schools, and the primary schools of the chief towns, have penetrated into rural districts, and made some afflicting discoveries. In one of the most backward departments, not a single child in a school visited a few days ago could tell the inspector the Emperor's name, or even that of Jesus Christ. This is a department in which are still found proprietors, rich and kindly, and very active in furthering the material prosperity of their neighbourhoods, who yet forbid their dependents to send their children to school.

"The classes for adults have greatly multiplied. In 1863, there were only about 4000 of them; in April 1865, that number was nearly doubled; it is now, according to the reports of the prefects, 18,500, | and will be 20,000 before the year is out."

Protestant Schools.-M. Guizot is founder of a society for the establishment and support of Protestant schools throughout France. Last year this society had an income of £5600, with which sum, besides supporting a number of pupil teachers, it aided 244 schools, and founded 14 new ones.

PRUSSIA.-Higher Schools.-A work on the above subject, deemed the most complete and reliable that exists, has just appeared from the pen of Dr C. | Wiese. According to this authority, universities and schools of art apart, the upper schools of Prussia consist of 145 gymnasia or classical schools; 28 progymnasia, i.e. gymnasia with fewer than six classes, the statutory number; 65 realschulen; and 14 burgess schools, i. e. realschulen with fewer than six classes, the statutory number.

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the same general management serving for both. No distinction is made among the pupils till the third year, when Greek begins to be taught in the gymnasium proper during the hours which the pupils of the realschule department devote to modern subjects. Dr Wiese signalises the evil of too large classes in the following terms :-"The overcrowding of classes is one of the greatest obstacles to efficient schoolwork: no professional skill can overtake such masses at once, and individual treatment becomes impossible; neither is there, particularly to the young teacher, a sufficient opportunity left for repose, during which he may realise the import of his vocation, and of the demands which the highest discharge of its duties makes on the teacher. In short, the overcrowding of classes and the want of duly prepared teachers are two of the greatest evils which at present afflict the upper schools of Prussia."

The ecclesiastical complexion of these schools is threefold, viz., Evangelical, i.e. Prussian Protestants, Roman Catholic, and Neutral. In the two former, the teachers, the rector, and the board of managers are respectively Prussian Protestant and Roman Catholic. In the last, the teachers are chosen in equal numbers, and the rector alternately from the two communions which divide the population; but this rule is not rigidly observed, particularly in the case of realschulen, which, as compared with gymnasia, have a less decided denominational character. Of the gymnasia only three are Neutral, and thirty-eight Roman Catholic. Whatever be the ecclesiastical complexion of a school, pupils of all communions are admitted to it, unless indeed the school be specially affected to the training of candidates for the priesthood.

The Oldest Teacher.-The oldest teacher in Prusssia, perhaps in all Germany, lives near Unna in Sudcamen. Ninety-one years of age, he is vigorous and hearty, and in the full discharge of his duties as a country schoolmaster. His annual salary was only 30 thalers (£4, 10s.) till about twelve years ago, when it was raised to 50 thalers (£7, 10s.).

UNITED STATES. A Frenchman on the Schools.A recent article in the Revue des Deux Mondes from the pen of M. de Lavelege, draws an interesting contrast between the United States and France in respect of popular education.

Here is a French eulogium of the United States In South Germany, the realschule remains accord-primary school :-"It is the very basis of American ing to the intention of its founders, a non-classical society; it receives without charge children of all school, training its pupils, independently of Latin classes and religious communions; it absorbs and and Greek, by lessons in the mother-tongue, and in Americanises, so to speak, the immigrant multitudes; one foreign language, in mathematics and the natural late events have proved it to be the strongest bond sciences. But in Prussia, the realschule competes of the American union, training pupils into citizens with the gymnasium in Latin, and differs from it who love their common country, and respect free only by leaving Greek altogether out of its pro- institutions." gramme. Accordingly, a complete realschule is found in (combination with eleven of the Prussian

It is said that as much paper is consumed in the United States alone as in France and the British

Isles together. M. de Lavelege, accepts this statement without scruple, and accounts for the fact by alleging that the people of the United States are universally both able and eager to read; and this happy state of matters he attributes to the ubiquity of the primary school. The number of primary schools in France would, it appears, require to be multiplied fivefold in order to afford such opportunities of schooling as are enjoyed in the United States.

The local authorities, whose business it is to establish schools in sufficient number; are kept to their duty in two ways: (1.) The State authorities can, by legal process, force any township that neglects its duty in this respect, to tax itself for the establishment of a school; (2.) the parent of a child for whom no school accommodation is provided, can, by legal process, obtain damages against the local authorities. Very rarely, however, does the rigour of the law require to be appealed to.

The whole management of the schools, including the appointment of teachers, the selection of school books, the settling of the programme of study, and even the determination of the mode of instruction, lies with local committees, who are responsible only to public opinion, and the ordinary tribunals of the country. There exists, indeed, in each State a department of public instruction, at the head of which is a highly salaried superintendent. This functionary, however, wields no authority over the local committees, does not even supersede them in the work of inspection: he merely collects statistics, visits the schools, stimulates the public zeal in their behalf, and publishes an annual report, in which he freely points out what defects he may have noticed, and suggests reforms. He is an official counsellor, not necessarily without influence because without authority.

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never last longer, but they may always terminate after these brief periods. This system, it is said, forces teachers to discharge their duties to the utmost of their ability; on the other hand, it has confessedly made the teacher's vocation a transitional career, in which many spend four, five, or six years, only to abandon it for another. The frequent removal of the teacher is said to have no injurious influence on the progress of the pupils, at which M. de Lavelege wonders greatly, thinking that the like could not fail to be injurious in France.

The programme of lessons in the American elementary school is extensive. Besides the three R's, it contains geography, a little geometry and linear drawing, particularly as applied to house building and land measuring; some notions of chemistry with reference to farming and manufactures, of astronomy, physiology, and constitutional law; and finally, music, gymnastics, and dancing, are subsidiary branches; and since the late war boys have been taught military movements and the use of arms. The programme of lessons in the American normal school includes algebra, geometry, chemistry, astronomy, natural history, psychology, moral philosophy, the theory and history of the constitution, and the art of teaching. Male and female pupils go through precisely the same course of instruction in the nor mal schools.

Not only is the subject of religion not included in the programme of the primary schools, all reference to religious dogma by the teacher is forbidden; and the only prayer allowed is the Lord's Prayer. So complete is the separation between church and school, that the law excludes all clergymem from local and other committees having management of State schools. The Roman Catholics alone protest against this arrangement, and attempt, but with indifferent success, the establishment of exclusive schools of their own. All other denominations think the religious instruction of their children sufficiently provided for in Sunday schools, where persons of high social position, even judges and generals, are not unfrequently found acting as teachers. According to M. de Lavelege, the enormous sums voluntarily contributed for religious purposes, afford ample proof that religious conviction and feeling are not weakened by the exclusion of dogmatic teaching from the school. About 1200 new churches, it appears, Another point of contrast is the frequent change are annually built, at an average cost of fully £1000 of teachers in the United States. A teacher's en- and the sum of all the moneys contributed for pious gagement is for a single year in towns, and for only uses throughout the United States, amounts to about six months in the country; not that engagements. | £8,000,000, say six shillings per head.

As regards the teachers, the most striking difference between France and the United States is the great number of women employed in the latter. In 1861, of the teachers in Massachussets, 4000 were women, and only 1500 men; and in the state of New York, the proportion was similar, i.e. nearly 3 to 1. Two reasons are assigned for the employment of female teachers, viz. economy and efficiency, the latter reason being based on the belief that a woman, supposing her attainments equal to a man's, makes a better teacher of children.

Proceedings of Societies.

WEST OF ENGLAND BRITISH TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION. The meetings of this Association have been resumed for the winter at the Friends' School-rooms, Merchant Street, Bristol. The first meeting this season proved to be the largest and most sociable teachers' meeting the oldest Bristolian can remember, and shewed a marked improvement in every way over the preceding seasons of this Association. The improvement is attributable to two things. 1st, The extension of the range of subjects for reading; 2d, The introduction of recreative enjoyments after the despatch of business. Formerly, it was a sine quâ | non that a paper must bear upon school affairs, now the scope extends to literature and art. Tea and home formerly followed the essay, now chess, bagatelle, croquet, and other cheerful avocations, give teachers every opportunity of becoming known to each other. We anticipate that the quarterly holiday will in future be awaited with delight by teachers in a circuit of many miles round Bristol.

The subject introduced by Mr Reid of Bristol, in a paper of singular eloquence and beauty of expression, was, The Dominant Race. The purpose of the paper was to prove that the Anglo-Saxon race are destined to colonise the earth, and to subdue it. By a continuous series of vivid and graphic pictures, the lecturer described the nations of old, and indicated the elements of ruin apparent even in the zenith of their grandeur. Opposite elements, tending to stability instead of decay, were to be seen in the AngloSaxon race. He dwelt upon the characteristics of perseverance, self-help, and Christianity, drawing a crowd of telling illustrations from the biographies of great men.

The criticisms upon the essay were few and short, tending, as they often do, in meetings where the critics come unprepared and unread in the subject, to carping at minor and unimportant points, rather than to a generous admission of general merit.

Mr Manley imagined the lecturer wished to prove the Anglo-Saxon race the greatest in the world, and that England was the type of the race. England ought to be compared with France, Germany, and civilised countries, not with savages, who never possessed institutions. It was a pleasure to listen to such a paper, though over-rich with flowery words. He, Mr Manley, however, preferred something more solid. Regarding the charities of Bristol, they were not a benefit, but a curse to the city.

Mr Prior said we should guard against becoming conceited, in comparing ourselves with other nations. The paper made us feel proud of our identity. He questioned the accuracy of several of the essayist's

statements respecting the Anglo-Saxon origin and the decline of Rome. Every nation has its destiny, and should do its duty. Were we even to do more than our duty, it would only be by so much more a stimulus to further advancement. To say the charities of our city are a curse, is to underrate the greatest of the Christian virtues, Charity. The way charities are used may lead to curses or blessings, but there is nothing inherent but a spirit which we ought to encourage.

Mr Turner did not think the introduction of the question of the charities helped the argument of the essayist. They are not the signs of the advancement of Bristol, but rather of its decline. The man who raised St Mary Redcliffe had more of the spirit of the poor widow than we find generally at the present time. The essayist was not definite in his description of the Anglo-Saxon race, including or excluding at times the continental portion. We are not superior in everything to all else, nor have we done so much to boast of. Paris is a finer city than London to look at. In art, we fall short of the south of Europe. In deep study and patient research, we must give way to the Germans. The wealth we enjoy in wool and silk has been brought to us by foreign refugees.

Mr Reid, in reply, deprecated the habit of departing from fact to make a smart criticism, as the speaker had quoted five "flowery" words from the essay, three of which do not occur. He made various explanations, and the meeting terminated.

COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS.-The half-yearly meeting of the College of Preceptors took place at the College Rooms, Queen Square, London, on 6th January. The meeting was presided over by Dr Kennedy, of Shrewsbury School, President of the College, and was very numerously attended. A brief report was read by Mr O'Neil, the newly elected secretary, which shewed that the College was in financial and other aspects in a more than ever flourishing condition. The discussion that ensued bore upon the subjects chiefly of the monthly evening meetings of members, and the Middle Class Education Commission. Dr Hodgson expressed some regret that the monthly meetings were not so well attended as they deserved. He had suggested their discontinuance at one of the meetings of the Council, but had not been supported, and was pleased rather than otherwise at his non-success. He impressed the advantages of these meetings upon the attention of the members, and was followed by other gentlemen, who unanimously wished that these meetings should be conserved, especially as being now the only remaining

The Month.