Journal of education, 1 janvier 1874, Janvier - Février

THE IkucMcA 'PMCKSSl :-w./ JOURNAL OF EDUCATION Devoted to Education, Literature, Science, and the Arts.Volume XVIII.Quebec, Province or Quebec, January and February, 1SÎ4.Vos.1 & 1.TABLE OF CONTENTS Education in England.! Installation Address of the Ht.Hon.Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Rector of Glasgow University .4 Dr.Donaldson on the Higher Schools of Scotland .1 Carlyle’s Advice to Young Men 5 Physical and Mental Overculture.6 Technical Education and Apprenticeship in France.7 A Great Error in Modern Education .7 School Headaches.7 Education for Girls.8 Newspapers as Educators .8 The Leisure Time of Boys.8 Lord DufTerin's Visit to the Montreal High School.9 Mars and Earth Compared.10 Fur-bearing Animals — She Alaska Seal.10 The Anglo-Russian Royal Marriage.11 lntluence of Petrarch.12 Jottings about Literature and Literary Men.12 The Literature of the Year, 1873 12 The Transit of Venus in 1874.13 Officiai.Notices— Appointments: Inspectors of Schools, Member of Bedford Protestant Board of Examiners, School Commissioners, School Trustee.Limitation and Erection of School Municipalities.t i Editorial : Report of Minister of Public Instruction for the Province of Quebec for the Year 1872 and part of 1873.Education in the Province of Quebec .Opening of Stanstead Wesleyan College.Bishop's College School, Len- noxville.Donations to McGill University .Opening of a Cotton Factory at Hocheiaga, Montreal.21 Statistics of the Trade and Progress of Great Britain.23 T1» Obituary of the Year, 1873 24 Biographical Sketches :— John Gough Nichols,F.S.A.24 Thomas Baring, M.P.24 Prof.Louis Agassiz."5 K P.Pomminville, Q.C.26 Hon.Senator James Leslie.26 Hon.Samuel Nelson.26 Charles Smallwood, M.D.26 Jean-Antoine Galignani.26 Henry Glassford Bell.26 Hon.Robert Jones.27 Amédée-A -L.Turcotte, Adv 27 Dr.Levingstone.27 Baron Colonsay.27 Field Marshal Von Gablentz 27 to 19 19 20 21 the Board, and a number of leading gentlemen of the town, proceeded to Butler street, where the foundation-stone of the new Board schools for that district was laid by Mr.Christopher Bushell, the Chairman of the late Board.After the ceremony, Mr.Forster addressed a large meeting in the Queen’s road schools in regard to Educa tion matters generally and the Education Act in particular, his special object being to reply to recent attacks on that Act and his share in it by Mr.Bright and others.He complimented the Liverpool Board for their energy in educational matters, for meeting the religious difficulty, and on the increase of the attendance by 25 per cent.Reverting to the position of the question three or four years ago bafore the Act was passed he said : “ What was the educational position of the country ?We had no State system of education ; that is, no State system in this way, that the State had not undertaken to see or to secure that every parent would find a school for his child, hut there was a voluntary system spreading over the country, supported by great energy, and doing very much.That voluntary system reached all corners and all parts of the kingdom ; and what did we find was the state of things with regard to the teaching of the great mass of the population ?We found much done, much doing, and much left undone ; many good schools ; many had schools ; and many districts with no schools at all°; many parents able to get, and really getting, a good education for their children, and many children brought Right Revd.Joseph-Eugene I Up in utter ignorance and utterly neglected.” /a./ Pnhli(* nnimnn t V-, -1 I Guigues, D.D., Ottaw Miscellany.28 Meteorology.32 Advertisement .32 mu.Education in England.FORSTER DEFENDS THE EDUCATION ACT.On the 25th of last November, and on the eve of the elections for the London School Board, the Right Hon.W.E.Forster, M.P., the member of the British Cabinet 1 The former said under whose auspices the present Educational law for Public opinion demanded that something be done to provide a system of National education.There are those who say the Government should have waited until public opinion indicated precisely what kind of a law was wanted ; but Mr.Forster did not think the Government in a matter of this kind should wait for such instruction.The friends of the Church and voluntary schools and the Birmingham League had both spoken in favor of waiting.Give us time, and we will fill up all the gaps.Let England was passed, visited Liverpool and inaugurated .our system work on, and although there is no security the handsome and commodious schools which have been ! that it reaches to every part of the country, we will erected by the School Board in Queen’s road, Everton.1 undertake that it will do so." What was our reply ?Mr.Forster, on his arrival in Liverpool, was met at the “ We can't afford to wait ; we dare not trust to your Board room by the members of the recentlv elected School filling up the gaps ; we know that children are escaping Board, and, accompanied by the Mayor, the members of your net, and that they will grow up in ignorance, while THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION [January &.February, 1874.you are striving to cover the country.We must have security that there is provision everywhere.” What we said to them then we say to the supporters of the Birmingham League at this time, that we should have acted contrary to our duty if we had waited.Those children were to be the electors and voters of our Government, and it was necessary without a moment's delay that we should set to work and provide a system of national education.But supposing we had not done so.and supposing we had waited.Do my friends of the League suppose the delay would have been to their advantage ?By no means.The field would have been left in the possession of the voluntary managers, and the longer we had waited the more powerful they would have become, and the more difficult would have been the introduction make this statement are very much mistaken if they suppose that any want of good secular education is owing to denominational management.For instance, some of the faults are faults ascribed to the Revised Code.The next thing we did was to declare in every school district throughout the kingdom that if the voluntary schools did not supply the deficiency of education the district must be compelled to provide it by means of rates.But there might be some cases in which there would be districts which might at once prefer the rate system, and which would at once prefer to have School Boards In the Act we passed a provision that if there were such districts they should be allowed to elect a School Board, but we stated that, i! If in a district you prefer to work out the voluntary system you mav do so, provided you do the If also you wish to of any rate system.There is another thing, we might j work.But the-work must he done.lave disregarded the voluntary* system altogether, and 1 have il upon those principles.'’ The principles upon which Mfgim afresh, and set the Stale to perform its duty, disre we have administered the act are these ; .first, we have not those voluntary managers.It was a very thought it our duty to hamper and hinder any voluntan 1* garding ____ _________ ______ ___ ^ _______ _ ____ _______ difficult and hard work, and 1 think no one in his senses j managers, but we have thought it our duty to insist upon would have dismissed all the present workmen, and left their following the conditions of the Act.which I have us with nobody to perform it.or that it would have been ! described : secondly, where School Boards have been advisable to give them notice to quit and that it would j formed, we have thought, that we must pay this amount have been well to tell them we would use them for a ; of deference to the representative system, that we ought time, aiul only for a time, aiul that wo ought not merely j to allow those who were elected by their fellow rate -to have provided a system, hut a rate system by which, | payers, a good deal of discretion as to the mode in which if they desired no longer to work in the cause of educa-1 they should do the work and supply the educational tion, their place would he filled up, and to have arranged ! deficiencies of the country.While doing that we have for their possible absorption if the force which induced ! insisted upon their supplying those deficiencies, and we them to act lost its power.Well, after much careful ] shall insist upon it—though at the same time we have consideration the Government decided not to lake this j not forced them.We should have thought we were step, and why did the Cabinet come to this conclusion ?i acting contrary to the Act in forcing them to put up In the first place we wanted i' assistance of these men, i schools where they considered they are not wanted.In and I do not think we could have got them on tuose j like manner in the country parishes, and in the towns terms.We wanted all the forces in the country to light where there have been no School Boards formed, we have against the common enemy—ignorance.We brought' said, “ We give you the opportunity provided by the Act into action a new force—the power of self-government j of supplying the educational deficiency without a School acting through municipalities, and by ratepayers electing j Board, if you prefer to do so, but if you omit to supply it.their representatives ; and we cannot deny that in so far] we then must insist upon your forming a School Board.' as we brought that into action, wo did.to some extent, j And lastly, we have not forgotten the section in the Ad endanger the voluntary schools ; because it is no tempta-! which gives power to any school district, whether ils tion to a man to subscribe to voluntary schools, when he I educational deficiency was supplied or not, to form a knows that a rate will be levied in his district, and when he knows that his next door neighbor, who has done nothing in aid of schools, will be forced to pay his share.But we found it necessary to bring in the rating system.There was no other way of providing for the country.It was not merely a matter of money ; it was not.that we wanted to diminish as much as we could the great difficulty in legislation in England—the ratepaying difficulty.But it was because there was something to be considered even more Ilian money.We wanted to gain the help of those men who had already made great sacrifices for education.We acknowledge that neither in the town nor in the country were we at that time able Io dispense with their services with safety to education.Nor are we now.I am not going into the motives of the clergymen or of the piiests.It was their duty to gain whatever influence they could over them.Well, com Pined with this there has been a real desire on their part to promote good secular education ; and that is a motive which the State, we consider, cannot safely disregard.What, then, did we, do ?We stated in the first place that, we would admit the voluntary schools throughout the country, enormous numbers though they were, upon our conditions ; these conditions being, in the'first place, a security that no parent should have any religious teach in" riven to his child in one of these schools if he disliked it.°That securitv was mademore efficient as the Bill passed through Parliament by the time table conscience clause.The second security was that we should have at least four hours a dav during which secular instruction should he riven in all those schools.It is said that some of those schools give had secular instruction, hut those who School Board.We have endeavored to facilitate the action of the section in two ways : first, by making ratepayers the most popular constituency that exist for any purpose : and secondly, by giving them the protection of the ballot.My colleague and old and honored friend.Mr.Bright, with whom i perhaps do not exactly see alike in the matter of education—has stated that he considers -—although perhaps he may doubt one or two of the principles I have described—that they cannot he changed without subjecting them to further proof.Well, he, perhaps, may expect that proof will result in evidence ot failure; hut I am more sanguine.I do not expect failure ; and I do not expect it, judging from our present success.In my opinion, these last three years have given us as much success in the operation of the Act as we could reasonably have hoped for.There is another matter which has taken up a great deal of public attention, and you will expect me therefore to make some allusion to it, that is the now famous '25th clause.There never was a provision in an Act of Parliament passed so quietly and so innocently—as to what might in the future he said aboutit.Even now, looking at the clause, it is very difficult forme to understand why so much should be said about it.It does seem not an unnatural thing that when you are providing education for the poor parent to send his child to school, you should give him the means of sending that child, because if he has not the means, he cannot well get his child taught.Well, does it not also seem extraordinary that you should tell him,“ Well, although we jiay for you, yet you may choose what school you like, provided that it, gives what we consider an efficient secular education ?" However, there is January A FijunuAHV, 1875.J FOR THE BROVINCE OF QUEBEC.much objection to the clause ; but by the Education Amendment Act which we passed last year, we have taken away from the School Boards the very large majority of children that were likely to be helped by the School Boards, and handed them over to the guardians.1 should suppose, taking the country throughout, that three-fourths, if not a great many more, of the children that, have come under the operation of the 25th clause will now come under the operation of the new Act, because they will be the children of out-door paupers! Further than that, I can only say this much, that 1 have no doubt the Government would most carefully consider any proposition that may be made to them to remove any objection that may be felt.I do not think that a poor man, by reason of his poverty, should lose his right to choose a school when you compel him to send his children there, and I believe compulsion impossible.I want to say a word in regard to compulsion.I am as anxious as any member of a School Board, or any member of any society, to see a measure of compulsion applied to the whole kingdom.I must say this much, that after most carefully looking into the question of the possibility of having a general compulsion for the Kingdom, I should be ready to produce a measure which I think would convert the whole Kingdom, but it would be impossible to be passed‘into law, and impossible to work throughout the country, if it did not avoid these two things : first, you must not compel a parent to send his child past the school in order to go into one you like, but he does not ; and, secondly, you must not compel the ratepayers to build schools merely because you prefer that those child ren should be sent to them.If men who are earnest in regard to education are so convinced of the necessity of compulsion that they can admit these two conditions, I believe it will be comparatively easy to pass such a meas-ore, and I believe that then xve should have done almost all for the education of the masses of our population.I believe that there are several men—good men—throughout the country who think that in so far as I had to do with this Bill, I planned it and passed it with the object of promo ting the interests of the Church of England,and to injure Dissenters.That is to myself the most extraordinary charge almost that I can conceive, and I think it would be to them also if they knew me ; and the only reply that 1 can make to that charge is that in what I have done I had no wish to injure the Church or do the Church good.1 simply wished to get the children to school—that was really and solely the only object 1 had.But it is said to me, “You are endeavoring to maintain the principle of a State Church and I have sometimes been told by some of my friends, “ Ah, there never was any Act like the Education Act for propping up this decayed fabric of a State Church.But sonic others of my friends who take the same views as those xvliom I have quoted with respect to the question of a State Church, say, “ Probably you did not mean it.but you have hit it the heaviest blow it has ever had." Now I must honestly say I had no such high object in view.If I was a member of l he Liberation Society, which I am not, and if I was determined to pull down the Church as fast as I could, 1 do not sec why this Act, so far as I have had anv-thing to do with it, should not have been precisely what it was.Our object was to use all the forces for education which we found existing, and when we found the clergy, or the priest, or the dissenting ministers, °r any person-.1 aymen or spiritual men, ready to help us in the matter, we were ready to take their help, and l do not know how the Act could have been framed in any other way.unless when bringing forward' the measure apparently for education, one had tried to make it really against the Church.What would be the result ?Simply this, that if the members of any Church, or the officers or the clergy of any Church, did their duty, they might gain some influence by it.That is an indirect result with which I have nothing to do.If they do not do their duty, if they are intolerant in their demands, they will do themselves harm and the body to which they belong.The next charge which is brought against me is of my exceeding folly and ignorance in ignoring the religious difficulty.Well, it is not my business to make the most of the difficulty with which I had to do.I never supposed that I should hear nothing about it, but I said, in bringing forward the bill, what I say now, that I believed these difficulties were not difficulties in the actual education of children ; that they were not difficulties felt by the parents of the children or the schoolmaster.And I said also this ; that when we were told that we were imposing upon the Boards the solution of these matters, and that that would make it impossible to work the Act, I replied in these words— “ We Impose upon the School Board practical work ; xve say it is your duty to be the practical managers, and to see that this education is given, and xve believe that immediately, as regards the enormous majority of the children, the religious difficulty xvill disappear.” Now I can point to what has been done by School Boards throughout the country in consequence of that statement.A day or two ago I met the London School Board.After debating for some days they came to the almost unanimous resolution to have the Bible read, intelligently explained, and taught—and that they xvould also have à prayer and a hymn at the beginning of the school meetings, and carry out the principle of the Act as undenominationally as possible.Well, they provided at the same time a power of appeal to the School Board by any parent, or manager, or teacher, or ratepayer.Not a single appeal has been made by any one of those persons.That has been the experience throughout the country of one School Board after another.I took up the Leeds Mercury, a day or txvo ago.and found speeches from two Leeds gentlemen, both Dissenters, and I can’t helpquoting one or txvo remarks they made.My friend Mr.Thomas Harvey, who belongs still to the Society in xvhich I xxras born, and xvho is a most excellent member of the Society of Friends—xvhat does he say ?“ The religious question looked a very formidable one, but, happily, like very many other obstacles, it had proved a theoretical one.” Mr.Toxvett, the vice-chairman of the Leeds School Board, says, “ Hoxv many times did they think parents had objected to the religious teaching' given in the Leeds Board Schools during the last three years ?Never in one single instance.” I xvill never be a party to a law xvhich xvould prevent the schoolmaster or the mistress from gix-ing instruction in religion ; to say that xve should take hold of this teacher and that teacher, and sav to them that they are not to say to our children anything at.all that may affect their souls, I really cannot understand hoxv xve can so conduct our teaching.What xvould have been the result ?Why, you would have in place of your present teachers, teachers who either cared nothing about religion, and no better teachers ever existed for secular subjects, or you xxould have them feeling themselves so hampered and so hindered in their xvork, that they could not consent to proceed with it.I really believe that the very best of them xvould leave you.I feel hoxv delicate a matter this is, I knoxv that I have given offence to many of those for xvhom I have the highest respect, but I xvould ask those of my Non formist friends xvho care very much about these matters both as to education and religion, if they would alloxv me to make one remark in all kindness to them, and that is, xvhether they have quite realized xvhat is their present THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION [January & Feuruary, 1871.position as being the advocate of a Stale system of education ?Their former position was a perfectly logical one very much on account of this difficulty of religious instruction, and of separating it from secular instruction.They were opposed to the State in any way interfering with education.They have given up that position.They have found that such was the need of the country that, as patriots, they were obliged to give it up ; but now they are in favor of the State providing it, and it appears to me that they cannot take the same ground that they did—for instance, with regard to State religion, that they cannot say, “ We will have nothing at all to do with instruction in religion” because it is the general belief ol parents it has been the custom, and is their wish, that at the same school, and by the same teacher there should be instruction in religion as well as other matters ; and.therefore, as they had decided that the State should give this instruction, they must take the consequences of having to deal with that enormous multitude of their fellow-citizens who prefer that the two things should be united together.It seems to me that a system of State education can be conducted upon two principles—upon the principle of teaching to the children everything that they can learn within the time which is allotted to them, with the power in their parents to withdraw them from that kind of teaching which they think is wrong to receive ; and that is the principle of the Education Act ; or it can be conducted upon the principle of teaching nothing but that upon which everybody is agreed, and that seems to be the principle of the League and my friends amongst the Nonconformists, to whom I am trying to reply now as a friend of education.As an educational reformer, it seems to me that the principle of limitation would be utterly destructive of any sound and real education.I could not consent to a secular system of education as a legislator, as a member of the Government, or of Parliament, I feel that it would be wrong for the law thus to taboo religion.I hold still to the faith of my old Quaker Fathers, to this extent, that I am not one of those who think we ought to draw this line between religion and other subjects.I will .conclude by saying that my aim in this work has been to provide the schools for the children in the country, and to secure if possible that those children shall attend these schools ; to raise the quality of the education that is given to them ; to see that it is one which will enable them to fight the battle of life—that is all which 1 believe the law can do.If the time should ever come when I lie parents of England —for without female suffrage lie mothers of England will have something to do w> h the teaching of their children—if, I say, the time should ever come when the fathers and mothers of England wish that State education should be conducted purely upon the secular system, they must find some other individual than myself to do their business.—Daily Witness.the fact that the young men before him were about to enter life at a period which promised to be momentous— perhaps he should say which menaced—he thought it would be appropriate to offer some observations which might tend to assist them in their coming trials.The man who desired to succeed in life required two kinds ol knowledge, the first of which was self-knowledge, the acquisition of which was a theme upon which philo sophers had written treatises for countless ages.By severe introspection only could self-knowledge be obtained : but, supposing that aman had acquired the indispensable insight into the true range of his powers and the right bent of his character, the next thing required was an acquaintance with the spirit of the age in which his faculties were to be exercised.The spirit of the present age was a spirit of equality, but equality was a word ol wide import, round which various schools ol thought might assemble and arrive at conclusions not only different but contradictory, lie held that civil equality —that was the equality of all citizens before the law, and that a law which secured the personal rights of all citizens—was the only foundation of a perlect common wealth—that was, a Government which secured liberty, order and justice.Having alluded in touching terms to the misfortunes of France, Mr.Disraeli said it was civil equality which was aimed at in Britain, social equality in France; but social equality did not satisfy the latest philosophers, — they wanted material equality also.Thev would destroy private property, and acknowledge only the rights of labour.This was not the only or the highest happiness, nor a safe basis for a commonwealth.The spiritual was stronger than the physical.By religion alone could men be guided to their benefit.Mr.Disraeli concluded by observing that he who conceived best his relations to God was best prepared to fulfil his duties towards man.In the perplexities of life lie himself had found in those beliefs solace and satisfaction, and he now delivered them to the students, to guide their consciences and their lives.Installation Address of the Kt.Hon.Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Keetor of Glasgow University.On Wednesday- (19th November, 1873) Mr.Disraeli was installed as Lord Rector of Glasgow Universi ty, in Kibble’s Crystal Palace, a building capable of accommodating 000 persons, which was filled to overflowing.A “’capping ” ceremony, in which LL.D., degrees were conferred on the new Lord Rector, Sir W.Stirling Maxwell, Dr.Hooker, Sir E.Colebrooke, Mr.Gordon, M.P., and Dr.Rainey, preceded the installation address.After a few introductory remarks in acknowledgment of the honor conferred upon him, he said that, in view ol Dr.Donaldson on tlir Higher Schools of Scotland.The annual meeting of the members ol the Association of the Masters of Higher Schools of Scotland, was held onFridav, January 9tli, in the High School, Edinburgh —Dr.Donaldson, president, occupying the chair.The l Secretary (Mr.Macdonald, of the High School) having | read the roll of membership, and stated that all the higher-class schools, with the exception of Elgin, were now represented in the Association, the Chairman | delivered an inaugural address for the year.At tin ! outset he expressed a hope that the people of this country would see fit to remodel the system of secondary education, in respect to which, he said, there could be no doubt we were very far behind Continental nations.(Hear, hear.) Speaking of the circumstances which ! contributed to bring about this state of matters, he dwell at some length upon the position of the teachers, pointing ! out the fact there were many scholarly men in Scotland, who had gone through a University training, and who were acting with efficiency as teachers of secondary schools, whose incomes did not teach $1000 a year, whereas an inspector of primary schools, who had only to correct exercises in spelling and arithmetic, and who was expected to know a little about geography, history, i and Latin, started with an income of $1250, with another SI250 for travelling expenses, and ultimately rose to the position of having a salary of $5000, with an assurance of having, after serving for a certain number of years, January & February, 1874.] FOR THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.his lull salary of $5000 secured to him as a retiring allowance.Not only was the income small, but there was almost no prospect of the teacher rising.In Germany I lie teacher had opportunities of rising through various stages, and in England all the honours of the Church lay open to him, while in Scotland there was no career open to the masters of secondary schools ; so that if Mr.Lowe had been chosen Professor of Greek in Glasgow, he would not have risen to be Secretary of State, or if Mr.Henry Sumner Maine had been successful in his application for the Rectorship of the High School of Edinburgh, he would not, in all probability, have been now Sir Henry Sumner Maine, and aman of great wealth and importance.Passing on to notice the obstacles lying in the way of the establishment of a regular system of secondary instruction, the chairman pointed out, first, the inadequate appreciation of higher class education among the middle and upper classes, as evinced by men of intelligence sending ; their children to be taught by young lads who knew nothing of the art of education, and who simply made experiments on the children entrusted to their care.The middle classes did not see that the only way to have good schools was to have public schools.(Hear, hear.) So far as primary education was concerned, this fact had been acknowledged, and the probability was that there would soon be many primary schools throughout the country, where a better education would be obtained than in many of the private schools which had become so fashionable, • through the low estimate put upon higher education by | the snobbery of many of the members of the middle) classes, who, in educating their children, only looked to the lorming of good connections and the entering of good i society by their boys.No one who knew the humour of the working classes in this country could doubt that there were terrible elements seething beneath the surface, which would not be satisfied by a good primary education.On | the contrary, the more thoroughly primary education ) was given, the more thoroughly would the working | classes understand and inquire into the history of their country, of its law, and of its religion ; and the remedy lay with the upper classes.iHear, hear.i It was only by these classes joining heartily with the rest of the middle j classes, and forming a system of secondary instruction, accessible to the poorest boy of ability, that the demand lor education could be met.Speaking of the manner in which secondary education was affected by University : and primary education, be remarked the teachers in primary schools had always in Scotland done a good deal j of the work ol secondary teachers, whereas in Prussia, France, and England, the line was distinctly drawn! between primary and secondary instruction.Mosteduca \ tionalists were inclined to think that this separation was an advantage, but he doubted whether it had not arisen from political reasons which could not and should not) affect Scotland.Politicians abroad and in England had 1 always been shy of giving the working classes any j education which took them beyond the ordinary branches, j But this use of the primary schoolmaster should only, it seemed to him, be made in cases of necessity, as there was no doubt secondary education could best be given in secondary schools.After pointing out the necessity that existed for leaving the professorships in the Universities open to all men of real ability and merit—men who had j some chance of success when the University of Edinburgh was under the Town Council, but who now had little ! chance before the University Court without having the j intluence of position or politics on their side—the Chairman concluded by saying that in regard to secondary education the country required to have the higher class schools such as would furnish the pupils with an effective education up to tlie age ot 15.The recent Education Act rendered this more feasii ’ than it had ever been before.They in the High School of Edinburgh could manage il perfectly well, but the Act had found them in peculiarly favourable circumstances for their work, thanks lo the intelligence of Edinburgh, and the sense of the Town Council.They had already something like a system; all they needed was a little power, and the Act had given them that power.The School Board had at once used that power to put them into a position in which they could give education in the most effective manner, and on conditions likely to produce the best success.But even they could have been better if the Board had been allowed to apply the rates for secondary education.If the rates were not applied for secondary education there would not be proper salaries for almost all tlmother burgh schools of Scotland, these schools would not be properly organised, and no special training could be demanded of the teachers.But if he was not mistaken, the Scottish public were not averse to the rates being applied for this purpose, as it was clearly for the interest alike of the working classes and the middle classes, and he did not think the aristocracy would grudge their contributions.It was not fair, however, to impose the whole duty of maintaining these schools on the particular burgh or town in which they were situated; but the country should be divided into large districts, and on each district should fall the duty of supporting a higher class school, with some aid from the Imperial Treasury.As a consequence of this reform, they would have the number of separate classes in the Universities diminished, and the Professors placed upon a more satisfactory status.— The Selioolmaster.Carlyle’s Advice to Voting Men.A new book by Rev.John Cunningham Geikie,addressed to young men, contains the following admirable letter from Carlyle, hitherto unpublished Chelsea, March 13.Dear Sir,—Some time ago your letter was delivered to me ; I take literally the first free half hour I have had since to write you a word of answer.It would give me true satisfaction could advice of mine contribute to forward you in your honourable course of self-improvement ; but a long experience has taught me that advice can profit but little; that there is a good reason why “ advice is so seldom followed ”—this reason namely, that it is so seldom, and can almost never lie’, rightly given.No man knows the state of another ; it is always to some more or less imaginary man thaï the wisest and most honest adviser is speaking.As to the books which you, w hom I know so little of, should read, there is hardly anything definite that can be said.For one thing, you may be strenuously advised to keep reading.Any good book, any book that is wiser than yourself, will teach you something—a great many things, indirectly and directly, if your mind be open to learn.The old counsel of Johnson is also good and universally applicable.Read the book you do honestly feel a wish and curiosity to read.The very wish and curiosity indicates that you then and there are the person likely to get good of it, “ Our wishes are presentiments of our capabilities : ” that is a noble saying, of deep encouragement to all true men, applicable to our wishes and efforts in regard to reading as to other things.Among all the objects that look wonderful or beautiful i you, follow with fresh hope he one that looks wonde dost—beautifulest.You will radually by various tri; (which trials see that von make honest, manful ones, not silly, short, fitful ones) 6 THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION [January & February, 1874.discover what is for you the wonderfulest, beautifulest ; that is your true element and province, and be able to abide by that.True desire, the monition of nature, is much to be attended to.But here also you are to discri minate carefully between true desire and false.The medical men tell us we should eat what we truly have an appetite for ; but what we only falsely have an appetite for we should resolutely avoid.It is very true.And flimsy, “ desultory ” readers,'who fly from foolish book to foolish book, and get good of none, and mischief of all—are not these as foolish, unhealthy eaters, who mistake their superficial, false desire after spiceries and confectioneries for the real appetite, of which even they are not destitute, though it lies far deeper, far quieter, after solid nutritive food ?With these illustrations, I will recommend Johnson's advice to you.Another thing, and only one other I will say.All books are properly the record of the history of past men.What thoughts past men had in them ; what actions past men did ; the summary of all books whatsoever lies there.It is on this ground that the class of books specifically named History can be safely recommended as the basis of all study of books ; the preliminary to all right and full understanding of anything we can expect to find in books.Past history, and especially the past history of one’s own native country—everybody may be advised to begin with that.Let him study that faithfully, innumerable enquiries, with due indications, will branch out from it ; he has a broad beaten highway from which all the country is more or less visible—there travelling, let him choose where he will dwell.Neither let mistakes nor wrong directions, into which every man, in his studies and elsewhere, falls, discourage you.There is precious instruction to be got by finding that we are wrong.Let a man try faithfully, man fully to be right ; he will grow daily more and more right.It is at bottom the condition on which all men have to cultivate themselves.Our very walking is an incessant falling ; a falling and a catching of ourselves before we come actually to the pavement.It is emblematic of all things a man does.In conclusion, 1 Will remind you that it is not by books alone, or by books chiefly, that a man becomes in all points a man.Study to do faithfully whatsoever thing in your actual situation, there and now, you find either ex presslv or tacitly laid to your charge—that is your post; stand in it like a true soldier : silently devour the many chagrins of it, as all human situations have many ; and be your aim not to quit it without doing all that it, at least, required of you.A man perfects himself by work much more than by reading.They are a growing kind of men that can wisely combine the two things ; wisely, valiantly, can do what is laid to their hand in their present sphere, and prepare themselves withal for doing other wider things, if such lie before them.W ith many good wishes and encouragements.I remain, yours sincerely, Thomas Cari.yi.e.Physical anti Mental Overcnltnrt*.A noted British novelist, now on a visit to this country, in one of his most popular narratives, exemplifies the case of an athlete who, by a severe course of training has brought himself to a high state of physical perfection, in order to compete in the lists of a foot race.When the time arrives for the test of his powers of endurance, the j runner begins his task ; but ere lie can reach the goal, j his overtaxed system gives way, and he falls stricken | with paralysis, a hopeless bodily wreck.Instances of a similar kind in real life are but too common.The death of the celebrated oarsman, Renforth, while at the thwart is still within public recollection, and the decease of Heenan, the once famous pugilist, is a more recent exem plification of the retributive action of Nature when the laws by which the confines of the possibilities of human muscular effort are transgressed.A man’s body may be compared to a finely adjusted and accurately balanced steam-engine, and his vital energy and mental power to a constant motive force acting upon a uniform area of piston.It needs no demonstration to prove that an engine has a certain fixed capability ; it can develop so many horse power, and then reaches its limit.If we make more ponderous wheels or stronger rods and shafting, equal to the performance of much more arduous work, and then expect that the same power, merely by operating such heavier machineiy, will produce increased results in overcoming greater burdens, -common sense tells us that we look for an impossibility.And yet this is precisely what we seek to accomplish by causing exaggerated muscular development.We destroy the equilibrium of the machine ; and as a result, the action of tne power by which it is set in motion is either weakened or arrested.The physical seats of vital energy in the human frame are in the so termed vital organs ; as in the overtaxed steam-engine the molecules of vapour dash and expend their force against the piston unproductive of any motion, so in the body ; one part (the heart) unable to drive the increased flow of blood required for the augmented needs of other members, becomes overwrought and eventually diseased ; the lungs equally unable to maintain the process of burning up the effete matter poured into them by the veins, degenerate and waste away ; and the brain, failing to establish the connection between motor nerves and will, shatters by paralysis the delicate mechanism.All, in fine, are causes which as surely arrest the motion of the human machine as does the load beyond its powers that of the apparatus of iron and steel.The case of Heenan illustrates these truths perhaps as forcibly as any that can be cited.The man was a model of physical perfection, notponderous in build nor gigantic in frame, but to all appearances one in whom the parts of the body, while cultivated to their full extent, remained in statuesque symmetry.And yet despite the capacious breast and broad shoulders—points in themselves supposed to indicate almost unlimited strength of lungs— these last-mentioned members, in the constant strain upon the system, proved unequal to their task and fell a prey to the wasting and insidious disease which resulted in death.While, with such evidence as this before us, tin1 tenets of the ultra advocates of “muscular Christianity” may well be questioned with reference to the benefits derivable from the attainment of a so-called high physical condition, on the other hand it is true that no less dangerous results are to be apprehended from the converse practice, the development of the mind at the expense of the body.Again referring to the steam-engine for a simile, let us consider the consequence, supposing that working parts and load remained constant, of our crowding into the cylinders an enormous steam pressure.Manifestly there would be either a much more rapid wearing out of the machine, caused by the overwhelming power, or more probably the complete breakdown.Thus it is with the individual who by excessive study and brain-work, overweighs the balance in the contrary direction, and, by neglecting to maintain the equilibrium of mind and body, succumbs to the impoverishment of his physical system.Illustrations in point are to be found among the students of every institute of learning.Young men, ambitious to gairkscholastic honors and spurred on by January & February, 1874.] FOR THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.the applause of preceptors and friends, too often find | skilful mechanics are Germans, Belgians, and Swiss, failing health and despondent spirits, the precursors of ' Apprentice schools, two of which are being founded, one at permanent bodily infirmity, induced by overstrict Havre and the other at La Yilette.in Paris, purpose to application, too many hours of study, absence of simple ; cope with this state of things by giving boys a trade and nourishing food, and neglect of wholesome exercise.; education at a cost but little higher than that of tin-undeterred by premonitions of nature, toward the close primary education in communal schools.The special of their course, in order to reach a coveted prize—as aptitudes of boys will be taken into account, and tlie valueless to them in after-life as it is intrinsically worth mechanics set to teach them will be the best that can be less—they tax their energies beyond their powers of procured ; the boys will also be admitted very young, so endurance.Then, as the runner in the race or the oars- : that their training may begin two or three years earlier man at his oar physically breaks down at the moment of! than the visual apprenticeship.Originally the committee trial, so the overworked brain succumbs when it is subject of gentlemen who started this scheme intended to to the final strain.The student, whose hollow eyes, pale manage the schools privately, by the aid ol voluntary lace, and wasted form denotes nights of unvaried toil, contributions ; but the Havre and Paris town councils finds his powers inadequate to do him justice, and his having taken the whole plan under their patronage, and memory fleeting at the hour when he desires their firmest voted funds for the suppo ' of the schools, it is probable aid ; and-he endures the bitter experience of seeing others, that the first scheme will 1 much extended, and that a intellectually beneath him, but physically his superiors, special school will eventually be set apart for each sort withstand a trial before which he falls.of handicraft.Meantime, the National Assembly will be Study is to the mind as exercise is to the body: both appealed to, that the apprentice laws of 1850 may be alike act as develonine nowers.but neither bodv nor rendered more strimrent.and that it mav provide ins mind can be carried to a relative excess of cultivation tors except at the expense of the other.“ Mens scum in corpora sano " does not refer either to pundits or prizefighters.It means a mind well balanced, well organized, and varied in ability, coupled with a body healthy, vigorous and strong—the one capable of grappling with the highest thoughts and ideas, the other with the deepest ills and obstacles incident to every walk in life.-Scientific American.Technical Education and Apprenticeship in France.A correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette, says The Educational Times, gives an interesting account of the present state of technical education and apprenticeship in France.Since the first Revolution, which abolished all trade corporations, the position of French apprentices has been very unsatisfactory.The old guilds kept an eye on apprentices : reproved, and even punished, the masters who were remiss in instructing them ; and kept up among the apprentices themselves a wholesome emulation by means of frequent examinations, badges, and money prizes.There were, in fact, trade degrees, like those in a University ; and an apprentice, however rich he might lie, could only become a master and set up a shop alter having obtained three degrees of proficiency.The first was bestowed after three years of apprenticeship, the second at the end of the fifth year, and the third when the apprenticeship was concluded.Those who declined submitting to these formalities might indeed establish themselves in country districts; but they were not admitted to the guilds of the large cities, and their general situation was precarious and undignified.-4s a result of this system, French mechanics were renowned all the world over ; and if they went abroad, every country was eager to welcome them.The sweeping away of all trade corporations, with their useful guild rules, by the Revolution, in the name of freedom, was a popular measure, in that it multiplied enormously the number of master tradesmen, and brought into the cities thousands of peasants, who under the old state of things, ; would have been unable to gain a living there ; but, as an immediate consequence, the reputation of French handicraft was lowered, and trades of which France had possessed almost a monopoly soon became acclimatized in foreign countries.The deterioration has been going on steadily ever since, and now it is found that in Paris, as well ns in most of the great towns of France, tin- most! to sec that apprentices are better attended to by their A (Oral Error in lloiirni Education.I am not indeed, supposing that there is any great danger, at least in this day, of over-education ; the danger is on the other side.1 will tell you, gentlemen, what has been the practical error of the last twenty years,— not to load the memory of the student with a mass of undigested knowledge,"hut to force upon him so much that lie has rejected all.It has been the error of distracting and enfeebling the mind by an unmeaning profusion of subjects ; of implying that a smattering in a dozen branches of study is not" shallowness, which it really is.but enlargement, which it is not ; of considering an acquaintance with the learned names of things and persons, and the possession of clever duodecimos, and attendance on eloquent lectures, and membership with scientific insti tutions, and the sight of the experiments of a platform, and the specimens of a museum—that all this was not dissipation of mind, but progress.All things now are to be learned at once, not first one thing, then another ; not one well, but many badly.Learning is to be without exertion, without attention, without grounding, without advance, without finishing.There is to be nothing individual in it : and this, forsooth, is tiie wonder of the age.What the steam-engine does with matter, the printing-press is to do with mind ; it is to act mechanically, and the population is to be passively,almost unconsciously, enlightened by the mere multiplication and dissemination of volumes.Whether it be the schoolboy, or the school girl, or the youth at college, or the mechanic in the town, or the politician in the senate,—all have been the victims in one way or other of this most preposterous and pernicious of delusions.Wise men have lifted up their voices in vain, and at length, lest their own institutions should be outshone and should disappear in the folly of the hour, they have been obliged, so far as they could with a good conscience, to humor a spirit which they could not withstand, and make temporizing concessions at which they could not but inwardly smile.—Dr.Newman.School Headaches.“ About this time,” so might run the household almanac, “ expect children to come from school with 8 [January & February, 1874.THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION headache." No weather predictions could prove more true than does such a prophecy in hundreds of families in our cities.Notwithstanding all the discussions upon the subject, and in spite of all the discoveries of advanced science, school-rooms, both public and private, are most imperfectly ventilated and unsuitably heated ; they are either too hot and close, or a draught of cold air pours down upon the pupils.In utter defiance of all that common sense and physiology teach, parents continue to regard an honorary diploma as the ultimatum of education, and to urge on their sons and daughters to obtain it.•• Only so many years can you go to school,” is the spirit if not the letter of the instruction constantly given by scores of parents, “ and you must go through all these studies.You have no time to waste.” The teachers are often in combination with these parents to bring about the desired end ; the course is marked out with reference ! to rapid, continuous study, and incitements of various kinds, in the form of marks, prizes, honor rolls, etc., are placed before the pupils to stimulate them.It is true there are some teachers who see the evils of our school system, and would modify it, but the parent interferes, with the remonstrance that his child “ has been attending school so long, and must be promoted.” Or a parent justly demands that his child shall not be overtaxed, and the result is that, although as capable as the average, she ranks behind her class because she does not take all the studies, and the fancied dishonor disturbs her mind.Strange, indeed, it is that in this age of progress the j training and education of young girls and boys should ! not be better understood.The long confinement in close rooms, the short noon recess and hastily eaten lunch, the nervous restlessness for which they are so unjustly blamed, the pale or the unaturally flushed faces, long lessons to be learned out of schoolhours, weary headaches and disturbed sleep—from such things the children suffer.Their elastic spirits are broken, their health is imperilled, they are old before their time.When we see these worn and" wearv-looking little men and women, Mrs.Browning’s lines, written in view of still sadder cases, come to mind : “ For oh,” say the children, “we are weary, And we can not run or leap — If we cared for any meadows, it were merely To drop down in them and sleep.” Is there a good time coming, when parents and teachers shall combine to educate children with as much regard to healthful physical, as to high mental, development ?when plenty of"fresh air and frequent intermissions shall be deemed essential during study hours ?when it shall be considered as important to keep a child in happy healthful spirits during every day of the school term as to show each day a record of perfect lessons ?when it shall be understood that healthy children, properly taught, seldom need any other mental stimulus than their own natural and eager desire to learn new things ?There is too little child life in this age ; too little natural buoyancy of spirits among pale-faced students ; too long a list of deaths among the young each year ; too many who expend all their energy and vitality before they reach adult age.Have not our educational systems something to do in this matter?—Exchange.whenever prepared by scholarship, and the result has been that bright and precocious girls have been stimulated to undue effort, and the forcing process, which, unfortunately, is neither confined to them, nor to Boston, has proved injurious to health and future acquisition.This is a step in the right direction.It should be followed by a reduction of the number of lessons imposed, either by rule or by competition, upon school children.There is a good deal too much of shallow ploughing in this regard and it is far from certain that the fertility of the soil is always adapted, under any treatment, to the crops attempted to be raised.Our public schools are an outgrowth of a very decided conviction in the public mind of their necessity and value, as affording the means of free and universal education in the common English branches.On this primary idea lias been engrafted others until it is now gravely argued that it is the duty of the State to give its girls a chance at, it would be absurd to say knowledge of, music, the ancient and modern languages, all the science and the graces of the ball room ; and every boy a collegiate education ; and it seems to be supposed that all this is to be attained the best, the soonest, and that there is nothing in the human constitution which prohibits an entire devotion to study and nothing in the limitations of life which argues a different preparation for different pursuits.—Procidence Journal.Newspapers as Educators.A schoolteacher who has been engaged for a long time in his profession, and witnessed the influence ol newspapers on the mind of a family of children, writes as follows :— I have found it a universal fact, without exception, that those scholars of both sexes, and all ages, who have access to the newspapers at home, when compared with those who have not, are 1.Better readers, excellent in pronunciation, and consequently read more understandinglv.2.They are better spellers, and define words with ease and accuracy.3.They obtain a practical knowledge of geography in about half the time it requires others, as the newspapers have made them acquainted with the location of the important places of nations, their government, and doings on the globe.4.They are better grammarians ; lor having become so familiar with every variety of style in the newspapers, from the common place advertisement to the finished classical oration of the statesman, they more readily comprehend the meaning of the text, and consequently analyze its construction with more accuracy.5.They write hettercompositions, using better-language, containing more thoughts, more clearly and more cou nectedly expressed.6.Those young men who have for years been readers of the newspapers, are always taking the lead in the debating societies, exhibiting’amore extensive knowledge upon a greater variety of subjects, and expressing their views with greater fluency, clearness and correctness.— Exchange.Education for CSirls.The Boston School Board has decided that hereafter girls shall not be admitted to the High School until they are fifteen years of age.Heretofore they have been admitted The Leisure Time of Boys.Every father of a family knows that there is a time in the life of his sons that gives him much trouble and some anxiety.We allude to the period ot boyhood, when January & February, 1874.) FOR THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.9 exuberance of spirits and thoughtlessness are at their height, and when the studies imposed by school discipline are entirely insufficient to find adequate employment for their too active minds and bodies.And it is not possible, or even desirable, to increase the already considerable application of all well-bred boys to the study of books and the acquirement of learning.It is not wished that, a youth of twelve should grow up to be a conceited would-be pedant of twenty, and a bookworm of thirty years of age.Thus the task of finding fitting occupation for the leisure hours of a boy is no inconsiderable one, as few pursuits into which a boy would plunge with eagerness are suited for putting in the way of so much impulsiveness and want of consideration as most boys possess.The question, then, of how to amuse our boys, is one of paramount importance and difficulty.We would suggest, to the many parents who have been perplexed with this difficulty, to give their lads every possile bopportunity of acquiring a mechanical trade.The industry and ingenuity of a boy of average ability may easily be made to furnish him with a never-failing source of amusement of the best order.The boy, who can produce or make something, already begins to feel that he is somebody in the world, that achievement of a result is not a reward reserved for grown people only.And the education of mind, eye, and hand, which the use of tools and mechanical appliances furnishes, is of a great and real value, beyond the good resulting from the occupation of leisure time.Having nothing to do is as great a snare to the young as it is to the full-grown ; and no greater benefits can be conferred on youths than to teach them to convert time now wasted, and often worse than wasted, into pleasant means of recreation and mental improvement.We say therefore, to all parents : Provide your boys with mechanical apparatus and tools.There is no greater pleasure to most boys than the handling of a tool ; and many great men and ingenious inventors look back with gratitude and delight to the day when they were first allowed to use the lathe, the saw , and the plane.The boy, whose time and mind are now occupied with marbles and kites, may be a Watt, a Morse, or a Bessemer in embryo ; and it is certainly an easy matter to turn his thoughts and musings into a channel which shall give full scope to their faculties.And to most boys the use of mechanical tools is the most fascinating of all occupations.As logic and mathematics have a value beyond accuracy in argument and the correct solution of problems in that they teach men the habit of using their reflecting powers systematically, so carpentry, turning, and other arts are of high importance.These occupations teach boys to think, to proceed from initial causes to results, and not only to understand the nature and duty of the mechanical powers, but to observe their effects ; and to acquire knowledge by actual experiment, which is the best way of learning anything.All the theories culled out of books leave an impress on the mind and memory, which is slight compared to that of the practical experience of the true mechanic.Our advice is, to all who have the great responsibility of the charge of boys : give them tools, and give their minds a turn towards the solid and useful side of life.You will soon see the result in increased activity of their thinking capabilities, and the direction of their ideas towards practical results ; and, still more obviously, in the avoidance of idle mischief and nonsense (to omit all reference to absolute wickedness and moral degradation), which are, to too great an extent, the pastime of the generation which is to succeed us.— Scientific American.Lord Dulferiii’s Visit to the Montreal High School.At 10.30 p.m., on the 5th instant, His Excellency Lord Dufferin, accompanied by Colonel Fletcher, visited the High School.The preparatory school, under the direction of Professor Robins, was first inspected and the system of teaching pursued was observed.Rev Dr.Jenkins, Dr.Dawson, Mr.Lunn, Professor Mac Vicar, Rev.Canon Bancroft and other gentlemen were in attendance and accompanied the Governor in his visit to the different class-rooms where the scholars were examined by their teachers in Latin, mental arithmetic and other subjects.The corridors, he., had been neatly decorated for the occasion.The party next proceeded to the High School proper, which is under the management of Professor Howe, assisted by a numerous staff of teachers.The cadets, under the command of Captain Barnjum and Lieut.Adams, were drawn up in the drill room on the ground floor, which was first visited.They presented an excellent appearance, and cannot fail to prove efficient members of the volunteer force in future years.In one of the class rooms on this floor His Excellency remained to hear an exercise in Euclid, and having observed the different arrangements of the school as regards accom modation, Ac., the party ascended to the rooms of the Governors of the schoool.Rev.Dr.Jenkins then briefly expressed the gratification which the students felt at His Excellency’s visit, after which Mr.Macphehson, one of the students, stepped forward and read the following address in Latin lira Excellenti Comitique Nobili Dufferin, Victoria¦ Regime in Regno Canadcnsi Vicario, 4r., Snlutcm Dicimus.Pace tua Excellentissime : Pcrgratum nobis fecisti, quod scholam nostrum Regiam adventu tuo hodie honorasti.Lætitia autemquafruimur non ilia simplex est quam secum ferre sole! cura | optimatum henigna in eos qui humilioris loci sunt et i ordinis, sed etiam lætamur te præsentem videntes qui, in i Scholis el Academiis Britannicis, artes quæ ad humanita-lem pertinent, ipse excoluisti, itaque ad bene æstimanda ! studia nostra et labores idoneus.Hæc Canada adolescentula, in commercii ; negotiis et ; in opificiis multum jam profecit, sed periculum est ne in republica Literarum, et artium honestarum gloria deficiat ilia quam obtinet Britannia mater.Quod ne fiat, sed ut prorsus sit Canada matre pulchra 1 filior pulchrior, opus est gratia et cura altrice procerum ! Scholis el Academiis nostris.Quas te primo ab adventu in has oras studiose fovere scimus, itaque libi ex animo j gralulamur, atque Deum precamur ut tibi et eonjugi tine j amabili pulchræque salutem det.Cressa ne careat pulchra dies nota ; Sis felix, nostrumque levés, x'ir clare, laborem.Carolus Ritchie, David B.MacPherson.Pro discipulis Schohe Regia1, Monte Regali, Die 5tû ! Feb., 1874.His Excellency made the following reply, also in ; Latin :— Vir illustrissime, vos insignes pneceptores, et vos hujus tam præclara?scholre Canadensis alumni, me fortuna ! nescio qua tam magna coram vobis liai- in aula hoc die versatum fuisse invenio.Me quum gratum, igitur, illuslrissimi, turn humilem sententiis vestris fecistis ; humilem, quippe qui studiis ! quidlibet versatus, sola adlimina, cujus arcana explorasse negatum, scientiæ perfecta1 cumulatæque quam longe ' mihi videar attinuisse ; attamen gratum, quippe qui, hoc 10 THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION [January N February, 1874.tam îllustn imperil postri regno munere ac officio regio 1 ungens, non tam mihi.ilia bona1 voluntatis et fidelitatis pignora, quam Regime, cujus regnum, ut ita dicam exhibuisse ac sustinuisse traditum, accipiam expressa ac provocata.Quæ cum ita sint, amici, omnia qiue bona, omnia qua1 culta, omnia quae honesta, invenite, corripite, hac adoles-centiæ hora occupate ; hinc vera virtute, vera scientia, vera lortitudine induti, non solum vobismet ipsis sed patriæ tam vestrac quam meæ preæsidium et decus tloreatis.At the conclusion of the reading of the addr oss there ! was loud applause.Mis Excellency also otfered the following remarks in ; English : Although, my young friends.I am very grateful for tlie kind reception you have given to the very imperfect expression of my thanks, which 1 have endeavoured to convey to you in that language in which you yourselves have addressed me, in words which I may hope are not likely to be subjected to that severe criticism which they would be quite unable to sustain, I leel that the expression of my thanks would be ineom- ! plete unless I took this opportunity for asking that j to-morrow may be given to the scholars of this institution ! as a holiday.(Cheers.) I have also the pleasure of stating that it is my intention, so long as I am fortunate j to occupy the honorable position of Governor-General of! Canada, to offer to the students of this school a silver medal, to be given, subject to such conditions as, after | consultation with your superiors, mav be determined upon.(Cheers.) .-Mr- Ritchie, another of the students, then presented j His Excellency with a bouquet of beautiful flowers from I the Students of the 5th and 6th forms.Hearty cheers were then given 1'or the Queen, the i Governor General and Countess Dufferin, and the Masters | ot the Scbool, and the proceedings then closed.—Gazette.J southern hemisphere mostly, occupying but little space in the Northern, and that these northern and southern sea?are joined together by a thread of water.On the entire surface of Mars there are three such threads of water extending from the south to the north, but, as they are so far apart, it is but rarely straits which connect them constitute a very distinctive character of Mars, and they are generally perceived whenever the telescope is directed upon that planet.In order successfully to observe Mars, two conditions are requisite : First, the eai til’s atmosphere must be clear at the point of observation ; and, secondly, the atmosphere of Mars must be also free from clouds—for that planet, like the earth itself, is surrounded by on aerial atmosphere which from time to time is obscured by clouds just like our own.These clouds, as they spread themselves out over the continents and seas, form a white veil which either entirely or partially conceals from us the face of the planet.Hence the observation of Mars is not so easy a matter as it might at first appear.Then, too, the purest and most transparent terrestrial atmosphere is commonly traversed by rivers of air, some cold, which flow in different directions above our heads, so that it is almost impossible to sketch a planet like Mars, the image seen in the telescope being ever undulating, tremulous, and indistinct.I believe that, if we were to reckon up all the hours during which a perfect observation could be had of Mars, albeit his period of opposition occurs every two years, and although telescopes were invented more than two and a half centuries ago, the sum would not amount to more than one week of constant observation.—G.Flammarion, in Popular Srienre Monthly for December.Fiir-bcai-ing Animals—The Alaska Seal.tlai's ami the Earth Compared.The lirsl view ot Mars shows an analogy with our own planet, in the distribution of climates into frigid, temperate, and torrid zones.The study of its topography will, on the other hand, show a very characteristic dissimilarity between the configuration of Mars and that of the earth.On our planet the seas have greater extent than the continents.Three-fourths of the surface of oui-globe is covered with water.The terra firnm is divided chiefly into three great islands or continents, one extending Irom east to west, and constituting Europe and Asia ; the second, situated to the South of Europe, in shape like a \ with rounded angles, is Africa ; the third is on the opposite side of the earth, and lies north and south, forming two Y's, one above the other.If to these we add the minor continent of Australia, lying to the south of Asia, we have a general idea of the configuration of our globe.ft is different with the surface of Mars, where there is more land than sea, and where the continents, instead of being islands emerging from the liquid element, seem rather to make the oceans mere inland seas—genuine mediterraneans.In Mars there is neither an Atlantic nor a Pacific, and the journey round it might lie made drvshod.Its seas are mediterraneans, with gulfs of various shapes, extending hither and thither in great numbers into the terra firma, after the manner of our Red Sea.The second character, which also would make Mars recognizable at a distance, is that the seas lie in the The skins used for fancy furs and robes are mostly obtained from the carnivorous or flesh-eating animals : I as the sable, marten, mink, ermine, seal, otter, bear, etc.: some arc obtained from the rodents or gnawers : as the beaver, coypou, or nutria, muskrat, rabbit, etc.: and a few are obtained from the ruminants, or those that chew the cud ; as the bison, that supplies our buffalo-robes; and the paseng or wild-goat of Persia and the Caucasus, and the Assyrian or Siberian sheep, from whose young kids and lambs we obtain the much-used Astrakhan.By far the most valuable fur that passes under the name of seal is that of the sea otter, or Alaska seal, which, while it has the habits of the seal, forms a connecting link between it and the otter.A large portion of this finis obtained from two islands, St.Paul and St.George, in latitude about 565° north, in the Sea of Behring or Kamtchatka, about 250 miles northwest of the peninsula of Alaska.These islands were sold by Russia to the United States as a part of the Alaska territory.When, in I860, General George II.Thomas was sent by our government to examine and report upon the country, lie estimated the fur-bearing seals, or sea-otters, seen each summer on these islands, at from 5,000,000 to 15,000,000, lying in the rookeries, and covering hundreds of acres.For the last fifty or sixty years, the Russian Government had limited the number of skins to be taken yearly to some 80,000 or less.As General Thomas recommended that the hunting and killing of these animals should be regulated by law, Congress, in 1870, adopted substantially the Russian system ; and in a few weeks the Alaska Company, of which Hon.Henry P.Haven, of New London, Connecticut, is a prominent owner and influential officer, leased from the United Stated the islands of St.Paul and St.George.The company contracted to pax January & February, 1874.] FOR THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.a rent of 855,000 per annum, and a revenue tax of $2.62^ on each fur-seal taken and shipped from the islands.Two United States officials are stationed on each of these islands to see that the company complies with the condi lions of the lease, and to count the skins as they are shipped to San Francisco, where they are again counted by the custom-house officers.The number taken annually must not exceed 100,000.The catch in 1872 amounted to 96,069 skins.The sea-otter is the boldest swimmer of the amphibious tribe, for troops of them are met with 900 miles from land.When holding a fore-paw over their eyes, in order to look about them with more distinctness, they are called sea-apes They are exclusively found in the North Pacific Ocean and on its borders, between the.49th and 60th degrees of latitude ; and, although living mostly in the water, they arc occasionally found on land very far from the sea.Their fur is exceedingly fine, soft, and velvety, perfectly black in full season, but at other times of a shining, deep sepia, or of a rich chestnut-brown.The longer hairs are silky and glossy, but not very numerous, and are easily removed.The Chinese prize the fur of the sea-otter so highly that formerly they paid for the skins from sixty to seventy-live dollars each ; but they value them somewhat less now.It still remains the choicest, most expensive, and most fashionable, fur of its kind in the market for gentlemen’s sets, ladies’ sacques, turbans, boas, muffs, etc., and consequently all inferior furs that resemble it are made to imitate it.—J.11.Partridge, in Popular Science Vont lily for Dr rein her.Tito Aiiglo-Kussiaii Itoynl Vlariingo.We trust no apology is required on our part for the introduction of the following article into the columns of t he Journal.Apart from the deep interest we all take in the reigning Royal Family and its alliances, we feel it is due to our lady readers, who all take a special interest in such ceremonies.The following are Edmund Yale's special despatches to the New-York Herald :— The ceremonies of the Royal marriage commenced at noon on the 23rd January, 1874, in the presence of a large and brilliant assembly, at the Winter Palace, St.Petersburgh.The various galleries were filled with ladies sumptuously attired There was a prevalence of peculiar Russian costumes, made up mainly of velvet and diamonds.The gentlemen all wore uniforms, with the exception of the American diplomats.After assembling, the bridal procession was formed, with the grand equerries, chamberlains and other officers of the court leading ; then came the Czar Alexander and the Czarina, the Imperial Prince, the Czarowitz and his wife, Princess Dagmar, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Crown Prince Frederick William and Crown Princess of Germany, Prince and Princess of Denmark and Prince Arthur of England.Then came the bride and bridegroom, the bridegroom wearing the Russian naval uniform.The bride.Princess Marie Alexandrovna, was splendidly apparelled in a long crimson velvet mantle, trimmed with ermine, and wore a coronet of diamonds.Her train was borne up by four pages.Then followed an immense procession made up of members of the Imperial Russian family, Princes, Princesses, and Court officials ; the Imperial Russian Prince wearing the uniform of the Cuirassiers ; the Prince of Wales the scarlet British uniform, and the Prussian Prince that of a Russian colonel.All of the gentlemen were decorated with the insignia of the Russian Order of St.Andrew.The Princess of Wales was dressed in dark crimson velvet, and wore a diamond coronet and collar, with a pearl necklace.The Imperial German Princess was habited the same as the Russian Princess, in a dress of blue velvet, with gold trimmings.Prince Arthur of England wore the uniform of the British Rifle Brigade when acting as groomsman, and all other persons present appeared wearing wedding favors of silver.The procession, upon reaching the Russian church was received by the Metro- politan at the head of the choristers of the church, the Holy Synod, bearing crosses, sacred vessels, and holy water.The Emperor of Russia conducted the bride and bridegroom to the middle of the church, assuming a station with the Empress immediately behind them.Around the bridegroom stood Prince Arthur and the Grand Dukes.The wedding rings were borne on golden salvers and deposited on the altar temporarily by the Imperial confessor until they were placed on the fingers of the bride and bridegroom.The magnificent chapel was illuminated with wax candles and the floor covered with a carpet of velvet with a pattern of crimson and gold.The pillars of the altar were covered with gold.The Greek marriage ceremony was unique.There was an absence of music ; the chants were intoned, and there were prayers offered up.During the service crowns were held suspended over the heads of the bridal pair, Prince Arthur holding the crown over the Duke of Edinburgh, and Prince Sergius of Russia the crown over the bride.The Imperial confessor then said : “ Thou servant of God, Alfred Ernest Edward, art crowned for this handmaiden of God, Marie Alexandrovna ; in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.'’ Then was read the Epistle of St Paul to the Ephesians, 5th chapter, from the 20th to the 23rd ver-e inclusive Then the crowns were removed, and the married couple walked thrice around a raised dais, holding the tip of the confessor’s robe in one hand and a lighted candle in the other.At the conclusion of the ceremonies the sacramental cup was brought forth, blessed, and its contents partaken of by the bridal pair, the confessor presenting the cross, which the bride and bridegroom kissed.The deacon delivered an eloquent admonition on the marriage duties, and immediately afterwards the choir chanted “ Glory to Thee, O Lord,” concluding with the pronouncement of the benediction by the clergyman.Thus ended the Greek service.Leaving the Russian chapel the procession slowly reformed, and the party proceeded to the Hall Alexander for the performance of the Anglican Church service.The Very Reverend Dean Stanley, who, during the solemnization of the Greek Church service, wore a Protestant Episcopal Doctor of Divinity’s hood and gown, and who now appeared at the altar wearing an episcopal surplice with the jewelled collar of the order of the Bath around his neck, was assisted by two of the resident English clergy.The member-of the English colony, including bankers and merchants, were gathered on the left of the altar.Conspicuous among them were Governor Jewell, the American Minister ; Lord Loftus.the English Minister, and the officers Df the diplomatic corps.Many Englishmen in scarlet uniforms were also present.Especially noticeable was the venerable Prince Gortschakoffi surrounded by the leading members of the Russian nobility.They gathered on the right side of the altar.The Episcopal chants were given by Russian chorister lads clad in long crimson dresses.When the marriage procession entered the bride walked between her father and the bridegroom ; Prince Arthur walked behind.The beautiful Anglican wedding service was impressively performed by Dean Stanley, the Prince and Princess responding according to the form enjoined in the Book of Common Prayer.The delivery of the final benediction.“ God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost bless, preserve and keep you,” was especially touching.The service being concluded, Dean Stanley warmly congratulated the newly married couple.Several Catholic dignitaries were present.The bride looked earnest, sweet and fascinating, the bridegroom was grave and self-possessed The Princess of Wale-was lovely', pale and delicate ; the German Crown Princess looked hearty, the image of her mother, Queen Victoria.The Prince of Wales was apparently on excellent terms with the German Prince, and both looked extremely well.During the ceremony in the English chapel, the Empress of Russia being a confirmed invalid, and much fatigued, sat down.She seemed overcome with emotion, holding a handkerchief to her eyes when the newly-married couple came to salute her.The ceremony being concluded, the crowd dispersed There was a frightful rush on the stairways.The whole formed a wonderful mass of color.Old General Kauffmann, the Kliivan hero, got entangled in the mass, but recognized by the Crown Prince, was instantly rescued.On coming into the street the police were found driving the crowd, and Cossack horsemen charging to and fro clearing the way for the distinguished personages! The magnificent bell of the St.Petersburg church kept pealing during the day ; salvos of artillery of 100 guns were fired on the conclusion of the Greek service, all forming an extraordinarx combination of ceremonv, wealth, pomp and splendor. 1-2 THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION [January & February, 1874.Influence of Petrarch.Petrarch was, in fact, the first real restorer of polite letters.His fine taste led him to appreciate the beauties of Cicero and ^ irgil, and his ardent enthusiasm for them inspired his country with a thirst for classical knowledge.With the exception of Boccaccio, no one else had so keenly at heart the disinterring and bringing to the light the long-neglected Latin and Greek classics.In order to accomplish this, he wrote to all the learned men of the day, and sought among the ancient archives of cities and monasteries.By these means he discovered, in Venice, some of Cicero's letters, in Arezzo the oratorical institutions of Quintilian, in Liege two of Cicero’s harangues, which he copied with his own hand (although he tells us the ink was as yellow as saffron), because his indignation was s* great against the amanuenst of the time, whose carelessness led them to commit the grossest errors in transcribing.Had it not been for Petrarch’s unwearied efforts, many manuscripts would have perished, as several had done no long time before, forgotten and abandoned to dust and vermin in the monasteries.The Greek classics were also destined to revive in the fourteenth century, and the glory of reweakening in the minds of men the love of Greek poets and orators fell also to the lot of Petrarch and Boccaccio.The Greek friar Barlaam, a Calabrian by birth, but long resident in Greece; and considered one of the most learned men of that age, was intrusted by the Greek Emperor Cantacuzene with a mission to Italy.In the course of his travels, perhaps in pursuit of the Papal Court, he came to Avignon, where he met Petrarch, who, having heard of his fame, begged to be instructed by him in Greek.Petrarch afterwards pursued the study of the language with Leonzio Pilato, a disciple of Barlaam ; but, notwithstanding the assistance of two such great masters, he does not seem to have made much progress, and it was a source of some disappointment to him not to be able to read with ease a copy of Homer, a most rare book in Ttaly at that time, which had been presented to him by Nicola îSigeros, Prætor of Romania.Still, although, the attempts of Petrarch and Boccaccio were not attended with any immediate success, yet they excited a desire for learning, and prepared the way for the real revival of Greek literature a few years later.It may be that Petrarch was hindered from attaining to any perfection in Greek by the careful and life-long study which he bestowed upon the Latin classics.Cicero and Virgil were his models both in prose and in verse, and he strove to form his style upon them in the folio volume of twelve hundred pages which contains his Latin works.This style, although far above the common order of Latin then employed in the schools, is considered inferior to that of the scholars of the sixteenth century, and the fastidious taste of Erasmus was offended by the incorrect ness and harshness of his style.Erasmus complains that Petrarch's writings, although full of thought, are defective in expression, and display the marks of labour without the polish of elegance.Nevertheless, whatever may be their demerits, there is no doubt thal Petrarch rendered an incalculable service to literature in pointing out the road to good Latinity.If the great writers of the sixteenth century surpassed him in Latin prose and verse, still the glory must remain with him of being the first of the moderns who discovered the track of the ancients, and pointed out the road by which it was to be followed.The effect of his influence was like that ascribed by Dante to Virgil, the moral tone of whose writings prepared men’s minds for Christianity.—Macmillan's Magazine.Jolting:* about Literature and Literary Men.Who can wend his way on a pilgrimage to Stratford-on-Avon, and pass through the lowly chambers of the birthplace of Shakespeare, and sit beside his tomb in the chancel of the ancient and interesting church, without returning home to pore over the works of the immortal bard, if he never studied them before ?Pilgrims poetical visit the small country church near Xewstead Abbey where are “ interred the bones ” of perhaps the greatest genius this country has produced since the days of Shakespeare and Milton.Many, too, will turn their footsteps north towards “Caledonia, stern, and wild,” and pay their homage to the genius of Scott at Abbotsford, or at his grave amid the ruined arches ofDryburgh Abbey, an appropriate resting place for the poet and writer of fiction wh* brought to life again the dry bones of the days of chivalry, and has made us all, at every period of life from youth to age, pore over the magic pages of the Wizard of the North.Pope sleeps in the little church at Twickenham, near to the villa rendered famous by his genius.Thomson at Richmond, beneath whose shades ho lived and wrote ; Gray in the churchyard of Stoke Pogis, where he penned his incomparable “Elegy; ” Coleridge and Southey near to their “ancient walks and daily neighbourhood Milton and Bunyanin the heart of busy London, where so many years of the life of the former were passed.But what a wealth of genius is there not garnered up within the sacred walls of Westminster! Chaucer, the “ Father of English Poetry,” whose long sleep here dates from the year 1400, and Spencer, “ the Prince of Poets in his tyme ; ” the “ melancholy Cowley,” as he calls himself, and “ glorious John Dryden, “ rare Ben Jonson,” and Francis Beaumont, “ Fletchers ” associate Jonson’s friend beloved; ” Michael Drayton and the witty Prior ; Gay, author of the “ Beggar’s Opera,” and the higly cultivated, courtly Addison ; the warm-hearted, eccentric Johnson, and Thomas Campbell, the author of the “ Pleasures of Memory ” and numerous noble lyrics ; Abraham Cowley, “ majestic Denham,” and Nicholas Rowe ; Southey, equally celebrated as writer and poet : and Oliver Goldsmith, a true child of genius, whose “ Vicar of Wakefield ” and “ Deserted Village ” can surely never be surpassed.Then, not less worthy to share this glorious “ fellowship of death ’’ are our more modern literati, Lords Macaulay and Lytton—best known under the name of Bulwer— Thackerv, and Dickens.These are names that have made the Victorian era only less famous than the Elizabethan.Mr.Forster, in his “ Life of Dickens,” has stated that the writer of “ Pickwick ” experienced the truth of the axiom “ that publishers are bitter bad judges of an author, and are seldom safe persons to consult in regard to the fate or fortunes that may probably await him ; ” the clever author of “ Lothair” has also recorded his opinion that “ critics ar# men who have failed in literature.” There is, doubtless, some truth in this ; but it is no less a matteroffact thatcri tics and publishers are oftentimes less severe on writers than they are upon one another; this arises from jealousy and self-interest, which prevents them from acknowledging the full merits of rivals, whose style or theories may be different from their own.Again, some practically minded people gravely ask you, “ What is the use of poetry?” and as it is of no material benefit, they regard with contempt poets and all their works.It is said of a very great man, Sir Isaac Newton, that he acknowledged “ Paradise Lost ” was “ a fine poem; but,” he added, “what does it prove?” The learned Bishop Racket, says a writer, called Milton a “ petty schoolboy scribbler ; ” and the celebrated Barrow, who regarded poetry as ingenious nonsense, wrote of him as “one Milton." Burnet also spoke of another poet as “ one Prior ; ” and Shen-stone, who chiefly owed his reputation to his imperfect imitations of Spencer, unfavourably criticitized the latter.Addison also wrote contemptuously of the same great poet, whose wealth of imagination all have admired ; and yet it would appear that he did not read the “ Faery Queen ” until fifteen years afterwards.Both Addison and Cowley found fault with Chaucer, and Dryden suggests that he was, perhaps, too much shocked at the poet’s rough and antique style to search into his humour and good sense ; and doubtless many of our readers have for the same reasons refrained from more than “ dipping into ” the famous work of the father of English Poetry.— Golden Hours.The Literature of the Tear, 1873.The year 1873 will not stand high, the London Globe (Dec.31) says, in the history of English literature.It has produced few works of striking originality, and none that will mark epochs in the development of thought.At no previous period have more men of power and culture been engaged in intellectual work ; but ours is a scientific rather than a literary age, and will be remembered chiefly for the immense strides it has made in the discovery of truth; and in its applications to practical uses.There will probably be a reaction by and by in favour of literature, but in the meantime we must be content with achievements ivhich fall far short of the highest excellence, and will not compare with those of our really great eras.In France Germany, and Italy, wê hear very much the same complaints.Tn fact, we are not sure that the literary energies at work in January & February, 1874.J FOR THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.13 England are not fresher and more productive than those to be found in any of these countries.Unhappily, we have had to deplore this year the loss of two of our most illustrious writers —John Stuart Mill and Lord Lytton.The former had probably said all, or nearly all, he had to all his generation ; but the latter, at the time of his death, was striking into new paths with ardour and hopefulness, and proving that years only added to the wealth of his imagination, the keenness of his insight, and the vigour ami trustworthiness of his judgment.The two men worked for very different ends but each was unique in his own department, and it will be long before England sees their like again.The Daily News (Dec.31) remarks that there was considerable activity of a cortain speculative kind last year, perhaps set partly in motion by Mr.Matthew Arnold’s “ Literature and Dogma.” It was not, however, in relation to that work, but in reply to Mr.Mill’s “ Liberty, ” that Mr.Fitzjames Stephen published his “ Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.” In philosophy, if we except Mr.G.H.Lewes’s brilliant and daring volume, entitled lL Problems ol Life and Mind, we can hardly be said to have had any book during the year likely to have a stimulating influence upon thought, or which has brought out much that was new.In science, Dr.Wyville Thomson’s work on the “ Depths of the Sea” records a series of investigations on new and, in a literal sense, untrodden ground, which the voyage of the Challenger this year has continued.The researches of Professor I'errier into the localization of the various functions of the brain, and Mr.Norman Lockyer’s observations on solar physics, also mark the year.In political economy, Professor Cairnes has done good public service in his volume of “ Essays in Political Economy.” Blit the books are few by virtue of which the literature of the year is to be prevented from passing into oblivion, as the almanac does when its time is out, or the pantomime of the one season when the period is approaching for the preparation of another.The Transit of Venus in IS7J.The year 1874 will be a very notable year in the history of science, for in it, on the 9th of December, will occur the phenomenon known to astronomers as the transit of Venus.More than one hundred years have elapsed since the last occasion of tliis transit ; another will happen in 1882, for, according to the laws which govern the respective motions of Venus and the Earth, the transits when they do happen, occur in couples at comparatively short intervals : but there will then be no other transit until the year 2004.The phenomenon alluded to is the passage ot the planet Venus between the earth and the sun, in such a position with regard to the earth’s orbit, that Venus is seen to move like a round black spot over the sun's face.The importance of this phenomenon, in a scientific point of view, may be judged from the fact that it affords astronomers the best means of measuring the distances of the heavenly bodies, and of ascertaining their weight and dimensions.The first occasion on which a transit of Venus was observed for this purpose was in 1701, the eminent astronomer, Dr.Halley, having recommended the method, and devised a plan of observation to be used after his death, as he knew he could not live until the occasion arose.The plan, however, was carried out at fist imperfectly, and consequently with inferior results; but in preparation for the following transit, in 1769, complete arrangements were made by the Royal Society, as well as by other learned bodies in Europe.The Royal Society despatched a vessel, under the command of the celebrated Captain Cook, to the South Seas to take observations ; and it was in this voyage that Cook explored the coast of New Holland, now knowns as Australia, and took possession of that important island in the name of Great Britain.The observations of 1769 have formed the basis of nearly all the accepted facts of modern astronomy, so far as the computation of distance, &c , is concerned.On these data it is that we have all learnd from our eailiest years that the sun is distant from the earth more than ninety millions of miles ; that Mercury, the planet nearest to the sun, is 36,800,000 miles away from it ; that the distance of Venus from the sun is more than 68,000,000 miles and so on.But it is a singular fact, that notwithsanding the care with which the observations were made in 1709, and the frequency with which these observations and the calculations based on them passed under the examination of the most distinguished astronomers, it was discovered only a few years back that certain errors had crept into the reckoning, by which the sun’s distance was over estimated by about four millions of miles.This error has necessarily affected all the other computations, so that for nearly a eentury, as one writer has put the matter, the distances ot all the heavenly bodies were over-rated by' an amount equal to tenpence in the pound, and their weights by as much as lialf-a-crown in the pound; and these inaccuracies will be found in the best authorities on the subject, except those which have passed through recent editions.* The discovery of such errors, under (he severe processes by which modern research is conducted, has led to increased anxiety on the part of the scientific world to secure the most perfect accuracy in every detail connected with the next transit It will therefore’ be watched with the greatest care by astronomers all over the globe ; their observations will afterwards be compared, and the results finally given to the world will, it is hoped, satisfactorily settle the questions involved.The recurrence ol a transit in 1882 will afford an opportunity of devoting renewed attention to any point or points that may be left in doubt by the transit of 1874 ; and, in the present state of scientific knowledge, we may expect a much nearer approach to absolute accuracy than was possible in the last century.The transit of 1874 will be invisible in the British Isles, as it will take place in the early morning hours of English time, between half-past one and half-past six.It will be seen at Alexandria, in Northern India, in Australia and New Zealand, the Mawritius, Ae.and at all these points, as well as others, England will have experienced observers.An expedition will also be sent by the Government to the Antarctic Seas, and other nations will have their observing parties at different stations.The reason of this great variety of stations, apart from the fundamental necessity that observations should be taken at parts of the earth as widely distant as possible, is that the state of the weather and condition of the atmosphere at some of the places may not allow a clear view of the passage of the planet over the sun’s disc.: and therefore, if observation should altogether fail at some points, it will undoubtedly be successful at others.The transit of 1882 will be visible in the British Isles.It will take place on the 6th of December when the entrance of Venus on the sun’s disc will be observable, and her progress may be watched until sunset : but the egress of the planet will not occur until some hours after the sun has disappeared from these regions.As has been previously mentioned, no other transit can occur until June, 2004, so that persons alive in England in 1882 will have the opportunity of observing a plie nomenon which will not present itself again for two or three generations.To fully explain to our readers the phenomenon ot the transit, and the calculations depending upon it, would require a treatise, and the frequent use of mathematical terms ; but an idea of the subject may be gained very easily.Every one knows that if you look at any near object from a certain standpoint, and then change your position to another standpoint and gaze at it again, the object itself will appear displaced, or in another position relatively to what you occupy.The nearer the object maybe, the greater the displacement: and the further it is, the less the effect of your own removal.This palpable rule forms an elementary principle of all surveying, and the distance of an object is determined by taking the angles relatively to the base iine, or straight line described between one point anil another to which the observer removes.Now, if this principle be applied to the calculations of distance of the heavenly bodies, it will be found that a very long base line indeed must be taken before there is any apparent displacement in position (called by astronomers parallax) of even the nearest, which is our own satellite, the moon.The longest base line which it would be possible to command is that afforded by the diameter of the globe on which we live, namely in round numbers, 7900 miles.But so insignificant is this distance compared with that of the sun, that two observers stationed at opposite sides of the earth, the sun’s centre would appear to both in the same point of the heavens.There is found no apparent displacement or parallax from the most widely extended observations.But when it happens that Venus in her orbit comes directly between the earth and the sun, as her distance from us is considerably less than the sun’s, it follows that observers, stationed atoppo- THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION [January N February, 1871.li f>ite sides ot the earth will see Venus on different points of the sun’s disc.I he points of cliiel importance in making observations in the transit are the moments of ingress and egress of the planet— that is, when its black shade first appears in contact with the luminary ; again when the whole of the dark surface is fully ! projected ; and lastly when the planet reaches the sun's opposite l margin) begins to disappear, and finally vanishes.All these ; points, noted and timed by different observers all over the globe as far as practicable, and afterwards compared one with the other, give the data for a perfect record of the transit, and for the important results already mentioned.—Cosset's Illustrated Almanack.At a meeting of the Astronomical Society, held on the 14th November last—Professor Cayley, F.R.S., in the chair—Sir George Biddell Airy, the Astronomer-Royal, stated that five stations had been selected for the important observations on the ingress and egress of the planet Venus upon the.sun’s limb in 1S74.In accordance with suggestions from Mr.De la Rue and Mr.Proctor, a photographic observation would be made in Northern India, tor which purpose the necessary instruments had been sent out.Regarding Marquesas Island, he had some years ago made representations to the French Government.The war with Germany had interrupted the correspondence on the subject, hut he still hoped for a revival.In the Sandwich group he had proposed to add two subsidiary stations.The claim of the Kerguelens, extended over some fifty or sixty miles.There was a landing-place discovered by Captain Cook, called Christmas Harbour, which would answer well.The United States Government would probably take a station to southeast of this, near M hisky Bay, on Herd’s Island.He pointed out on an Admiralty chart the intended course of Her Majesty’s ship Challenger, observing that on leaving Bahia she had to go to the Kerguelen Islands, in order to obtain information.If this informntion should fail to reach here before the setting out of the expedition, it would be picked up at the Cape of Good Hope.But the determination of the most promising stations was not the only question at issue.The parts best suited for observation might, to all intents and purposes, be inaccessible ; and, besides this, the consideration howT the visitors were to live there was of no little importance.He and his colleagues were determined not to have a station devoid of anchorage or human inhabitants.As far as our present knowledge went, there was the one at Kerguelen, but not the others ; while at Rodrigos the case w*as reversed.Nobody thought ot going to Crozet Island or anywhere else where a boat was only to get ashore about once a month.Besides the British Stations, the United States would probably establish eight, France five, and Germany four.Regarding the staff of the expeditions, they were not quite so well prepared.If the Duke of Cambridge relaxed his orders, volunteers from the military servi e might come to join.At present the students of the Naval College and some private individuals, among them Father Perry, were the main resource.The volunteers were now undergoing a complicated drill at Greenwich Observatory ; for it was necessary that every one should have some knowledge of all that had to be done.The determination of longitude might in an emergency be postponed, but local time would have to be accurately established at every station.A transit instrument would be required atevery place,and if any member possessed a portable one, its loan would be exceedingly welcome.; Six equatorials were ready : the Cambridge Observatory had lent two, and Mr.De la Rue one telescope ; but all these were subsidiary matters to the critical observations which had to be performed.He had constructed a model which he would be glad to show to any member at Greenwich before two o’clock in the morning.The Astronomer-Royal then explained the use of the doube-image micrometer, after which no one would probably think of again proposing the use of the ordinary worm-micrometer.The photograph would give a four-inch picture of the sun ; the diameter of Venus would beabout one-thirtieth of that.He then explained Janssen’s method of photographing by means of a rotating plate, not the entire, but only that portion of the disc where Venus would happen to be.lie believed that by using dry collodion instead of the wet process, a number of hands might be saved.Lord Lindsay held, with the Astronomer-Royal, that the dry process would be advantageous.The other would expose a man to noxious vapours during four hours.OFFICIAL NOTICES.Ministry of Public Instruction.APPOINTMENTS.INSPECTORS OF SCHOOLS.The Lieutenant-Governor,—by an Order in Council, dated December 22, 1873,—was pleased to appoint Désiré Bégin, Esq., Inspector of Common Schools for the County of Rimouski.The Lieutenant-Governor,—by an Order in Council, dated December 27, 1873,—was pleased to appoint the Revd William Lyster, Inspector of the Protestant Common Schools of the Counties of Bonaventure and Gaspé.MEMBER OF BEDFORD PROTESTANT BOARD OF EXAMINERS.The Lieutenant-Governor,—by an Order in Council, dated December 15, 1873,—was pleased to appoint the Rev.J.McFarlane, a Member of the Bedford Protestant Board of Examiners.The Lieutenant-Governor,—by an Order in Council, dated December 13, 1873,—was pleased to appoint the following SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS.Sacre-Coeur-de-Marie, Co.Beauce :—MM.Ignace Turcotte and Joseph Ferland to replace MM.André Perron and Ferdinand Bolduc ; St.Sévérin, Co.Lotbinière :—MM.Ignace Bisson and Pierre Lessard to replace MM.Jean-Baptiste Champagne and Elzéar Pomerleau ; Rivière-du-Loup, Co.Maskinongé :—M Louis A.Baribault to replace M.Pierre Béland ; Township of Aumond, Co.Ottawa MM.Michael White, William Moore, John Rivard, Donald McDougall, and Martin Moore ; SCHOOL TRUSTEE.Sutton, Co.Brome :—M.Noel Vien.The Lieutenant-Governor,—by an Order in Council, dated December 24, 1873, —was pleased to appoint the following SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS.Wickham, Co.Drummond : —M.Edward McCabe to replace himself, and M.Pierre Bold to replace M.Joseph Boisvert ; St.Grégoire, Co.Nicolet :—The Revd.J.Lcandre Tourigny.LIMITATION AND ERECTION OF SCHOOL MUNICIPALITIES.The Lieutenant-Governor,—by an Order in Council, dated December 3, 1873,—was pleased to assign the following limits to the School Municipality of Ste.Brigitte-de-Laval, Co.Montmorency “ Bounded on the North in part by the division line of the Fourth Range of Laval, from the Seignioral line between Beauport and Beaupré until it meets the lino south west of number twenty-one of the Fifth Range ; in part by the south-west side of said lot twenty-one of said Fifth Range : in part by the division line north of the Fifth Range of Laval until it meets the south-west branch of the riverMontmorency, as far as number twenty-nine of the St.Louis Concession ; in part by the division line north of St.Joseph Concession as fas as number thirty-two inclusive : On the North-West by the north-east side of said lot thirty-two?and its continuation to meet number eighteen of the Concession south-west of Bras du Sault-à-la-Puce : On the South, in part by the north side of said number eighteen of the aforesaid Concession ; in part by the division line north of the Second Range of TAnge-Gardien ; in part by the division line north of the Third Range of the said l’Ange Gardien until it meets the river Montmorency continuing to its intersection with the division line between Beauport and Beaupré : On the South West by said division line between Beauport and Beaupré.The Lieutenant-Governor,—by an Order in Council, dated I December 13, 1873,—was pleased to erect the Township of ! Aumond, Co.Ottawa, into a School Municipality, with its civil limits as Township. January & February, I87'i.| FOR TUE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.15 THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.QUEBEC, JANUARY A FEBRUARY, 1874.Keporl of the Minister of Public Instruction for tlie Province of Quebec for the Year 1872 and part of 1*73.[Concluded from our last.\ We have now reached the tabular part of this report and shall let it speak lor itself.From 1857 to 1872 inclusive, we find the increase in the number of Municipalities to be 312, a yearly average of 20.8.or G 1.5 per cent on 507,—the number existing in 1857 ; the increase in school Districts in the same time is 1,142, a yearly average of 70.1,or 41.4 per cent on 2,568,—the number existing in 1857 ; the increase in schools is 1,564, a yearly average of 104.5, or 77.G per cent on 2,015,-the number in operation in 1857.Table showing the increase in the number of municipalities, school districts, and school houses for even tilth year from 1857 : 1857 1862 © o 1867 ! 1872 1 £" g £ ° Increase over 1862.Increase over 1867.Municipalities II ; 507 588 737 | 819 312 231 82 .School Districts 1 2568 3079 3329 I 3710 1 1142 631 381 1 2015 2449 •>560 | 3579 | 1564 1130 719 II Table showing the progress of Public Instruction in the Province of Quebec since the year 1853.1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 Institutions Pupils Contributions 2,352 108,2S4 $165,848 2,795 119,733 $238,032 2,868 127,057 $249,136 2,919 143,141 $406,764 2,946 148,798 $424,208 2,955 156,872 $459,396 3,199 168,148 $498.436 ' 3,264 172,155 $503,859 ' 3,345 180,845 $526,219 1862 1863 1864 1865 • 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 Institutions Pupils Contributions 1 l~ 3,501 188,635 $542,728 3,552 193,131 $504,810 3,604 196,739 $593,964 3,706 202,648 $597,448 3,826 206,820 $647,067 3,712 208,030 $728,494 3,913 212,838 $792,819 3,912 214,498 $894,857 4,U28 217,504 $976,788 187 J 1872 Increase of 1872 over 1853.Increase of 1872 over 185S.Increase of 1872 over 1863.Increase of 1872 over 1868.Increase of 1872 over 1S71.' Institutions 4,063 223,014 4,143 £24,270 $1,085,179 1,791 115,986 $919,331 • 1,148 67^ 398 $625,783 591 31,139 $520,369 230 11,432 $292,369 SO 1.256 $133,084 Contributions , $952,095 ( '.omcabative Table of the number of children learning the more essential branches of primary instruction since the year 1855, compiled from llie School Inspectors’ reports.1855 1850 1857 1858 1859 1660 1861 1862 1863 No.of Pupils reading well 43407 46940 48833 52099 64362 67753 75230 77108 77678 do writing.58038 60086 61943 65404 80152 81244 87115 92572 97080 do learning French Grammar 23360 28903 29111 32843 42796 42785 49537 50137 52160 do do English Grammar 9004 8000 12074 15348 14098 19064 21038 22512 23407 do do ( irthography 32512 46779 47504 47722 54563 61542 74915 78307 68207 do do Grammatical Analysis.16439 19504 25961 33377 29766 36711 49460 50893 52244 do do Simple Rules of Arith.30631 35847 40070 41730 49111 47327 54323 58728 61237 do do Compound Rules of Arit.22586 23431 26643 28196 30919 31758 41512 44357 45727 do do Book-keeping 1976 3698 4192 88OÔI 5210 5230 7358 7541 7915 do do Geography 17700 23389 25487 29092 36294 37215 44592 46541 50163 do do History 15520 17530 24850 26450 29906 38498 35599 39086 42447 16 THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION [January A February, 187i.(Continued.) — 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 o .of Pupils reading well 75555 96491 98706 92982 84742 89608 82805 86436 87191 do writing.99351 107161 111703 96988 102796 113105 114508 124262 122460 do learning French Grammar 53677 60353 63672 54379 55041 55459 58605 62883 51824 do do English Grammar 22770 24221 24374 22123 23896 24188 25859 26848 25835 do do Orthography : 75850 76808 91904 80709 94767 99500 102158 119508 101301 do do Grammatical Analysis.47686 53443 54701 48757 60045 60206 55961 56669 56038 do do Simple Rules of Arith.64918 64071 68981 61930 64994 68306 72072 75959 75837 do do Compound Rules of Arit.40529 52892 50726 42461 47435 48574 49373 54242 50308 do do Book-keeping 7545 8270 8405 6713 7557 8714 9008 9569 10108 do do Geography ! 51543 49778 53405 43927 45327 47421 50178 51066 46520 do do History | 45259 48562 49512 45952 44282 49508 ,'0264 63884 52718 The following tables give the sums levied for public instruction in this Province, from 1856 to 1872inclusive.It will be seen that 1872 exceeded 1871 in the aggregate by 8137,808.12, arising from the various sources indicated.The column for buildings, Ac., presents on the contrary a decrease of $3724.43 from 1871 ;—explained by the small number of school buildings erected during the past year.Table showing the amount contributed in aid of Public Instruction in the Province of (Juebec, from 1856 to 1872 inclusive.Year.Assessment to equal Assessments over and above amount of Monthly Assessment for Erection Total.Grant.and Special Assessments.fees.of Buildings.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ ets.1856 113884 87 93897 90 173478 98 25493 80 406765 55 1857 113887 08 78791 17 208602 37 22928 63 424209 25 1858 117485 06 88372 69 231192 65 24646 22 459396 65 1859 11579' 51 109151 96 251408 44 22083 57 498436 48 1S60 114424 76 123939 64 240717 10 15778 23 503859 73 1861 113969 29 130560 92 264089 11 17000 00 526219 82 1862 110966 75 134033 15 281980 23 15798 84 542728 97 1863 110534 25 134888 50 307638 14 11749 76 564810 65 1864 112158 34 144515 61 321037 30 15533 12 593265 37 1865 : 112448 09 147158 23 324811 87 13041 57 597448 75 1866 118657 35 153732 98 356691 53 22985 32 637067 IS 1867 113909 64 196098 58 394168 37 24417 46 728494 05 1868 114790 64 178174 02 452868 69 47986 17 792819 52 1809 122625 44 201211 99 472573 70 97446 03 894857 18 1870 123381 08 233773 17 529193 12 90441 24 976788 61 1871 124002 19 246792 29 535981 12 46320 38 952095 99 1872 140236 96 262686 96 640659 81 40595 96 1085179 69 Table of the increase or decrease between I.1864 and 1863, 2.1865 and 1864, 3.1866 and 1865, 4.1867 and 1866, 5.1868 and 1867, 6.1869 and 1868, 7.1870and I860, 8.1871 and 1870 and 9.1872 and 1871.Years.Assessment to equal Grant.Assessments over and above amount of Grant and Special Assessments.Monthly fees.Assessment for Erection of Buildings.Total Total Increase.¦ Decrease.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts.$ cts $ cts.Increase of 1864 over 1863 1624 09 9627 11 13399 16 3803 36 28453 72 Increase of 1865 over 1864 228 75 2642 62 3768 67 4184 39 Decrease of 1865 from 1864 2511 50 Increase of 1866 over 1865 1210 26 6574 70 31733 36 9943 75 49618 4l 4X4 2737fi £4 ]434 14 Increase ol 1867 over J8o6 j*>J -j *-> • ’ Increase of 1868 over 1867 58806 32 23568 71 64325 47 Decrease of 1868 from 1867 119 00 17924 56 Increase of 1860 over 1868 9334 82 23037 97 10705 0! 49459 86 102637 47 Increase of 1870 over 1869 33561 18 56619 42 81931 43 ] lecrease of 1870 from I860 244 38 7004 79 i — Increase of 1871 over 1870 621 11 13019 12 6788 00 44120 85 23692 62 Increase of 1872 over 1871 16234 79 13894 65 104678 69 37808 13 Decrease of 1872 from 1871 5724 43 | 5723 43 January & February, 1874.] FOR THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.The two following tables give a résumé of the work of these institutions.The first gives the number of pupils that have attended them ; the second, the number of diplomas that they have granted.The total so far is 11G for Academies, 099 for Model Schools, and 1010 for Elementary Schools.Table of the number of Students who have attended the Normal Schools.•Session.Jacques-Cartier.McGill.Laval.Total Males.Total Females.Gross Total.Males.Males.«** 0 1 o t-f Total.Males.Females.| 1 Total.First Session.1857 18 25 30 22 22 45 35 Second u 1857-58 46 63 70 36 40 76 89 103 192 Third a 1858-59 50 7 76 83 34 52 86 91 128 219 Fourth \t 1859-00 53 9 72 81 40 94 ]0*2 19ol, ,ass.Element- ary School, 2d class.Summary.T3 0) cn cn T3 © o © c3 0 1 s 3 03 o o © a 3 £ Males.Vi © IS 1 O' .! i cn © i i| 25 ! ® j Males.Females.Males.Females.Males.Females.Males.Females.Academy.ModelSchool | Elementary | School.Ctj P* cn © ce *3 c ce O cn O' -*-> ce 'S c 03 O Beauce o 34 8 1 3 25 28 28 6 3 o 7 7 7 1 1 2 1 1 • 3 3 2 Chicoutimi i 7 7 1 4 4 4 4 4l 23 201 45 16 I.15 ! 99 9.9 i 1 3 3 o D 4 3 104 4 57 13 168 181 20 4 i 1 O Q O 12 1 17 5 33 38 7 j 1 5 3 7 16 16 Pontiac i 4 131 14 33 21 12 3" 36 79 o 4 1 11 72 6 84 90 41 6 3 5 14 14 3 1 2 16 10 28 28 5 XVlCIlLllOllCl (UatllOlltJ.1 11 10 21 21 1.Richmond (Protestant) liimouski Sherbrooke Stanstead ¦ 3 1 i 4 4 8 4 4 3 2 o o 11 14 9 28 37 6 18 1 11 36 36 4 ! 15 3 36 15 18 51 69 10 J hree Rivers Waterloo & Sweetsburg (Catholic) .Waterloo & Sweetsburg (Protestant) Q I 1 O 5 7 7 4 2 15 2 18 i 37 37 2 Total 1 G 5 752 1 10 26 3 12 23 291 14 263 51 598 649 103 Table of Dissentient Schools with the number of their pupils.District of Inspection 1 [, B F.Painchaud Rev.M.M.Fothergill ;; L.Lucier 4 Th.Tremblay 5 V incent Mar tin 6 G.Tanguay 7 S.Boivin 8 Wm.Thompson 9 P.F.Béland 10 E.Carrier 11 J.Crépault 12 F.Juneau 13 P.Hubert 14 W.Alexander 15 M.Laplante 16 II.Hubbard 17 \f.Stenson 18 McLouglilin 19 J.N.A.Archambault.20 J.B.Delâge 21 Michel Caron 22 L.Grondin 23 G.Thomson 21 F X.Valade 25 A.D.Dorval 26 C.Germain 27 C.B.Rouleau.28 Bolton McGrath Total.Protestant Dissentient Schools.Pupils.Catholic Dissentient Schools.Pupils.4 174 O 164 8 1 185 25 9 264 3 134 178 194 0 0 5 •> 1 JO 1(5 23 *>2 9 9 20"' 16 492 75 142 501 543 1210 831 288 275 ! 179 861 165 5880 24 835 January & February, 1874.] FOR THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.19 Under the head of Superannuated Teachers’ Fund nothing very new is to he said.The importance and advantage of this benevolent institution is not appreciated by teachers while in health and active service, but when too late they come to see the folly of not having assisted to make some provision for old age and want.Letters, emjuiring if there be such a fund, are being constantly received by the Department from teachers, some of whom siy they have been teaching '20 years n the Province.Where have they been '! What have they read ?Every year a statement is published similar to this and yet the question, is there such a fund, is asked.Others demand and insist on being entitled to a pension without having ever contributed a shilling towards the fund.The Journal, which would only cost them fifty cents a year, would give them this information in addition to much more of which it is to be feard they stand much in need.If they are so ignorant of, or indifferent to, interests so vital to themselves, giving them even the benefit of the doubt, what inference can be drawn in favour of the children’s interests having been carefully guarded ?superannuated teachers fund.YEAR.-2 Ô co © o X © cn O iD i, £« ci © © *C* © •r ^ s- -i -, © £ ©^ © c a $ cts $ cts 1857 150 63 4 00 886 90 1858 74 91 4 00 2211 74 1859 18 1 28 4 00 3115 34 1860 4 130 3 00 2821 57 186 9 160 3 00 3603 59 1862 10 164 1 75 2552 09 1863 13 171 2 25 3 37 00 1864 7 170 1 75 2727 00 I860 11 160 1 75 2787 00 1866 13 173 l 75 2784 00 J867 „ 15 176 1 75 3036 00 1868 10 163 2 50 4590 TO 1869 0 174 2 50 4677 00 1870 5 174 2 50 4700 00 1871 13 162 2 50 '865 00 1872 7 176 2 50 5100 00 Educalioii in tiir Trovlnce of (Quebec.The Minister of Public Instruction, for the Province of Quebec, in bis îeport for the year 1872, and part of the year 187o, states that the number of schools, and the pupils attending them, continue to increase, and progress is shown in the efficiency of the instruction imparte'I therein.He complain* however, that the children do not attend school for a sufficient length of time, but leave it for labor, at the very time when their developed intelligence would enable them to study with protit.To remedy this, he thinks some meanssliould be devised ofcompelling children to attend school for a longer time, they should at least be sent there for several winters, during which season their services are not indispensable.He also thinks it desirable that the school corporations should establish night schools,in the rural centres of population,which,from the comparative density of the population, would p obably be well attended.He urges the necessity for founding public libraries, for the use of each municipality.These libraries should consist of good works on agriculture, horticulture, abridged histories, ancient and modern, travels, treatises on arts and manufactures, Arc., i and he intends to ask from the Legislative Assembly a grant to i aid in the form;’ tion of such libraries.He recommends that here, i as in Ontario, there should be established a depository of school | books, etc., which might be circulated at reduced rates.He reiterates the statement of the slow progress made, especially in the country schools, attributing it to irregularity in the attendance of the children, which is itself partly due to our rigorous climate, and also frequently results from the fact of the necessity in which the parents are often placed, of keeping their children at home to aid them in their labors at certain seasons.The importance of Normal schools is alluded to, and the necessity for them is insisted upon ; for, as has been well i said, “ in proportion to the ability of the master is the useful-j ness of the school.” The necessity for a School of Science | applied to the arts, such as exists in connection with McGill j College, and such as the Hon.Mr.Chauveau endeavored to ] establish for the French population, is pointed out, and it is announced that such a school will soon be established.It is confessed that hitherto Lower Canada has not sufficiently occupied itself with ‘ practical and industrial schools for the mechanic and engineer.Hence the small number of young men w ho are desirous of studying engineering, etc , though it and kindred professions, requiring practical preliminary knowledge, hold out the most promising, and even brilliant, future, in proportion as the different branches of industry are multiplied and require competent men to carry them on.— Witness.Opening of Staustead Wesleyan College.The situation of the College (which was formally opened on Thursday, 8th January, last) is exceedingly beautiful.In the foreground the country slopes away to Lake Memphremagog, which seems almost at the foot of the building, although about four miles distant.An amphiteatre of hills, loftier than the village and College, which are on an elevated plateau, formed in part of the Green Mountains of Vermont on one side, and the “ Owl’s Head ” on the other, skirt the horizon ; whilst the intervening country is, from all points of view, beautifully undulating and diversified, forming at onee one of the most beautiful as well as most healthy spots on the American continent.TheCollcge building is an "elegant and sightly structure, five stories in height, 142 x 52 feet on the ground, with a wing of the same height, 37 x 42 feet on the ground, and will accommodate the teachers, two hundred boarders, and one hundred day pupils.Each room is lighted with gas, and warmed and ventilated by the Ruttan method.Every dormitory has a closet, and is completely and tastefully furnished with all arti les necessary to the comfort and convenience of the pupils.Hot and cold water are supplied on every floor, and the building from basement to attic, is thoroughly fitted up with all the latest and best improvements.COURSE OF STUDY : 1.A thorough English education ; 2.Ladies’ collegiate course, embracing (a), a three years' course in English, (b) a four years’ course in Modern Languages, being the course in English with the addition of French or German, or both ; (c.) a four years’ course in Classics, being the course in English with the addition of Latin or Greek, or both : 3.College Preparatory Department for young men : 4.Commercial Department ; 5.Industrial and Scientific Department ; 6 Normal School Department, for training teachers : 7.Fine Arts, including Music, Drawing, Painting, Ac.These branches are under the charge of the folio \ing FACULTY : Rev.\V.Hansford, Governor ; Rev.A.Lee Holmes B.A.Principal, Classics and Higher Mathematics ; Rev.Wml Hansford, Mental and Moral Science, and Evidences of Christianity • G.J.Bompas, M.D., L.R C.P., Physical Science: W.II.Lee’ M.A., Commercial Department ; C.C.Colbv, M.A., M.P., Jurisprudence, Commercial and Constitutional Law ; Mrs Jan" Flanders, Preceptress, French ; Mrs.AY.II.Lee, L.L.’L.Ilistorv and English Branches ; Miss Helen F.Giles, Graduate Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, German and Italian ; Miss Lizzie N.Haskell.M.E.L., Rhetoric and English Literature.Fine Arts : THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION [January & Feuruary, 1874.—Gr.J.Bompas, M.D., L.R.C.P., Drawing; Mrs.W.H.Lee, L.L.L., Painting and Ornamental Work ; Miss Lizzie N.Haskell, M.E.L., Music.At four o’clock the visitors from a distance, as well as many from Stantead, Rock Island, and neighboring towns and villages, met in the convocation room of the College, to hear addresses from several of the gentlemen present.Revd.W.Hansford occupied the Chair.FINANCIAL STATEMENT.The College building cost about $42,000, of which over $21,COO have been paid, leaving a balance of $1S,602 still due.Of this amount $16,135 has been subscribed, to be paid at stated intervals, leaving a balance of $2,406 unprovided for.In addition to this amount about $2,000 extra will have to be subscribed to put the finances of the College in an easy condition.Mr.C.C.Colby, M.P., being called on, said there had been a two-fold necessity for such an institution.There had been a general Provincial need, and also a local one ; both were met in this College.The course of tuition was comprehensive, and was on a business basis.He concluded by presenting to the College, on behalf of the ladies of Stanstead, Rock Island, and Derby Line, Vt., the furniture of its parlors, costing $757.81.Hon.T.L.Terrill, another of the directors, expressed his sympathy with the institution.Rev.Mr.Borland was then called upon and expressed his hearty sympathy with the establishment of the College.Rev.Mr.Ross, of Montreal, congratulated himself on having a brick in the College in the shape of stock, and wished that it could have been a larger one, for he believed that money spent in educational institutions was a most profitable investment in many ways.He also congratulated the people of the Eastern Townships on having such an institution at their doors, and the directors on their choice of teachers.He had known several of them for many years, and had known nothing of them but good.Rev.Dr.Douglas, of Montreal, next spoke of the fact of the College being situated within a mile of the United States, as an evidence of the feeling of peace with, and safety from, them.He had been in Washington at the time of the endorsation of the Washington Treaty, and he felt then, and still felt, that the reign of peace for this country was then made sure.He hoped that the pupils of the College would remain Canadians in heart.He found in looking into an American school geography that fifteen maps were devoted to the United States and six to the rest of the world.One of their histories contains ninety pages devoted to themselves and twenty to the events which have transpired elsewhere.He advised the Principal of the College to take a leaf out of their book ; not to make his course as narrow as theirs, but devote his principal attention to Canada, its history and importance.Some time ago in Montreal an Englishman of some literary attainments, had the indiscretion to speak in a derogatory manner of this country, stating that there was in it no opportunity for its young men to obtain honor or position except these sordid ones bought by riches.He had read the report of the observation with feelings of disgust, and was sure that the author of the remarks could not be conversant with the history ofhis own country.The immortal Shakespeare sang his songs, a»d Bacon propounded his theories, to an audience of some three or four millions of people, considerably less than Canada’s population ; they gave a new impetus to the thought and language of the country, and modelled it to be the language of a large part of the world in future ages.Our provinces are kingdoms and principalities.Prince Edward’s Island is surpassingly rich in resources ; the Eastern Provinces surpass Scandinavia in size ; Quebec and Ontario equal Russia and France, the war between whom a few years ago shook the world ; and who now can tell the resources and grandeur of that “ Great Lone Land ” of the “ Far West,” surpassing Russia in size.We should now take our stand and lay the foundation of our country’s greatness on the secure one of education The value of a country arises not from its foremost sons, but from the widespread intelligence of the masses.Put into every homestead of these Eastern Townships a Christian and educated womanhood, to put the motherhood into their children, and let our young men be equally educated, and no place on the continent will be so desirable.Rev.Dr.Rice, President of the J imilton Ladies’ College, next addressed the meeting.We want not ladies and gentlemen so much as men and women.He had seen young ladies who had gone through the highest course in his college go back home to milk cows as before their education.Education does not spoil the young people of the country for their everyday duties, as some would have us believe.The school teacher has a two-fold charge over his pupils, moral and mental, and the physical.This responsibility is enough to make one tremble ; there is none greater, or more delicate or difficult.The object of going to school was not so much to obtain learning, as an education, to be taught to think and pursue the course of study throughout life.He believed in the idea of educating Canadians to believe in ourselves.He scorned the idea that one flag is as good as another.The best guarantee that we respect another country is that we respect our own.Those who have no country he would’nt give sixpence a million for.The order of precedence, in importance, followed in his college was, 1st, the cure of the soul ; 2nd, physical health : 3rd, mental progress and general education.A vote of thanks was given to the ladies who had furnished the parlors of the College, after which the meeting adjourned, the strangers to the different places of rest provided for them by the friends of the institution.—Abridged from the Witness.Bishop's College School, L,ennoxville.On Sunday, January 25th, the School buildings of Bishop's College were utterly destroyed by fire between the hours of 11 a.m.and 3 p.m.The fire, which seems to have originated in the smoke shaft of the furnace, was discovered about 20 minutes after the boys had been marched to morning service, which they always attend at the Parish church.Intelligence was soon brought to the church, which was almost immediately emptied, collegers and villagers one and all directing their hurried course to the now blazing school-house.So speedy had been the progress of the fire, which, following the line of the smoke shaft, seems to have burst forth simultaneously in the three stories traversed by it, that it was at once apparent that not only was the main central building doomed, but that it would be madness to attempt saving anything from it.All efforts were then turned to the protection of the Rectory and the rescuing of property from the extension of the main building.These efforts were happily successful to a considerable extent, but as may be imagined property thus hurriedly saved was only after some days discovered by its owners.Many of the boys (unfortunately a large proportion of them) lost everything possessed, while the others were for the moment in hardly better plight, owing to the confusion which unavoidably followed the saving of their things.The immediate sheltering and housing of the boys was most kindly and promptly undertaken by the many friends of the school in Lennoxville and Sherbrooke, and their ready and spontaneous help is gratefully appreciated.On Monday morning at an informal meeting of the local members of the College Corporation it was determined to use every eflort to keep the boys together and to carry on the work of the school.A circular to that effect was accordingly sent by the Rector to every parent.Orders on tradesmen were given to the boys to supply their immediate necessities in the way of clothing, the weather at the time being bitterly cold, and arrangements were at once made for receiving them again as speedly as possible into temporary school dormitories.A large house in the near neighborhood of the College was happily secured, bedsteads, bedding, Ac., telegraphed for from Montreal and immediately received, and the house was ready for occupation on Wednesday last.As the kitchen and dining hall were uninjured by the fire, the only pressing care of the school authorities was to supply sleeping accommodation and warm class-rooms.The new house is therefore wholly appropriated to dormitories and will be under the charge of the Sub-Rector and an assistant-master, the lady matron, Mrs Irving, also living there.The Rectory will in like manner be prepared to receive a small contingent, and should necessity arise additional private accommodation has been promised in the village.For school-rooms the boys’ new day-room and the gymnasium are being properly fitted ; the former is now available for use ; the latter, which is being floored, ceiled, and double-walled, will be ready for occupation to-day.Meanwhile the College nail has been made to serve the purpose, and the school-work lias been regularly carried on since the Wednesday after the fire.It is gratifying indeed to add that the confidence ol parents has been so far displayed as to leave 81 boys still in school. January & February, 1874.] FOR THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.21 Twenty-four who have been temporarily removed will return within a week, making the schools’ numerical loss comparatively trifling.Two other points alone remain to be noticed, and both are referred to with feelings of gratitude and thankfulness First, that no injury to life or limb was sustained in the original disaster and that not the least ill-effects have been experienced since by any of the boys in the way of colds or other sickness as might be expected ; and secondly, that the general conduct of the boys under circumstances so trying and naturally exciting, has deserved and won the warmest commendation of their masters.The College corporation met yesterday, (Friday, 6th.), to take the necessary steps for the immediate rebuilding of the school house.We are indebted for the above particulars, which we are sure will be of interest to the friends of the school everywhere, to the kindness of the Rector.—Montreal Gazette, (Feb.7th).Donations to McGill University.The Corporation of McGill University have pleasure in acknowledging the following donations to the Faculty of Arts during the Quarter ending January 28th, 1874 : — 1.—TO THE LIBRARY.From the Royal Society, London, Eng.—Philosophical Transactions, vol 162, part 2nd ; 1 vol 4to.From the Royal Society, London, Eng.—Proceedings, Nos 138 to 145, 8 pam ; 8vo.From the Royal Society, London, Eng.—List of Fellows of the Royal Society, 30th Nov., 1872, pam ; 4to.From the Government of the Dominion of Canada—Sessional Papers, Nos 5 and 6 to vol 6th, Session 1873, 2 vols ; 8vo.From the Goverrnment of the Dominion of Canada—Journals of the House of Commons, vol 6th ; 8vo.From the Government of the Dominion of Canada—Journals of the Seriate of Canada, vol 6th ; 8vo.From the Government of the Dominion of Canada—Statuts du Canada, 1873, 1 vol ; 8vo.From the Government of Washington—Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer, U.S.A., for 1873, with a map, 1 vol, 8vo.From Prof.Campbell—Epicteti Quæ Supersunt Dissertationes, 2 vols ; 4to.From Prof.C.S.Morse -Embryology of Terebratulina, pam, 4to.From E.B.Andrews, Esq—Report of the Geological Survey of Ohio, part 2nd ; 8vo.From J.H.R.Molson and P.Redpath.Esqs., 500 vols., comprising historical and literary works.From J.H R.Molson and P.Redpath, Esqs., 162 pamphlets, containing valuable illustrations.From John Lovell, Esq.—Lovell's Gazetteer of British North America, 1 vol ; 8vo.From Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass.Annual Report of the Trustees of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, for 1872, pam, 8vo.Prom the Government of the Province of Quebec—Sessional Papers, Nos.1 to 28, vol.5th, 1871, English and French, 2 vols ; 8vo.From the Government of the Province of Quebec—Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, 1 vol.; 8 vo.From the Government of the Province of Quebec—General Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works of the Province of Quebec for 1871, and for part of 1872, 2 copies ; 8vo.From the Institution of Civil Engineers, London, Eng.— Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, vols.35 and 36 ; 8vo.2.—TO TIIE MUSEUM.From Mr.Hamilton, student McGill College, Specimen of Asaphus.From Mr.Spencer, student McGill College, specimen from the upper Silurian of Ontario.From Mr.Lestock Reid, graduate in civil engineering, through Prof.Bell, head and antlers of Wapiti.From Major Grant, of Hamilton, collection of fossils from the Niagara and Clinton formations.From Mr.G.T.Kennedy, M.A., specimens of Port-pliocene fossils.From His Excellency Governor Rawson, of Barbadoes, through Dr.P.P.Carpenter, specimen of Pentacrinus Miilleri.From Mr.T.Bland, New-York, specimens of land shells from the West Indies.From Mr.G.Barnston, fossils from Hudson’s Bay and from From Mr Dawson, student McGill College, fossils from the upper Silurian of New Brunswick.From Mr.Patterson, Quebec, fossils from the Carboniferous limestone of Newfoundland.From Mr.Allis, Springfield, Mass., cast of footprint of Browtozoum.Opening of a Cotton Factory at Ilochelaga, Montreal.On the 12th Feb., 1874, the formal opening of the Hudon Cotton Manufactory took place at Hochelaga, a shor t distance from Montreal, and on the 14th of the same month the event was celebrated by a public dinner.We hope this event marks a new departure in the industrial pursuits of the Province, and it may be in the social history of the country.We would invite tin1 earnest attention of our readers in the Dominion and outside it to the statement made by the Hon.John Young, namely ;—“ Lower Canada is specially suited for manufactures, from its long winter and its freedom from agricultural labour during that season, and if we once had a fair chance for our industry we would be able to compete with any country in manufactures.There is not a stream that runs from the North down the valley of the St.Lawrence that does not give us water power, and there is no place on this continent where labour can be obtained so plentifully and so cheaply as on the banks of the St.Lawrence during the winter months.” In the last issue of the Journal, in the review of the Report of the Minister of Public Instruction, we mentioned the absence, due to the want of technical training and education,of specially educated and skilled ability amongst ourselves for the proper development of the resources and manufactures of the country.An illustration of the truth of this is found in the fact of having to cross the lines for a Superintendent for the Company.We say this in no narrow or jealous spirit of our clever and energetic neighbours, but the rather to stimulate our youth to turn their attention and studies more to the industrial and practical pursuits of life.After this little digression, we would direct attention to the Superintendent’s reasons for coming to help to start a Cotton Factory in Canada.He says : “ Labor is cheaper by from 20 to 25 per cent than in the United States.Cotton could no’ he laid down there at less than 81 to 81.25 per cwt., win here we have laid down 1000 bales at 75 cents.For tic last five years coal cost, laid down at Chicapee Mass., 810 per ton ; here we have laid down 1000 tons at 85.75 per ton.Machinery came in here free of duty.Much of the machinery used in the States was brought from England, upon which a duty of from 30 to 34 per cent was paid.” The foregoing are only some of the reasons, but we have not space to continue.Mr.Victor Hudon, President of the Company, who occupied the chair, after proposing tile health of the Queen, which was heartily drunk, said he had received letters of apology from His Excellency the Governor-General, Hon.A.A.Dorion, Sir Hugh Allan, Hon H.L.Langevin, and Hon.L.H.Holton.He then proposed the health of the Governor-General.The Mayor expressed admiration of the zeal, liberality and pluck of the gentlemen who inaugurated that great industry, and his gratification at seeing the city extend east, west, north, and even south, notwithstanding the interference of the St.Lawrence, ne expressed his pleasure at the increase of its population and the improvement in its social and educational institutions in such a ratio as would ere long make Montreal one of the greatest cities on the continent.Facilities greater 22 THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION [January & February, 1874.than those possessed by Montreal and Canada were not to be found on the globe, and in the future we must depend upon manufactures, as in the past we have depended on commerce, not only for retaining, but for increasing, the population, giving employment to the people^ and for all matters connected with the improvements of the country and city.He next referred to the President of the Company.Mr.Victor Hudon, who, he said, had, mostly upon his own responsibility With the cooperation of a few citizens', taken the matter in hand, and h, w thout limit.The Journal of the Society of Arts says there is a paper church actually existing near Bergen, which is capable of containing about 1,000 people.It is circular within and octagonal without.The relievos outside, and the statues inside the roof and ceiling, are all of papier mâché, rendered waterproof by saturation in vitriol, lime water, whey, and white of egg.Metallic Thermometer.—Professor Palmieri, director of the observatory of Mount Vesuvius, has constructed for the Empress of Russia a metallic thermometer, which gives a signal at every appreciable change of temperature.The apparatus is so sensitive that the indicator is almost always moving.When the variations of temperature reach a certain degree, little bells begin to ring, and notice is then given of the rising or falling of the mercury.The instrument also marks the highest and lowest degrees of temperature which have taken place during a certain period.Advice with a Vengeance.- At the last meeting of the Scotch Education Board in Edinburgh various, documents were read concerning the action of the Greenlaw School Board in regard to Mr.Williamson, the teacher of th; public school.After a careful consideration of all these documents, the Board resolved that the majority of the School Board have, in numerous instances, claimed and attempted to exercise authority to which they are not entitled under the Education Act, and t1 at they have exercised their statutory power in a manner calculated to destroy the usefulness and comfort of the teacher, and seriously to injure the educational interests of the parish.Further, as the three before-mentioned members of the Greenlaw School Board “earnestly crave the advice of the Board of Education in reference to this matter,” the Board unanimously and earnestly recommend, that as the only effectual mode of restoring harmony both in the School Board and the parish, Messrs.Kynoch, Gibson, and Milne should without a day resign their seats at the said Board, and allow the rate payers the opportunity of electing in their room persons who will discharge th; duties of th.-ir office in a peaceful and efficient manner.It will be seen, says the Schoolmaster, from the foregoing that the Education Board has acted very justly totvards the teacher of the Greenlaw Public S.hool in a controversy between him and his local Board.The majority of the local conclave have systematically annoyed the teacher in his work, and for their pains the worrying trio have been offiecially snubbed.They ask earnestly for the advice of the Department in Edinburgh, and have received it in the form of a very strong recommendation to se- k the shades of private life.We are gratified to find the shield of th; Board thus held over th; head of the struggling s hoolmaster, and trust the profession in Scotland will note th: incident, and give credit where it is undoubtedly due.Teachers’ Services and Worth Appreciated at last—We (The Schoolmaster) hear from Dublin th it a commission is at present investigating the condition of th; Civil Service.Th; E location Office there is under consideration at th; present time, and it is understood that considerable changes are to be introduced.Several of the Inspectors are to be called upon to retire or resign, and their places are to be fille 1 from the ranks of the National School Teachers.There is thus a prospect of promotion for a class who have long g: oaned under their difficulties.If the plan be adopted in Ireland, it cannot long be delayed on this side the Channel.Itisoneofthethingsth.it are sure to come, audits coming will not be delayed by agitation in the proper quarter.As the public is becoming more directl informed on the details ot elementary school work, it is beginning to understand that no better-inspectors could be found than those who have gaine t their experi ence by actual teaching.The representatives of the people also arc acknowledging that such is the case ; and it rests with the teai h?rs themselves it the former are not in every district instructed on tin-question.L t teachers allow no opportunity to pass which gives tli.-m th: means ofinforming Members of Parliament and others in pew r regirding the claims of the profession in tills direction.Classical Philology in llussia*-The Russian G vern tient, which is mue h in want of University and Middle-Class .-clioo teachers, has created, at Leipsic, a high school for the study of classical ph lology, nt th ; head of which are Professor Rtdnand D-.Horsch.lmanr.The pupils, who are kept at th: cost of th Government, are obliged to serve f >r every 3'ear which th; hive passed at th; s.h;o' tw > years as Professoi s in th: R issian Gjvernment S hauls.Persons able to teach cl-s.-ics or science in middle class s< hools are, it is stated, eagerly sought and well remunerated by th; Russian Government.Manchester Free Library.—The free library Committee of the M in.h-ster (England) City Council his its annual report which .-hows that theinstitution is Working with great success and maintains its popularity.In th ; r ast year 609,462 volumes were issued for home reading, and 1,741,960 persons used the reading-rooms. January & February, 1874.] THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION 31 The Condemned Marshals of France.—Of the nine marshals of France who have been condemned to death since Gilles de Laval, Marshal de Betz, was hanged at Nantz in 1440, Marshal Bazaine is the only one who has not suffered capital punishment.Louis de Luxembourg, Constable of France, was beheaded on the Place de Greve, in 1475, for conspiracy and rebellion against Charles VII.and Louis XI.Charles de Gontant, created Due de Biron by Henry IV., was a son of the great soldier whom that Monarch declared to be the “ right hand ” of his throne, and ancestor of the Marquis de Gontant Biron, now French Ambassador at Berlin.The Duc de Biron, after covering himself with glory at Ivry and Arques, was discontented with the treatment which he received from the King, and, though he was made Governor of Burgundy, he several times conspired against Henry IV., who pardoned him again and again.His last crime was to propose to Spain and Savoy that France should be dismembered ; and as a reward ol his treason, the Duko of Savoy was to bestow on him the hand of his daughter, and he was to be created the reigning Prince of Bargundy and Périgord.The plot was discovered, and Henry IV., who entertained a deep affection for his old companion in arms, was ready to forgive even this act of treachery if the Duc de Biron would have acknowledged his misdeeds.But he would not, and he was beheaded within the walls of the Bastille in 1602.Henry 11., Ducde Montmorency, was taken prisoner at the battle of Castelnaudry by the royal troops, and beheaded in (ho Court yard of the capital at Toulouse in 1632, and in the same year Marshal de Marillac, arrested while at the head of his army for plotting against Cardinal Kichelieu, was beheaded on the Place de Greve.Baron de Luckner, who had served under Frederick II.in Prussia, entered the French army before the Revolution, and rallying to the Republican cause, was created Marshal of France and appointed to the command of the army of the North.After achieving some insignificant triumphs over the Austrians at Courtrai and Valenciennes, ho was suspected of trafficking with the enemy, and being brought before the Revolutionary tribunal in 1794, was condemned to death and guillotined.Philippe de Noailles, Duc de Moucliy, who attempted to defend Louis XVI.from the popular fury, was also a victim of the Revolution, for both he and his wife were sent to the scaffold during the same year ; and the list of French Marshals brought to a violent end terminates with Marshal Ney who was shot upon the 7th December, 1815.—Pall Mall Gazette.Accidents in Emjland by Machinery.—A terrible list is that comprised in the returns of deaths and injuries in factories for the half year ending April 30th last.The tale of slaughter and maiming reads like a record of the results of a fierce and sanguinary struggle on the battlefield, and is a grim satire on the proverbially gentle arts of peace.Within the period mentioned 162 persons were killed in factories, 491 were so much injured as to necessitate the amputation of a limb or part of a limb, 390 received fractures of one sort or another, 257 were wounded more or less seriously in the head or face, and there were 2,340 injuries of a less grave nature, such as lacerations, contusions, Ac.,—in all 3,040 casualties in places of industry in six months.With regard to the causes of this sad catalogue of disasters we have one remark to make.While admitting the probability of the great bulk of them being due to carelessness on the part of the victims themselves, we must confess to a fear, justified by some amount of personal knowledge, that for this very carelessness, with its lamentable consequences, employers are in many instances chiefly responsible, in that they plase the working of rapidly-moving and dangerous machinery in the hands of persons incompetent by reason of youth or inexperience, from whom the exhibition of much caution is not to be expected.Evidently there is need for the exercise of more conscientiousness in the process of manufacture of other articles besides those of food and drink.— The Lancet.Collegiate Institutions in the United States.—Collegiate progress during the past year has been most marked in the United States.The Republic now boasts of no less than 29S Collegiate institutions.The total number of degrees conferred by them was 4,493, not including 375 honorary.Out of this number, 198 ladies received degrees.The question of sex necessitated a change in the nomenclature of the degrees, and the ladies’ parchments therefore bear titles of “Mistresses,” “ Maids,” and “Sisters of Art” and “ Mistresses of Literature,” instead of “ Masters” and “ Bachelors.” The West has shown the most liberality in opening its colleges to both sexes, the report showing that Illinois lias 13 colleges in which women have the same educational privileges as men ; Wisconsin, 4 ; Iowa, 3 ; Missouri, 4 : Ohio, 10 ; and Indiana, 9 ; while the great States of New York and Pennsylvania have but 7 each.Notwithstanding the constant drain upon the popular pocket for benefactions to academies, seminaries, and general charities, the colleges have been handsomely remembered.During the year, Trinity College received $65,000 ; the Wesleyan University.$7,750 ; Yale College, $196,284 ; Amherst.$82,100; Harvard University, $158,075 ; Mount Holyoke, $8,500 ; Tuft’s College, >86,000 ; Williams College, $13,635 ; Cornell University, $185,000: Ingham University, .>8,500 ; Madison University, $80,000 ; St.Lawrence University, $15,960 ; Union College, $19.500; Vassar College, $0,000 ; Wells College, $100,000: College of New Jersey, $386,000 ; and Rutger’s College, $78,607 ; in all, $4,493,000, which has come from the generous ambition of the people to enlarge the facilities of education.Arrangements have been made for the erection of thirteen new colleges—a sure sign of the healthy growth of the education department.Extent of the United States.-The United States hare a frontier line of more than 10,000 miles.We have a line of sea-coast of more than 4,000 miles, and a lake coast of 1,200 miles.One of our rivers is the size of the Danube, the largest river in Europe.The Ohio is 600 miles longer than the Thames.The single State of Virginia is a third larger than England.Ohio contains 5,120,000 acres more than Scotland.From Maine to Ohio is further than from London to Constantinople, and so we might go on and fill pages, enumerating distances, rivers, lakes, capes and bays, with comparative estimates of size, power, and population.—K.O.Morning Star.Silence.—Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together ; that at lenght they may emerge, full-formed and majestic, into the day-light of life which they are henceforth to rule.Not William the Silent only, but all the considerable men I have known, and the most undiplomatic and unstrategic, forebore to babble of what they were creating and projecting.Nay, in thy own mean perplexities, do thou thyself but hold thy tongue for one day, on the morrow how much dearer are thy purposes and duties ; what wreck and rubbish have these mute workmen within tlieo swept away, when intrusive noises were shut out ! Speech is too often, not as the Frenchman defined it, the art of concealing thought, but of quite stifling and suspending it, so that there is none to conceal.Speech, too, is great, but not the greatest.Speech is silvern, silence is golden ; or, as 1 might rather express it, speech is of time, silence of eternity —Carlyle.Dublin School of Art.—There are, just now, six vacancies in the salaried list of students at the National Training School, South Kensington.There should be little difficulty in procuring a goodly representation from the Dublin School of Art, in the filling up of these vacancies, if one may judge from recent performances.Under the able conduct of Mr.Lyne, the students of the Royal Dublin Society’s Schools have made such wonderful progress that they need have little fear of competition from any quarter ; and, if they enter the lists for those vacancies, we have little doubt they will acquit themselves with distinction.Each of the successful candidates will receive a salary of $5 per week, to which, in the case of students who come from places outside London, a maintenance allowance of $4 a week will be added These allowances will be granted for one session only, but they may be renewed, at the discretion of the Board, for a period not to exceed five sessions.None but those who have already taken the society’s first certificate in art will be qualified to compete.Students from Ireland are to qualify themselves at the Schools of the Royal Dublin Society.In addition to these vacancies the Council of the London Art Union offer two prizes of $175 and $75 respectively, for the best design for the decoration of a circular tazza, according to the dimensions set forth in a printed form.These prizes are open to all past or present students in schools of art in which painting on pottery is taught.“ The designs are to be on paper, in water colours or temper, of the size to suit the tazza, and are.to be sent to the Society’s house, 444, West Strand, on any day from the first to the seventh of May next.” It would not be much matter of surprize if some owner of the fertile brains and cunning fingers which have lately contributed to make the name of Belleek famous were to bear off either of those worthy objects of emulation.—Freeman.The, Effects of Worry.—That the effects of worry are more to be dreaded than those of simple hard work, is evident from noting the 32 THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION [January & February, 1874.classes of persons who sulfer most from the effects of mental overstrain.The case book of the physician shows that it is the specula-lor, tho betting man, the railway manager, the great merchant, the superintendent of large manufacturing or commercial works, who most frequently exhibits the symptoms of cerebral exhaustion.Mental cares accompanied with suppressed emotion, occupations liable to gieat \ icissitudes ol fortune, and those which involve the bearing on the mind of a multiplicity of intricate details, eventually break down the lives of tho strongest.In estimating what may be called ihe staying powers of different minds under hard work, it is always necessan to take early training into account.A young man cast suddenly into a position involving great care and responsibility, will break down in circumstances in which, had he been gradually habituated to the position, he would have performed its duties without difficulty.It is probably for this reason that tho professional classes generally suffer less from the effects of overstrain than others.They have a long course of preliminary training, and their work comes on them by degrees ; therefore, when it does come in excessive quantity, it finds them prepared for it.Those, on the other hand, who suddenly vault into a position requiring severe mental toil, generally die before their time.—Chambers’ Journal.1 First Step to Ruin.—It may to some seem trilling to say that the first cigar a young man takes within his dips often proves his lirst step into a career of vice.I grieve and 'tremble over every youth whom I see contracting this habit ; it often leads to other and worse things.—John Angel James.Normal Shcools in Ihe United Stales—Appleton's Journal furnishes the following statement respecting normal schools in the United States ; “ Every State of the Union has normal schools except Texas and Nevada.Massachusetts has one normal school for every 208,193 of her population ; Illinois ranks next, having one normal school for every 254,941 ; Ohio has one for 296,140 ; and New York has the greatest number of normal schools, yet only one for every 398,432 of her population.The whole number of normal institutions in the United States is 114, of which 51 are State schools, 16 city schools, 27 connected with colleges and universities, and the "remainder supported in various ways.There are 10,922 pupils in these schools and 445 teachers.Nearly one-tenth of all the normal pupils in the country belong to the Female Normal College of New York Citv.During the three years that the college has been in existence not 'a single student has been expelled, not one suspended, and not more than half a dozen cases for discipline have been reported to the president, and these were but for trivial offences.” School House Ventilation.—In my estimation, no ventilation is good which requires the opening of doors and windows at any time.Window ventilation is often used in warm weather, but I consider it undesirable, because it admits insects, dust, and hot air ; i, e, air hotter than might be secured by properly arranged air-ducts, which may be so contrived as to introduce comparatively cool air.But window ventilation certainly should never be used in cold weather, while the scholars are not taking active exercise.It is never necessary in good ventilation.Ventilation should, as far as possible, be automatic, and should be beyond the control of every one except the person who has it in charge.This self-acting ventilation may best be secured by combining the ventilating system with the warming apparatus, so that the active condition of the warming apparatus shall necessitate an active ventilation ; because we are much more sensitive to a change of temperature than we are to the stupefying influence of foul air,—R.C- Kcdzie., .If, D., in Sanitarian.Meteorology.—Observations taken at Halifax, N.S., during the month of December, 1873 ; Lat.44° 39' North; Long.63° 36' West; height above tho Sea 125 feet, by Sergt.John Thurling, A.II.Corps.Barometer, highest reading on the 2nd.30.586 inches “ lowest “ 28th.28.950 “ range of pressure .1.636 “ mean for month (reduced to 32° ).29.873 Thermometer, highest in shade on the 4th.54.0 degrees “ lowest “ “ 16th.c range in month.56.0 mean of all highest.34.2 mean of all lowest.15 7 “ mean daily range.18.5 mean for month.24.9 highest readings in sun’s rays .89.0 lowest reading on the grass.-2.0 Hygrometer, mean of dry bulb.27.0 degrees “ mean of wet bulb.25.7 “ mean dew point.19.8 “ elastic force of vapour.107 “ weight of vapour in a cubic foot of air.1.3 grains 11 weight required to saturate do .0.4 “ the hgure of humidity (Sat : 100).72 “ average weight of a cubic foot of air.5G9.3 grains Wind, mean direction of North.6.00 duys “ “ East.2.75 “ “ South.6 75 “ “ West.13.00 “ “ Calm.2.50 daily force of 0-12.2.7 “ daily horizontal movement.302.0 miles Cloud, mean amount of 0-10 .6.4 Ozone, mean amount of 0-10 .2,4 Rain, No.of days it fell .4.Snow, number of days it fell.14, Amount collected on ground (rain A snow).5.9 inches Fog, No.of days.4.—Observations taken at Halifax, Nova Scotia, during the month of January, 1874; Lat : 44 ° 39'North ; Long.63 ° 36’West ; height above the Sea, 125 feet, by Serg’t John Thurling, A.II.Corps.Barometer, highest reading on the 6th.30.620 inches.“ low'est “ “ 16th .29.292 “ “ range of pressure.1.328 “ mean for month (reduced to 32° ).29.945 Thermometer, highest reading on the 8th.52.3 degrees.“ lowest “ “ 27th .—15.7 “ range in month.G8.0 “ mean of all highest .36.0 “ mean of all lowest.17.2 “ mean daily range.18.8 “ mean for month.26.6 11 highest reading in sun s rays.92.8 “ lowest reading on the grass.-17.0 Hygrometer, mean of dry bulb.28.1 “ mean of wet bulb .27.1 “ mean dew point.23.0 “ elastic force of vapour.123 “ vapour in a cubic foot of air.1.5 grains.“ vapour reqdired to saturate do .0.3 “ the figure of humidity (Sat.100).80 “ average weight of a cubic foot of air.569.5 grains.Wind, mean direction of, North.5,50 days.“ “ East.5.00 “ “ South.8.00 “ “ West.10.00 “ “ Calm.:.2.50 “ daily force.2.6 “ daily horizontal movement.306.2 miles.Cloud, mean amount of (0-10).7.8 Ozone, mean amount of (0-10).2.3 Rain, number of days it fell.9 Snow.11 Amount collected on ground.6.94 inches.Fog, number of days .8 THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.(FOR THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.) The Journal of Education,—published under the direction of tho Hon.the Minister of Public Instruction, and Edited by II.II.Miles, Esq., LL.D., D.C.L., and P.DeLaney, Esq., of that Department,— offers an advantageous medium for advertising on matters appertaining exclusively to Education or the Arts and Sciences.TERMS :—Subscription per annum $1.00 ; Public School Teachers half price ; School-Boards Ac., free.Advertising.—One insertion, 8 lines or loss $1.00, over 8 lines, 10 cents per line ; Standing advertisements at reduced charges, according to circumstances, but not loss than $10 per annum.Public School Teachers advertising for situations, free.School-Boards Ac., free.All communications relating to the Journal to be addressed to the Editors.Printed By Léger Brousseau, 9, Buade Street, Quebec.