School. In the second year the future teacher appears more distinctly, and from that time every thing is more and more applied to practice. They continue the whole year to practice teaching, and at the end they receive a set of rules, short and easy to understand, for the management of a school of poor country children. 13. To the school of Lastadie is joined a school of poor children, in which the young men have an opportunity of going over what they have learned, by teaching it to others, and of exercising themselves in tuition according to a fixed plan. This school consists of a single class, in order that the students may see how a good school for poor children should be composed and conducted, and how all the children may be kept employed at once. 14. The number of pupils is fixed at twelve. The pecuniary assistance they receive will depend on circumstances. The instruction is gratuitous. Six pupils inhabit each room. The master lives on the same floor. They take their simple but wholesome meals together. Servants are not wanted. The pupils do the work of the house. 15. The daily lessons begin and end with prayers and psalmody. It rests with the master to fix the hours of devotion (founded chiefly on the Bible and the book of Psalms), as well as their number. So long as the true spirit of Christianityfaith quickened by charity-shall pervade the establishment, and fill the hearts of masters and of pupils, the school will be Christian, and will form Christian teachers; and this spirit of faith and of charity will be productive of blessings to the poor and to the mass of the nation. 16. It will not, therefore, be necessary to lay down minute regulations; but practical moral training must be combined as much as possible with instruction. "The letter killeth, the spirit quickeneth." But what will it not require to imbue the whole establishment with the true spirit of Christianity, so that masters and pupils may devote themselves with their whole hearts, and for the love of God, to the children of the poor? 17. Whoever wishes to be admitted into this establishment must not be under eighteen nor above twenty years of age. He must bring the certificates of his pastor, of the authorities of his parish, and of the physician of the circle, as to his previous conduct and the state of his health. He must, moreover, have such preliminary knowledge as is to be acquired in a well-conducted country school, on Biblical history, reading, writing, arithmetic, and singing. Those who join to these acquirements the principles of piano-forte or violin playing, will be preferred. The candidates for admission give notice to the director, and are examined by the members of the departmental authorities who have the care of the people's schools. 18. There is no public examination. The examination on quitting is likewise conducted by the school-councilors of the department, and the certificates of capacity are founded on this examination, according to the gradations 1, 2, 3, and are delivered by the departmental authorities. 19. As to the placing of the pupils, it is desirable that they should work some years as assistant masters, in order that they may gradually acquire the neces sary experience and confidence, and may become well acquainted with children, and with the inhabitants of villages. Under this supposition, the age of admis sion might be conveniently fixed at sixteen; and this arrangement would be a great relief to aged schoolmasters who are become burdensome to themselves and to their parishes. 20. Particular attention is paid to singing and to horticulture; as means of ennobling and animating the public worship of God, and the general course of a country life; of providing the pupils with an agreeable recreation, and, at the same time, a useful occupation; and, further, of combating the grossness of mind and the obstinate prejudices to which uneducated husbandmen are prone. 21. All the students attend divine service in the church of Lastadie on Sundays. 22. The vacations must not exceed four weeks for the whole year: they are, at Easter, in the autumn, and at Christmas. 23. The establishment has no other revenues than what it owes to the bounty of the minister of public instruction. These funds are employed,— 1. In maintaining the poorest students. 2. In indemnifying the assistant masters of singing and gardening. 3. In paying for the school tuition. 4. In paying the expenses of lodging the students. 5. In lighting and warming the school-room and the two lodging-rooms. 6. In extraordinary expenses. The expense of the meals taken at noon and evening, in common, is also chiefly defrayed from these grants; the students, however, contribute a little from their own means. The school of Lastadie pays the head master from its own resources. May this establishment (concludes Mr. Bernhardt), which owes its existence to such fervent charity, not be deprived of that blessing, without which it can do nothing! Assuredly there is not a virtuous heart which does not unite its prayers with those of the worthy and benevolent councilor. The second small Normal School of this description was founded in 1824, in honor of Otto, bishop of Bamberg, who introduced Christianity into Pomerania, having baptized 4000 Pomeranians in 1124, near the fountain of Pyritz. When the minister of public instruction granted the license for its establishment, he made it a condition that the students should be instructed in agriculture, not merely as a recreation, but as essential to their destination; that they should be bound to study gardening, the cultivation of fruittrees, and of silk-worms. The special superintendence of this house is intrusted to the pastor of the place. The regulations are as follows:-they resemble those of Lastadie in many respects, but go into great detail, and are perhaps still more austere as to discipline. Rules of the small Normal School of Pyritz, in Pomerania. I. 1. The purpose of this endowment is to give to every pupil the training and instruction suitable for a good and useful country schoolmaster: this, however, can only be done by the union of Christian piety with a fundamental knowledge of his vocation, and with good conduct in the household and in the school. 2. Piety is known— By purity of manners; By sincerity in word and deed; By love of God and of his word; By love of our neighbor; By willing obedience to superiors and masters; By brotherly harmony among the pupils; By active participation in the pious exercises of the house, and of public wor ship; By respect for the king, our sovereign, by unshaken fidelity to our country, by uprightness of heart and of conduct. 3. A thorough knowledge of the duties of a teacher are acquired— By long study of the principles and elements; By learning what is necessary and really useful in that vocation; By habits of reflection and of voluntary labor; By constant application to lessons; By incessant repetition and practice; By regular industry and well-ordered activity; according to this commandment, "Pray and work." 4. Good conduct in the house and the school requires A good distribution and employment of time; Inflexible order, even in what appears petty and insignificant; Silence in hours of study and work; Quietness in the general demeanor; Care and punctuality in the completion of all works commanded; Decent manners toward every person and in every place: decorum at meale; Respect for the property of the school, and for all property of others; Cleanliness of person and of clothing; Simplicity in dress, and in the manner of living; according to the golden rule, "Every thing in its time and place. Let things have their course. Provide things honest in the sight of all men."-Rom. xii. 16, 17.* II. 1. All the pupils inhabit one house and one room; for they must live in union, and form one family of brothers, loving one another. 2. The whole order of the house rests on the master of the school; he lives in the midst of the pupils; he has the immediate superintendence of them, of their conduct, and of their labors. He ought to be to those under his care what a father of a Christian family is in his household. He is responsible for the accounts of the establishment, the registers, the result of the quarterly examinations, and for the formation of the necessary lists. He has the special care of the provisions, the rooms, the library, the furniture. He is responsible to the school-administration for good order in every department. 3. The oldest and most intelligent of the students assists the master. He is called the master's assistant. He must take care That every one in the room under his care rises and goes to bed at the appointed moment; That nobody, without the master's permission, leave the house, smoke, or carry candles into the passages or the loft; That no one wantonly injure the windows, doors, or furniture, or throw any thing out of the windows; That the utmost cleanliness be observed in the sitting-room, the passage, and the sleeping-room; That all clothes, linen, books, &c., be in their places; That no noise be made in going up and down stairs, or in going to the children's school. It is his especial business to help his companions in the preparation of their lessons, to hear them repeat, to prepare the exercises for the master, and to assist him as far as he can in all his business. He ought to be to his fellow-students what a good elder brother is to his younger brothers and sisters. He is chosen, on the master's recommendation, by the school-committee. 4. The humbler sort of household work, such as cleaning and putting in order the rooms, dusting the furniture, fetching water, cleaving wood, &c., is done by the pupils, who serve a week in rotation. The time of service is prolonged by order of the master, in case of negligence. 5. The order of the day is as follows: In winter at five, in summer at half past four in the morning, at a given signal, all the pupils must rise, make their beds, and dress. Half an hour after rising, that is, at half past five in winter, and five in summer, all the pupils must be assembled in the school-room. The assistant first pronounces the morning benediction, and each pupil then occupies himself in silence till six. If any repetitions stand over from the preceding day, they must be heard now. After this, breakfast. In winter, as well as in summer, the lessons begin at six o'clock, and last till a quarter before eight. Then the students go with their master to the children's school, attached to the Normal School, where they remain till ten, either listening, or assisting in teaching some small classes; or they may be employed in their own studies at home. To these employments succeeds an hour of recreation, and then an hour's lesson in the establishment. At noon, the students assemble in the master's room, where they find a frugal but wholesome meal, consisting of vegetables, meat, and fish, at the rate of two thalers (six shillings) a month. The time which remains, till one o'clock, may be passed in music, gardening, and walking. ⚫ I do not happen to have the French version of the Bible. The texts as quoted by M. Cousin do not agree with those in our version. Ver. 11, is rendered by Luther, Schichet euch in die Zeit. Adapt yourselves to the time; which is not given in our version. The next clause above, I fin neither in his version nor in ours. In the afternoon, from one till three, while the master is teaching in the town school, the pupils accompany him, as in the morning. From three till five, lessons. The succeeding hours, from five till seven, are, according to the seasons, employed in bodily exercises, or in the school-room in quiet occupations. At seven they assemble at a simple cold supper. From seven to eight they practice singing and the violin; then repetitions or silent study till ten, when all go to bed. Two afternoons of each week are free, and are usually spent in long walks. The time from four to six, or from five to seven, is devoted to the practice of music. On Sundays or holidays all the pupils must attend divine service in the church of the town, and assist in the choir. The remainder of these days may be passed by every one as he pleases: in the course of the morning, however, the students must write down the heads of the sermon (the text, the main subject, the distribution), and in the evening must give an account of the manner in which they have spent the day. Every evening, as well as on the mornings of Sundays and holidays, a portion of time is spent in meditation in common. A few Sundays after the setting in of winter, and after the festival of St. John (May 6th), the students partake of the Lord's Supper, in company with their masters. Every student, from the time of his admission, must solemnly engage (in token of which he gives his hand to the master and signs his name) to follow the rules of the house, which may be summed up in these three principal maxims : 1. Order in behavior and in work, combined with the utmost simplicity in all things; to the end that the students who belong to the poorer classes, and whose destiny it is to be teachers of the poor, may willingly continue in that condition, and may not learn to know wants and wishes which they will not, and ought not to have the power of satisfying. For this reason, they must be their own servants. 2. As to the course of instruction, the repetitions must always be heard by the forwardest pupils. The pupils must be made, as much as possible, to teach each other what they have learned of the master, in order that they may perfect themselves in the art of teaching. 3. Piety and the fear of God should be the soul of their little community, but a true Christian piety, a fear of God according to knowledge and light, so that the pupils may do all to the glory of God, and may lead a simple, humble, and serene life, resigned and contented in labor and travail, according to the exhortation of the Apostle : "Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain-glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."-Philip. ii. 2, 3. "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy !" -Galat. vi. 16. I abstain from all comment on these two sets of regulations, which seem to have been dictated by the spirit of St. Vincent de Paule. The greater number of the small Normal Schools of Prussia are founded and governed in the same spirit. All rest on the sacred basis of Christianity. But beneath their simple lowly exterior we trace a taste for instruction, a feeling for nature, a love of music, which take away every vestige of coarseness, and give these modest institutions a character of liberality. Undoubtedly all this is the offspring of the national manners, and of the genius of Germany; yet Christian charity might transplant a good deal of it into our France; and I should esteem myself happy, if the regulations of the little schools of Lastadie and of Pyritz were to fall into the hands of some worthy ecclesiastic, some good curate or village pastor, who would undertake such an apostolic mission as this. PRIMARY NORMAL SCHOOL AT POTSDAM. THE following account of one of the best primary Normal Schools of Prussia is abridged from the report of M. Stintz, the director of the establishment. 1. DIRECTION AND INSPECTION. The Normal School and its annexed school are placed under a director or principal, subordinate to the royal school board of the province of Brandenburg, at Berlin, and to the minister of public instruction and ecclesiastical and medical affairs. The last named authority lays down the principles to be followed in this school, as in all other public schools; exacts an account of all important matters, such as the examination of the masters, and any change in the fundamental plan of the studies; and receives every year, through the medium of the royal school board, a detailed report, prepared by the director of the school. The school board is charged with the special inspection of the Normal School: it must watch its progress, and from time to time send commissioners to make inquiries on the spot. It examines also and approves the plan of studies presented every half year, and decides on all questions submitted to the consistory. The director should superintend the whole establishment, observe and direct the master and servants, make reports to the superior authorities, carry on the correspondence, &c. 2. BUILDING. The Normal School, situated near the canal and the Berlin gate, is a ́ large edifice two stories high, with a frontage of 127 feet, and considerable back buildings, which, joined to the main building, form a square within which is a tolerably spacious court. The whole comprehends: 1. A family residence for the director or principal, and another for a master; 2. Three apartments for three unmarried masters 3. An apartment for the steward and his servants, and sufficient convenience for household business and stowage; 4. A dining-room for the pupils, which serves also for the writing and drawing class; 5. An organ-room, in which the music lessons are given, the examinations take place, and the morning and evening prayers are said; 6. Two rooms for the scientific instruction of the pupils; 7. Four rooms for the classes of the annexed school; 8. Five rooms of different sizes, and two dormitories for the pupils ; 9. Two infirmaries; 10. A wash-house; 11. Two cabinets of natural history; 13. Granaries, cellars, wood-houses, &c. 3. REVENUES. The annual income of this establishment amounts to $6000, which is |