MISCELLANEOUS.

FOREIGN.

FRANCE.

Museums of Painting and Sculpture.-The whole kingdom, inde.. pendently of the metropolis, contains 110 cities and towns, inhabited by 10,000 individuals, or upwards. There are but two museums of painting and sculpture in the towns below that population, and these exist in two of such towns; in 70 towns, which have between 10,000 and 19,000 inhabitants, the number of museums is 9; in 29, which have from 20,000 to 39,000, there are 13 museums; in 5, which have from 40,000 to 59,000, there are 4; and in 6 towns, of 60,000 and upwards, there are six. The total number of such towns is, therefore, 112; and of museums, 34. The richest of these institutions are those of Lyons, Dijon, Caen, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Besançon, Montpellier, Angers, and Epinal. Out of 110 towns where the establishment of schools for the fine arts would be a public benefit, there are but 55 in which even the art of design is taught; and there are but 11 of these which are of any importance. At the head of them stands Lyons, the school in which is attended by 300 pupils. Painting is taught in eight of them; sculpture in five or six; and architecture in 13.

The Convicts. According to the latest reports made to government, there are 7,500 convicts in the establishments called 'Bagnes' at Rochefort and Toulon. That at Brest was suppressed in 1830, at which time the number of prisoners amounted to 8461. The expense of maintenance, superintendence, and remuneration for certain works which they execute, is 102,860l. a year; and the value of the work done by them is estimated at 83,2901. The work consists either in building, repairing, sawing wood, journeymen's work, &c., or in forced, heavy labours. The convicts of Toulon are more particularly employed on works requiring some degree of skill; and the produce of their labour nearly covers the public expenditure for their maintenance, &c. However defective the system may be, it is some satisfaction to know, that many of these convicts are found deserving of pardon every year. Their food is as good as that of many of the French peasantry, and it is in their own power to improve it by adding the trifling remuneration which the majority of them are allowed for their work to the stipulated allowance. Barring that deprivation of personal liberty which is torture to every human being, the most painful

moment which they experience throughout the day is when they are summoned to rest, and compelled to lie down, side by side, on a bare plank. The criminal prefers the labour of a convict's life to imprisonment. There is, however, one portion of the treatment to which he is exposed, which calls loudly for amendment; it is that which attends his removal to the Bagnes. On their way to them, the convicts are yoked together with heavy chains, and driven along the high road: this continued exposure in a body to the public gaze teaches them to brave the taunts and revilings of the crowds that throng their progress, and to fling back contempt and execration upon their revilers; hence they grow not only desperately hardened to sense of shame, but actually glory in their ignominious condition. Before they have reached the end of their miserable journey, the best among them have been tainted with the infection, and the whole mass arrive at the place of destination brethren in one common bond of recklessness.-F.

Royal Colleges.-The seminaries of this description in Paris contain at present 5,285 pupils; namely, 2,059 residents and 3,226 externes. The provincial colleges have 9,675 on their lists; of whom 4,149 are resident within their walls, and 5,526 are externes. The total number of pupils in these establishments is, therefore, 14,960.

Lunatic Asylums.-It is in the highest degree creditable to the conductors of one at least of these asylums in the French metropolis, that its new prefect, on a recent and unexpected inspection, should have found but three lunatics in strait waistcoats, and not a single individual chained down, or otherwise fettered, out of between eight and nine hundred patients.

Paris Poor.-The official returns for the year 1831 state the population of Paris at 770,286 souls; and in 1832, the poor actually relieved at their own residences amounted to 68,986. To these may be added as many more who do not come within the reach of public charity. The 68,986 were members of 11,723 families, and consisted of 16,167 males, 28,021 females, 12,096 boys, and 12,702 girls. The majority of them were born out of Paris. Among the heads of families, nearly one half were under 65 years of age, one fourth were from 65 to 74 years old, and 34 were of the age of 90, or beyond it. Ten thousand of the 11,723 families were burthened with children below the age of 12 years. The actual number of infirm persons thus relieved was 5,102; and there were but 494 blind persons on the lists. Nearly one half of the rents paid by the relieved poor were between the sums of two and four pounds per annum.

Libraries.-There are 195 provincial towns in France possessing public libraries; and their stock of books amounts to 2,600,000 volumes. As the departments in which they are situated contain 31,000,000 of inhabitants, the proportion is one single volume to

every 15 persons. Paris possesses five public libraries*, containing 1,378,000 volumes; this is in the proportion of three volumes to every two persons.-Whatever may be thought of such a ground of complaint with us in England, our French neighbours. consider it no slight disgrace, that there should not be any public library in 822 towns, which possess a population of between 3,000 and 18,000 souls.

Academical Hierarchy.-Had he lived long enough, Napoleon would have given the same mould to education which Hildebrand did to religion; the one would have been converted into as ready an engine for selfish purposes, in the hands of the French sovereigns, as the other has been in those of every subsequent pontiff. It was Napoléon's intention to have instituted a hierarchy of teachers, modelled on the regulations and rigid observances of Loyola's 'soldatesque.' This may be collected from the opinions which he enounced at one of the meetings of his privy-council. I feel,' said he, that, with respect to education, the Jesuits have left a very great vacuum behind them: I have no intention of setting them on their legs again, nor of recognising any corporation which is subject to foreign control; but I conceive it to be my duty to organize the education of the rising generation in such a way as may enable me to watch over their moral and political opinions. In any such institution, I think that celibacy must be adopted for a given period. *** I am desirous of forming a corporate body, not of Jesuits whose master dictates at Rome, but of Jesuits who possess no ambition beyond that of being useful, and have no interest at heart beyond that of the public, (sovereign?) * * * It is my wish that the members of this corporation of teachers should enter, not into a religious contract, as was formerly the case, but into civil obligations, contracted in the presence of a notary public, justice of the peace, prefect, or other public functionary; these individuals should bind themselves, for a term of three, six, or nine years, not to abandon their vocation without giving due notice some years beforehand. They should espouse public education as their predecessors espoused the church, yet with this difference, that the marriage knot should be neither of so sacred nor of so indissoluble a nature. It is my wish, nevertheless, that a certain degree of solemnity should accompany their entrance into the profession, though it may be right to give it another name.'-Pelet de la Lozère's Opinions de Napoléon.

College at Abbeville.-The course of study adopted in this institution qualifies a young man for taking a bachelor's degree at the

*There are in all 40 libraries in Paris, attached to public establishments, and containing 1,961,500 volumes of printed books, MSS., pamphlets, &c. The largest of these is the King's Library, which contain 450,000 printed books, 450,000 pamphlets and fugitive pieces, and 80,000 MSS. The next in point of number of volumes, is the library of the Arsenal, which contains 170,000 printed books, and 5,000 MSS.-Editor J. E.

university. The prospectus, issued for the commencement in October, states, that a new class, that of Philosophy,' will be opened, and will form the highest class in the college. With respect to the other classes it observes, that every Latin class follows a special course in history; the sixth class studies ancient history; the fifth, Greek history; the fourth, Roman history; the third, French history; and the second and rhetoric classes, general history. Boys are admitted at a very early age, but if not sufficiently masters of their native language, their first year's tuition is entirely confined to its acquisition; nor are they allowed to begin Latin until they are well grounded in it. All the classes, from the sixth upwards, are taught political, historical, physical, and mathematical geography in succession; and the highest classes, natural and experimental philosophy. The class of philosophy is also to study the higher branches of the mathematics. After a certain age, such pupils as are not designed for a learned profession may, at the wish of their parents, omit the study of the classics, and, instead of them, follow two courses of French, one of English, and one of elementary mathematics. They will also be taught book-keeping, and instructed in such subjects as are connected with the science of trade. The precedent appears to us to be very deserving of adoption in some of the public schools of England, particularly those which are situated in the heart of large towns.-Boarders in the college of Abbeville, if under 17 years of age, pay 492 francs, or 20l., and if above that age, 542 francs, or 221. per annum; inclusive of a fee of 20 francs to the university, and 20 francs to the town itself, at whose expense the college is principally maintained. Day scholars pay between 41. and 57. a year, according to their ages.

SWITZERLAND.

HOFWYL.-It is between twenty and thirty years since M. Fellenberg, in Switzerland, perceiving the want of good schoolmasters, adopted the obvious and rational plan of an Ecole Normale,' a school for teaching men to teach. He assembled forty of the schoolmasters from different parts of the canton of Berne during their three months of vacation, and had them instructed by the professors at his establishment in various branches of knowledge. They made great progress, as might have been expected from men of industrious habits and eager to learn the things appertaining to their profession, and in which they had felt their deficiency. M. Fellenberg repeated his invitation next year; but the government of the canton, which had always regarded his improvements with jealousy, actually prohibited the intended assembling of the masters. canton of Zürich, however, permitted their masters to accept the liberal offer.

The

It is understood that this great benefactor of his species, and most assiduous cultivator of education, is once more exposed to the hostility of the government under which he lives, and because of those inestimable services which he is rendering to mankind.

We hope to have further materials for detailing the proceedings which have been attempted respecting him; proceedings so discreditable to their authors, and which, it is to be hoped, the force of public opinion, in other countries, may stay, if the Swiss themselves shall suffer them to be persevered in*.

Academical Conferences.-The Board of Education for the canton of Neufchâtel have established annual meetings of masters for the purpose of enabling the heads of schools to communicate periodically on any change or improvement in system, studies, books, &c., which their personal experience may suggest, as well as to compare their respective methods. We have a printed report lying before us of the proceedings which took place at last year's conference; it was attended by upwards of seventy masters, who conferred together for three successive days, and discussed a variety of topics connected with the treatment and instruction of youth. This admirable plan has been carried still further in some of the Swiss cantons, where the masters have established Reading Societies,' for the purpose of circulating such periodicals and books among themselves as bear upon the subject of education. This admirable practice prevails also in many parts of Germanyt; and it is high time that it was extended to this country, where the public, we hope, are growing too wise any longer to estimate the quality of instruction by so sorry a gauge as its quantum of cost.

6

ZÜRICH (August).—A considerable portion of the students in this new university have enrolled themselves as volunteers, and marched off to aid in bringing the refractory cantons of Schwytz and Basle to reason. The disturbances at Tübingen, and in other German universities, have served to swell our numbers, but certainly not with studious or peaceable subjects. I cannot help regarding this as the real, though not the ostensible motive for the excommunication which the Bavarian government has levelled against us. The example has been followed by the King of Würtemberg, who has given notice, that 'every Würtemberger who shall attend the University of Zürich, will thereby forfeit all claim to admission into the public service.'—P.

ARGOVIA.-The Great Council of this canton have determined to erect a public monument to the memory of Pestalozzi.

SPAIN.

Taurics. The circle of human acquirements has been singularly enlarged at the university of Seville, by the recent establishment of a school for the study of taurics, or the science of bull-fighting. The salary of the professor en chef has been fixed at 12,000 reals a year, and that of the next in rank at 8000. For the support of this academy, every town in the kingdom, where bull-fights are enacted, is to contribute an annual sum of 120 reals.

* See the article on Hofwyl, p. 336.

See the article, in this Number, on the Prussian System of Education.