Notices of Books.

287 the cultivation of the higher intellectual faculties is neglected, as affording no immediate pecuniary returns. The essential elements of a useful education will, indeed, be estimated differently, according to the intellectual character, and the peculiar habits and pursuits of those by whom the term is employed. To a commercial community, whatever adds to the accomplishments of the merchant will be viewed as peculiarly practical, while among a manufacturing or an agricultural people, the same character will be ascribed to everything which tends to qualify young men to engage advantageously in these employments.

There are, however, some branches of education, which, by common consent, enjoy the distinction of being accounted alike useful and indispensable to all men, whatever may be their profession or pursuit. Such, for instance, are the arts of reading and writing, common arithmetic, and the elements of geography. To impart a knowledge of these branches is the great purpose for which the common school system of this country was established, and this, so far as intellectual education is concerned, must ever continue to be its leading object.

Among those branches which are second only in importance to those above enumerated, and which ought, consequently, to be engrafted upon the common school system wherever circumstances will permit its enlargement, must, without doubt, be reckoned the art of Book-Keeping. In its simplest form, indeed, it is scarcely inferior in importance, to the branches before specified, for who is there, who in the course of his life, whether it be longer or shorter, has no occasion to record for memory his dealings with others? In its more abstruse principles and higher applications to the complicated affairs of the merchant and the manufacturer, if the number who have occasion to practice it is less, it is still, of very great importance; and the necessity of some knowledge of it as a qualification of those who aspire to eminence in any branch of business is sufficiently obvious. We anticipate, therefore, with confidence, that the time will come, when the elements of this art will be taught in all our common schools, and when, in our higher seminaries, a perfect knowledge of the system will be generally acquired.

To aid in the accomplishment of the latter purpose, the treatise of Mr Foster appears to us exceedingly well adapted. It contains, besides the necessary forms and entries, which are very plain and intelligible, full and clear explanations of the mode of keeping books, according to the most approved system. In the publication of such a work, Mr Foster has done a very important service to the public, and the rapid sale of the first edition is evidence of the high estimation in which it is held by the mercantile community.

SOWING SEED.

Furnished for the Annals of Education, by LowELL MASON, Professor in the Boston Academy of Music.

1. Now, my seed, thy grave is made, In thy silent chamber laid, Thou may'st

EDUCATION in Sweden may be divided into three different classes, viz., 1st, General education-2d, General scientific education-3d, Private education in different objects of industry. The first mentioned are the schools in which children receive the first rudiments of education. The second is divided into grammar schools and universities. The third consists in academies, the aim of which is a practical knowledge, as far as regards private or public occupations and business, in which the aid of the sciences may be required.

The first class of schools is properly only intended for those who wish to carry on various trades, and whose aim is to attain that general knowledge, which, next to the study of religion, is requisite and useful in business, where a higher degree of cultivation is not wanted. The different studies here imparted are those of the Christian religion, writing, Swedish grammar, mathematics, history, and geography.

The grammar schools, again, are to prepare the rising generation for a higher degree of scientific learning, by which they may be admitted into civil offices; but they must, however, be publicly examined at some of the principal colleges of the country. These schools are divided into three sections, viz., grammar schools (in the more limited sense,) seminaries, and universities. In the first of these the studies are, the Christian religion, writing, Swedish grammar, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, theology, mathematics, history, geography, and some superficial knowl

This is part of article originally intended for the American Lyceum, and afterwards inserted in the American Monthly Magazine We believe it will be found an article of more than ordinary interest, especially when it is known that it was written by Mr C. D. Arfwedson, a native Swede.

290

Preparation for the University.

edge of natural history. In the seminary the same studies are continued, with the addition of philosophy, physics, and the French and German languages.

As the university is the principal seat of learning in the country, it has been considered proper to fix the quantity of knowledge required of every student at his entrance in the university, viz., 1st, In divinity, to comprehend and explain the book on theology, used in all the schools. 2d, In the history of the church, to explain the compendium used at the seminary. 3d, In Latin, to translate correctly the Classic authors read at the seminary, to write the Latin tongue tolerably well, and to have some knowledge of the Greek and Roman mythology. 4th, In Greek, to translate according to grammatical rules, into Swedish and Latin, parts of the New Testament and the profane authors, which have been read at the seminary. 5th, In Hebrew, to explain at least the first nine chapters of Genesis. 6th, In mathematics, to be perfectly well acquainted with the rules of geometry, according to the 1st, 5th, 6th, and 11th books of Euclid, and a profound knowledge of arithmetic. 7th, In philosophy, a clear idea of logic, and besides, to know all the different elementary principles of philosophy studied at the seminary. 8th, In history, to be well acquainted with the Swedish from the earliest periods, and to have a general knowledge of the ancient as far as the middle age, and the principal epochs of modern history. 9th, In geography, to explain the globe, the maps of the European States, and the other parts of the world; and finally, in historical respects, to possess a sufficient knowledge of the geography of the old world. 10th, In physics, and in natural history, the student is to relate, in a satisfactory manner, all the lectures which have been read in the inferior schools during his stay there. 11th, He must pronounce well, and, with the assistance of a dictionary, construe the French and German languages.

The first class of schools were originally intended for those who were to become tradesinen, but they have not been attended with the success in this country which was expected. During the last ten years they have continually declined, while the grammar schools have been increasing in great numbers. According to calculations made, it seems that the number of disciples in the former is, in proportion to the latter, as 1 to 4, and among the pupils who enter the first class of schools not twothirds commence any trade. Although this can be accounted for by many different reasons, yet it must indeed be alleged that it arises from one in itself very fortunate source, viz.: the rising cultivation and improvement of the nation. For the more en

Defects of the University.

291

lightened part of the population they have lost their importance, because they are not learned enough; and among the common people they are not considered as answering the purpose of public schools, because they are not adequate to the different wants of different places, but every where impart the same studies. The consequence is, that persons of education and fortune suffer their children, at least in the beginning, to study the classics, although they are not intended for any learned or civil office; and therefore place them in the grammar schools. It is natural, as society improves, and knowledge not only is required in private and public life, but respected and rewarded, that in the same degree will it be the desire of all classes of parents to impart such useful knowledge to their children as may enable them to enter any career which will lead them on to preferment and emolument. It is in our grammar schools where the foundation of this knowledge is laid, if not always acquired, in a very eminent degree; and if these schools gain confidence by gradually becoming improved establishments of education, it must always be looked upon as a very happy omen of the day. For my part I can never approve of the injudicious system of education at present so much in vogue, that of determining the future business or employment of children yet in the cradle. To instil into their minds rational principles and useful knowledge, is undoubtedly to give them the best education. It seldom happens in our northern climes that a youth 10 or 12 years old, develops his faculties so as to determine for what future vocation or profession he is fit, nor can he consult his own dispositions in making a judicious choice before he has attained a maturer age. And if he had been educated at a grammar school, or even at a seminary, he will not be less fit for trade or business, or any inferior civil office, than if he had been brought up at a common public school.

Another cause of the decreasing number of scholars at these schools is, that children who are destined to become tradesmen very often are educated at home. It occurs every now and then that a parent himself instructs his son in the trifling studies that are imparted at the public schools; and it still oftener happens that some private individual in the neighborhood undertakes the office of teacher. Children are thus instructed in what relates to their future occupations, whatsoever they may be, and much time is saved which can otherwise be usefully employed by the scholar. By these means schools are avoided which do not in every respect answer the purpose, particularly as the object of the parents may be gained in a shorter and less expensive.

manner.