Upper Austria and Salzburg, are wholly German; besides, the Germans have a majority in Lower Austria (90 per cent), Carinthia (69 per cent), the Tyrol (60 per cent), Styria (63 per cent), and Silesia (51 per cent). The Czechs control two provinces, Moravia (71 per cent) and Bohemia (60 per cent); the Slovens one, Carniola (93 | per cent); and the Croats or Serbs one, Dalmatia (87 per cent). In four provinces, no one nationality has an absolute majority; in Galicia, the Ruthenians number 44 per cent, and the Poles 42; in the Bukovina, the Ruthenians 40, and the Roumanians 39; in the Littorale, the Slovens 42, the Italians 31, and the Croats 21.

A greater harmony than in regard to the nationality of the inhabitants, prevails in respect to their religion. The Roman Catholics, in 1869, constituted 91,92 per cent of the total population; the Jews 4,06 per cent, the Orthodox Greeks 2.27, the Lutherans 1,22, the Reformed 0,51, all others 0,02 per cent. Included in the number of Roman Catholics are the United Greeks (11,53 per cent) and the United Armenians (0,02 per cent). The Roman Catholic Church is in the majority in every province, except the Bukovina, and in every nationality, except the Roumanian.

Until the government of Maria Theresa, public education was in a very backward state. As late as 1770, thirty years after the accession of the empress to the throne, only 24 per cent of the children from the 5th to the 13th year of age attended the public schools of Austria; in Lower Austria, only 16 per cent; in Silesia, only 4 per cent. The large majority of the children, especially in the country, grew up without any instruction. The first impulse to the thorough organization of a public school system was given by a memorial which the bishop of Passau, Count Firmian, addressed to the empress. In accordance with his suggestions, the council of state proposed the establishment of two permanent school committees for the provinces of Upper and Lower Austria for the purpose of improving the methods of teaching and the administration of the schools. The government approved the plan, and the first committee was established May 19., 1770. One of the first acts of the committee was the establishment of a model school at Vienna, in January, 1771, and of a model school fund. The influence of these reforms was so satisfactory, that the establishment of school committees, school funds, and model schools in all the other provinces, was either carried into effect, or at least begun. The establishment of a court committee on studies (Studienhofcommission), February 12., 1774, which was to have the chief control of all the edu'cational affairs of the empire, was another reform of great importance. In December, 1774, the first comprehensive school law was published. It provided for the establishment, in connection with every parish church, of a common (trivial) school, in which religion, Bible history, reading, writing, and the elements of arithmetic, should be taught; for the establishment in each circle of at least one principal-school (Hauptschule), with

three or four teachers, who should give instruction in the Latin language, geography, history, composition, drawing, geometry, and the elements of agriculture; and for the establishment, at the seat of each school committee, of a model and normal school, which, besides extending the course of instruction pursued in the principal-school, was also to prepare candidates for the office of teacher. Attendance at school was made obligatory after the 6th year of age, and penalties were imposed upon parents and guardians who should fail to send their children to school. All teachers were bound to use the text-books which the government caused to be specially prepared for the Austrian schools. The school law was chiefly the work of Abbot Felbiger, who in connection with Kindermann and other distinguished educators, worked indefatigably to carry into effect the provisions of the law. The emperor Joseph II. regarded the diffusion of education as the soundest basis of his reformatory schemes. He enforced by compulsory laws the education of all children from 6 to 12 years of age; and, in 1781, ordered a general school census to be taken. The patrons of the churches were required to provide for the establishment of a school in connection with every church which was without one. The patent of toleration of Oct. 13., 1781, gave also to the Protestants of the Augsburg and Helvetic confessions, and to the non-united Greeks, the right to establish a church and school for every 500 persons. The Jews, also, were at first authorized, but soon afterward commanded, to establish schools for the education of their youth. Great prominence was given, even in provinces not German, to the teaching of the German language, the knowledge of which was an indispensable qualification for an appointment to any state office. Instruction in singing, mechanical work, and horticulture was recommended. Corporal punishment was limited to extreme cases. A review course of instruction (Wiederholungsunterricht) was to be provided on Sundays and holidays for children who had finished the course of the elementary schools. In the capital of each of the circles into which the Austrian provinces were divided, school commissioners were appointed to superintend the public schools in common with the deans. During the reign of the emperor Leopold, teachers' associations were organized, and delegates chosen by these associations were admitted to the provincial boards of education. A revisory committee on studies (Studienrevisionscommission), which was formed in 1795, under the emperor Francis, prepared a new constitution for the public schools, which was published in 1805, and formed for a long time the legal basis for public education in Austria. The influence of teachers and teachers' associations on the government of the schools was greatly restricted; while, on the other hand, that of the Catholic Church was greatly extended, the inspection and superintendence of schools being almost wholly transferred to the parish priests and the bishop. The organization of the review course of instruction, a peculiar feature of the Austrian system, was completed in 1816 by a special law,

which made attendance at the review course of instruction compulsory until the close of the 15th year of age or the end of apprenticeship. In 1828, the government began to publish statistical accounts of the progress of public education, which, as appears from these accounts, continued to be steady in all the provinces of the empire. A peculiar feature in the educational history of Austria, at that time, was the more general introduction of the vernacular languages of the various nationalities into the public schools, in place of the German, which thus far had been too predominantly used even in some districts not German. Among the first results of the revolution of 1848, which led to the abdication of the emperor Ferdinand I., and the accession of the emperor Francis Joseph I., was the establishment of a ministry of public instruction, which in the same year published an outline of the proposed re-organization of all the Austrian schools. This outline established several important principles: (1) The maintenance of a public school was made obligatory for the communities; (2) Instruction was every-where to be given in the mother tongue of the pupils; and (3) For the candidates of teachers who formerly had received only a six months' instruction, a special course of two or three years was arranged, which was gradually to be developed into a teachers' seminary. In 1849, Count Leo Thun was appointed minister of public instruction, who, during the eleven years of his administration, carried into effect some of the reforms proposed in the outline, and organized in the capital of every province a provincial school board, consisting partly of experienced educators who received the title of school councilor (Schulrath), and partly of administrative officers. But the chief aim of this minister was the establishment of a far-reaching control of the Catholic Church over the public school system. The concordat between Austria and the Pope, which was concluded in August, 1855, provides that the entire instruction of the Catholic youth, both in public and private schools, must be in accordance with the Catholic religion; that all the teachers in the Catholic schools are placed under the superintendence of the church, and that the bishops will propose to the government fit persons for the office of school superintendents. The disastrous issue of the war against France and Italy led to the introduction of several sweeping reforms, and the establishment of a national representation, or Reichsrath, in which the Liberal party impetuously demanded the emancipation of the public schools from the control of the church, and the abolition of the concordat. The ministry of instruction, which was looked upon by the Liberals as a tool of the church was totally abolished; but the government showed great reluctance in yielding to other demands of the Liberals. A new organization of the public school system was provided for by the law of May 14., 1869. It substitutes for the former Haupt- und Trivialschulen (high and common schools) a division into Volksschulen (people's schools) and Bürgerschulen (citizens'

schools). The subjects to be taught in the former are religion, language, arithmetic, writing, geometrical forms, the elements of natural science and history, singing, and gymnastic exercises. According to the number of teachers allowed, it may have from one to seven classes. In the Bürgerschule, moreover, composition, natural science, geometry, book-keeping, and drawing are taught. Schools of the latter class have, when complete, 8 classes, or if connected with a Volksschule of 5 classes, only 3 classes. The communities must establish a school whenever, in the circuit of one hour's walk, 40 children are found who attend a school at least half a German mile distant. A second teacher is allowed when the number of children exceeds 80; and another for every additional 80. The school age lasts from the 6th to the 14th year. There are special school boards for the communities, districts, and provinces. The number of Bürgerschulen and Volksschulen in 1871, was 14,769, of which 6560 were German, 5746 Slavic, 1080 Italian, 24 Roumanie, 5 Magyar, 3 Greek, and 1352 mixed. The number of male teachers was 20,904; of female teachers, 3,445. The attendance at school was 941,497 boys and 878,193 girls. In two provinces, the Tyrol and Moravia, the number of children attending school exceeded that of the children of school age; in Upper Austria, Bohemia, and Silesia, it was between 90 and 96 per cent. ; in Lower Austria, Salzburg, Styria, and Carinthia, between 75 and 95; in Carniola and the Littorale, between 50 and 55; in Galicia, 20; in Dalmatia, 15; and in the Bukovina, only 12 per cent. The middle schools, which prepare boys for the higher studies, are either gymnasia, realschools, or realgymnasia. The gymnasia prepare their pupils for the universities, the realschools for the higher technical schools, and the realgymnasia for both. In 1870, there were 97 gymnasia with 27,287 pupils, 24 realgymnasia with 3,210, and 50 realschools with 13,229 pupils. Of universities there are 7: those of Vienna, Gratz, Innspruck, Prague, Cracow, Lemberg, and Czernowitz. They all contain, like the German universities, 4 faculties, except Lemberg and Czernowitz, which have only 3. The number of students, in the winter semester of 1874-5, was, at Vienna 4,223, at Gratz 930, at Innspruck 633, at Prague 2,011, at Lemberg upwards of 1100, and at Cracow upwards of 1,000. There are seven technical high schools: 2 at Prague (1 German and 1 Czechic), and 1 each at Vienna, Gratz, Brünn, Lemberg, Cracow, and, in all, about 270 professors and 3,000 pupils. Male teachers' seminaries were first established in accordance with the new law of 1869, in 1870. Of these, there were, in 1873, 40, with 145 principal and 207 assistant teachers, and 2,111 pupils, of whom 1.093 were Germans, 530 Czechs, 215 Poles, 93 Ruthenians, 128 Croats or Servians, 95 Italians, and 15 Roumanians. For the education of female teachers, there are 21 seminaries, with 105 princi pal and 111 assistant teachers, and 1,667 pupils. The number of special schools is very large. embracing theological, medical, and industrial schools, schools for navigation, mining, agricult

ure, forestry, and the fine arts, together with military institutions, institutions for the deaf and dumb, and the blind, orphan asylums, infant institutions (crèches).

The most important educational periodicals are Der Oesterreichische Schulbote (since 1851) and Zeitschrift für östreichische Gymnasien (since 1850).

A full account of the history and statistics of public education in Austria is given by Dr. Ficker, in SCHMID's Pädagog. Encyclopädie, vol. v. p. 242-566. See also HELFERT, System der östreich. Volksschule (Prague, 1861), a collection of all the laws relating to the public school system; SCHIMMER, Statistik der Lehranstalten des östreich. Kaiserstaates von 1851-1857, (Vienna, 1858). The latest official statistics are annually published in the Statistische Jahrbuch, by the central statistical commission of Vienna.

AUTHORITY (Lat. auctoritas), the right to command, or the persons or body by whom the right is exercised; sometimes also, in matters pertaining to the intellect, the power to influence or exact belief. In education, the term has especially this twofold application: (1) to the discipline, or management of children; (2) to their instruction. The primary authority, both in respect to time and importance, to which the child is subjected is that of the parent; and for several years no other can be exercised over it, except in loco parentis. It is true, the state extends a protecting care over the child; but only by an exercise of its authority over the parents, requiring them to perform their proper duties as the natural guardians of their children. When the parents neglect or repudiate these duties or are guilty of acts in contravention of them, the state interposes its authority, but not even then directly, upon the child, but only to place it under the authority of those who will better care for its interests, and perform for it the natural duties of its parents. The right exercise of parental authority is, therefore, one of the most important elements in the education of the child. See HOME EDUCATION.) If the child from its earliest years has been accustomed to recognize and submit to the authority of its parents, firmly but judiciously exercised, there will be, ordinarily. but little difficulty, on the part of the teacher, in making his authority effective. The child, on entering the school, feels for the first time that it is under an authority different from that of its parents, to which it has previously learned to submit with unquestioning obedience. Its first impulse is, perhaps, to refuse submission to this new authority; and the influence of the teacher over the child will greatly depend upon the manner in which obedience is enforced. (See DISCIPLINE.) In the authority of the teacher, as well as in that of the parents, two elements are combined, one that attracts and encourages, and one that curbs and subdues. Without the former, authority is arbitrary and violent; without the latter, it is feeble and often powerless. In other words, the authority that truly educates should

be founded not alone upon fear, but upon love and esteem as well. The authority of the teacher is not, like that of the parents, based upon a natural law, but is delegated either by the parents or by those who stand in the parental relation to the child. This is what is meant when it is said that the teacher is in loco parentis; not that he has exactly the authority of the parent, but only so far as it is not limited by the general usages of society, or by special contracts. The conscientious teacher cannot, for a moment, doubt that it is his duty strictly to observe these limits; since, by willfully overstepping them, he must either break a contract, or violate a most sacred trust; and, in either case, his authority will be either weakened or destroyed.

When schools are controlled by boards of education or boards of trustees, such constituted authorities stand to the children in place of the parents, in respect to school education; and the teachers become simply the agents of the school board, and can only exercise an authority limited by the rules of such board. The limits of the authority delegated to teachers by the appointing power, vary considerably in different places, some school boards reserving to themselves certain powers or functions which others confer upon the teacher. It is a matter of the utmost importance that all persons concerned in the education of the child should co-operate harmoniously; since nothing tends so much to weaken the force of authority in the mind of the child as to notice a conflict among those under whose control it is placed. Father and mother, parent and teacher, teacher and school board, should, at any rate, as far as the child is aware, agree absolutely; since the less children know of any difference of opinion between their custodians, the more cheerfully will they respect and submit to the principle of authority in general.

Many cases will arise, both in the family and in the school, in which children will refuse submission to the authority of their educators; and hence the mode of enforcing authority becomes a matter of serious importance. Authority, of course, implies a control of the will of those over whom it is exercised; and the means by which this is to be obtained will differ according to the disposition and habits of the child, and, to a considerable extent, also according to the character of the educator himself. A violent, irascible, morose, or capricious parent or teacher will have a constant conflict with the child, and will never be able to establish his authority, to whatever extent, for the time being, he may compel a seeming obedience. Authority is thus described by an eminent teacher:-"It is not mere legal form, nor the instrumentalities for executing it, that constitutes authority. It is a power in the individual himself, independent of all circumstances, and rising in its own majesty above all mere conventionalities. It is a power difficult to describe, but which sends out its streams of influence along the teacher's pathway. It exists in the man, demanding, securing, and retaining cheerful obedience." Authority should not be exercised as such;

BACCHANTS (Lat. Bacchantes) is a term applied in medieval times to those university students who had not yet finished their first year's studies, and being taxed for drinking purposes by the older students, were thus drawn into revels and debauchery. Later, this name was given to those idle, dissolute students who traveled about the country, collecting money, ostensibly to enable them to pursue their studies. Sometimes they were accompanied by pupils, whom they compelled to steal and beg for them. (See A B C-SHOOTERS.) So numerous were these itinerant scholars, that organizations of them existed with constitutions and rituals; and sometimes these bodies were supplied with board and lodging by the cities in which they located themselves. These practices ceased almost entirely with the Reformation, but we find traces of them in Germany and England down almost to the present century. Burkard Lingg and Thomas Platen were Bacchants, whose autobiographies in German are still extant.

BACHELOR (Lat. Baccalaureus), a term applied to one who has reached a certain grade in a college or university education; as, Bachelor of Arts (A. B., or B.A.), Bachelor of Civil Law (B. C. L.), Bachelor of Divinity (B. D.), etc. The word as thus used is of uncertain etymology. It was introduced into the University of Paris by Pope Gregory IX., in the 13th century, and applied as a title to those students who had passed certain preliminary examinations, but were not prepared for admission into the rank of master, teacher, or doctor. Afterwards, it was adopted by other European universities, to indicate the lowest academical honor, as it is now used both in this country and in Europe. (See ARTS, and DEGREES.)

BACON, Francis, Viscount St. Albans and Baron Verulam, one of the most illustrious of English philosophers, was born in London, Jan. 22., 1561, and died April 9., 1626. Little is known of his early education, but from the social position of his father, Sir Nicholas Bacon, he must have enjoyed the advantages of the best instruction that could have been obtained. He was matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1573; and, after going abroad for a time, he returned and commenced the study of the law in 1580. He was soon called to the bar, and in 1590, his reputation was so great, that he was made "counsel extraordinary" to Queen Elizabeth. He afterwards served in parliament, when he showed so much spirit, that on receiving the royal rebuke for a certain speech, which he had delivered, he nobly replied, that "he spoke in discharge of his conscience, and his duty to God, to the queen, and his country." As an orator, he was much commended by his contemporaries. Ben Jonson said that while he was speaking, "the fear of every man that heard him was lest he should make an end." The earl of Essex had been his friend and benefactor; but when

that rash and unfortunate nobleman was under trial, Bacon, evidently from fear of the queen's displeasure, spoke severely against him, and was instrumental in securing his conviction. This has subjected him to much obloquy, as being guilty of meanness and ingratitude. After the accession of James I., Bacon rose rapidly in the royal favor; his professional practice became very large and lucrative, besides which he held the office of attorney general which yielded him £6,000 per annum. In 1616, he was made lord high chancellor, and, besides, received the title of Baron Verulam; and, in 1621, he obtained the additional title of Viscount St. Albans. At this time, he stood upon the highest pinnacle of political preferment and literary fame; for he had just published his greatest work, the Novum Organum. From this lofty position he suddenly fell, accused and condemned of taking bribes from those whose cases were before his court. His own words to the House of Lords, when the facts had been disclosed by an investigation, were, "I do plainly and ingenuously confess that I am guilty of corruption, and do renounce all defense, and put myself upon the grace and mercy of your lordships." He was, accordingly, sentenced to pay a fine of £40,000, and to suffer imprisonment in the Tower during the king's pleasure (1621). He was, however, released from confinement in two days, and the fine was subsequently remitted. He never regained the position he had so disgracefully lost, but spent the few remaining years of his life in a studious and literary retirement. Between the career of Bacon as a politician and his career as a philosopher there is a marked contrast. "Had his life," says Macaulay, "been passed in literary retirement, he would, in all probability, have deserved to be considered, not only as a great philosopher, but as a worthy and good-natured member of society. But neither his principles nor his spirit were such as could be trusted, when strong temptations were to be resisted, and serious dangers to be braved.” His desire to keep up a grand establishment, to make a brilliant figure in society by the princely character of his entertainments, his equipage, and all the other fascinations of luxury, caused expenditures far beyond his means, which he endeavored to meet by unlawful gains. His. philosophical views were in one sense entirely consistent with his character. They were practical; they aimed to make science minister to the worldly wants of mankind. The scholastic learning of the universities which he had inveighed against shortly after leaving Cambridge, was, he perceived, nothing but antiquated, profit less wordlearning. He wished to incite to the discovery of new truth, that it might "mix like a living spring with the stagnant waters." "Two words," says Macaulay, "form the key of the Baconian doctrine-utility and progress. The ancient philosophy disdained to be useful, and was content to be stationary. It dealt largely in theories