In examining the foregoing tables, it should be borne in mind, of course, that the number of prizes subject to the control of the International Jury was limited-so much so that the examining juries had constant occasion to regret their inability to signalize the importance of very many contributions as they deserve.

The attention bestowed by the public upon the educational department was, doubtless, greater, because of the profound interest awakened in all intelligent minds by the creation and imperial consecration of the group to which it belonged. The number of French teachers alone, who visited and studiously examined its displays, was over twelve thousand. From all parts of the world, zealous men and women came expressly to avail themselves of such facts, principles, suggestions, and sources of information as it afforded; while of the more than ten millions of visits made to the Exposition, from first to last, it is fair to infer that a large proportion had reference, more or less definite, to some branch of it in Park or Palace.

From the foregoing outline, some conception may be had of the comprehensiveness of the plan of this great department and of the magnitude of its direct influence, as well as of the subsequent benefits likely to grow out of it.

Total.

It was a part of the general plan of the Universal Exposition of 1867, that the various nations should send personal representatives of their leading interests, charged with the duty of studying each particular department and of reporting thereon to their respective governments.

Under this plan, at rather a late day in the progress of the Exposition, the writer was designated as the Commissioner who should investigate the educational systems, condition, and progress of the several countries represented, and make such a report upon them as the facts might warrant and the welfare of the country demand.

The task thus imposed seemed so important in character, and yet so difficult of satisfactory accomplishment, that it must have been at once declined, but for the fact that he had just completed a third tour of observation, with direct reference to a personal knowledge of the educational condition of the more enlightened nations of the world—the first, confined to Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Rhenish Germany, and Belgium; the second, limited to the United States; and the last, embrac ing nearly every remaining portion of the European continent-and was therefore in possession of recent information, which, if wisely sifted and duly reported, could hardly fail to contribute somewhat to the establishment of correct ideas on the all-important subject of education in the United States.

Much valuable information on this general subject has been already diffused through the medium of able reports on European education; and numerous accounts of individual institutions and classes of institutions, by as many authors, have appeared in the newspapers and professional journals of the country; but all of these reports, and most of the special accounts, were published years ago, and are not, therefore, at this moment strictly illustrative of the various systems and institutions whereof they treat; while none of them have attempted a general survey and discussion of systems and classes, whether on the basis of a comparison of one with another, or as referred to an ideal standard suggested by the needs of our own time and country.

We still find the greatest diversity of opinion among our leading educators, even as to what is the best system for primary and secondary education; while on the subject of industrial, professional, and university education, there is, in almost every quarter, nothing better than a hopeful groping for the right way.

This last remark will sufficiently indicate the necessity for further light, as well as the scope of this report and the earnest purpose of its author, from whom, it is believed, no apology will be demanded for having, in some cases, in order to give a completeness to the survey, extended his inquiries and discussions beyond the bare exhibits.

CHAPTER II.

OUTLINE OF THE PRESENT CONDITION OF EDUCATION IN VARIOUS COUNRTIES.

THE SYSTEM AND CONDITION OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE-HOLLAND-BELGIUM—PRUSSIA-SAXONY-GRAND DUCHY OF BADEN-WURTEMBERG-BAVARIA— AUSTRIA-SWITZERLAND - SPAIN PORTUGAL-GREECE DENMARK-SWEDEN NORWAY-RUSSIA-TURKEY, EGYPT, MOROCCO, HAWAII-BRAZIL-ARGENTINE REPUBLIC-GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND-CANADIAN PROVINCES-UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

In order to make more intelligible the subsequent references to the different classes of educational institutions. to be treated of in this report, as well as all discussions of them and the relations they sustain to each other, it seems proper, first of all, to present in concise form a general outline of the present condition of education in the various countries which, by virtue of their educational representation at the Exposition, have demanded my attention.

In pursuance of this plan, it is my purpose to present, first, the edu cational spirit and policy of each of the nations represented, with their general statistical results; and, secondly, the results as manifested in the condition of the several great classes of institutions everywhere recognized.

In the collection of statistics, I have necessarily depended upon the authority of others. No pains have been spared, however, in seeking the best sources of information, personal application having been made in many instances to the heads of departments themselves, and it is believed that, in general, they present a very correct showing of the state and progress of education in the countries to which they refer.

In considering the different nations, the order observed will be that of their local occurrence in the Palace of the Exposition, except as to the United States, which, for convenience, will be presented last.

FRANCE.

Since the year 1831, when the enlightened Guizot sent the no less able and distinguished Victor Cousin to Prussia to study and report upon the system of education in that country, much progress has been made by the cause of popular education in France.

Before that period, the imperial government and the subsequent royal dynasty had established and liberally supported many institutions for secondary, superior, and the highest culture; but the wants of the millions had been almost entirely ignored. The present, however, is full of activity and hope.

The French system of public instruction is all-comprehensive, embracing, alike, the highest and the lowest schools in the empire; the spirit which animates, and the power which controls and directs them, having their center at the throne, and diffusing themselves through the medium of officers of the departments, arrondissements, cantons, and communes, into which the empire is divided, thus reaching, or aiming to reach, the whole people.

The official classification of the schools for public instruction is usually: 1. primary, including all elementary and the lowest grade of normal schools; 5. secondary, comprising the royal and communal colleges, lyceums, and the second grade of normal schools; 3. superior, embracing the "academies" having "faculties" of science, letters, law, medicine, and theology, together with a single superior normal school. The control of these several classes of institutions is vested in the imperial council of public instruction, formerly known as, and even yet constituting that theoretical body, the University of France; and consisting of the minister of public instruction, three senators, five bishops or archbishops, three councilors of state, three members of the court of appeals, eight inspectors-general, three clergymen belonging to the Lutheran, Reformed, and Jewish churches, five members of the Institute, and two heads of private educational establishments; the intention of the government being to give the various religious orders and institutions of the empire a fair representation in the school system, which is intended to fit all classes of persons for respectable citizenship. It is also worthy of note that this liberality of purpose observed in the constitution of boards, councils, and committees is traceable through all subordinate ramifications of the system.

All the members of this grand council are annually named by the Emperor; its meetings being semi-annual for the consideration of existing and amendatory regulations. There is also a council of thirty, with the minister at its head, entitled the superior council of improvement for special secondary instruction; a health commission of ten for all classes of schools; and a committee of patronage for infant schools, consisting of the archbishop of Paris, a senator, two chiefs from the staff of the minister of education, and twenty of the distinguished ladies of France.

Subordinate to the imperial council are regulations and officials not unusual in any important particular, yet usually ample and well-devised as by an authority intending to have itself felt and its results beneficial to the furtherance of the great end in view.

To insure efficient working and a faithful performance of duty by teachers in the various grades of schools, numerous inspectors are provided-eight inspectors-general for superior instruction, three for the faculty of letters, three for the faculty of science, and one for each of the faculties of law and medicine; eight inspectors-general for secondary instruction, four for letters, and four for science; four inspectors-general

for elementary instruction, and four honorary members of inspection, co-operating with each several class. There are also academy inspectors, numbering as many for all the academic districts as there are included departments. These inspectors are assisted by a rector, who is in charge of the normal and primary instruction for that district. More recently the infant schools are supposed to be under the supervision of the Empress, assisted by a number of ladies, salaried by the state, and numbering one for each academic district, which is the largest school division of the empire; and finally, there are a large number of departmental inspectors for the primary schools, amounting to one for each arrondissement, the civil division between a department and a commune, being no less than 363.

Private schools are allowed and encouraged, but instructors in these must pass the examinations required of those serving in the public schools; and the proficiency of their pupils and general school management are subject to a like oversight.

While it is obligatory upon the people to establish and maintain the required primary instruction in each commune, aid being given only when school fees and local taxes fail of sufficiency, attendance upon the schools is not obligatory. The age at which those who do attend pass out of any public instruction of this grade is determined quite as often by the ages at which they receive their first communion in the church to which they belong as by their attainments in school knowledge. For the Catholic church, this age is twelve; and for the Lutheran, sixteen. Thirteen-fifteenths of the French population is of the communion of the church of Rome.

Religiously considered, in the administration of its school system, the government is most judicious and liberal, recognizing the equal rights, before the law, of Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism, the three great generic and irreconcilable religions of Western Europe. Instructions in religion are given in all public schools; but no child is obliged to receive instruction in any creed denied by the parents; and in all cases where it is practicable and desired, separate schools for the children of differing denominations are provided. There is nothing in the law either requiring or disallowing this practice, it being, as in the question of mixed or separate schools for boys and girls, left to the circumstances of the communities and the discretion of the local authorities in charge of the schools. As a rule, there seems to be a preference for separate schools for the sexes and the religious orders.

The progress making by the government in diffusing the elements of popular education among its people is noteworthy. Thus, in 1832, when this subject began to be vitalized by a real national interest, the proportion of children between the ages of seven and thirteen in the primary schools was no more than 59 to each 1,000 inhabitants. In 1847 it had reached 99.8, and in 1863 116 for the same number. With a population of 37,382,225 of the 37,510 communes of the empire, only 818