strength, in order to fulfil the best and highest and most useful destiny. Men may think themselves truly devoted to the measure they have received and yet become narrow in comprehension, so that often an effort to arouse a new thought and new feelings by personal contact awakens, no matter with what care and wisdom attempted, a disposition to resent any change, and to defend the narrow ground occupied. Through the medium of such a visitor as the I. and J. now seems to me to be, the mind will often accept more of the light and truth needed. T. E. S.

INTEMPERANCE AND SABBATH-BREAKING. Editors INTELLIGENCER AND JOURNAL:

ONE of the greatest of existing evils is intemperance. Next to it we find another, almost equal in magnitude, and demanding most serious consideration: the violation of the Sabbath day. It is rapidly on the increase, at the same time that intemperance is on the increase. The violation of the Sabbath is on one account more dangerous than the grog shop: it more directly assails the church. We have recorded in the Bible these words: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," and every one that turns it into a day of disrespect tramples under foot that important command. When we become a nation of Sabbath breakers we shall no longer have anything worth preserving. When the Sabbath goes down, the republic goes down. Take, for instance, European countries such as Spain and Italy, and even France. They will never have a quiet, happy, republican government until they quit the violations of the Sabbath day, and truly recognize God and sacred things. Abolish the Sabbath and you will have social chaos in America, and then you will see the sun of prosperity going down in darkness and in blood.

Every one knows that strong drink destroys the home. The very law of self-preservation demands that the state protect the home. For a homeless community there can only be sorrow and desolation. Without homes there cannot be the social conditions of decency and morality. The duty of the state to protect the home is parallel to its duty to repel a foreign foe. Intemperance is the cause of separation between husband and wife, many times even causing divorce. It annually sends forth thousands of children from broken and desolated homes, blighting them with both poverty and disgrace. It wastes and consumes the hard earnings of the husband and father, and converts the home of peace, plenty, and warm affection into a place of pain and poverty, strife and woe. Some of us know very little of the misery and suffering that is caused by this evil. Richmond, Ind.

EDUCATIONAL.

J. W. MOORE,

listened with close attention to the ably prepared essays, three of which treated of the best methods of teaching reading, while the last paper, that offered by Susan Roberts, was a criticism on the present method of school work, and will be printed next week. As we hope to give place to all the essays, deeming them worthy of careful perusal, it is only necessary to refer to some of the remarks that followed them.

Nathaniel Richardson recalled the feeling that an impressive reading of scriptures had made upon him in his school days, and he believed that home reading would be more effective if it were done more correctly and with true feeling.

Annie Cooper urged parents to feel the importance of home reading for the children; as the exercise of reading aloud when out of school is a most valuable aid to the efforts of teachers. She also thought that a carefully prepared series of selections from the very best authors would cultivate literary taste at the same time that the mechanical skill in reading was being acquired.

Edward Magill thought that reading should be taught in large rooms, where it is practicable, in order that the teacher may be a distance from the reader, and thus a good volume of voice and also enunciation may be cultivated.

After the recess the paper criticising the prevailing methods of school work was read, which called forth very earnest comment. Edward Magill was in sympathy with a movement which has in view the abandonment of much of the work now believed necessary. He found in looking back to his school days that the labor expended by his teachers upon work written out by him, was almost labor lost, and he thought that an examination of such work in the class and by the person who had done it, could be made more effective if the children were trained to this kind of reliance upon themselves. He believed that children can be trusted, and that the various devices resorted to by teachers on account of their suspicion of dishonesty, tended to cultivate a spirit of cheating in the pupils. Trust the scholars, put the responsibility upon them, and better results are obtained for them, teachers' weariness is avoided, and a higher moral standard is established. Aaron B. Ivins thought it better to discard marking for lessons altogether, rather than give marks which are not correct.

Henry Hoxie, of Germantown, agreed with much that had been said. His experience is that marking has a value but it can be abused. The public dema nds it, and the taking hold of the papers has its value to the teacher. The talking over the subject in the class is a value to both teacher and pupils. The teacher gets a point of view, a leverage that cannot be gained in any other way. The main object to be gained is intellectual discipline and training. If the attention is directed to so many things that we are overloaded, it is impossible to do good work.

Allusion was made to sewing and other industrial occupations recommended by some instructors as necessary to be added to school studies, and it was stated that both cooking and sewing have been introduced in the Normal Schools of our State.

C. M. Biddle read a paper on "The Work of the Yearly Meeting's Committee on Education," which is given elsewhere.

THE WORK OF THE YEARLY MEETING'S COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION.

COMPARATIVELY few people know what has been accomplished by the Yearly Meeting's Committee on Education within the past two or three years. At first its main work was the visiting of schools and neighborhoods, to encourage teachers and committees to start and continue schools under their care, and in extreme cases to give financial assistance.

A few new schools were opened. After a short period of successful operation or gradual decline some of these were discontinued. Sometimes an inexperienced or an officious committee was at fault; sometimes the trouble could be traced to the inefficiency of the teacher; generally, however, the real cause of the failure was the lack of decided action on the part of the teacher or of the committee, when puzzling points arose in regard to discipline, classification of pupils, or the selection of books and the number of studies. Five or six years ago the committee decided that something was needed to supplement the work that had been done. The necessity for a superintendence was recognized. Finally, under a liberal arrangement with Swarthmore College, part of the time of George L. Maris was secured, and he was appointed Superintendent of the Yearly Meeting's schools; for two years he did efficient work in visiting schools and advising with their respective committees, but a different position requiring all of his time, the "Committee on Systematic Work" was organized to take charge of matters of detail. The Yearly Meeting directed one thousand dollars additional to be raised. Encouraged by the fact that real help, both financially and by way of instruction could now be given, visiting committees were appointed for each one of the schools, and since that time the work has gone steadily forward. Now the Committee can intelligently furnish aid as needed.

Largely attended conferences have been held at Race street meeting-house three or four times a year. Teachers have thus been enabled to consider with committees and parents together, some of the many subjects of general interest and importance. A school underthe immediate care of the Committee on Systematic Work was started at Race street. Experienced educators were here employed to instruct the pupils in the presence of our teachers a part of every day; arithmetic and geography for instance were in this way under the direction of Aaron B. Ivins. Lectures by Amelia P. Butler were given on methods of teaching, school management, and the general principles of education.

By this system of practice and observation teachers were kept in reserve for cases of emergency or for substitute work; at the same time they were gaining experience for the permanent positions that might offer. At the end of the year about threefourths of our teachers received regular appointments. At the present time there are in the employ of the Committee twenty-eight persons, doing work in twen

ty-five of the Yearly Meeting's schools. Assistance is rendered in accordance with the requests received. In some schools lectures are given; in others, French or German, or both, are taught, and still others receive drawing. Ten of the schools have regular work from two to five full days a week.

The advantages of free instruction to teachers have been increased. In addition to the lectures of last year, classes for improvement in Latin and French under Dr. Lambert Sauveur have been formed. Classes of teachers are receiving lectures in physical exercise twice a week in the new gymnasiThe good influence of this thorough training for teachers is felt even outside our Society; frequent applications are received by the Committee for teachers to take charge of schools not under the care of the meeting.

um.

A course of study has been prepared for those who desire to work upon the basis of the Race street schools. It gives full information as to the textbooks used, the amount of work required each year, and the studies pursued in each class.

Arrangements have been made to send substitutes in case of sickness, or other cause for absence of the teacher. Especial care is taken to make the visits of teachers profitable and enjoyable, Second and Fifth days having been appointed for visiting Race street schools.

The generous action of the committee in furnishing so many opportunities to improve is thoroughly appreciated, and teachers who are deriving the benefit therefrom cannot fail to be of increased value to the schools in which they may be called to work and to society at large.

THE LIBRARY.

THE JOURNAL OF PRISON DISCIPLINE AND PHILANTHRO

PY.

THIS is forwarded to us by a Friend deeply inter

ested in the promotion of all proper measures for alleviating the miseries of public prisons.

It is a most interesting document, treating as it does of many points which are engaging the anxious thought of all true christian people everywhere.

This Society for the Alleviation of the Miseries of Public Prisons, has now worked in its benevolent way nearly one hundred years, and during about two thirds of that time the venerable and beloved James J. Barclay, now departed, has been identified with its career.

The protection of discharged prisoners is a portion of their work which they have felt to be particularly blessed.

They have also found it their duty to extend their care to shield insane criminals from unjust treatment and secure them proper medical care when such is possible. But they make a solemn protest against leaving such persons under the control of the officers of our penal institutions. It is due to humanity and to human rights that insane criminals be placed under the care of physicians with surroundings that are calculated to restore the delicate and wonderful powers of the mind.

They have seen with great satisfaction that in the Eastern Penitentiary of Pennsylvania a system of premiums for industry and good behavior has almost done away with harsh and brutalizing punishments.

The Journal calls attention to the new Bucks County Prison at Doylestown in this State as the model prison for a county. They believe it almost perfect, answering the best purposes which a prison edifice can answer.

We do not find in this elaborate Journal, any special recommendation of the appointment of women physicians to have physical care of women prisoners in our penal institutions; though it is strongly urged that a competent matron is needed at every police station, and at all points where women prisoners need to be subjected to examination. This Society has labored long and accomplished much, and nothing more nobly shows the growth of Christian civilization during the present century, than the records of "The Philadelphia Society for alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons."

STORIES OF BIRD LIFE: A BOOK OF FACTS AND ANECDOTES, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE HABITS AND IntelliGENCE OF THE FEATHERED TRIBES. By Henry Berthoud.

This work, from the press of T. Nelson & Sons, London, has been lately introduced into Friends' Library, 15th and Race streets, Philadelphia. It is a little volume, designed to encourage on the part of the young reader a love for the study of natural history; and more especially to a habit of studying with careful interest the ways and habits of birds. Artistic pictures adorn and illustrate the work and add to its value.

We cannot too much commend this healthful style of book which shows us the secrets of bird life, or of any of the characteristics of the nonspeaking fellow-creatures which help to make our earth-dwelling so beautiful.

AMONG the books admitted into Friends' Library, 15th and Race, Sts., on Twelfth month 9th, 1885, were:

A Family Flight through Mexico, by E. E. Hale and Susan Hale.

The Euphrates and the Tigris.
The Amazon and its Wonders.

The Carved Cartoon.

The Iron Age of Germany.

The Idea of God as affected by Modern Knowledge. By John Fiske.

Movements of Religious Thought in Britain During the 19th Century. By John Tulloch.

Along Alaska's Great River. By Lieutenant Schwatka.

The Silent South. By George W. Cable.

Life and Career of Horace Greeley. By Wm. M. Cornell.

Dean Stanley with the Children.

Memoir of Mary Anna Longstreth. Historical Collections of Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. By Howard M. Jenkins.

FATHER, TO THEE.

ATHER, to thee we look in all our sorrow,

FATHER,

L. W. H.

Thou art the fountain whence our healing flows; Dark though the night, joy cometh with the morrow; Safely they rest who on thy love repose.

When fond hopes fail, and skies are dark before us,
When the vain cares that vex our life increase,-
Comes with its calm the thought that thou art o'er us,
And we grow quiet, folded in thy peace.
Naught shall affright us on thy goodness leaning,
Low in the heart faith singeth still her song:
Chastened by pain we learn life's deeper meaning,
And in our weakness thou dost make us strong.
Patient, O heart, though heavy be thy sorrows,
Be not cast down, disquieted in vain;
Yet shall thou praise Him when these darkened furrows,
Where now he ploweth, wave with golden grain.

I

-F. L. HoSMER.

THE FALLING SNOW.

SEE a straggling, dim procession pass,

Of shrugging, shadowy shapes that come and go;

I sit and watch, through clouded panes of glass,
Through gauzy curtains of the falling snow.

The fairy phantoms of the peopled air
Come softly gliding to the earth below;
I sit and list, I list in vain, to hear

The feathery footfall of the falling snow.
No sound, save now and then a muffled hoof
And muffled wheel. And, in the silence, lo
I sit and worship 'neath my whitening roof!
The world keeps Sabbath for the falling snow.
White wings are fluttering all around to-day:
Unseen, unheard-the loved of long ago!
Alas! why miss and mourn I, more than they,
The forms that rest beneath the falling snow?
-CHARLES G. AMES.

From The Student.

IMPRESSIONS ON GERMAN EDUCATION.

GERMAN education is the heirloom of former ages,

for its antiquity and sanctioned by the State; modified, extended, and perfected according to the needs of each succeeding generation, until it has become the most thorough, rigid, and systematic course of school training which has ever existed-a grand plan of education, to whose methods the scholar attributes every achieved success, to which the

patriot points as the glory of his country, second only to the gleam of her million bayonets.

Its successful operation, however, is rendered possible only by the strong control of the State and by the peculiar character of the people. Were the Germans as a nation less persevering and persistent in all that they undertake, were they less inclined to submit willingly and without question to whatever authority may prescribe, were they, like their transAtlantic cousins, enamored of practical studies and anxious only for tangible results, even the strong arm of the government would fail in making popular, if not in enforcing the system which is now its boast. How often have I thought, what would American boys, or rather American fathers, say to all this to spending so many hours on dry forms, to wasting so many years in studying that which can never be commercially profitable in after life? But a German boy, by being born a German, is born for a German education. Nature has given him a father who does not concern himself with new theories of instruction, or discuss the merits of practical or impractical studies, or ponder over the comparative advantages of public and free schools, or watch to see when, in his judgment, his boy is ripe for plucking from the student's bench to learn some trade.

For all these important matters the government has provided. It has established as state institutions the gymnasium and the university, the former with a course as rigid and obligatory as the latter is free and unrestrained. Moreover, it is the government which examines and appoints the teachers, whose tenure of place it has made permanent, and whom it has exempted from all civil control.

The good citizen acquiesces gladly in all this, and instead of questioning the wisdom of the powers above him, devotes his energies to so bringing up his children at home that, when they come to the school, they may be amenable to discipline. It is a way the Germans have to respect and support their teachers under all circumstances, even if the feelings of the child are disregarded 'thereby; and this custom is found in practice to simplify wonderfully and render pleasant the work of teaching.

With regard to elementary education in Germany, there is little perhaps so different from our own methods as to demand extended consideration. Haying reached the age of six years, the child is summoned by the state to school, and nothing but a physician's certificate of physical inability can secure his exemption. If the parent wishes to educate his children at home, he must first undergo a government examination, besides paying a tax for the privilege, and only on the same conditions can a private tutor be employed. In the primary school reading and writing are taught (both the German and Roman script being required), with arithmetic and a little geography, more especially of France, where the young learner may some day have occasion to use his topography in a military campaign. A pleasant feature of this early school life is formed by the excursions which the boys often make in summer, accompanied by their teacher. The little fellows flock about him, equipped with their tin can

isters for collecting specimens, and enjoy themselves royally, but occasion the master no more trouble than a well-ordered flock of chickens an experienced mother hen. The docility of Young Germany is not to be mentioned in the same breath with that of Young America.

Thus three or four years are spent, until, at the age of nine or ten, the boy is ready for the gymnasium, the great training-school or preparatory college for the university. The German gymnasium is a classical school of the highest order. It has one course of study for all, and no concessions are made to individual preferences. As the university alone opens the door to the professions, so the gymnasium is the necessary stepping-stone to the university. It is the German mother's ambition to give her boy the advantages of this school, for then, as she says, the whole world lies open to him. The course of study demands, as a rule, nine years. It differs slightly in different parts of Germany, Prussia naturally taking the lead. The general plan of study and the amount of time to be given to the different subjects are determined by the Minister of Education; in the details, however, great freedom is allowed the teacher.

The school holds about forty weeks in the year, six days in the week, with two half-holidays, and six hours each day. The whole time in school is devoted to instruction, the lessons being wholly prepared at home and requiring, as a rule, about three hours.

Of this time of thirty hours a week, about nine are given to Latin, five to Greek, two to German, four to mathematics, two to French, three to geography and history, two to natural science, three to religious instruction. Thus we see that nearly onehalf of the student's whole time for nine years is devoted to the study of Greek and Latin. What wonder, then, that on entering the university the good classical scholar is able to read those languages almost as fluently as his mother-tongue, and oftentimes to write, if not to speak, Latin with nearly the same ease as German! This result is attained simply by time, patience, and good instruction. The American boy, provided he had the time and the will, could, I am convinced, accomplish the same even with poorer teaching.

Nor is positive knowledge the end and aim of education any more with the Germans than with us. The training of the mental faculties is the one great object, every effort being made to the harmonious development of those faculties and every discouragement thrown in the way of hasty and superficial study and mere cramming of facts. Thus, already in the gymnasium, the boy learns those methods and acquires that habit of thought and investigation which he will afterward use in the university and in his profession. The average age for completing the course is nineteen. At the final or abiturienten examination, the student receives a certificate of ripeness or unripeness. In the former case he is entitled at once to enter the university; in the latter, he is advised either to take another demester in the gymnasium and present himself again for examination, or on the other hand to give up the university course altogether.

He may, however, if he prefers, attend lectures at once, without being regularly matriculated, and in the meantime work up his deficiencies, presenting himself again after six months at the gymnasium for examination. Failing a second time, he must give up all hope of a university career, and even if successful his time there begins to count only after the second examination. From the gymnasium the ripe students mostly continue their studies at the university. It is quite a rare exception when one allows his scholastic career to end here. The unripe students either seek places in business, or positions under the government, or go into the army. Beside these classical schools, there have existed for the last fifty years the so-called "Real Schulen," or "Real Gymnasium," in which the course of instruction is somewhat different. In these, less Latin is required and no Greek. On the other hand, the sciences and mathematics have a larger place, and English is taught as well as French. These "Real Schulen " of the first order (for there are others of a lower rank) require, like the gymnasium, nine years to complete the course, and furnish an education somewhat similar to that of the scientific course of our best colleges. Everything is thoroughly done.

The languages-Latin, English, and French—are carried much farther than Latin, French, and German with us. In the sciences, on the other hand, there is not so much opportunity for practical work. It is not the idea that students from these schools shall pursue scientific or any other studies afterward-in that case the gymnasium and university are open to them—but that they will find places under the government or in business. (It was not until 1870 that the university was in any degree available to Real Schulen graduates, and now it is only partially so.) These government places are particularly sought, full graduates being naturally preferred, and those from the gymnasium standing a better chance for many positions than those from the Real Schulen.

In the Real Schulen of the better class, just as in the gymnasium, the object in view is the gradual and systematic training of the mental faculties, rather than the gaining of knowledge for especial use in business. This latter idea is more prominent in the Real Schulen of the second class, with a course of from seven to nine years, in which Latin is not obligatory, and also in the Burgher Schulen. These are intended to meet the wants of such children as are to form the bulk of the people--the future mechanics, farmers, and laborers.

These classes, thanks to the universal education in Germany, are rapidly rising in the scale of intelligence, and, as a natural consequence, are more or less dissatisfied with the condition in which they have heretofore lived. In fact, there is a general pushing forward all along the line. The shoemaker's son wants a clerkship; the shopkeeper's son a post-office: the merchant's boy a bank, and every student a profession. I knew in Munich a poor cobbler who hoped by his cobbling and his wife's floor-scrubbing to educate his boy for the ministry. Such social changes, common as they are to us, are not at all so in Ger

many, or, at least, have not been in the past. The people have the reputation of resting quietly and submissively where they find themselves placed, and of holding most tenaciously to time-honored uses, institutions, and society distinctions. Their character is extremely conservative, a conservatism which in the lower orders sometimes approaches stupidity. If, therefore, the body of the people are learning to appreciate more clearly their power and privileges, this result is due first to education. Many a German has learned in the last decade to think for himself, and although the first effect may be disturbance, although he may begin by thinking wildly and illogically, yet, in the end, the social condition of the masses cannot but be improved.

In speaking of the education of boys before that of girls, I have simply followed the German idea of the relative importance of the two-otherwise courtesy might have dictated the reverse order. In Germany it is a misfortune to be born a girl, both in the eyes of her parents and of the girl herself, as soon as she comes to a realizing sense of her condition. Not only does the man rule the woman, but the boy rules the girl. If he is unable to do so on account of her superior physical strength or imperfect understanding of their mutual relations, the parents give him, not her, the necessary assistance. So, from babyhood on, the boy is the all-important factor in the household. What wonder, then, that he has the best school-house, the finest teacher, and a system of education quite different from that adapted to the feebler intellect of his sister. Co-education has not been thought of in this land of conservatism. There is at present no university in Germany open to women. Their education is conducted on a different principle and to quite a different end. For boys, the question is, "Are certain studies conducive to a wellrounded mental development?" Here, "Of what use will certain studies be to a woman who is to keep her husband's house and entertain his friends with pleasant small-talk!" Of course, Hebrew and Greek and Latin and higher mathematics and science are here out of the question. After the elementary studies, the young lady generally completes her education at a private school, with German literature, composition, history, French and English, which subjects, however, she learns much more thoroughly than the corresponding American girl. Her earlier education, which is compulsory, is practically the same as that of boys, often in the same building, but never to my knowledge (unless in a small country school) in the same rooms and classes.

The practical training of the future housewife is very carefully attended to, either at home or in special schools for the purpose. It is amazing how young she is initiated into the mysterious use of the sewing or knitting needle. "Deutscher Fleiss "is that proverbial equivalent for industry, or being "busy," which every German girl and woman appropriates to herself as her peculiar inheritance and national virtue. At school she knits during intermissions for recreation. The women selling eggs and vegetables in the market are always knitting, and even the six-yearold child watching three or four younger brothers and