And heavy yet with prayer and tears, To Schwab's successor, Baron Gaudy, it is as yet difficult to assign a distinctive character. He also chiefly deals in narrative poetry, but it is seldom in the ballad form; he loves terza rima, and pursues his subject in a steady old Italian form. The most fanciful poem by this author that we have met with, is one called "Buonaberdi" (in the "Musenalmanach," 1835), where Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt is told in an oriental style, as the work of an enchanter. The Eastern richness, and the simple credulity with which Bonaparte, called the "Sultan Buonaberdi," is described as the ruler of the genii and the possessor of Solomon's ring, is well hit off; and the poem is not less original in design than happy in execution. Among the contributors to the present volume of the "Musenalmanach," we miss a few favourite names. Where is Friedrich Rückert, the veritable wise man of the East, who deals out vast volumes of poetry, and never seems exhausted? who appears in every form-European and Asiatic-mostly in the latter, but still at home in Italian measures and middle-age lays? The "Musenalmanach" has invariably been honoured by his effusions, and why should he pause now? Rückert is one of the most remarkable phenomena that any age ever produced; his fancy is inexhaustible, and the ingenuity with which he can pick out a series of appropriate images almost miraculous. Then all his poems seem for a purpose for the embodying of a thought; he never loses himself, like some writers of exuberant fancy, but he combines an oriental richness with a logical design, and employs the treasures of his creation for the carrying out of his idea. When, in his admirable poem of " Baue recht" (Build aright), he exhorts every member of the universe to perform his part in the great work, he darts through every department of the creation, giving an appropriate admonition to all. And here we have another excellence of Rückert; if once he finds an image illustrative of his subject, he can make the collaterals of the image accord with the collaterals of the subject. If he compares the starry heaven to a manuscript written by the Deity, he does not stop here; he at once makes the sun the seal to the manuscript, then still follows the thought by declaring that night removes the seal, and opens the manuscript to the eyes of man, who reads therein that " God is love." Hence, if he propounds a parable, not only does the general character of the story convey the moral, but all the minutiæ, every little incident, has its assigned purpose and meaning. Rückert is not prodigal of his imaginative wealth; he does not, like Shelley, fling it about at random, not caring whether he turns it to account or not, but, with riches equally great, he knows exactly how to apply his luxuriant fancy to a purpose. His rapidity in creating images makes him distinct, not obscure; and this felicitous and rare combination of imaginative power and closeness in carrying out a thought constitutes his great ness. That Count Strehlenau (Nicolaus Lenau, as he calls himself) has ceased to contribute, gives less cause for regret, though we would not be understood to express the slightest disrespect of this nobleman's works; we consider him, on the contrary, as, in many respects, a poet of the very first order. He has not, like Rückert, that facility for selecting apt images, but rather delights to exhibit his giant power by seizing images naturally inapt, and wrenching them to his purpose. The reader is astounded by the audacity with which he grasps at the most distant objects, and gathers them into strange combinations. Nature is to him one vast mass of living beings, generally stern and terrible, though occasionally mild and placid. The winds address him in intelligible language, and sear his heart — winter dances wildly, and stamps upon graves-a hollow, evil-boding voice swells from the bosom of the earth; and, though his heart sickens at it, he takes a fearful pleasure in singing its inspirations. Throughout his works he represents himself as one of those That will not look beyond the tomb, And cannot hope for rest before. All his hopes in this world appear as if crushed, and those of the next dimmed and dulled by a frightful veil of desponding scepticism, his own fine gigantic imagination creating new forms to nurture the morbid state of his mind. His utterance of feeling is exquisite; it is the pouring forth of a blighted heart; and, when it assumes a softer tone, it is as the calm sorrow of one who, wearied of the more violent, desponding expressions of grief, at length allows himself to melt into tears. Even his joyousness is of a fearful character; his bold personation amazes us; and, though delighted, we can hardly help shrinking when he tells us how" Spring, the wanton youth, is tearing forth the flowers from the heart of his mother Earth." Notwithstanding the admiration which Lenau justly awakens, there is no doubt that he has already done sufficient in the lyric department. His vast imagination only displayed itself to advantage, while it was the medium for portraying his own feelings; we saw that it was those wild restless feelings which caused the fearful grappling with every object in nature; and, those once portrayed with an early freshness, the purpose of his song is over. He is, doubtless, aware of this; in the poems which relate not to himself, he has often selected horrible, sometimes revolting, subjects as if still to keep up an excitement; but we miss Lenau in his best days-the Lenau whose songs were of such wildly glorious excellence, that anything short of that excellence disappoints. The fragments of his Faust, which he formerly sent to the "Musenalmanach," are now completed and collected. These are admirable, and how could they be otherwise, when Lenau is himself a Faust? Perceiving that this article has already extended to the prescribed length, we reserve, the remainder of our observations on the Musenalmanach" for our next number. ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN HOLLAND AND BELGIUM. Voyage en Hollande et en Belgique, sous le Rapport de l'Instruction primaire, des Etablissemens de Bienfaisance, et des Prisons dans les deux Pays. (Travels in Holland and Belgium, with a view to the State of elementary Education, the Beneficent Institutions, and the Prisons.) By M. Ramon de la Sagra, Deputy to the Cortes of Spain. 2 vols. Svo., Paris, 1838. The question of national education has recently assumed a practical form. The House of Commons has unanimously pronounced that something must be done. What that something will be is matter of uncertainty, and we hold it therefore important to bring before our readers the state of national education in the two countries where the experiment has been tested by the largest experience. M. Ramon de la Sagra, whose work we purpose to examine, is a member of the Spanish Cortes, favourably known to the literary world by his Travels in the United States, and by his valuable account of the island of Cuba, now in course of publication. Anxious for the regeneration of his unhappy country, he became desirous to introduce into it some of the philanthropic institutions common in other European countries, but of which the Peninsula is still destitute. For this purpose he visited Holland and Belgium, minutely examining the schools, the hospitals, and the prisons; searching out the principles of the systems adopted for training the young, relieving the afflicted, elevating the poor above actual want, and reforming the depraved habits of the criminal; and comparing the design of these institutions with the actual results in practice. Although England cannot be compared with Spain in the destitution of means of social improvement, yet, in the application of these means, our country evinces much energy wasted, large funds perverted, and gloriousopportunities ostentatiously neglected. Every body says that the state of national education in England is disgraceful to our age and country; but nobody has the moral courage to grapple with the evil and apply the remedy. The country is waiting for the minister, and the minister is waiting for the country, but Time stands still for neither; while parties are squabbling about minute points, most, if not all of them, indifferent to the question at issue, an entire generation is slipping from our hands, and millions, ready and anxious to be trained in the paths of virtue, are delivered over to the demoralizing influence of the depraved and the vicious. Feeling a deep conviction of this melancholy truth, we deem that we shall perform an acceptable service in bringing before our countrymen the results of M. de Sagra's researches, especially as they are at once more comprehensive and more condensed than those of M. Cousin in the same country. At the close of the last century, the state of education in Holland, public and private, was even more deplorable than it is now in England. Messrs. Van der Palm, Schimmelpennink, and Van der Ende, successively laboured to effect a change, and at length an organized system was established by law, which is still superior to any in Europe. In every province of Holland a commission of primary instruction has been instituted, composed of district inspectors, each of whom is charged to watch over the schools in his own circuit, to correct all errors, and to report to the general body any improvements that have been made in the business and details of education. But the most important matter of all is that no person is permitted to teach in public or in private who has not obtained a certificate from the commission attesting his competency, and a certificate of moral character from the local authorities in the place of his residence. This law at once struck at the root of the worst evils that previously overspread the land. One would suppose that its utility is too obvious to require a word of comment, and yet there is perhaps no portion of the Dutch system more likely to encounter the desperate hostility, not merely of the interested, but even of many well-meaning persons, should an effort be made to introduce it into this country. Law gives every protection to our bodies; the apothecary dare not administer drugs, nor the surgeon set a limb, until he has proved his knowledge of his art before a competent tribunal; but for the mind there is no such defence, the ignorant may keep it in darkness, the depraved may pollute it, and law affords no security. You have some assurance for your child's safety when you entrust him to the medical practitioner, but, when you have to choose his guide and instructor, you do so at the hazard of his salvation and the peril of his immortal soul. This, to be sure, is defended on the principle of a free trade in education;-be it so, but why not carry the principle to its full extent? why not apply it to drugs, and have arsenic sold in our bakers' shops? A more serious objection is that such a system might place the entire education of the country under the control of the government. This we think a very visionary evil; for the board of inspectors would not stand in such a relation to the ministry as would render them mere creatures of its will. A middle plan, however, might easily be devised, which we think would be found practicable and unobjectionable: let the examination of teachers be voluntary and not compulsory; let it at the same time be public and sufficiently strict to prevent certificates from being given as matters of course; parents will then have means of knowing what teachers have established their competency, and if they entrust their children to others, they will do so at their own peril. No doubt, uncertificated teachers would get some pupils just as quacks get some patients, but the great bulk of the population would go to the regular practitioners. We have dwelt strongly on this point, because inspection and responsibility are the primary elements of every sound system of national education; without them every thing else is a mere waste of time and money; and yet they are just the points most neglected in every discussion of the question in this country. The provincial commission of inspectors meets thrice a year to receive reports, examine masters, hear complaints, and correct abuses. Delegates from these commissions are convoked, generally once a year, at the Hague, where they form a kind of educational council to the minister of public instruction. This portion of the Dutch plan might easily be introduced into England; let no school receive a share of the parliamentary grant until it has been inspected, the competency of its teacher ascertained, and the system of instruction examined. The mere fact of inspection, especially if the reports be recorded, will of itself work a mighty reformation, whose extent it would not be easy to calculate. The tenth article of the Dutch educational law both increases the efficiency of inspection, and guards against its abuse. It authorizes the establishment of a local commission of superintendence over all schools, private or public, in cities and large towns. This wou d be a very beneficial institution in England, especially as it would lead to the adaptation of the system of instruction to the localities of the schools. The twenty-second article declares that the object of primary instruction is "the exercise of all the social and Christian virtues," but at the same time the law of Holland restricts the schoolmaster to such moral and religious lessons as are common to all denominations of Christians, and provides that opportunities shall be afforded to clergymen of every profession to give doctrinal instruction to the children of their respective flocks. This is obviously the only system practicable in a country where great diversity of faith prevails; but, even where uniformity of creed is found, there are many reasons why a similar course should be adopted. It is not very prudent to confound the secular with the religious teacher; if the child is to be taught religion by a layman, why not the man? Many people confound Religious with |