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no sense state officials the rights to protect themselves against all political interference should at all times be permitted them.

It may easily be imagined that this delicate matter was broached at the Congress of Paris, yet, as the element of prudence was a prominent one, very little time was devoted to it. Besides, the work before the congress was of such a a serious nature as to absorb all the time and attention of the delegates. The work was divided into five sections, viz, pedagogy, professional interests, provision for old age, the organization of congress, and gratuitous instruction. As the greater part of the questions had been prepared at former discussions the congressional debates could be essentially shortened. The questions submitted to debate were those that occupied the teachers all over France, and their selection had been made by preliminary inquiries, so that from the beginning these topics met the approval of the majority.

The next and latest international congress in the interest of common-school affairs was held, opportunely, during the Paris Exposition of 1889. It was the result of efforts of the earlier educational congresses, and took the shape of an earnest manifestation of sympathy on the part of foreigners for the aspirations of the promoters of the educational system of France. The resolutions of this congress are still well remembered by all. (After L. Fleischer, Vienna.)

2.-BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Book production.-The London publishers' circular presents the following analysis of the businers done by the publishing trade in England during 1889:

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In looking over the analytical table of books published during 1889, which was printed on the last day of that year, an exceptional literary activity was revealed. The figures for 1889 are not quite so large, but still they mark a production of between three and four hundred books more than were counted up and classified in 1888. In other words, the statistics go to show that the year 1889 has produced about one work per diem, Sundays included, more than the output of 1888. Comparing or contrasting the number of publications in 1889 with those of 1888, we find in theology a slight decline, both in new books and new editions. In educational works, also, 1889 has fewer works to show than its predecessor. Books for young people, on the other hand, show a good increase. Of novels and stories there are noted no less than 1,010 new books, besides 364 new editions. This gives the ardent novel-reader as many as three novels for each week day, with a balance to spare, and one new edition for every day.

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bearable conditions arising from the attempts at education ad hoc, and chiefly prompted by his desire to counteract the socialistic tendencies (centrifugal, destructive tendencies, as he calls them) of the present time, took the initiative in his capacity as King of Prussia, and called together a number of well-reputed educators, journalists, scientists, legislators, and representatives of the church for a special inquiry into the conditions of secondary instruction in his kingdom. This commission held its sessions from December 4 till December 17, 1890, in Berlin, and formulated a number of propositions for reform of higher education, among which are some that materialize a portion of the hopes of the advocates of Einheitschulen."

In future, this commission decided, only two kinds of the sample card of secondary schools now existing shall be preserved: The Gymnasium and the realschule; that is, the classical and modern high school. The former is to prepare for entrance into the university where the learned professions are recruited; the latter to prepare for polytechnicums, for administrative officers, for commerce, agricultural, and technical colleges, etc. The hybrid form, "realgymnasia," is to be abandoned, all other secondary schools shall in due course of time conform with either of the kinds mentioned. Instead of a uniform, a dual system is advo cated, not an "einheitschule," but a "zweiheitschule." Where not enough pupils are found in a small town to construct the entire nine years' course, the upper grades of the high schools of several towns are to be combined in one school in the most centrally located town. But in order to enable these two kinds of high school to follow their course undisturbed, it is thought best to give each its own preparatory classes. This latter measure makes illusory the efforts at unifying or fusing at least the lower classes, and the fiat has gone forth to establish a gulf between those who have means, inclination, or ambition to obtain a higher education and those who have not.

While the work performed by the commission may be said to be a step in the right direction, it does not seem in harmony with the democratic tendencies of the age, since it still necessitates an early decision on the part of the parents as to what the boy (mark the word boy, for the girls are not considered in this connection) is to become. It reestablishes the predestination theory as it were, especially so, because a common substructure for both kinds of high school in form of a common preparatory department is rejected. When we see that the French Republic, with true insight into the best means for its perpetuation, establishes a common school which terminates in a high school and brings the lycées into organic connection with elementary schools; when we see the same organization adopted in the Swiss Republic we conclude that Germany will have a common school ("einheitschule") as soon as it becomes a republic, and not until then. [R. K., in Ed. Review.]

Switzerland.-The pastoral conference of the Canton Granbuenden, Switzerland, recently expressed its views concerning the teaching of the classic languages by adopting the following series of theses presented by Rev. Truog:

(1) Latin has become the language of learned men through school, asceticism, and humanism; but since the natural sciences have made their astonishing upward start the classic languages as a study have lost their position. Despite of that they have remained, or rather were kept the leading study in high schools, because they were, or their acquisition was, thought of peculiar pedagogical value.

(2) But the pedagogical value of (particularly Roman classics is, as far as their contents are concerned, questionable. For the purpose of formative training of the mind, other branches of study are much better suited: moreover their acquisition will aim at general culture, a thing that can not be said of the contents of Latin authors.

(3) For theologians a certain limited quantity of Latin and Greek, however, se ms an indispensable thing on account of the necessity of referring to original texts. The same may be true of other learned professions. But while we grant that a knowledge of Greek and Latin is desirable it would seem as though less would be more "-that is to say, the knowledge referred to could be acquired during the last two years of the course.

(4) If, however, we can not do without the classics we might introduce them in translations. All church authorities who have written in Latin have been translated admirably, and there seems to be no urgent necessity for the physicians and lawyers either to surround themselves with a high wall of Latin."

(5) It is in our opinion best to replace Latin and Greek in the lower grades of secondary schools by other branches of study, such as stand in close relation to the urgent demands of modern life.

(6) Every high-school course should be so arranged as to offer during the first

two-thirds of the course a general culture desirable for everybody, and only during the last third of the course the demands of the learned professions should be heeded by offering Latin and Greek. (It must be borne in mind that European high schools have a six to eight, or even nine years' course, beginning with 9 or 10 years, and terminating rarely before the nineteenth year of age.)

(7) If the school is thus designed it will be able to do more for citizenship by teaching history better; more for man himself by teaching hygiene and physiology; more for the business career of thousands of young men by teaching commercial geography, bookkeeping, and modern languages; more for literary culture by teaching the literature of modern times, and more for the prosperity of the country by teaching physics, chemistry, mathematics, and engineering more thoroughly than heretofore; finally, something might be done in the way of technical and industrial training. But as long as the classics claim time and energy of teachers and students, we rear generation after generation of discontented men who can not find a place in this busy li e of modern times.

We refrain from all reflections, and leave the thinking reader to rhyme these theses with his own views. Many will find it hard work; others will chime in readily. At any rate, there is no half way shilly-shallying about these theologians. And a decided view, be it right or wrong, is better than no v ew at all; hence the expressions couched in the foregoing seven paragraphs have a peculiarly refreshing flavor. (Schweitzer-Schularchiv.)

VIEWS CONCERNING THE PEDAGOGICAL VALUE OF LATIN AND GREEK-A

SYMPOSIUM.1

Since this subject is still a point of pedagogical controversy, a few recent utterances of noted men may be quoted. (Editor "Paed.")

I. Johann von Asboth. (Proceedings of the Hungarian Parliament, Budapest, 1890.)

"If it is the policy of the State to eliminate the study of Greek, if it excludes the antique world from the secondary schools, that is from general national education, it robs the nation of that which can not be replaced. From that moment, especially since the religious ideas of the people are already shaken, a generation will arise that has no contact with the past; a society in which people will think it useless to know where their grandfathers are buried, and still more useless to know what they lived and died for. A generation will spring up which from its lofty summit of enlightenment will look down with derision upon its ancestor's piety and prejudices; it will, with strict logic, come to the conclusion, sooner or later, that reverence for parents has a practical justification only so long as the parents may be immediately useful to us. A generation will grow up indifferent to the past, indifferent also to the future, knowing no other interests than enjoyment, comfort, and tangible gain.

"And when this American view of things, this extreme of Western spirit, meets with the spirit of the East; when this Western longing for enjoyment and profit is not coupled with the feverish activity of the West, when Oriental indolence is not coupled with Oriental temperance and want of pretension, but when the longing for pleasure and gain meets with Oriental indolence and want of habits of industry-as they do with us, alas, so frequertly-then this match will result in a degenerate and ever-sinking society, under whose guidance we shall become a depraved race, but never a nation.

"The proud-spirited Hungarian nation can not, in its present numerical relation to others, be satisfied with playing a subordinate rôle. My opinion is that it will be one of the most fatal errors to nurse the illusion that we, with our numerical strength in this portion of Europe, surrounded as we are geographically and ethnographically, could be able to maintain a state of the second or third rank-a state that need not trouble itself about others, and about which others would not trouble themselves. Such a so-called neutral middle state has never been able to be preserved in the southeast of Europe. The Hungarian nation will either occupy a prominent position in the empire which it supports (and that was the policy of the Arpades, the Anjous and the Hunyadys, and I venture to say was the fundamental principle of Francis Deák's policy), or it will be nothing but an oppressed and degenerate nationality. An intellectual prominence, or the most energetic exertion toward reaching it, is that with which we supplement our unfavorable numerical proportion.

"With this mission it in no way accords that we should eliminate from our national education those studies in which intellectual prominence is represented;

1 Translated from "Paedagogium" (Vienna).

studies which give knowledge of the human heart and soul, and teach how to guide and govern the human being.

"We need not depreciate our own time. This era has its admirable acquisitions, its marvelous inventions which revolutionize material existence from day to day, and on account of its feverish activity this era is worthily called great. But it is obvious that the era of electricity, lightning trains, nerve-killing telephone, etc., can not be the time of intellectual concentration. It can not be a time of harmonious contemplation of men and the world. The antique world, with its simpler conditions of life, its incomparably fewer complications, was much more able than we to view the human being from a human standpoint. That is the reason why the sources of wisdom, of law, and art, are found in Greek culture, compared with which the Latin is only an imitation, a second-hand civilization. From these sources is fed, even to this day, our own material development; for, though we have acquired much new knowledge and are acquiring it daily, we can scarcely say that we are acquiring new ideas.

Through this mental concentration history, legislation, and art of the ancients became instructive and sublime; through it the knowledge of the human heart and soul became profound and true. But all that can be acquired only in youth; that is, before life's combat robs us of the faculty to receive deep impressions and prevents mental concentration. Afterward, when greater maturity comes with its fever of passion and hot blood, the battle for subsistence opens, and the everyday humdrum business, the prose of debit and credit, overtakes us-then it is too late to acquire all that; and he who would endeavor to do so at that age could acquire it only with very much greater trouble, exertion, and loss of time, or by means of pale-complexioned and insufficient translations.

"It is a demoralizing argument, one that undermines the national ambition of youth, that we should throw out these studies to which all nations cling, great and insignificant alike, only because the mental exertion is too great for us Hungarians. That would not be a proclamation indicating intellectual superiority, but inferiority; it would be an abdication of the mission to guide other nations, and, indeed, an abdication of the place Hungary has in the galaxy of nations." II. From a recent debat in the Norwegian Storthing (lower house of parliament).

Prof. Horst (of Tromsö): "The classical high school of to-day can not be regarded as a school of general culture. It may seem curious how a man who is himself a philologist, and who from early youth has been brought up entirely in the atmosphere of classical study; furthermore, one who has honestly endeav- * ored to enter deeper into antiquity, how such a man can occupy a standpoint such as I do to-day. But I wish to remark that twenty years of teaching the classics has brought it about that I arrive at the conclusion mentioned before. I have also had ample opportunity to notice how little classic culture is serviceable in life. By the term general culture' we understand such branches which are necessary for life, and Latin and Greek are in this regard not any more essential than other branches, unless it be for such persons whose intention it is to spend their lives in studies of a similar kind. As far as Greek is concerned, too little of it is read to learn the language, and too much in comparison with the waste of time it necessitates." The speaker said he could scarcely find words strong enough to express the usefulness of the study of Greek. And yet he did not intend to abolish the study of the dead languages at once; "that would be a revolution, and in matters of school one should proceed with the spirit of reform, not in a revolutionary manner." Hence he suggested to do away with Greek in order to make a beginning with reform. "Nonprofessional men will be astonnished not a little if I tell them that this opinion is generally shared by the younger philologists. I was struck with the fact that wherever I discussed this question with younger colleagues I found ready assent. You will find this to be the case all over the country and in small towns. What the weight of opinion is in the capital I have had no means of ascertaining as yet."

Prof. Koht (of Skien) said: "I, too. have arrived at a similar conclusion in consequence of my occupation in school. Classical study does not give what those need who from the threshold of schooi enter practical life. Development proceeds with inexorable logic, and it can not be prevented; that it will eventually exclude what is commonly called classical culture. What we need are schools of culture which are active in the service of the present time, not in the service of the past."

Rev. Weelsen pleaded for the abolishment of both Latin and Greek, saying: ̧ "Latin has no place in a school for general culture. It must be reserved for the university, and there taken up by those who need it for their professional studies. There is absolutely no reason why this language should be kept in the second

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