MISCELLANEOUS. FOREIGN. FRANCE. Education in Paris.-In November last, 3300 young men were entered as attending the Ecole de Droit,' in Paris, and 2101 as attending the Ecole de Médecine.' At that time the number of pupils in the Polytechnic School, was 342, and in the Normal School, 60. The number of youth in a course of education in the five Royal Colleges, was as follows:-In the college Louis le Grand,' 502 boarders, and 422 externes or day-scholars; in that of 'Henri le Quatre,' 360 boarders, and 380 externes; in that of St. Louis,' 253 boarders, and 500 externes; in the college 'Bourbon,' 850 externes; and in that of 'Charlemagne,' 1000 externes. The two colleges, 'Stanislaus,' and 'Rollin,' had 300 pupils each. It would appear from the returns, that there are 10,670 young men and boys in Paris, who are cultivating the higher branches of education. The number of establishments for education in the French capital amounts to 596; namely, 35 academical institutions of a superior class, 63 boarding schools for males, 117 for females, and 381 other schools. University Budget.-The Bulletin des Lois,' of the 4th of December last, contained an ordinance, fixing the budget for the special funds attached to the University of France. The receipts are estimated in this document at 3,580,655 francs, (about 143,220.) and the disbursements at 3,575,491 francs, (about 143,010.). In January, however, the 'Moniteur,' published a report from Guizot, the minister of public instruction, submitting a plan for a partial reform of the system. From this we learn, that the university dues, (to which every academical institution or seminary in France, contributes its quota,) are in future to be collected by agents appointed by the French Treasury; that the budget of which we have just spoken is to be suppressed, and that the income and expenditure are to be incorporated with the general budget of the state. With regard to its financial concerns, the university will, therefore, be placed on the same footing with every other public service; but it will continue to retain an independent control over every other branch of its constitution. Prison Discipline.-' Every species of labour, even such as the law renders compulsory, ought to be remunerated; and the wages which a prisoner earns, should be so dealt with, as to form a reserve for him, when he once more becomes a free agent. It is cruel, and subversive of the legitimate objects of all criminal law, to send him back naked into the wide world; for he returns into it, bearing already punishment enough about his mind and person, -the stain of a bad character. In this respect, the discipline adopted in the female prison at Clermont recommends itself to general adoption. I visited the work-rooms at a time when the prisoners were all at their tasks; these rooms are in fact three immense halls, kept in a most perfect state of cleanliness. The prisoners are distributed, in each of these rooms, into parties of half a dozen each; and I found them seated round a table, under the superintendence of one of their own class, who had raised herself by her good conduct to the situation of what is called a Prévôté. They are only allowed to speak in an undertone of voice; and the rule is so rigidly observed, that no two hundred individuals ever made so little noise. There are three respectable females attached to the establishment, whose duty it is to superintend, direct, and instruct the prisoners in their work; and they mix up so much kindness and encouragement in the discharge of this duty, as to acquire a high degree of moral influence over the unfortunate creatures. Owing to this judicious treatment, the latter speedily acquire more than ordinary skill in their several occupations. There is no shawl more beautifully embroidered, no gloves better sewn, nor any tresses more perfectly finished for sale in England, than those which come out of the hands of a female prisoner at Clermont. The wages which they receive are determined by their skill; the maximum amounts to tenpence a day, and the produce, whatever it may be, is divided into three parts. One portion is retained by the establishment, towards defraying its expenses; another is laid aside for the future use of the prisoners; and the third is paid them punctually at the end of the week, and applied by them in procuring some solace; most commonly it is expended at a canteen, where they celebrate la noce as they term it-the simple recreation of purchasing and consuming fruit, eggs, salad, and wine. The prefect of the department generally pays a visit to the prison every quarter, or otherwise sanctions the table of prices at which the various articles are to be sold. The prisoners are allowed two meals a day; they have an ample ration of soup in the morning, and a similar quantity at four in the afternoon, together with vegetables; on Sundays, they are allowed a richer sort of soup, and some beef. The diet is evidently wholesome, for the Infirmary is never filled. The sleeping-rooms are spacious and very clean; all the bedsteads are of iron, and provided with a mattress and slight coverlid. I observed some of them with a pillow, and was told, that this comfort is allowed to such of the prisoners as are remarkable for good conduct; but the instant they relapse, they are deprived of it. A light is kept burning in the rooms throughout the night, and they are subjected to the severest superintendence. The guard on duty consists of twelve men armed with swords only; but these are more than adequate to preserve order in the prison, as it is rarely disturbed by any tumult. Those who do not conduct themselves properly are separated from the rest, closely confined, or deprived of such rewards as their former good conduct may have procured them; but those who conduct themselves in a satisfactory manner are remunerated by an advance of wages, the comfort of a pillow at night, or elevation to the office of Prévôté. The last is an important object, as those who have attained it form the class of prisoners out of whom the selection for the exercise of the royal clemency is made. There appears to me but one fault to be found with the management of this prison; and that is, the want of classification according to age, deportment, offences, or duration of punishment. The division of the prison into the three spacious halls which I have mentioned, offers peculiar facilities for carrying this great improvement into effect. I should add, in justice to the worthy ecclesiastic who attends the prison, that the moral and religious instruction of its inmates is most carefully and successfully attended to.'-C. A. Elementary Education.-At the close of last year, elementary instruction was given to 1,935,000 children; which shows the proportion of one in every 17 inhabitants, for the whole kingdom. At the same period, the total number of schools was 42,092, including 11,139 private establishments. The amount expended on the national schools (or Ecoles Primaires) was 406,500l., of which 16,1537. were defrayed by the state, 307,7201. by the districts in which the schools are established, and 82,6271. by their respective departments. Courses of Lectures, Paris.-The public lectures, now in course of delivery at the Collège de France,' commenced on the 3rd of February, and are as follows: 1. Astronomy, by Binet; three lectures in the week. 2. Mathematics, Lacroix; two ditto. 3. Physics, Biot or Libri; three ditto. 4. Medicine, Magendie; two ditto. 5. Chemistry, Thénard; ditto. 6. Natural History, Beaumont; three ditto. 7. National and International Law, De Portels; one ditto. 8. History and Morals, Letronne; one ditto. 9. Hebrew Language, &c., Quartremère; two ditto. 10. Arabic, Causin de Perceval; ditto. 11. Persian, Silvestre de Sacy; three ditto. 12. Turkish, Desgranges; ditto. 13. Chinese and Tartar dialects, Julien; ditto. 14. Sanskrit, Burnouf (the younger); ditto. 15. Greek, Boissonade; two ditto. 16. Greek and Roman Philosophy, Jouffroy; ditto. 17. Latin Poetry, Tissot; ditto. 18. French Literature, Ampère (the younger); ditto. 19. Political Economy, Rossi ; three ditto. 20. Comparative History of Legislation, Lerminier; two ditto. SWITZERLAND. FREIBURG. The whole canton is poverty-stricken, with the solitary exception of the district of Murtenersee, where Protestants abound, and industry is active. The town itself has but few resources, besides the Jesuits' College and its schools; and there is no doubt but the Jesuits and their liberal establishments attract hundreds of young people to the place. In fact, the worthy magistrate who wields the executive in this petty sovereignty tells every one with perfect naïveté, that public duty makes it incumbent upon him to keep on good terms with the Jesuits, under any circumstances, lest he should endanger an important source of livelihood to the inhabitants. It seems never to have occurred to these little republican potentates, that seminaries, conducted as those of the Jesuits are, would prosper in any hands, whether lay or ecclesiastic; for none can say that they spare either pains or money. The whole canton does not contain a single school which is not conducted by Jesuits, or under their direction; first comes the college for educating foreigners, next the Gymnasium, and then the elementary schools. Nay, even the female seminaries are under the superintendence of Jesuit sisters, who are subject to the jurisdiction of the provincial, and regulate every proceeding by his directions. But I must do these instructors justice; none can excel them in the practical management of their establishments. It would be difficult to find a single institution in Europe which can compare with their college for strangers' in this town; the building itself is on a princely scale, and supplied with every thing which a parent can require in the shape of halls, museums, books, a riding school, gymnastic ground, and places of recreation; the whole under the control of a rector and inspector, assisted by upwards of thirty professors, who are entrusted with the several departments of divinity, history, philosophy, ancient and modern languages, the mathematics, music, and drawing. The names of the students designed for the clerical profession are posted up on large tablets against the walls. At the time of my visit, the bulk of the pupils were holiday-making, and most of them on their travels: one troop was in Germany, a second in Italy, and a third in Switzerland; each with a Jesuit in lay attire at its head. The younger members of the establishment either spend a merry season within the precincts, or pass the holidays at a neighbouring seat belonging to the college. Such are the advantages which the Jesuits hold out to parents for the trivial consideration of twenty or thirty pounds per annum. (Extract from a Letter.) 6 Education in General.-In this respect the two and twenty cantons composing the Swiss Confederation may be divided into three classes. The first comprises the cantons of Zürich, Bern, Basle, Schaffhausen, Argovia, Vaud, Neufchâtel, and Geneva; the number of their inhabitants is 1,076,000, or fifty-four per cent. of the entire JAN. APRIL, 1834. 2 A population of Switzerland; the schools are attended by one individual in every nine souls, and are in a flourishing state. The second class, embracing those parts of Switzerland which occupy an intermediate rank with respect to education, comprehends Luzern, Zug, Freiburg, Soleure, Appenzell (Ausser-Rhoden), Glarus, St. Gall, and Thurgau; these contain 560,000 inhabitants, or nearly twentynine per cent. of the entire population; and their schools are attended by one individual in every twelve. The third class, under which those cantons may be ranked, where the state of education is anything but satisfactory, includes Schwyz, Unterwalden, Appenzell (Inner-Rhoden), the Grisons, Tessino, and the Valais; these contain 342,000 inhabitants, or seventeen per cent. of the entire population of the confederacy, and the number of individuals attending the schools does not exceed one in every twenty. TESSINO. The law which regulates public instruction in this canton enacts, that there shall be a school in every parish, in which reading, writing, and, at least, the first principles of arithmetic shall be taught; that it shall be obligatory on all parents, trustees, and guardians, to send their children and wards to school; that the conduct of the schools shall be vested in ministers, chaplains, or other competent persons of unblemished character; and that the parishboards shall be empowered to inflict penalties upon such parties as do not send their children or wards to school. The motives assigned for the passing of this law reflect much credit on the discernment of its framers. They are to the following brief effect: The happiness and well being of every free state which is established on sound principles, emanate from the wisdom of its institutions, and the diffusion of good education; for, on the one hand, everything worthy of human nature may be expected from a people whose minds are properly moulded, whilst, on the other, ignorance is the avowed parent of every vice, and the fertile source of disorder, both in the state and the individual.' We lament to add, that the salutary enactments, to which these enlightened sentiments form the preamble, were allowed to remain inoperative for four and twenty years. They date as far back as the 4th of June, 1804. BASLE. Our university has ceased to exist. It has been decided by the umpire appointed, as the referees named by the two cantons (Basle-town and Basle-champaign) could not agree upon their award, that the pecuniary resources of the university, consisting principally of bequests, and amounting to about 600,000 Swiss francs (40,000l.), should be divided between each canton, in proportion to the number of its inhabitants. Dr. Keller of Zürich is the individual to whom Switzerland is indebted for this extraordinary decision; there is not a man of feeling or real patriotism throughout the confederacy, who will not cry shame upon his award. We are to retain nine twenty-fifths of the property, and Basle-champaign the other sixteen. The church and school endowments are to be split also into nearly similar proportions.' |