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thought that their object would be best attained by transplanting his method of instructing the lower classes into the kingdom, and diffusing it through all the elementary schools. With this view one normal school was thought necessary, and perhaps sufficient; and among all the then existing institutions, the Orphanotrophy at Königsberg was selected as the most suitable for the establishment of such a normal school.

As the normal school then established in the Orphanotrophy was the first active step which government took for the improvement of the instruction of the lower classes, it may perhaps be interesting to know some particulars respecting its arrangement. According to the plan of the government, an indefinite number of boys were to receive their education here after the method of Pestalozzi; and those of them who showed talent and inclination for teaching others were to be employed as teachers, so that in this respect the institution might be considered as a seminary of teachers for the lower classes. But at the same time it was to serve as a means of perfecting the method of Pestalozzi, and of diffusing it through all the Prussian territories. For the latter purpose the rectors and vicars, who all through Prussia are charged with the direction and superintendence of the middling and elementary schools, were invited to attend the instruction given in the institution; and the head and director was to deliver lectures to them on the principles of the method of Pestalozzi, and on the subjects which were to be taught in the lower schools. Lastly, it was intended that the most able of the teachers who had been employed in this institution, and had made themselves thoroughly acquainted with

its methods, should establish similar institutions in the other provinces of the kingdom.

Mr. Zeller was charged with the execution of this extensive plan, who, from his enthusiasm, zeal, activity, and knowledge of the method of Pestalozzi, seemed to be perfectly qualified for the great task of reform; and undoubtedly he would have performed the task, had he possessed a sufficient knowledge of human nature. But his efforts not being directed by this most essential knowledge, his zeal and activity were rather detrimental to the cause which he had undertaken. He changed everything in the then existing forms of education : most of these changes were mere trifles; and some of them quite puerile. Some very important branches of instruction he abolished or entirely neglected, substituting for them others of little or no importance. Thus in the course of the first year it became evident that the expectations of government with respect to this institution were completely frustrated. The efforts of government for the improvement of the education of the lower classes would thus have proved entirely abortive, and perhaps this great object would have been abandoned in despair, but for one circumstance. The rectors and vicars, as well as the teachers of the upper schools, had been invited by government to attend the instruction of the normal school and the lectures of Mr. Zeller for a month, and accordingly 102 clergymen and 81 teachers had availed themselves of this offer. The minds of all these persons had been excited and roused by this opportunity, and without adhering strictly to what they had seen or heard, many of them, who were men of considerable talent and knowledge, used their own good

sense, and began to introduce changes into the schools under their direction, and to urge government to proceed in their plans. Thus it may be truly said, that out of this attempt, which in its immediate consequences proved a complete failure, the present improved state of education in Prussia took its rise.

As soon as the inefficiency of Zeller's exertions was fairly proved, the institution underwent another change, which brought it much nearer to the present arrangement of the seminaries. It was ordered that the pupils, whenever they showed talent and inclination for teaching, should be instructed in the institution up to their eighteenth year, and then sent to some of the most intelligent clergymen, who were to employ them as assistants in the elementary schools till they had completed their twentieth or twenty-first year, when they might become schoolmasters. But this plan was not long adhered to, as, in the mean time, attempts had been made to establish seminaries for schoolmasters in other places, and these attempts had been more successful. A way was thus pointed out, by following which it seemed probable that undertakings of this description would be attended with such results as government desired. Those institutions therefore in which unsuccessful attempts had been tried were by degrees reduced to the form of those which promised a fair success, and among these was the Orphanotrophy of Königsberg.

This seminary has the advantage, as already mentioned, of having connected with it a preparatory school.

It owes this advantage to its having been ingrafted on a charitable institution which previously existed; for such a preparatory school is not considered as a necessary part of a seminary, and most seminaries in fact are not

supported by such an auxiliary institution. As far as we know, preparatory schools are only connected with two others of these institutions, the great seminary at Bunslau, in Silesia, and that at Yenkau, near Danzig ; and in both places the preparatory schools owe their origin to the existence of charitable institutions for education before the erection of the seminaries. But though these preparatory schools seem by no means to enter necessarily into the plan of a seminary, they are considered decidedly advantageous for the instruction of teachers of the lower classes; and this conviction has given rise to the idea of connecting a preparatory school with every seminary in Prussia as soon as the requisite funds shall be provided.

The preparatory school is, properly speaking, the school of the ancient orphanotrophy. But it differs from it materially in not giving any longer to its pupil a classical education, but only that of a good middling school. The number of orphans amounts as formerly to about thirty, who receive in the institution board, lodging, and instruction gratis, just as it is ordained in the statutes of the foundation. Those who show talent, and manifest a decided inclination for the vocation of schoolmaster, are then prepared by a suitable instruction for the seminary. The subjects of instruction for these pupils do not differ from those taught to the other orphans; but some of the branches are taught with more particular care: such as arithmetic, calligraphy, geometry, the vernacular language, reading, history, geography, natural philosophy, and natural history. To this is added instruction in music; which is however of a practical kind, and affords the boys an exercise in playing the piano-forte and the violin. Besides this, the

elements of the Latin language are taught, because it frequently happens that the schoolmasters of the townschools are required to give private lessons in that language, and this seminary is partly designed for educating teachers for the middling schools. It must of course be expected that, among thirty boys, the number of those who have talents and inclination for teaching cannot be large, and in fact the number last year did not amount to more than five. Government therefore has opened this school to other boys who are not orphans, and who show a disposition to become schoolmasters. These boys attend the school gratis, but are provided with board and lodging by their parents and relations. The number of such pupils amounted in 1834 to twenty-three. Before these boys are admitted to the preparatory school, they must submit to an examination, in which they have to prove that they have been completely instructed in the subjects taught in the elementary schools. They must show that they have acquired, 1, a legible hand; 2, a knowledge of the most simple rules of arithmetic, and a certain dexterity in applying them; 3, the elements of geometry, and that they are acquainted, 4, with the principal rules of orthography and orthoepy, and 5, with the catechism of Luther, and with the history of the principal events in the Bible. Lastly, it is required that they must have an ear for music and a voice for singing. Every year at Easter an examination for this purpose takes place; and those boys who prove that they possess the required qualifications are admitted into the school, and attend it till the completion of their sixteenth year, when they are sent to the seminary.

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