THE Directors of the Edinburgh Academy having at length completed the plan upon which they think it expedient that the Institution should be conducted, have submitted to the contributors and the public the result of their labours in a "Statement," which cannot fail to prove highly satisfactory, from the full and unreserved communication which it makes on every point necessary to enable the public to form a correct judgment of the proposed system of education, and, in general, of the advantages likely to result from the new establishment. Of the leading features of the plan developed in this Statement," it is our present purpose to give some account; adding such observations as have suggested themselves to our minds in the course of a somewhat hasty perusal.

The present High School, as is well known, was built in the year 1778, at which time the joint population of Edinburgh and Leith amounted to about 80,000; while the New Town, which now covers nearly as much space as the Old Town and southern suburbs did at that period, was scarcely in existence. In the last census, the population was estimated at 140,000. If, therefore, the present High School was considered as no more than sufficient at the period when it was erected, it is evident that the case must be entirely altered, now that both the extent and population of the city have been nearly doubled. Accordingly, an opinion has long prevailed, that the numbers attending that seminary are too great for successful tuition, and that another public school was imperiously called for, in order to remedy this evil, as well as to accommodate those parents, "to whose children the High School, from its great distance, has become almost inaccessible, without serious inconvenience, as well as risk of injury to their health."

Impressed with the force of these considerations, a number of gentlemen, in the month of June 1822, brought forward a scheme for establishing another great public school in the New Town, and for raising

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funds to the amount of £12,000, by shares of £.50 each, to bear interest payable from a fee to be levied from the pupils. This proposal was so favourably received, that, in the course of a few weeks, nearly £.9000 were subscribed. The negociations which followed with the Town Council, and with the particulars of which the public are already sufficiently acquainted, suspended for some time the execution of this plan; but, in May 1823, a General Meeting of Subscribers was held, at which it was resolved to carry their original design into effect, and, at the same time, to apply to the King for a Charter, to incorporate the shareholders, under the name of the "Edinburgh Academy." This Charter, which is now in the regular course of official progress, provides, that the Subscribers shall elect fifteen Directors from their own body, in whom the whole management of the Academy shall be vested, and of whom three shall go out by rotation; that no person shall have more than one vote in his own right; that no person shall be entitled to receive interest on a larger share in the establishment than the capital sum of £.100; and that no surplus revenue shall be employed in buying up shares. These provisions afford satisfactory guarantees against monopoly, and are calculated to interest a lave number of persons in the success of the establishment.

The Academy is to be conducted, generally, on the plan of the High School, with some additions and modifications, liable to such subsequent alterations and improvements as time and experience may suggest. As in the iHigh School, therefore, the Academy is to have a Rector, and four Under-Masters. The course is presumed to occupy six years, four of which are to be passed under one Master, who prepares his pupils for entering the Rector's Class, where they are to continue two years. The alterations on the present system of instruction in the High School, which the Directors propose to introduce, are as follow: "1. A more extended instruction in Greek, by all the Mas

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ters. 2. In addition to the four Under-Masters, a Master for English, who shall have a pure English accent: the mere circumstance of having been born within the boundary of England not to be considered indispensable. The object of this appointment is to endeavour to remedy a defect in the education of boys in Edinburgh, who are suffered to neglect the cultivation of their native language and literature, during the whole time that they attend the Grammar Schools, and, in most cases, to a much later period. It will be the duty of this Master to give instruction in Reading, Elocution, and Modern History. The chief part of his time will be devoted to the boys of the First and Second Classes; but he will also give instruction, during a portion of each week, to all the other Classes in succession. 3. A regular attention to Geography in all the Classes. 4. The Writing-Master is to be bound to provide Assistants in proportion to the number of his pupils, so that each teacher shall not have more than thirty-five boys under his care at one time. 5. Arithmetic is to be taught by a separate Master, who is to be a well-educated Mathematician, and who is to provide Assistants in like manner, in proportion to the number of his pupils. 6. The boys of the Highest Class are to be carried as far in the elements of Algebra and Geometry as their time and previous knowledge will allow.”

These are great improvements undoubtedly, but probably the most important of all is the more extended instruction in Greek," which it is proposed to ensure. This cannot fail to be attended with the happiest effects. Our youth, when they enter College, are generally ignorant of the Elements of Greek; many of them do not even know the letters. The consequence is, that the Greek Class is a mere elementary school, and that, at the best, only a smattering of the language is acquired during the usual term of attendance. Hence the general inferiority of Scotchmen in the knowledge of the noblest form of speech that ever existed in the world. This defect, this opprobrium of Scotland, can only be removed by a "more extended instruction in Greek" in the public

schools where young men are prepared for entering the University; and we trust that the Edinburgh Academy will set an example which will be speedily followed. At present, the Professor of Greek is a mere schoolmaster. Four-fifths of the time which ought to be devoted to exercises in Greek prosody and composition, to the reading of the more difficult authors, particularly the dramatists, and to the study of the philosophy, poetry, and history of Ancient Greece, are consumed in teaching the elements, which are, after all, never correctly and thoroughly acquired. This is not the fault of the Teacher of Greek in our Colleges; for how is it possible, during an attendance, say of two hours each day for a session of six months, to drill 200 or 300 boys in the elements of a language of so much nicety and complexity, to say nothing of the dialects, of which not one in fifty knows any thing? We trust we shall be able to date the commencement of a new era from the establishment of the Edinburgh Academy.

The Statement" next proceeds to describe minutely the distribution of time among the different Classes, and the allowance for play; but the books to be read in each Class, and the particulars of the course of instruction, are left to be settled with the advice of the Masters, after they are appointed. By the plan for the distribution of time, the Master of the First Class will not meet his boys till a quarter before Twelve o'clock each day; and as it is presumed that the Rector's Class must always be considerably larger than any of the others, it is intended that he shall act as Assistant to the Rector, from Nine o'clock till half-past Eleven, which portion of the day is allotted to Latin and Greek in the Rector's Class. All the Under-Masters, including the Writing and Arithmetic Masters, are to be under the superintendence of the Rector, whose duty it shall be to see that the system of instruction authorised by the Directors is properly carried into effect in all its parts. It is also intended that the Rector shall twice a-week devote two hours to the examination of the Junior Classes. The Directors have not laid down any