EDUCATION IN PORTUGAL.* ORGANIZATION. Public education in Portugal is under the control of a superior council of education, at the head of which is the minister of the interior. This council has to examine all matters relating to public instruction and to submit its decisions to the council of ministers for approval. Special military schools are under the control of the minister of war and naval schools are under the supervision of the minister of the navy. Public schools are divided into four classes, viz: superior, secondary, primary, and special. EXPENDITURE FOR SCHOOLS. The expenditure for public instruction in 1874-75 was $777,611, and for the year 1875-76 the expenditure was estimated at $798,614, to be distributed as follows: * A translation of Chapter VII, Part III, pp. 225-264, of Sr. Gerardo A. Pery's Geographia e Estatistica Geral de Portugal e Colonias: Lisboa, 1875. *Throughout this article the dollar mark has been conveniently used as the equivalent of the Portuguese milreis, although the latter really represents a value of $1.08 gold. 2 Record office... Public libraries Official publications. $7,080 11,730 138,830 Adding this total to the expenses on account of other ministries, viz: Practical military school Military college... Naval school... Elementary agricultural instruction. Total .. 798, 614 $31, 143 19,056 7,470 3,500 17.857 14,320 10,770 902, 730 The amount spent by private persons for education may be estimated at $300,000. This sum, added to the government expenditure, would give for the school year 1875-76 a total expenditure of $1,200,000. The institutions for superior and special instruction are the University of Coimbra, the Polytechnic School of Lisbon, the Army School, the Polytechnic School of Oporto, the Schools of Surgery of Lisbon, Oporto, and Funchal, and the higher course of literature. THE UNIVERSITY OF COIMBRA. The University of Coimbra was founded at Lisbon in the year 1290, by King Dom Diniz. Besides this monarch, the prior of Santa Cruz deserves special credit for the zeal with which he worked for this institution. In 1307 the university was transferred to Coimbra; seventy years later it was brought back to Lisbon; but in 1537 Dom Joãs III again caused it to be removed to Coimbra, where it has since remained. Until the year 1772, instruction in the university was confined to theology, law, and medicine. In that year a reform was brought about by the Marquis of Pombal, and the faculties of philosophy and mathematics were established. Later several additional chairs were instituted in the faculty of philosophy and one in political economy. The following is the course of study in the university: Theology. First chair, ecclesiastical history; second chair, dogmatic and polemical theology; third chair, theological symborism; fourth chair, theological mystics; fifth chair, moral philosophy; sixth chair, liturgical theology; seventh chair, holy scripture; eighth chair, pastoral theology. Law. First chair, the philosophy of law and the history of Portu guese constitutional public law; second chair, Roman law; third chair, Portuguese civil law; fourth chair, public law; fifth chair, political and statistical economy; sixth chair, civil law; seventh chair, administrative legislation; eighth chair, financial legislation; ninth chair, civil |