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Public Schools in Lowell.

S. Still I do not see how it is, that the company of your pupils is always agreeable.

C. Is it not agreeable to parents and children to be in company with each other? We act towards our pupils as parents, and they towards us as children. In our intercourse with them, we have due regard for their health, and make it a part of our system to devote a portion of every day to bodily exercise. We thus produce two great elements of happiness,-health and activity. We know nothing of idle hours; for all hours are usefully employed. We consider relaxation as necessary to the full development of mind, as intense study; and yet, our hours of relaxation are so employed as to leave no time for inactivity. Once a year, some of our number, with a company of pupils, visit this region. To-morrow, we intend to ascend the mountain, and we shall be happy to have you accompany us; and you may have an opportunity of seeing how teachers and pupils may be happy together. In short, you may see how we strive to accomplish our great object,

Allure to brighter worlds, and lead the way.'

E.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN LOWELL.

(Extracted from the Boston Mercantile Journal.)

[The following sketch of the condition of Public Schools in the large manufacturing town of Lowell, (Mass.) claims a place in the Annals of Education. It is written by an intelligent citizen of that place, now the Editor of the Boston Mercantile Journal.]

We have lately received several communications from correspondents, intimating the excellence of the Lowell Public Schools, and requesting us to furnish the public with some information in relation to the system established in that town. Having resided in Lowell, we can conscientiously bear testimony to their general excellence. We believe, that in that place, scholars in the Grammar schools receive more thorough instruction in a given time, and at less expense to the community, than in any other town in the United States. From the means which we have of judging, that is, by observing the progress of children in study and in writing, we are of opinion that the system established in Lowell, has a decided advantage over any system with which we are acquainted. Of its merits, or demerits, however, our readers will be able to judge, when we present them with a brief sketch of the regulations

of the schools. Although they were strongly opposed when first introduced, they now meet with the almost universal approbation of the citizens; and it is a proud boast for this flourishing manufacturing town, that by means of her Primary, Grammar, and High schools, the son of the poorest operative may receive at the public expense, an education sufficient to fit him for any ordinary occupation of life, or to qualify him to enter any of our higher seminaries of learning.

In this sketch, we shall confine ourself principally to the Grammar schools, of which there are three, each of which accommodates, at the present time, about one hundred and sixty scholars of both sexes, females being generally the most numerous. The reading room is separated from, although adjoining, the large, or recitation school room; and a large apartment in the attic is conveniently fitted up for a writing room.

Scholars are received into the Grammar school when seven years of age. They are divided into classes, from six to fourteen, and recite in classes, being interrogated with great minuteness by their instructors, who use efforts to promote a wholesome emulation, and consider it their duty to make a child understand what he learns. The recitation continues ten minutes, when the classes return to their seats, always marching in single file, with their arms folded; and the members of another class quit their seats to take the place assigned them for their recitation, in the same order. A clock strikes every ten minutes, and regulates these movements, without requiring any attention to time on the part of the superintendent, or his assistants.

The classes whose turn it may be to recite in grammar, or to read, take up this line of march for their respective rooms at the sound of the ten-minute notice of the clock, and thus all the movements have the appearance of order, and somewhat resemble a miniature parade.

The scholars must be in school within ten minutes after the time appointed for its announcement, or they will gain no admittance, the doors being then locked, and the instructors and scholars too busily engaged in their respective duties to wish to be disturbed. The scholars are allowed a recess of ten minutes in the afternoon and forenoon; during the remainder of the six hours, everything wears the aspect of mental application, close study, and an apparent grasping after knowledge. Indeed, the whole system is characterized by order, regularity, strict discipline, and untiring industry, on the part of both the teacher and the scholar.

Writing is only attended to, two afternoons in the week. Only one writing master is engaged for all the schools, who receives a salary of $400 a year. Whether it is owing to the habit of in

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Primary and High Schools.

dustry, and attention to their duties, which the scholars acquire, or to the excellence of the mode of instruction in writing, we know not; but the scholars learn to write with more facility, than we have ever observed elsewhere. We learn, however, that it is in contemplation to engage another writing master, when four afternoons in a week will be employed in writing, instead of two, as at present.

The Grammar schools are each conducted by a superintendent, and one male and two female assistants, who are responsible to the general School Committee for the faithful discharge of their duties, and whose continuance in office depends only on their merits as instructors; and they are required by the School Committee, to give the children as full employment as possible, and always to exercise an energetic, prudent, and firm discipline, so as to secure the prompt obedience and good deportment of the scholars. They are also required to exercise a general care and inspection over them, as well out of school as within, and to attend to their moral, as well as their intellectual improvement.

Corporal punishment is sometimes, though rarely, used in the Grammar schools, but never in the High school; and suspension and expulsion are occasionally resorted to.

The schools are each visited by a Sub-Committee, as often as once a month, and generally much oftener, for the purpose of attending carefully to the exercises of each class, and inquiring into the deportment and progress of the scholars. The School Committee meet every month, to consult on measures connected with the prosperity of the schools; and examinations are held in each school, once during each term, by the whole Committee. These examinations are public. They are always attended by many of the parents of the scholars, and the result is generally of a nature highly satisfactory.

We doubt not that the Lowell system is still imperfect; yet it appears to us well calculated to conduce to the mental and moral improvement of the scholar, and to give him habits of industry and regularity, which will be of immense service to him in after life. The number of scholars who attend the Grammar schools in the course of a year, is about 1500.

The Primary schools are for the instruction of scholars under seven years of age, and until they are qualified for the Grammar schools. There is one female instructress appointed to each. The number of scholars daily, averages about 45. The whole number who attend during the year, is about 650.

The High school is intended for the completion of a good English education, and also for instruction in the Latin and Greek

classics, preparatory for college. The average number of scholars who attend daily, is about 60.

The aggregate number of scholars who attend the different schools in Lowell, is about 3000.

Circular of Castleton Seminary, or Rutland County Grammar School.

THE Grammar School of Rutland County, at Castleton, Vermont, has been newly organized, within a year and a half past, and is now under the direction of Mr. L. F. Clark, with the title of the Castleton Seminary. It occupies a building represented in the engraving, which we show as a gratifying evidence of what may be done by enterprize, in a village in the interior of New England. From the circular before us, we find it is 160 feet long, and 42 wide, containing 100 rooms; among which are two large school rooms, three recitation rooms, a library containing 500 volumes, a cabinet of minerals, chemical and philosophical lecture rooms, furnished with apparatus, and a place for exercise extending the whole length of the building. In addition to this, it will accommodate the family of the principal, the teacher, and 75 pupils as boarders.

Under the new organization, a good system of instruction and discipline have been adopted, whose results are seen in the flourishing state of the school. The attendance the first quarter was only sixty. The number increased subsequently to one hundred

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Principles of Discipline.

and sixty, and averaged one hundred and twelve through the year. About one quarter of the whole number boarded in the building, and one quarter were from the village. The number of teachers has been five or six.

In addition to the ordinary recitations, lectures are given on subjects which require it. Associations are also formed, in which lectures are given by the teachers and pupils, on miscellaneous subjects. A fund is provided to pay the tuition of those who are preparing to enter the ministry.

The principles adopted in the management of the institution, as developed in an address of the Principal to the Trustees, are sound and simple, although sometimes expressed in too homely a style. Forcible measures are reserved for enfeebled or degraded minds; and persuasion is chiefly relied on. On this point, the Principal remarks ;—

'Persuasion is of two kinds. That which appeals to interest and passion, and that which appeals to moral sense. The former is next to force, and should be a last resort. It is precisely calculated to nurture that worst of all passions, that never sated thirst for distinction, which, more than any other, threatens the best interests of our country. This, it is the business of education to repress, and not to cherish, and fan to a flame. A second kind of influence, is that of moral suasion. By this, the pupil is led to obey, because it is right; and to fear to disobey, because it is wrong. Its rules are few and simple, its rewards and penalties the legitimate fruit of obedience or transgression.

This is the principle I would adopt, as far as the age, disposition and habits of the pupils will admit. When conscience is enlightened, and bas not lost its efficacy,-DO RIGHT, is my only rule;—the pupil's own conscience my tribunal; and,-Is it right? my only argument.

'This renders it necessary, at first, to instruct pupils as to things right and wrong. As a general principle, those things are improper, which, in any measure, retard a scholar's own progress, or diminish the progress and happiness of others. This gives an almost invariable criterion by which to determine whether a thing is proper or improper. When there can be a doubt, let the scholar ask himself, Will this aid me in the acquisition of knowledge, or will it diminish, in any degree, the happiness of others?'

The subject of punctuality, and the evils resulting from the indulgences or the occupations by which parents prevent the regular attendance of their children, are treated as their importance deserves. This institution has broken through what some have termed the Mahometan law,' of separating the sexes entirely at school. This course and its results are thus spoken of by the principal:

6

'Every year's experience confirms me in an opinion, which, at first, I received with some hesitation, viz., that while a school embracing both sexes, has many things to render its proper management difficult, yet it