amongst the mammalia, the rat, the ox and the beaver, it tells of the horse, the elephant and the whale; and so manages to include all we know or have read of, and to add pleasatly to our knowledge of each. The defect, we take it, of the book, in common with most others, nowa-days, that touch on the subject, is that leaning towards materialism which elevates the brute into or towards the grade of intellect, and depresses man to the position of being but the most developed animal in the general process of growth from the mere monad. For ourselves, we like the old word instinct; and we think we can see a difference between mere exceptional departures therefrom and the condition called intelligence. It is this: Instinct always falls back to its former state after one of those rare departures from it; whereas, intelligence never does, but always advances to higher attainments. B. AN AUTHENTIC HISTORY OF LANCASTER COUNTY in the State of Pennsylvania. By J. I. Mombert, D. D., Member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Large 8 vo., 617 pages, and an Appendix of 175 pages. Lancaster: 7. E. Barr & Co., 1869. In every thing depending on the publishers,-size, paper, type and binding this book is a credit to them; and if the generous margin thus allowed by them had been filled with matter equally creditable, the work would have been an honor as well as a benefit to the county. But in a literary point of view as a history, it is a failure. Made up mainly of public extracts from other writers and of widely published documents-in the Colonial Records and the several histories of the United States and the Stateit gives little that is original or new in local history and that little chiefly personal to a few families into the hands of whose descendants the author seems to have fallen. Unlike Smith's History of Delaware County,-which, though immethodical, is filled either with rare or original local matter, valuable to the future general historian and interesting to the present generation, this "Authentic" but excessively meagre history of the great county of Lancaster will never be referred to for its documents-for they are all more accessible elsewhere-and will present slight attraction in its original or local matter-for the reason that there is so little of it. We wonder that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, with Washington's Farewell Address, not to say the story of Columbus, were not also appended; for the old Congress sat a short time in Lancaster which produced one of the Signers, and Washington passed through it. PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: B. Its History, Condition, and Statistics. An Official Report of the Board of Education. By Thomas Boese, Clerk of the Board. 8vo. Pp. 228. New York: Har per & Brothers. 1869. Cloth, $2.50. It is a new feature of a publisher's list to announce a "School Report," issued at a stated price, as though it were a book of travel or a work on science; but this Report is worthy that prominence, and the Harpers have done the cause good and themselves honor in the attractive dress in which it is sent forth to the public. A historical sketch is here given of the character and progress of the educational work from the New Amsterdam era, when, in 1633, Wouter von Twiller was Governor, Dominie Bogardus officiating minister, and Adam Roelandsen the lone school-master, until 1868, which finds New York with its population of nearly a million, its teachers, public and private, numbering over four thousand, and its numerous (though still too few) public school buildings, whose floors, if placed side by side, would cover sixty acres. Some of the buildings more recently erected-cuts and plans of which are given on heavy tinted paper, with full descriptions accompanying -are structures of fine architectural proportions, usually three stories in height, with Mansard roof, solidly built, conveniently arranged for the accommodation of from 1500 to 2000 or more pupils, well supplied with apparatus, and "each designed to be better than the last." The notions of "economy" in school matters that prevailed in New York twelve or fifteen years ago, which ran the schools on the mean principle of "cheapest is best, and anything is good enough for a school-house," have been exploded since the newspapers have taken to ventilating matters, and the people to looking into them with a keener personal interest. New York is driving on, and Boston may look to her laurels. Why cannot our Pennsylvania Common School Report be issued annually in a style as substantial and attractive as this before us-on heavy calendered paper of excellent quality, in handsome binding, and containing, in addition to the valuable matter now presented, a few able articles on various educational topics, certain practical papers for directors and patrons, and architectural designs, with ground plans and elevations for school buildings of all grades-the whole making an attractive book that people will read and re-read, and regard as an orna ment on the shelf or the centre-table? It would be worth ten times its cost in the better influence it would exert in every county in the State. Let the reports of the Adjutant General, or any other head of department, continue to be issued in the same cheap contract style as at present-few people, at most, care to look into them-but give us the Common School Report, the great Report of the year, in such shape that we shall be proud of it, not only for the exhibit of progress it may present, as now, but also for its valuable collateral matter, and for the mechanical execution of the book itself. WOMAN: Her Rights, Wrongs, Privileges and Responsibilities, &c., &c., &c. By L. P. Brockett, author of "Woman's Work in the Civil War," &c. 447 pp. Hartford: L. Stebbins. 1869. Sold by Agents only. 12 mo., Being a book for sale by subscription only it has the usual long title of its class which we have not space for. It advocates a great deal that the true friend of the sex-as every true man is-must advocate. It opposes female sufrage; and does it in a plain and apparently sincere style. The illustrations-of which there are many-are most of them of the grave burlesque class, showing what the author thinks would be the result of the success of ultra Woman's Rights-ism. On the whole, the work is suggestive and amusing, and worth the cost at the present juncture. SIDNEY ELLIOTT: A Novel. By M. D. Nauman. mo., 235 pages. Philadelphia : Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger. 1869. B. 12 This is another Lancaster book, though published elsewhere, the authoress being resident in the city of Lancaster and of an old family of the same place. It is true, it is of the lighter class of literary efforts,-dealing mostly with the character and doings of genteel society, and depicting feelings and events therein; but this it does gracefully, pleasantly, and in a life-like manner. The language is pure and correct, the style easy and natural, and the characters-of which there is a sufficient variety to vary the interest-introduced with judgment and portrayed with skill without being overpainted. On the whole, it is one of the best works of its class we have lately examined-or rather read through—an indulgence with us not usual. One thing we like about it: It is neither made the vehicle of that rampant loyalty which seems to be the only staple, just now, of so many of the younger writers, nor is it tainted with an ill-concealed savor of rebellion. Wisely overlooking the exciting events of the now expiring but most remarkable decade in our history, it addresses itself to persons and events as they are, and finds quite enough in the feelings of domestic life and the ordinary changes in society, with which to interest and beguile the reader during his moments of leisure. For ourselves-we acknowledge a debt of that kind to the authoress, and, unlike most debtors, are willing to have the score increased as soon as she shall trust us with another instalment. B. OUR NEW WAY ROUND THE WORLD; or, where to go and what to see. ing several full-page Maps, showing steamship lines and routes of travel, and profusely illustrated with more than 100 engravings, reproduced from photographs and original sketches. Crown octavo. Pp. 524. Cloth, $3.00. Boston: Fields, Osgood & Co. 1869. told tale a freshness that carries the reader to the end with unabated interest. FAMOUS LONDON MERCHANTS. H. R. Fox Bourne. where seen. A Book for Boys. By With Portrait of George Peabody and 24 Illustrations. 16 mo Pp. 265. Cloth, $1.00. Harper & Brothers. 1869. Sketches of a dozen or more, who have at different times been the leading merchants, or most successful business men of London. The biographies are short and well written. The first of the series is Sir Richard Whittingten, of the fourteenth century; the last, a man well By Charles Carleton Coffin. Contain-known to Americans as a fellow country-man of whom they are justly proud, George Peabody. A full-page portrait of Mr. Peabody faces the title page, and the biographical sketch which closes the volume is more satisfactory than anything upon the same subject we have elseSIGHTS AND SENSATIONS IN FRANCE, GERMANY, AND SWITZERLAND; or, Experiences of an American Journalist in Europe. By Edward Gould Buffum. 12 mo., 310 pages. Cloth, $1 50. Harper & Brothers. 1869. The author's long training as a journalist insured special fitness for writing up "Sights" and "Sensations." In 1858, after varied experience upon the New York newspapers, in the volunteer service in Mexico, miner in California, editor-in-chief of the Alta Californian, member of the State Legislature, etc., he went to Europe, settling down in Paris as head of a bureau of correspondence, in which position he remained until his death. The papers which make up the book are selected from many more of a similar character and have the charm of simplicity, directness and lively narration for which the productions of his pen are noted. Among chapters of special interest are: The Bubbles of Champagne, The "Mont Cenis" Tunnel, What the Parisians Eat, What they Drink, the Hospitals of Paris, Learned Institutions and Lectures, the Catacombs, the Chiffonniers, Religious Freedom in France, and Rouen with its Romantic Associations. The author of this entertaining sketch of travel round the globe starts from New York, visits every city of note in Europe, sails from Marseilles to Alexandria, thence to Cairo, and Suez Canal, India, Malacca, China and Japan, returning across the continent, by the way of California. He tells us but little of Europe, that being a field already fully described in books of travel. Delaying but a short time in Egypt, and disposing of the Pacific coast in perhaps fifty pages, he devotes most of his book to the East Indies, China and Japan, condensing a great deal of information on these regions. His tour in the interior of the British possessions in India is full of interest, and his extended sketches of China are valuable, as showing the actual character of the people, and the great tenacity of their prejudices. He is a traveller who sees and sketches only the strong points in whatever is before him, mostly omitting matters of detail; points out what is pleasant or striking, and at the same time furnishes facts which the reader is glad to find, but which he would probably never look for in the dry columns of statistical reports. Numerous illustrations and maps add to the value of the work. Mr. Coffin has given to this thrice EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, pancy about the 1st of December. CHESTER: The subject of district high schools is at- | approved style and character. It will be ready for occutracting general attention throughout the county. The Directors of Kennett borough and Honeybrook are erecting very fine structures for such schools. The Board of Kennett deserve especial commendation for liberality; they have purchased three acres of ground at a cost of $1450, and are about completing a building 48 feet by 50 feet in size and two stories high. West Fallowfield and Willistown, during the last winter, maintained their high schools very successfully, and they are growing in general favor. At Kennet Square, during the present year, three acres of land have been purchased for the sum of $1450, and a handsome brick school building is being erected thereon. It is 48 feet by 50 feet in size, and two stories high, each 13 feet high in the clear; the walls are finished on the outside with pilasters, which relieve the plainness of an otherwise smooth surface. When finished, it will have two school rooms and two class rooms, which are to be heated by furnaces. The furniture is to be of the most Miss M. L. Sandford, a prominent candidate before the recent convention, for the election of County Superintendent of Chester, is energetically at work as superintendent of public schools in the borough of Coatesville. In the late issue of the Coatesville Union, she publishes the names of the children who have been punctual every day during the month; those who have been present every day during the term, are put in italics; and those who have stood highest in their school, or been perfect in spelling, are marked with a (*). In the same paper she announces that a beautiful banner has been prepared to be presented to that school that shall for four weeks maintain the best standing in attendance, deportment in the street and upon the school grounds, and quiet, orderly behavior in passing about the school building. JUNIATA: Mr. Lloyd, County Superintendent, reports seven school houses built during the past year, none of which are regarded as first-clsss structures. The furni ture in each of them is below the requirements of the modern school-room. Eighteen houses in the county are unfit for use-"not only unfit but an actual disgrace to the districts in which they are located." LEHIGH: The departments that are to occupy rooms in the new High School building are now in their places, this noble structure having but recently been completed. The aggregate number of pupils in the various rooms is 582. The Allentown papers indulge in superlatives, and that with good reason, in speaking of their new building. SCHUYLKILL.-Mr. Newlin, County Superintendent, sends us a paragraph which is of special interest: One feature in the educational progress of this country must not be overlooked: that is, the election of teachers who leave the profession to the equally important possition of school director,-a position they are better qualified to fill than any other member of a community. Among the number is Henry L. Boner, of Ashland, J. G. Weinberger, of Tamaqua, and J. A. M. Passmore, of Pottsville, recently elected members of the boards of their respective boroughs. The last two are graduates of the Millersville Normal School; the former an old teacher. Mr. Passmore is an old teacher, taught in Lancaster county in 1852; went to Schuylkill in 1860, at the request of the Pottsville School Board, and took charge of their Grammar school; founded the "Paschal Institute" and gave it its present reputation; managed the educational column of the Miners' Journal for three years, and during this time, we believe, has been prominent at all their educational meetings and never lost his interest in the common-school cause. Such men are eminently qualified to serve as directors of our public schools, and should not be overlooked in the selection of these officers. A County Normal Institute under the direction of the County Superintendent closed a session of ten weeks previous to the opening of the schools for the fall term. It numbered ninety-three members, all teachers except Besides instruction in the several branches taught in our schools, a large portion of the time was spent in drilling on methods of teaching those branches. seven. WASHINGTON: We take a single paragraph from the able report of Mr. J. C. Gilchrist, late County Superintendent: "With regard to the educational sentiment of the county I can give assurance that the mass of the people desire and are ever ready to maintain a high order of public schools. I can more confidently use the language of my report in 1867; 'I do not believe that the present status of our school system is a fulfilment of the intentions of the people. I believe that the system is much below their ideal, and it is not developed to the standard which they have the ability and readiness to maintain. All that is needed are fearless leaders; and whenever directors will march on, intelligent and influential men will be around them.' But again I venture the assertion, which has already been assailed in the public press, that the intelligence of the people, both as to the principles of elementary instruction and their application, is relatively far below the intelligence they possess on any other subject of public welfare in which they are as deeply interested, and in the promotion of which they are as earnest and unwavering. From this deficient intelligence result the neglect and mismanagement of the schools and the consequent failure to carry them steadily and rapidly forward to a high degree of excellence." EDUCATION AND CRIME: The Recorder of Bath, England, Mr. Saunders, in a paper read before the British Social Science Association alluded to the anomaly that with the enormous natural resources of Great Britain her saving exceeding a hundred millions a year-there should be no less than 70,000 annually apprehended for offences connected with poverty, and that 1,000,000 persons should be in receipt of parish relief. The paper showed that crimes were more and more confined to the ignorant classes. In the year 1856, 86 per cent. of the write imperfectly, while in the year 1868 this per centage criminals could neither read nor write, or could read or had increased to 96. Looking at the educated portion of the criminals, the per centage who could read and write well was, in 1856, 5 per cent.; that per centage in 1868 had dwindled down to 3. COLLEGE-BRED MEN.-The late hue and cry against college training, and the clamor for practical education has just received some pointed notice in an address of Rev. Mr. Kilbourne, recently delivered to the students of Michigan University. He divided educated men into three classess: "1st, those who have had only a common school education; 2d, those who have had a high school education, and 3d, those who have had a college education. several hundred thousand; and the whole of the third The first is by far the largest class; the second numbers class up to 1860, numbered only seven thousand. From positions, as from both the others. Of the fifty-six men this class alone, three times as many have filled important who signed the Declaration of Independence, twenty-five were college-bred men. One became Secretary of State; three, Vice-Presidents; thirteen, Governors of States or Presidents of Colleges; and four, Embassadors to foreign countries. Jonathan Trumbull was so often consulted by Washington and Congress, that "consult brother Jonathan became a common remark; and "brother Jonathan" stands to-day as synonymous with "Uncle Sam." Hamilton, at the age of seventeen years, was a frequent public speaker, at nineteen, a captain of artillery, and at twenty Washington's Aid. He was a graduate of Columbia College. Of the sixty-two men who have filled State, and Chief Justice-forty-three have been collegethe highest offices in the country-President, Secretary of bred men. Of the five hundred clergymen noticed in Sprague's "Annals of the American Pulpit," four hundred and thirty-six were college-bred men. In business, the success of college graduates has been no less marked. De Witt Clinton, the champion of the "big ditch," (Erie canal,) and Governor of New York, was a graduate of Columbia College. Hamilton saved this country from bankruptcy at the close of the Revolution, by his financial abilities. Two-thirds of the Secretaries of the Treasury have been college men. A. T. Stewart does more businecs than any other man to-day, and more than any other man ever did. He is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin."-Amherst Student. TRANSFER OF TEXT-BOOKS: The well-known firm of Mason Brothers, of New York, being led, by the death of one of its members, to retire from the publishing business, School and College Text-Books, except the Analytical has sold to Sheldon & Company their entire list of works: Lossing's complete series of Pictorial Histories Readers, embracing the following valuable educational of the United States, the last volume of which will be Atlas of the Heavens," the most complete and thorough published within a few days; Burritt's "Geography and although retailing at $2.50 per copy, has already reached work on this subject ever published in this country, which a sale of 300,000 copies; Mattison's Astronomies and Pinney and Arnoult's French and Spanish Series. So valuable an addition to the already extensive list of Sheldon & Company, will give them yet greater prominence as school-book publishers, among whom they have heretofore occupied a front rank. OFFICIAL.] DEPARTMENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS. DEPARTMENT OF COMMON SCHOOLS, HARRISBURG, November, 1869. DOCUMENTS RECEIVED. Annual Report of the Board of Commissioners of Free Schools of the City of Charleston, South Carolina. Report of the Minister of Public Instruction of the Ohio Educational Monthly for October. The Educational Gazette for September. Circular of Philadelphia Institute of Elocution, Penmanship and Languages, 1208 Chestnut Street, Phila. position. But a teacher has no right to expel a pupil without the consent of the directors; two, however, can delegate to him that power. Question: In case a board of directors is equally divided in voting to elect a teacher, can the State Superintendent give the casting vote? Answer: He cannot. he can decide between On questions of law directors, but not on questions of policy like those of building a school house, choosing a series of text-books or electing a teacher. A power of this kind has been exercised by the head of this Depart Journal of Education for September, Province of On-ment, but in the opinion of the present Superintendent unwisely and illegally. tario, Canada. Catalogue of Washington and Jefferson College, for 1868-9. Teacher of Penmanship for September. An Essay on Lord Bacon's Life and Essays, by George E. Jones, Lafayette College. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Question: Can the State Superintendent grant a certificate of any kind to a teacher that will exempt him from the usual examination by the proper County Superintendent? Answer: He can not. He can grant a certificate of competency to a teacher to become a candidate for the office of County Superintendent, but this is not a teachers' certificate, and can not be legally used in place of one. Question: When do the directors elected on the second Tuesday in October take their seats? Answer: Not until the next organization of the board, within ten days after the first Monday of June next. Question: Did the Registry law change the time of holding elections in Independent districts? Answer: It did not. Such elections are held at the time and place in the several districts decreed by the Court creating them. They are deemed exceptional cases to which the framers of the Registry law did not intend it to apply. Question: Has a teacher a right to suspend a pupil from school without the consent of the directors? Answer: He has, but only for a time long enough to enable him to bring the matter before the proper directors. The suspension of a pupil may be absolutely necessary to preserve order in a school, and a teacher always possesses that amount of authority in virtue of his DIRECTORS' DAY AT INSTITUTES. The setting apart of a day or a part of a day at our Institutes last year, for the consideration of topics of special interest to directors was considered a decided success. Large numbers of directors attended at the time specified, amounting frequently to forty, fifty and sixty, and in a few counties to a hundred. They listened to the addresses made to them with great interest, and quite often took part in the discussions. It is hoped that this feature of our Institutes will be continued and improved the present year. If well managed it is capable of doing a great amount of good for what is most wanted now in the working of our school system is an intelligent, progressive directory. Our school directors provide school grounds, build school-houses, fix school terms, employ teachers, levy and collect taxes, and indeed, hold in their hands all the powers that are necessary to make a school system efficient. If they will it our schools must be good, but without their co-operation and aid no effort can make them so. Every effort, therefore, that is calculated to make directors better acquainted with their duties or more earnest in discharging them is an effort in the right direction. It is to impart strength where strength is most needed. Let the "Directors' Day" be a day of note in the forthcoming Institutes. CORRECTION. It was announced last month, that Allegheny county had 17 districts from which no reports had been received. Some injustice was done by this announcement, as several of these dis 22d. Berks, Reading, Delaware, Media, Lawrence, New Castle, Sullivan, Laporte, Butler, Butler, Warren, Youngsville, Montgomery, Norristown, Lancaster, Superintendent having an office in some central locality, and requested the County Commissioners, as the proper authority, to provide one. That they have full power to do so, does not admit of a doubt, and the spirit of the statute concerning their duty to provide rooms for other county officers would, at least, justify them, if its force is not more binding, in providing one for the County Superintendent. The school interests of a county are certainly as important as any other, and they should be as well cared for. The hearty thanks of the Department are hereby tendered to the Boards of Commissioners of the following counties, who either have provided, or are about to provide, the accommodations needed by their County Superintendents: Berks, Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Cumberland, Elk, Erie, Forrest, Franklin, Jefferson, Lawrence, Luzerne, McKean, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Potter, Somerset, Susquehanna, Tioga, Warren and Wyoming. It is hoped others will soon be ready to imitate the good example set by these counties. COMMENTS ON THE STATISTICAL Attention is requested to the statistical table presented herewith. As compared with the table of last year, it appears that there were 99 less public examinations held and 76 more private examinations; 6th. 73 more male teachers were examined and 183 more female; 62 more persons were examined who never taught; 296 less male applicants 13th. were rejected and 142 less female applicants; 20th. 1,208 more teachers were granted Provisional 27th. certificates and 552 more were granted Professional certificates; 26 less certificates were annulled; 2,768 more schools were visited; the length of each visit was 10 minutes less; 671 more directors visited the schools with the Superintendents; 46 more Institutes. were attended by Superintendents, and exactly the same number of educational meetTHE CIRCULAR TO COUNTY COM- ings; 1,316 more days were spent in offi Uniontown, MISSIONERS. The circular, issued by this Department to the several boards of County Commissioners throughout the State, in reference to their providing a room in their respective counties, for the County Superintendent, did not claim that this duty was enjoined upon such boards by some positive provision of law. It simply made known the necessity of each County cial duty; 13,231 more miles were traveled; and 1,099 more letters were written on official business. In two or three respects the table is not quite as satisfactory as that of last year; but it shows conclusively that no body of Superintendents in this State ever did nearly so much work in the same time. It remains to be seen whether the new officers can do more or do it better. |