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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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To be admitted into the seminary, it is not absolutely necessary that the students should have been in the preparatory school. A considerable number of those who attend the seminary have been previously instructed by other persons, frequently by clergymen ; but all must submit to an examination before they receive permission to attend the instruction of the seminary. In this examination the candidates have to prove that,

1. They have acquired a more complete and more exact knowledge of the historical portions of the Bible.

2. That they can explain the more easy passages of the Bible.

3. That they begin to master their own language, which is to be proved by writing a composition on some easy subject; as, for instance, the true signification of a proverb, the description of some historical event, or of some natural phenomenon, &c. This exercise ought to be free from any orthographical mistake, and must not contain gross violations of grammatical rules.

4. That their handwriting is not only legible, but good. 5. That they have had some practice in singing from written music.

6. That they have studied an instruction-book of music, and know how to play the pieces from it on the piano-forte, as this degree of proficiency qualifies them to attend the instruction on the organ, and on the theory of music.

7. That they have acquired some knowledge of the organic kingdoms of nature, and are acquainted with the most remarkable plants and animals: a knowledge of mineralogy is not required.

8. That they are likewise acquainted with the principal facts of the history of their own country and of general geography.

9. That their knowledge of geometry is at least equal in extent to what is taught in the better kinds of elementary schools; that is to say, it must comprehend the elements of form, and the most simple properties of angles, triangles, &c.

10. That they are acquainted with fractions, and have also acquired some idea of the reasons on which this portion of arithmetic rests.

The seminarists remain three years in the institution at Königsberg, which is the time required in most of the Prussian seminaries of schoolmasters for the lower classes. Though there are still a few in which the whole course of instruction, together with the necessary practice in teaching, is included in the course of two years, it begins to be plain that this term is too short. When both complete instruction and the practice of teaching are to be acquired in the short period of two years, it is necessary to form a plan by which both objects may be forwarded together; but in such an arrangement the interruptions of the instruction must be frequent, and the mixing up of both objects must be attended with some confusion, which is found by experience to impede the progress of the students. When, on the contrary, the term is extended to three years, the first two are chiefly employed in completing their acquaintance with the subjects of instruction; and the last year is mainly, if not exclusively, appropriated to acquiring the art of teaching under the guidance of one of the teachers in the elementary school annexed to the

seminary. By this arrangement the seminarists have only one principal object in view at once, which with all men, except those gifted with extraordinary genius, is the only way of rising above mediocrity in any branch of knowledge and its applications. Besides this, the latter arrangement offers another important advantage: the seminarists are not appointed to the management of schools at too early an age. As they enter the seminary on the completion of the sixteenth year, their instruction, if it be only a two-years' course, is terminated at the completion of the eighteenth year, which is reasonably considered to be an age at which it would not be prudent to intrust to them the management of a school. At this time of life one or two years make a great difference in maturing the mind and giving it more steadiness and judgment. It is true that, according to the laws, the seminarists are not to be employed as schoolmasters immediately on leaving the seminary; but as the number of individuals trained in the seminaries for the instruction of the lower classes is not yet quite equal to the demand, up to this moment they have generally entered a school as teachers immediately on leaving the seminary, and consequently are no longer under such strict superintendence as persons of that age ought to be. Whenever the term in the seminaries lasts three years, they commonly complete their twentieth year before they are employed in this manner.

This term of three years, as already mentioned, is divided between two objects-the completion of their own knowledge, and the acquisition of the means of imparting it to children. The first forms their principal if not their exclusive occupation during the

first two years of their stay in the seminary, and the last year is appropriated to the attainment of the art of teaching.

In most of the Prussian seminaries, and in all the larger ones, the seminarists are divided into two or three classes for the sake of instruction. But in the smaller seminaries they are all instructed in one class, which is the case in the seminary at Königsberg. But it is intended that such arrangements shall shortly be made, that the seminarists shall be divided into two classes, because it is evident that this arrangement will greatly promote their progress. For this reason we cannot lay before the reader a complete scheme of instruction arranged according to the classes; and we must limit our observations to the different subjects taught in the seminaries, to the extent to which they are carried, and to the mode in which they are taught. Though religion forms one of the principal parts of education, it is not instruction in religious dogmas which is principally kept in view; for it is reasonably supposed that persons who have completed their sixteenth year of age, and have previously had the best kind of education which can be obtained in the elementary schools, must be acquainted with these dogmas. But it is not thought sufficient for a teacher to know them and to understand their meaning and import. He must be able to explain them to others, to apply them to practical life, and to exhibit religious feelings in his own conduct and behaviour. With this view the first object is to excite and maintain religious feelings in his mind, and to confirm. his religious habits. It is attempted to effect this partly by instruction and advice, partly by the mode of life established in the seminary, and by reading regular prayers,

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