Education

THE subject of a Higher Education for Woman is now in that state of moral effervescence which most ideas reach before arriving at any degree of excellence. We must, accordingly, await results, trusting that in time, between the froth and the dregs of discussion will remain much pure wine of truth, and that the day may not be far distant when we may be allowed to partake of it. Through all the differing shades of opinion entertained upon this subject, all agree that many and grave errors exist in the present systems of female education. The question as to what method can be adopted to secure thoroughness and allow to woman a high degree of culture, without sacrificing her physical welfare, continues to press for an answer.

Since, at such a time, no suggestions can come amiss which aim to throw a ray of light in the right direction, we desire to call attention to a method of instruction in great favor in Paris. This method was founded by M. Colart, and is continued with very great success by M. Remy. As it has now stood the test of more than sixty years' experience, it is at least entitled to consideration.

M. Remy meets his classes but once a week, and then for a session of only two hours. This weekly recitation is nothing more or less than a careful examination of the pupils in the lessons of the previous week, but it proves so exhaustive that the pupils are obliged to devote from three to five hours each day, with the aid of parent, governess, or tutor, to their preparation. Each girl is invariably accompanied to recitations by either governess or parent. It is, indeed, quite common to see both parents present, busily engaged in writing the answers to the questions propounded, to be afterwards compared with the daughter’s. A delightful companionship is suggested by this community in mental pursuits.

In the classes the girls are seated in chairs placed around a long table; M. Remy occupying the middle seat at one side, while the parents and other persons present are accommodated with chairs placed in rows, as one sees at “ parlor lectures.”

Order being secured, the first thing done by all present is to make a note of the lessons to be learned the coming week. These are always written beforehand upon a blackboard which hangs back of the professor. This done, M. Remy proceeds to read two or three essays selected from the whole number which have been handed in. After the few words of comment suggested by the essays, follows the recitation in poetry. About forty lines are committed weekly ; and, as the brief session of two hours would by no means admit of each pupil’s reciting the whole, M. Remy calls upon one (we will say Mlle. A.) to begin. Mlle. A. responds promptly with the first two lines ; being then interrupted by the professor’s “ Très bien, Mademoiselle; maintenant, Mlle. X.,” Mlle. X. takes up the dropped thread, to be followed by any one whom M. Remy may chance to select. There being no regular order of succession, no pupil knows when her turn may come. It will therefore readily be perceived what complete attention is secured, and how impossible it is for any pupil to resort to subterfuge to insure her own portion.

The recitation in poetry is the only verbal one. That finished, each pupil opens one of the pile of exercise books in front of her, in preparation for recitation in history.

M. Remy by no means confines himself to the formal questions of the text-book, but makes questions of his own concerning whatever of importance the lesson suggests. Each pupil is expected to look up, by aid of encyclopedia or whatever other authority may be available, all points which will serve to a better understanding of the period of which the lesson treats. The first question being asked, each pupil proceeds to write her answer. When finished, she holds up her book for inspection by the assistant teacher who has her in charge. There are several of these assistant ladyteachers. They take their positions behind the young ladies, walking from one to another to overlook the books submitted to their criticism. If the answer proves satisfactory, the pupil receives a small counter. At the end of each recitation the number of counters received by each pupil is set down opposite her name in the report book, thus showing unfailingly the grade of excellence.

Each lesson is conducted in the manner described as employed in history, the only sounds which one hears being the scratch of the busy pens, and M. Remy’s questions. Never have we seen two hours more profitably employed, and, it may be added, judging from the animated expression of the girls’ faces, never more satisfactorily.

It is impossible to convey any just idea of the dispatch attained, and the intense interest manifested in these lessons. The pupils are evidently completely en rapport with their instructor, who, in his turn, comports himself toward each of them as a courtier might toward his sovereign lady.

Prizes are awarded for certain degrees of excellence in the different branches. To obtain the prize in history, it is necessary to answer intelligently five hundred questions. As the course covers a period of only twenty-six weeks, and as during this period there are only weekly recitations, it is easy to imagine the amount of real work which is necessary to success.

It is just the peculiarity of the weekly session which we wish to consider. While it may not be advisable for all, it is especially adapted to meet the wants of that large class of girls whose health will not admit of regular and close confinement to the duties of the school-room. One perceives at a glance that with this method all danger of periodical over-exertion of mind or body can, with proper forethought, be avoided, thus securing during the critical period that entire rest which Dr. Clarke so wisely recommends.

This form of teaching may be essentially characterized as the elastic method. For it is so in more senses than one. Pecuniarily speaking, when carried on with several hours’ help daily from a tutor or governess, it is of course very expensive. But where circumstances make economy necessary, an ambitious girl can prepare her lessons with the help of only a few hours’ study during the week. In many cases, indeed, when either parent chooses to assist the child, this additional expense of private visiting governess can be dispensed with altogether.

The fact must not be overlooked that in these recitations each pupil is required to answer all questions in writing. The immense advantage thus secured of keeping the pupils’ minds strictly upon the subject, with no chance to wander, cannot be overestimated.

The crying evil of our present methods of instruction is undoubtedly “ overcrowding ” of the mind, and, as a result, mental indigestion. Cases are far too frequent of girls from twelve to fourteen years of age found studying geography, arithmetic, history, French, Latin, and music—and all these to be prepared for daily recitation! We can no more expect the mind to receive lasting impressions from the spasmodic glimpses which such a system affords, than we can expect a satisfactory photograph by sitting before the camera only one half the time required to procure a suitable impression. The result in both cases is much the same — and the physical blur in the one case is but too typical of the mental blur in the other.

Why cannot parents be contented if a child under ten years of age be taught absolutely nothing but reading, writing, and spelling? During the period from ten to twelve, if elementary arithmetic and geography be added, it is all that most children are capable of managing. It would be far better to prolong the time devoted to each study, giving one portion in advance and one in review, than to distract the mind with more branches.

At this age most children are or should be required to memorize daily. Every one is aware how retentive the memory is, of all which is thoroughly committed in early youth. The attempt, then, prematurely to force upon the mind of a child a knowledge of sciences, which require maturity of mental powers to appreciate, is worse than folly. Far better to store the memory with the thoughts of our old and best authors in both prose and poetry, thus securing a rich mine for future use.

We subjoin extracts from M. Remy’s circular : —

Deux Cours Élémentaires. Mardi, midi. (Pupils from 5 to 7 years old.) Lecture et Orthographe simultanées; Dictées de mots; Exercices de mémoire raisonnés; Éléments de granunaire. Éléments de géographie physique et d’arithmétique. Histoire sainte. Rois de France par race et par siècle; Histoire de la lre race.

Vendredi, midi. (Pupils from 6 to 8.) Exercices de mémoire; Grammaire proprement dite; Orthographe d’usage (initiales et médiales); Verbes de la lre conjugaison; Dictées faciles; Arithmétique. Histoire sainte repassée; Histoire ancienne; Géographie ancienne. Mythologie des Egyptiens et des Perses. Histoire de France (faits principaux des deux premières races). Géographie physique d’Europe.

Quatre Cours Moyens. Mercredi, 11 h. ¾. (Pupils from 7 to 10.) Orthographe d’usage (finales) et de règles; Verbes réguliers. Analyse grammaticale; Homonymes; Dictées; Exercices de mémoire. Arithmétique. Histoire grecque et Géographie des pays grecs; Mythologie. Histoire de France (faits principaux de la 3e race jusqu’à Louis XII). Géographie physique des cinq parties du monde ; Provinces de France et Départements.

Samedi, 2 heures. (Pupils from 10 to 12). Exercices de mémoire; Orthographe de règles; Verbes et Homonymes difficiles; Analyse logique élémentaire. Dictées; Problèmes d’arithmétique; Fractions. Histoire romaine et fin de la Géographie ancienne. Fin de la mythologie. Histoire de France (3e race: de Francois Ier à Napoléon III). Géographie détaillée d’Europe et d’Asie.

Mardi, 2 h. ⅛. (Pupils from 14 to 15.) Exercices de mémoire ; Orthographe: Participes ; Analyse logique ; Famille de mots; Dictées; Narrations. Arithmétique : Exposition du système métrique. Histoire raisonnée de la France et de ses provinces. Départements de France, Préfectures, et Sous - Préfectures. Geographie détaillée d’Afrique, d’Amérique, et d’Océanie.

Mercredi, 2 heures. (Pupils from 13 to 15.) Art poétique (deux premiers chants); Syntaxe proprement dite. Synonymes; Paronymes; Compositions variées; Dictées. Cosmographie (lre partie). Histoires de France et d’Angleterre comparées. Géographie détaillée de la France et de l'Angleterre.

Trois Cours Supérieurs. Vendredi, 2 h. ⅛. (Pupils from 15 to 17.) Art poétique (deux derniers chants); Éléments de logique. Rhétorique; Philologie ; Compositions variées. Cosmographie (2e partie) avec problèmes, Histoire et Géographie du moyenage.

Jeudi, 2 heures. (Pupils of 16 and over.) Littérature ancienne et moderne de tous les peuples. Compositions et Dissertations. Histoire de chaque nation depuis son origine jusqu’a nos jours. Ce cours exige deux années.

Lundi, 2 heures. Cours d’Histoire contemporaine. (Pupils from 16 to 20.) M. Remy, Professeur. Exposé et développement impartial des événements accomplis clans les différentes parties du monde depuis 1815 jusqu’à nos jours.

Samedi, midi. Sciences naturelles. (Pupils from 15 to 20.) M. Paulin Teulières, Professeur. Physique; Chimie; Géologie; Phytologie; Zoologie.

— The East is rapidly opening to modern ideas and to new methods. Newsboys cry their papers under the walls of St. Sophia, and the telegraph reports at Constantinople the evil deeds of local governors at Bagdad or in the Kürdish mountains. A strong evidence of this new life amid the ruins of antiquity is found in the present demand for schools of a high character in Turkey, Egypt, and Persia. The Robert College at Constantinople has been successfully established by the munificence of a New York merchant. Another college has been founded at Beirut in Syria, for the Arabicspeaking inhabitants of Syria, Egypt, and Arabia. Both of these institutions are well patronized, but neither of them meets the wants of the interior of Asia Minor.

American missionaries have been laboring with success in that part of Turkey for the past forty years. Most of those missionaries have gone from New England, and they have carried with them the seeds of New England culture and have planted those seeds in the rich soil of that Eastern land. One result is that those who are awakened to a new intellectual and spiritual life ask for sympathy and aid in establishing a college at a well-chosen locality in Central Turkey.¹ The city of Aintab, where the college is to be, is about one hundred miles east of the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea. The college will reach many millions of people, among whom there is no other institution of learning of high grade; it will be open alike to the representatives of all nations and of all religions. One who has long lived in Turkey, and whose opinion is entitled to great weight, in writing of the proposed college says:—

“ The old civilizations of the many races and religions of Turkey are rapidly disintegrating, and some reconstruction or other must follow. A Christian college in these circumstances will have an influence for good, impossible to any similar institution in a normal state of society.”

We are glad to see that there is to be a medical department connected with the college, and that one well-qualified professor for that department is already on his way to Aintab. Among the many and hearty recommendations of the new college we notice especially those of Drs. Hamlin and Bliss, the able presidents of the institutions already established. The ultimate result of the introduction of the higher education into the Turkish Empire is a question of the deepest interest. How will Mohammedanism bear the shock ? What new revelations will follow in antiquarian research ?

That Eastern minds are capable of a high degree of intellectual development, there can no longer be a doubt. Certainly all friends of progress and civilization must wish success to these efforts of American citizens to introduce our methods of intellectual culture among the subjects of the Sultan.

“ Those who aid the proposed college,” writes Dr. Hamlin, “will throw the transforming power of a high Christian education right into the heart of this great and dark empire. To what nobler purpose can wealth be applied ? ”