vigilance, the principles of faith, morality, and public duty in the numerous schools organized with a view to meet the demands of the age. The Emperor says: "That which, according to my view, ought to contribute towards the sound education of the younger generations, should never become an instrument of demoralization, a danger of which some symptoms are already showing themselves. To keep up popular education in the spirit of religion and morality is a task which belongs not only to the clergy, but to all enlightened men, especially the Russian nobility, which has been called to be the guardian of the public schools, by guarding them against dangerous and corrupting influences. To this effect, special rights have been conferred on the leaders of the nobility in their capacity of curators of the primary schools in their dis tricts, and the minister of public instruction, in concert with the minister of the interior, is invited to come to an understanding with them, so as to enjoy their active co-operation in this great and useful work."

THE SCHOOL-FINANCES.

It is an indisputable fact that all the efforts of the nobility and the clergy will remain futile without considerable appropriations by the government. In 1870 Count Tolstoï demanded an increase of 200,000 roubles ($160,000) for the primary schools, and only got 100,000, ($80,000.) It must be acknowledged, however, that quite recently the appropriation has been considerably increased. The sum expended for primary schools in 1871 amounted to 2,742,008 roubles, ($2,193,606,) of which sum 1,271,825 roubles ($1,017,460) were raised by the city- and rural communities, 766,642 roubles ($613,313) by the provincial assemblies, and 703,541 roubles ($562,833) by the government. The government-appropriation, which at first was only 100,000 roubles, ($80,000,) has, therefore, in a few years increased more than sixfold. The government, moreover, contributes 216,329 roubles ($173,036) towards the total annual cost of 334,351 roubles ($267,480) of the normal schools. The remainder of this sum has been raised by the provincial assemblies, by the interest from legacies, and by fees paid by the students. We must confess that these sums appear insignificant when compared with those expended for the same purposes in other countries, e. g., the United States or Germany. The city of Berlin recently voted an annual sum of $187,400 for five years for the erection of secondary schools. wants of the primary schools in Russia are perfectly enormous. Nearly everywhere suitable school-houses are wanting. While official reports usually print everything in the brightest colors, the reports of Prince Gagarin and Count Tolstoï possess the great merit of concealing nothing, however disagreeable the truth may be.

The

STATISTICS OF THE RUSSIAN EDUCATIONAL REPOrt of 1871. The Russian report, published in 1871 by the minister of public instruc. tion, states that the regulations of 1864 have never been fully carried out.

Of the 34 provinces where the zemstvos (provincial councils) have been organized, only 14 have sent in very incomplete reports. In these 14 provinces, the most densely populated and the most civilized of the empire -St. Petersburg, Moscow, Poltava, Tver, Kostroma, Cherson, Jaroslaf, Ekaterinoslaf, Charkof, Tambof, Orel, Kasan, Symbirsk, Penza-with 20,425,294 inhabitants, there were in January, 1870, 4,247 schools, with 4,982 teachers, (of whom 3,516 were priests,) and 143,385 scholars, i. e., 1 scholar to every 142 inhabitants. In Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Saxony, and the Protestant cantons of Switzerland, there is 1 scholar to every 6 inhabitants. In the rural districts, the official report says, teachers are scarce and badly paid. The schools, small in number, are kept in the most unsuitable places, in the entries of large buildings or even by the side of the common prisons. In the district of Toula, according to the report published in French in 1872, only 12 of the 599 schools have a special school-building, 70 are in government-offices, 59 in the guard-houses attached to the churches, and the others in still worse places. The report says: "The bad location of most of the schools explains their very unsatisfactory condition, and is in every way injurious to the cause of public instruction. Badly-located schools, without competent teachers, without books and the most indispensable apparatus, are only calculated to create a general distrust of all education, and such distrust not unfrequently leads to the closing of the schools." Thus, in 1871, there was not a single school in the district of Tsaritsin, in the province of Saratof, because the schools had all been closed by the communal authorities and the buildings sold. "It must be confessed," says the minister of public instruction, "that these are deplorable facts, but they are easily explained by the lack of sufficient funds. According to information furnished by the superintendents of the schooldistricts, each school did, on an average, not have more than 142 roubles ($113) per annum, a sum which is entirely inadequate, because the minimum for which a school can be supported is 250 roubles, ($200.) The distribution of the funds is, moreover, very unequal. The two-class model schools of the ministry of public instruction receive each from 885 to 1,226 roubles, ($708 to $981,) and among the schools of the provincial assemblies there are some which have from 600 to 1,020 roubles, ($480 to $816.) On the other hand, there are some schools, e. g., in the district of Gdovsk, in the province of St. Petersburg, which receive only 50, 25, and even 10 roubles, ($40, $20, and $8.) In order to put an end to such a deplorable state of affairs, it would be necessary to impose a schooltax on the communities and provinces proportionate to their resources. and their wants, and, above everything else, to grant considerable subsidies from the treasury of the empire.

DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING ACCURATE STATISTICS.

It is rather difficult to find out the exact number of primary schools; it seems that there are no complete official statistics, for the Russian

report of Prince Gagarin for 1863 enumerated in 36 provinces (Russia in Europe has 49 provinces) 30,179 schools with 632,471 scholars, while the French report of Count Tolstoï for 1872 gives only 24,000 schools with 875,000 scholars for the whole of Russia in Europe. These numbers are, as the minister remarks, very insignificant compared to the population of Russia in Europe, which is about 65,000,000. Thus there would only be 1 scholar to every 75 inhabitants, while in the New England States and in Upper Canada there is 1 to every 4 inhabitants and 1 to every 6 in Denmark and Saxony. Even the states ranking lowest on the educational scale show a more favorable proportion than Russia: thus, Italy, 1 to 19; Greece, 1 to 20; Portugal, 1 to 40; and Servia, 1 to 48.

EFFORTS TO SUPPLY TEACHERS.

The government is fully aware of the absolute necessity of supplying a sufficient number of good teachers, if education is to prosper at all, and, consequently, makes great efforts to increase the number of normal schools or "seminaries." In the beginning of 1871 there were only 15 normal schools. During 1871 10 new ones were established, and it has been decided to have 8 more, thus more than doubling the number of these schools in one year. In January, 1873, their number was 41. Besides this the provincial assemblies have at their expense organized educational courses in connection with the district-schools in 18 different places. All this is doubtless insufficient; yet it is nevertheless pleasing to see the provincial administrations and the central government rivaling each other in their zeal in such a worthy cause. The central government, for example, appropriates 14,810 roubles ($11,848) per annum for the normal school at Kief, and paid 63,000 roubles ($50,400) besides for the erection of the building. The normal school of Kasan had, in 1871, cost 64,433 roubles, ($51,546,) and 25,000 roubles ($20,000) in 1872. At this price very convenient buildings can be had, and this liberality bears its own reward. In the one year 1872, the government-appropriation for normal schools has been increased by 229,000 roubles, ($183,200.) An important item, which the report neglects to mention, is the number of teachers annually supplied by these institutions and the number of teachers required every year. The extent of the want must be known before it can be fully supplied.

Teachers' conferences, which have proved so eminently useful in the United States, have been introduced in Russia. These conferences are held under the direction of experienced educators appointed by the edu cational authorities and under the superintendence of the inspectors of primary instruction. The expenses are paid by the provincial assemblies. These conferences have, during 1872, been held in 47 different places, and, according to the minister's report, have exercised a most beneficial influence, spreading the knowledge of better text-books, better methods of instruction, &c. They create centers of educational infor mation, and thus supplement the preparation received at the normal

school. It would be well if these conferences could be introduced in every province of the empire, obliging the teachers to attend them, and, of course, paying all their expenses. Teachers' meetings have become so popular in America that families vie with each other in extending their hospitality to the visiting teachers.

ILLITERACY.

Illiteracy is still very prevalent in the rural districts of Russia. According to Mr. Mitchell, British consul at St. Petersburg,* who has thoroughly studied the condition of the Russian rural population, only 8 to 9 per cent. of the population can read and write, and still the Russian peasant is naturally intelligent and learns very quickly everything he is taught. This seems to be one of the national characteristics, for it is well known that no nation learns foreign languages so easily and speaks them so fluently as the Russian. The peasant, who is a good hand at many trades, thereby sharpens his mental faculties. He not only raises all he wants in his household, but builds his own house and barns, manufactures his furniture, his clothes, tools, wagons, harness, and in fact everything which can be made with the few simple tools he possesses. The necessity and habit of thinking of everything, of being prepared for all emergencies, develop in him a taste for work, the faculty of imitation, and thus produce an astonishingly bright and intelligent workman. If education were brought to his door he would make excellent use of it. Educated and better fed, the Russian would make one of the best artisans in Europe. His principal weakness is intemperance. He drinks large quantities of strong liquor-the vodka-especially since it has come down in price, and has become deshofka, i. e., cheap drink. The best means to combat this vice, which is actually the plague-spot of the rural districts, is to raise the intellectual standard of the rural population, so as to give them more elevated tastes and a desire for refined amusements.

LOCAL ADMINISTRATION.

The emancipation-law of 1861 accorded to each community an autonomy almost as complete as that of the American township. The inhabitants elect their communal council and their mayor-staroste. These authorities do not only exercise the local administration, but also the judiciary-power in the first degree. It is sometimes claimed that the Russian peasants are not sufficiently advanced to make the proper use of such decentralizing and radically democratic institutions, and various abuses springing therefrom are mentioned. This system, how ever, is the same as that in force in Switzerland, even among the very *See his admirable report in a Blue-book of 1870, entitled Reports from Her Majesty's Representatives respecting the Tenure of Land in the several Countries of Europe. *Mr. Mitchell relates the following: Some time ago an inhabitant of Elisabetgrad accused Euphrosine M. of having proved faithless to her marriage-vows. Although no proof is furnished, the husband believes the story; he causes all the inhabitants to as

primitive peasants and shepherds of the forest-cantons, and works exceedingly well. It insures complete and at the same time orderly lib. erty, it accustoms the people to self-government, and inspires an ardent love of their country and respect for traditional usages. In order to make this system, which was introduced in Russia in 1861, work well, nothing would be required but to give to the Russian peasants that very rudimentary degree of education which the mountaineers of Uri and Unterwald possess. These, it is true, have enjoyed free institutions from times immemorial, but before Boris Godunof (Emperor of Russia 1598 to 1605) had introduced serfdom, the organization of the communities was like that of the Swiss cantons. The same system is in use among the southern Slavonians, in Servia. It would therefore be only a return to national traditions; only, as modern civilization is a much more elabo rate system, more enlightenment would be required to administer well even a simple rural community.

EFFORTS FOR EDUCATING THE HALF-CIVILIZED RACES OF RUSSIA.

Russia is making great efforts to spread education among the halfcivilized races which inhabit the vast steppes east of the river Don. Schools have been established for the Tartars, the Bashkires, and the Kirghise. The normal schools of Kasan and Irkoutsk are intended to prepare teachers for these Touranian races. This is a far-seeing policy, for it is not only a service rendered to general civilization, but, by thus spreading the Russian language, the assimilation of these foreign races with the remainder of the Slavonian population is gradually brought about. The same result is expected from the Tartar schools of Oufa and Simpheropol, whose chief and essential object is to train teachers who are thoroughly conversant with the Russian language. The Russian government, for very good reasons, attaches such importance to the success of these Tartar and Kirghise schools, that a special inspector, Mr. Radlof, has been appointed, who works among these tribes by persuasion and encouragement, who establishes schools wherever possible and puts them in working-order. He has also undertaken the publication of the most-needed text-books, viz, a manual for the study of the Russian language and an arithmetic for the use of the Tartars, also a Tartar reader. Another very interesting work has been published by order of the ministry of public instruction, viz, maps giving the exact location of all the foreign tribes in the provinces of Kasan, Astrakhan, and Samara, as well as all the German and other colonies.

RUSSIA'S RELATIONS WITH ASIA.

Russia does not neglect anything which tends to make her relations semble at the mayor's office, and has his wife convicted and condemned, without being allowed to plead her cause, to be led, stark naked, through the town and to receive 15 blows with a cane. This sentence was carried out literally, on a very cold October morning. This is certainly primitive and quick justice.