in practice too if given with skill and discretion by the teachers. It is desirable that some form of free gymnastics-that is, the most appropriate muscular exercises without apparatus, which are sometimes called calisthenics should be introduced into schools of all grades. Great care should be taken, however, that the exercises should be of the right kind and taken in the right way. They should be supervised and directed by competent experts.

But physical exercises of this description are not sufficient; no city system of schools can be considered as up to the standard of the day that has not gymnasiums and teachers of gymnastics sufficient for the pupils of all grades. It is to be regretted that no one of our American cities can be named where such provision exists. A few high schools, as elsewhere stated, are provided with commodious and well equipped gymnasiums, but high school gymnasiums of this class, or indeed of any description, are few and far between, while gymnasiums for grammar and primary schools are, it is believed, wholly wanting. This is a grave defect in our city systems of education. It precedes logically the hand training about which so much is said at present. If the history of education has made anything certain, it has made it certain that the gymnasium is an essential appendage of the school-house. It is well known that Germany took the lead in making gymnastics one of the branches of public instruction. Physical training was introduced into the public schools of Germany in the early part of the present century as one of the essential means of the regeneration of the nation. After Sadowa the statesmen of Austria followed the example.

For more than sixty years gymnastic training has constituted a prominent element in Prussian school education. Jahn, the great early promoter of physical training in Prussia, is now justly reckoned among the benefactors of his country; and, in recognition of the benefits of his labors, a noble statue has been erected to his honor in Berlin. In Berlin gymnastics have been longer and more generally cultivated perhaps than in any other city. In this city there has existed for a long time a large and well appointed government establishment for the training and preparation of teachers of gymnastics for the public schools. Although Vienna has been comparatively tardy in adopting this educational improvement, she now probably surpasses all other cities in respect to liberality of provision for gymnastics. In every recently erected school edifice, whether for elementary or secondary schools, the spacious and lofty gymnastic hall, with adjacent wardrobes and other accommodations, is provided. There are at present 110 special teachers of gymnastics constantly employed by the city in public schools. The educational authorities of Vienna are fully justified in their large expenditures for physical training, in view of the acknowledged advantages which have been derived from it in Northern Germany.

In speaking of physical training in the German schools, Matthew Arnold says:

The teachers [of gymnastics] profess to have adapted their exercises with precision to every age and to all stages of a boy's growth and muscular development. If boys have long work hours or if they work hard, gymnastics probably do more for their physical health in the comparatively short time allotted to recreation than anything else could. In England the majority of Public School boys' work far less than the foreign school boy, and for this majority the English games are delightful; but for the few hard students with us there is in general nothing but the "coustitutional," and this is not so good as the foreign gymnastics.

In the German and Austrian schools gymnastic training is not provided for boys alone. Girls also receive the benefit of regular physical exercises especially adapted to the different stages of their muscular growth.

I have long been impressed with the lamentable defect of our city systems of schools in respect to physical education. After seeing what has been done for this essential branch of education in Vienna and Berlin, our own deficiency in this respect seems tenfold more glaring. A radical reform is needed. Twenty-four years ago I began my efforts to introduce into all grades of the Boston schools "a thorough system of physical training as a part of school culture." Some progress has been made in this direction. For some years the program has required daily physical exercises in the schools; but as yet our provisions for physical education are very inadequate. So far as I know, there is not a single special, thoroughly qualified teacher of gymnastics employed by any city in America.

To my mind nothing is more certain than that the highest success in intellectual education can be reached only by the aid of the most thorough system of physical training.

During the ten years which have elapsed since the above sentiment was expressed in one of my reports physical culture appears to have made but little progress in our public schools. In the mean time the French Republic, following the example of Austria in borrowing this element of popular education from her victorious foe, has by statute made instruction in gymnastics obligatory in all her public schools. When the bill for this provision came up for discussion it met with no opposition of any account, and was passed both by the senate and chamber of deputies with almost entire unanimity.

FIRE DRILL.

The disasters which have been caused by fire panics in large schools have suggested the generally known precautions of fire proof furnace and boiler rooms, fire escapes, safe staircases, and the outward opening of the main doors of entrance. But these will be of little avail in a panic without discipline, and presence of mind on the part of the teachers, and especially of the principal. The fire drill, which has been introduced more or less extensively, is not only an effective safeguard against the danger of panics, but also a good gymnastic exercise. The

'Boys in the great secondary schools, Eton, Rugby, &c.

fire drill in the city of Rochester, as described in a recent report of the superintendent of the schools of Springfield, Mass., is a good example for general imitation. He says:

At a given signal, which is heard through the building, all the pupils in every school room rise instantly to their feet, form in line, as they have been previously instructed under the direction of their teachers, and pass rapidly, in double lines, down the stairways and out into the yard, those on the first floor going out first and those on the second and third following in order. Upon reaching the yard they form into lines again facing the building, ready for further orders. The pupils all understand perfectly the order in which the occupants of the different rooms are to fall into line in the hallways and by what stairways and doors they are to pass out of the building. This exercise originated, I believe, in an attempt to provide a rapid, orderly, and safe exit from the building in case of an alarm of fire or of a panic of any kind; but it is now used also in many places as a pleasant and safe kind of recreation. In cold and stormy weather it can be carried out, partially at least, in sections, in the hallways and basement.

As I saw the fire drill in the Rochester schools, it seemed to me to be an admirable example of what can be accomplished for a good purpose by thorough discipline and drill. One of the most remarkable things about it was the rapidity with which it was performed. Many of the school-houses at Rochester are larger than those in this city, and in this exercise their buildings are usually cleared of all their pupils in about a minute from the time the first signal is given.

In one instance, in which I timed the movements by my watch, 625 pupils passed into the yard in 40 seconds. And yet there was no confusion, no crowding, nor pushing, nor stumbling, and no loud talking; but the pupils gave unmistakable evidence in their faces that they greatly enjoyed the drill.-(Report of 1883 by A. P. Stone, LL. D.)

At Denver the ordinary movement of the pupils at recess in all the schools is similar to that of the fire drill above described. There is some danger that in case of the older girls this rapid movement may be injurious; pupils having any special weakness should of course be excused from it.

In the schools of the city of Vienna measures have been taken to insure the emptying of the class rooms without disorder in case of fire. The pupils are trained for this manœuvre, which is executed in three different ways, according to the degree of urgency, on signals given by the instructor. In the case of a fire in the neighborhood (signal No. 1) the children place their books in their satchels, put on their outer garments, and leave the class room in groups of four. If the danger is imminent (signal No. 2) the books are left, the outer garments rapidly put on, and the class room is left as before. Finally, in case of extreme peril (signal No. 3) their books and clothing are left and the exit is made immediately in groups. According to an experiment made recently at the Bürgerschule of the Werderthorstrasse, twenty class rooms, containing a thousand children, were vacated in ten minutes without the least disorder.

MILITARY DRILL.

Military drill became an element of public instruction in Boston in 1864. It was at first tried in the Latin and high schools for boys, and

also in the upper class of two grammar schools for boys. As the result of the experiment during the first few months, it was decided to discontinue the drill in the grammar schools, but to retain it in the high schools for boys. During the twenty years since elapsed there has been constant progress in this branch. The present school regulations provide that instruction in military drill shall be given by a special drill officer, in the high schools, to boys of good physical condition who are thirteen years old or more, the time not to exceed two hours per week.

Drums, muskets, and belts and swords for officers are provided at the expense of the city. The boys provide their own uniforms, which are neat but inexpensive. The grand drill hall and armory in connection with the Latin and English high schools is elsewhere described.1 The same admirable instructor (General Hobart Moore) has been employed since the beginning.

The school regiment consists of three battalions and twenty-five companies. There is an annual exhibition of the proficiency of each battalion, which never fails to draw a crowd of interested spectators.

To say nothing of the value of this instruction as a means for the preservation of public order and for the national defence, as an educational instrumentality, in promoting physical, moral, and intellectual culture, it has been signally beneficial. It has proved a valuable, though perhaps not a perfect, system of gymnastics; it has developed a more manly spirit in the boys, invigorated their intellects both directly and indirectly, and made them more graceful and gentlemanly in their bearing.

Instruction in military drill is given to high school boys in several other cities and large towns in Massachusetts.

From my observation of the beneficial results of this branch of instruction, I feel justified in strongly recommending its general introduction.

GRATUITOUS INSTRUCTION.

Gratuity of instruction is a feature of our school system, for which we may claim a merit of a peculiar character. It is true that the materials of instruction, such as text books and stationery, are as yet furnished at the public expense only in exceptional cases and in certain localities, but nowhere in our thirty-eight sovran States, either in city or country, is the child met at the school-house door with a demand for the payment of a school fee. Tuition in all public schools, whether elementary or high, is with us absolutely gratuitous.2 Public schools are free schools. This is, without doubt, the distinguishing character

1 See the subject "School architecture."

"In Baltimore, there is a partial exception to this universal rule. Here the pupils pay $2 per term, nominally to defray the expense of text books; but this is, in reality, three or four times as much as would be required for that purpose.

istic of our system, and that of which we have the greatest reason to be proud. Not that free public schools do not exist elsewhere, but here for the first time the principle was adopted that it is the right and the duty of the State to provide free instruction for all the children of the people, and for this purpose to hold all property subject to equal taxation; and here this principle has been practically tested on the largest scale and under the greatest variety of conditions. Hence, I placed on the wall above our educational exhibition at the Universal Exposition in Paris, in bold gilt capitals, the legend, in the French tongue, "Public instruction is free in all the States of the Union,"1 as the one grand educational lesson which America has a right to offer to all nations. This is not the occasion for tracing the progress of the adoption of the principle of free public instruction by the several States or for adducing reasons to justify it; for its success is its allsufficient justification. The old threadbare arguments in opposition, about weakening parental responsibility and impairing parental self respect and lessening the value of instruction in parental eyes and overburdening the taxpayers and making the provident pay for the im provident, have been refuted by experience; moreover, the adoption of gratuity has always been followed by an increase of attendance. It is now quite evident that gratuity of instruction is not a mere temporary expedient resulting from a primitive state of society, to be abandoned as we advance in civilization. Our universal gratuity of instruction is a joint evolution of our democratic institutions and our advancing civilization. All civilized countries are marching in the same direction. With the advancement of civilization and the democratical sentiment, gratuity of public instruction becomes more and more prevalent. Elementary schools are substantially free in Australia, Switzerland, Sweden, and Denmark. In France all common schools have recently been made absolutely gratuitous, in obedience to the will of the people. In Great Britain the victory is not far distant, and the recent triumphant extension of suffrage will no doubt hasten its consummation. Mr. Francis Adams, an excellent English authority, in speaking of his own country, says:

We have no longer to contend about the principle of free education; that has been admitted by all educational legislation during the present century. What remains for us to consider is the policy of retaining the small contribution now made by parents in the shape of school fees. Our legislators have swallowed the camel and are now straining at the gnat, a process which it is to be hoped will be of short duration.

For some years past the enemies and the illiberal friends of free public schools have been coöperating in the effort to limit gratuity of iustruction to the elementary day school; hence they have opposed the

1 Many a French peasant in his blouse, on reading this legend, turned his hard, sun-burnt face, lighted up with a gleam of joy, to say, "Même chose chez nous bientôt;" and the prophecy was soon fulfilled.