The report of the annual examination of the public schools of the city of Boston

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THE

REPORT

ANNUAL EXAMINATION

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

CITY OF BOSTON.

1849.

BOSTON:

1849.

J. H. EASTBURN CITY PRINTER

CITY OF BOSTON.

In School Committee, May 2d, A. D., 1849.

Ordered: That Messrs. Codman, Beecher, Bigelow, Russell,
Oviatt, Palmer, and Winkley be a Committee to make the annual ex-
amination of the first classes of the Grammar and "Writing Schools —
with full power to make such examination in such manner as they
shall deem most expedient. (On the appointment of the above Com-
mittee instead of two committees as prescribed by the rules : Section
13 of Chapter 6 was suspended, three-fourths of the members present
voting for the same.)

A true copy.

Attest: S. F. McCleary, Secretary.

In School Committee, August 1, 1849.
The Committee appointed to make the Annual Examination of
the Grammar and Writing Schools made their Report, which was
read, laid on the table, and ordered to be printed for the use of the
members of this Board.

S. F. McCleary, Secretary.

In the Board of School Committee, Aug. 15, 1849.

Ordered : That the Report of the Annual Examining Committee

be accepted ; and that ten thousand copies be printed for the use of

the citizens, — it being understood that the Board, in accepting the

Annual Reports, do not concur unanimously in all the sentiments

contained in them.

I

A true copy.

Attest : S. F. McCleary, Secretary.

CITY OF BOSTON

In School Committee, August 1st, 1849.

The Committee appointed under the foregoing order,
have attended to that duty and report as follows : —

The Annual Examination of the Grammar and Writ-
ing Schools of the City of Boston was commenced a
few days after the adoption of the order, and was fin-
ished in the month of May, occupying more than the
regular School hours for three weeks. The same course
was adopted that was pursued last year. The Chairman
visited every School in the City, and examined the first
classes, in some cases, alone, but in most, accompanied
by one or more members of the Committee.

In the Report for last year, some remarks were offered
for the consideration of this Board and the public, on
the subject of the inadequacy of the means provided for
the supervision and examination of the Public Schools.
We do not intend to renew this discussion, but merely
to say that the impressions then stated have been
renewed and strengthened by the experience of another
year, and to remark, in illustration of the correct-
ness of those impressions, that, although the Chair-
man had six associates in the duty of examination,
he found himself, in several instances, entirely un-
accompanied by any of them, and without any assist-
ance but that of the teachers of the Schools. It was
probably the intention of this Board, in appointing so

numerous an Examining Committee, that no estimate
of any of the Schools should be left to the opinions
or judgment of one individual, and the Chairman al-
ways felt reluctance, in entering upon an examination,
when thus unsupported. It is not intended by these
remarks, to make any complaint of any members of the
Committee. There can be no doubt, that their other
regular and more pressing avocations prevented them
from attending, at those times when their attendance
was desired and needed. We only wish to call atten-
tion to the defects of a system, which leaves to the
chance intervals of the leisure of busy men, so onerous
a duty, as the investigation of the state of such an im-
portant institution as that of Common School Education.
The present mode of examination has a bad effect
on the Schools. Eor two years past, only the first clas-
ses have been examined, while the others are passed
over without notice, and usually dismissed for the day.
The natural consequence is, that the masters, if they
anticipate an examination of this nature, will be anx-
ious throughout the year, to have a firsfe class in such
a state of advancement, that they may make the best
appearance possible, and it may be that this effect is
produced, by an undue neglect of the younger pupils.
It would be much better to examine the whole School,
and make the estimate of its condition to depend upon
the state of proficiency of all the classes. Yet the la-
bor even, of the present limited examination is very
great. A more extended one could hardly be accom-
plished, by one Committee, and unless some means are
adopted more efficient than those now at the command
of this Board, a thorough annual examination of the
Schools, with the view of comparing them together,
which involves the necessity of its being done by one
Committee, can hardly be effected. We commend the

5

subject to the attention of the Board, before the ap-
pointment of the next Annual Examining Committee.

But few changes have taken place in the Schools
during the last year. The Grammar Master of the
Boylston School has resigned, and his place has been
filled by the election of Mr. John C. Dore, an usher in
the Mayhew School, and the selection is believed to
be very acceptable, to the Sub-Committee of the
School, to the parents of the pupils and to the pupils
themselves. Mr. Mackintosh, the Writing Master of the
Hancock School has died, and Mr. Merrill, the Writing
Master of the Franklin School has resigned, since the
examination of last year. No other masters have been
elected to supply their places, but, as is well known to
the Board, these Schools have been placed under the
sole care of their respective able head masters, assisted
in the Franklin School, only by female teachers. The
experiment lias succeeded as well as could have been
desired. Both these Schools are in most excellent con-
dition, and the pupils of the first classes showed distin-
guished proofs of their acquirements and intelligence
at the last examination. While we hesitate at recom-
mending any change in those Schools for girls, where
there are no vacancies in the office of the head of either
department, we have no doubt that the change which
has been made in the Franklin School will be adopted,
as opportunities may occur. The pecuniary saving in
each School on this new plan will be about $1,000 per
annum, while the efficiency of the School in the great
objects of education is, so far as can be inferred from
the experience we have gained, to say the least, not im-
paired. The same system could not probably be adopt-
ed with advantage, in the Schools for boys. In them we
believe it will be necessary, that there should be at least,
one male teacher in each room, as the Schools for boys,

even of the best disposed, are more difficult to control,
and the greater physical energy of a man is necessary
for their efficient regulation.

The question as to the expediency of continuing the
system of the Schools with two independent head mas-
ters has long been agitated. In the Report of last year,
the arguments on both sides were briefly stated. We
have heard no complaint made, in any of the Schools
conducted on this system. We believe there are none,
in which the masters do not act with perfect harmony
of feeling and purpose, and there are certainly no bet-
ter Schools, than some of those which are thus conduct-
ed. We think ourselves warranted by experience, in
saying, that this harmony of action can be obtained in
every School, and that if it were understood that discord
would lead to such changes as would remove that evil, we
should very seldom hear any complaints on the subject.

The almost universal complaint among the teachers
is, the great variety of studies to which they and
their pupils are obliged to give their attention. We
shall speak presently of the effect of this upon the
children. In the Schools under single heads, it oper-
ates injuriously upon the teachers. Even the most
capable head master must feel his mental powers
very severely taxed, by the necessity he is under of
keeping up a thorough acquaintance with all the vari-
ous branches of instruction. Reading, Writing, Gram-
mar, Spelling, History, Geography, Physiology, and
Natural Philosophy, constitute a formidable round of
studies, for the capacities of an individual. Reflection
upon so many topics, and the power of adopting new
and improved modes of instruction in them all, seems to
be almost impossible. These objections apply with still
greater force to the subordinate and female teachers,
who, younger, with less experience and less thorough

education and discipline of mind, are called upon to dis-
charge the same varied duties of instruction. All, per-
haps, that can be expected under such an arrangement
is, that a faithful use should be made of the text books
in the Schools ; yet all who know how miserably im-
perfect some of these text books are, must feel that a
good and accurate education cannot be extracted from
them, alone. The intelligent and suggesting mind of an
accomplished teacher is needed to supply from its own
resources, their deficiencies, their want of arrangement,
their inaccuracy and the meagre information that is to be
derived from them. We have a right to require and
we can obtain such services, from teachers whose labors
and thoughts are directed to a reasonably limited round
of studies ; but is it fair to expect it from those whose
attention is divided and weakened by being employed,
upon the whole list which has been enumerated above"?
We want either less variety of studies or a division of
labor among the teachers, and in so far as it destroys
this division, we are constrained to believe that the new
system of Schools, where the whole course of instruction
is committed to a single mind, is not calculated to pro-
duce favorable results.

There are, no doubt, some advantages derived from
having the children constantly under the same instruc-
tors, and the saving of expense in the large undivided
Schools under one control, is a very important con-
sideration. Those Schools which have been subdi-
vided into two departments, each under an independent
set of instructors, who teach the whole course of stu-
dies, seem to us to combine the disadvantages of both
systems. The teachers are overtasked and the expense
is not diminished. In the Schools with two head mas-
ters, we think a reform might be made. The duties of
the two departments are very unequally divided. In

8

the Writing Department, the regular prescribed stu-
dies are Writing, Arithmetic, Book-keeping and Natural
Philosophy. Drawing is also taught, but, we believe,
is done mostly out of School hours. Half the time
of the pupils is occupied with these studies ; all the oth-
ers, Reading, Grammar, Spelling, History, Geography,
and Physiology, are taught in the Grammar Department.

It will be seen from this statement, that the duties
of the Writing, are much less than those of the Gram-
mar Department. Reading alone, if taught in a proper
manner, ought to occupy as much time as any of the
studies of the Writing Department. The voluntary or
extraordinary studies of the Grammar Department are
at least as great in number and importance as those in
the Writing Room. The studies of the Grammar De-
partment are not only more numerous, but also more
important than those of the other; for all those stu-
dies, especially reading and history, which are, or ought
to be, the means for the moral development and edu-
cation of the children are there taught, while the
studies of the Writing Department are merely intel-
lectual or mechanical. We think it owing to this
unequal division of time in proportion to the number
and character of the studies pursued, that the children
in the Schools with two heads, have generally appeared
more thoroughly instructed in the studies of the Wri-
ting, than in those of the Grammar Department. They
are better writers and arithmeticians than they are
readers, grammarians, spellers, historians, or geogra-
phers.

If, then, the duties of the Writing Department are
less onerous than those of the Grammar Department,
it follows that some change should be made, either by
making a different division of the studies, or prospec-
tively, reducing the salaries of the writing masters. If

9

the former course should be deemed the best, the change
might be made by transferring the study of geography
to that department, although this course would be
open to the very great objection of separating the study
of history from that of geography. This has been tried
heretofore, but the change, for reasons which we know
not, has not been a permanent one. We are ourselves,
inclined to the course of making a discrimination in
the salaries in- the two departments. We do not recom-
mend that any change should be made in the salaries of
the present incumbents ; but if the system is to be con-
tinued, let it be understood that every new writing mas-
ter is to be elected, or appointed, as a sub-master, with a
reduced salary, and to' be subordinate to the grammar
master, as the controlling head of the whole School.
Such a course will dispose at once of the question as to
the divided and equal authority of two masters, and will
effect a saving in the School expenditures without doing
any injustice. That the duties should be more equal,
or that the compensation should be unequal in the two
departments, we think, must be manifest to every one
who visits the Public Schools. It will be for this
Board to say which, if either of these measures shall be
adopted.

* Whether the present system of the division of depart-
ments and of labors is to be maintained at all in the
Schools, is a most important question. The double sys-
tem has for a few years past been abolished in every
School where a vacancy in the head mastership has oc-
curred, with the single exception of the Boylston School.

. Whether the change is a beneficial one, is very doubtful.
The principal argument in its favor, is economy, and this
could be satisfied by the alteration we have proposed to
have made in the writing department. The great ob-
jection to it, as we have already stated, consists in crowd-

10

ing too many studies upon a single mind, and the dan-
ger of falling short of that thoroughness of instruction,
which can be obtained when the attention of the teacher
is not distracted and weakened, by being called to so
many different subjects We have already had occasion
to enumerate the various branches of study which the
pupils are called on to pursue. It has been very evident
that there is a want of thoroughness in their attainments.
In many Schools, there was manifested a' superiority in
some particular and probably favorite branch, while, in
others, there was a corresponding deficiency. But there
was no study in which, with some exceptions, there was
not great room for improvement. We have met with few
scholars of the first" classes who could not read fluently,
and if the pieces selected were simple and easy in their
structure, correctly. But this was the extent of the
general attainment. Sentences, in any degree inverted
or obscure, or complex, were very generally read in
such a manner and with such a want of the proper
inflections and emphasis, as to show that the pupils did
not appreciate or understand them. Similar; defects
were noticed in the recitations in grammar, and it was
very remarkable, that many children were well versed
in the new system of grammar, which has been intro-
duced into the Schools, yet would entirely fail, when
called upon to parse a word, which its collocation in
a sentence rendered at all difficult or obscure. We
continue to be, as we expressed ourselves last year,
very doubtful of the merits of this new system, or at
least, of its profitable use in the instruction of such
young children, as frequent our Grammar Schools.
There can be no doubt, that the system is founded on
a correct view of the principles of grammar and lan-
guage, that its philosophy is sound, and that it has
been stated and illustrated by its accomplished author,

11

in a very clear and able manner. We have nothing to
say against its abstract merits and truth. But we are
strongly impressed with the opinion, that it is not the
proper mode for instructing young children. It is too
abstruse and philosophical for this purpose. Upon Ihis
new system, the child is obliged to take nothing upon
trust, he is called upon to investigate the reason of
every statement that is made, and enter into a philo-
sophical analysis of every sentence, which forms the
subject of his exercise in grammar, and in order to do
this, his mind and memory are burdened with a minute
nomenclature of subtle elementary divisions and subdi-
visions of sentences and parts of sentences, to master
all which, is a serious tax upon his time and attention.
The system is an eminently artificial and philosophical
one, most admirable in itself, and of great value at a
more mature period of youth, and in a higher stage of
education, in enabling the learner to become a master
of the philology, and the philosophy of his native lan-
guage. But it is less intelligible, less simple, less nat-
ural, than the old system of Murray is, or than an im-
proved mode, having that system for its basis, might
be made, and for these reasons, we think it ill adapted
for the use of our Grammar Schools, unless in connec-
tion with the other system.

We have found many pupils in the first classes who
could answer any questions that were proposed as to the
analysis of language according to their new text book,
yet as we have before said, totally unable to parse in the
usual mode, sentences of any great complexity, and it is
our opinion, that more real knowledge and appreciation
of the meaning and beauty of our language has been
found, in a few schools where the old plan of instruction
has been mainly adhered to, than in those where the. Anal-
ysis has been the principal text book for study and in-

12

struction. In our last report we stated our apprehensions,
that the use of this system by beginners whose early im-
pressions of language would probably be fixed for life, as
all early impressions are, would tend greatly to produce
stiffness and want of ease in point of style in composition.
That which we do well or at least gracefully, we must
do easily and naturally, and we can no more conceive
that a man should write well whose thoughts were filled
with reflecting, whether the next word or phrase he
was to use was an element of such a nature or of such
a class, an adjective element or an objective element or
an adverbial element, or whether it was simple or com-
pound or complex, or of the first or second or third
class, than that he should walk or ride well, by con-
stantly keeping in mind the laws of the anatomical con-
struction of the organs of the body that he was about
to call into exercise. Good writing preceded any idea
of grammar. No good writer or speaker ever thinks
of the rules of grammar when he is writing or speak-
ing. He of course uses good grammar, but it is from
habit and practice, the result certainly of education,
not from rules, the statement and form of which he
has very probably forgotten. Now the characteristic
of this new system is, that it is at the foundation of ev-
ery thing. Children are taught to construct sentences
in accordance with it. They are taught to pick out a
sentence from a page, by having merely the elementary
members which compose it, stated to them, and thus an
artificial as opposed to a natural method of composition
is continually inculcated as the basis of education in
this particular study.

While making these strictures, however, it is but just
to say, that opinion is much divided on the merits of
this new system, and that it numbers among its friends
some of our best teachers, and many persons whose

13

opinions on such subjects are entitled to the highest
consideration.

In History we do not think that the attainments of
the pupils are such as could be wished. Nor is the
mode of teaching in this study a good one. The fault,
however, is not to be attributed either to the pupils or
their instructors. The classes generally have shown a
very fair knowledge of all that could be learned from
the sources of learning at their command. The text
book of history now in use in our Schools is not a good
one. It is very brief, not very accurate, and very uninter-
esting. It appears to be nothing more than a very dry
detail of the leading facts of history, related in no con-
nection, except that of chronological order, and utterly
destitute of any thing to awaken and interest the at-
tention. We will give an illustration of its character.
In the part devoted to Grecian history the names
of Miltiades, Themistocles, Aristides, and Leonidas
are not introduced in the narration of the Persian
invasions, and the name of not a single inhabitant of
Greece who lived between the time of Solon and that
of Epaminondas is mentioned in the course of this part
of the history. Yet this period of nearly two hundred
years was prolific of great men, and is probably the most
important era in the history of civilization. It em-
braces the time of the Persian invasions. It was the age
of Pericles, of Alcibiades, of Plato, of Xenophon, of
Herodotus, of the great dramatic poets — in short of
nearly all the most e*minent intellects of ancient Greece.
It is but justice, however, to the author to say, that the
principal defects of this book are inseparable from the
plan on which it is compiled. A history of the world
in a duodecimo volume of 300 pages, cannot be other-
wise than meagre in its information, and a book of
larger size would be too expensive.

History might be made the most interesting and one

14

of the most profitable studies to which the attention of
children could be directed. It so abounds with the ma-
terials of reflection, there is so much in it to impress
the imagination, to elevate the moral sentiments, to
touch the heart and enlarge the mind, that it is much
to be desired, that its capabilities as the means of moral
as well as intellectual culture should be duly improved.
But this cannot be done while pupils have no other
books than those which are confined to the detail of facts,
the mere husks and dross of history, without comment
or improvement. A child may learn that the Athenians
defeated the Persians at Marathon and Salamis. That
they were in turn repelled with disaster from Syracuse,
that Alexander overrun Asia, that the Romans expelled
their kings and conquered the known world, without
having awakened in them one glow of feeling or being-
made aware of the materials for reflection and for a
higher instruction than the mere knowledge of facts,
which these and such other great events in the world's
story might present to their view. And such is all the
advance that can be expected from the book now in
use. In the course of our examinations it was not
much used, and such attempts were made as the lim-
ited time permitted to draw out what knowledge the
children had and to awaken their interest in this study,
but it was generally found that while they could tell
very readily what was in their text book, the information
derived from it had not been conveyed to their minds
in such a manner as to induce a desire for greater re-
search. In short, we do not think from what appeared
at the examinations, that history is a favorite study, or
that the quality of the knowledge of it which can at
present be obtained, is of a very valuable or durable
kind. A book is wanted which while it narrates facts,
should also contain such reflections as would awaken

15

the interest of the children, and if this were supplied,
there is no branch of study that would so much con-
tribute to mould aright, the intellectual and moral
habits of children, as history. We have occasionally
met with pupils in the Schools, whose answers showed
that they had read more, and better books of history
than their text book, and they were generally among
the most intelligent and meritorious. Could a School
history be found which converted the dry outlines of
events into such lifelike pictures as are presented in the
pages of Herodotus, or as are drawn in the Cyropsedia
of Xenophon, or in the delightful narrative of Livy,
the effect on our Schools would be very soon perceptible ;
and history, instead of being what it now appears to be
a very imperfectly studied and ill relished task, would
become one of the most delightful recreations, as well as
one of the most improving studies that could be adopted
for their improvement.

The classes generally appeared better instructed in
geography than in history, probably because the study
is made more interesting. In some of the Schools, the
knowledge of geography was absolutely wonderful.
In one School, we recollect, that the master gave the
names of twenty places in different parts of the earth,
without any regard to order or classification, and di-
rected the pupil to give the course and direction from
one to the other, until the whole list was completed,
and all this was clone without hesitation, and without
any aid to the memory from map or memorandum.

In another, advantage had been taken of the pictures
in the text book, illustrative of the character and pro-
duction of the various countries, to impress the minds
of the pupils with a discriminating knowledge of the
different regions of the earth, and the time so spent,
we cannot doubt, was profitably employed. The secret

16

of instruction, in such studies as this, consists in com-
bining interest, we might say, amusement, with the dry
details of facts so that they may have a pleasing, and
therefore lasting connection, in the mind and memory.

We do not know, that in this country the study of
geography and history have ever been systematically
united. Yet they have such an intimate relation to
each other, that it is almost impossible to enter upon
either of them intelligently without borrowing light
from the other. There is a German work written on
this plan, entitled " Manual of Ancient Geography and
History," by Wilhelm Putz, which has been translated
by Thomas Kerchever Arnold, and reprinted in this
country. The Manual of Modern History and Geog-
raphy, by the same author, has not yet, we believe,
been translated. This work is rather larger than most
of the text books in use in our Schools, but one on a
similar plan might be introduced with advantage.

In Arithmetic, the classes generally, were found to be
very well instructed, and as great progress has been
made as could be desired. We attribute the excellence
of the Schools in this branch, to careful instruction
and to the great proportion of time which, in the Schools
with two heads particularly, can and must be devoted
to its cultivation.

In Natural Philosophy, the classes generally, showed
that they had acquired a competent knowledge of the
elementary principles contained in their text books, and
in some of the Schools, where it had been made a fa-
vorite pursuit, the progress was very great.

In Physiology, we do not think that much useful
instruction has been acquired, except in a few Schools,
where great attention has been paid to it.

The Writing and Map, and other Drawing in all the
Schools, was very good, and affords a further illustra-

17

tion of the remark which has heen made as to the su-
perior thoroughness of instruction, more particularly in
the Schools with two heads, in the writing department,
over that in the grammar department.

The most universal and marked deficiency in the
Schools, was in Spelling. The mode of examination in
this branch was the same as that adopted last year.
Twelve words of considerable difficulty were selected,
and the pupils were required to write them on their
slates. The result was very unsatisfactory. In the best
classes, not more than four or five out of the whole
number of pupils spelled the whole list correctly, and
this was a very unusual number. In many, we believe
in most of the Schools, not one slate that was examined,
was without mistakes, and upon an average, throughout
the City, not more than half the words proposed, were
spelled correctly. Such a result is discreditable. There
surely can be no good scholarship where- this primary
element in education is neglected or deficient. We would
recommend increased attention on th^ part of the teach-
ers, to this branch of instruction, a? it is of far more im-
portance than the showy accomplishments in drawing,
and experiments in philosophy, which are sometimes
exhibited as proofs of the progress of a School.

We have now spoken freely and plainly, as to our im-
pressions of the state of irstructionin the Public Schools.
We do not know tha^ they will be responded to by
this Board at large, but we deem it our duty to state
what appear to up to be the facts which have come
under our observation. We wish it also to be explicitly
understood, thai in making these strictures upon the
state of instruction, we do not intend to impute any
fault or negligence to the instructors. According to
our opportunities, we have carefully observed the man-
ner in which the head masters discharge their duties,

18

and we are fully satisfied that they are faithful, able, and
intelligent. They appear to be working in their Schools
with all their powers and with untiring earnestness.
We believe there is no body of men in the public ser-
vice more true to the trusts reposed in them than the
gentlemen who conduct our public Schools. What
then is the cause it will be asked of the deficiencies
complained of. • We believe it to be this, — that too
much is attempted in the present course of instruction.
The Schools are departing too much from their original
character of Grammar and Writing Schools, while the
capacities of the pupils, and the time that they are priv-
ileged to attend School, remain the same. We fear
that those who are most earnest in the demand for con-
tinued progress will condemn this avowal as narrow
and illiberal, and as showing a disposition to go back-
ward in the career of improvement. It may be so, but
we cannot believe that any real advantage is gained to
the cause of edacation, by so multiplying the subjects
of study to the minds of children that in order to ac-
quire any knowledge of them all, their instruction in
all must be superficial

Thorough instruction in and a thorough knowledge
of Eeading, Grammar, Spelling, Writing and Arithme-
tic will make better scholars and better members of
society than a partial acquaintance with the other
branches of our course of instruction, if it is to be
gained by any neglect of those which we have first
mentioned. Of course, History and G-eography must not
be neglected, and there is time enough to study them,
but they are not subjects of primary, elementary import-
ance in education. We would have moie time devoted
to the elementary branches we have enumerated, and
the consequence would be that pupils who are thor-
oughly instructed in them would enter upon the higher

19

course of education with greater ease and a far greater
power of progress and improvement. A child cannot
be expected to study History to advantage to whom
Eeading is an effort. It will be of little advantage to
him to investigate the Geography and peculiarities of
foreign countries until he has learned to speak his own
language with purity and correctness. Children are
admitted to our Grammar and Writing Schools from
the ages of eight to fourteen years, and are kept in
School six hours a day for about nine months in the
year. At their age the mind though active, is not
strong and may easily be overtasked and we would
ask whether it is possible that they should be able at
that age and in that time to acquire a competent
knowledge not only of the branches of education which
we have already enumerated, but also of those more
ornamental studies that are taught so well in the Bos-
ton Schools. We think not, and that if the whole of
the present course is to be maintained it will be to the
detriment of the real thorough English education which
the pupils of our Schools ought to carry away with
them at the age of fourteen years.

It is an invidious task to propose a reduction in the
course of studies. It is no doubt to be desired that as
complete an education as possible should be imparted,
but let us be sure to make it thorough as far as it goes,
rather than extensive and superficial. There are no
limits to what may be known, but there are limits to the
powers and capacities of children of the age of twelve
or fourteen years. There is nothing that so destroys the
powers of attention and the habits of accuracy and pre-
cision of thought as too great a variety of occupation,
and the brief limits of the school hours are now neces-
sarily devoted to so many different pursuits, that it

20

seems almost impossible that the minds of the children
should be fixed with advantage on any of them.

In advising what branches of study should be aban-
doned, supposing that there is a necessity for it, those
should be selected which are least in accordance with
the original purpose of the public schools, which is the
attainment of a thorough English education, a complete
knowledge of those elementary studies, Reading, Writ-
ing, Spelling, Grammar and Arithmetic which are the
basis of all knowledge, without which no valuable
knowledge can be acquired, and a perfect acquaintance
with which renders the avenues to all knowledge more
accessible and the advance over them more easy. Un-
der the guidance of this principle, Natural Philosophy
and Physiology are the two studies now pursued which
can be most consistently dispensed with. The knowl-
edge which can be acquired of these studies in the Pub-
lic Schools is necessarily of the most superficial charac-
ter. They are not of greater importance than many
other kindred branches of knowledge, such as Chemis-
try, Geology, Botany, Natural History, &c. But it
is evidently impossible to introduce the whole circle of
science, and if the time can be more profitably spent in
acquiring the elementary branches which we have enu-
merated, the change ought to be made. It is no doubt
very gratifying to a child to be able to perform the va-
rious experiments with the air pump, but if at the same
time he is unable to spell the word " Pneumatics " his
time would have been better employed over his Dic-
tionary or Spelling Book. It may be very well that he
should be able to repeat the Latin names of the various
parts of the body, but it is not well, if owing to the
acquisition of this knowledge, his time has been so
misspent that he cannot read fluently, or speak his own
native language in its purity. Upon reading the re-

21

marks on the several Schools, at the close of this Re-
port, it will be seen that in many of them, a part of the
prescribed course has been omitted, certainly without
any sufficient authority on the part of the masters, but
merely from necessity, because it was found that the
requirements as to studies could not all be complied
with. Such facts as these speak more than pages of
argument, to prove that the faculties of the pupils are
in general overtasked by too great a variety of pursuits.
If the School education of a child is to cease when
he leaves the Public School, and he is to be placed in
any situation in active life, the knowledge which he
has acquired in these two branches, is not deep enough
to leave any very lasting impression, and in most cases,
would soon be forgotten. If he is to go on further to
the High School, and to College, his opportunities and
his power of learning them would be much greater at
a maturer age than while under fourteen. In either
case, he would be better prepared for active life, or for
a higher course of study, by completing his English
education, including history and geography, than by
acquiring such very limited knowledge of the two
branches in question, and we are confident that a
course of lectures on them, such as are delivered every
winter in this City, would do more to instruct a well ed-
ucated youth, from fifteen to twenty, than all the time
that the child is obliged to devote to them in his progress
through the Public School. In any case, therefore, we
would recommend that they should be omitted in our
course. So far as a knowledge of Physiology is re-
quisite for the preservation of health, if this argument
is not overrated, the instruction necessary for this pur-
pose, might be imparted in far less time than is now
spent upon it by a few Hygienic lectures delivered by the

22

masters, pointing out the general rules upon which the
preservation of health depends.

We cannot conceive, that learning the Latin and
Greek vocabulary of this science, can be of any advan-
tage to children who have not commenced, and who, for
the most part, are not expected to pursue a classical ed-
ucation, and who, consequently, have no means of ap-
preciating or knowing the etymology or significance of
the names which they are taught to repeat.

Children are admitted to the English High School at
the age of twelve years. If, by an exclusive attention
to the elementary branches of education, they can be-
come sufficiently acquainted with them, at that age,
to pass the examination for entrance to the High
School, it would be better to confine their attention to
those branches, and if their education must cease at
fourteen, the remaining two years might be there spent
in acquiring more thoroughly a knowledge of the higher
branches which are now attempted in the Grammar
Schools, and the result would be better scholarship in
both. Some of the studies of the High School are now
taught in the Grammar Schools, to the neglect of the
branches more appropriate to them. The natural con-
sequence must be, that children going from them to the
High School must, to a greater degree than would oth-
erwise be necessary, be obliged to devote the time requi-
site for a higher education to perfecting themselves in
those humbler studies, of which they should have been
masters when they entered it.

In the printed regulations of the Public Schools,
chap. 4, sect. 1, (Regulations of the English High
School) is contained the following passage : — " It" (the
English High School) " was instituted in 1821, with the
design of furnishing the young men of this City, who
are not intended for a collegiate course of study, and

23

who have enjoyed the usual advantages of the other
Public Schools, with the means of completing a good
English education. Here is given instruction in the
elements of mathematics and natural philosophy, with
their application to the sciences and the arts, in gram-
mar, history, natural and civil, and in the French lan-
guage."

In Sec. 5, it is provided as follows : — " It shall, how-
ever, be the duty of the master to examine them" (the
candidates for admission) " in spelling, reading, writing,
English grammar, modern geography, and arithmetic,
of which, a thorough knowledge shall be indispensable
for admission."

It will be seen by these extracts, that the elements of
natural philosophy are taught in the High School, (and
physiology might easily be added), and that no prepara-
tion, either in natural philosophy or physiology is re-
quired, and no examination in them made, and we can
only account for this on the supposition that it was
originally intended that studies of a higher nature than
the purely elementary should be reserved for the higher
grade of Schools, and a more mature age in the pupils.
It was the wiser plan, and we would earnestly recom-
mend that the old line of demarcation between the two
classes of Schools should be restored and made more
distinct.

But whatever system of mere School text-book teach-
ing may be adopted, it is insufficient alone to make good
scholars. To accomplish this end, the minds of child-
ren must be led to feel a deep interest in their studies.
The time spent in School is not enough to be given
to study. In fact this time is not so much devoted
to learning as to recitation — to giving the evidence
of duties performed elsewhere and of receiving that

24

guidance from the directing mind of the teacher which is
necessary for further effort and encouragement. It is
only when the minds of the pupils can be so stimulated
that study and habits of correct thinking become pleas-
ures in themselves, attractive enough to entice the child
away from more mere physical recreation than his consti-
tution demands, that his progress will be useful to him-
self or creditable to his teachers. The child who stud-
ies with his heart makes greater progress than he who
only uses his head. There is no particular in which the
Schools varv so much as in this. In almost all of them
the pupils are tolerably well acquainted with what is
in their books. Their tasks have been faithfully per
formed. In some Schools this appears to be all that is
attempted. But in others there appeared to be ardor
and energy in following out the ideas which their les-
sons unfolded. In the reading exercise in particular, we
have been sometimes painfully disappointed at the life-
lessness, at the want of, (if we may use the term) the
the aesthetic appreciation of pieces that were read, on
the part of the scholars, while in some instances, and
in one most particularly, this exercise was made so de-
lightfully interesting by the intelligence of the pupils,
that we were in danger of so far forgetting the other
parts of the examination, as to leave little space for them
without detaining the class an unreasonable time. It
is in the faculty of' thus interesting and commandin
the attention of the pupils, of making the School and
School pursuits the objects of the highest pleasure, that
the greatest difference in the teachers exists. It is al-
most impossible to say wherein this faculty consists.
All the teachers in our Schools go faithfully through
their work and do their duty, but as far as we could
judge from the appearance of their classes, they have
not all succeeded in awakening the desires of the r

25

pupils to press on and make the School instructions
the mere basis of self improvement. It will generally
be found, however, as in all other occupations, that a
teacher is most successful whose own heart is in his
work, who teaches from the love of teaching, from a
higher love to the children committed to his charge,
and from his desire for their happiness and well doing.
This is a far different and more noble impulse than that
spirit of rivalry sometimes shown in the ambition to
make his own School appear best and take the highest
rank over others. The aim of the teacher should be to
make his School excellent in itself without regard to
what is done elsewhere, though it will almost of neces-
sity result that a School under such control will rank
higher than that which is conducted on the principle
of making a better show at an exhibition, or of obtain-
ing the most favorable report.

Our system of education is incomplete, owing to the
want of a High School for girls. In regard to female
education, this City does not comply with the requisi-
tions of the laws of the Commonwealth. Rev. St. Ch.
23, s. 5.

Nothing beyond the instruction in the Grammar
Schools is provided for females. It is difficult to assign
a reason founded on principle why the existing dispar-
ity in the privileges of the two sexes with regard to ed-
ucation should be allowed. The practical objection is,
the expense, which would be far greater than that of
the High School for boys, because, unless some restric-
tions were placed upon the right of entering such a
School, the number of pupils would be much larger than
in the High School for boys. This arises from the fact
that in our state of society, boys are called away in
greater numbers, and at an earlier age, to the active
business of life, than girls. There can be no doubt that

26

were adequate provision made for the higher education
of all the females who would wish to avail themselves
of it, more than one School would be necessary. But
in view of this objection, one measure of restriction
might be adopted, and has in fact been proposed in this
Board, which unless the opinion of the wealthier classes
should be materially ch anged with regard to common
School education, would greatly lessen the number of
applicants. The High School for girls might be closed
against all those who had not received their previous
education in the public Writing and Grammar Schools.
There would be no impropriety or injustice in this rule
even if it were applied to the High School for boys.

The Latin and High Schools are now filled with pu-
pils, the greater part of whom have received their pre-
vious education at private Schools, and these higher
Schools are in fact maintained at the expense of the
City, in a great measure, for a class of citizens who
have not thought the lower public Schools good enough
for the early education of their children. In the report
of last year, we dwelt at some length upon the disad-
vantages to our School system, attending upon the
practice of not sending the children of the wealthier
classes to the public Grammar and Writing Schools.
It would be perfectly just to consider the Schools of
different grades, as parts of one great system of public
education, and to introduce the principle that the treas-
ury should provide for the expense of educating all
those children whose parents were willing to entrust
their whole education from early childhood to the pub-
lic Schools, but should not provide the advantages of a
higher education for those who, as far as their example
and influence went, had depreciated the character of
the lower Schools by their unwillingness to trust their
children to their influences. If this restriction there-

27

fore were adopted, it would have the effect of materially
diminishing the number of applicants for admission to
the High Schools, or it would raise the standard of the
Grammar Schools, by making their use, and the con-
sequent interest in them more universal among all clas-
ses of the community. It is not now necessary to
apply this principle to the Schools for boys, because the
Latin and High Schools are not crowded beyond their
capacity, but if High Schools for girls should be opened,
some restriction upon the right of entrance would be
found necessary, and it would be difficult to devise any
more entirely just than this which we propose.

The neglect to provide the means of a complete edu-
cation for females is not creditable to such a community
as this, and in view of the advantages enjoyed by the
males, it is strikingly unjust. A report in favor of erect-
ing two such Schools was made last year, and was
finally acted upon, and rejected during the current year,
solely we believe, on the ground of the expense. It is
to be hoped that this determination will soon be re.
viewed and corrected, and the City thus relieved from
an imputation of unfairness and partiality, which sorely
tarnishes its fair fame.

With regard to their moral condition, the Schools
generally appear to be in as good a state as could be
expected. There is such an immense difference in the
materials of the different Schools, that there must be
great inequality in this respect, which it will take the
training of years to overcome. Some of the Schools
are filled with children, mostly of the native popula-
tion, whose parents are of respectable standing in the
community. In such Schools will be seen children, al-
most universally well clad, with intelligent and happy
faces, and showing great self respect and propriety of
conduct. In others, great numbers of the pupils are

28

ill dressed, and even ragged, and not overclean in their
persons, thus showing that they are not cared for at
home as they should be, and that the advantages
in the possession even of the poorest are not used to as
great an extent as is practicable. There are a few
Schools, composed in a great measure of foreigners, in
the most humble and destitute circumstances. In one
class, of about fifty girls, from eight to ten years of age,
We were informed that there was but one American.
Efforts are continually made to obtain permits to
transfer children from Schools so composed to others,
where it is thought that the association will be better.
In our own individual practice, we have always refused
permission to transfer a child from the School of his
own district, on this ground alone. Such permission is
we believe generally granted rather too freely by the
Sub-Committees. It has the effect of still further de-
pressing the Schools which are thus avoided, by taking
from them the children whose domestic training is such
as would enable them to exert the best influence in re-
claiming their less favored fellows.

It is much to be desired that there could be some
means of following the children of vicious parents to
their homes and extending over them there the moral
teaching which they now receive only in School. It is
almost impossible that this teaching should have any
great effect when it is counteracted by the daily bad
example of parents whom the child by a law of his na-
ture, looks up to as his guides in the formation of char-
acter. A few days since, we saw in front of the Police
Court, two very young children, crying for the loss of
their parents, who had just been ordered to the House
of Correction, (probably for drunkenness). There are
many who daily have such scenes of intoxication, and
its degrading consequences before their eyes. What

20

hope can there be that the gentle voice of School in-
struction can avail to counteract the force of such do-
mestic examples. Yet where is the remedy \ It is at
home. The parent, if possible, must be reclaimed, if only
for the sake of the child, for the sake of the future.
Yet the field is so vast, the low misery and vice of a
class of our population are so wide spread, that philan-
thropy and humanity may well feel almost despair in
the face of such enormous evils.

The tide of pauper emigration to this country, and
to this City is of alarming extent. Already whole dis-
tricts are becoming depopulated of the native inhabit-
ants. From one of the most beautiful squares in the
City, the native population has retired and left their
dwellings for the habitations of such emigrants as we
have described.

This state, of things has a most vital bearing upon
the Schools. Vast numbers of this foreign population
are young children. We cannot keep them from our
shores. What are we to do with them 1 If we let
them run wild, we shall feel the effects ten years hence,
in the insecurity of property, in the records of our
criminal courts, in the expenses of our houses of
punishment, and in our taxes for pauperism. We
must, if possible, educate and reclaim them. We
must open the doors of our school houses and in-
vite and compel them to come in. There is no other
hope for them or for us. At home they- have no
teacher. It is with us and us alone that the
only sure remedy lies. In our Schools they must re-
ceive moral and religious teaching, powerful enough
if possible to keep them in the right path amid the
moral darkness in which is their daily and domestic
walk, and if this is not sufficient we must follow and
watch over them, as far as is practicable, to their homes.

30

The expenditure which we must incur for this class
of our population will be large. But the money will
be wisely expended. The School House, with all its
modern luxuries and refinements, and because of them,
is cheaper in the end than the miseries of the jail, and
unless we can reclaim this population in their child-
hood by moral means, we must control them by force,
or support them as paupers, at a maturer period of life.

But it is not only for this class that we need moral
teaching. We have but a low estimate of mere intel-
lectual acquirement in comparison to, or without, the
development of the moral faculties. In fact, there can
be no true intellectual progress unless accompanied by
moral training. It is

" The euphrasy and rue
To purge the visual nerve,"

and to enable the mind to look with a true vision over the
wide field of knowledge. But it is difficult to say, how
this instruction is to be given. We do not attach much
value to set lectures or text book instruction in morals.
There is thus an idea of formalism conveyed to the
mind of the .child, and though he may be made to per-
ceive, theoretically, the right and wrong, he will be very
prone to consider the exercise in the light of any other
School task, to be received and understood by the mind
alone. The true mode of instruction in morals appears
to us to be, by example more than by precept, to train
and form correct habits rather than to lay down abstract
propositions. In this way, a good moral tone may be
made a part of the child's nature, and it may be more
easy for him to do right than wrong.

In the other more didactic mode, he will assent to the
propositions advanced, and probably upon the first temp-
tation, act in direct opposition to them. Every man's
experience will tell him that this is often the case with

31

regard to truths that are received by the intellect alone.
But while we would not resort to books as the founda-
tion of moral teaching, they may be of great use to
inform a well trained mind that is really seeking the
right with the intent to hold fast to it. We have seen
a little book entitled " A Manual of Morals for Com-
mon Schools," which, from the examination we have
been able to give to it, appears to be well adapted to be
put into the hands of children to aid in the formation
of character. It could probably be introduced in the
Schools at a very small cost and with very good effect.
The greatest hindrance to the improvement of our
Schools is truancy. This evil appears to be on the in-
crease, and it is very natural that it should be so, be-
cause the class of children among whom it occurs is
constantly growing more numerous, and there is neither
in this Board nor any where else, sufficient legal power
to punish or restrain it. Truancy and vagrancy are le-
gally distinct. For the latter the law has provided, for
the former it has not. A bill was introduced at the last
session of the Legislature, giving the towns power to
make truancy an offence punishable by imprisonment,
but it was thrown out in the Senate, on the ground, as
we understand, that the evil was of a nature rather to
be corr-ected by domestic discipline than by the sanc-
tions of the penal law, that it was inexpedient to bring
that law into such close connection with our common
School systems, and that it was of bad precedent to
intrust to the towns the power of penal legislation.
These arguments are certainly plausible, but still the
evil remains and ought to be remedied. ' Domestic coer-
cion either is not resorted to, or is plainly inefficient
The offence occurs principally among the very poorest
class of the population, and more especially among the
Irish. We daily see great numbers of boys of the most

32

squalid appearance, who are engaged in selling news-
papers, matches, fruit, &c., and boys and girls who are
hanging round places where the demolition or erection
of buildings, is going on, to gather chips from among
the rubbish for fire wood. All these children ought to
be in the Schools, and no doubt many of them have their
names entered as members of them. The applications
at the School houses by the mothers of such children
to complain of or inquire about them are incessant, and
much valuable time of the head masters is occupied in
interviews with persons of this description.

The following is a copy of the act finally reported in
the Senate.

AN ACT

Concerning Truant Children.

BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in
General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as fol-
lows :

Sect. 1. Each of the several cities and towns in this Common-
wealth is hereby authorized and empowered to make all needful
provisions and arrangements concerning habitual truants, and chil-
dren absenting themselves from School, and not having any lawful
and regular vocation, between the ages of six and fifteen years ; and,
also, all such ordinances and by-laws respecting such children, as
shall be deemed most conducive to their welfare, and the good order
of such city or town ; and there shall be annexed to such ordinances
suitable penalties, not exceeding, for any one breach, a fine of twenty
dollars, or imprisonment for sixty days.

Sect. 2. The police courts in the several cities, and the justices
of the peace where the offence shall be committed in a town where
no police court exists, shall have jurisdiction of all complaints, under
any ordinance or by-law, made by virtue of this act, subject to the
right of appeal, as in other similar cases ; and the several cities and
towns, availing themselves of the provisions of this act, shall appoint,
at their annual meeting, three or more persons, who alone shall be
authorized to make the complaints in every case of violation of said
ordinances or by-laws.

Sect. 3. All imprisonment, ordered by any magistrate under
any such by-law or ordinance, shall take place in some house of re-
formation for juvenile offenders, if any such shall have been provided
within the county, and if not, then in the house of correction for such

33

county where the offence shall he committed, or in the State Reform
School at Westhorough.

From a report made by Marshal Tukey, at the com-
mencement of the present year, (City Document, No. 9.)
it appears that the number of truant and vagrant
children of whom he had cognizance was 1066. And
he stated that he was satisfied that the whole number in
the City was not less than fifteen hundred. Over such
of these children as are merely truants, the law gives
us no control.

At the request of the late Mayor, Mr. Quincy, Mr.
Tukey detailed an officer to look after the truants that
were reported to him by the masters of the several
Schools. The following is an extract from this officer's
report :

" During the year that I have had the charge of Truants, I have
been called upon by the teachers of the Grammar and other Schools,
to nearly 300 truant and idle children ; and for the want of some sys-
tem by which to be governed, my practice has been as far as possible
adapted to the circumstances of the case. I first call upon the parents,
find out their condition and the character of the boy complained of, in
order to know how to proceed with him ; admonish him, and always
in the first instance take him back to the School to which he belongs.
In many cases this course has been sufficient. If called again to the
same boy, by the consent of the parents. I have locked him up for a
few hours, and given him to understand that a complaint against him
would remain on file to be proceeded with if he again offends. This
sometimes has been enough, but not often. After taking a boy to
School two or. three times, and he finds that nothing further is done,
the Police-man's badge and staff have no terrors for him. The rea-
son I think is this. The law does not reach his case — the Courts say
he is not a vagrant, because he has a home — and he is not a stubborn
and disobedient child within the meaning of the statute. He is dis-
obedient only so far as he is a truant ; and there is no law against
truancy. I have been into Court with a number of such cases and did
not succeed in sustaining the complaint. The decision was almost
fatal to the boy, and a great injury to the School to which he belonged.
The only course left for us after this, was to watch the boy until we
could arrest him for some-trifling offence hiown to the law, and have
him punished, which seemed to be necessary for the good of the boy,
as well as the School."

u

We do not see any remedy for this great evil but pe-
nal legislation. . The constitutional power to pass a
law to meet the case, we presume will not be ques-
tioned. We expressed a doubt last year whether the
public mind was prepared for coercive measures on this
subject, but under the actual and increasing pressure of
this offence, we doubt not that it must soon become so.
It is not well to be too scrupulous in legislation, in
view of such great evils. The bill reported at the last
session of the legislature, need not we think alarm the
most sensitive friend of the liberty of the people.
Something must be done in the wray of remedy or pre-
vention, and we know not how the power of constraint
can be more safely called into action than by giving it
to the towns, with the option to exercise it or not, un-
der the direction of a general principle, sanctioned by
the Legislature of the Commonwealth.

No examination has been made during the present
year with printed questions. The examination last year
was for various reasons so unsatisfactory, that no use was
made of its results, and as no better machinery could be
adopted than that before resorted to, it was thought best
by the Examining Committee, to dispense with it alto-
gether.

We would call the attention of this Board and of the
public, to the order we have recently passed excluding
the children of non-residents from the Public Schools.
Such a measure in its general principle is a just one,
because non-residents usually make no contribution to
our public expenses. But in particular cases, this rule
operates with great hardsnip. There are many non-
residents who pay their whole tax on personal property
in this City, and thus contribute largely to the support
of the Schools. They stand in as meritorious a posi-
tion, with regard to the public expenses as any of our

own citizens, and it does not seem equitable that they
should be debarred from the advantages of institu-
tions which they help to maintain. When the order
referred to was passed, an attempt was made to qualify
it in favor, of those who paid the greater proportion of
their taxes in the City, but without success. As a
question of equity, this subject deserves at least, the
serious consideration of the City Authorities, and we
hope that the determination which has been arrived, at
will be reviewed, and the subject more fully discussed.

Annexed to this Report will be found an abstract of
the semi-annual returns from the Schools, showing the
number of pupils, their average attendance, and the
number of instructors in each School.

The returns from the Lyman School for girls, and the
North Winthrop School, and the English High School,
are only approximations, as the masters of those Schools
have not sent in their semi-annual returns. They are
no doubt, however, very nearly correct.

The salary of a head master in all the Schools is fif-
teen hundred dollars ; that of a sub-master, is one thou-
sand dollars ; that of an usher, is eight hundred dollars ;
and that of a female assistant, is three hundred dollars,
except in the Franklin School, where the two head as-
sistants have four hundred dollars each. The last col-
umn in the table will show the expense of instruction
in each of the Grammar and Writing Schools. On ex-
amining this table it will be found that the cost of in-
struction varies greatly in different Schools. Thus the
cost of instructing 409 children in the Boylston School,
is greater than is paid for instructing 508, or 99 more,
in the Quincy School. 382 are instructed in the John-
son School, at an expense of $4800 ; while the cost of
tuition in the Wells ^School, with an attendance of 310
(72 less), is $5000, being $200 more,— and in the Win-

36

throp School, the expense is $4800, with an attendance
of 293. In the Brimmer School, the instruction of only
288 pupils costs $5200 ; while in the D wight School,
413, or 125 more, are taught at an expense of $5400 —
a difference Of only $200. It will be seen that the least
expensive School in the City, in proportion to its size,
is the Franklin, where 377 pupils are instructed at a
cost of only $3800, while its rank and character are very
high. The table with the statements we have made as
to the amount of salaries, will enable any one who is so
disposed to carry these calculations farther.

Upon comparing the columns showing the whole
number of pupils, with that showing the average attend-
ance, it will be seen that the proportion varies greatly
in different Schools. The aggregate difference between
the whole number of pupils, and the average attend-
ance, is 1384 — consequently, instruction is provided
for this number of children who do not avail themselves
of it They would fill three school houses of the usual
size, the expenses of which, including interest on the
cost, would be about $25,000 per annum. This state-
ment is enough to show the evils of non-attendance, and
to suggest the expediency of adopting more severe rules
than now exist for enforcing attendance, or for exclud-
ing from the registers of the Schools, the names of those
children who do not attend.

We have only desired to call attention to this sub-
ject, that if possible the cost of instruction may be equal-
ised as much as possible, and either some saving of ex-
pense or else greater results may be effected. It will
easily be seen that the Schools with two heads are more
costly comparatively than those with only one, and that
the larger a School is generally, the less is the expense
of it in proportion to the number of pupils. It will be
seen, however, by comparing the Johnson, Wells, and

37

Wintlirop Schools, that there are great differences in
the relative cost of instruction, even in Schools
where the expense of the head masters is the same,
and that, therefore, some other causes for such differ-
ences must be sought. We ascribe these differences
principally to two causes, besides those we have already
mentioned, — 1st, to the varying degrees in which tru-
ancy prevails, which may be estimated by comparing the
columns showing the number of pupils, with that show-
ing the average attendance. The number of instructors
is regulated by the number of pupils whose names are
on the roll of the School, and if the average attendance
(upon which our estimates are founded) is much less
than that number, of course the School is made more
expensive in proportion to the number of pupils actual-
ly instructed.

2d, To an imperfect division of the School districts.
During the course of the present year it was ascertained
that no record exists of the boundaries of these districts,
and it must in many cases be difficult to know to what
School a pupil has a right to go. These districts ought
to be well defined, and to be equalised in such a man-
ner, that each School should, as nearly as possible, be
attended by a number of pupils proportioned to its size,
and to the number of instructors employed.

We have now touched upon all the topics which have
suggested themselves as important to be attended to, in
connection with the Schools. They are, generally, in
very much the same condition as that in which they
were found last year. There has been very little change
in the teachers or in the course of study, and we find
the first class just about where we left their predeces-
sors.

No one can visit the Public Schools without beins:
convinced of their infinite importance to the well-being

38

of the City, and whoever can look back for twenty
years, and see the great improvement that has been
made in the public morals, must be convinced that
powerful influences have been at work to produce such
results. We were particularly led to this reflection by
the events of the last Fourth of July. When we saw
the public procession of the children and of teachers
passing through crowds amounting to tens of thousands,
as peaceably and as safely as if they were in the lanes
of the most retired village, we could not but ask, where
else, in so large a City, and how else, but under such a
system of public instruction, could scenes of such uni-
versal peace and happiness be displayed. Let us go on
in this good work. Let us disregard the cavils of those
who murmur at the education of the people, for we may
be well assured, that all that makes Boston and Massa-
chusetts what they are, is, in a great measure, dependent
upon a broad and liberal system of popular education.

For the Examining Committee,

JOHN CODMAN, Chairman.

Since this Report was presented, we have received the following
communication from a lady, who is much interested in the cause of
the education of the poor. It being too late to incorporate the sub-
stance of it in the report, we print it in a note, without further com-
ment, than the hope that its suggestions may be adopted, and instruc-
tion, in needle-work, so indispensable to all females, especially those
in indigent circumstances may be given in our Schools.

Boston, August 2, 1849.

John Codman, Esq. — Dear Sir, — As Chairman of the annual ex-
amining Committee, I would ask your attention to a subject hitherto
neglected by the regulators of the public Schools, but in which a large
class of the community are interested, I mean the teaching of Sewing
n the female departments.

When the present School system was adopted, the condition of our
population was such that parents could teach their children to sew at
home, or it was included in the instruction of the women's Schools, which
was preparatory to admission into the Grammar and Writing Schools.

39

Now the whole state of things is changed. A large proportion of the
scholars are children of poor and foreign parents, who have no time,
and perhaps no knowledge to give, and the Primary Schools which
have taken the place of the former women's Schools, do not teach needle-
work. Various feehle attempts have heen made to advocate it, but
the persons who are consulted are the masters of the Schools, and
when they shake their heads and shrug their shoulders, and say
it is impossible, the matter is laid aside as impracticable. But to
judge truly if this change is needed, we must see if the children suffer
for want of this instruction, and if the community requires a larger
number of well taught needle women than are to be found at present.

The design of the State in educating her children, is to make them
useful and worthy members of the Commonwealth, and no woman is
properly educated who cannot use her needle skilfully. Among u3 at
the present time there is a great want of efficient needle women, and
there is also a large class of girls capable of supplying this want if the
means of learning the art were given them ; but who without this
knowledge, are idle, vicious vagrants, of whom a melancholy account
is given in the report on Truants, from the Schools, Feb. 7, 1849.
Those who supply work for the needy, the Needle Woman's Friend
Society, the Seaman's Aid Society, &c, complain that it is impossible
to find enough good seamstresses for the work they can command.
There are enough who can work for eight cents a day, and great sym-
pathy is expressed for them, that their compensation is so small, but
in reality the work is worth no more ; the worthlessness of some of
our ready made clothing is proverbial.

Consider a moment the importance of needle-work. Every human
being, in a civilized state of society must be clothed, and the accom-
plishment of this necessary end falls to the share of woman. A poor
woman who is without an adequate knowledge of needle craft, is with-
out a chief inducement to industry, neatness and economy. She is de-
pendent on others for what she ought to do best herself. She is not
ashamed to go in rags, for she knows not how to mend them ; she can
beg new clothes from charity, but she cannot make them for herself,
or keep her husband and children clean and decent. She loses her
self respect, her modesty, and lives accordingly.

A good needle-woman can support herself by her work ; it is a
practically useful branch of education for all, and to the children of
the poor far more important than any thing now taught in our public
Schools. This may seem to be an extreme view of the matter, but
are not neatness and order virtues of the first rank in feminine char-
acter, and how can these be preserved in a poor family, the female
members of which cannot sew, and what is so degrading and harden-
ing as the consciousness of inability to be neat and clean ?

Many of our young vagrants would be kept out of the streets and
sit quietly at home promoting the comfort of their families, if they
knew how to sew, instead of roaming abroad, exposed to the vicious
influences of a large city. It is not important, that these children
should know the position of all rivers and towns in the world, and if
they do, a few years of actual life will cause all this paper knowledge
to be forgotten, because not needed, by most of them ; and even learn-

40

ing to read is not a positive good, but a vast power for good or ill,
which if unguided by religious instruction may lead fatally astray.
On the contrary a knowledge of needle-work is an unmixed good. It
contributes directly to the welfare of its possessor. It helps to fit her
to perform her part in life as sister, wife and mother, and without it
she is not. prepared for either position.

It seems strange that so necessary ,a branch of education, should
have been overlooked for half a century, in a community where the
interests of education are so carefully attended to ; but the change in
the character of our population during this time has been so great
that an omission, which was then of little consequence, has now be-
come a serious evil, and as gentlemen have had the entire manage-
ment of the Schools, into whose education a knowledge of sewing
does not often enter, they have not considered its importance, though
if any of their female relatives should fail to be proficients, the in-
convenience would be felt by them at once.

It is said, that to introduce sewing into the Schools, is out of the
question, first, because the children are so numerous, and the atten-
tion cannot be given to each one which needle-work requires, and also,
that the parents cannot afford to supply the materials. If those who
have this matter under their control will call into their councils intel-
ligent women, well acquainted with this feminine art, these objections
will be easily overcome ; it is because it is in the care of those who
do not fully understand it, that it seems so difficult. One plan might
be, to have teachers specially trained for this purpose, and the Aslyum
children might be educated as thorough needle-women and then be
employed in the Schools. Or, if it is introduced into the Primary
Schools, a few children might be taught each day, and the elder could
teach the younger. The expense of the materials would be very incon-
siderable, because they must exist in every family which is above the
most abject poverty, and where they are wanting can be supplied at
much less cost than books for new studies, which are frequently re-
quired. The introduction of sewing, will be an immediate benefit to"
the children only ; but to give to these children a spirit of neatness
'and order, a love for quiet household duties, will be to effect benefi-
cial results for the whole community.

EXAMINATION OF THE SEVERAL SCHOOLS.

FRANKLIN SCHOOL,

WASHINGTON STREET.

Barnum Field, Master.

This School was visited and the first class examined May 7th, in
the forenoon, by the Chairman, and Messrs. Winkley and Palmer. It
was the first School examined, and there had been no time for prep-
aration and review. The appearance of the School was very satisfac-
tory. The reading was very good, and a very remarkable profi-
ciency was manifested in Grammar, which was taught according to
Mr. Green's system, to which the master gives a decided preference
over that which it has displaced.

The Spelling of the class, on slates, was good. Their acquaintance
with History was very imperfect, and the examination in this branch
was not as good as was expected. There was no examination in
Physiology, and very little progress had been made in it. The more
advanced part of the class was well acquainted with the principles of
Arithmetic as far as they had studied, which was nearly through Em-
erson's third part. The lower part of the class was very imperfect in
the recollection of the rules, but was more successful in solving the
questions which were proposed, thus showing that their real knowl-
edge of principles was greater than their memory or power of ex-
pression.

The class was examined also in Geography and Natural Philoso-
phy, and in both appeared very well. During the last year this
School has been conducted on a new system. A female instructer
being placed at the head of one of the rooms, in the place of the head
master who had retired from the service. So that in one room there
is no male instructer.

We made inquiries both of Mr. Field and of the female head of the
lower room, Miss Simonds, as to the working of the plan, and they
both united in speaking in its favor. If further experience should
confirm this testimony, a great saving might be made to the City, by
introducing the plan more generally in the schools for girls.

42

SMITH SCHOOL,

BELKNAP STREET.

A. Wellington, Master.

This School was visited and examined May 7, P.M. by the Chair
man and Messrs. Winkley and Palmer.

We regret to say that in almost all respects it is in a very low con-
dition. In most of the studies the best scholars were deplorably de-
ficient, considering the time, expense, and care that have been be-
stowed upon them. The reading of three or four (all who were
called on) was pretty good, but we were surprised at the ignorance of
Grammar. The best scholar in the class was called on to parse the
word " is," and she called or guessed it to be a preposition, and two
or three other parts of speech before it occurred to her that it might
be a verb.

The result of the oral examination in Arithmetic was to show a
very limited and imperfect acquaintance with the rules, but in work-
ing out a single problem in vulgar fractions, on the blackboard, a little
more readiness was manifested, though nothing more than would be
found in much younger classes in the other Schools.

There was no examination in Physiology or History. The class
appeared better in Geography than in any other study, and had made
some progress in Natural Philosophy. Some words were given out
to be spelled on slates, but the result showed but a low average of
correct spelling.

But the condition of this School in the deportment of the scholars
is more discouraging than their backwardness in their studies. It is
bad enough to see the little advance in intellectual cultivation, to re-
pay for the care, the expense, and perplexity of which this School has
been the cause. But it is lower in point of discipline than in mental
culture. In no other School have we seen so little of the sentiments
of reverence and respect, in no other have we seen any want of the
courtesy due to the committee and the instructers, and of the self respect
which children owe to themselves. But in this School all these
things were wanting. Whether it is from a want of appreciation of
what propriety in conduct is, — whether it is a jealousy lest a respect-
ful demeanor to their instructers and Committee might be construed
into a concession they were indisposed to make, we know not, hut we
saw little inclination to observe the most ordinary rules of good man-
ners. The general tone of the School was disorderly. There was
more of disagreeable noise and confusion among the twenty-eight pu-
pils who were in the room, at the examination, than we have seen in
other School rooms in Boston, containing nearly or quite ten times the
number.

At one time the sound of an harmonicon or some other musical in-
strument was heard breaking in upon the examination. Again, a child
actually engaged in recitation would turn away from the blackboard
to play with another who was seated at his desk, and frequently the

43

Committee were obliged to interpose nnrl reprimand individuals for
their noisy conduct or their improper postures. After the exam-
ination was closed, some remarks were made to the children on the
state of the School, and on their improper conduct, and from some at
least, the only response was a hroad and unconcealed laugh in the
faces of the Committee and the master. We cannot account for
this state of things. We did not expect it from the promise of the
last annual examination. The fault appears to be in the pupils them-
selves, in the influences other than those of the School room to which
they are exposed, and to the jealousies which characterize this part
of our population in their intercourse with others. It is hard to point
out the remedy, but we have no hesitation in saying that as it is, and
has been, the Smith School is an incumbrance upon the finances of
the City, and upon the patience of the School Committee, and that
there is no one of our public institutions that more needs reform, and
that such reform must be pointed out by a person or persons uniting
weight of character with wisdom, mildness, firmness, and fearlessness.
We have concluded, after some hesitation to print the preceding
notice, as it was written immediately after the examination, and is a
faithful representation of the impressions we received. It is but just
however to say that the School had received no notice that the Com-
mittee was about to visit it, and that of course the examination at that
time, was unexpected and not prepared for. We think, however, that
although this fact may be an excuse for any defects in personal ap-
pearance or even in scholarship, it is none for the general tone of be-
havior and manners in the School. As it was thought by the Com-
mittee that justice had not been quite evenly meted out to this School,
owing to the want of notice, on a subsequent day another examination
was made, of which due and full notice was given. At this examina-
tion the behavior of the children was much improved, and they ap-
peared rather better in their studies with the exception of Grammar.
Of this there was an almost total ignorance. At this examination the
girl who had told us at the first, that " is " was a preposition was asked
the same question and gave the same reply. We have since seen her
name among those of the medal scholars, of the Smith School.

BRIMMER SCHOOL,

COMMON STREET.

Joshua Bates, Grammar Master.
William A. Shepard, Writing Master.

This School was visited May 8th, P. M., by the Chairman and
Messrs. Winkley and Palmer.

44

There were two divisions of the first class examined, containing in
all, seventy-three pupils present at examination. Of course, the first
division was more advanced and thorough than the second, and ap-
peared very well in all the studies.

The second division were rather careless, and inaccurate in their
reading, but their general appearance was very good.

The masters of this School appear to have had eminent success in
exciting the interest and attention of their pupils, and the relations
between them were of the most satisfactory character. Great atten-
tion has been paid to writing and map drawing, and the black boards
were covered with very beautifully executed specimens of the latter.
A map of Massachusetts, the work of one of the boys, was exhibited,
carved from a solid block of wood, and on which the elevations of the
mountain ridges and peaks, and the depressions of the valleys and
rivers were represented. It must have been a work of great labor,
and manifested much talent and judgment in its execution.

ADAMS SCHOOL,

MASON STREET.

Samuel Barrett, Grammar Master.
Samuel W. Bates, Writing Master.

This School was visited May 9th, A. M., by the Chairman and
Messrs. Winkley and Palmer. It is in all respects in a very good
condition. The reading was easy and fluent, though perhaps, rather
wanting in expression.

In grammar and parsing, the instruction appeared to have been
very faithful, and the boys displayed a sound and clear understanding
of these branches.

Their readiness and intelligence in oral arithmetic was also very
great, and in all their other studies, their appearance was satisfactory.
There was a total absence of any attempt at show or display, and
we take pleasure in repeating what was said of this School last year,
that it is characterized by the thoroughness and soundness of in-
struction.

A transient visit was paid to the lower classes in the School, and in
all the rooms the children appeared neat and respectable in their per-
sons and dress, and contented and happy in their relations with their
teachers.

OTIS SCHOOL,

LANCASTER STREET.

Isaac F. Shepard, Grammar Master.
Benjamin Drew, Writing Master.

This School was visited May 10th, by the Chairman and Messrs.
Winkley and Palmer. It did not appear so well as at the examina-
tion in 1848.

The Reading was fluent, but generally without expression. The
Spelling was not good.

The Parsing and Grammar in the first divisions were respectable,
but there was not such a proficiency in these important studies as was
manifested in some other Schools.

The knowledge of Geography was very satisfactory, especially in
the first divisions. Only the first division of the boys was examined
in History, and appeared well. The master informed us that the
other division, when it came up to him, was so backward in other
studies that he had turned the attention of the pupils to them, and
had partially neglected history, and he also said that they had greatly
improved in those studies to which their attention has been directed.
The knowledge of History in the girls' department was good, but
not as thorough as in some other Schools. The classes were well in-
structed in Arithmetic. The boys had not studied Physiology. The
first divisions had acquired a respectable knowledge of Natural Phi-
losophy, as taught from the text book, the lower divisions had not
studied this branch. The AVriting and Drawing were very good.

In making our report upon the condition of this School, we do
not intend to cast any blame upon the masters. On the contrary,
we have every reason to be assured of their fidelity, and there was
manifest frankness in the statements made . by both of them, as to
the condition of the School, and a disposition to show it in its true
character without any concealment or palliation of its defects. This
School labors under great disadvantages, in comparison to some others,
arising from the transient character of part of the population which sup-
plies it, from the bad state of training and preparation of many of the
pupils, at their entrance, from the unusual frequency of changes and
discharges and reception of new pupils, and from the very frequent ab-
sence of some, even of the best scholars of this School, and the ir-
regularity of their attendance.

These evils are beyond the control of the masters. Such of them
as arise from the removal of pupils from the district and their conse-
quent discharge, appear to be without remedy, and the detention of
many of the children at home, in the employment of their parents,
can only be attributed to their fault or necessity. The Committee
were also informed, that during the present as during the past years,
many of the most advanced pupils residing in this district, had been
admitted to other Schools, and that at the exhibition in 181S, girls

46

belonging to this School district had been among the medal scholars,
at another School.

The facility with which permits to attend Schools other than those
situated in the district in which the pupils reside, have been granted,
is an evil which easily might and ought to be remedied by firmness
on the part of the Sub- Committees, in refusing applications for them,
unless upon very stringent reasons. Heretofore, we have reason to
think, they have been granted almost as a matter of course, and the
effect is disorganization and confusion, and great injustice to those
Schools which thus undergo the loss of their best scholars.

WELLS SCHOOL,

MCLEAN STEEET.

Cornelius Walker, Grammar Master.
Reuben Swan, Jr., Writing Master.

This School was visited May 11th, A. M., by the Chairman and
Messrs. Winkley and Palmer.

It fully maintains the character it has acquired in former years, for
the thoroughness of the instruction. The pupils appeared very well
in all the studies of the course. There appears to be an extraordina-
ry development of the powers of thought and perception in this
School, and maturity of intellect and of knowledge such as is seldom
met with in children of the age of the pupils here assembled. The
masters have great advantages from the character of the population
of the School district, and as far as could be judged from the exami-
nation, they have been most faithful in improving them.

PHILLIPS SCHOOL,

PINCKNET STREET.

Si S. Green, Grammar Master.
Samuel Swan, Writing Master.

This School was visited May 12, A. M., by the Chairman and
Messrs. Winkley and Palmer.

It is in all respects in a very good condition. Mr. Green has in'

47

structed his class thoroughly in the new system o£ Grammar intro-
duced by him, and they appeared very well acquainted with it. The
intelligence and general good conduct and appearance of the hoys of
the first class in this School are worthy of all commendation, and
from our more intimate knowledge of it than of any other, we are in-
clined to believe that it is not surpassed by any boys' School in the
City.

D WIGHT SCHOOL,

CONCORD STREET.

George B. Hyde, Master.

This School was visited May 14th, A. M., by the Chairman and
Messrs. Bigelow, Oviatt, and Russell. It is in all respects in a very
good condition, and the class showed great proficiency in all the studies
except Physiology, which had not been included in the course.

There were no girls far advanced enough for a first class, and the
examination was therefore confined to the boys. The long absence
of Mr. Hyde, on account of ill health might be urged in excuse of
any deficiencies in this School, but none is necessary. No doubt
the School suffers generally from the diminution of the number of
instructers, but those who remain appear to be doing all that could be
wished or expected of them.

Each of the rooms in this School contains seats for 264 pupils.
They are inconveniently large, and might easily be divided at a small
expense, and much to the advantage both of instructers and pupils.

LYMAN SCHOOL,

EAST BOSTON.

II. U. Lincoln, Master Boys Department.

The Boys department of this School was visited and examined
May 15, A. M., by the Chairman and Messrs. Oviatt and Bigelow.

The Reading was fluent, but wanting in expression, and apparent
appreciation of the subjects.

48

The Spelling was about as good as the average of the Schools. An
exercise in the analysis of the consonant and vowel sounds was very
good. The Parsing and Grammar were imperfect. The Arithmetic
good. The Geography good but not as thorough as in some other
Schools. A few of the best scholars appeared very well in English
and American History, but the knowledge of the greater part of the
class was imperfect. The class appeared very well in Physiology,
better than in any other branch, and had a very fair knowledge of
the elementary principles of Natural Philosophy. The "Writing was
good.

We have the highest opinion of the ability and fidelity of the master
of this School, and do not attribute its imperfections to any causes
within his control. The evils of a fluctuating population and truancy
which tend to depress so many of the Schools, and which operate
very unequally in different parts of the City, are very much felt and
to these mu3t be attributed whatever imperfection appeared on the
examination.

Girls Department — Aaron L. Ordway, Master.

This department was visited and examined by the Chairman alone
May 15th, P. M.

The scholars are in general older than in the boys department, and
truancy does not affect the schools for girls so greatly as those for
boys. The pupils made a very good appearance in their various stud-
ies, with the exception of the Spelling, which was imperfect.

QUINCY SCHOOL,

TYLER STREET.

J. D. Philbrick, Master.

This School was visited May 16th, A. M., by the Chairman, and
Messrs. Oviatt and Bigelow.

The short time during which it had been in operation, and its un-
settled, state last year rendered any fair estimate of its character im-
practicable.

"We are happy to say that this year we have found it in a most ex-
cellent condition. In this commodious school house more than 500
boys are in daily attendance. We saw them collected together in the
large hall, in the upper story, receiving their semi weekly lesson in
music. It was a most encouraging and gratifying exhibition. By
far the greater part of the children appeared well clad and respecta-
ble, and there was a general air of happiness, contentment and earn-

49

estness throughout. The exercises of the first class, in all the
branches, with the exception of Spelling were very satisfactory. 1 be
Spelling was not as good as we have met with elsewhere. The tread-
ing was particularly good, as were also the writing and Map Draw-
ing. The School house is superior in its construction and arrange-
ment to any other School for boys in (lie City, and has a larger num-
ber of pupils than any other. Yet from the admirable precision of
the arrangement of the classes, the pupils are collected and dismissed,
and move about in the discharge of their duties, without confusion or
disorder. Whoever examines the condition of this School must be
convinced that the large amount of money expended upon it has been
j udiciously appropriated.

BOYLSTON SCHOOL.

WASHINGTON SQUARE.

John C. Dore, Grammar Master.
Charles Kimball, Writing Master.

This School was visited May 17, A. M., by the Chairman and
Mr. Bigelow.

There is a greater proportion of Irish children in this School than
in any other in the City; The lower classes are almost entirely com-
posed of them. The personal appearance of these children as to
clothing, neatness, &c., is not what could be desired.

The first class, both of boys and girls appeared very well and passed
a very fair examination in the various studies, &c. In History, their
studies had been confined to that of England and America, and they
had not commenced Physiology. This School has been during the
past year very much impeded in its operations, by being scattered in
various detached rooms during the enlargement and alteration of the
School house.

Wells's Grammar has been used in the second division of the class,
and Green's in the first, and consequently the pupils in their advance
from the lower to the higher division have been obliged to adopt a
new form of this study. The disadvantages of such irregularity was
very great, and the progress of the pupils very much retarded.' The
new grammar master elected on the resignation of Mr. Baker is doing
very well, and gives great satisfaction to the pupils and the Sub-Com-
mittee of the School. He has not been in office long enough to show
what he can make of his department. The instruction in the writing
department has been thorough and faithful. The writing books show-
ed some very good specimens of writing, though they were not quite
equal to those exhibited last year. This is fully accounted for by the
fact that during their exclusion from the School house, the pupils hid
no facilities for exercise in writing, and a part of the class were de-
barred from it for a period of many months.

4

50

HANCOCK SCHOOL.

RICHMOND STREET.

George Allen, Jr. Master.

This School was visited and examined May 18th, A. M. by the
Chairman and Messrs. Bigelow and Beecher.

It is in very good condition. The Reading was very good, and al-
so the Parsing and Grammar. The class has a fair knowledge of the
principles of Arithmetic, though the pupils were deficient in their re-
membrance of the tables of weights and measures. The examination
in History was very good, and that in Geography remarkably so.
The pupils were well instructed in the first principles of Natural Philos-
ophy, but nothing more. They were not examined in Physiology as
they had made very little progress in that study. The Writing was
very good, and some very beautiful specimens of Map Drawing were
exhibited to the Committee.

During the forenoon all the children of the School were assembled
in the hall to take their lesson in music. Their dress and personal
appearance were almost without exception neat and respectable, and
there was a pervading air of cheerfulness and contentment, which is
a sure index of a well regulated and improving School.

MAYHEW SCHOOL.

HAWKINS STREET.

William D. Swan, Master.

This School was visited and the first class examined by the Chair-
man and Messrs. Beecher, Russell and Bigelow, May 19th, A. M.
The result of the examination was very satisfactory in all the branches
except Spelling, which was poor. In Natural Philosophy, the class
appeai-ed remarkably well.

From a thorough acquaintance with this School, the Chairman is
enabled to say, that it is in a very prosperous condition. The pre-
vailing evil of truancy is greatly felt here, and the attempt to remedy
it occupies much of the time and attention of the master. Having
the supervision of the whole School, his attention is too frequently,
though necessarily called off from his first class to attend to the appli-
cations of parents who call to explain or inquire about the absence of
their children. It would be a great improvement to the School if the
two large halls were divided into separate rooms like the Hancock
and Quincy School Houses, and the alteration might easily be
effected.

51

BOWDOIN SCHOOL.

MYRTLE STREET.

Abraham Andrews, Grammar Master.

James Robinson, Writing Master.

This School was visited and examined May 21st, A. M., by the
Chairman and Messrs. Russell, Beecher, and Read. The oral exam-
ination in Arithmetic and Natural Philosophy, were not good, but it
is believed to have been owing rather to a feeling of discouragement
that pervaded the class, arising from a failure in the first scholars exam-
ined in answering, than to any deficiency in instruction. It can hardly
be appreciated by those who have not had some experience in con-
ducting examinations, how much such accidents affect the spirits and
composure of a whole class. The problems in Arithmetic -which were
given out to be performed on the slates, were readily solved. From
the results of the quarterly examination the Chairman believes that
the class has been well and faithfully instructed in the Writing De-
partment. The Writing was very good. The examination in the
other branches was very satisfactory.

ELIOT SCHOOL.

NORTH BENNET STREET.

William 0. Ayers, Grammar Master. ?
Levi Conant, Writing Master.

This School was examined May 21st, P. M., by the Chairman and
Messrs. Beecher and Bigelow. The Reading was not good. It was
fluent, except in a few instances, but inaccurate and without feeling,
expression or appreciation of the subjects. An examination in Pars-
ing, by the Chairman, showed very poor results, but on a subsequent
examination by the master on Mr. Green's system, the class appeared
very well.

In History, the studies had been confined to England, France, and
America, and the class appeared very respectably. They answered
extremely well on the examination in Physiology, and as well as the
average of the Schools in the other studies.

As far as could be judged from this examination, the School is in
all respects in a better condition than it was a year ago.

52

MATHER SCHOOL.

SOUTH BOSTON.

Josiah A. Stearns, Grammar Master.
Jonathan Battles, Jr., Writing Master.

This School was visited and examined May 2 2d, A. M., by the
Chairman and Dr. Beecher. The class of girls and boys appeared
very well in all their studies except Spelling, and in that was not in-
ferior to the average.

The exercise in Parsing and Analysis was a very good one. The
class appeared to have been ably and faithfully instructed, and the
School generally is believed to be in a very satisfactory condition.

HAWES SCHOOL.

SOUTH BOSTON.

John A. Harris, Master of Boys' Department,
Frederic Crafts, Master of Girls' Department.

The Boys' Department of this School was examined May 22d, P.
M., by the Chairman alone. The Spelling was not good, but not
worse than usual. The appearance of the class in Natural Philoso-
phy was not very good. The Reading was excellent, and the class
appeared very well in all the other studies. The Writing was good,
'but not equal to the best in some other Schools. The Department
appeared in good condition.

The Girls' Department was visited May 23d, A. M., by the Chair-
man alone. The examination was a very creditable one. The
Spelling was rather better than usual, and the "Writing very good.

53

JOHNSON SCHOOL.

TREMONT STREET.

Richard G. Parker, Master North Department.
Joseph Hale, Master South Department.

The North department of this School was visited and examined by
the Chairman and Mr. Oviatt, May 24th, A. M.

The Reading was good. Parsing and Analysis imperfect. The
Spelling was poor. In History the class was imperfect. In Geogra-
phy it appeared better, and also in Arithmetic. In Natural Philoso-
phy there was a tolerable knowledge of the first principles. In Phys-
iology the studies of the class were limited, and their knowledge
imperfect. It did not appear to have been a favorite study or to have
been much attended to. The Writing was good. The attainments of
the class, upon the whole did not appear very great, but some allow-
ance should be made for the timidity of the pupils which was greater
than in most of the other Schools,

The South department was visited in the afternoon by the Chair-
man and Messrs. Oviatt and Bigelow. The class in most of the
studies appeared well. The Reading was remarkably good. The
Spelling better than usual. The Writing was very good. The class
appeared well in Arithmetic and Geography, but not so well in His-
tory and Physiology, and had made but little progress in Natural
Philosophy. The appearance of the class was satisfactory and much
better than that of the preceding year.

WINTHROP SCHOOL.

EAST STREET.

1 Samuel L. Gould, Master Southern Department.
Henry Williams, Jr., Master Northern Department.

The Southern department of this School was visited May 25th,
A. M., by the Chairman and Mr. Oviatt. It was found to be in a
very excellent condition. The Spelling was about a fair average, and
with History the class was not very familiar, but in all the other
studies its appearance was all that could be desired. The Reading
and Analysis and Parsing were of a very high order of excellence.

The lower classes were visited. There was an air of contentment
and cheerfulness about this School that was particularly striking and

54

pleasing. The North department was visited by the same persons in
the aftei-noon. The class did not appear so well as at the examination
last year, but it is believed to have been owing not to deficient infor-
mation, but to the timidity of the pupils who were disconcerted at the
commencement of the examination, and did not entirely recover them-
selves during its progress. The last study in which the class was
examined was Physiology, and in this they displayed an amount of
knowledge not exceeded if equalled in any other School in the City.
We have the highest confidence in the ability and faithfulness of the
master.

ENDICOTT SCHOOL.

COOPER STREET.

J. F. Nourse, Master Boys' Department.
Loring Dothrop, Master Girls' Department.

TI13 boys department of this School was examined May 26th, by
the Chairman, assisted during a part of the time by Mr. Bigelow. It
appeared greatly improved since the last annual examination, and in as
high a state of advancement and thoroughness as any School for boys
in the City. We noticed the usual defects in Spelling, and the Writing
though respectable was not as good as in many other Schools. The
girls' department was visited the same day by the Chairman, and
Messrs. Bigelow and Beecher, and making due allowance for the
effects of the long absence of Mr. Lothrop, who has been obliged to
go to the South, on account of ill health, the class appeared very well.

55

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