swer some hesitator's question--just as
you see in schools at home. They were examined in geography, and
then in Bible history--particularly Joseph's story. They responded
in chorus to all demands on this part of study, and could hardly be
quieted sufficiently to give Saggiomo's little brother, aged five, a
chance to tell why Joseph's brethren sold him. As soon as he could
be heard he piped out: "_Perche Giuseppe aveva dei sogni_!" (Because
Joseph had dreams.) It was not exactly the right answer, but nobody
laughed at the little fellow, though they all roared out in correction
when permitted.

In the next room, boys somewhat older were examined in Italian
history, and responded correctly and promptly. They were given a
sum which they performed in a miraculously short time; and their
copy-books, when shown, were equally creditable to them. Their teacher
was a Bolognese,--a naturalized Swiss,--who had been a soldier,
and who maintained strict discipline among his irregulars, without,
however, any perceptible terrorism.

The amount of work these teachers accomplish in a day is incredible:
the boys' school opens at eight in the morning and closes at four,
with intermission of an hour at noon. Then in the evening the same
men teach a school for adults, and on Sunday have their classes in the
Sunday-schools. And this the whole year round. Their pay is not great,
being about twenty dollars a month, and they are evidently not wholly
self-interested from this fact. The amount of good they accomplish
under the direction of their superiors is in proportion to the work
done. To appreciate it, the reader must consider that they take the
children of the most ignorant and degraded of all the Italians; that
they cause them to be washed corporeally, first of all, and then set
about cleansing them morally; and having cleared away as much of the
inherited corruption of ages as possible, they begin to educate them
in the various branches of learning. There is no direct proselyting
in the schools, but the Bible is the first study, and the children
are constantly examined in it; and the result is at least not
superstition. The advance upon the old condition of things is
incalculably great; for till the revolution under Garibaldi in 1860,
the schools of Naples were all in the hands of the priests or their
creatures, and the little learning there imparted was as dangerous as
it could well be made. Now these schools are free, the children
ar