more of grammar than we do to-day, and is not better
acquainted with the boundaries of Germany than we could ever
force ourselves to be. We like these little fellows for what they
are, and what they will probably be. And we like their master, a
grave, simple-hearted man, whose proper place would appear to be
the parish-pulpit. What his scholars learn will be worth knowing,
if it be not very profound. They will learn probity and goodness,
and it will not be ferruled into them either. Clearly, they do
not fear the master, or they would not be so unconstrained in his
presence. They would not make snow balls, as one has done, and
another is doing. Soon they will begin to pelt each other, and
the passers by will not mind the snow balls, if they will only
remember how they themselves felt, and behaved, after coming out
of school.

There is not much in a group of children coming out of school. So
one might say at first sight, but a little reflection will show
the fallacy of the remark. One would naturally suppose that in
every well-regulated State of antiquity measures would have been
taken to ensure the education of all classes of the community,
but such was not the case. The Spartans under Lycurgus were
educated, but their education was mainly a physical one, and
it did not reach the lower orders. The education of Greece
generally, even when the Greek mind had attained its highest
culture, was still largely physical--philosophers, statesmen,
and poets priding themselves as much upon their athletic feats
as upon their intellectual endowments. The schools of Rome were
private, and were confined to the patricians. There was a change
for the better when Christianity became the established religion.
Public schools were recommended by a council in the sixth
century, but rather as a means of teaching the young the
rudiments of their faith, under the direction of the clergy, than
as a means of giving them general instruction. It was not until
the close of the twelfth century that a council ordained the
establishment of grammar schools in cathedrals for the gratuitous
instruction of the poor; and not until a century later that the
ordinance was carried into effect at Lyons. Luther found time,
amid his multitudinous labors, to interest himself in popular
education; and, in 1527, he drew up, with the aid of Melanchthon,
what is known as the Saxon School System. The seed was sown, but
the Thirty Years' War prevented its coming to a