IMPRESSION'S OF AMERICA. 



217 



duty to examine the first classes of the primary 

 schools in his district, and to grant certificates to 

 those children who are qualified for admission 

 into the grammar-school. The parent of a child 

 who is not " passed " may appeal to a committee 

 of the board in charge of the " division " of the 

 city to which the " district " belongs. It is the 

 duty of the "principal" to organize all the 

 classes of the primary schools in his district, as 

 well as the classes of the grammars-chool. With, 

 out the special consent of the "division" com- 

 mittee, no pupil is permitted to remain in the 

 grammar-school after he is qualified for admis- 

 sion to the high-school. 



After all the experience of the Boston board, 

 Mr. Philbrick complains that the coordination of 

 the schools is not yet satisfactory. The qualifi- 

 cation for admission to the grammar-school does 

 not quite coincide with the standard of attain- 

 ments prescribed for the highest class in the pri- 

 mary schools ; and the examination for admis- 

 sion to the high-schools excludes an important 

 part of the curriculum of the highest class in the 

 grammar-schools. 1 This want of adjustment in 

 the relations of the three orders of schools to each 

 other appears to admit of easy correction, and 

 will probably soon disappear. 



There is another and far graver defect in the 

 organization of American schools. The theory 

 of the system is very simple. Let there be a 

 hierarchy of schools — primary, grammar, high; 

 let the course of instruction be so arranged that 

 the highest class in the primary shall be a grade 

 below the lowest in the grammar, and the highest 

 in the grammar a grade below the lowest in the 

 high ; and let the " graduating" class in the high- 

 schools be a grade below the junior classes in 

 the colleges and universities. On paper this 

 scheme is admirable. It looks like the fulfill- 

 ment of the dreams of those enthusiastic educa- 

 tionists among ourselves who insist that when a 

 child enters an infant-school he should have his 

 foot on the lowest rung of a ladder by which he 

 may ascend to a fellowship at Trinity or Balliol. 

 But the whole scheme of education for boys over 

 ten years of age who are to go to a university 

 ought to be different from that which is intended 

 for those who are to leave school at fourteen or 

 fifteen. Boys destined for the university should 

 begin some subjects at eleven or twelve which it 

 would be waste of time for them to touch if their 

 education had to close in the course of two or 

 three years. On the other hand, boys who are 

 to go into business as soon as their elementary 



1 Report for 1876, p. 81. 



education is finished should be taught some 

 things in a popular and unscientific way which 

 boys who are going to the university must be 

 taught more thoroughly. The "primary" in- 

 struction of both sets of children may be carried 

 on together ; but from the time that they are ten 

 or eleven a special training is necessary for those 

 who are to enjoy the advantages of a university. 

 The Boston board has made a successful attempt 

 to solve this difficulty. The Latin School receives 

 pupils at nine years of age, with qualifications 

 about equivalent to the requirements of the low- 

 est grade in the grammar-schools. Its full course 

 covers eight years. 



I believe that there is no other city in the 

 United States which has a public high-school 

 that receives children "at so early an age. The 

 great want of America is a set of schools cor- 

 responding to the Shrewsbury Grammar School, 

 King Edward's School in Birmingham, and the 

 City of London School. The Boston Latin School 

 is a bold and admirable attempt to supply this 

 want, but it has had to encounter serious opposi- 

 tion. " Well-meaning ignorance," says Mr. Phil- 

 brick in his frank way, " has frequently tried to 

 abolish this feature of the system, and has two 

 or three times partially succeeded, greatly to the 

 injury of the school." l In the absence of free 

 common schools of this kind elsewhere, wealthy 

 parents who intend their boys to have a univer- 

 sity education send them either to private schools 

 or to endowed " academies," some of which have 

 a very high character. Of the schools of this 

 class the one of which I heard most frequently 

 was " Phillips Academy," in Andover, Massachu- 

 setts. This institution has about 240 pupils, 140 

 of whom (in 18*76) were preparing for a classical 

 course at college; most of the remaining 100 

 were preparing for a scientific course. The cost 

 of board and lodging is from £40 to £70 per 

 annum, and the cost of tuition is £12. Mr. 

 Eaton reports that there are 102 schools of this 

 kind — he calls them " preparatory schools "— 

 with 746 instructors and 12,594 students. " The 

 income of these schools," he says, "is chiefly 

 from tuition. They are greatly in need of en- 

 dowments." a When I was at Harvard, Presi- 

 dent Eliot was good enough to show me a tabu- 

 lated statement of the admissions into Harvard 

 College for the previous year. Out of a total of 

 239, the ordinary public schools had supplied 86, 

 the endowed schools or "academies" 64, private 

 schools 31, other colleges 12; and 46 had been 



1 Report for 1876, p. 83. 

 3 Eaton's " Report," p. 74. 



