22 Prussia and the German System, of Education. 



ings, they discuss their professors and sweethearts, arrange 

 a serenade to a favorite teacher or a practical joke upon 

 some sordid landlord or "philister ; " they apostrophize 

 Fatherland in putriotic speeches, pour out their hearts in a 

 noisy flow of jolly good-fellowship, with pathos and pipes, 

 lampoons and lager, sarcasm and sausages, shouts of 

 laughter and song till midnight ; like the uproarious 

 crew in Auerbach's cellar. It must not be supposed, 

 however, that all share in this boisterous mirth. The 

 steady fellows live in almost ascetic retirement or seek 

 friends of strict moral and literary habits. 



"Providence has given to the French the empire of the 

 land, to the English that of the sea, to the Germans that 

 of the air. By this famous saying, Jean Paul, himself 

 a denizen of the air, proclaimed the strength as well as 

 the weakness of his native country; and those critics who 

 in good or ill humor quote it to the disparagement of the 

 Germans, seem to forget that the air is the habitation of 

 the warbling nightingale and the soaring eagle, and is as 

 necessary and useful to man as are the land and the sea ; 

 and situated as Germany is, in the heart of Europe, she fur- 

 nishes the heart's blood, the ideas and principles of modern 

 history and holds the intellectual mastery of the world." 



As in times past, she produced the priutiug-press and 

 the Reformation, the two levers of modern civilization and 

 Christianity, so she reigns at the present day in every 

 department of science and art, and these are, after all, next 

 to virtue and religion, the noblest pursuits and the highest 

 ornaments of immortal man. 



In concluding this topic, permit me to say a few words 

 on the transfer of German institutions of learning to 

 American soil. What we need is : 



1st. The obligatory education. 



2d. More discipline in our schools. 



3d. A thorough system of education in all branches. 



