3 
on education, the art's aMj&tesfcfesS 
history and literature*; :th£T&‘tss £n 2 
other mass of kno\yl^dg^, ; whic|i L inay 
be called latent or / si seping. i Thi : 
amount of it is much ‘greater than 
could be supposed. * Thera are,4p a * 
all the branches of kno^ledg&V som&c 
portions nearly forgotten and lost, 
which gradually sink into oblivion 
and are lost to mankind; like the im- 
mense amount of facts, events and 
practices, which have thus become 
extinct during the lapse of ages. 
If all the extinct knowledge was 
yet existing, it might exceed per- 
haps what is now extant, although 
we deem it prodigious. Every 
friend of learning has to regret the 
loss of some past knowledge, of 
which faint indications or small 
fragments merely remain. But if 
the latent knowledge be added, as 
it is eventually by the neglect of 
ignorance, the whole of this dormant 
or forgotten, together with the dead 
or lost, both of which are now ren- 
dered useless to mankind* will be 
found prodigious. 
But fortunately the latent or dor- 
mant may yet be restored and ren- 
dered available, by care, patient re- 
searches and exertions. It is to be 
found scattered in old books, or 
even new publications of limited cir- 
culation, in manuscripts, in the 
memory of men, in monuments that 
speak a peculiar language to be 
learnt and restored. All this among 
us. But further off*, we have in the 
literature and books of Asia from 
Persia to India, China and Japan, 
an inexhaustible mine of learning, 
hardly explored as yet. The Asi- 
atic nations, were the first teachers 
of mankind ; their western children 
who boast of having surpassed them 
in every thing, have neglected their 
old teachers for ages; but now be- 
gin to interrogate them again. 
Our attention shall often be drawn 
towards this subject. It is deplo- 
rable to see the servility, laziness 
and ignorance of many of our popu- 
lar writers on all subjects. They 
will not take the trouble to enquire; 
they bow to some Idols of yore* 
a#id 3 cbepy or compile from them 
without discernment nor careful in- 
vestigation of previous labours by 
other men or nations. We can 
hardly open a work of history, tra- 
vel, qr science, without meeting 
thohsina instances of neglect and 
ignorance. All our books of edu- 
cation are sadly deficient, except on 
those matters lately investigated. 
Facts, events and discoveries with- 
out number are set aside, not at- 
tended to, or oven not known. To 
this shameiul practice, which threat- 
ens a true Vandalic destruction of 
knowledge, we mean to draw the 
attention of the public, and expose 
it in all its turpitude and injurious 
bearings* C. S. R. 
1 publicTnstruction. 
Free Institutions of Paris and 
France . 
The following concise account of 
those Institutions, and their won- 
derful effect upon the French peo- 
ple, is not derived from any doubt- 
ful source or formal friend ; but 
chiefly from the pen of Sir Arthur , 
Faulkner, an Englishman, who visit- 
ed France in 1827 for the purpose 
of investigating the subject of such 
free Institutions: and from an ana- 
lytical abridgement of the work pub- 
lished by him on his return. They 
are obvious and luminous Facts, 
speaking volumes in favour of free 
Education. 
The total number of general 
schools in Paris was 647 in 1827, 
having 60,000 scholars. They were 
chiefly 294 Infant schools, all gratis, 
teaching reading, writing, and arith- 
metic, and elements of drawing. 
53 primary schools for boys. 
5 1 ditto for girls. 
22 Sunday schools. 
12 Schools of mutual Instruction 
for boys. 
5 ditto for girls. 
100 Boarding schools for boys. 
1 10 ditto for girls. 
Besides innumerable peculiar 
schools of Drawing* Painting, Ar- 
