that it is by studying the nature of the child that we are to learn how to teach and train him; and I showed, moreover, in a brief sketch of Fröbel's personal history, how this principle, which looks so obvious, but is so generally ignored in our treatment of little children, developed itself both from the life-experience of the man, and from his profound observation of the nature of children; in fact, from his heart as well as from his head. Before I had ever heard Fröbel's name, I had arrived at a conclusion nearly identical with his; namely, that in our ordinary education of young children we give them far too little credit for the powers with which the Creator has endowed them, and too frequently, by injudicious management, repress or even quench those manifestations of intelligence which ought to be taken as the basis of our operations. In other words, I had clearly seen that, instead of allowing children's native activities free scope, and aiming, especially in our early lessons, at eliciting what is in them, we are generally far too prone to impose upon them what is in ourselves, and therefore, by system, rule, and routine, to check, and sometimes even to stifle, natural development.

I had further convinced myself that this unwise.

interference with nature's laws was the true cause of a phenomenon within the observation of all—that of a child who, before formal teaching begins, is distinguished for mental activity, becoming almost suddenly dull, inert, and stupid under the operation which is ostensibly intended to quicken his powers

-a result obviously due to a theory of education which takes little or no account of the nature of the child.

These and other similar considerations had prepared me fully to accept the principle expounded in the lecture already alluded to;-in which, too, I further developed Fröbel's notions respecting the spontaneous play and movements of the mind as the divinely appointed means for developing the powers of the child, and described the series of exercises which he devised for making play and selfactivity greatly fruitful in early education.

It occurred, however, to me, that it would be advisable, before I lectured again on the subject, to give my full attention to the theory of the Kindergarten, and to see something more of the practice -especially in those places, Hamburg, Berlin, &c., where it was most skilfully and correctly carried out. I wished, moreover, to satisfy myself as to the

effect (respecting which I knew there was some controversy) of the training of the Kindergarten on the subsequent educational career of the children; and knowing already what was said for the system by its numerous enthusiastic advocates, I wished also to hear on the spot what was said against it by its opponents. In order to form an accurate judgment, this was especially important. Lastly, I wished to ascertain in what special respects, if any, the Kindergarten was an improvement on Our ordinary infant schools.

My purpose, then, was clearly defined. It was to visit Kindergartens conducted by thoroughly trained teachers, to see how far they realized the ideal presented in Fröbel's writings, and try also to visit elementary schools where children were received who had passed through the Kindergarten, and where the fundamental principle was still worked, as well as other elementary schools which were quite independent of the Kindergarten.

It may be as well to state here (though the fact is generally known), that what we call national education is, throughout Germany, the business of the respective Governments, who regulate that it shall commence when the child is six years of age, and

shall be continued for at least eight years. Whatever instruction then may be given to children before they are six years old, is properly no affair of the Government, which, therefore, does not reckon the Kindergarten as part of its system. This is the rule, to which there are some exceptions. While in Berlin, however, I was informed that the Minister of Education-Dr. Falk-had recently taken much interest in the subject, had visited some of the Kindergartens, and had even said that in the new Prussian school regulations, which are expected to appear shortly, he proposed to include Kindergartens. This, however, was doubted by some well-informed persons, who thought the recognition improbable, on account of the strong prejudice of many, if not most, of the regular Prussian schoolmasters against the system. I can scarcely doubt that the adoption of the Kindergarten into the Government system generally would be greatly to the advantage of the

1 By a recent regulation of the Minister of Instruction, it is now ordained that, in Saxon schools, the course shall be eight years for the lowest, and ten years for the highest grade of primary schools.

2 In the last Government Report of Saxony the Kindergarten is recognised as part of the system; and it is mentioned that an institution for training Kindergarten governesses has been lately established in Dresden; of course, with the support of the State.

children, in two respects at least. It would secure a better average of trained Kindergarten teachers. The Government would demand, in all probability, a more uniform degree of excellence than now prevails. I was told by way of apology in one or two cases, that the demand for teachers was so great that it was necessary for the present to put up with the best that could be got; and I can easily believe, from my own observation, that by no means all that are employed in Kindergarten have a definite grasp of Fröbel's principles.

Then, again, if the Government authorities took the matter in hand, they would certainly secure far better accommodation for the children than is provided in not a few of the establishments that I visited. Small, petty, ill-lighted rooms, carefully shut up against the admission of fresh air, but accessible to the most noisome stenches, and inconveniently crowded with children, were matters of my personal experience, even in some of the most flourishing towns. Indeed, considering the difficulties of this kind which in many cases beset the path of the young enquirers after· knowledge, it was surprising to see the amount of physical and intellectual life which was everywhere displayed. The apology generally given for this