daily does not attend school on account of illness. During the long time from the 318t of July till the 18th of December, not a single boarder at our English school had taken ill; no one remained in the bed-rooms, all boys attended the instruction. None of the 42 boys wore spectacles. In winter as well as in summer, the bed-rooms windows were open. Speaking of Blairlodge School(a Scotch Private School), Mr. Raydt says that in the last eleven years only 5 cases of illness have occurred; unfortunately, he does not give the number of the boarders, but it must be a large number, for he once mentions 13 masters. As to short- sightedness, he has only found 1% of short-sighted boys„trotz der teilweise recht miserablen Lichtverhältnisse in den englischen alten Schulhäusern.“¹¹

Wherein is to be found the cause of this healthy state of English Schools? The answer is easy, and it has already been given so many times, but it cannot be repeated often enough to German pedagogues. The causes are chiefly the physical exercises and games in the open air, and the reasonable change between these and intellectual work. As I have said in my Introduction, two things are predominant in the English system of education, namely liberty and games. As I have shown, the many disadvantages which this liberty causes to English educational work, I must lay all the more stress on the second point, viz: on the games, which are of such immense advantage to the moral and physical development of English boys. One must have lived for a lengthened period at an English school in order to see that they form the best part of English education. I will not enter into the healthy influence they have upon body and mind, but refer to Mr. Raydt, who has given an excellent description of them. A reviewer in the Cologne Gazette suggests a doubt, whether he does not now and then overrate the importance of these games.“ It may be, but that cannot alter the chief point, I mean that we may learn in this regard a great deal from the English.

As to the importance of playgrounds, I will not forget to mention what an Englishman, Mr. Byrn, says:„Circumstances have led me of late to see more clearly than ever the mo- mentous part played by the playground in the formation of character. It is there between school-times, that the influence of children upon children— the effects of which can scarcely be over-estimated— is brought into play. In the school they are fed, it is in the play- ground that they ruminate; that is the sowing, this the growing time.“³

Our playground, only a few yards from the school-buildings, was very large. Thousands of boys would have been able to play there. Our boys played here daily for several hours in winter as well as in summer; in summer, they only played cricket. I was always astonished at the great zeal and at the rivalry they showed in playing. And then, what zeal they developed, how excited the whole school was, when our„eleven“ had to play on our playground against the„eleven“ of another Private School!

If we compare in this respect our German arrangements, we must confess that we are a good deal behind our Teutonic neighbours. Most of our boys are not indifferent to playing, but they have almost no opportunity and little time to play. In Germany, the moral edu- cation of children is chiefly left to the home. But the home does not fulfil its duties in this regard; it leaves all to the school, and with our arrangements it is impossible to do it. It would be necessary to change our whole school-system. Many pedagogues urge upon a change in this respect. Scarcely a month passes without some new proposal to meet the case. I only mention that of Wr. Güssfeldt, who is very fond of the English system, but it is not the place here to speak of his proposals. I only quote what he says about the English:„Eine einzige Reise durch England muss den unbefangenen Beobachter überzeugen, dass eine Nation, welcher Wasser, frische Luft und athletische Spiele jeder Art höher stehen als Bier und systematisch gepflegtes Wirtshausleben, wohl zu beneiden und der Nachahmung wert ist. Frei von Nervosität und Empfindlichkeit, stark von Körper, klar von Kopf, ge-

age 169. ² See Köln. Zeitung. 19. Mai 1889. ² See Parliamentary Papers. Vol. 25. 1883. Page 283.