at them.' The inhabitants deserted their villages and fields at the first alarm, and fled to the woods; towns were sacked and given to the flames, and the churches and monasteries which were supposed to contain the greatest treasures were the first object of attack. In 912, the devastations committed by Rollo and his followers obliged Charles the Simple to make peace with them, on terms which made over to the Norman chieftain the feudal sovereignty of Neustria. The wild sea-king received baptism, and became the first duke of Normandy; but though a stop was thus put to the attacks on Paris and the northern coast, the Northmen continued their ravages in the provinces south of the Loire. Terrible as they were, however, these barbatians were only one out of the many swarms of barbarians let loose on Europe at this unhappy time. In 836, the Saracens, who were the masters of the Mediterranean, attacked the coasts of Provence. Marseilles, the only city of Septimania where Roman letters still partially lingered, was surprised and pillaged, and the monks and clergy carried into slavery. The Saracens established themselves at Frassinet, a port between Toulon and Frejus, and held possession of it for more than a century. From these headquarters they were able at their pleasure to ascend the Rhone, as far as Arles, and to overrun all the south of France. About the same time they sailed up the Tiber, and advancing as far as Rome, burnt a great part of that city. 'How many and great are the things we are suffering from the Saracens !' wrote Pope John VIII. to Charles the Bald; 'why should I attempt to describe them with the tongue, when all the leaves of the forest, were they turned into pens, would not suffice. Behold cities, walled towns, and villages bereft of inhabitants! Wild beasts usurp the sanctuaries once filled with the chair of doctrine. Instead of breaking the bread of life to their flocks there, bishops have to buy their own. Rome herself is left desolate. Last year we sowed, but could not reap our harvest by reasons of the Saracens ; this year we can hope for none, for in seed-time we could not till the ground.' Every part of the Italian peninsula was wasted by these barbarians, who established themselves at Benevento, and were not driven thence till the end of the century. They even had the audacity to seize and hold possession of fortified posts in Provence, Dauphiny, Savoy, and Piedmont, which gave them the command of the Alpine passes, so that they could stop and levy tribute on all the pilgrims traveling from the north to Rome. But this was not all. The last and worst of the plagues poured out on Christendom yet remains to be noticed. Towards the close of the ninth century, the Magyars or Huns, driven westward by the advance of other Asiatic tribes, crossed the Carpathian mountains, and descended into the plains of Dacia. Thence they spread like a torrent over Germany, which they rav aged as far as the Black Forest. Crossing the Alps, they laid waste the plains of Lombardy, and thence poured into Aquitaine, which they overran as far as the Pyrenees. Some bands proceeded as far as the southern extremity of Italy; others found their way into Greece, and advanced to the walls of Constantinople. In 926, they appeared on the frontiers of Lorraine, and laid the German princes under tribute. Their wild habits and ferocious appearance inspired such universal terror that it was commonly believed that the sun turned blood-red at their approach. They live not as men, but as savage beasts,' says one chronicler, eating raw flesh and drinking blood. It is even reported that they devour the hearts of their prisoners, and they are never known to be moved to pity.' Filled with the bitterest hatred of the Christian name, their track was marked by the smoking ruins of churches and monasteries, and the panic which they spread has survived even to our own time in the popular tales of the savage Ogres, a corruption of the name Ungren, by which they were known in the Tudesque dialect. The incursions of the Hungarians lasted, at intervals, for the space of eighty years, nor did they entirely cease until the death of their great chief Tatsong, in 972. It could hardly be expected that schools and letters would greatly flourish at a time when the whole country was lit up by the flames which were destroying the only sanctuaries of learning; and when the libraries which had cost years of persevering toil in their collection were destroyed in one hour of ruthless barbarism. MODIFICATIONS IN PLAN FOR 1873. SINCE the issuing of the Number for June (National Series No. 30, Entire Series No. 75), and indeed since the printing of the greater portion of the present Number (for October, 1873,) we have found it necessary to modify the plan of publication as announced in the Prefatory Note on page 5, and in the Contents of the Volume on page 8. We have found it impossible to revise and print the entire series of volumes which constitute the American Library of Practical Education, or to make out the GENERAL INDex, based on the Special Indexes of the twenty-four volumes of this Journal-the Contents of the entire series, and the Indexes, special and General, it was calculated, would occupy the volume (xxiv.) after page 544. The Indexes, special and general, together with the Contents and Indexes of the separate treatises which have been, or may be made up of chapters first published in the American Journal of Education, will be issued in a Supplementary Volume in 1873. This Volume (XXV) will be issued in parts of the usual number of pages, at $1.25 each, or $4.00 for the year, payable on delivery. HARTFORD, Oct. 15, 1873. HENRY BARNARD. Number 31 (Entire Series No. 76), for October 15, 1873..... I. THE ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES.. 1. The College in the English Universities..... 2. The College in the older Continental Universities... 3. The Domestic Side of University Life.... II. MILITARY SYSTEMS AND SCHOOLS IN RUSSIA 1. Military Schools... 2. Naval Schools... III. LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF ANCIENT GREECE IN ENGLAND.. WILLIAM ROBINSON-Robinson Female Seminary, Exeter, N. H... V. ENDOWMENTS OF AMERICAN COLLEGES. 1. Harvard. 2. Yale....... VI. SUPERIOR INSTRUCTION-HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED, 1. Higher Education in Greece.. Schools of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Museum of Alexandria. 2. Higher Education among the Romans... Athenæum of Rome-University of Athens... 3. Christianity and Academic Study.. Tetradirion of Constantine-Law School at Rome.. 4. Origin and Organization of Faculties..... VII. THE EARLIEST CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS. 1. Catechetical School at Alexandria and Berytus.. Origin-Subjects and Methods of Teaching... 2. St. Benedict and His Rule.. The Benedictine Convents and Schools.. VIII. MODIFICATION OF PLAN OF PUBLICATION FOR 1873. IX. SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE..... Plans in Report of U. S. Commissioner for 1867-8.. Number 32 (Entire Series No. 77), for December 15, 1873.. I. ELEMENTARY NATIONAL EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN. 1. England-Parliamentary Action in 1870 and 1873.... 2. Ireland-English Policy Respecting Irish Popular Education.. 3. Scotland-Elementary School Act of 1872.... II. AMERICAN PUBLIC INSTRUCTION....... 2. Constitutional Ordinances Respecting Schools and Education since 1867........ 713 1. School Legislation of Massachusetts-Colonial and State..... III. REFORMATORY SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION....... Barnard's Reformatory Schools........ Principles and Results of M. Demetz's System at Mettray. 725-736 725 IV. EARLY CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS-Continued.. Columbanus and Luxueil-Columba and Iona. V. TEACHING ORDERS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. VI. ANCIENT UNIVERSITY OF PARIS. Merging and Association of Individual Schools.. VII. SUPERIOR INSTRUCTION IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.. 1. Spain-University of Salamanca-Alcala....... 2. The Netherlands-Louvain.... 3. Scandinavian States-Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.. ANNOUNCEMENT FOR 1874.... INDEX to Volume VIII., National Series-(XXIV., Entire Series)... PLANS OF BOSTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL-HOUSES. BY HON. JOHN D. PHILBRICK, SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Before describing our latest school edifice (the Norcross Grammar School-house, in South Boston, completed and dedicated March 10, 1868), which embodies in design, construction, and equipment, several excellent features, not found in any one of its predecessors, it may be desirable to note the successive modifications which have been introduced into buildings for this class of schools. The Boston Grammar School-house of forty years ago, was a two story edifice, each story containing one hall or school-room, with seats for about one hundred and eighty pupils. These halls were wholly destitute of such appendages or conveniences as recitation rooms, clothes-rooms, closets, and blackboards. In each of these large rooms there were usually three teachers, and their recitations,had to be carried on at the same time, while the pupils not occupied in reciting were expected to close their ears to the surrounding din, and attend to their tasks. Of this type was the old Mayhew School-house, which continued to be occupied until 1846. The first modification of this type consisted chiefly in the addition of a third story, the two upper stories being appropriated to the two halls as before, and the lower story to a ward-room or to Primary Schools. An illustration of this modified type is found in the Wells School-house, a cut of which Mr. Mann introduced into his Report on School-houses, as the best City Grammar School-house in 1838. It was subsequently remodelled, and is just now being replaced by a structure of the Norcross type. There was, of course, some improvement in respect to style of finishing and furnishing, but no new feature of importance added. The first important steps of progress consisted in the addition of two recitation rooms of moderate dimensions to each of the two large school-rooms or halls. This was instituted about the year 1840, and from this time until 1848, the recitation rooms were embraced in all the plans for new buildings, and most of the old buildings were enlarged for the purpose of securing these much needed conveniences. The Brimmer Schoolhouse, erected in 1843, was an example of this improvement. Recently it has been remodelled and enlarged. In 1848, the Quincy School-house was erected, a description of which is contained in Barnard's School Architecture. This building was not, properly speaking, a modification of what had preceded it, either here or elsewhere. It was a NEW type. Its main features were these. 1. It was large. Up to this time, a Grammar School containing four hundred pupils was considered very large. This building had six hundred and sixty seats in its school-rooms, exclusive of the hall. 2. It contained a separate school-room for each teacher, twelve in all, and, of course, recitation rooms were not needed. 3. It contained a hall large enough to seat comfortably, all the pupils that could be accommodated in the school-rooms, and even more. JFORNIA 4. It contained a clothes-room attached to each school-room, through which the pupils passed in entering and leaving their respective rooms. 5. It contained a separate desk and chair for each pupil. This was probably the first Grammar School-house into which this feature was introduced. All the Grammar School-houses which have been built in this city during the past twenty years, have been of this type. Modifications more or less important have from time to time been introduced, but the type has not been changed. The chief modification of this type which has been made in the plans of the buildings erected during the past fifteen years, consisted in increasing the number of school-rooms to fourteen by cutting off about two-fifths of the size of the hall for this purpose. This modification, so far from being an improvement, was undoubtedly a retrograde step. The rooms thus gained were too near the sky for ordinary school purposes, the hall was rendered too small in proportion to the size of the school, and the number of schoolrooms was too great for a single Grammar School, containing one series of grades. The Prescott Grammar School-house, erected two years ago, a description of which may be found in Barnard's Journal of Education, Vol. XVI., is an improvement on the modified Quincy type which had been in vogue for some years, inasmuch as it is only three stories high, and has a sufficiently spacious hall. It is a noble edifice, but it is too large, having sixteen school-rooms, and the plan is more costly in proportion to the accommodations than that of any other building which has been built in this city. The Superintendent of Schools, in a report submitted to the School Board in 1867, set forth his objections to the buildings which he calls modifications of the Quincy type, and advocated the adoption of a plan for a Grammar School-house, as a model or standard, which should provide for only three stories, and only ten school rooms, with a hall spacious enough to scat comfortably all the pupils that the ten school-rooms would accommodate. In determining the plan of the Norcross building, the Superintendent's recommendation was considered, but not adopted in full. The Committee on Public Buildings of the City Council who really had all the power to decide what the plan should be, concluded to adopt a plan which may be called a compromise between that of the modified Quincy and that recommended by the Superintendent. The improvements on the Quincy type consist in its architectural character, in its style of finish, in its heating and ventilating apparatus, and in some minor details, especially for security against fire. [Before giving Mr. Philbrick's description of the Norcross Schoolhouse, we will introduce the plans of the houses above referred to, with descriptions written at the time of their completion, to mark the successive modifications of this class of houses, together with statistics and remarks in the dedicatory exercises, to show the interest taken in their Public Schools by the most eminent citizens of Boston. H. B.] |