The Sub-Committee, after a survey of the condition of the public schools propose the following modifications:

1. The introduction of the Monitorial system into all our public Grammar and Writing schools, as soon as it is practicable.

2. The elevating and enlarging the standard of public education, in all our Grammar and Writing Schools, so as to embrace the branches, taught, recently in our High School for girls.

To this object two things are plainly essential. 1. The introduction, as is proposed, of the monitorial system into the Grammar and Writing schools, because the High School for girls was instituted, conducted, and its studies arranged with reference to that system. 2. Removing the present fourth class from our Grammar and Writing Schools: for unless this be done, it is imposible to introduce the elevated and enlarged course of studies proposed. 3. Introducing the monitorial system also into our Primary Schools, and thus effecting the requisite modification of those Schools.

The advantages, then, which the Sub-Committee contemplate by the modifications they suggest, are the following:

1. The grammar and writing Masters will be relieved from a class of children, which distract their attention from the higher branches of education which it is the intention to multiply and extend in those schools.

2. The grammar and writing schools will be elevated both. in character and standard.

3. The number of our public schools will be reduced, the modes of education in them simplified, and a greater uniformity of system and productive power will be the necessary consequence.

4. By having male instructers for male children exclusively, it will be easy without deranging the general system of our schools to introduce, and instruct, those boys, who have passed the present legal age of admission into the primary schools. without being qualified to enter the grammar and writing schools.

5. Besides the last mentioned advantages, which would result to females, under like circumstances, of age and want of qualification, another would be the consequence of having girls taught exclusively in the primary schools by females, as it would enable needlework to be introduced among the branches taught; as is the case in these schools elsewhere.

6. The opening, which would be made for the present ushers, in the male primary schools, will, by taking away one of the objections to the introduction of this system, tend greatly to facilitate the measure.

7. But the prominent and most certain effect of the system proposed is by removing the fourth class, to give room for teaching those branches recently taught in the High School for girls; whereby greater advantages it is believed will be obtained, and those more general and immediate, and more commodiously than that single school could have afforded. A high and interesting course of education will be thus kept constantly before the eyes and within the reach of all the scholars of all the schools. To advance in which course would be an object of continual ambition, to which the child would be daily stimulated by witnessing the success of others. Its entrance on that course would not depend upon acquisitions at a particular age, and which, if that age be passed without attaining, would be wholly forfeited, but would be perceptibly, within the child's reach, in every period of its school age. Indeed the effect of teaching higher branches in these schools must inevitably disseminate a knowledge of them in a greater or less degree among all the classes, even the lower, and such as would, perhaps, never have gained any knowledge, or idea of them, if they were taught, exclusively in a separate school. Such a system of teaching the higher branches, in these schools, would conform strictly to the general policy of the laws of the Commonwealth relative to public education. To it, there could be no objection, on accounts of its wants of such conformity; nor on account of its being exclusive and partaking of a character of favoritism. The children of the whole community would, if their parents pleased.

Master of that School, and opened a High School for Girls on his own responsibility, published á "Review,"* from which the following extracts are taken:

The Report of Mr. Quincy recommending various IMPROVEMENTS in our system consists of three parts,—as it relates to the High School for Girls, the Grammar and Writing Schools, and the Primary Schools,-each of which would afford matter for copious remarks, perhaps for severe animadversion. It is no part of my plan, however, to examine his project, so far as it relates to what he calls, by way of emphasis, "the Common Schools." But having been appointed by the School Committee to conduct the experiment of the High School for Girls,-having devoted my time and strength and all my energies to this service for nearly two years,—and having been intimately acquainted with the whole history and progress of the institution, I feel myself called upon to expose the fallacy of Mr. Quincy's arguments, by which he would satisfy the public that "the result of the experiment has been an entire FAILURE:"-that such an institution is from its very nature "impracticable" in this city! This renders it a solemn duty to disabuse the public by showing them the other side of the picture, and, moreover, many of those friends whose opinions I am most accustomed to respect, have urged this duty upon me. For myself, I need not say, that I can be influenced by no interested motive,-my present position being far more eligible than any which the School Committee have it in their power to bestow. If, therefore, I have any personal interest in the matter, it is that the High School for Girls should be discontinued.

The subject requires that I "use great plainness of speech;" but I would not willingly forget the respect due to one who "has done the State some service,”— more especially as I have no personal animosity towards Mr. Quincy. In this discussion, he is regarded only as a public man, intrusted with important interests by his fellow citizens, and exerting an active and powerful influence upon the institutions of the city. The extent to which instruction should be carried at the public expense, is a question fairly open for discussion on general principles; and one on which intelligent and patriotic men may very honestly entertain different opinions. Whether, in particular, it was expedient to institute the High School for Girls,— and whether, after it was instituted, it ought to have been sustained, - —are questions worthy of a free investigation, but they ought to be met in a manly, open and ingenuous manner. It may not be expedient to support a High School for Girls,but it is expedient that the citizens be correctly informed on the subject,—and it is not right that the institution should be put down by "indirection." I do not complain of Mr. Quincy that he has been adverse to that school, from the very day when it was first proposed, he had an unquestionable right to be opposed to the "experiment;"-but I do complain of him because he has not been an open and generous enemy to it,-because he has not pursued a course worthy of the institution, of himself, of the city over which he presides.

The people of Boston have been accustomed almost to venerate their public schools, for they have regarded them as a rich inheritance bequeathed to them by their ancestors. They have loved these institutions, for the influence they have exerted on the minds and manners and hearts of their children; and although they have never supposed their schools to be perfect, still they have been proud of them. They have paid liberally and with a willing hand for their support, and have felt them to be noble monuments of an enlightened policy. Nor has this feeling been confined to citizens of Boston alone. Their system of free schools has excited the admiration of intelligent strangers, not only from different parts of our own country but from Europe, and has been regarded as a model, well worthy of being attentively studied. It is not generally known except to their teachers, how often the public schools of this city are visited by persons from abroad, interested in the subject of education. While the High School for Girls was in operation, it was thus visited almost daily. It happened not unfrequently, that many gentlemen were present at

"Review of the Mayor's Report, on the Subject of Schools, so far as relates to the High School for Girls." By E. Bailey, late Master of that School, 1828, p. 54

the same time, who had come from different and from distant parts of the country for the single purpose of examining the methods of education pursued in this city. Among these were often to be seen the accredited agents of public institutions from different cities.

Knowing these things, it was with a feeling of mortification,—of astonishment,that I read the Report of Mr. Quincy. I was not prepared to hear, from the Chairman of the School Committee, that our whole system of public education is radically wrong, that we are vastly behind the age in this respect, and that our schools are so essentially defective, that their present arrangements must be torn up, root and branch, to make way for a new organization. No one will deny that these schools have some defects which demand a remedy. But these are merely accidental faults, which can be removed without destroying the integrity of the whole system, a system which has been advancing towards perfection, under the fostering care and wisdom of successive generations; and which, if it has not produced many FRANKLINS, has at least rendered the population of Boston proverbial for their love of order, and their general intelligence.

It is true the free schools of Boston are very liberally supported, and the people wish them to be so. They do not complain of the expense, for they want a good education for their children, not a cheap one. No doubt, they wish their rulers, by a prudent and economical course of policy, to husband well the resources of the city, and not squander them on extravagant schemes and doubtful speculations. I speak now of the great body of the people, upon whom the public burdens fall with the greatest weight; for I am not ignorant there are some individuals who think too much money is expended for the schools. I have heard such an opinion avowed by more than one member of the City Government,-and by no one else. In that quarter it has been said, that the public schools should be merely eleemosynary establishments, where nothing but the lowest elements of learning should be doled out to the children of poverty! The municipal officer who avows such a sentiment in this community, must be respected, at least, for his fairness and candor. From such a man, the friends of a liberal system of education have nothing to fear, for they always know where to find him. But it is from those who hold the same opinion, but have not the courage to avow it,-from those who would reduce the schools from their present rank by "indirection,"-that real danger is to be apprehended. And that this is the design of the present project of the Mayor, however it may be disguised and glossed over, is but too evident. He talks much indeed about "raising the standard of our common schools;" but how does he propose to do it? Why, simply by adding a splendid list of new studies, dismissing half the present teachers, and making them like the Monitorial Schools of New York! Nothing could be easier. Did our worthy Mayor ever see those same Monitorial schools which he is holding up to our view as models? or did he suppose no person in Boston had ever seen them?

The history of Mr. Quincy's Report is understood to be as follows. After I had tendered to the School Committee my resignation as Master of the High School for Girls, a sub-committee was raised to take into consideration the expediency of continuing the school. This committee made a report early in the month of December, which recommended that the school should be sustained. Upon the question of accepting this report, the committee were equally divided; and Mr. Quincy shrunk from the performance of his official duty, as Chairman of the School Committee, and declined giving his casting vote! This fact is worthy of being remembered. The fate of the school was then thrown wholly into his hands,-it hung on his individual decision. By raising his finger he could have saved it, and he would not. Now that he was called upon to act openly and decidedly, he shrunk back. His cherished feelings of hostility to the school would not permit him to sustain it, and at that particular juncture, he might have found it inconvenient to incur the responsibility of putting it down; for it was a popular institution, and during the month of December, there was not a little excitement on the subject. It was finally moved to refer the report to the next School Committee. On this question, the members were again equally divided, and the Mayor gave his casting vote for postponement. Soon after the organization of the present Board, the subject was again referred to a sub-committee, of which Mr. Quincy was the Chairman; and the result of their

uing the High School for Girls, have reported on another and quite a different subject! The explanation is, that while Mr. Quincy had neither forgotten this school, nor his settled determination to put it down, he could not venture upon this measure -even after he had secured his election for another year-without informing the public that he was about to substitute something better in its place; and hence brings into review our whole system of Public Schools.

Grant that the High School for Girls was but an "experiment," it will not be denied that it was a very important one. It was the first institution of the kind; and as such, not only excited a lively interest in our own community and country, but even in England, and on the Continent, the establishment of this school was honorably noticed in the public journals. It is highly important, therefore, to the general interests of female education, that the true result of this "experiment" should be known. If it were indeed a "failure,"—that is, if our own experience has made it certain that it is either inexpedient or impracticable to extend to females a liberal course of education,-it should warn others not to make the attempt. But if the "failure" proceeded from other causes, it should be exposed, that the great cause of female education may suffer no detriment.

Can an "experiment" be said to have "failed" in any correct sense of the term, when it has fully answered all the purposes for which it was instituted? That this has been the fact with respect to the High School for Girls may be shown from the following abstract of the views and motives of the School Committee in undertaking the "experiment:"

1. On principles of general expediency, it was intended to make more liberal provisions for female education in the city, by furnishing the girls a school, “similar to the High School for Boys, as an object of ambition and profitable employment for three years of life, now inadequately occupied."

As to the success of the school so far as the proficiency of the scholars should be taken into the account, it is not for me to express an opinion. This point is willingly left to the decision of the public. Even Mr. Quincy has graciously allowed that the "conduct of the school was very satisfactory both to the parents of the children and to the School Committee." And that "as an object of ambition," its influence was even greater than had been anticipated, is evident enough from the whole tenor of the Mayor's report. In these respects, therefore, the expectations of the School Committee were fully realized; there was no failure here.

2. The Committee thought "it would have a happy effect in qualifying females, to become instructors in our public schools."

That it has had "this happy effect," is manifest from the fact that several of the young ladies, educated in the High School, are now engaged in teaching; while many others, thoroughly qualified for the business, would gladly be thus employed. Here, then, there was no "failure."

3. The Committee supposed "it would put to test the usefulness of monitorial or mutual instruction, and the practicability of introducing it into our public schools." Mr. Quincy himself says "it effectually proved the advantage of the system of monitorial or mutual instruction;" and that it proved its "practicability" may be safely inferred from the strenuous efforts he is now making to accomplish that purpose. Surely, there was no "failure" here.

To what, then, is the "failure of the experiment" to be attributed? In what did it consist? The report states several circumstances,-all connected with the nec. essary accommodations for the school,-in which the projects of the committee seem to have failed.

In instituting a High School for Girls, of course it was supposed that a house for its accommodation would be eventually wanted; though not absolutely necessary "the first year of its operation." For one year,-one class,—an unoccupied story in the Bowdoin school-house would be sufficient. Who, for a moment, dreamed that the incapacity of that one room to accommodate the three annual classes would be construed into a failure of the project? Yet such has been the case. And more, when the sub-committee of the High School for Girls made their report in August, 1826, and stated that "so far the experiment had succeeded, beyond the most sanguine expectations of those who had first proposed it;" that "the interest of the

pupils had been so much excited, the attendance so constant, and the desire of remaining in the school so great, as often to lead to a great personal sacrifice of ease and pleasure, rather than forego its benefits;" that "the school had so firmly established itself in the confidence and affections of the citizens, as to encourage them to ask for an appropriation for its continued support and permanent accommodation;"-Mr. Quincy, the Chairman of the Committee to whom this report was referred, delayed making a report till the October following. And although the exig encies of the school were pressing, he postponed, in that report, making any provisions for the school, until the result of the next examination of candidates for admission, should be known! leaving the question of a room to accommodate the scholars to be settled after they were ready to occupy it!

In the same month, Mr. Quincy addressed a circular to the Masters of the Grammar Schools, from which the following extracts are made:

"Suggestions having been made that the effect of the High School for Girls is disadvantageous upon the character and prospects of the other schools in this metropolis:

1. By diminishing the zeal of the generality of the other females in these schools. 2. By taking away their most exemplary scholars.

3. By disqualifying the masters from a gradual introduction into these schools of the monitorial system, by thus removing from them the class of females best qualified to become monitors.

4. By reducing the other schools from the highest to a secondary grade, by early depriving them of those scholars in whom they have the greatest pride, and who are of the highest promise.

I am therefore directed to inquire whether there is any foundation for these suggestions, and what effect has been produced by the High School for Girls on the character and prospects of your school." JOSIAH QUINCY,

Chairman School Committee.

No one can mistake the object of this most remarkable circular. First, "suggestions" are made to the masters, that the effect of the High School has been "disad vantageous" to the schools under their immediate care! By whom had these suggestions been made? Who was the author of them? Why was not the same alarm sounded with respect to the Latin and English High Schools which must have produced the same effect? I must acknowledge myself ignorant on what principle of human nature "the zeal of the best scholars would be diminished" by the prospect of an admission to the High School as a reward for their exertions! Finally the masters are reminded-all in sheer good-nature and simplicity of purpose, no doubt-that their schools were reduced to a "secondary grade," and that their most "exemplary scholars" were taken away! For what other class of scholars was the High School instituted? If it had not taken them away, it should indeed have been regarded, and justly, as a "failure."

The inference from this artful series of leading questions is irresistible, that it was Mr. Quincy's object to draw from the masters such a strong and united expression of opinions unfavorable to the High School for Girls as should seal its fate. He would thus accomplish his purpose; while upon them would fall the odium and responsibility of the act. I am well aware that, here and elsewhere, it is my misfortune to represent the character of Mr. Quincy, as a plain, frank, high-minded magistrate, in a questionable attitude, to use no stronger language. But for this I am not answerable. The facts are not of my making, they are on record. If the inferences are unjust or unwarranted, the opinion of an humble individual like myself will not give them currency.

But if Mr. Quincy wrote with these views, he mistook his men. With the exception of two or three, who responded as he probably wished and expected, the testimony for the teachers was, for the most part, in favor of the High School for Girls. However, Mr. Quincy proceeded to draw up a report, stating the "disadvantageous effects" of that institution on the other schools, and alluding to the melancholy and unexpected fact, that another class would demand admission in a few days!-whereat the reporter seems not a little puzzled,— —as he cannot readily contrive how to bestow 130 girls in 130 seats already occupied! However, he is not