into several circles or divisions, generally ten or twelve, which are superintended, under the authority of the head of each government, by certain functionaries called Isprownih. The principal town is the capital of the government, and each division has its little capital which is the residence of the administration.

In every capital of a government there is a gymnasium and an elementary school; every division also has an elementary school in its chief town, and sometimes, when it is a town of importance, it has a gymnasium also. Besides these gymnasia and schools, and the institutes, schools, and pensions established by private individuals under the superintendence of the universities, there are several military schools, schools for engineers, and colleges of medicine, under the direction of the minister for war and the minister of the interior. At present, we shall speak only of the university and of the public establishments which are under their immediate control. The Academy of Sciences and Arts at Petersburg, as well as various other institutions of the same kind, are deserving of notice, but do not properly belong to our present subject, which is the universities of Russia.

At the time of their foundation, the universities received from the government very considerable funds in money and lands, which were designed, not merely for the support of the universities themselves, for the erection of all necessary buildings, and the salaries of professors and officers, but it was intended that from these resources the gymnasia and schools of the district also should be maintained, and all necessary museums, cabinets, and libraries be provided. These funds, which were placed at the disposal of the universities, were much increased by the private donations of several rich individuals, who were moved to such acts of generosity by the flattering hopes of better times, which were cherished in the early years of Alexander's reign. It appears then, that the universities have sufficient resources to meet all possible expenses, and if it ever happens that money is wanting, the cause must be looked for in the general corruption which pervades all branches of administration in Russia. According to the original plan, the management of the universities was entrusted to the professors, with a rector at the head, who was elected every six months by the professors out of their own body, as in the German universities. The universities had their own jurisdiction and police, which were quite independent of the local authorities; and they recognized no superior authority, except the minister of public instruction. These privileges soon excited the jealousy of the government, which in a short time assumed the power of choosing the rectors for an unlimited time, and subjected the lectures of the professors as well as the studies of the young men to a public inspection and a rigid censorship.

In each university there are professors of the following branches of knowledge, one professor for each department: 1. Ecclesiastical history and the explanation of the Holy Scriptures. 2. Oriental languages. 3. Dogmatique. 4. Practical exercises in theology. 5. Philosophy, by which term must be understood, natural law, ethics, metaphysics, &c. 6. Rhetoric, comprehending classical and modern literature, (Aesthetik). 7. History. 8. Natural history. 9. Physics, chemistry, and mechanics. 10. Anatomy. 11. Surgery. 12, 13. Medicine. 14. Mathematics. 15. Astronomy. 16. Geography and statistics. 17. Military science. 18. Roman law, according to the Corpus Juris and the Pandects. 19. Civil and criminal law. 20. Exposition of the laws of the country and practical exercises.

These various branches are distributed among four faculties, after the fashion of the German universities, viz., Theology, Jurisprudence, Medicine, and Philosophy: the last comprehends 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17. Each faculty has for its head a dean (decanus), who is elected by the professors of his faculty every six months. The four deans and the rector compose the supreme council, or high senate of the university. The professors are styled ordinary professors; but, besides these, there are other professors of inferior rank, who are called extraordinary; and also masters of the ancient and modern languages, dancing, drawing, music, fencing, &c. The salary of the professors is about 220l. English; that of the inferior professors varies from 20l. to 120l. In addition to this, they receive for the sémestre, which comprises five months of lectures and one of vacation, a fee, which may vary from 10s. to 21. for each pupil that attends their class.

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The course of studies is in general six sémestres, or three years. The first year is employed on the preparatory studies -languages, mathematics, history, geography, &c.; in fact, on all those studies which belong to the gymnasium, and do not, strictly speaking, enter into a professional course. may then consider the first year as a kind of intermediate state between the studies of the gymnasium and the university, and as a kind of preparation for their professional studies. The second year is devoted to the sciences appropriate to the profession which they have selected; and the third year to repetitions, continuation of the same subject, and to practical exercises.

All who wish to be admitted as students must produce a proper certificate from the gymnasium where they have studied; and in case they have been educated at home, they must be examined before they can enter the University. The examination is in Latin, Greek, German, history and geography, religion and morals, arithmetic, geometry, and trigonometry, plane and spherical. But this regulation as to previous examination is not rigidly enforced. On the completion of their university course, students can enter the service of government after the different examinations, with the degree of candidate, of master, and of doctor, by which means they avoid commencing with the inferior ranks in the service.

At first the students were allowed to take the advice of the professors and to attend any class they pleased; but of late years they have been compelled to conform to strict regulations on this head. The theological instruction (with the exception of the university of Dorpat, the only protestant university) is very poor, and is limited to the mere exposition of the doctrines of the church. The lectures on jurisprudence are still more wretched, the reason of which will easily be seen, when we consider that Russia has no fixed legislation and no fundamental laws. All law is based on certain collections of ancient codes belonging to the various provinces, on ancient usages and forms, and on the innumerable arbitrary ordonnances of the autocrats, known under the name of Oukases. The study of the law is, therefore, nothing but a mass of confusion, without any satisfactory principle.

The influence of the government shows itself in a similar way in other studies. The lectures on philosophy are mere trifling, for no professor would dare to speak out freely. Even the mathematical instruction produces no great results, partly because the pupils do not bring with them the proper elementary knowledge, and partly because the professors themselves do not always obtain their places by the superiority of their talents and acquirements.

The only instruction which we can fairly commend is that in medicine and surgery: the universities of Dorpat, Wilno, and Moscow, take the first rank in this department, and are well known, particularly Moscow, for their superior collections and cabinets. The museum of the celebrated Loder, at Moscow, is very rich in osteology; the collection of crania, intended to illustrate the theory of Gall, and the influence of mercury on the bones, amounting to more than two thousand specimens.

One great obstacle to the success of the universities is the

difficulty of procuring good professors. At first it was necessary to employ foreigners, who, not being acquainted with the language of the country, were obliged to give their instruction in Latin and French, both of which languages were often very imperfectly comprehended by the young students who attended their classes. The university of Dorpat was, however, an exception. Its professors were Germans; and as all the students, who are natives of the Baltic provinces, speak German, they derived the full advantage from the lessons of their professors. But this university exercised, also, a powerful influence over the intellectual and moral condition of the peasantry, who speak the Laettonian and Esthonian languages, and who once were masters of the soil, but being conquered by the chevaliers of the Teutonic order became slaves, and have continued so to the present time.

The university of Dorpat took great pains to ameliorate the condition of these poor people. Originally even their clergy were strangers to them; for, as they were ignorant of the language of the country, they could not make their sermons understood by the natives, unless by long habit they had acquired a competent knowledge of it. But since the establishment of the university, the theological students, who are generally of German extraction, and can also speak the language of the people, are compelled to study this language at the university, and to undergo a rigorous examination in it. Besides this, schools for instructing the peasants in reading and writing have been established in the villages, and great numbers are now acquainted with these elements of knowledge, which, thirty years ago, were almost unknown among them. One of the professors, who exercised the most extensive influence over the university of Dorpat, was Mr. F. Parrot, professor of physics, whose name will ever be remembered with gratitude by the university and the whole country. It was to him that the university was indebted for the freedom which it enjoyed during the first years of its existence. During the last fifteen years, Dorpat has lost much of its reputation. By the nomination of a general as curator of the university, who exercised the functions of chief superintendent, though he resided at St. Petersburg, every species of freedom which the professor and students enjoyed was entirely destroyed. Many distinguished teachers, disgusted at the treatment which they received, resigned and left the country; and the students were subjected to a severe police, more suitable to schoolboys than young men, In its happy times Dorpat had about 700 students, but the number now is generally not more than from three to four hundred.

The university of St. Petersburg possesses some men of eminence; but its position in the metropolis, under the immediate influence of the highest functionaries, deprives it of all individual character. It borrows its tone from the circumstances by which it is surrounded. The instruction is given in various languages, but, with the exception of the medical lectures, and perhaps some few more, it is not to be compared with the instruction afforded in similar establishments in other countries.

The university of Moscow has completely a national character, most of the professors being Russian. Among the foreign professors are the celebrated Loder and Richter. The number of students is from four to six hundred. Notwithstanding the strict ordonnances of the government, this university is not managed on such despotic principles as the others,-for example, Wilno; but, being under the direct influence of the high aristocracy, it is still very far from deserving the character of liberal. In general we may say that nearly all the benefit which proceeds from the university is due, not so much to the university itself, as to the exertions of some of its members, who are nearly always in opposition to the principles of the governing power. The influence of these universities, and particularly Moscow, would be much greater but for the very limited numbers of the middle classes in Russia proper; the mass of the inhabitants consists of seigneurs and serfs, of whom the former are nearly always brought up at home, or in the military schools, as a preparation for the army, and the latter, being slaves, have neither the privilege nor the means of procuring any instruction. Hence it happens that the greater part of the university students are those who apply themselves to medicine, and are obliged to go there to complete their education.

The universities of Kasan and Charkow are more like schools than universities, and their existence is scarcely felt. And yet, from their position in the midst of the most fertile countries of Russia, and being surrounded by a vigorous population, they might exercise a prodigious influence on the diffusion of knowledge were they directed by a sound and liberal policy.

The university of Wilno deserves a particular notice, both from its scientific character and its political importance in the present state of the Polish nation.