schools, principally in Posen and West Prussia; in a few towns all the schools are mixed. In many towns there are also separate Jewish schools, and occasionally one or two of some other sect. In all cases they are on a footing of equality before the state and the law, which ordains religious teaching, but leaves the choice free. The instruction is divided into (1) Biblical history; (2) catechism; the latter, of course, is dogmatic. Each has so many hours a week given to it; as a rule, three to Biblical history and two to catechism. In evangelical schools both are taught by the teachers; in Catholic schools Biblical history is taught by the teachers and catechism by the clergy. I dwell on these details, partly because they are not known in England, and partly because of their significance in the educational scheme, which can, I think, hardly be overrated. Just as the Germans have known how to retain the classical element in the higher education while adding the highest developments of science and other modern studies, so have they known how to build up the most complete system of national education upon the old foundations of character and conduct. They have not flung away the old in acquiring the new, but have combined them. The retention of systematic religious teaching has a far-reaching influence on the national life, which is plainly visible in many directions, and not least in the industrial sphere. To it may be traced the sense of duty and responsibility, the respect for law, the steady effort, the self-restraint; the maintenance of a higher ideal than the materialism of social democracy, which have been noted in previous articles. And to these may be added the striking absence of corruption in public life, which is the indispensable condition for the healthy exercise of those municipal functions that are carried on upon so large a scale in German towns to the benefit of the community The other subjects of instruction are the German language, arithmetic, with elements of geometry, drawing, history, geography, natural history, and singing; also gymnastics and drill for boys and domestic handwork for girls. Great attention is paid to the language. The children are taught to speak, read, and write correctly; and particular pains are devoted to secure clear enunciation and good pronunciation. Thoroughness is the great aim, quality not quantity of accomplishment. The standard of handwriting attained is remarkable. Altogether the scheme of instruction carefully avoids the ambitious and fanciful; it aims at the thorough mastery of elements rather than a smattertng of extras, and, as there is no competition for grants, the children need not be crammed. The school year begins at Easter, and varies from forty to forty-six weeks. The holidays, which occur at Midsummer, Michaelmas, Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, take up eight weeks in the country and nine in the larger towns. They are somewhat longer in southern than in northern Germany. The school week ranges from twenty hours in the lowest elasses to thirty-two in the highest. Attendance is remarkably regular and punctual. In the upper classes boys and girls are separated as far as possible; coeducation does not find favor in Germany. Corporal punishment is allowed, but teachers are directed to administer it as sparingly as possible. The law runs as follows: "Only after repeated and unsuccessful application of one of the former punishments (reprimand, standing out, detention after schools, etc.), or on account of flagrant disobedience or gross misconduct, is a moderate corporal chastisement permitted, but always in a measured form and so as not to be injurious to health. The corporal punishment of girls is to be avoided to The school buildings are regulated by law with respect to height of rooms, cubic space, and other matters. Great attention is paid to ventilation, warming, and light, and in these respects the newer schools, in towns at least, are excellent. I have previously noted the value attached to good lighting in factories; it is the same in the schools. The Germans appear to me to have realized more than most people the very simple facts that a bad light spoils the eyesight by straining accommodation, and that a good one greatly increases efficiency by diminishing the expenditure of nerve energy on mere perception and consequently releasing it for other work. So far as one can make a general statement from a limited field of observation, I should say the school buildings are plain and unpretending, but adequate and well adapted to their purpose. The most important factor, however, is the teaching staff, and this is, I think, the strongest point in the German system. The teachers are trained in seminaries, of which there were in Prussia 129-120 for men and 9 for women in 1901. The course there lasts three years and is carried out in three classes, but the training really extends over six years, as the seminary is preceded by three years in preparatory institutes, which are maintained either by the state or by municipalities. In Saxony the whole six years are passed in state training colleges. Qualification for appointments is obtained by examination at the close. In addition to the systematic preparation for the career thus secured, the efficiency of the teachers is promoted by their recognized position. They have the duties and rights of civil servants, and as such enjoy various privileges, including partial exemption from liability to military service and from municipal taxes, as well as an assured and sufficient income and a pension. The official position has, further, a moral value in Germany which it lacks with us. It carries with it a dignity and respect which in an educated man generate self-respect and self-confidence, the opposite of self-assertion. The German elementary school teacher has no need of self-assertion, and consequently does not teach it-that bane of our elementary schools. One thousand dollars were given in fourteen prizes by the publisher of New Thought for the best definition within ten words of New Thought. The following were the definitions winning the prizes-the first of $5co, the second of $250, etc.: Being and doing one's best by repeatedly affirming one's ability. Claim that you are what you desire to be. The cheerful, persistent assertion of the soul's prerogative to rule. sibilities. Attaining the ideal in life through thought concentration and assertion. Mental imagery, personally controllable, governs bodily health and individual circumstances. force. Holding constantly before one's thoughts the omnipotence of man's mind. Fear nothing; love everything; believe you can do anything. Commenting on these remarkable definitions a writer in American Medicine makes this statement: It seems, therefore, that the more one claims, regardless whether he has it or not; the more egotism one cultivates; the more one ignores facts and lives in indifference to them; the more one ignores disease and treats himself, or hires absent treatment by means of vibrations, the more one realizes the By Cardinal Bona, O.C. HERDER & Co., St. Louis, Mo.: Edited by the Right Rev. Ilde- A Bunch of Roses, and other Parlor Plays. By M. E. M. Davis. Pp. 257. Wanderfolk in Wonderland. By Edith Guerrin. Illustrated by Edith Brown. SMART SET PUBLISHING COMPANY, New York: Shutters of Silence. By G. B. Burgin. Illustrated by Louis Akin. Pp. 378. Price $1.50. P. LETHIELLEUX, Paris: Excursions Artistiques et Littéraires. By Gaston Sortais. Pp. 257. LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY, Boston: Hearts of Gold. By I. Edhor. Pp. 234. Illustrated. Price $1.25. Visits to Jesus. From the French by Grace McAuliffe. 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