were the fruit of the sincere interior spirit of religion, which had taken root in his soul from his earliest youth. He made a sacrifice of himself for the common good; he himself received nothing at all beyond a scanty maintenance for his laborious, unceasing, full-stretched activity; seeing that his whole yearly income amounted to less than two hundred and seventy dollars, a great part of which he applied to the purchase of books, and that out of it he contributed liberally to the support of every kind of charitable object. On no account would he push himself forward for promotion; nay, rather he fled from it. With the most anxious care he avoided, in the performance of his charitable works, all bustle; he chose to do and to have every thing done in secret; understanding well how easily vain-glory will steal upon a man, and will deprive of a blessing, exertions which, in themselves, are worthy of praise. "No bustle, no show,-secrecy;" this was his motto, which he constantly repeated to the masters, when he encouraged them to any laudable undertaking, whatever it might be.

To his friends he was a sincere and warm friend; in their social circle a lively, affable companion, and even when he was out of humour he was not disagreeable. He knew how to see through men, and what concerned them, but without turning this talent to his own advantage; he was invariably kind in his manner of giving advice; plain and simple in his dress, and in his whole exterior; unsuspicious, even to imprudence; good-natured, even in his sharp reproofs. He was a true friend to mankind, though he appeared dissatisfied with all the world. His last illness, a protracted and most painful decay of the intestines, he endured with exemplary patience and resignation, his eyes fixed on the cross of his Saviour. He had foreseen his death, and made every preparation for it. He died on the night of Easter, April the 3d, 1825, and was buried on the 6th. The schoolmasters, and the entire neighbourhood, came of their own accord to the funeral; and farther manifested their respect and love for their good teacher, by carrying his corpse to the grave. The school-children of the parish of Recklinghausen, more than a thousand in number, headed the procession; the numerous friends of the deceased, and among them the greater part of the clergy of the province, followed the coffin.

There is no monumental stone to mark the place where rests his earthly tabernacle; but the work which he accomplished will continue. The benediction which attended his exertions, the fruit of his labours, will be propagated through many generations. Their improved education is his monument.

CHAPTER VII.

THE SCHOOLMISTRESSES.

So early as in the seventeenth century, there were established in the towns and villages of Münsterland, separate schools for girls, under the care of mistresses, but there was no establishment existing for the education of these mistresses. Even those schools, which were calculated for the higher education of the female sex, if you except the teaching of French, and the exterior accomplishments proper for the upper ranks, afforded no advantages beyond those of common elementary schools. There was, therefore, no convenience for providing with a suitable education those young women who were intended for the office of teaching school; and when the place of schoolmistress became vacant, it was found a great difficulty to supply it. Overberg's normal instruction was perfectly well calculated also for future schoolmistresses; and the result has shown, that, on the whole, he has done even more for their advantage than for that of the masters. What Overberg accomplished for the education of schoolmasters, without anything having been done to prepare the way for him, and with the most inadequate means to assist him, will be for ever worthy of remembrance in our country; but yet more to be remembered is his having raised up from among that sex-which, by nature, appears not suited to the office of teaching, and which in other countries is almost entirely excluded from it-a numerous body of teachers, the extraordinary and blessed effects of whose labours are universally acknowledged at home and abroad. There resorted always more and more young women to the normal instruction, generally moved by an inward religious call; so that not only all the girls' schools were able to be supplied with well-instructed mistresses, but many more remained over and above, who made themselves very useful as domestic teachers on the estates of noblemen, and in solitary farm houses. Many were invited and sent into other provinces. The authorities in these places universally bore testimony to the excellent qualifications of the school-mistresses. In Beckedorf's annual register of the state of education in Prussia, there is an official report which was sent to Münster, from the royal consistory, in which appears the following sentence on the schoolmistresses: "In regard to the efficiency of the schoolmistresses and their fulfilment of their duties, it is found by experience, that, generally speaking, the girls' schools, which are under the superintendence of a mistress, are in better condition than the masters' schools. There is to be remarked in them,

more activity, a greater appearance of healthy life, better advancement, more attachment and confidence. It may be, that much, which is here observed, may be accounted for by greater susceptibility, by the earlier development of thought, by the superior delicacy of mind which belong to the female youth; yet, on the other hand, it may be confidently asserted, that the schoolmistresses, generally, are distinguished above the masters by greater zeal, faithfulness to their vocation, and docility, as well as by greater dexterity in the management of youth."

In other countries also there are girls' schools under the direction of mistresses; but experience has not everywhere borne them so favourable a testimony, as it has here in Münsterland, in regard to those trained by Overberg. Hence we may conclude, that the effect was principally brought about by his method of instruction. It was the personal character of Overberg to which our schoolmistresses were indebted for that fervent and deep piety, which, springing from a clear and solid knowledge of religion, manifests itself outwardly in a fulfilment of duty, at the same time cheerful and indefatigable, which dedicates the entire life to the service of the Church and of mankind, and knows no other happiness than doing one's duty. Overberg sought first and foremost to work upon the heart. By the right regulation of the heart he gained everything besides; this was the moving-spring of all his farther exertions. Young women, who, being moved by a sense of religion, had determined to consecrate their entire life to the holy calling of the education of youth, were, on account of their greater excitability, more readily inflamed by the thought of the exalted dignity of this holy vocation, and animated with ardent zeal to exert all their powers for the attainment of their high and beautiful end. Overberg pointed out to them the way, and by his simplicity of character and kindness he gave them courage and confidence. The mark at which they aimed appeared to them no longer too high, the road no longer too wearisome. Many of them studied day and night, to acquire the necessary knowledge and abilities. Now the abilities requisite for managing a school are acquired by females as easily, to say the least, as by men. The circle of knowledge necessary for a school is in itself a narrow one; but everything, even to the most minute point, must be apprehended with decided clearness, certainty, and firmness. All this is easy to the female sex, if only there is not wanting seriousness of intentions and vigour of resolution.

For centuries past there have existed in the Catholic Church religious orders of women, who have imposed on themselves, by vow, the duty

of instructing youth. They live in convents, and are bound also under the other regular vows of religious. Our schoolmistresses live in the world, and are under the obligation of no vows; they are at liberty, at any moment, to quit the career which they have chosen; yet very few exchange their vocation to teach, for the married state.

While Overberg was normal teacher, the school-children in almost all the greater villages were divided according to their sex, and thus the number of girls' schools in Münsterland was increased almost by one-half. The regulations for schools under the jurisdiction of Münster, order this division, in cases, when, by the increase of population, the number of children in a parish becomes too great for one school. Overberg was all for keeping up this regulation, inasmuch as he greatly preferred the division of the children according to sex, to that according to age and class. His reasons were the following: mistresses naturally have a greater aptitude for directing girls, for instructing them, and (what, for women, is more important than instructing) for educating them; they can better infuse into them feminine dispositions, and habituate them to feminine manners. Dangers in regard to morality are further removed, when the girls are instructed separately by a mistress. Instruction in female manual works, so necessary as it is, can be communicated by no one but a mistress. Masters are often distracted by other occupations, and the care of their families often draws them away from the business of their calling; whereas, on the contrary, mistresses, as experience teaches, devote themselves with undivided attention to their office, if only they are not deficient in the requisite seriousness of disposition. Again, a mistress can subsist on a smaller stipend; and if she is disabled, she is less burdensome to the parish than a master. These views of Overberg's were often disputed, but he persevered in them, and experience has proved him in the right.

It even happened that in some hamlets of the province of Münster, where means could not easily be raised for paying a master, female teachers, instead of masters, were, by the desire of the parishioners, placed over schools to which boys and girls resorted together. The good condition of these schools has proved that mistresses understood well enough how to accomplish the needful in the instruction of boys.

CHAPTER VIII.

OVERBERG, AS CATECHIST IN THE SCHOOL OF THE LORRAINE NUNS.

There was at Münster a convent bearing the name of the congregation of the Choir Nuns of Lorraine, commonly called the French con

vent; belonging to the order which honours the holy Peter Forerius as its founder, and which is principally devoted to the instruction and education of female youth. Being driven out of Lorraine during the disorders occasioned by the thirty years' war, three nuns took refuge in Münster; they began by enticing children out of the street, to give them instruction by means of little pictures; then, as the number increased of these voluntary pupils, they hired a room, and opened a school in it. Their ability as teachers, and their affectionate treatment of the children, soon gained them the hearts of the parents; by whose assistance they were enabled to build a house, and, in course of time, a convent and a church. The institute acquired reputation, and the daughters of rich and distinguished citizens' families, who renounced the world, chose this convent in preference to others. Through the dowries which these ladies brought, and by repeated presents, it came to the possession of a competent, though not superfluous, property.* Overberg was vicar in the church of the convent, with a salary of one hundred and sixteen dollars per annum; he was confessor to the nuns, and gladly availed himself of this connexion to take a part with the schoolmistresses in the instruction of the children, though he was not obliged to this by virtue of his appointment. The convent supported a charity school, which was very numerously attended, and in which three of the religious gave entirely gratuitous instruction. Besides this, it supported another establishment for education, called the French school, in which education of a higher order was given for an adequate pension, with which was connected a boarding-house for pupils from a distance. As the number of the nuns was so far diminished in the year 1790, that they could no longer keep up the two schools, they determined to give up the French school, for which they received pay, in order that they might be able to continue the poor school; being faithful to their vocation, by which they were obliged to the gratuitous instruction of the poor. Overberg had it in view, later, to open the other school again, with the assistance of female refugees; but this plan never came into effect.

He gave instruction in both the schools, not only on religion, but also on other points of learning. He continued the instruction in the free school till 1811, when it was suppressed, together with the convent.

* In the seven years' war (1759) the convent and a part of the town was set on fire by the Hanoverians, and after a few years was built again from the ground, together with the church. The official and provost Deitermann contributed for his own share 12,000 dollars.