Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/741

Rh EUROPE 711 Tear. Schools of popular instruction. Scholars. Scholars to every 1000 inhabitants. Switzerland 1872 5,088 413,789 155 German empire .. Luxembourg Norway 1872 1874 1873 56,000 644 6,502 6,000,000 28,437 243,969 152 142 138 Sweden 1875 8,123 606,876 138 Netherlands Denmark 1873 1867 3,790 3,064 500,059 226,679 136 135 France 1872 70,179 4,720,000 131 IJelgiuin. 1872 5,678 618,937 123 Austria 1875 15,166 2,134,683 100 Hungary .. 1872 Iti, 300 1,464,775 94 Great Britain Spain. .... 1876 1873 17,787 27,760 2,340,277 1,381,972 83 82 Italy 1873 4-2,920 1,827,381 70 Greece. . 1874 1,227 81,449 50 Finland 1873 1,382 76,477 42 Portugal 1870 3,500 140,000 32 Roumania 1873 2,221 82,145 17 Servia 1874 517 23,278 17 Russia 1873 23,183 1,009,037 14 The countries of southern and eastern Europe are all very low in the scale ; but several of them, and notably Italy, Greece, and Russia, are making rapid advances. The last of these has great difficulties to contend against in the extent of its territory and the sparseness of its popula tion; but such a fact as the following speaks for itself : &quot; In 1866,&quot; says M. Hippeau, 1 &quot;in every 100 conscripts only one could read and write ; in 1870 this number had risen to 11 iu the 100.&quot; Several of the local boards have recom mended the adoption of obligatory attendance at school. Much less hopeful is the condition of Spain, where at the last C3iisus (I860) 72 percent, of the population could neither read nor write. Yet even there the movement is in the right direction. A fine contrast is afforded by the Scandinavian countries, where the peasantry have long been accustomed to relieve the tedium of their winter nights by reading the sagas of their native land, and by some of the Swiss cantons, where there are only 4 per cent, of the population totally uneducated. In France, according to the official statistics of 1875, there are 30 persons in every 100 unable to read or write ; and in Belgium, according to the results of the census of 1866, 42 in every 100 above seven years of age are in the same condition. The high position of the German empire is mainly due to Prussia, which may be re garded as the forerunner of educational progress in Europe. Among the other states the differences are very consider able. Brunswick, Anhalt, Oldenburg, Saxony, and Thur- ingia rise above the average of 152 scholars to the 1000 in habitants ; Mecklenburg and Bavaria sink as low as 1 2 1 and 126 respectively. A high position is held by the free city of Bremen, where the public expenditure for education has risen from 60 of a mark in 1847-51 to S 45 marks in 1872-76 for each hsad of the population. In Austria the con trasts between the provinces are enormous, every thousand inhabitants in Silesia, Bohemia, Moravia, or Tyrol send- in (f from 130 to 136 children to school ; while in Galicia, 1 )almatia, and Bukovina the numbers are only 29, 23, and 19. If statistics are unsatisfactory in regard to the condition of primary schools, they are still more unsatisfactory as re gards the institutions for the training and education of the primary teacher. Till some approximation be made be tween the systems of the several countries, it conveys almost no information to say that in Prussia there are 107 and in Russia 45, in Switzerland 32 and in Portugal 6. And still more impossible is it to institute a comparison with respect to the secondary schools and the various insti- 1 M. Hippeau s volume*, L instruction publique en Italic, 1875, L instruction pitfique en Ru-ssie, 1878, &c., afford a convenient popular account of the education of most of the principal countries. tutions devoted to instruction in special departments of art or science. In all the more advanced countries they are in creasing in number and in the specialization of their work. 2 In Germany there are twenty-one universities, including the academy of Minister, with about 1983 professors and teachers, and a total attendance of 19,000 students. Tho best known are Berlin, Leipsic, Gottingen, Halle, Tiibingen, Bonn, Heidelberg, Jena, and Erlaugen. In Austria- Hungary there are ten, with 1018 professors, and upwards of 12,000 students. Italy numbers one more than Ger many, with 1093 professors, and not far from 10,000 students. Russia has nine, including the Finland university of Helsingfors, and the practically German university of Dorpat. The total teaching staff numbers upwards of 600, and the students more than 7000. The four Scandinavian universities of Upsala, Lund, Christiania, and Copenhagen, count 280 professors and 2700 students. There are four in Holland, inclusive of the Amsterdam Academy, and four in Belgium, the number of professors being respectively 149 and 229, and that of students 2056 and 2272. Since the addition of Geneva, Switzerland has the like number, with a teaching staff of 250 to 300, and an attendance of upwards of 1200. Spain boasts of ten universities with 400 professors, and, if her statistics are correct, has more than 15,000 students. Portugal, in its one famous institute at Coimbra, has about 1000 students, many of whom are from Brazil and the colonies. A university was founded at Athens in 1837, another at Belgrade iu 1838, and a third and fourth at Bucharest and Jassy in 1864. The pro fessors number in all 128, and the students upwards of 2000. In France the organization of the higher education is peculiar: Bordeaux and Lyons are the only two cities besides Paris which have all the five faculties of theology, law, medicine, science, and literature, and it is only iu Paris that they are incorporated into a &quot; university.&quot; Iu sixteen other towns there exist one or more of the sepa rate faculties. The professors in Frauce exceed 420, with 14,500 students. The Catholics have free &quot;universities&quot; at Angers, Lyons, and Paris. Making allowance for defect ive statistics, it may be said that continental Europe Las about 7000 persons engaged in university teaching, and that the students number from 88,000 to 90,000. Iu Britain the universities differ greatly from each other in constitution and arrangement. Oxford and Cambridge have together about 80 professors and over 5000 under graduates. London university, which is merely an ex amining board, had 17,312 candidates for matriculation in 1877. Durham numbers 5 professors and 109 students. In the four Scotch universities there are 102 professors and about 5000 students. The Queen s university, Ireland, has 54 professors and 745 students, and the Dublin univer sity 39 professors and 1200 students. Europe, and especially northern and Germanic Europe, has long been distinguished from eastern and southern countries by the greater social and educational equality ex isting between the sexes ; but in this, as in so much else, there is still abundant room for improvement. A powerful movement has set in towards a fuller recognition of the rights of woman ; and the right to instruction is recognized as one of the most fundamental. A greater assimilation is in most of the more civilized countries being effected be tween the education given to boys and girls ; and a power ful party, with powerful arguments, support the thesis that equal opportunities should also be afforded to young men and to young women. In Prussia the general movement is represented by the Victoria or Lette Union at Berlin, and the Otto Petter Union at Leipsic, both of which have 2 See au interesting Report on Weaving and other Technical Schools 1 of the Continent, jiresented to the Clothu-eavers Camptny of London,