FBANCB.

E.—l2

CONCLUSION.

As yet there has not been time, since the enacting of the new laws, to justify any com- conclusion, parison between France and other countries, such as Germany and Switzerland, where there have been opportunities to detect and rectify errors and supply deficiencies. 1 But the will and the resources are present in France; and it only remains to be seen whether the principles, especially of universal secularity ordained by the State, 2 and of less local educational government than in Germany 3 or Switzerland, 3 will, with the administrative machinery in France, prove to be a success. 4' My special thanks ai'e due to Professor Morel, late Chef du Cabinet 5 at the Ministry of Public Instruction, especially for his kindness in perusing the statement of facts in this section in 1885, and again very lately (in 188C5) j but, of course, he must not be identified with remarks or inferences.

1 See also 1.E.0., vol. 13, p. 195, and 8.E.C., Mr. M. Arnold. " The schools [in Germany] have been for so long, and are still, in my opinion, better than the French schools," 5913. 2 Seo references, Ist page of this section. Suicide has been steadily increasing in France. The Francais attributes it to secular education, and says, " Another ten years of Atheist teaching in our schools, and the number of suicides will be ten times as large." Other journals connect it with different causes. Note also effect of secular system in Victoria. Austral. Times and Anglo-N.Z., 2G Feb., 188G, p. 2G. The Roman Catholics, at the present moment, support, through voluntary efforts alone, one-third of the school children of Paris. Sec Mr. M. Arnold's (May, 1886) rep., p. 9. " An eminent pedagogue and savant of France (Michel

Breal, member of the Institut) in tho'Dictionnaire de Pedagogic,' finds one of the principal causes of the supremacy of Germany in the matter of popular education in the exceptional division of the nation into so many independent sovran ties. A sort of emulation was created among them, and thus the improvements realized at any one point were gradually adopted by the entire nation. The same emulation continues to this day."—Dr. Philbrick, p. 7. It would seem that these remarks are also specially applicable to Switzerland. * For statistical information, see three vols. of report on primary education, published by a French Commission of leading educators. The 3rd vol. (Statistique de 1' instruction priinairo pour l'annee scolaire, 1881-82) was published in June, 1884. And see Amor. Commr. Rept., 1885, for 1883-84, pp. ceii-ccix. 3 He retired from that office on the fall of the Ferry Administration, but is now an Inspector.

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