Star.
London, England, 1830-02-11 00:00:00

CIVILISATION IN GREECE.

The, following interesting account of the progress of
education in Greece is extracted from a Tract just printed
by the British and Foreign Bible Society :
' " The first thin° did after my arrival was to visit the
schools with the Rev. Mr. King; and my surprise and
pleasure were great, to find lEgina full of institutions for
instruction, mostly conducted on the Lancastarian sys-
tem. These are called preparatory schools ; that is, the
children learn to read and write, and, in some, grammar
joists° taught. I must confess, that all Mr. King had
related to me at Smyrna of the increase of schools in
Greece, and the desire of the children to learn, did not ex-
ceed the real state of the case. I was told (and now, from
what I witnessed in Egina and afterwards in other parts,
found it the fact) that the disposition for establishing
Schools is the same everywhere in Greece. The tows
of &gine, being crowded, does not afford proper room
for Schools, which are carried on in miserable -huts or
sheds. I saw the boys of one of these schools actually
taking their lessons in the shade of a wall : in many,
part of the boys were in a room, and the rest in the open
air. At a school composed of 34 boys and 15 girls, I
saw the latter in the master's parlour (which served him
likewise for bed-room and kitchen), attended by a female;
and the boys, with the master, outside in the street.
These schools are, if possible, still more miserable in re-
gard to books :—in short, what I witnessed is truly de-
plorable ; for I could hardly find an entire book in schools
of 40 and 60 children, excepting now and then a Tract
printed at the Malta Missionary Press. Some boys had
only half a book ; others held a few leaves of one ; and
most of them had their lessons written out. Notwithstand-
ing, all these inconveniences, it is astonishing to see the
progress which the children ake, bow readily they go to
school, and bow anxious they are to learn and to excel each
other. About twenty of these schools possess from 15 to
100 children ; others, less numbers : there are, besides,
the Orphan Asylum, which is now composed of about
500 boys; and the Sehool for Ancient Greek, of 120.
The latter, though better off with respect to books, com-
pared with one of our schools, is yet but poorly circum-
stanced. The school-room is the gallery of the prin-
cipal Church; but so inadequate to contain all the boys,
that some of them are seen sitting on the stairs leading
up to it, whilst the rest are suffering under the pressure
of numbers. In this school, the Ancient Greek Authors
are read, and Geometry,- Theology, Geography, &c.
taught. The building ofa school for these boys is under
consideration : but, from what I heard, the President
will wait first to see Athens fall into his hands, so that he
may erect a school there.
" The Orphan Asylum, lately built by subscription, and
aided by contributions frotn•the friends of Greece, is an
extensive and fine edifice, and far superior to any other of
the kind in the country. It was only opened two months
since ; and the boys who have therein found a home, were
previously beggars in the streets in different parts -of
Greece, having lost their parents in the war. The Lan-
casterian system is adopted in this school; and the boys;
have already acquired the drilling part of their education,
and are besides wonderfully improved in other respects,
considering they commenced being instructed only a short
time ago. The Greek boys are naturally bright And'
clever, and little pains are necessary to teach them any.
thing. I had occasion to witness this in the progress:
of the boys in the smaller schools, who, although Idlesier.:
ing under all the inconveniences before mentioned,
yet in the course of a year, or at most two, tartan
that their masters can teach them ; viz. writing; and
reading, a little grammar, and arithmetic. 1 bin* sun
boys, who had been at school a few months, who could
read quite as well as their masters ; and on one occa-
sion, having requested a schoolmaster to read aloud oat
of the Psalter, .he did so only indifferently; whilst one,
of his scholars, a boy of seven or eight years old. read
fluently out of the same book. This, however, Ido not
mention as a general case • for most of the other mu-'
tars of the schools I visite, were, as far es reading goes,
very capable of teaching children.
" There is no doubt that instruction will henceforth be
not only general, but far superior to that which has ex-
isted in Greece for, centuries back, provided the country
enjoys tranquillity and a good Government : and if this
takes place, Europe will be surprised at the rapid pro-
rum of science that will be manifested in this small
State •, and, if I may prognosticate, of true religion
elso, for the Sacred Scriptures are readily received by
the Greeks.
" On visiting the schools, I requested the masters to
note down the names of those boys whose poverty was
such as to put it out of their power to purchase the Holy
Scriptures, end to call with them on me the next day.
Most of the children I saw were of-this class; and their
tattered clothes bespoke their indigent condition : and,
as a further proof of this, out of several hundred volumes
that have been sold at different times in ./F4ina a fit*
Only were to be met with in the school', and those
in the hands of the better sort of boys. When I
questioned
the masters why they had not introduced the
Scriptures into their schools, they and the boys
answered, that they saw them exposed for sale in the
town, but they were for the rich only ; and that although
they longed to possess them, yet they could not afford to

do so. _
"The next and foaming slays, most interesting scenes
ensued : the masters, with their poor boys, came to my
residence at the appointed hour; and on examining them
according to the instruction they possessed, a New Tes-
tament or a Psalter was presented to each, noting down
their names and country, and inserting them in the
books given them. 1-had a satisfaction of making
many happy by this distribndon. The boys were in
rapture* ; and the smiles of their masters testified their
jay also. Thanks, benedictions,prayers were all poured out
together on the Philanthropists of England, wbo mani-
fested their anxiety for the welfare of their nation by
sending them this succour. It was curious, as well as in-
teresting, to hear the different efusions of their hearts,
which varied according to the age and abilities of the
children. But what appears to me of great importance
is, that the boys who received books are from all parts et
Greece, and a very small number only belonging to
Egina; so that as soon as they return to their respective
countries, they will carry along with them the word of
Goa. I made it a point to talk to the chikken on the
importance of not only reading the Holy Scriptures at
KhoOl, but also at home, to their parents, and that daily.
I was surprised at the ready answer of one of the boys:
" We know it is our duty to do so ; for the word of Goer
is as essential as bread, and ought to be read as often as
we take that food, and oftener if we can." The diatribe-
tibn of the Sacred Scriptures to the school boys brought
d concourse of other children and meti to _
lags ; so much so, that 1 *as obliged to
dear closed, to prevent the crowd from
I: -let itt * f*W at s tin; sod 'itwae
would be 6,f:beaky, t .gave a New
but few were feetutietouttesgh to get
ifiskerati-hbad alresdY disitrthowk *mit 620 copies
Waled; end I did not think myself antharieed