New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-11-17

charge of such schools to inquire how tar the
wants of workinemen and boys are met and
whether, beside what are cslled the rudimeots Oh
common school education, more instruction may
no, be given in things which pertain directly to
the daily l.bors of the pupil But il is not in for
NAL schools only that French workingmen receive
their education. Every provincial town has Its
uuseum omen for the entertainment and instruc-
tion of all who will visit il. That capital has
score of exhibitions continually open, grstuitously
once or oftener in the week, where everybody
NAV. in finding recreation, gain knowledge oil
art and love Of beauty. We hope The day is NOT
distant when what is thus done by the monarchs
Of Europe will be initiated By the sovereign peo-
pie Of America. or when some liberal citizen per-
baps, will follow in the noble course of Astor and
Cooper, and establish in the commercial capital
of this country free gallery of art.
But the moment that in any land an effort is
made to improve the education of the masses, the
lack of teachers fitted for their tasks is seriously
felt. Our country is sadly wanting in men trained
for specific duties When manufac sories were
commenced in New. England, early in the last half
y,
perintendeuce men who had been trained in the
army and navy, who knew how to command and
who therefore had one Of the elements Of good
overseer- administrative ability. So when the re-
cent improvements in public schools commenced
il was exceedingly difficult to find competent
teachers and normal schools in which men and
women might be trained for the business of in
structors were urged upon the attention Of the
public BY Henry Barnard Of Connecticut as the
only means of supplying the want But even the
plans of such schools were not understood, and
Barnard, Mann, Stowe, Sears and Bache, went
abroad to study them.
We shall have similar course to pursue In In
dustrial and artistic training. We now find our
workiDgmen, our factory operatives, inferior, not
in general intelligence, but in the knowledge Of
their trades, to corresponding persons in France,
Germany and partially in England. Evening
schools and industrial schools are already to
limited extent commenced for their improvement
But we need more teachers. We need trained
men higher up than mere manual laborers. We
need schools in which a knowledge OF common
things can be taught But We also need complete
schools like some already projected in this coun-
try) where the laws of mechanics, where the
practical principles of chemistry, where knowl'
edge of the strength of materials, where the method
of working Mines where the secrets of agrlcultur-
al success. where the rules of ornamental art, and
the elements of correct taste may be taught to
men who find their lives too short, and their occu
nations too practical, for metaphysical profundity
or linguistic research.
How is it in France and Germany Colleges
and universities are not less eminent or excellent
than in this country. Hundreds Of men are con-
tnually training in law, theology and medicine,
but hundreds of others are training, with the best
of teachers, to be miners, farmers, engineers,
architects, mechanics, roadmakers and shipbuild-
ers Such men are as truly scholars in their way
as those who are fitted for the so-called learned
professions. Lyons, the city of silks, has it's
schools where lessons given in the manufacture
of CLOTH in loom weaving, in making patterns and
in keeping accounts for workshops. at Dieppe is q
school for lace making. At st. Etienne, famous
the wide world over for it's ribbons is celebrated
school of design, which has powerful effect upon
the industry of the place. La Rochelle and Brest
have their ravsl schools, and so on. But the
teachers in these and scores of other such estab
hshments are trained in the eonserrdtoire at Paris
in the teole eentraic, in the School Of Mines and
other national institutions, which the people guard
and value more than the rights of the crown or the
authority of their legislative assemblies. An ad-
mirsble commencement has been made in this
kind OF education in the Lawrence scientific
school at Cambridge, the Yale scientific school in
New Haven, the Chandler school at Dartmouth,
the Free academy of New. York, and in other we'll
known establishments.