, 1875-04-13
A NEW EDUCATIONAL AGENCY,

Woll illustrated by it8 contribution OF new
and original method OF extending the know1-
edge Of modern languages The plan, Which
has been adopted in nil the principal cities Of
1taly, Is described in letter from Romo to
the Nation. 1t is a sort of pathological club
known as the CircoIo FiEoloy&o Steaografeo
It was started in Turin, and has grown up
from, m association Of Bevon or eight young
men who Joined together to takc lessons in
the English Language in m evening class
The association proved to he so profitable TINT
1t was resolved to extend Its benefits. 4
room was hired, md the purpose Of the Club
announced. Tho movement Immediately a.-
tracted attention, and gained tho favor Of the
municipal authorities who gave it quarters,
Before tho onl Of tho first year the
Club had 4t2 members, aud seven living Ian.
guages were taught,-English, French, Ger
Crock. This was i'll 1860. In the second
year tho membership increased to ESQ, md
two moro nnguages-Russian and Portuguese
--were added. But English, French, and Ger
man are thoso Chiefly taught. Tho progress
has been rapid and uniform ever since.
During the Inst yenr tho income was 81, 200,
including a'donation Of $500 from tho mil
| nicipal authorities and $50 from tho Chamber
Of Commerce. At tho close Of tho ycar 1870
! separate schools for women wero established,
which now havo membership Of several
hundred. The Club-rooms nro given mp to
women exclusively during four hours Of tho
afternoon. 1t Inns beon found TINT tho
women make oven grcnter progress than tho
mon, and tho explanation is that they come
fresh to their studies, whilo tho. men come in
tho evening tired out with their days labors.
There aro now pathological clubs ut Turin,
s1ilnn, Florence, Geuoa, Lcghorn, Rome,
.Aucona, A1esaandrin md Pisa. They aro
something moro than languago-schools.
Besides tho instruction given in the various
modorn languages, thcre aro classcs in com.
parativc philology md stenogrnply. Tho
societies also have something Of the social
club nature. Tho loading reviews, magazines,
md newspapers OF different languages and
countries arc kept on flo. At the Florence
Circolo, for instance, thero are seventy ro-
views and magazines and thirty-thrco news.
papers, 1talian md foreign It is custom to
extend the courtcsios Of tho clubs to travelling
foreigners for thirty days each, 30 that
strangers meet people who speak their
own language, md the students hnyo
the advantage .sof speaking English
with Engliahmen md Americans, French
with Frenchmon, German with Germans,
and 60 on. The organization consists Of nc
tiyo members and ordinary members. The
formor elect tha managers or council, md
control the nfFairs of tho Society. Tho hitter
take no part in tile management, but are en-
titled to Ill tho advantages Of tho Club by tho
payment Of 81 n month. For this sn1al1 BUN
Ell languages during nino months in tho year,
md have FREQ access to tho rcading.rooms.
Merchants, lawyers, students, clerks, army off,
cers, civil enginoers, doctors, prieats, account
ants, and thirty other different professions, arc
included among the members. English, Ger
man, French, and Spanish nra most largely
studied,-somotinlea English and sometimes
German leading In the number Of students.
The members include mon md women OF all
ages, from IL To 60years, The teachers aro the
best TINT cnn be secured, and there ia also
course Of lectures delivered by the leading
Professors Of tho country. A number Of FREQ
plaeos arc generally set aside for those too
poor to pny,
Italy hns herein set an excellent example
for imitation in this country. Our popula-
ton ID OF much moro cosmopolitan clarac-
ter than that OF Italy, and the. German,
French, and Spanish can be made more uso-
fnl, socially and commercially, by Americans
than by Italians. The cost Of a1ch instruc-
,tion on tho 1ta!ian rlan might be somewhat
larger here, than in Italy but it would still
bo Insignificant as compared 10 tile cost OF In
diyidnal study Of tho languages. Hundreds
would thon enter upon these stuties who do
not, think Of It now. The claas.system
would stimulate emulation, md tho club
feature would afford sociM attraction. Wo
! think the Italians aro wiso, however, In
making tho malo aud femalo schools separate; !;
| Irritation and scandal would be fatal to their
reputation and usefulness. We hope to hear
Of the Inauguration Of this system In some Of
our American cities. II properly started, 1t
would spread AZ rapidly as the spelling
matches, and 1t would bo moro permanent
and valuable adjunct Of popular education.
| --...--=.=--=
| The Hartford Couraat, In printing TnE
TRlBuNK's statement OF the amount paio Mr..
TOWNSEND for tho T1ros marital correspond
enco last summer,-a statement called out by
AIr. TowNsENp'a assertion that T11ros had
deprived him Of his pay by presenting these
letters to Tue Tntnuax, x,-concludes as fol-
lows;
Nov, II somebody will coms out and show how
much T!LToa hslnsaf wss paid for tbs 1attsrs tho
| mystery will b Ill over, except ~ 70 hov anybody
could 10 guah oysE such man.
Many other newspapers haye contained in
ti1nations Of the same nature. In generalreply
to an Of them, we would say that Mr. T1LToN
never received ole dollar from Taa oa1oAoo
TRIBUNE, either directly Or indirectly, for these
letters, nor for any other OF the advance in'
| formation and documents relative to the
Bkzouxa scandal which TAx Ta1ausss printed
lat summer. Moreover, W, T1zo4 asysz