Chamberss Edinburgh Journal, No. 426 | Page 9

neophytes as a dream, only to be broken when the parent
or nurse, returning to take them home, found them in the centre of a
little joyous group, the gayest of the gay!
One, after all, cannot wonder at this change, when he contrasts the
scenery of the interior of an infant school with that of the generality of
poor homes. The child, making, as it were, its first voyage in life, has
here been introduced, not merely to a society conducted on principles
of gentleness and kindness, but to a fairyland of marvels for the
fascination of its intellectual faculties. From the ceiling to the
_dado_--the wainscotted space at the base, for in Hungary this old
arrangement is still maintained in its fullest form--the walls are covered
with pictures of scripture scenes and objects in natural history; while
the dado itself, terminating above in a shelf, exhibits busts, stuffed
animals, and pots of flowers--the whole place, indeed, being a kind of
museum, specially adapted for the enjoyment as well as instruction of
the young. At first, filled with wonder and delight, the infant begins to
study the meaning and character of these objects: after a short
attendance, you find they can tell the names of many, and speak many
things regarding them. One day, while attending a Bohemian infant
school, which was dismissing, and as I was examining some of the
birds upon the shelf, a little hand was insinuated into mine, as if to get
it warmed--as is often done by children--when, looking down, I beheld
a bright, intelligent face, apparently eager to make some
communication. 'Tuzok, tuzok!' ('Bustard, bustard!') said a little voice.
Encouraged by my smile, there was immediately added: 'Ez tuzok, ez
mazzar honban, tisza fetöl jönn;' ('That is a bustard from Hungary, from
the river Teiss.') Another little one, attracted by this observation,
pointed to the elephant, and said in German: 'Und der ist elephant: er
kommt von weiten, von ausland--von morgenland!' ('And that is the
elephant: it comes from far, from a foreign land--from the
_morning-land_!')--that is, the East!
The children learn the first rudiments of religion, duty and obedience to
their parents and teachers, spelling, &c. After the expiration of the time

allotted to them here, they are sent to the normal schools, where they
are instructed in all the various branches of education which are
necessary to fit them for any situation or profession for which their
several talents seem to have destined them.
All parents of the lower classes are compelled by law to send their
children to school at a certain age. If they are in easy circumstances,
they contribute a small sum monthly towards the expenses of the
establishment. Those who are unable to pay the full sum, pay the half
or a part; others, again, such as a great portion of day-labourers with
large families, and who cannot even supply their children with
necessary food and clothing, pay _nothing_: it is merely necessary for
these to be furnished with a certificate of their incapacity to pay for the
education of their children, and the state takes the whole charge of their
instruction on itself.
We have already spoken of the deep interest we have taken in the
progress of the infant schools. We visit them frequently, and attend all
the examinations. On entering, it is scarcely possible to recognise in
clean, orderly inmates, the dirty, ragged, quarrelling, scratching,
screaming children of the back-streets, which, however, they were only
a short time ago. All is changed: the miserable hut, the narrow street,
and muddy lane, for a pretty room full of pleasant objects; the timid
look and distrustful scowl, for sunny cheerfulness and open confidence.
There is no unkind distinction among the lower classes in this country,
and by this I mean the whole of the Austrian states. There being only
two classes--the nobles and the commons--none of the commons
despise each other, however poor or humble their situation may be. The
barefooted orphan, kept and educated by charity or the state, is not an
object of contempt or ridicule to the child of the prosperous artisan,
who stands clothed in its little snow-white frock and pink ribbons
beside its less fortunate companion. Neither is any distinction made on
account of religion. The infant schools of the empire are for the
children of all the poor--Catholic, Lutheran, evangelical, &c.; and the
two belonging to Presburg, to which we here particularly allude,
contain from sixty to seventy of the latter in every two hundred.

I was present at an examination of one of our Presburg seminaries in
September last. A number of girls and boys, from three to five years of
age, with a very few a little older, who had come in comparatively late,
were subjected to the usual questioning