The size of the berries is more an object with English fruit-growers than the size of the bunches, but these sometimes attain enormous magnitude, one having been exhibited some years ago which weighed 19 lb., and when transmitted by its noble owner as a present to a friend at a distance, was carried, suspended to a pole, on the shoulders of two men, in the style of the spy-borne cluster of Eshcol. The latter are supposed to have been of the kind now grown on Mount Libanus, where the vines creep along the surface of the ground, and bear grapes as large as plums. In Madeira too there is a dessert grape the clusters of which often weigh twenty pounds.

For the purpose of wine-making, however, the small berries are the best, since the strength and flavor of the liquor depends, as in cider, more upon the skin and seeds than on the pulp of the fruit, and the austere kinds too are preferred to those which are more pleasant to eat. Plucked from the parent plant and beaten, pressed, or trodden, the vintage grapes submit to a process which seems like destruction, in order that they may rise again like martyrs, in a more glorious form. One kind alone, the muscatel of the warm south, is exempted from the violence to which all its congeners are exposed, and suffered gently to weep itself to wine, the bunches, bursting with ripeness, being merely laid down till the pressure of their own weight produces the droppings of which the wine is made, which thence, in Spain, bears the name of lagrima.

Many as are the varieties of the grape cultivated in different parts of Europe, they may all be considered as of one species, the vinifera; but, once across the Atlantic, we are beyond the dominion of Bacchus, and though certainly a vine abounds in America, it is no longer the vine, the sacred plant of the son of Semele. This wild climber, peculiar to America, has, as Humboldt says, given rise to the general error that the "vinifera" is common to the two continents, whereas in truth the Vitis vulpina of America is of another and far lower caste, a very pariah of vines, indelibly tainted with a flavor which can only be described as "foxy." But though the foxes have thus "spoiled the vineyards" in a manner unthought of by Theocritus, the plants if not sweet are at least strong, and are often found on the banks of the Ohio with a stem three feet in circumference and branches 200 feet long; but the best varieties of its fruit are anything but agreeable to a British palate, and though both a red and a white wine have been made from it, said rather to resemble Moselle, even in this state, unfortunately, it still retains the brand of the "brush." Both the fruit and the leaves, which are but very slightly lobed, are much larger than those of the European vine, and it is therefore sometimes grown in England for ornamental purposes, though little esteemed otherwise. One of the best writers on such subjects in America, however, remarks that the vines there are generally but one remove from a wild state, accidentally improved varieties that have sprung up in woods and fields from wild vines;" therefore, as

increasing attention is being paid to their culture, vineries under glass are becoming frequent, and vineyards are established in some of the wilder States, there is room for our Transatlantic cousins to hope that the rosy god may yet smile upon them, and eventually crown their bowl with a native nectar free from vulpine or any other offensive taint.

In some parts of South America (as in Chili and Mexico) wine has been made for years past with very fair success; we have daily proof of the rapid improvement taking place in the quality and quantity produced in the British possessions in Africa; and it is now nearly ten years since a sample was received in London of wine from Australia, of such a quality as to promise that whenever the colonists there may be able and willing to turn their attention to its manufacture, there will be little reason to fear that the climate will offer any obstacle to their success. We of this quarter of the globe need not therefore be under any apprehension of sharing the fate of ancient Rome, or dread the invasion of some Brennus of the New World, attracted from his own grapeless land by the charms of our vines, and determined no longer to leave us in undisturbed possession of such a luxury. There is every prospect too that as the reign of the vine extends, the grape will more widely attain its highest glorification, in being dedicated to the noble service of the winepress; for this after all is the grand use of the vine, and that to which all its other uses are by comparison merely incidental and unimportant. Other fruits may please the palate as well, but this is serving a mere material purpose; it is the proud prerogative of the kingly grape to minister to the mind, and though it is true it does not stand quite alone in this, yet it is its lofty distinction to reign supreme over every other substance to which a portion of this power is permitted. Let sensuality and intemperance pervert it as they will, it is in itself a good and not an evil, and was given by the source of all good to "cheer the heart of man" and gladden his spirit. It is too true that the gift has often been abused, so much so that legislators have sometimes attempted wholly to interdict it; and it is said that the grape has once or twice been entirely rooted out of the land of China by imperial decree; indeed, tradition records that one celestial despot, finding the heavy tax he had laid upon wine insufficient to restrain his subjects from using it to excess, ordered a lake to be filled with the tempting fluid, and then forced 3000 of its votaries to plunge headlong into it. Nature however cannot be permanently thwarted, and it has mostly been found that where the vine has been banished something worse has taken its place, besides which, much of the evil that is commonly attributed to wine may really be traced to other Sources. In the words of Cyrus Redding, one of the highest authorities on such a subject; "There are few individuals comparatively among the intemperate who can lay the fault upon wine in this country, if the pure juice of the grape be understood by that term. It is the produce of the still mingled with wine that operates the

mischief when wine is concerned at all;" a statement confirmed by the fact that the wine-growing countries are the least intemperate. A moderate quantity of pure wine, unadulterated by distilled spirit, is in most countries found beneficial to mankind, and it may be remembered that it is against "mixed wine" and those who mingled strong drink" that Scriptural denunciations are levelled, the Hebrews having early resorted to beverages more intoxicating than simple grape juice. It is related of the great Akbar, that being once in need of good gunners, he sent for some from an English vessel then in one of his ports, when the men being required to prove their ability by shooting at a mark, one of them purposely misdirected his aim, and then turning to the Emperor apologized for his unskilfulness by stating that his having been long debarred from wine had injured his sight, but that if the monarch would only order wine to be brought for him, he would make a display that would astonish him. A cup was accordingly brought, which the man quaffed, and then immediately sent his shot into the very centre of the mark, whereupon Akbar ordered it to be recorded that "wine was as necessary to Europeans as water to fish, and to deprive them of it was to rob them of the greatest comfort of their lives," and thenceforth gave permission to foreigners to cultivate vineyards in his dominions.

In enumerating the honors paid to the vine we must not forget that it afforded one of the earliest offerings to the Deity, for "bread and wine" were brought forth to Abraham by Melchizedek, "the priest of the most High God." Consecrated too to the most sacred rite of the religion of Jesus, it has thus been made to us a link between heaven and earth; and though we look not with the heathen or the Mussulman to an actual quaffing of grape juice as part of the bliss of eternity, yet every Christian must feel that there is something hallowed in the symbol which reminds him of his future hope to drink hereafter "new wine in his Father's kingdom."

XXV. MIDDLE CLASS SCHOOLS FOR GIRLS.

A PAPER READ AT THE MEETING OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

FOR THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE, GLASGOW, 1860.

Ir is very easy to find fault with our National and British Schools, and with our whole system of Government aid to education; and also with the vast body of masters and mistresses sent out all over the country from the great training schools and colleges supported by public funds; and it is not difficult to say, with much apparent truth, that these crammed and certificated ladies and gentlemen are not giving a very good practical education to the working people of England. Perhaps the very first observation you make is that they

do not keep in view the very end of education, the very point to be aimed at- -to teach the children to help themselves,-to help themselves to think rightly, and to carry their right thoughts into right action; to make rational beings with good habits. You will perhaps say that for the most part these masters and mistresses only strive to pour out the learning so lately poured into themselves. You have,' no doubt, visited National Schools, and have laughed at the answers given by the children to your questions, showing the utter want of any instruction in the art of thinking; of which want the reply lately made by a pupil may be taken as a specimen. I stopped a child in the midst of a chapter in the Bible as she gabbled "and His coming was foretold by the prophets." "Who were the prophets ?" I asked. The girl stared me in the face and said, "What father makes in his shop." And another girl, after naming glibly all the countries in Europe, confessed that she did not believe in their existence! Indeed, a very little examination will prove that children do not believe in half they are taught. But although it is easy to find fault with the education England is giving her people, fault-finding and criticism are useless without the exercise of comparison. We must not take the ideal instead of the possible and the practicable as our test —and when we find fault with National and British Schools, do we compare them with others? Not often, I believe. How many of those who visit and criticise these establishments have ever thought of examining what the education is which the mass of the people provide for themselves? I speak of those who can provide for themselves; the class who can afford to pay more than 2d. a week.

I believe it to be inferior in every respect to the education given in the National and British Schools. I do not think any advocate of

the voluntary system can deny the fact.

The little cheap private day-schools, academies, institutes, and "collegiate establishments for young ladies and gentlemen," have proverbially a low character, unknown as such regions are to the higher classes, and would, we believe, have a still lower character if they were known. They are often conducted by incompetent brokendown tradespeople, who, failing in gaining a livelihood in a good trade, take in despair to what is justly considered (in consequence of the competition of the schools assisted by Government) as a very bad business.

I speak generally of the schools charging from 6d. a week to 15s. a quarter, opened for the children of small shopkeepers and mechanics who are too rich or too "genteel" to go to the National Schools. Such academies abound in the cheap quarters of all towns, and are usually held in small private houses, only manifesting their scholastic character by a brass plate or a large board, and only maintaining it by pretentious ignorance. I have good reason to believe that the education given in these places for 6d. and 1s. a week is inferior to the twopenny education given in the popular schools. It is very difficult to investigate this matter, but I wish to draw special atten

tion to the subject, so that it may be inquired into by all who have the opportunity. The number of these schools is enormous, and their influence on the future welfare of England very considerable; so that it is well worth while to know something about what passes within them. Does the Government aid to the National Schools injuriously affect these schools? What is the education and training of the mistresses? What education is usually given? What books and apparatus are used? &c. These and other questions should be inquired into, but it is exceedingly difficult to visit such establishments: they are private, and I have found the mistresses exceedingly jealous of inspection, most unwilling to show a stranger (and quite naturally) anything of the school books, or to answer any questions. The first school of this class which I visited was in a large country village, to which the small farmers and shopkeepers sent their daughters. It was considered a most respectable and superior establishment; the lady principal boasted of having an accomplished Indian lady to teach languages and music; I went with a farmer's daughter, who was an old pupil, and whose extraordinary deficiency in reading and writing at the age of thirteen quite excited my curiosity. The lady principal was a poor sickly creature utterly unfit for anything, but who had been obliged to do something for a livelihood. She had a certain kind of flabby ladylike manner which quite awed my blunt honest farmer friends. The school was conducted on the most old fashioned system; the books were out of date, and the children were taught after this fashion, that there were four elements, earth, air, fire, and water! The Indian lady, the boast of the establishment, was a negress, a dashing ignorant American, who thought the most important part of her duty was to teach deportment and the small manners and vanities supposed to transmute the little female clodhoppers into elegant young ladies.

Other schools which I visited proved as bad; and of the many of which I have received reports from trustworthy persons, few have been much better. The teachers have little knowledge, and no idea that there is a difficult art called teaching which must be learnt.

Mistresses of such schools have often told me they were not used to work, -were ladies, and quite unfit for this sort of thing!

We have heard of harshness and the indulgence of tyranny unchecked by any supervision or any public inspection; cases of extreme atrocity are fresh in the minds of all. In one day I heard of two cases of blows being given for mistakes in reading; and I am convinced that these ignorant, disappointed, and soured teachers oftener act harshly and misuse their despotic power than is at all supposed. Despotic power over children, without a parent's natural and restraining affection, is a dangerous thing.

Parents sometimes send their children to National and British Schools, often having tried private schools and found them fail; we have often questioned children from these schools, and generally found them terribly ignorant.