and at the time of their vacation, we thought one of the most feasible and important educational movements of the time. The plan was comprehensive, involving the services of some twenty lecturers who were masters of the several departments of natural history; and it was received with such favor throughout the country, that it was certain a very large number of students would have collected there to avail themselves of the superior instruction that could have been afforded. The island, besides, was conveniently accessible, and the accommodations offered by the town ample, excellent, and moderate in price. There was, in short, large practical promise in the enterprise.
But it was not carried out, and in its stead there grew up another school in natural history, under the auspices of Messrs. Agassiz and Anderson, on another island, difficult of access and without accommodations. But few pupils could be taken, and the large expenses of the experiment, under the peculiar circumstances, had to be defrayed from without. The necessary funds not being forthcoming, the project collapsed, and the school is numbered among the things that were. Much regret has been expressed at the result; but we shed few tears over the failure of the Penikese School. Why should money be wasted in sustaining a school in an ill-chosen station that limits its usefulness and entails inordinate expense? We observe that the editor of Nature, in announcing the abandonment of the institution, and explaining the unpleasant controversy that accompanied it between Mr. Anderson, the donor of the island, and the trustees, speaks in a tone of strong regret at the result. He thinks it unfortunate that Mr. Anderson had not contributed a little more money, as, "had he done so, those interested in the success of the school would have had time to set about raising something like an endowment fund, and a fine opportunity would have been afforded to the United States Government to show their appreciation of practical scientific teachers and scientific research." The italics here are our own, and the suggestion they convey admirably illustrates the easy tendency and universal readiness there is to go to Government for help to sustain every thing that cannot be sustained by the appreciation and liberality of the community. A school absurdly located, costly, and restricted, is not supported by the public with all its appreciation of education and readiness to contribute to it whenever its contributions are wisely expended—and so the state is invoked to assume the burden due to bad calculations. We think it is a good deal better that the concern should have been wound up than to have dragged along in a precarious way, or got a subsidy from the Legislature, as it will perhaps cease to be a hindrance to the organization of other schools in better circumstances.
THE EDUCATION QUESTION AT MONTPELLIER.
There are many indications of a very serious struggle, almost coextensive with civilization, between ecclesiastical authority and the liberal spirit of the age on the subject of education. Religion may not be responsible for it, but religious bodies are involved in it, and it threatens to become a matter of increasing difficulty, notwithstanding our vaunted enlightenment and the success of free government. The most numerous sect of Christendom has its own policy on the subject of education, and clings to it invincibly, though with a wise discretion in the avowal of its claims. The passages given in the following letter are an undisguised statement of the demands of the Romish Church as to its right to educate mankind.
The following letter from Prof.
