EDUCATION.] PRUSSIA 17 jgion. RcJigious Statistics. According to the census returns of 1880 (see table, p. 16), 64 '64 per cent, of the population of Prussia were Pro- testants, 34 percent. Roman Catholics, and 1 '33 Jews. A glance at a confessional map of Prussia shows that the centre of the king- dom is solidly Protestant, the proportion of Roman Catholics increas- ing as the eye travels east or west and reaching its maximum on the Rhine and in the Slavonic provinces. East Prussia, however, with the exception of Ermland, is Protestant. The Roman Catholics out- number the Protestants in the provinces of the Rhine (3 to 1), Posen, Silesia, and West Prussia. All religious bodies are granted freedom of worship, and civil rights are not conditional upon religious confession. The Evangelical or Protestant State Church of Prussia consists as it now stands of a union of the Lutherans and Calvinists, effected under royal pressure iii 1817. According to the king this was not a fusion of two faiths but an external union for mutual admission to the Eucharist and for.the convenience of using the same liturgy, prepared under the royal superintendence. Those who were unable from conscientious scruples to join the union became Separatist or Old Lutherans and Old Calvinists, but their numbers were and are insignificant. The king is ' ' summus episcopus, " or supreme pontiff of the church, and is represented in the exercise of his ecclesiastical functions by the minister of public worship and instruction. The highest authority for the ordinary management of the church is the "Oberkirchenrath," or supreme church council at Berlin, which acts through provincial consistories and superintendents appointed by the crown. Recent legislation has made an effort to encourage self-government and give a congregational character to the church by the granting of a presbyterial constitution, with parish, diocesan, provincial, and general synods. The clergy, of whom there were 9146 in 1880, are appointed by the crown, by the consistories, by private or municipal patronage, or by congregational election. The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church in Prussia consists of two archbishops (Cologne, Gnesen - Posen) and ten bishops. The prince-bishop of Breslau and the bishops of Ermland, Hildes- lieim, and Osnabriick are directly under the pope, and the bishop- rics of Fulda and Limburg are in the archiepiscopal diocese of Freiburg in Baden. The higher ecclesiastics receive payment from the state, and the annual appropriation appearing in the budget for the Roman Catholic Church is as high as that made for the State Church. All the Roman Catholic religious orders in Prussia have been suppressed except those mainly or wholly occupied with attend- ance on the sick. The relations of the- state with the dissenting Christian sects, such as the Baptists, Mennonites, and Moravian Brethren, are prac- tically confined to granting them charters of incorporation which ensure them toleration. The Mennonites were formerly allowed to pay an extra tax in lieu of military service, which is inconsistent with their belief, but this privilege has been withdrawn. The Old Catholics number about 30,000, but do not seem to be increasing. The Jews belong mainly to the urban population and form 20 to 30 per cent, of the inhabitants in some of the towns in the Slavonic provinces. They are especially prominent in commerce, finance, and on the stage, and also exercise great influence on the press. Perhaps the actual majority of newspaper editors and proprietors are of Jewish blood. The wave of social persecution to which they were subjected from 1876 onwards, especially in Berlin and Pomerania, has, to some extent at least, subsided. uca- Education. In Prussia education is looked upon as the province 11. of the state, and the general level attained is very high. All schools, public and private, are under state supervision, and no one is allowed to exercise the profession of teacher until he has given satisfactory proof of his qualifications. At the head of the admi- nistration stands the minister of public instruction, to whom the universities are directly subordinate. The secondary schools are supervised by provincial "Schulcollegia," or school-boards, ap- pointed by Government, while the management of the elementary and private schools falls within the jurisdiction of the ordinary "Regierungen," or department officials. This they carry out through qualified school-inspectors, frequently chosen from among the clergy. All children must attend school from their sixth to their fourteenth year. The expenses of the primary schools ( Volksschulcn] are borne by the communes (Gcmcinden, see infra), aided when necessary by subsidies from the state. The subjects of instruction are theology, reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, the elements of geometry, history, geography, and natural science, singing, drawing, sewing, and gymnastics. The fees are extremely small, amounting in the rural districts to about Id. per week, and in Berlin and some other towns they have been entirely done away with. In 1882 Prussia contained 33,040 primary schools with 59,917 teachers and 4,339,729 pupils. This shows an average of 159 children attending school out of every 1000 inhabitants, the proportion varying from 120 to 130 in the north-eastern provinces to 175 to 180 in AVestphalia and Rhenish Prussia. The number of illiterate recruits among those called upon each year to serve in the army affords a good test of the universality of elementary education. In 1882-83 the proportion of " Analphabteti," or men unable to read or write, among the recruits levied was only 2 per cent., the rate varying from 9 "75 per cent, in Posen to 0'03 in Schleswig-Holstein, where there was only one illiterate recruit among 3662. The teachers for the elementary schools are trained in normal seminaries or colleges established and supervised by the state, and much has been done of late years to improve their position. In most of the larger towns the ele- mentary schools are supplemented by middle schools (Bilrgcrschulen, Stadtschulen), which carry on the pupil to a somewhat more advanced stage, and are partly intended to draw off the unsuitable elements from the higher schools. The secondary schools of Prussia may be roughly divided into classical and modern, though there are comparatively few in which Latin is quite omitted. The classical schools proper consist of Gymnasia and Progymnasia, the latter being simply gymnasia wanting the higher classes. In these boys are prepared for the universities and the learned professions, and the full course lasts for nine years. In the modern schools, which are divided in the same way into Realgymnasia and Realprogymnasia, and also have a nine years' course, Latin is taught, but not Greek, and greater stress is laid upon modern languages, mathematics, and natural science. The three lower classes are practically identical with those of the gymnasia, while in the upper classes the thoroughness of training is assimilated as closely as possible to that of the classical schools, though the subjects are somewhat altered. Ranking with the realgymnasia are the Oberrcalschulcn, which differ only in the fact that Latin is entirely omitted, and the time thus gained de- voted to modern languages. The Hohere (or upper) Burgcrschulen, in which the course is six years, rank with the middle schools above mentioned, and are intended mainly for those boys who wish to enter business life immediately on leaving school. All these secondary schools possess the right of granting certificates entitling the holders, who must have attained a certain standing in the school, to serve in the army as one-year volunteers. The gymnasial " certificate of ripeness " (Maturitatszeugniss), indicating that the holder has passed satisfactorily through the highest class, enables a student to enroll himself in any faculty at the university, but that of the realgymnasium qualifies only for the general or " philosophical " faculty, and does not open the way to medicine, the church, or the bar. Considerable efforts are, however, now being made to have the realgymnasium certificate recognized as a sufficient qualification for the study of medicine at least. At any of these schools a thoroughly good education may be obtained at a cost seldom exceeding, in the highest classes, 5 per annum. The teachers are men of scholarship and ability, who have passed stringent Government examinations and been submitted to a year of probation. The great majority of the secondary schools have been established and endowed by municipal corporations. In 1881 Prussia contained 251 gymnasia, 64 progymnasia, 88 realgymnasia, 15 oberrealschulen, 27 realschulen, 47 hbhere biirgerschulen, and 276 HoJiere Tochterschulen, or higher schools for girls. Besides these there are, of course, numerous commercial, technical, indus- trial, and other special schools. Prussia possesses ten of the twenty German universities, attended by 12,800 students, or at the rate of one student for 2125 inhabitants. The largest Prussian university is that of Berlin, attended by more than 4000 students, while Breslau, Bonn, Gb'ttingen, and Halle have each upwards of 1000. The oldest is the university of Greifswald, founded in 1456. Like the schools the universities are state insti- tutions, and the professors are appointed and paid by Government, which also makes liberal annual grants for apparatus and equipment. The full obligatory course of study extends over three, and in the case of medicine four years. It is, however, not unusual for non- medical students also to spend four years at the university, and there is an agitation to make this compulsory. Students qualifying for a Prussian Government appointment are required to spend at least three terms or half-years (Semester) at a Prussian university. Ranking with the universities are the large polytechnic colleges at Berlin, Hanover, and Aix-la-Chapelle, the mining academies of Berlin and Klausthal, and the academies of forestry at Eberswalde and Miinden. Departments Tor the study of agriculture are attached to many of the universities. Music is taught at several conservatoria, the best known of which are at Berlin and Frankfort-on-the-Main. The science and art of Prussia find their most conspicuoiis ex- ternal expression in the academies of science and art at Berlin, both founded by Frederick I. ; and each town of any size throughout the kingdom has its antiquarian, artistic, and scientific societies. Recognized schools of painting exist at Berlin and Diisseldorf, and both these towns, as well as Cassel, contain excellent picture galleries. The scientific and archaeological collections of Berlin are also of great importance. Besides the university collections, there are numerous large public libraries, the chief of which is the royal library at Berlin (1,000,000 vols.). Constitution. The present form of the government of Prussia, Consti- consisting of an hereditary monarchy with two houses of parlia- tutiou. ment, is based upon a fundamental law promulgated in 1850, and subsequently somewhat modified by various enactments. The XX. 3
