the Principal, and the several divisions of the 2d class instructed by assistants; On the 2d floor is the 2d division of the 1st class instructed by the sub-master, with the several divisions of the 3d class under assistants; and the usher takes the 3rd division of the 1st class, with the several divisions of the 4th class on the 1st floor. By this arrangement the government is rendered comparatively easy. The whole school is brought together in the hall for devotional services, and other general exercises. T, T, T, T, Hot-air flues. v, v, v, v, Preston's Ventilators for controlling the flues in the partition wall, which communicate with the iron smoke pipes near the top of the building. This plan is adopted in the first story only. e, e, e, e, Indicates the location of the flues of Emerson's Ventilators in the second, third and fourth stories. s, Sink. C, c. c, c, Closets. d, d, Closets 10 feet by 11 feet, PLAN AND DESCRIPTION OF QUINCY GRAMMAR SCHOOL-HOUSE, BOSTON. This building, which was commenced in 1847, and dedicated on the 26th of June, 1848, is situated on a lot 90 feet by 130 feet, extending from Tyler street to Hudson street. The ground plan is in the form of a cross, the exterior dimensions of the body being 80 feet by 58 feet, the end fronting on Tyler street. The wings are 12 feet in front by 36 feet deep. It is four stories high, with a basement 8 feet in the clear, for the furnaces and fuel, and an attic for gymnastic exercises. Each wing contains a front and back entrance, a flight of stairs from the basement to the attic, and a room on each floor 10 feet by 11 feet, connected with a school-room. The fourth story of the body is finished in one spacious hall, 16 feet high in the clear, with centre-pieces and a cornice, and a platform at each end 22 feet by 11 feet, and 22 inches high. It is furnished with settees arranged in 4 rows, sufficient to accommodate 700 children. The third floor is divided by a corridor 8 feet wide, extending across the main body from one wing to the other, having 2 school-rooms on each side. These four school-rooms are of nearly the same size, averaging about 311 feet by 26 feet, and 13 feet high. Each room is lighted by 2 windows at the side, and 2 at the end, and has a platform for the teacher 24 feet by about 51, with one end towards the entrance from the corridor, and on the other end is placed a book-case of cherry, 3 feet by 8 feet, with glazed doors, facing the entrance. The scholars' desks front the platform and the windows on the side of the building, and are separated by aisles 1 foot and 4 inches wide. They are 2 feet in length, made of cherry-wood, and varnished and supported by cast iron stands. J. L. Ross, maker. Each scholar has a desk by himself. The chair is made by Mr. Wales, of Boston. It has a scroll back and cast iron support. Each room accommodates 56 pupils, one desk and chair being placed on a small movable platform for a monitor. The rooms are lined with composition blackboards 3 feet wide, 2 feet from the floor. The school-rooms which have not small rooms attached, are provided with closets for the children's clothes. There are 2 sinks in the corridor, with conveniences for introducing Cochituate water. The description of this story will answer for the two below it, as the first three are essentially the same. The windows are furnished with inside blinds, having revolving slats, so that the light may be regulated with great ease. The building is warmed by 4 furnaces placed in the basement, 2 being placed at the middle of each end, each being intended to warm the three rooms immediately over it, the cast iron chimnies being relied upon for heating the hall. Emerson's system of ventilation has been introduced since the building was finished, each room having a separate air-duct to the roof, 14 inches by 14 inches. The apparatus consists of the Boston Philosophical set, by J. M. Wightman, Eayrs and Fairbanks' globe, 2 sets of Pelton's Outline Maps, and one of Mitchell's. A library costing $200 has been furnished by the donation of Mayor Quincy. To protect the desks from injury, the slate-frames are all required to be covered with cloth, and each scholar is to provide himself with a convenient box to contain his pen, pen-wiper, pencils, rubber, &c. Each desk has an inkstand sunk into the right-hand corner, with a revolving metalic cover. The building is calculated for but one school, and is at present occupied by but one, the organization of which is adapted to the arrangement and construction of the house. When the organization is complete, the school will be divided into 4 classes, each class containing 168 scholars, and each class into 3 divisions. At present the 3 lower classes contain two divisions each, and the first class 3. On the 3rd floor are the first division of the first class under the instruction of It is to be feared there are not many communities, even in New Englana, where the Chief Magistrate, elected annually by the peopie, would have the courage to utter the following noble sentiments, spoken by Mayor Quincy, at the dedication of the Quincy Grammar School-house, June 26, 1848. As Chairman of the "City Fathers," e did not hesitate to stand there and tell the tax-paying community that they had, in this manner, just expended $200,000 of their money; and he was confident the question would not te asked, Why spend so much? Why spend more for popular education in the city of Boston, than is expended in the whole of Great-Britain? He said, if but once in a century, a little being should be sent into this world, of most delicate and beautiful structure, and we were told that a wonderful principle pervaded every part of it, capable of unlimited expansion and happiness, capable of being fitted to associate with angels and becoming the friend of God: or if it should receive a wrong bias, of growing up in enmity against him, and incurring everlasting misery, could any expense of education which would contribute to save from such misery and elevate to such happiness, be too much? But, instead of one such little being, 24,000 were now entrusted to the care of the "City Fathers," and their education, in this world, will determine their future destiny,-of companionship with angels, or with the degraded wretched, enemies of God. If the community had no responsibility in the matter, how, he asked, could it spend money better than in educating these children? But they would soon control the affairs of Boston, and, to a great extent, of the Commonwealth. Nor would their influence stop here. "No man liveth for himself" Each of these children would form a centre of widening influence, whose circumference might yet embrace millions of minds, and extend through unnumbered centuries. Here, unlike other countries, every restraint to individual elevation is thrown off. All have the most perfect liberty that can be enjoyed, without infringing upon the rights of others. How important then, that each child should be educated to understand his rights, and the principles and habits of self-Govern ment. We are all, said he, in a partnership, and if one of these little partners suffers in his character, the whole community suffer in consequence. He believed that nearly half of the 400 boys in that school were not Americans. Many of their parents were not fitted for the duties of a Republic. But these children, educated side by side with our own, would learn self-government, and be trained to become worthy citizens of this free country. It seemed, he said, the design of Providence to mix races; and this influx of foreigners might constitute the very elements necessary to give to American character its highest excellence. Standing on such a moral elevation, as Boston did, they felt it a duty to provide for the education of all, and thus present to the whole country, models of popular education. These schools are justly the pride and boast of the city; and the senti ment with which they are universally regarded is beautifully embodied in the following extract from an address by George S. Hillard, Esq. The schools of Boston are the best jewels in her crown. If I were asked by an intelligent stranger to point out to him our most valued possessions, I would show to him-not our railroads, our warehouses, filled with the wealth of all the earth, our ships, our busy wharves and marts, where the car of commerce is ever "thundering loud with her ten thousand wheels," but I would carry him to one of our public schools, would show him its happy and intelligent children, hushed into reverent silence at their teacher's word, or humming over their tasks with a sound like that of bees in June. I would tell him that here was the foundation on which our material prosperity was reared, that here were the elements from which we constructed the State. Here are the fountains from which flow those streams which make glad our land. The schools of Boston are dear to my heart. Though I can have no personal and immediate interest in them; though no child on earth calls me father; yet most gladly do I contribute to their support, according to my substance; and when I see a father's eyes filled with pleasant tears as he hears the music of his child's voice linked to some strain of poetry or burst of eloquence, I can sympathize in the feeling in which I cannot share. May the blessing of Heaven rest upon our schools. They are an object worthy of all efforts and sacrifices. We should leave nothing undone which may tend to make them more excellent and more useful. For this, we should gather into our own stores all the harvest of experience which have been reaped from other soils. The present is an age of progress. The claims of humanity are now beginning to be heard as they never were before. The movements in favor of Peace, of Anti-Slavery, of Temperance, of Education, of Prison Discipline, all spring from the same root—a sense of sympathy and brotherhood. Is it too much to say that the dawn of a new day is reddening the tops of the mountains? Higher yet may that light ascend, till its golden shafts have pierced the deepest valleys of ignorance and sin! Let us not stand idly on the brink, while the tide of improvement sweeps by us, but boldly launch our bark upon the stream. We live in a community ready to discern and to do that which is right. It should be a source of gratitude to us that our lot is cast on a spot, where every good and worthy faculty may find appropriate work to do. When I behold this city that we love, seated upon her triple throne of hills with her mural crown of spires and domes glittering in the smokeless air, when I remember how much of that which embellishes and dignifies life is gathered under those roofs, I feel that he has not lived in vain who has contributed, even in the smallest measure, to the happiness and prosperity of Boston. And how can we do this more effectually than by watching over her schools,-by making them as nearly perfect as human institutions can be? For this object let neither wealth nor toil be spared. Here are fountains of life; as they are, so will its issues be. The child is father to the man. Make our schools all that they can be, and all that they should be, and we shall give to the prosperity of our beloved city a permanence like that of moral truth. It will become an inevitable necessity, like that which compels the heart of man to love what is lovely, and venerate what is venerable. The following statistics are taken from the "Third Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Schools, (Nathan Bishop, Esq.,) of the City of Boston," submitted Dec. 29, 1853. Estimated cost of all the Public School Estates to May 1st, 1853. 1. Cost of the Latin and English High School Estate, and of the improvements on the same,. $82,151.51 2. Cost of all the Grammar School Estates, and of the improvements on the same, 797,848.49 3. Cost of all the Primary School Estates, and of the improvements on the same, Total cost of all the Public School Estates,.... 448,500.00 $1,358,500.00 Means and Cost of supporting Public Schools. The City receives annually, from the State School Fund, about, The remainder of the means for supporting the Public Schools is drawn from the City Treasury, which is replenished by the annual tax and by other sources of income. During the last twelve years, 21 per cent. of the ordinary city expenditures has been appropriated to the Public Schools. In the year 1853, the expenses of the School Department amounted to,.. Viz., for Grammar Schools-salaries of teachers, $5,500.00 329,800.20 130,531.18 incidental expenses,. 35,849.82 42,991.00 62,508.33 "Primary Schools-salaries of teachers,. |