The American Journal of Education

pletely in operation. It is at present carried on separately in the Academy of Olmütz for the Artillery, and that of Znaim, in Moravia, for the Engineers. There are 200 pupils in each Academy, and the courses of instruction, which are more special or technical than at Wiener Neustadt, last four years, from the age of fifteen to nineteen. The yearly examinations, the manner in which the marks of the monthly examinations tell on the final one, and the careful classification of the pupils in the order of merit, reminded us of the system of the Polytechnic more than any other school we have seen. And an inspection of the very high credits obtained by the first thirty pupils will prove the diligence with which the studies are pursued. We should add that several pupils of marked talents come from the scientific School Companies. A further fact bears witness to the vigor of the discipline. We have alluded to the dismissal of unpromising subjects from the Austrian Military Schools. In the course of three years, since the changes of 1850, it appears that nearly 100 pupils were removed from Znaim, as not coming up to the standard required for the Engineers by the new regu lations.

3. The courses of instruction in the three Academies for Infantry and Cavalry, Artillery, and for Engineers, last for the same time, and run (as it were) parallel to each other. Each is, or is to be, completed by a senior department. The United Course for the Artillery and Engineers is not indeed yet combined in the magnificent buildings begun at Wiener Neustadt; but it is already organized in a provisional state at Znaim for the Engineers, and the plan of instruction drawn up is a solid one. The arrangements for the general Staff School require more remark.

In our report upon Austrian schools we have specially noticed this School as remarkable for its thorough and open competitive character from first to last, and its very sensible plan of study. Admission to it is by competition, open to Officers of all arms: the pupils are not unduly overburdened with work; perhaps, there is even room for one or two more subjects of importance; but what is done seems to be done thoroughly; the Officers are carefully ranked, on leaving the School, according as the abilities they have displayed, may be considered a criterion of their fitness for employment on the General Staff; and in this order they enter the Staff Corps. The consequence is that every Officer knows distinctly, from the time that he first competes for admission until his final examination on leaving, that the order in which he will enter the Staff depends entirely on his own exertions and success at the school. It seemed

to us that this open competition produced a spirit of confidence and energy in the students, as great, if not greater, than any we met with elsewhere.

The whole of the above system of education is directed by the Fourth Section of the War Department. In all the schools we found traces of its activity; and the energy and system which prevail in the Military Teaching of Austria appear in great measure to result from its being directed by this single head.

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