THE NETHERLANDS AND BELGIUM. 
Tue participation of the Netlierlands in the educational group 
at Vienna, as at former World’s Fairs, was not very active. Be- 
sides various Works kaving reference to the schools, specimens by 
the pupils were exhibited only by the “ Society of the Working- 
men ” in Amsterdam. A survey of the department of the Peo- 
ple’s and Middle Schools, was, however, given in a report, 1 which 
the government had caused to be written especially for the Exhi 
bition ; and from this report the following data concerning instruc- 
tion in drawing have been extracted : — 
Aecording to the law of 1857, the elements of the knowledge of 
form and of drawing were admitted into primary instruction. The 
first of these subjects, however, is not yet fully understood every- 
where, especially where the schools are in the hands of older 
teachers. It has been of but little use wherever it was treated 
as a sort of geometry, but without the rigorous logical demonstra- 
tion which is needed by the latter subject, and has been conducive 
to improvement only in those schools in which it was used as an aid 
to the imaginative faculty of the pupils, or as a preparation for 
instruction in drawing. Drawing itself has also received its just 
treatment in a few only of the public and private schools ; as a 
general thing it is confined to copying (upon slates) the figures 
which have been drawn on the blackboard. It is only of late that 
some of the assistant teachers have received certificates in this 
branch, so that an improvement may now be looked for. 
In the Middle Schools, regulated by law since 1863, drawing 
plays a more important part, especially in those which have been 
destined for the education of the working-classes. Formerly there 
existed only Drawing-Schools proper, in which instruction was con- 
1 Written by St. Prave. inspector of Primary Schools. 
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