e contract, and
overlooked the erection of the building.

In this way, a little by little, some this year and others the next, in
nearly every commune of the valleys there rose up commodious edifices, duly
furnished with all the requisites of teaching. The change was immense from
the narrow, confined, ill-ventilated, badly lighted, and unfurnished
buildings which had previously existed.

The reformation, however, in the buildings and their fittings was not the
only thing requisite for a good school. Good teachers were also needed, and
to procure these it was necessary to augment the scale of stipend. At the
time under review the highest salary was from three to four hundred francs
(L12 or L16) per annum. Beckwith set about this task, and being ably
supported by the moderator of the church, M. Bonjour, he had the
satisfaction of seeing an arrangement made by which the salaries of the
teachers were raised one-third. This augmentation began on the 1st of
January, 1837. But the good effected by this movement was not simply the
increased pay of the teacher; it raised the work in public estimation, and
gave to the teacher's position a degree of security which enabled him to
devote himself more entirely to teaching as a distinct profession.

Another means for advancing education was that of increasing the personal
efficiency of the teachers themselves. To accomplish this, the teachers of
all the parish schools in the valleys were sent for a course of instruction
at the normal college at Lausanne. The expense of this important measure
was borne entirely by Beckwith. And, moreover, to secure permanently the
above results, a rule was adopted by the synod in 1839, that henceforth
every teacher in the Vaudois parish schools must produce a certificate of
didactic power, as well as moral fitness for the office.

Beckwith's next movement was the establishment of a boarding-school for
girls. I had the pleasure of visiting this very interesting and important
institution in 1871, and was struck by the efficiency and excellence of its
character. But it is time to refer to his exertions in connection with
SECONDARY instruction. Although Dr. Gilly very deservedly has the chief
credit in reference to the erection of that noble college of the Holy
Trinity at La Torre, which forms so imposing and interesting an object to
the Christian tourist, and which constituted so marked an epoch in the
restoration of piety and sound learning among the p