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THE  DOCTJilNES   OF  THE  (iKEAT  EDUCATOKS 


MACMILLAN    AND  CO.,    Limited 

LONDON    •    BOMBAY    •    CALCUTTA    •    MADRAS 
MKI.bOUKNE 

THE    MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

NEW    YORK    •    Bi^SION    •   CHICAf.O 
DALLAS    ■    SAN    FRANCISCO 

THK   MACMILLAN    CO.    OK    CANADA,    Ltd 

TORONTO 


THE  DOCTRINES 

OF   THE 

GREAT  EDUCATORS 


ROBERT  R.   RUSK 

M.A.  ((iLAsc.ow),  P).A.  (('amhkidc.k),  Ph.D.  (Jena) 

IKINCII'AI.    I.ECTl  KEK    IN    THEoKY    OF    EDUCATION    To   THE    ST.    ANDKEWS 

CKOVINCIAI.    COMMITTEE    TDK     I  HE   IKAINING   OF   THACHEKs 

EXAMINEK    IN    EXPEKIMKNTAI.    EDI  CATION    IN    THE    INIVEKSITY   OK    EDINHIKCH 

KOKMEKLY    EXAMl.NEK    IN    EDLXAIluN    IN    THE    LNIVEKSITV    OF    ST.    ANDREW  s 


MAC  MILL  AN    ANM)    CO.,    LIMLrEl) 

ST.    MARTIN'S    STRKLT.    LONDON 

ic)i8 


:i%^'^'^^^^'^ijm 


;     J 


COPYRIGHT 


OLASOOW:     PKINTKI)    AT   THK    UNIVKRSITY    PRK.- 
KV    ROBKRT    MACLKHOHK    AND    I  O.     LID 


Education 
Library 


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PREFACE 

A  History  of  Education  should  explain  how  educational 
doctrines  are  related  to  the  intellectual  aiul  social 
tendencies  of  the  times  in  wliich  they  originated,  should 
expound  these  doctrines,  and  sliould  indicate  how  they 
affect  educational  practice.  This  work  does  not  profess 
to  be  a  History  of  Education  :  it  confines  itself  to  an 
exposition  of  the  doctrines  of  a  limited  nuniiter  of 
representative  educators.  It  does  not  deal  with  their 
lives.  In  one  respect  this  is  a  disadvantage,  in  another 
an  advantag(\  It  is  a  disadvantage  in  so  far  as  the 
lives  of  the  authors  fre([uently  helj)  to  elucidate  their 
doctrines;  it  is  an  advantage  in  so  far  as  it  enahles 
us  to  avoid  tiie  arf/iD/iriifmn  ad  liutniin'iii  fallacy  which 
is  frecjuently  excmjtlified   in   Histories  of  Education. 

Students  of  Education  are  advised  to  read  tlie  texts 
of  the  authors  along  witii  tlie  ciiapters  on  the  doctrines 
here  given.  I-'or  tlie  doctrines  of  e(hicators  only  inci- 
dentally mentioned  in  these  pages,  or  entirely  omitle<l 
from  tiiem,  they  arc  referred  to  such  a  Hist(U'y  of 
Education  as  Monroe's  Tc^xl-liook.  Other  readers  will 
find  the  chapters  dcsigne*!  to  give  a  general  idea  of 
the  doctrines  of  liie  gr<\Tt  educators  without  recourse 
to  other  works. 


Jk;^^ 


CONTENTS 

CnAPTKK  PAiiK 

J.  Plato       -                - 1 

JI.    QUINTILIAN          -------  .39 

III.  Elyot       --------  .-,2 

IV.  Loyola     -        - G-J 

.V.  CoMENirs 89 

VI.  Milton lOs 

yil.  Locke               -        -  115 

.VIII.  Rousseau HO 

•  IX.  Pestaloz/i                 -        -        -        -         -         -  17G 

.  X.  Heki!Ai;t -  -JOG 

.XI.    FllOEBEL -I'M] 

,XII.    MoNTESSOHI                                              ....  -JG-' 

Index  of  I'oi'ics  and  Titlen          -         -  l'S9 

Index  of  Names     ....                 -  29i) 


CHAPTER   I 

PLATO 

It  is  to  Greek  thought  that  we  first  turn  when  we  wish  to 
consider  any  of  the  problems  of  Ethics,  Education  or 
Politics,  for  in  Greece  we  find  the  beginnings  of  Western 
civilisation.  Greek  culture  cannot  be  derived.  Oriental 
influences  no  doubt  affected  it,  but  they  did  not  condition 
it,  and  the  boast  of  Plato  ^  was  not  an  empty  one,  that 
"  whatever  Greeks  receive  from  foreigners  they  in  the  end 
make  more  beautiful." 

Greek  thought  has,  in  addition  to  its  originality,  a  sur- 
prising universality,  not  a  mere  municipal  fitness.  The 
principles  of  Logic,  Ethics  and  Politics  which  Plato  and 
Aristotle  enunciated  are  generally  regarded  as  universally 
valid  ;  the  writings  of  the  Greek  poets  are  still  read  ;  the 
Greek  tragedies  are  acted  before  modern  audiences  ;  and 
the  surviving  works  of  Greek  art  are  a])preciated  by  the 
untutored. 

Greek  thought  has  likewise  a  simplicity  which  enables 
us  to  image  the  problems  involved  more  easily  than  under 
modern  complex  conditions.  It  is  both  natural  and  neces- 
sary,  therefore,   to  begin  our  study   of  the   doctrines   of 

'  Epinotnis,  §  987. 

All  the  succeeding  quotations  from  Plato's  writings  arc  from  Jowett's 
translation,  and  the  references  are  to  the  marginal  pages  of  that  work. 
A  1 


2       DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

the  great  educators  witli  a  consideration  of  the  Greek 
thinkers. 

At  a  time  of  intellectual  unrest  in  Greece,  about  the  fourth 
or  the  third  century  before  the  Christian  era,  a  new  school  of 
teaching  came  into  being.  The  enlargement  of  the  intellec- 
tual horizon  resulting  from  the  unrest  that  ensued  de- 
manded a  class  of  men  who  could  impart  quickly  every 
kind  of  knowledge  ;  and  to  satisfy  this  demand  all  sorts  and 
conditions  were  pressed  into  the  service  of  Education  and 
classed  under  the  general  title  "  Sophist."  "  Is  not  a 
sophist  one  who  deals  wholesale  or  retail  in  the  food  of  the 
soul  ?  "  it  is  asked  in  the  Protagoras.^  Fencing  masters 
like  Euthydemus  and  his  brother  Dionysodorus,^  Prodicus 
with  his  stock  of  philological  subtleties,^  and  Protagoras 
"  the  wisest  of  all  living  men,"*  declared  themselves  "the 
only  professors  of  moral  improvement."^ 

The  teaching  of  the  Sophists  was  unsystematic  ;  it 
was  also  limited  to  the  few  who  could  pay  for  it,*"  and  we 

» §313. 

*  Plato's  testimonial  to  them  reads  as  follows  {Euikydcmnf,  §282): 
"  They  are  capital  at  fighting  in  armour,  and  -will  tcacli  the  art  to  anyone 
who  pays  them  ;  and  also  they  are  most  skilful  in  legal  warfare  ;  tliey 
will  plead  themselves  and  teach  others  to  speak  and  to  compose  speeclies 
which  will  have  an  effect  ui)on  tlie  courts.  And  this  was  only  the 
beginning  of  their  wisdom,  but  they  have  carried  out  tlie  ])ancratiasti(t 
art  to  the  very  end,  and  have  mastered  the  only  mode  of  fighting  whicli 
had  been  hitherto  neglected  by  them  ;  and  now  no  one  dares  to  look  at 
them  ;  such  is  their  skill  in  the  war  of  words  that  they  can  refute  any 
proposition  whether  true  or  false." 

^  Protagoras,  ^  MO.     Cf.  Euthydemus,  ^211. 

•>  Protagoras,  §  309.  ■'  Laches,  §  18(). 

"  Protagoras  was  the  first  to  accept  ])aymcnt  (Protagoras,  §  348) : 
"  You  proclaim  in  the  face  of  Hellas  that  you  are  a  Sophist  or  teacher  of 
virtue  or  education  and  are  the  first  that  demanded  ])ay  in  return." 

His  method  of  exacting  payment — a  fonn  of  payment  by  results — 
was  as  follows  {Protagoras,  §328)  :  "  When  a  man  has  been  my  pupil, 
if  he  likes  he  pays  my  price,  but  there  is  no  compulsion  ;   and  if  he  does 


PLATO  3 

find  Socrates,  for  example,  saying  :  "As  for  myself,  I  am 
the  first  to  confess  that  I  have  never  had  a  teacher  ; 
although  I  have  always  from  my  earliest  youth  desired  to 
have  one.  But  I  am  too  poor  to  give  money  to  the  Sophists, 
who  are  the  only  professors  of  moral  improvement."  ^  The 
fact  that  they  accepted  payment  for  their  services  created 
a  certain  prejudice  against  the  Sophists,  for  this  enabled 
those  who  could  afford  their  instruction  to  acquire  a  definite 
superiority  over  their  fellow-citizens.  The  popular  attitude 
towards  them  may  be  inferred  from  the  violent  outburst 
of  indignation  with  which  Anytus  received  the  suggestion 
of  Socrates  that  Meno  should  go  to  the  Sophists  for  his 
education.  "  The  young  men,"  says  Anytus,'^  "  who  gave 
their  money  to  them  (the  Sophists)  were  out  of  their  minds, 
and  their  relations  and  guardians  who  entrusted  them  to 
their  care  were  still  more  out  of  their  minds,  and  most  of 
all  the  cities  who  allowed  them  to  come  in  and  did  not 
drive  them  out,  citizen  or  stranger  alike  .  .  .  Neither 
I  nor  any  of  my  belongings  has  ever  had,  nor  would  I 
suffer  them  to  have,  anything  to  do  with  them." 

The  prejudice  against  the  Sophists  was  intensified  l)y 
the  fact  that  they  degraded  knowledge  by  making  its  aim 
direct  utility.  Education  was  with  the  Greeks  a  training 
for  leisure,  not  for  a  livelihood.  In  the  Prolar/oras,^  for 
example,  it  is  asked  :  "  Why  may  you  not  learn  of  him  in 
the  same  way  that  you  learned  the  arts  of  the  gramnuirian 
or  musician  or  trainer,  not  with  the  view  of  making  any  of 

not  like,  he  has  only  to  go  into  a  temple  and  take  an  oath  of  the  value  of 
the  instructions,  and  he  j>aj's  no  more  than  he  declares  to  be  their  value." 
The  result  was,  as  reported  by  Socrates  in  the  Meno,  §  91  :  "  I  know 
of  a  single  man,  Protagoras,  who  made  more  out  of  his  craft  than  the 
illustrious  Pheidias,  who  created  such  nolilc  works,  or  any  ten  other 
statuaries." 

^  Laches,  ^\m.  ^^  J/e«o,  §  92.  =•§311'. 


4       DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

them  a  profession,  but  only  as  a  part  of  education  and 
because  a  private  gentleman  ougbt  to  know  them  ?  " 

Socrates  recognised  the  unscientific  nature  of  the 
methods  of  the  Sophists,  and  his  own  method,  although 
superficially  resembling  theirs,  was  essentially  system- 
atic and  founded  on  general  principles.  "  There  are," 
according  to  Aristotle,^  "  two  things  which  we  may 
fairly  attribute  to  Socrates,  his  inductive  discourses  and 
his  universal  definitions."  Inductive  reasoning  was  his 
method  of  arriving  at  a  definition.  The  result  attained 
by  his  method  could  not  in  many  instances  be  regarded  as 
satisfying  the  requirements  of  scientific  exactness,  but  this 
did  not  disturb  Socrates,  for  he  himself  continually  and 
emphatically  disclaimed  the  possession  of  any  knowledge, 
except  perhaps  the  knowledge  of  his  own  limitations. 
"  He  knows  nothing,"  the  intoxicated  Alcibiades  says  of 
him  in  the  Symposium,^  "  and  is  ignorant  of  all  things — 
such  is  the  appearance  which  he  puts  on."  Although  not 
possessing  knowledge  himself,  Socrates  claimed  to  have 
the  gift  of  discerning  its  presence  in  others,  and  of  having 
the  power  to  assist  them  to  bring  it  to  light.  ^ 

His  first  task  was  to  arouse  men  from  that  false  self- 
satisfaction  which  was  by  him  believed  to  be  the  cause  of 
their  misery,  and  to  lead  them  to  self-examination  and 
self-criticism.  "Herein,"  he  says,^  "is  the  evil  of  ignorance, 
that  he  who  is  neither  good  nor  wise  is  nevertheless  satisfied 
with  himself :  he  has  no  desire  for  that  of  which  he  feels 
no  want."  The  mission  which  Socrates  conceived  himself 
as  charged  to  fulfil  was  to  make  men  feel  this  want,  to 
teach  others  what  the  utterance  of  the  Delphic  oracle  had 

1  Metaphysics,  §  1078,  b.  «  §  216. 

'  Of.  metaphor  of  midwife  in  Theadefus,  §  150  ;  also  Symposium,  §  209. 

*  Symposium,  §  204. 


PLATO  5 

taught  him — his  own  ignorance ;  to  imbue  them  with  a 
divine  discontent ;  to  make  them  feel,  as  Alcibiades  puts 
it,i  "the  serpent's  sting,"  "the  pang  of  philosophy." 
And  in  his  defence  Socrates  neither  disowned  his  mission 
nor  his  method  :  I  am  that  gadfly,"  he  tells  his  judges,^ 
"  which  God  has  attached  to  the  state,  and  all  day  long 
and  in  all  places  am  always  fastening  upon  you,  arousing 
and  persuading  and  reproaching  you." 

A  characteristic  of  the  method  of  Socrates  was  the 
necessity  for  having  a  companion  in  the  pursuit  of  truth. 
Anyone  sufficed  for  this  purpose,  and  Socrates  had  many 
devices  for  luring  men  into  this  search,  though  not  in- 
frequently they  were  unwilling  companions  who  soon 
discovered  that  for  the  lookers  on  "  there  is  amusement  in 
it."  ^  In  the  Protagoras  Socrates  is  represented  as  saying  : 
"  When  anyone  apprehends  alone,  he  immediately  goes 
about  and  searches  for  some  one  to  whom  he  may  communi- 
cate it  and  with  whom  he  may  establish  it.""*  The  principle 
implied  is  that  if  one  other  can  be  convinced,  then  all  others 
can  likewise  be  persuaded,  and  consequently  the  belief  in 
question  is  universally  valid.  Carlyle  expresses  the  same 
idea  when  he  cites  the  statement  :  "  It  is  certain  my  con- 
viction gains  infmitely,  the  moment  another  soul  will  be- 
lieve in  it."  The  dialogue  is  thus  a  necessary  and  essential 
feature  of  the  method  of  Socrates. 

In  the  Socratic  discourses  three  stages  can  generally  be 
distinguished  ;  first,  the  stage  called  by  Plato  "  opinion," 
in  which  the  individual  is  unable  to  give  valid  reasons  for 
his  knowledge  or  supposed  knowledge  ;  second,  the  destruc- 
tive or  analytic  stage,  in  which  the  indi\'idual  is  brought  to 
realise  that  he  does  not  know  what  he  assumed  he  knew, 

*  Symposium,  §  217.  •  Apology,  §  31. 

»  Apology,  §  3.3.  *  §  348. 


6       DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

and  which  leads  to  contradiction  and  a  mental  condition 
of  doubt  or  perplexity  ;  third,  a  synthetic  stage  for  the 
results  of  which  Plato  would  reserve  the  term  "  knowledge." 
When  this  last  stage  is  attained,  the  individual's  experience 
is  critically  reconstructed  and  he  can  justify  his  beliefs  by 
giving  the  reasons  for  tliem.^ 

The  possibility  of  applying  a  method  similar  to  that  of 
Socrates  in  the  teaching  of  school  pupils  has  frequently 
been  questioned  and  sometimes  even  denied.  Pestalozzi 
is  probably  the  most  vigorous  opponent  of  what  he  terms 
"  Socratizing."  In  one  passage^  he  says:  "  Socratizing  is 
essentially  impossible  for  children,  since  they  want  both  a 
background  of  preliminary  knowledge  and  the  outward 
means  of  expression — language."  If,  however,  the  teacher 
adequately  recognises  the  limits  of  his  pupils'  experience 
and  adapts  his  terminology  to  their  vocabulary,  the  method 
can  be  applied  quite  successfully.^ 

Education  was  a  subject  to  which  Plato  attached  the 
greatest  importance.  In  the  Republic^  he  reckons  it  with 
war,  the  conduct  of  campaigns,  and  the  administration  of 
states  as  amongst  "  the  grandest  and  most  beautiful  " 
subjects,  and  in  the  Laws  ^  he  repeats  that  it  is  "  the  first 
and  fairest  thing  that  the  best  of  men  can  ever  have."  In 
the  Laches,*^  which  is  professedly  a  treatise  on  Education, 
he  asks  :  "  Is  this  a  slight  thing  about  which  you  and 
Lysimachus  are  deliberating  ?  Are  you  not  risking  the 
greatest  of  your  possessions  ?     For  children  are  your  riches  ; 

'  Cf.  Thcadi'tus,  §  201  :  "  Knowledge  is  true  opinion  awtoinpanied  by 
a  reason." 

*  Leonard  and  Gertrudr,  Eng.  trans.,  ]>.  -Ifi.     Cf.  p.  57. 

*  (Jf.  for  suceeasful  examples  of  method,  Adams's  I'rinKrof  TcacJiiiuj, 
])[}.  101-8;   also  Exposition  and  llbiMraliuyi,  \\\^.  80-2. 

'  §  599.  ••  §  044.  •'  §  1  Sf). 


PLATO  7 

and  upon  their  turning  out  well  or  ill  depends  the  whole 
order  of  their  father's  house."  Again  in  the  Crito^  lie 
says  :  "  No  man  should  bring  children  into  the  world  who 
is  unwilling  to  persevere  to  the  end  in  their  nurture  and 
education."  The  extent  and  elaborateness  of  the  treatment 
of  Education  in  the  RepxbUc  and  in  the  Laws  likewise 
testify  to  the  importance  of  the  subject  in  Plato's  mind. 

The  difficulties  which  arose  from  the  educational  methods 
of  the  Sophists  deeply  perplexed  Plato.  His  early  dialogues 
everywhere  bear  the  mark  of  this  perplexity,  a  perplexity 
which,  it  seems,  was  common  to  the  foremost  minds  of 
Greece  at  that  time.  The  Laches  records  the  concern  of 
Lysimachus  and  Melesius  as  to  the  education  of  their 
children  and  their  eagerness  to  accept  guidance  from  any 
quarter  ;  the  Euthijdemns  ends  with  an  appeal  to  Socrates 
by  Crito  concerning  the  education  of  Critobulus  his  son. 

The  type  of  education  which  was  then  current  in  Greece 
we  can  gather  from  several  references  in  the  dialogues.  In 
the  Crito'^  it  is  asked  :  ''  Were  not  the  laws  which  have  the 
charge  of  education  right  in  commanding  your  fatliiM-  to 
train  you  in  iNIusic  and  Gymnastic  ?  ""  and  the  answei'  of 
Socrates  is;  "  l^ight,  I  should  reply.""  In  tlu^  Protafjoras^ 
it  is  stated  :  "  I  am  of  opinion  that  skill  in  ])()etry  was  the 
principal  part  in  education  and  this  I  conceive  to  be  tlie 
power  of  knowing  what  compositions  of  the  ])oets  are 
correct,  and  what  are  not.  and  how  they  are  to  be  dis- 
tinguished and  of  ex])laining.  when  asked.  tli(>  reason  of 
the  difference."  In  the  Tiniaeiis^  there  is  a  reference  wliich 
gives  us  an  interesting  side-light  on  ancient  Greek  educa- 
tion, (^ritias  there  says  :  "  Xow  the  day  was  that  day  of 
the  Apaturia  which  is  called  the  registration  of  youth,  at 
which,  according  to  custom,  our  ])arents  gave  j)rizt>s  for 
1  §  4'..  '  §  .■')0.  '  §  •.v.v.i  '  §  lM. 


8      DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

recitations,  and  the  poems  of  several  poets  were  recited  by 
us  boys,  and  many  of  us  sang  the  poems  of  Solon,  which 
at  that  time  had  not  gone  out  of  fashion." 

The  best  account,  however,  of  the  education  of  a  Greek 
youth  is  the  sketch  given  in  the  Protagoras:'^  "Education 
and  admonition  commence  in  the  first  years  of  childhood, 
and  last  to  the  very  end  of  life.  Mother  and  nurse  and 
father  and  tutor  are  quarrelling  about  the  improvement  of 
the  child  as  soon  as  ever  he  is  able  to  understand  them  ; 
he  cannot  say  or  do  anything  without  their  setting  forth 
to  him  that  this  is  just  and  that  is  unjust ;  this  is  honour- 
able, that  is  dishonourable  ;  this  is  holy,  that  is  unholy  ; 
do  this  and  abstain  from  that.  And  if  he  obeys,  well  and 
good  ;  if  not,  he  is  straightened  by  threats  and  blows,  like 
a  piece  of  warped  wood.  At  a  later  stage  they  send  him 
to  teachers,  and  enjoin  them  to  see  to  his  manners  even 
more  than  to  his  reading  and  music  ;  and  the  teachers  do 
as  they  are  desired.  And  when  the  boy  has  learned  his 
letters  and  is  beginning  to  understand  what  is  written,  as 
before  he  understood  only  what  was  spoken,  they  put  into 
his  hands  the  works  of  great  poets,  which  he  reads  at  school  ; 
in  these  are  contained  many  admonitions,  and  many  tales 
and  praises,  and  encomia  of  ancient  famous  men,  which 
he  is  required  to  learn  by  heart,  in  order  that  he  may 
imitate  or  emulate  them  and  desire  to  become  like  them. 
Then,  again,  the  teachers  of  the  lyre  take  similar  care  that 
their  young  disciple  is  temperate  and  gets  into  no  mischief  ; 
and  when  they  have  taught  him  the  iise  of  the  lyre,  they 
introduce  him  to  the  poems  of  other  excellent  poets,  who 
are  the  lyric  poets  ;  and  these  they  set  to  music,  and  make 
their  harmonies  and  rhythms  quite  familiar  to  the  children's 
souls,  in  order  that  they  may  learn  to  be  more  gentle  and 

1  §§  325-0. 


PLATO  9 

harmonious,  and  rhythmical,  and  so  more  fitted  for  speech 
and  action  ;  for  the  life  of  man  in  every  part  has  need  of 
harmony  and  rhythm.  Then  they  send  them  to  the  master 
of  gymnastic,  in  order  that  their  bodies  may  better  minister 
to  the  virtuous  mind,  and  that  they  may  not  be  compelled 
through  bodily  weakness  to  play  the  coward  in  war  or  any 
other  occasion.  This  is  what  is  done  by  those  who  have 
the  means,  and  those  who  have  the  means  are  the  rich  ; 
their  children  begin  education  soonest  and  leave  off  latest. 
When  they  have  done  with  masters,  the  state  again  compels 
them  to  learn  the  laws,  and  live  after  the  pattern  which 
they  furnish,  and  not  after  their  own  fancies  ;  and  just 
as  in  learning  to  write,  the  writing-master  first  draws 
lines  with  a  style  for  the  use  of  the  young  beginner,  and 
gives  him  the  tablet  and  makes  him  follow  the  lines,  so  the 
city  draws  the  laws,  which  were  the  invention  of  good  law- 
givers who  were  of  old  time  ;  these  are  given  to  a  young 
man,  in  order  to  guide  him  in  his  conduct  whether  as  ruler 
or  ruled  ;  and  he  who  transgresses  them  is  to  be  corrected, 
or,  in  other  words,  called  to  account,  which  is  a  term  used 
not  only  in  your  country,  but  also  in  many  others." 

It  is  in  the  Republic,  however,  that  Plato's  chief  treat- 
ment of  the  subject  is  to  be  found.  Kousseau  has  said  :  ^ 
"  If  you  wish  to  know  what  is  meant  by  public  education, 
read  Plato's  Rejmhlic.  Those  who  merely  judge  books 
by  their  titles  take  this  for  a  treatise  on  Politics,  but  it  is 
the  finest  treatise  on  Education  ever  written."  Edward 
Caird  has  likewise  affirmed  of  the  Republic  that  "  perhaps 
it  might  best  be  described  as  a  treatise  on  Education, 
regarded  as  the  one  great  business  of  life  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  it.''  - 

*  Emile,  Eng.  trans.,  Everyman  ed..  j).  8. 

-  Eiyolutiort  nf  Throlngj/  in  the  Grcrl:  PhilnsnpfirTs.  i.  p.  140. 


10     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUtATORS 

The  Republic  is  professedly  an  inquiry  into  the  nature 
of  justice.  But  justice  is  essentially  a  social  virtue ;  ^ 
consequently  to  determine  the  nature  of  justice  Plato  is 
driven  to  construct  in  thought  an  ideal  state  wherein  he 
hopes  to  find  justice  "  writ  large."  ^ 

Because  of  the  multiplicity  of  human  wants  and  of  the 
insufficiency  of  any  one  individual  to  satisfy  these  by  his 
own  efforts,  the  state,  in  Plato's  view,^  is  necessary.  It  is 
likewise  advantageous,  since  by  reason  of  the  diversity  in 
the  natural  endowment  of  the  individuals  constituting  the 
state  the  greatest  efficiency  can  only  be  attained  by  the 
application  of  the  principle  of  the  division  of  labour  and 
by  co-operative  effort.*  These  two  principles  are  implied 
in  the  oft-quoted  statement  of  Aristotle  :  ■''  "  The  state 
comes  into  existence  originating  in  the  bare  needs  of  life, 
and  continuing  in  existence  for  the  sake  of  a  good  life." 

The  application  of  the  principle  of  the  division  of  labour 
results  in  the  separation  of  the  citizens  of  the  state  into 
two  classes — the  industrial  or  artisan  and  the  guardian  class, 
the  duty  of  the  former  being  to  provide  the  necessaries  of 
life,"  the  duty  of  the  latter  being  to  enlarge  the  boundaries 
of  the  state*"-  -a  proceeding  which  involves  war — that 
luxuries  may  be  available  for  the  citizens  and  the  state  be 

*  Cf.  Aristotle,  Politics,  bk.  iii,  ch.  13  :  "  Jiistite  has  been  acknowledged 
by  us  to  be  a  social  virtue." 

*  Cf.  Rousseau,  Emile,  p.  202  :  "  It  is  true  .  .  .  that  we  have  a  very 
imperfect  knowledge  of  the  human  heart  if  we  do  not  also  examine  it  in 
crowds  ;  but  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  to  judge  of  men  we  must  study 
the  individual  man,  and  that  he  who  had  a  i)erfe<t  knowledge  of  the 
inclinations  of  each  individual  miglit  foresee  all  their  combined  cfTccls  in 
the  body  of  the  nation." 

3  Ro.puhlic,  §  309. 

'  Note  that  Plato  preHUj)poses  an  initial  iuecpuility.  Cf.  Aristotle, 
Politics,  bk.  ii :   "  Similars  do  not  constitute  a  state." 

"  Politics,  bk.  i,  ch.  2.  "  Republic,  §§  360-372.  "  §  .37;}. 


PLATO  11 

something  more  than  "a  community  of  swine. "^  The 
guardian  class  Phito  further  subdivides  into  the  mili- 
tary and  governing  classes,  representing  respectively  the 
executive  and  deliberative  functions  of  government. 

After  the  division  of  the  citizens  into  the  three  classes — ■ 
the  industrial,  the  military,  and  the  ruling — ^has  been  estab- 
lished, the  state  assumes  the  natureof  a  permanent  structure, 
and  this  has  caused  Plato's  constitution  to  be  designated 
"a  system  of  caste. "^  To  give  sanction  to  the  divisions 
in  the  state  thus  constituted  Plato  would  bring  into  play 
"  a  seasonable  falsehood,"  and  the  myth  which  he  suggests 
is  as  follows :  he  would  tell  the  people^ — "  You  are  brothers, 
yet  CJod  has  framed  you  differently.  Some  of  you  have 
the  power  of  command,  and  in  the  com})osition  of  these 
he  has  mingled  gold,  wherefore  also  they  have  the  greatest 
honour  ;  others  he  has  made  of  silver,  to  be  auxiliaries  ; 
others  again  who  are  to  be  husbandmen  and  craftsmen  he 
has  composed  of  brass  and  iron."  The  barriers  between 
the  classes  are  not,  however,  absolute,  nor  is  the  heredi- 
tary principle  in  legislation  regarded  as  infallible,  for  Plato 
immediately  adds  :  "  But  as  all  are  of  the  same  original 
stock,  a  golden  parent  will  sometimes  have  a  silver  son,  or 
a  silver  parent  a  golden  son.  And  God  proclaims  as  a  lirst 
principle  to  the  rulers,  and  above  all  else,  that  there  is 
nothing  which  they  should  so  anxiously  guard,  or  of  which 
they  are  to  be  such  good  guardians,  as  of  the  purity  of  the 
race.  They  should  observe  what  elements  mingle  in  their 
offspring  ;  for  if  the  son  of  a  golden  or  silver  ])arent  has  an 
admixture  of  brass  and  iron,  then  nature  orders  a  trans- 
position of  ranks,  and  the  eye  of  the  ruler  must  not  be 
pitiful  towards  the  child  because  he  has  to  descend  in  the 
scale  and  become  a  husbandman  or  artisan,  just  as  there 

'  §  :572.  *  I^ewis  (".iin]>boll.   I'lato's  lirpuldic,  |).   .")4.  '§41.1. 


12     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

may  be  sons  of  artisans  who  having  an  admixture  of  gold 
or  silver  in  them  are  raised  to  honour,  and  become  guardians 
or  auxiliaries.  For  an  oracle  says  that  when  a  man  of 
brass  or  iron  guards  the  state,  it  will  be  destroyed."  ^ 

For  each  of  the  three  classes  of  the  community — the 
producing,  the  military,  and  the  governing — Plato  ought  to 
have  provided,  we  should  imagine,  an  appropriate  form  of 
training  ;  but  although  the  education  of  the  soldier  and 
that  of  the  ruler  or  philosopher  are  treated  at  considerable 
length,  no  mention  is  made  in  the  Republic  of  the  education 
of  the  industrial  class. ^  The  education  of  the  members 
of  this  class,  had  Plato  dealt  with  it,  would  doubtless  have 
been  of  a  strictly  vocational  nature,  not  however  a  state 
scheme  of  vocational  training  but  something  resembling 
rather  "  the  constitution  of  apprenticeship  as  it  once 
existed  in  Modern  Europe."  ^  There  would  be  no  specific 
training  in  citizenship,  for  these  members  of  the  community 
have  no  voice  in  the  government  of  the  state  ;  their  charac- 
teristic virtue  is  obedience,  technically  "temperance," — to 
know  their  place  and  to  keep  it.^ 

The  fact  that  this  large  element  in  the  community  is 
denied  the  benefits  and  privileges  of  citizenship,  the 
communistic  scheme  being  confined  to  the  guardian  class, 
must  be  regarded  as  a  serious  defect  in  Plato's  ideal  state. 
It  has  been  attributed  to  Plato's  aristocratic  prejudices, 
and   to   the   Greek   contempt   for   the   mechanical   arts.^ 

1  Republic,  §  423. 

*  Cf.  Aristotle,  Politics,  ii,  5,  23  :  "  What  will  be  the  education,  form 
of  government,  laws  of  the  lower  class  Socrates  has  nowhere  deter- 
mined." 

'  Lewis  Campbell,  Plato's  Eepuldic,  p.  Co. 

*  Compare  for  a  modern  ideal  of  the  education  of  this  class  the  works 
of  Kerschensteiner. 

•'  Lewis  Campbell,  Plato's  Republic,  p.  ,'54. 


PLATO  13 

Aristotle  regards  the  artisans  as  of  even  less  account  than 
the  slaves,  and  maintains  ^  that  they  can  only  attain  ex- 
cellence as  they  become  slaves,  that  is,  come  under  the 
direction  of  a  master.  If,  however,  a  state  is  to  be  safe, 
or  be  "a  unity,"  as  Plato  phrased  it,  all  must  share  in  the 
government.^  Contrasting  the  Greek  with  the  modern  ideal 
of  ^^rtue,  T.  H.  Green  says  :^  "  It  is  not  the  sense  of  duty 
to  a  neighbour,  but  the  practical  answer  to  the  question 
Who  is  my  neighbour  ?  that  has  varied."  This  explains 
the  defect  in  Plato's  scheme,  and  helps  us  to  appreciate  the 
increased  difficulty  of  our  present-day  ethical,  social,  and 
educational  problems. 

Plato's  first  treatment  of  Education,^  the  training  of  the 
guardians  including  the  military  and  ruling  classes,  is  a 
general  education  governed  mainly  by  the  principle  of  imita- 
tion. Its  two  main  divisions  are  the  current  forms  of  Greek 
education,  namely  Music''  and  Gymnastic,  but  as  Plato 
again  warns  us  :"  "  Xeither  are  the  two  arts  of  Music  and 
Gymnastic  really  designed,  as  is  often  supposed,  the  one 
for  the  training  of  the  soul,  the  other  for  the  training  of 
the  body.  I  })elieve  that  the  teachers  of  both  have  in  view 
chiefly  the  improvement  of  the  soul." 

Remembering  this,  and  likewise  mindful  of  Plato's 
general  idealistic  position,  we  are  not  surprised  when  at  the 
outset  of  his  treatment  of  Education  he  asserts  that  we 
should  begin  education  with  Music  and  go  on  to  Gymnastic 

1  Politics,  i,  3. 

-  Cf.  Frotngora.o,  §  322  :  "  For  cities  cannot  exist,  if  a  few  only  sliarc 
in  the  virtues  as  in  the  arts."     Also  Aristotle,  I'oUtic-i,  iii,  1."),  and  ii,  c. 

■'  Prolegomena  to  Ethics,  §  207.  '  Kcpuhlir,  §§  37(1-412. 

^  Aesthetic  education.  Almost  equivalent  to  the  term  Arts  in 
"  Master  of  Arts." 

"  Republic,  §  410.      Cf.  ])as,sage  from  Protagoras  (quoted  above. 


14    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GEEAT  EDUCATORS 

afterwards  ;  ^  mental  is  thus  to  precede  physical  education. 
The  mothers  and  nurses  are  to  tell  their  children  the 
authorised  tales  only  :  "  Let  them  fashion  the  mind  with 
such  tales,  even  more  fondly  than  they  mould  the  body 
with  their  hands." 

Education  for  Plato  cannot  begin  too  early  ;  he  recognises 
the  importance  of  first  impressions.  "  The  beginning,"  he 
says,^  "  is  the  most  important  part  of  any  work,  especially 
in  the  case  of  a  young  and  tender  thing."  Consequently 
consideration  of  the  tales  to  be  told  to  infants  he  does  not 
assume  to  be  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  philosopher.^ 

Music  includes  narratives,  and  these  are  of  two  kinds, 
the  true  and  the  false.'*  Somewhat  paradoxically  Plato 
maintains  that  the  young  should  be  trained  in  both,  and 
that  we  should  begin  with  the  false  ;  fables,  he  implies,  are 
best  suited  to  the  child  mind.  He  thus  recognises  the 
truth  of  art  as  well  as  the  truth  of  fact.  But  not  all  fables 
should,  according  to  Plato,^  be  taught,  "  for  a  young  person 
cannot  judge  what  is  allegorical  and  what  is  literal ;  any- 
thing that  he  receives  into  his  mind  at  that  age  is  likely  to 
become  indelible  and  unalterable  ;  and  therefore  it  is  most 
important  that  the  tales  which  the  young  first  hear  should 
be  models  of  virtuous  thoughts." 

Here  we  have  formulated  Plato's  guiding  principle — 
that  nothing  must  be  admitted  in  education  which  does 
not  conduce  to  the  promotion  of  virtue.  For  "  true  and 
false"  he  substitutes  the  standard  "good  and  evil." 
Plato  declines  to  take  upon  himself  the  task  of  composing 

*  §  376  :  Compare  and  contrast  Aristotle,  Politics,  vii,  15.  "  Tlie 
care  of  the  body  ought  to  precede  that  of  the  soul,  and  the  training  of 
the  appetitive  j)art  should  follow  :  none  the  less  the  care  of  it  must  be 
for  the  sake  of  the  reason,  and  our  care  of  the  body  for  the  sake  of  the 
soul." 

2  §  377.     =>  ( -f.  Aristotle,  Polifir.s;  vii,  1 7,  5.      •  Rvpublir,  §  370.      ■'  §  378. 


PLATO  15 

fables  suitable  for  children,  but  using  as  a  criterion  the 
principle  just  enunciated,  he  assumes  a  moral  censorship 
over  the  tales  then  current.  "  The  narrative  of  Hephaestus 
binding  Here  his  mother,  and  how  on  another  occasion 
Zeus  sent  him  flpng  for  taking  her  part  when  she  was  being 
beaten,  and  all  the  battles  of  the  gods  in  Homer — these 
tales  must  not  be  admitted  into  our  state,  whether  they  are 
supposed  to  have  an  allegorical  meaning  or  not."  ^ 

Plato  proceeds  to  pass  in  review  the  stories  about  the 
Gods  and  formulates  the  following  theological  canons  :  (1) 
"  God  is  not  the  author  of  all  things,  but  of  good  only" — and 
the  poet  is  not  to  be  permitted  to  say  that  those  who  are 
punished  are  miserable  and  that  God  is  the  author  of  their 
misery.-  (2)  ''  The  Gods  are  not  magicians  who  transform 
themselves,  neither  do  they  deceive  mankind  in  any  way."^ 
The  tales  to  be  told  to  children  must  conform  to  these 
principles,  and  others  are  not  to  be  told  to  the  children 
from  their  youth  upwards,  if  they  are  to  honour  the  gods 
and  their  parents,  and  to  value  friendship.^ 

After  having  considered  the  fables  dealing  with  the  gods, 
Plato  proceeds  to  consider  those  relating  to  heroes  and  the 
souls  of  the  departed.  To  make  the  citizens  free  men  who 
should  fear  slavery  more  than  death,  the  other  world  must 
not  be  reviled  in  fables  but  rather  commended.  All 
weepings  and  wailings  of  heroes  must  be  expunged  from 
fables  ;  likewise  all  descriptions  of  violent  laughter,  for  a 
fit  of  laughter  which  has  been  indulged  to  excess  almost 
always  produces  a  ^'iolent  reaction.'' 

In  the  tales  to  be  recited  to  children  a  high  value  is  to  l)e 
set  upon  truth  ;  ''  if  anyone  at  all  is  to  have  the  privilege 
of  lying,  the  rulers  of  the  state  should  be  the  persons  :   and 

1  §  378.  =  §  :5S(.».  3  ^  3s;; 

'  §  nsG.  •■•  §§  38()-8. 


16     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

they,  in  their  dealings  either  with  their  enemies  or  with 
their  own  citizens,  may  be  allowed  to  lie  for  the  public 
good.  But  nobody  else  should  meddle  with  anything  of 
the  kind."^  Temperance,  implying  obedience  to  com- 
manders and  self-control  in  sensual  pleasures,  is  to  be 
commended,  while  covetousness  is  to  be  condemned.  The 
fables  concerning  heroes  and  others  must  accordingly  be 
amended  to  agree  with  these  principles. 

The  use  is  likewise  to  be  forbidden  of  such  language  as 
implies  that  wicked  men  are  often  happy,  and  the  good 
miserable  ;  and  that  injustice  is  profitable  when  undetected, 
justice  being  a  man's  own  loss  and  another's  gain.^ 

Having  thus  discussed  the  matter  of  the  narratives  to 
be  used  in  education,  Plato  addresses  himself  to  a  considera- 
tion of  their  form.^  In  compositions  he  distinguishes 
between  direct  speech,  which  he  calls  "  imitation,"  and 
indirect  speech,  which  he  calls  "  simple  narration."  "Imita- 
tion "  is  only  to  be  allowed  of  the  speech  and  action  of  the 
virtuous  man  :  the  speeches  of  others  are  to  be  delivered 
and  their  actions  described  in  the  form  of  narration.  The 
reason  Plato  gives  is  that  "  imitation  beginning  in  early 
youth  and  continuing  far  into  life,  at  length  grows  into 
habits  and  becomes  a  second  nature,  affecting  body,  voice, 
and  mind."  * 

In  respect  to  music  in  its  limited  and  modern  sense, 
Plato  maintains  that  all  harmonies  which  are  effeminate 
and  convivial  are  to  be  discarded  and  only  such  retained 
as  will  make  the  citizens  temperate  and  courageous.  The 
rhythm  is  to  be  determined  by  the  nature  of  the  words,  just 
as  the  style  of  words  is  determined  by  the  moral  disposition 
of  the  soul. 

1  §  389.     Cf.  the  international  morality  in  More's  Utopia. 
»  §  392.  «  §§  392-403.  *  §  395. 


PLATO  17 

So  must  it  be  with  the  other  arts  and  crafts,  and  not  only 
the  poets,  but  the  professors  of  every  other  craft  as  well, 
must  impress  on  their  productions  the  image  of  the  good.^ 
Here  we  have  the  origin  of  the  old  quarrel  between  poetry 
and  philosophy,  or  between  art  and  morality.  Plato  will 
not  entertain  the  idea  of  "  art  for  art's  sake  "  ;  the  only 
criterion  he  will  recognise  is  the  ethical. 

The  reason  of  Plato's  solicitude  for  a  good  and  simple 
environment  for  the  children  who  are  to  be  the  future 
guardians  of  the  state  is  his  belief  in  the  efficacy  of 
unconscious  assimilation  or  imitation  in  the  formation  of 
character.  As  evidence  of  this  we  may  cite  the  following :  ^ 
"  We  would  not  have  our  guardians  grow  up  amid  images 
of  moral  deformity,  as  in  some  noxious  pasture,  and  there 
browse  and  feed  upon  many  a  baneful  lierb  and  flower  day 
by  day,  little  by  little,  until  they  silently  gather  a  festering 
mass  of  corruption  in  their  own  soul.  Let  our  artists 
rather  be  those  who  are  gifted  to  discern  the  true  nature 
of  the  beautiful  and  graceful  ;  then  will  our  }()uth  dwell 
in  a  land  of  health,  amid  fair  sights  and  sounds,  and  receive 
the  good  in  everything  ;  and  beauty,  the  effiuencc  of  fair 
works,  shall  flow  into  the  eye  and  ear,  like  a  health-giving 
breeze  from  a  purer  region,  and  insensibly  draw  the  soul 
from  earliest  years  into  likeness  and  sympathy  with  the 
beauty  of  reason." 

"And  therefore,"  Plato  continues,  "musical  training  is 
a  more  potent  instrument  tlian  any  other,  because  rhythm 
and  harmony  fuid  their  way  into  the  inward  places  of  the 
soul,  on  which  they  mightily  fasten,  imparting  grace,  and 

'§401. 

*  §  401.  C"f.  Aristotle,  /'o/i7i>,<,  hk.  vii.  cli.  17  :  "  All  tlmt  i.s  moan  and 
low  should  be  banished  from  their  sight."'  Also  Bosan(Hiet.  The  Edurd- 
tion  oj  the  Young  in  the  Rrpuhlic  nf  P}at<>.  ]>.  102.  footnote. 

B 


18     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

making  the  soul  of  him  who  is  rightly  educated  graceful, 
or  of  him  who  is  ill-educated  ungraceful."  That  the  result 
of  a  musical  education  should  be  the  production  of  harmony 
and  grace  in  the  individual  is  repeated  in  the  introduction 
to  Plato's  treatment  of  higher  education  or  the  education 
of  the  philosopher.  There/  he  says,  "  music  was  the 
counterpart  of  gymnastic,  and  trained  the  guardians  by 
the  influences  of  habit,  by  harmony  making  them  har- 
monious, by  rhythm  rhythmical."  The  end  throughout 
was  the  Greek  ideal  of  manhood,  a  life  which  in  itself  was 
a  work  of  art. 

Plato's  treatment  of  Gymnastic  in  the  Republic  is  de- 
cidedly brief ;  ^  he  contents  himself  with  indicating  no  more 
than  the  general  principles.  "  Gymnastic  as  well  as  music 
should  begin  in  early  years  ;  the  training  in  it  should  be 
careful  and  should  continue  through  life,"  he  says,  adding, 
however,  "  Now  my  belief  is,  not  that  the  good  body  by 
any  bodily  excellence  improves  the  soul,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  the  good  soul,  by  her  own  excellence,  improves 
the  body  as  far  as  this  may  be  possible." 

Plato  prescribes  a  simple  moderate  system  such  as  would 
be  productive  of  health  and  the  utmost  keenness  both  of 
eye  and  ear.^  Of  the  habit  of  body  cultivated  by  pro- 
fessional gynmasts  he  disapproves  as  unsuitable  for  men 
who  have  to  undergo  privations  in  war  and  variations  in 
food  when  on  a  campaign.  Abstinence  from  delicacies  is 
also  enjoined.  The  whole  life,  however,  is  not  to  be  given 
up  to  gymnastics,  for  anyone  who  does  nothing  else  ends 
by  becoming  imcivilised, — "  he  is  like  a  wild  beast,  all 
violence  and  fierceness,  and  knows  no  other  way  of  dealing  ; 
and  he  lives  in  all  ignorance  and  evil  conditions,  and  has 
no  sense  of  ])ropriety  and  grace."  * 

1  Ilrpuhlif,  §  522,  »  §§  403-412.  »  §  404.  <  §  41 1. 


PLATO  19 

Such  then  is,  in  outline,  Plato's  scheme  of  early  traininj^ 
with  its  training  in  Music  and  Gymnastic.  The  dances 
which  will  he  in  vogue,  the  hunting  and  field  exercises,  and 
the  sports  of  the  gymnasium  and  the  race-course,  he  adds,^ 
must  correspond  with  the  foregoing  outlines. 

There  is  one  omission  from  this  early  education  to  which 
attention  ought  to  be  directed,  for  the  omission  is  intentional 
on  Plato's  part  ;  it  is  the  absence  of  any  reference  to  a 
training  in  the  manual  arts.  The  reason  for  the  omission 
is  incidentally  disclosed  by  Plato  in  a  later  section  of 
the  Republic  ^  :  "All  the  useful  arts  were  reckoned 
mean."' 

There  are  other  omissions  evidently  unintentional.  The 
subjects  of  the  higher  education,  Plato  later  recognises, 
must  be  begun  in  youth,  hence  in  dealing  with  the  education 
of  the  ruler  or  philosopher  we  find  him  stating :  ^  "  Calcula- 
tion and  geometry  and  all  the  other  elements  of  instruction, 
which  are  a  pre])aration  for  dialectic,  should  be  presented 
to  the  mind  in  childhood  ;  not,  however,  under  any  notion 
of  forcing  our  system  of  education." 

The  principle  of  teaching-method  here  imj)lied  he  I'la- 
borates  by  adding  :  "  Bodily  exercise,  when  compulsory, 
does  no  harm  to  the  body  ;  but  knowledge  which  is  accjuired 
under  compulsion  obtains  no  hold  on  the  mind  .  .  . 
Then  do  not  use  compulsion,  but  let  early  education  l)e  a 
sort  of  amusement  ;  you  will  theii  be  l)etter  able  to  find 
out  the  natural  bent."'  In  the  hnrs  the  ])ositive  signiticance 
of  play  in  education  is  emjihasised.  Thus,  as  has  frequently 
been  pointed  out,  we  do  not  have  to  coui"  to  modern  times, 
to  Herbart,  Froebel.  or  Montessori  to  find  the  child's 
interest  or  his  play  taken  as  a  guiding  ])rinci])le  in  education  : 
it  is  found  foriuulated  in  IMato. 

i§4i2.  *§r)22.  nr.-Si). 


20     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

Those  who  are  to  undergo  the  early  education  and 
become  guardians  of  the  state  are  to  unite  in  themselves 
"philosophy  and  spirit  and  swiftness  and  strength."^ 
Throughout  their  education  they  are  to  be  watched 
carefully  and  tested  and  tempted  in  various  ways  ;  ^  and 
those  who,  after  being  proved,  come  forth  victorious  and 
pure  are  to  be  appointed  rulers  and  guardians  of  the  state, 
the  others  remaining  auxiliaries  or  soldiers. 

The  qualities  required  for  the  higher  education^  or 
for  the  philosophic  character  Plato  frequently  enumerates. 
Preference  is  to  be  given  to  "  the  surest  and  the  bravest, 
and,  if  possible,  to  the  fairest ;  and,  having  noble  and 
generous  tempers,  they  should  also  have  the  natural  gifts 
which  will  facilitate  their  education."*  Another  account 
runs  :^  "A  good  memory  and  quick  to  learn,  noble,  gracious, 
the  friend  of  truth,  justice,  courage,  temperance  "  ;  again,^ 
"Courage,  magnificence,  apprehension,  memory." 

The  aim  of  the  higher  education  is  not  a  mere  extension 
of  knowledge  ;  it  is,  in  Plato's  phrase,"  "  the  conversion'of 
a  soul  from  study  of  the  sensible  world  to  contemplation 
of  real  existence."  "  Then,  if  I  am  right,"  he  explains,** 
"  certain  professors  of  education  must  be  wrong  when  they 
say  that  they  can  put  a  knowledge  into  the  soul  which  was 
not  there  before,  like  sight  into  blind  eyes.  "WTiereas,  our 
argument  shows  that  the  power  and  capacity  of  learning 
exist  in  the  soul  already  ;  and  that  just  as  the  eye  was 
unable  to  turn  from  darkness  to  light  without  the  whole 
body,  so  too  the  instrument  of  knowledge  can  only  by  the 

»  Republic,  §  37G. 

*§4)3.  Not  quite  "an  education  through  perfect  circumstances." 
as  Ijcwis  Campbell  supposed,  I'Udo's  Republic,  ]).  73. 

»§§  521-541.  *§r>.'}r>.  «§487. 

'■■§490.  ■§521.  "§.^518. 


PLATO  21 

movement  of  the  whole  soul  be  turned  from  the  world  of 
becoming  into  that  of  being,  and  learn  by  degrees  to  endure 
the  sight  of  being,  and  of  the  brightest  and  best  of  being, 
or  in  other  words,  of  the  good." 

Such  is  the  aim  of  the  higher  education,  the  education 
of  the  philosopher  or  ruler.  Plato,  ha\ang  determined  the 
aim,  next  proceeds  to  consider  the  scope  of  higher  education. 
It  includes  Number  or  Arithmetic,  Plane  and  Solid  Geo- 
metry, Astronomy,  Theory  of  Music  or  Harmonics,  all 
preparatory  to  the  highest  of  the  sciences,  namely.  Dialectic. 
"  Through  Mathematics  to  Metaphysics  "  might  be  said  to 
sum  up  Plato's  scheme  of  higher  education. 

The  principles  that  decide  the  selection  of  the  studies  of 
the  higher  education  are  that  they  must  lead  to  reflection 
rather  than  deal  with  the  things  of  sense  ;  ^  they  must  like- 
wise be  of  universal  application.^  The  fust  subject  that 
satisfies  these  requirements  is  Number,  hence  Plato  con- 
cludes :  ^  "  This  is  a  kind  of  knowledge  which  legislation 
may  fitly  prescribe  ;  and  we  must  endeavour  to  persuade 
those  who  are  to  be  the  principal  men  of  our  state  to  go 
and  learn  arithmetic,  not  as  amateurs,  but  they  must  carrv 
on  the  study  until  they  see  the  nature  of  numbers  with  the 
mind  only  ;  nor  again,  like  merchants  or  retail-traders, 
with  a  view  to  buying  or  selling,  but  for  the  sake  of  their 
military  use,  and  of  the  soul  herself ;  and  because  this 
will  be  the  easiest  way  for  her  to  pass  from  becoming  to 
truth  and  being."  The  main  function  of  Num])er  is  thus 
to  afford  a  training  in  abstraction. 

The  value  which  Plato  assigns  to  Number  as  a  subject  in 

the  training  preparatory  to  Philosophy  strikes  the  modern 

mind  as  somewhat  exaggerated.     This  can  be  explained. 

however,   by   the   fact   that  philosophers   liad    then  onlv 

1  §  523.  -  §  522.  »  §  52.-.. 


22     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

begun  the  search  for  universal  or  conceptual  notions,  and 
the  science  of  numbers  presented  itself  as  satisfying  their 
requirements  in  a  remarkable  degree.  The  Pythagoreans 
had  indeed  maintained  that  Number  was  the  rational 
principle  or  essence  of  things,  and  it  is  generally  agreed 
that  Plato  was  for  some  time  under  Pythagorean  influences  ; 
in  fact,  by  some  it  is  maintained  that  by  "  Ideas  "  he 
understood  at  one  stage  in  the  development  of  that  doctrine 
nothing  other  than  numbers  themselves.  At  the  time  of 
writing  the  Republic,  however,  he  had  outgrown  the  naive 
identification  of  numbers  with  things  themselves,  for  we 
find  him  asserting  :  ^  "  Yet  anybody  who  has  the  least 
acquaintance  with  geometry  will  not  deny  that  such  a 
conception  of  the  science  is  in  flat  contradiction  to  the 
ordinary  language  of  geometricians.  They  have  in  view 
practice  only,  and  are  always  speaking,  in  a  narrow  and 
ridiculous  manner,  of  squaring  and  extending  and  applying 
and  the  like — they  confuse  the  necessities  of  geometry  with 
those  of  daily  life  ;  whereas  knowledge  is  the  real  object 
of  the  whole  science."  If  the  Greeks,  as  is  implied  in  Plato's 
statement,  were  at  times  in  danger  of  ignoring  the  purely 
conceptual  nature  of  number,  we  of  the  present  day  are  in 
danger  of  disregarding  the  practical  needs  which  brought 
the  science  into  existence  and  the  concrete  bases  in  which 
numbers  were  first  exemplified. 

In  insisting  on  the  value  of  Number  as  a  means  of  training 
in  abstraction  Plato  gives  expression  to  a  statement  which 
implies  the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline  or  transfer  of 
training,  that  is,  that  a  training  in  one  function  results  in  a 
general  improvement  of  the  mind,  which  in  turn  favoural)ly 
influences  other  functions.  Thus  he  asks  :  "  Have  you 
further  observed,  that  those  who  have  a  natural  talent  for 

'  §  527. 


PLATO  23 

calculation  are  geuerally  (juick  at  every  other  kiiul  of 
knowledge  ;  and  even  the  dull,  if  they  have  had  an  arith- 
metical training,  although  they  may  derive  no  other 
advantage  from  it,  always  become  much  (juicker  than  they 
would  otherwise  have  been  ? '"  ^  When  in  the  same  section 
he  adds  :  "  and  indeed,  you  will  not  easily  find  a  more 
difficult  subject,  and  not  many  as  difficult,""  he  approximates 
to  the  doctrine  that  the  more  trouble  a  subject  causes  the 
better  training  it  aifords,  the  fallacy  of  which  is  evident  in 
its  enunciation  by  a  modern  paradoxical  pliiloso})her, 
namely,  it  matters  not  what  you  teach  a  ])U})il  })rovided 
he  does  not  want  to  learn  it. 

In  dealing  with  (Jeometry  -  Plato  also  remarks  that  ''  in 
all  departments  of  knowledge,  as  ex])erience  proves,  any 
one  who  has  studied  geonu.'try  is  infinitely  (piicker  of 
apprehension  than  one  who  has  not." 

These  views  must  nevertheless  be  ([ualilied  by  the  state- 
ment^ occurring  in  the  discussion  of  the  relation  between 
Mathematics  and  Dialectic.  "  For  you  surely  would  not 
regard  the  skilled  mathematician  as  a  dialectician  ? 
Assuredly  not,  he  said  ;  I  have  hardly  ever  known  a  nuithe- 
matician  who  was  capable  of  reasoning."  This  (lualilication, 
it  has  been  contended,'*  accpiits  Plato  of  the  responsibilitv 
of  initiating  the  doctrine  of  formal  training,  but  if  it  does 
so,  it  is  only  at  the  cost  of  consisteiu-y.  In  his  defence. 
however,   it   may  ])e  said,   that   in   lMa1o"s  day   little  was 

'  §  ;j2().  'I'liis  ar>;iiiiicnt  is  repeated  in  alino-st  identieal  terms  in  the 
Laws,  §  747  :  "  Arithmetic  stirs  iiji  him  who  is  by  nature  slee])y  and  (hill, 
and  make.s  him  ijuiek  ta learn,  retentive,  .shrewd,  and  aided  hy  art  divine 
he  makes  progress  quite  heyimd  Ids  natural  powers."' 

»  R,pul,Ur.  §.-)27.  3^  5:51. 

^  E.  C.  Moore,  What  i.<  Education  !'  eh.  iii.  It  must  1k>  jmL  to  Plato's 
credit  that  in  interpreting  a  faculty  as  a  function  (§  477)  he  avoided  the 
"  faculty  "  doctrine  which  long  retarded  the  development  of  ])sycholopy. 


24     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

known  of,  although  much  was  hoped  from,  the  science 
of  Number  ;  and  no  objection  could  have  been  urged 
against  him  had  he  said  that  a  knowledge  of  Number 
"  broadened  "  rather  than  "  quickened "  the  mind. 
Number,  like  language,  affords  us  an  invaluable  means 
of  mastering  and  controlling  experience,  and  does  not 
require  to  be  defended  on  the  ground  of  some  hypo- 
thetical influence  on  the  mind  in  general. 

As  Number  is  the  first  subject  selected  for  inclusion  in 
the  curriculum  of  the  higher  education,  so  Geometry  is  the 
second.  Its  bearing  on  strategy  is  acknowledged,  but  what 
Plato  is  concerned  about  is  whether  it  tends  in  any  degree 
to  make  more  easy  the  vision  of  the  idea  of  good.^  This, 
he  believes.  Geometry  does  accomplish  ;  "  geometry  will 
draw  the  soul  towards  truth,  and  create  the  spirit  of  philo- 
sophy," 2  consequently  those  who  are  to  be  the  rulers  of 
the  ideal  state  must  be  directed  to  apply  themselves  to  the 
study  of  geoinetry. 

The  study  of  Solid  Geometry,  or  the  investigation  of 
space  of  three  dimensions,  should,  Plato  admits,^  logically 
follow  plane  geometry  and  in  turn  precede  astronomy,  or 
the  study  of  solid  bodies  in  motion,  but  the  unsatisfactory 
condition  of  the  subject  at  the  time  causes  him  to  dismiss 
it  briefly. 

Astronomy  is  the  next  of  the  instrumental  subjects  of 
the  higher  training,  and  in  enumerating  its  practical 
advantages  to  the  agriculturist  and  navigator  Plato  re- 
marks :*  "I  am  amused  at  your  fear  of  the  world,  which 
makes  you  guard  against  the  appearance  of  insisting  upon 

^  §  520.  The  idea  of  good,  or  "  the  Forin  of  the  Good,"  is  the  ultimate 
principle  in  Plato's  philosophy,  at  once  the  source  of  all  Being  and  of  all 
knowledge.     Cf.  §  509. 

2  §  527.  3  §  528.  *  §  527. 


PLATO  25 

useless  studies  ;  and  I  quite  admit  the  difficulty  of  believing 
that  in  every  man  there  is  an  eye  of  the  soul  which,  when 
by  other  pursuits  lost  and  dimmed,  is  by  these  purified  and 
re-illumined  ;  and  is  more  precious  far  than  ten  thousand 
bodily  eyes,  for  by  it  alone  is  truth  seen."  "  Then  in 
astronomy,  as  in  geometry,  we  should  employ  problems, 
and  let  the  heavens  alone  if  we  would  approach  the  subject 
in  the  right  way  and  so  make  the  natural  gift  of  reason  to 
be  of  any  real  use."  ^ 

The  last  of  the  studies  preparatory  to  Dialectic  is  Music, 
not,  however,  music  as  an  art  as  dealt  with  in  the  early 
education,  but  the  theory  of  music,  harmonics,  the  mathe- 
matical relations  existing  between  notes,  chords,  etc.,  or 
what  we  should  now  probably  term  the  physical  bases  of 
music,- — "a  thing,"  Plato  affirms,"  "which  I  would  call 
useful  ;  that  is,  if  sought  after  with  a  view  to  the  beautiful 
and  good  ;    but  if  pursued  in  any  other  spirit,  useless." 

If  a  common  basis  for  the  mathematical  studies  just 
enumerated  could  be  discovered,  Plato  believes  that  it 
would  advance  the  end  in  view,  namely,  preparation  for 
the  science  of  Dialectic. 

Dialectic  is,  for  Plato,  the  highest  study  of  all.  It  is  as 
far  removed  from  the  mathematical  sciences  as  they  are 
from  the  practical  arts.  The  sciences  assume  certain 
hypotheses,  or  nuike  certain  assumptions  ;  geometry,  for 
example,  assumes  the  existence  of  space  and  does  not 
inquire  whether  it  is  a  perceptual  datum,  a  conceptual 
construction,  or,  as  Kant  maintained,  an  a  priori  percept. 

'  §  530.  In  accordance  with  this  principle  the  calculation  of  Xeiitune 
into  existence  by  Adams  and  Leverrier  would  have  been  commended  by 
Plato  ;  the  verification  of  its  existence  by  actual  observation  would  have 
merited  his  contempt. 

-§•".31. 


26     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

Philosophy,  or  Dialectic  as  Plato  calls  it,  tries  to  proceed 
without  presuppositions  or,  at  least,  seeks  critically  to 
examine  their  validity  and  to  determine  the  extent  of 
their  application. 

"  I  must  remind  you,"  says  Plato, ^  "  that  the  power  of 
dialectic  can  alone  reveal  this  (absolute  truth),  and  only  to 
one  who  is  a  disciple  of  the  previous  sciences."  "  And 
assuredly,"  he  continues,  "  no  one  will  argue  that  there  is 
any  other  method  of  comprehending  by  any  regular  process 
all  true  existence  or  of  ascertaining  what  each  thing  is  in 
its  own  nature  ;  for  the  arts  in  general  are  concerned  with 
the  desires  and  opinions  of  men,  or  are  cultivated  with  a 
view  to  production  and  construction,  or  for  the  preservation 
of  such  productions  and  constructions  ;  and  as  to  the  mathe- 
matical sciences  which,  as  we  were  saying,  have  some 
apprehension  of  true  being — geometry  and  the  like  they 
only  dream  about  being,  but  never  can  they  behold  the 
waking  reality  so  long  as  they  leave  the  hypotheses  which 
they  use  unexamined,  and  are  iniable  to  give  an  account 
of  them.  For  when  a  man  knows  not  his  own  first  principle, 
and  when  the  conclusion  and  intermediate  steps  are  also 
constructed  out  of  he  knows  not  what,  how  can  he  imagine 
that  such  a  fabric  of  convention  can  ever  become  science  ?  " 

"  Then  dialectic,  and  dialectic  alone,  goes  directly  to  the 
first  principle  and  is  the  only  science  which  does  away  with 
hypotheses  in  order  to  make  her  ground  secure  ;  the  eye 
of  the  soul,  which  is  literally  buried  in  an  outlandish  slough, 

^  §  533.  In  the  Cratijlus  I'lato  deiiiied  the  dialectician  an  "  lie  who 
knows  how  to  ask  ((uestions  and  how  to  an.swer  them."  In  the  I'/inedrus 
he  identifies  dialectic  with  the  process  of  division  and  generalisation, 
adding  "  And  if  I  iind  any  man  who  is  able  to  see  '  a  One  and  Many  '  in 
nature,  him  I  follow  and  walk  in  his  f()otste})s  as  if  he  were  a  god.  And 
those  who  have  this  art  I  have  hitherto  been  in  the  habit  of  calling 
dialecticians  ;    but  CJod  knows  whether  the  name  is  right  or  not." 


PLATO  27 

is  by  her  gentle  aid  lifted  upwards  ;  and  she  uses  as  hand- 
maids and  helpers  in  the  work  of  conversion,  the  sciences 
which  we  have  been  discussing."' 

Dialectic  then  is  the  coping-stone  of  the  sciences  ;  ^  no 
other  science  can  be  placed  higher  ;  it  completes  the  scries. 
All  who  would  be  magistrates  in  the  ideal  state  must 
consequently  address  themselves  to  such  studies  as  will 
enable  them  to  use  the  weapons  of  the  dialectician  most 
scientifically. 

Having  determined  the  subjects  which  the  philosopher 
or  ruler  must  study,  Plato  proceeds  to  consider  the  dis- 
tribution of  these  studies.-  For  three  years  after  the 
completion  of  the  early  education,  that  is,  from  seventeen 
to  twenty  years  of  age,  the  youths  are  to  serve  as  cadets, 
being  brought  into  the  field  of  battle,  and,  "  like  young 
hounds,  have  a  taste  of  blood  given  them." 

During  these  years  of  bodily  exercises  there  is  to  be  no 
intellectual  study,  ''  for  sleej)  and  exercise  are  unpropitious 
to  learning." 

At  the  age  of  twenty  the  choice  characters  are  to  be 
selected  to  undergo  the  mathematical  training  preparatory 
to  Dialectic.  This  training  is  to  continue  for  ten  years, 
and  at  the  age  of  thirty  a  further  selection  is  to  be  made, 
and  those  who  are  chosen  are  to  begin  the  study  of  Dialectic. 
Plato  deliberately  withholds  the  study  of  ])ialectic  to  this 
late  age,  giving  as  his  reason  that  "  youngsters,  when  they 
first  get  the  taste  in  their  mouths,  argue  for  amusement, 
and  are  always  contradicting  and  refuting  others  in  imita- 
tion of  those  who  refute  them  ;  like  puppy-dogs,  they 
rejoice  in  pulling  and  tearing  at  all  who  come  near  them."^ 

i§534.  *§§  537-541. 

*  §  539.  Cf.  Aristotle,  Ethir.'i.  i,  3  :  "  Th<'  youii^  man  is  iu)t  a  fit  student 
of  Politics." 


28    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

This  study  is  to  be  prosecuted  for  five  years,  every  other 
pursuit  being  resigned  for  it.  For  the  next  fifteen  years, 
that  is,  from  thirty- five  to  fifty  years  of  age,  the  philosophers 
or  rulers  are  to  return  to  practical  life,  take  the  command 
in  war  and  hold  such  offices  of  state  as  befit  "  young  men." 
After  the  age  of  fifty  the  lives  of  the  rulers  are  to  be  spent 
in  contemplation  of  "the  Good,"  so  that  when  they  are 
called  upon  to  regulate  the  affairs  of  the  state,  their  know- 
ledge of  this  will  serve  as  a  pattern  according  to  which 
they  are  to  order  the  state  and  the  lives  of  individuals, 
and  the  remainder  of  their  own  lives  also  ;  "  making 
philosophy  their  chief  pursuit,  but  when  their  turn  comes, 
toiling  also  at  politics  and  ruling  for  the  public  good,  not 
as  though  they  were  performing  some  heroic  action, 
but  simply  as  a  matter  of  duty  ;  and  when  they  have 
brought  up  in  each  generation  others  like  themselves, 
they  will  depart  to  the  Islands  of  the  Blest  and  dwell 
there."  i 

Such  is  Plato's  scheme  of  education  as  set  forth  in  the 
Republic,  and  he  warns  us  in  conclusion  that  it  is  an  educa- 
tion for  women  as  well  as  for  men  ;  they  are  to  have  the 
same  training  and  education,  a  training  in  music  and 
gymnastic,  and  in  the  art  of  war,  which  they  must  practise 
like  men,  "for  you  must  not  suppose,"  he  adds,^  "that 
what  I  have  been  saying  applies  to  men  only  and  not  to 
women  as  far  as  their  natures  can  go." 

Plato  dismisses  as  irrelevant  the  ridicule  which  would 
be  excited  by  his  proposal  that  women  should  share  with 
men  the  exercises  of  the  gymnasia,  maintaining  that  the 
question  should  be  decided  on  principle.  The  principle, 
he  argues,  which  applies  in  this  case  is  that  each  member 
of  the  state  should  undertake  the  work  for  which  he  is  best 
i§540.  '§540.     Cf.  §§451-457. 


PLATO  29 

fitted  by  nature,  and  while  admitting  that  j)hysically  the 
woman  is  weaker  than  the  man,  he  nevertheless  maintains 
that  in  respect  to  political  or  governing  ability  the  woman 
is  the  equal  of  the  man.  Had  he  affirmed  that  in  respect 
to  intellectual  ability  the  woman  is  on  (lie  average  the  equal 
of  the  man,  he  would  have  anticipated  the  conclusions  of 
modern  science.^ 

His  coeducational  proposal  arouses  distrust,  not  so  much 
on  its  own  account  but  because  the  second  "  wave,"  the 
community  of  wives  and  children,  results  from  it.^  To 
secure  and  preserve  the  unity  of  the  state  Plato  was  forced 
to  destroy  the  family  as  the  social  unit ;  the  family  with 
its  bonds  of  kinship  and  ties  of  natural  affection  was 
the  only  institution  which  he  feared  might  challenge  the 
supremacy,  or  lead  to  the  disruption,  of  the  state,  and  the 
pains  he  displays  to  eliminate  every  trace  of  family  influence 
are  witness  of  its  power.  Plato  can  only  secure  the  unity 
of  the  state  at  the  cost  of  sacrificing  all  differences  ;  he 
makes  a  wilderness  and  calls  it  peace.  This  is  the  great 
defect  of  his  ideal  state,  and  on  this  ground  his  communistic 
scheme  has  been  effectively  criticised  by  Aristotle.^  A 
similar  criticism  has  been  applied  hy  Rousseau,^  who  says  : 
"  I  am  quite  aware  that  Plato,  in  the  Ttepnhlic,  assigns  the 
same  gymnastics  to  women  and  men.  Having  got  rid  of 
the  family,  there  is  no  place  for  women  in  his  system  of 
government,  so  he  is  forced  to  turn  them  into  men.  That 
great  genius  has  worked  out  his  plans  in  detail  and  has 

•  Cf.  Thomdikc,  Edurational  Psyclwlorjii,  vol.  iii,  fli.  ix. 

*  6  457.  The  great  wave-s  or  paradoxes  in  tlie  con.'strnctif'ii  of  Plato's 
ideal  state  are  :  (1)  the  community  of  goods  and  of  pursuits  ;  (2)  the  com- 
munity of  wives  and  children ;  (.3)  summarised  in  the  statement — 
"  Until  kings  are  philosophers  or  pliilosopliers  are  kings,  cities  -nill  never 
cease  from  ill." 

'  Politics,  ii,  3.  ••  Einilr,  Ever\niian  trans.,  p.  32(1. 


30     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

provided  for  every  contingency  ;  he  has  even  provided 
against  a  difficulty  which  in  all  likelihood  no  one  would 
ever  have  raised  ;  but  he  has  not  succeeded  in  meeting  the 
real  difficulty.  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  alleged  community 
of  wives  which  has  often  been  laid  to  his  charge  ;  .  .  . 
I  refer  to  that  subversion  of  all  the  tenderest  of  our  natural 
feelings,  which  he  sacrificed  to  an  artificial  sentiment  which 
can  only  exist  by  their  aid.  Will  the  bonds  of  convention 
hold  firm  without  some  foundation  in  nature  ?  Can 
devotion  to  the  state  exist  apart  from  the  love  of  those 
near  and  dear  to  us  ?  Can  patriotism  thrive  except  in  the 
soil  of  that  miniature  fatherland,  the  home  ?  Is  it  not  the 
good  son,  the  good  husband,  the  good  father,  who  makes 
the  good  citizen  ?  " 

In  the  Laws,  the  work  of  his  old  age,  Plato  readdresses 
himself  to  the  subject  of  Education.  The  dialogue  com- 
mencing with  a  consideration  of  the  laws  of  Minos  drifts 
into  a  consideration  of  the  perfect  citizen-ruler  and  how 
to  train  him — -into  a  discussion  on  Education,  in  short. 
Disillusioned  by  the  experiences  of  life,  Plato  in  the  Laws, 
so  some  interpreters  maintain,  recants  the  idealistic  schemes 
which  he  projected  in  the  Republic  :  in  the  later  work  he 
does  not,  however,  really  abandon  his  earlier  ])rinci])les, 
but  rather  seeks  to  illustrate  their  application  in  ])ractice  ; 
he  describes,  if  not  the  ideal  city,  the  ])attern  of  which  is 
laid  up  in  heaven,  at  least  "  the  second  best,"  which  might 
be  realisable  "under  present  circumstances."^ 

The  treatment  of  Education  in  the  Laivs  supplements 
that  in  the  Republic,  emphasising  the  })ractical  aspects 
and  thus  approximating  to  Aristotle's  treatment  of  Educa- 
tion in  the  Polilias.  The  aim  of  education  nevertheless 
remains  the  sauie,  for  as  Plato  says  in  the  Luws:^    "At 

'  Law.'<,  §§  7.3!t,  75:5.  "  §§  (i43-4. 


PLATO  31 

present  when  we  speak  in  terms  of  praise  or  blame  about 
the  bringing-iip  of  each  person,  we  call  one  man  educated 
and  another  uneducated,  although  the  uneducated  man 
may  be  sometimes  very  well  educated  for  the  calling 
of  a  retail  trader,  or  of  a  captain  of  a  ship,  and  the  like. 
For  we  are  not  speaking  of  education  in  this  narrower 
sense,  but  of  that  other  education  in  virtue  from  youth 
upwards,  which  makes  a  man  eagerly  pursue  the  ideal 
perfection  of  citizenship,  and  teaches  him  how  rightly  to 
rule  and  how  to  obey.  This  is  the  only  education  which, 
upon  our  view,  deserves  the  name  ;  that  other  sort  of 
training,  which  aims  at  the  acquisition  of  wealth  or  bodily 
strength,  or  nu^re  cleverness  apart  from  intelligence  and 
justice,  is  mean  and  illiberal,  and  is  not  worthy  to  be  called 
education  at  all.  Hut  let  us  not  quarrel  with  one  another 
about  a  word,  ])rovided  that  the  proposition  which  has 
just  been  granted  holds  good  :  to  wit,  that  those  who  are 
rightly  educated  generally  l)ecome  good  men.  Neither 
must  we  cast  a  slight  upon  education,  which  is  the  first  and 
fairest  thing  that  the  best  of  men  can  ever  have,  and  which, 
though  liable  to  take  a  wrong  direction,  is  ca])able  of  re- 
fornuition,  and  this  business  of  reformation  is  the  great 
business  of  every  man  while  he  lives." 

Education  in  the  Ijnrs  is  to  ])e  universal,  not  restricted 
as  in  the  Rrpi/hlic  to  the  gmirdian  class,  and  is  to  l)c  com- 
])ulsory  ;  '"  the  children  shall  come  (to  tlu^  schools)  not  oulv 
if  their  ])arents  ])lease,  but  if  thev  do  not  ])lease  ;  there 
shall  ])e  compulsory  education,  as  the  saving  is,  of  all  and 
sundry,  as  far  as  this  is  ])ossiblc  ;  and  the  pu))ils  shall  be 
regarded  as  belonging  to  the  state  rather  than  to  their 
parents.  My  law  shall  a])plv  to  females  as  well  as  males  ; 
they  shall  both  go  through  th<^  saiiu>  exercises.""  ^     To  the 

'  Lau.^,  §804.     Cf.  Aristotle,  I'olilir.s.  viii,  1. 


32     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

coeducational  principle  and  the  communistic  scheme  on 
which  it  is  based  Plato  frequently  alludes  in  the  Laws}  thus 
indicating  that  the  proposal  in  the  Republic  was  regarded 
by  him  as  a  serious  one.  In  support  of  the  idea  that  women 
and  girls  should  undergo  the  same  gymnastic  and  military 
exercises  as  men  and  boys  Plato  states  :  ^  "  While  they  are 
yet  girls  they  should  have  practised  dancing  in  arms  and 
the  whole  art  of  fighting — when  grown-up  women,  they 
should  apply  themselves  to  evolutions  and  tactics,  and  the 
mode  of  grounding  and  taking  up  arms  ;  if  for  no  other 
reason,  yet  in  case  the  whole  military  force  should  have  to 
leave  the  city  and  carry  on  operations  of  war  outside,  that 
those  who  will  have  to  guard  the  young  and  the  rest  of 
the  city  may  be  equal  to  the  task  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
when  enemies,  whether  barbarian  or  Hellenic,  come  from 
without  with  mighty  force  and  make  a  violent  assault  upon 
them,  and  thus  compel  them  to  fight  for  the  possession  of 
the  city,  which  is  far  from  being  an  impossibility,  great 
would  be  the  disgrace  to  the  state,  if  the  women  had  been 
so  miserably  trained  that  they  could  not  fight  for  their 
young,  as  birds  will,  against  any  creature  however  strong, 
and  die  or  undergo  any  danger,  but  must  instantly  rush  to 
the  temples  and  crowd  at  the  altars  and  shrines,  and  bring 
upon  human  nature  the  reproach,  that  of  all  animals  man 
is  the  most  cowardly  !  " 

The  main  subjects  in  the  curriculum  proposed  in  the 
Laws  are  the  same  as  those  given  in  the  Republic, — 
for  the  early  education  Music  and  Gymnastic,  and  for 
the  higher  education  Mathematics  ;  Dialectic,  the  study 
to  which  the  mathematical  subjects  were  merely  pre- 
paratory in  the  Republic,  is  alluded  to  only  indirectly  in 
the  more  practical  Laws. 

1  Artiw,  §§  804-0.  »§814. 


PLATO  33 

Gymnastic  occupies  a  more  prominent  place  than  it  does 
in  the  Republic,  where  it  was  treated  merely  in  outline.  It 
is  now  divided  into  two  branches,  dancing  and  wrestling, 
and  these  are  in  turn  further  subdivided.  "  One  sort  of 
dancing  imitates  musical  recitation,  and  aims  at  preserving 
dignity  and  freedom  ;  the  other  aims  as  producing  health, 
agility,  and  beauty  in  the  limbs  and  parts  of  the  body, 
gi\'ing  the  proper  flexion  and  extension  to  each  of  them,  a 
harmonious  motion  being  diffused  everywhere,  and  forming 
a  suitable  accompaniment  to  the  dance."  ^  In  regard  to 
wrestling,  that  form  "  of  wrestling  erect  and  keeping  free 
the  neck  and  hands  and  sides,  working  with  energy  and 
constancy,  with  a  composed  strength,  and  for  the  sake  of 
health  "  is  useful  and  is  to  be  enjoined  alike  on  masters  and 
scholars. 2  The  general  aim  is  that  of  all  movements 
wrestling  is  most  akin  to  the  military  art,  and  is  to  be 
pursued  for  the  sake  of  this,  and  not  for  the  sake  of 
wrestling.^ 

Plato's  treatment  of  !Music  in  the  L<nc^  follows  the  lines 
of  that  in  the  Republic,  the  old  quarrel  between  ])oetry  and 
philosophy  being  frequently  renewed.'*  The  same  con- 
clusion is  reached,  namely,  that  the  compositions  must 
impress  on  the  minds  of  the  young  the  ])rinciplo  '*  that  the 
life  which  is  by  the  (Jods  seemed  to  be  the  ha])])iest  is  also 
the  best."  •" 

The  omission  in  the  Republic  of  any  reference  to  the 
education  of  the  industrial  or  artisan  class  is  partially 
rectified  in  the  Laivs.  '*  According  to  my  view,"  Plato 
now  says,*"  ''  anyone  who  would  be  good  at  anything  must 
practise  that  thing  from  his  youth  upwards,  both  in  sport 
and  earnest,  in  its  se\eral  branches  :    for  e\aiu])le.  he  who 


'  >i  79:).     (T.  §§  8U-t;. 

-  §  T'lii. 

3§814. 

♦  Cf.  §§  65J)-()70  ;   8()0S0-1  ; 

811. 
c 

■  §  664. 

"  §  M'i. 

34     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

is  to  be  a  good  builder,  should  play  at  building  children's 
houses  ;  he  who  is  to  be  a  good  husbandman,  at  tilling  the 
ground  ;  and  those  who  have  the  care  of  their  education 
should  provide  them  when  young  with  mimic  tools.  They 
should  learn  beforehand  the  knowledge  which  they  will 
afterwards  require  for  their  art.  For  example,  the  future 
carpenter  should  learn  to  measure  or  apply  the  line  in  play  ; 
and  the  future  warrior  should  learn  riding,  or  some  other 
exercise,  for  amusement,  and  the  teacher  should  endeavour 
to  direct  the  children's  inclinations  and  pleasures,  by  the 
help  of  amusements,  to  their  final  aim  in  life.  The  most 
important  part  of  education  is  right  training  in  the  nursery. 
The  soul  of  the  child  in  his  play  should  be  guided  by  the 
love  of  that  sort  of  excellence  in  which  when  he  grows  up 
to  manhood  he  will  have  to  be  perfected." 

As  in  the  Republic  so  in  the  Laivs,  education  cannot  begin 
too  early  ;  ^  "  Am  I  not  right  in  maintaining  that  a  good 
education  is  that  which  tends  most  to  the  improvement  of 
mind  and  body  ?  And  nothing  can  be  plainer  than  that 
the  fairest  bodies  are  those  which  grow  up  from  infancy  in 
the  best  and  straightest  manner  ?  "  The  care  of  the  child 
even  before  birth  is  dealt  with  by  Plato.^  The  early  discip- 
line is  to  be,  as  with  Aristotle,  habituation  to  the  good  and 
the  beautiful.  "  Now  I  mean  by  education  that  training 
which  is  given  by  suitable  habits  to  the  first  instincts  of 
virtue  in  children; — when  pleasure, and  friendship, and  pain, 
and  hatred  are  rightly  implanted  in  souls  not  yet  capable 
of  understanding  the  nature  of  them,  and  who  find  them, 
after  they  have  obtained  reason,  to  be  in  harmony  with  her. 
This  harmony  of  the  soul,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  virtue  ;  but 
the  particular  training  in  respect  to  pleasure  and  pain, 
which  leads  you  always  to  hate  what  you  ought  to  hate, 
I  §  788.  -  §§  788-792. 


PLATO  35 

and  love  what  you  ought  to  love  from  the  beginning  of  life 
to  the  end,  may  be  separated  oif  ;  and,  in  my  view,  will  be 
rightly  called  education."  ^ 

The  early  training  in  the  Republic  comprising  ]\Iusic 
and  Gymnastic  was  designed  to  occupy  the  fu'st  seventeen 
years  of  life.  The  ages  at  which  the  various  parts  of  these 
subjects  were  to  be  taken  up  were  not  further  particularised. 
In  the  Dries,  however,  Plato  is  most  precise  as  to  the 
occupations  of  the  early  years  and  the  time  to  be  allotted 
to  each.  "  Up  to  the  age  of  three  years,  whether  of  boy  or 
girl,  if  a  person  strictly  carries  out  our  previous  regulations 
and  makes  them  a  principal  aim,  he  will  do  much  for  the 
advantage  of  the  young  creatures.  But  at  three,  four,  five 
or  even  six  years  the  childish  nature  will  recjuire  sports  .  .  . 
Children  at  that  age  have  certain  natural  modes  of  amuse- 
ment which  they  find  out  for  themselves  when  they 
meet."  " 

The  sports  which  the  children  at  these  early  ages  engage 
in,  it  may  be  interpolated,  are,  in  Plato's  opinion,  of  supreme 
significance  in  maintaining  the  stability  of  the  state.  In 
the  Republic^  Plato  repeatedly  expresses  his  fear  of 
innovations  in  Music  and  Gymnastic  lest  these  sliould 
imperil  the  whole  order  of  society.  This  was  natural,  for 
any  change  in  an  ideal  state  could  only  be  regarded  as  a 
change  for  the  worse.  It  was  also  in  accordance  with  the 
Greek  attitude  of  mind,  to  which  the  modern  ideal  of  an 
infinite  progress  brought  about  by  constant  innovations 
was  abhorrent,  and  which  conceived  of  perfection  after  the 
manner  of  the  plastic  arts  as  limited  and  permanent.  In 
the  Laws,  even  when  the  constitution  is  but  "  second-best," 
the  dread  of  innovations  still  haunts  Plato,  and  leads  him 
to  observe  ^  "  that  the  plays  of  children  have  a  great  deal 

1  §  r>53.  -  §  704.  H'f.  §  424.  '  §  704. 


36     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

to  do  witli  the  permanence  or  want  of  permanence  in 
legislation.  For  when  plays  are  ordered  with  a  view  to 
children  having  the  same  plays,  and  amusing  themselves 
after  the  same  manner,  and  finding  delight  in  the  same 
playthings,  the  more  solemn  institutions  of  the  state  are 
allowed  to  remain  undisturbed.  Whereas  if  sports  are 
disturbed,  and  innovations  are  made  in  them,  and  they 
constantly  change,  and  the  young  never  speak  of  their 
having  the  same  likings,  or  the  same  established  notions 
of  good  and  bad  taste,  either  in  the  bearing  of  their  bodies 
or  in  their  dress,  but  he  who  devises  something  new  and 
out  of  the  way  in  figures  and  colours  and  the  like  is  held  in 
special  honour,  we  may  say  that  no  greater  evil  can  happen 
in  the  state  ;  for  he  who  changes  these  sports  is  secretly 
changing  the  manners  of  the  young,  and  making  the  old 
to  be  dishonoured  among  them  and  the  new  to  be  honoured. 
And  I  affirm  that  there  is  nothing  which  is  a  greater  injury 
to  all  states  than  saying  this." 

Up  to  the  age  of  six  the  children  of  both  sexes  may  play 
together.  After  the  age  of  six,  however,  they  were  to  be 
separated — •"  let  boys  live  with  boys,  and  girls  in  like 
manner  with  girls.  Now  they  must  begin  to  learn — the 
boys  going  to  the  teachers  of  horsemanship  and  the  use 
of  the  bow,  the  javelin,  and  sling,  and  the  girls  too,  if 
they  do  not  object,  at  any  rate  until  they  know  how  to 
manage  these  weapons,  and  especially  how  to  handle 
heavy  arms."  ^ 

The  musical  is  to  alternate  with  the  gymnastic  training. 
"  A  fair  time  for  a  boy  of  ten  years  old  to  spend  in  letters 
is  three  years  ;  the  age  of  thirteen  is  the  proper  time  for 
him  to  begin  to  handle  the  lyre,  and  he  may  continue  at 
this  for  another  three  years,  neither  more  nor  less,  and 

1  §  794. 


PLATO  37 

whether  his  father  or  himself  like  or  disUke  the  study,  he 
is  not  to  be  allowed  to  spend  more  or  less  time  in  learning 
music  than  the  law  allows."  ^ 

"  There  still  remain  three  studies  suitable  for  freemen. 
Arithmetic  is  one  of  them  ;  the  measurement  of  length, 
surface,  and  depth  is  the  second  ;  and  the  third  has  to  do 
with  the  revolutions  of  the  stars  in  relation  to  one  another. 
Not  everyone  has  need  to  toil  through  all  these  things  in  a 
strictly  scientific  manner,  but  only  a  few."  ^  All  that  is 
required  for  the  many  is  such  a  knowledge  as  "  every  child 
in  Egypt  is  taught  when  he  learns  the  alphabet,"  and  which 
frees  them  "  from  that  natural  ignorance  of  all  these  things 
which  is  so  ludicrous  and  disgraceful."  ^  He  who  is  to  be 
a  good  ruler  of  the  state,  must,  however,  make  a  complete 
study  of  these  subjects  and  of  their  inter-comicctions  ;  he 
must  know  these  two  principles—"  that  the  soul  is  the 
eldest  of  all  things  which  are  born,  and  is  immortal  and 
rules  over  all  bodies  ;  moreover,  he  who  has  not  contem- 
plated the  mind  of  nature  which  is  said  to  exist  in  the 
stars,  and  gone  through  the  previous  training,  and  seen 
the  connection  of  music  with  these  things,  and  harmonized 
them  all  with  laws  and  institutions,  is  not  able  to  give  a 
reason  of  such  things  as  have  a  reason.  And  he  who  is 
unable  to  acquire  this  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  virtues 
of  a  citizen,  can  hardly  be  a  good  ruler  of  a  whole  state.  "^ 

While  in  the  Republic  education  was  to  be  in  the  im- 
mediate charge  of  the  guardians  of  the  state,  in  the  Imics 
it  is  to  be  delegated  to  a  Director  of  Education.^  The  end 
of  education  nevertheless  remains  the  same.  Education 
is  for  the  good  of  the  indi\adual  and  for  the  safety  of  the 
state.     Thus  Plato  reaffirms  in  the  Laws :  ^'   "  If  you  ask 

i§810.  »§§817-S.  3  §819. 

*§9G7.  ■■•  §§  Ttio-l)  ;   §  S09.  ''§041. 


38     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

what  is  the  good  of  education  in  general,  the  answer  is 
easy — that  education  makes  good  men,  and  that  good  men 
act  nobly,  and  conquer  their  enemies  in  battle,  because 
they  are  good.  Education  certainly  gives  victory,  although 
victory  sometimes  produces  forgetfulness  of  education  ; 
for  many  have  grown  insolent  from  victory  in  war,  and  this 
insolence  has  engendered  in  them  innumerable  evils  ;  and 
many  a  victory  has  been  and  will  be  suicidal  to  the  victors  ; 
but  education  is  never  suicidal." 


CHAPTER    II 

QUINTILIAX 

Plato  details  for  us  the  education  of  the  philosopher, 
Quiutiliau  that  of  the  orator  ;  ^  the  former  the  education 
for  specuhitive  life,  the  latter  for  ])ractical  life.  The 
difference  is  typical  of  the  national  genius  of  the  two 
peoples,  (Jreek  and  Roman. 

This  antithesis  would  nevertheless  be  rejected  by  Quin- 
tilian ;  the  philosopher,  he  would  admit,  had  becoiue 
unpractical — ^and  by  philosopher  he  evidently  intends  the 
sophist  ^  -but  the  ideal  orator  whose  education  he  pre- 
scribes cannot  be  re<:arded  as  uns])eculative  or  unphilo- 
sophical.  Plato's  philoso])her  was  also  ruler  or  king  ; 
Quintilian's  orator  is  sage  as  well  as  statesman.  Both 
described  the  perfect  man  and  the  trniniug  which  was  to 
produce  such. 

Quintilian  characterises  his  ideal  as  follows  ^ :  '"  The 
perfect  orator  must  be  a  man  of  integrity,  the  good  num, 
otherwise  he  cannot  ])retend  to  that  cliaracter  ;  and  we 
therefore  not  only  re((uire  in  him  a  consummate  talent  for 
speaking,  but  all  the  virtuous  endowments  of  the  mind. 

'  Quintilian.  Iiislitutes  of  thr  Oralor. 

*  C'f.    Qiiintilian's  reference  to  "the   only   jirofessors   of  wisdom,"  a 
characterisation  of  the  So|>hist3  employed  by  Plato  in  tlie  f.'ichc:.  §  ISti. 
'Bk.  i,  Int.,  §ii. 

.S9 


40     DOCTEINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

For  an  upright  and  an  honest  life  cannot  be  restricted  to 
philosophers  alone  ;  because  the  man  who  acts  in  a  real 
civic  capacity,  who  has  talents  for  the  administration  of 
public  and  private  concerns,  who  can  govern  cities  by  his 
counsels,  maintain  them  by  his  laws,  and  meliorate  them 
by  his  judgments,  cannot,  indeed,  be  anything  but  the 
orator  .  .  .  Let  therefore  the  orator  be  as  the  real 
sage,  not  only  perfect  in  morals,  but  also  in  science,  and  in 
all  the  requisites  and  powders  of  elocution."  For  brevity 
Quintilian  would  adopt  ^  the  definition  of  the  orator  given 
by  Cato,  "  a  good  man  skilled  in  the  art  of  speaking  "  ; 
with  emphasis  on  the  goodness,  however,  for  he  adds,  "  not 
only  that  the  orator  ought  to  be  a  good  man  ;  but  that  he 
cannot  be  an  orator  unless  such." 

Others  had  written  of  the  training  of  an  orator,  but  they 
had  usually  dealt  with  the  teaching  of  eloquence  to  those 
whose  education  was  otherwise  completed.  Quintilian 
says,^  however,  "  for  my  part,  being  of  opinion  that  nothing 
is  foreign  to  the  art  of  oratory  .  .  .  should  the  training 
up  of  an  orator  be  committed  to  me,  I  would  begin  to  form 
his  studies  from  his  infancy."  By  reason  of  this,  Quintilian's 
Institutes  of  the  Orator  is  something  more  than  a  treatise  on 
rhetoric  ;    it  has  become  an  educational  classic. 

No  training  can  produce  the  perfect  orator  unless  a 
certain  standard  of  natural  endowment  is  presupposed  ; 
nature  as  well  as  nurture  must  be  taken  into  account. 
Thus  Quintilian  remarks  :  ^  "It  must  be  acknowledged  that 
precepts  and  arts  are  of  no  efficacy  unless  assisted  by 
nature.  The  person  therefore  that  lacks  a  faculty  will 
reap  as  little  benefit  from  these  writings  as  barren  soils  from 
precepts  of  agriculture.  There  are  other  natural  qualifica- 
tions, as  a  clear,  articulate,  and  audible  voice ;  strong  lungs, 

1  I3k.  xii,  ch.  i.  -  Bk.  i,  Int.,  §  i.  ^  Bk.  i,  Int. 


QUINTILIAN  41 

good  health,  sound  constitution,  and  a  graceful  aspect  ; 
which,  though  indifferent,  may  be  improved  by  observation 
and  industry,  but  are  somewhat  wanting  in  so  great  a  degree 
as  to  vitiate  all  the  accomplishments  of  wit  and  study." 

The  training  of  the  orator  falls  into  three  stages  :  the 
early  home  education  up  to  seven  years  of  age  ;  the  general 
"grammar"  school  education;  and  the  specific  training 
in  rhetoric. 

With  the  early  home  education  Quintilian  would  take  as 
much  care  and  exercise  as  much  supervision  as  Plato  devoted 
to  the  early  education  of  the  citizens  and  rulers  of  his  ideal 
state.  Recognising,  like  Plato,  the  great  part  which 
suggestion  and  imitation  play  in  the  early  education  of  the 
child,  Quintilian  demands  for  his  future  orator  that  his 
parents — not  his  father  only^ — should  be  cultured,^  that  his 
nurse  should  have  a  proper  accent,  that  the  boys  in  whose 
company  he  is  to  be  educated  should  also  serve  as  good 
patterns,  and  that  his  tutors  should  be  skilful  or  know  their 
own  limitations  ;  the  person  who  imagines  himself  learned 
when  he  is  not  really  so  is  not  to  be  tolerated.  A\'hen  such 
conditions  do  not  exist,  Quintilian  suggests  that  an  ex- 
perienced master  of  language  should  be  secured  to  give 
constant  attention  and  instantly  correct  any  word  which 
is  improperly  pronounced  in  his  pupil's  hearing  in  order  that 
he  may  not  be  suffered  to  contract  a  habit  of  it.  And  he 
adds  :  ^  "  If  I  seem  to  require  too  much,  let  it  be  considered 
how  hard  a  matter  it  is  to  form  an  orator." 

Quintilian  discusses  •*  whether  children  under  seven  years 
of  age  should  be  made  to  learn,  and,  although  he  admits  that 
little  will  be  effected  before  that  age,  he  nevertheless  con- 
cludes that  we  should  not  neglect  these  early  years,  the  chief 

'  Tj'pically  Roman  and  in  striking  contrast  to  (Jrcck  sentiment. 
*  Bk.  i,  ch.  i,  §  ii.  ■'  §  iv. 


42    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

reason — now  regarded  as  invalid — being  that  the  elements 
of  learning  depend  upon  memory,  which  most  commonly 
is  not  only  very  ripe,  but  also  very  retentive  in  children.^ 
He  warns  us,  however,  that  great  care  must  be  taken  lest 
the  child  who  cannot  yet  love  study,  should  come  to  hate  it, 
and,  after  the  manner  of  Plato,  he  declares  that  study  ought 
to  be  made  a  diversion.  The  instruction  at  this  early  age  is 
to  include  reading,  and  exercises  in  speech  training  which 
consist  of  repetition  of  rhymes  containing  difficult  combina- 
tions of  sounds  ;  writing  is  also  to  be  taught,  the  letters 
being  graven  on  a  plate  so  that  the  stylus  may  follow  along 
the  grooves  therein,  a  procedure  depending  on  practice  in 
motor-adjustment  and  recently  revived  in  principle  by 
Montessori. 

Before  proceeding  to  consider  the  second  stage  of  educa- 
tion, Quintilian  discusses  the  question  whether  public  or 
private  tuition  is  the  better  for  children.  Aristotle  had 
maintained  ^  that  education  should  be  public  and  not 
private  ;  but  the  early  Roman  education  had  been  private, 
and  it  was  only  under  Greek  influences  that  schools  came  to 
be  founded  in  Rome.  Aristotle's  standpoint  was  political, 
whereas  that  of  Quintilian  is  practical  and  educational.^ 

Two  objections  were  currently  urged  against  public 
education,  the  first  being  the  risk  to  a  child's  morals  from 
his  intercourse  with  other  pupils  of  the  same  age,  and  the 
second  the  difficulty  experienced  by  a  tutor  in  giving  the 
same  attention  to  many  as  to  one.  Were  the  first  objection 
valid,  that  schools  are  serviceable  to  learning  but  prejudicial 

^  In  his  chapter  on  Memory,  hk.  xi,  eh.  2,  some  of  Quintiliaii's 
statements  are  surprisinf;ly  in  accordance  witii  recent  experimental 
results. 

*  Politics,  V)k.  viii,  cli.  2.     Cf.  Burnet's  AriMotle  on  Edxicatiun,  p.  97. 

3  J}k.  i,  ch.  2. 


QUINTILIAX  13 

to  morals,  Quintilian  would  rather  reconimeiid  the  training 
of  a  child  in  upright  life  than  in  eloquent  speaking.  But 
he  maintains  that,  though  schools  are  sometimes  a  nursery 
of  vice,  a  parent's  house  may  likewise  be  the  same  ; — there 
are  many  instances  of  innocence  lost  and  preserved  in  both 
places — and  children  may  rather  bring  the  infection  into 
schools  than  receive  it  from  them.  In  answer  to  the  second 
objection  Quintilian  relies  on  the  inspiration  of  numbers 
causing  a  master  to  give  of  his  best  :  "  A  master  who  has 
but  one  pupil  to  instruct,  can  never  give  to  his  words  that 
energy,  spirit,  and  fire,  which  he  would  if  animated  by  a 
number  of  pupils."  "  I  would  not,  however,"  he  adds, 
"  ad\'ise  the  sending  of  a  child  to  a  school  where  he  is  likely 
to  be  neglected  ;  neither  ou<i"ht  a  good  master  to  burden 
himself  with  more  pupils  than  he  is  well  able  to  teach  .  .  . 
But  if  crowded  schools  are  to  be  avoided,  it  does  not  follow 
that  all  schools  arc  to  be  equally  avoided,  as  there  is  a  wide 
difference  between  avoiding  entirely  and  making  a  proper 
choice." 

Having  di.sposed  of  the  objection  to  public  education, 
Quintilian  states  the  positive  advantages.  At  home  the 
pupil  can  learn  only  what  is  taught  him  ;  but  in  school  he 
can  learn  what  is  taught  to  others.  At  school  he  has  others 
to  emulate  and  to  serve  as  patterns  for  imitation  ;  he  also 
has  the  opportunities  of  contracting  friendshi])s.  How, 
Quintilian  asks,  shall  the  pu])il  learn  what  we  call  "  common 
sense  ""  when  he  sequesters  himself  from  society  :'  And  for 
the  orator  who  must  appear  in  the  most  solemn  assemblies 
and  have  the  eyes  of  a  whole  state  fi.xed  u])ou  him,  j)u])lic 
education  has  the  special  advantage  of  enabling  the  jnipil 
early  to  accustom  himself  to  face  an  audience. 

The  grammar-school  training  is  considered  by  Quintilian 
in  its  two  aspects,  the  moral  and  the  intellectual. 


44     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

He  recognises  that  children  differ  in  respect  to  moral 
disposition,  and  that  training  must  be  adapted  to  such 
differences.  But  he  desires  for  his  future  ideal  orator  the 
lad  who  is  stimulated  by  praise,  who  is  sensible  of  glory,  and 
who  weeps  when  worsted.  "  Let  these  noble  sentiments 
work  in  him  ;  a  reproach  will  sting  him  to  the  quick  ;  a 
sense  of  honour  will  rouse  his  spirit ;  in  him  sloth  need 
never  be  apprehended." 

Children  must  be  allowed  relaxation,  but,  as  in  other 
particulars,  there  is  a  mean  to  be  kept ;  deny  them  play, 
they  hate  study  ;  allow  them  too  much  recreation,  they 
acquire  a  habit  of  idleness.  Play  also  discovers  the  bent  of 
their  temper  and  moral  character,  and  Quintilian  observes 
that  the  boy  who  is  gloomy  and  downcast  and  languid  and 
dead  to  the  ardour  of  play  affords  no  great  expectations  of 
a  sprightly  disposition  for  study. 

The  remarkable  modernity  of  Quintilian's  opinions  is 
evident  in  his  remarks  on  corporal  punishment.  "  There 
is  a  thing,"  he  says,  "  I  quite  dislike,  though  authorised  by 
custom — ^the  whipping  of  children.  This  mode  of  chastise- 
ment seems  to  me  mean.,  servile,  and  a  gross  affront  on  more 
advanced  years.  If  a  child  is  of  so  abject  a  disposition  as 
not  to  correct  himself  when  reprimanded,  he  will  be  as 
hardened  against  stripes  as  the  vilest  slave.  In  short,  if  a 
master  constantly  exacts  from  his  pupil  an  account  of  his 
study,  there  will  be  no  occasion  to  have  recourse  to  this 
extremity.  It  is  his  neglect  that  most  commonly  causes 
the  scholar's  punishment."  Concluding,  he  asks,  "  If  there 
be  no  other  way  of  correcting  a  child  but  whipping,  what 
shall  be  done,  when  as  a  grown-up  youth  he  is  under  no 
apprehension  of  such  punishment  and  must  learn  greater 
and  more  difficult  things  ?  " 

Having  stated  the  disciplinary  measures  to  be  observed 


QUINTILIAX  45 

in  moral  training,  Quintilian  proceeds  to  consider  the 
intellectual  training  which  should  be  provided  by  the 
"  grammar  school."  ^  To  our  surprise  the  first  question 
which  Quintilian  raises  is  whether  the  Roman  youth  should 
begin  his  grammar-school  training  with  Greek  or  with 
Latin.  Heine's  remark  that  had  it  been  necessary  for  the 
Romans  to  learn  Latin,  they  would  not  have  conquered  the 
world,  derives  its  force  from  our  ignorance  of  Roman 
education,  for  even  although  the  Roman  youth  had  not  to 
learn  Latin,  they  had  to  learn  Greek.  It  must  nevertheless 
be  recalled  that  Greek  was  then  still  a  living  language,  that 
a  knowledge  of  Greek  was  almost  universal  anu)ng  the  upper 
classes  in  Rome  and  that  it  was  indeed  the  mother-tongue 
of  many  of  the  slaves  in  the  Roman  households.^  Quintilian 
consequently  remarks  ^  that  it  is  a  matter  of  no  great 
nu)ment  whether  the  pupil  begins  with  Latin  or  Greek, 
but  in  the  early  education  he  recommended  the  a((|uirement 
of  Greek  first,  because  Latin  being  in  common  use  would 
come  of  itself. 

He  would  not  have  the  boy  even  at  the  earliest  stages 
speak  only  Greek,  as  in  mediaeval  schools  boys  were  re- 
quired to  speak  only  l^atin,  for  this  he  feared  would  affect 
his  enunciation;  conse(iuently  "the  Tiatin  must  soon 
follow  and  both  in  a  short  time  go  together  ;  so  it  will  come 
to  pass  that,  when  we  equally  inq)rove  both  languages,  the 
one  will  not  be  hurtful  to  the  other." 

As  Music  with  Plato,  so  (Jrammar  with  Quintilian  com- 
prises literature,  especially  poetry.  (Jrammar  iie  divides 
into  two  parts  :  the  knowledge  of  correct  speaking  and 
writing,  and  the  interpretation  of  ])oetry.  For  good 
speaking,  which  must  be  correct,  clear,  and  elcL'ant.  reason, 

'  Bk.  i,  ch.  iv.  -See  Wilkins'  Roman  Editnitinn.  |>.  l'.>  rt  seq. 

=  Bk.  i,  ch.  iv.     (T.  l>k.  i.  ch.  i. 


46    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

antiquity,  authority  and  use  are  to  be  the  guiding  principles. 
As  a  practical  preparation  for  the  later  training  in  rhetoric 
Quintilian  proposes  that  the  pupils  should  learn  to  relate 
Aesop's  fables  in  plain  form,  then  to  paraphrase  them  into 
more  elegant  style. ^  In  regard  to  correct  writing  or 
orthography  "  unless  custom  otherwise  directs,"  says 
Quintilian,  "  I  would  have  every  word  written  as  pro- 
nounced ;  for  the  use  and  business  of  letters  is  to  preserve 
sounds,  and  to  present  them  faithfully  to  the  eye  of  the 
reader,  as  a  pledge  committed  to  their  charge.  They  ought 
therefore  to  express  what  we  have  to  say."  This  is  a 
plea  for  what  at  the  present  time  is  termed  "  simplified 
spelling." 

Like  Plato,  Quintilian  recognises  that  children  should  be 
taught  not  only  what  is  beautiful  and  eloquent,  but  in  a 
greater  degree  what  is  good  and  honest.  Homer  and  Virgil 
should  consequently  be  read  first,  even  although  "  to  be 
sensible  of  their  beauties  is  the  business  of  riper  judgment." 
Tragedy  and  lyric  poetry  may  likewise  be  employed,  but 
Greek  lyrics  being  written  with  somewhat  too  great  freedom, 
and  elegies  that  treat  of  love  should  not  be  put  into 
children's  hands.  When  morals  run  no  risk,  comedy  may 
be  a  principal  study.  The  general  aim  of  reading  at  this 
stage  is  to  make  youths  read  such  books  as  enlarge  their 
minds  and  strengthen  their  genius  ;  for  erudition  will  come 
of  itself  in  more  advanced  years.  The  study  of  grammar 
and  love  of  reading  should  not,  however,  be  confined 
to  school-days,  but  rather  extended  to  the  last  period 
of  life. 

Quintilian,  after  discussing  grammar,  proceeds  to  consider 
the  other  arts  and  sciences,  a  knowledge  of  which  the  future 
orator  ought  to  acquire  at  the  grammar  school ;  and  in 
»  Bk.  i,  cb.  vi. 


QUINTILIAN  47 

justification  of  his  selection  he  reiterates  that  he  lias  in 
mind  "the  image  of  that  perfect  orator  to  whom  nothing 
is  wanting."  ^ 

Music  must  be  included  in  the  training  of  the  orator,^ 
and  Quintilian  maintains  that  he  might  content  himself 
with  citing  the  authority  of  the  ancients,  and  in  this  con- 
nection instances  Plato,  by  whom  Grammar  was  even 
considered  to  fall  under  Music.  According  to  Quintilian, 
Music  has  two  rhythms:  the  one  in  the  voice,  the  other  in 
the  body.  The  former  treats  of  the  proper  selection  and 
pronunciation  of  words,  the  tone  of  voice,  those  being 
suited  to  the  nature  of  the  cause  pleaded  :  ^  the  latter  deals 
with  the  gestures  or  action  which  should  accompany  and 
harmonise  with  the  voice.  But  this  falls  to  be  dealt  with 
in  the  school  of  rhetoric,  and  is  considered  at  some 
length  by  Quintilian  towards  the  conclusion  of  his  work.* 

Geometry,  as  in  Plato's  scheme,  is  included  by  Quintilian,* 
but,  unlike  Plato  in  the  RejmhUr,  Quintilian  does  not  desj)ise 
its  practical  advantages  to  the  orator,  who  in  a  court  might 
make  an  error  in  calculation  or  "  make  a  motion  with  his 
fingers  which  disagrees  with  the  number  he  calculates," 
and  thus  lead  peo])le  to  harbour  an  ill  opinion  of  his  ability  ; 
plane  geometry  is  not  less  necessary  as  nuiny  lawsuits 
concern  estates  and  boundaries.  Plato  nuide  geometry  a 
preparation  for  philoso])hy,  and  Quintilian  recommends  it 
as  a  training  for  elo(|uence.  As  order  is  necessary  to 
geometry,  so  also,  says  Quintilian,  is  it  essential  to  chxjuence. 
Geometry  lays  down  principles,  draws  conclusions  from 
them,  and  proves  uncertainties  l)y  certainties  :  does  not 
oratory  do  the  same  I  he  asks.     It  is  thus  on  the  disciplinary 

>  Bk.  i,  ch.  vii.  =  V,k.  i,  rli.  viii. 

•*  Bk.  i,  cli.  X.  and  l>k.  xi,  vh.  iii. 

'  Cf.  bk.  xi,  ch.  iii.  •  Bk.  i,  .  h.  ix. 


48    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

value    of    geometry    that    Quintilian,    following    Plato, 
insists.^ 

Quintilian  would  also  have  the  pupil  resort  to  a  school  of 
physical  culture,  there  to  acquire  a  graceful  carriage. 

Dancing,  too,  might  be  allowed  while  the  pupil  is  still 
young,  but  should  not  be  long  continued ;  for  it  is  an  orator, 
not  a  dancer,  that  is  to  be  formed.  "  This  benefit,  however, 
will  accrue  from  it  that  without  thinking,  and  impercep- 
tibly, a  secret  grace  will  mingle  w^th  all  our  behaviour  and 
continue  with  us  through  life." 

Having  determined  the  selection  of  subjects,  Quintilian 
inquires  whether  they  can  be  taught  and  learned  con- 
currently, even  supposing  that  they  are  necessary.  ^  The 
argument  against  this  procedure  is  that  many  subjects  of 
different  tendency,  if  taught  together,  would  bring  confusion 
into  the  mind  and  distract  the  attention.  It  is  also  con- 
tended that  neither  the  body,  nor  mind,  nor  length  of  day 
divided  amongst  such  a  diversity  of  studies  would  be 
sufficient  to  hold  out ;  and  though  more  robust  years  might 
undergo  the  toil,  it  should  not  be  presumed  that  the  delicate 
constitutions  of  children  are  equal  to  the  same  burden. 
But  Quintilian  replies  that  they  w^ho  reason  thus  are  not 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  human  mind, 
which  is  so  active,  quick,  and  keeps  such  a  multiplicity  of 
points  of  view  before  it  that  it  cannot  restrict  itself  to  one 
particular  thing,  but  extends  its  powers  to  a  great  many, 
not  only  during  the  same  day,  but  likewise  at  the  same 
moment.  What,  then,  he  asks,  should  hinder  us  applying 
our  minds  to  many  subjects,  having  several  hours  for 
reflection,  especially  when  variety  refreshes  and  renovates 
the  mind  ?  It  is  the  opposite  course,  namely,  to  persevere 
in  one  and  the  same  study  that  is  painful.     To  be  restricted 

^  Cf.  E.  C.  Moore,  What  is  Education  ?  ch.  iii.  *  Bk.  i,  cb.  xi. 


QUINTILIAX  49 

for  a  whole  day  to  one  master  fatigues  greatly,  but  changes 
may  be  recreative.  In  support  of  his  argument  Quintilian 
adduces  the  analogy  of  farming,  asking,  "  Why  do  we  not 
advise  our  farmers  not  to  cultivate  at  the  same  time  their 
fields,  \'ineyards,  olive-grounds  and  shrubs  ?  "  Any  of 
these  occupations  continued  without  interruption  would 
prove  very  tiresome  ;  in  Quintilian's  view,  it  is  much  easier 
to  do  many  things  than  confine  ourselves  long  to  one. 

The  principle  of  the  co-ordination  of  studies  is  also 
supported  by  Quintilian  on  the  ground  that  no  age  is  less 
liable  to  fatigue  than  childhood  ;  but  it  would  have  been 
more  scientific  had  he  maintained  that  no  age  is  more 
readily  fatigued,  hence  the  need  for  change.  After  con- 
cluding the  survey  of  grammar-school  education,  Quintilian 
turns  to  consider  that  of  the  school  of  rhetoric,  and  at  the 
outset  complains  of  a  certain  overlapping  in  the  work  of  the 
two  types  of  schools,  maintaining  that  it  would  be  better  if 
each  confined  itself  to  its  own  proper  task. 

In  selecting  a  school  of  rhetoric  for  a  youth,  his  first 
consideration  is  the  ma.ster"s  morals.  The  character  which 
Quintilian  requires  is  expressed  thus  :  ^  "  Let  him  have  to- 
wards his  pupils  the  benevolent  disposition  of  a  parent,  and 
consider  himself  as  holding  the  ])lace  of  those  who  have 
entrusted  him  with  this  charge.  He  must  neither  ])o 
vicious  himself,  nor  countenance  vice  ;  austere  though  not 
harsh  ;  mild  though  not  familiar  :  lest  the  first  general  e 
hatred,  the  second  contempt.  Tict  liiin  talk  fro(|uently  of 
virtue.  The  oftener  he  advises,  the  seldomer  he  will  be 
obliged  to  punish.  Let  him  be  ])lain  and  simple  in  his 
manner  of  teaching  ;  patient  in  labour  ;  rather  jiuuctual  in 
makinghis  scholars  c()m])ly  with  theirduty.  than  tooe.xact  in 
requiring  more  than  they  can  do."  The  same  high  standard 
I  Bk.  ii,  ch.  ii. 


50     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

as  in  moral  attainment  is  deemed  requisite  for  the  intellec- 
tual qualifications  of  the  master  of  the  school  of  rhetoric. 

He  characterises  as  silly  the  opinion  of  those  who,  when 
their  boys  are  fit  for  the  school  of  rhetoric,  do  not  consider  it 
necessary  to  place  them  immediately  under  the  care  of  the 
most  eminent,  but  allow  them  to  remain  at  schools  of  less 
repute  ;  for  the  succeeding  master  will  have  the  double 
burden  of  unteaching  what  is  wrong  as  well  as  teaching 
what  is  right.  Distinguished  masters,  it  might  be  main- 
tained, may  think  it  beneath  them  or  may  not  be  able  to 
descend  to  such  small  matters  as  the  elements,  but  he  who 
cannot,  Quintilian  retorts,  should  not  be  ranked  in  the 
catalogue  of  teachers,  for  it  is  not  possible  that  he  who 
excels  in  great,  should  be  ignorant  of  little  things.  The 
plainest  method,  he  adds,  is  always  the  best,  and  this  the 
most  learned  possess  in  a  greater  degree  than  others. 

Having  discussed  the  type  of  school  to  which  the  pupil 
of  rhetoric  should  be  sent,  Quintilian  considers  the  subjects 
to  be  taught  and  the  methods  to  be  employed.  The  treat- 
ment of  rhetoric  extending  from  Bk.  III.  to  Bk.  XII.  of  the 
Institutes  is  of  a  highly  technical  nature  and  of  little  value 
or  interest  to  the  student  of  Education,  although  it  may  be 
a  profitable  study  for  the  writer  who  seeks  to  improve  his 
style  ^  or  for  the  teacher  of  classics,  as  it  includes,  in  addition 
to  choice  and  arrangement  of  material  and  the  j^rincijjles 
of  style,  a  review  of  Latin  literature  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  orator. 2 

As  the  education  which  Quintilian  prescribes  is  that  of 
an  orator,  he  does  not  deal  with  the  education  of  women. 
From  his  remark  that  both  parents  of  the  orator  should  be 
cultured,  it  might  be  inferred,  howev^er,  that  he  expected 
women  to  receive  some  form  of  education.  There  is  no 
1  Cf.  Quiller-Coucli,  The  Art  of  Writing,  pj).  i;}8-!).  -  15k.  x. 


QUINTILIAN  51 

direct  e\adence  of  the  existence  of  coeducational  establish- 
ments in  Rome,  but  it  appears  that  girls  were  taught  the 
same  subjects  as  boys,  although  the  early  age  of  marriage 
would  doubtless  exclude  them  from  the  higher  education 
in  rhetoric  in  which,  for  Quintilian,  the  early  and  grammar- 
school  education  culminate. 

Quintilian's  histihdes  is  the  most  comprehensive,  if  not 
the  most  systematic,  treatise  on  oratory  in  existence  ;  it 
doubtless  appeared  too  late  to  influence  Roman  education 
greatly,  but  it  was  regarded  by  the  Renaissance  educators 
as  the  standard  and  authoritative  work  on  Education,  and 
through  them  it  assisted  in  fashioning  educational  training 
throughout  Europe  up  to  quite  modern  times. 


CHAPTER   III 

ELYOT 

The  period  of  Rome's  greatness  was  followed  by  an  age  of 
intellectual  sterility,  and  it  is  only  when  we  come  to  the 
Renaissance  movement  in  the  fifteenth  century  that  we  find 
the  real  successors  to  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers  whom 
we  have  already  considered. 

The  Renaissance  movement  was  an  attempt  to  recapture 
the  spirit  and  reinstate  the  ideals  of  Greek  and  Roman 
culture.  It  had  its  origin  in  Northern  Italy,  but  it  spread 
over  Europe,  influencing,  and  to  some  extent  civilising, 
Germany,  France,  and  Britain.  The  break  with  tradition 
and  the  desire  for  freedom  which  characterised  the  move- 
ment took  in  Italy  a  literary  and  aesthetic  turn ;  in 
Northern  Europe  it  was  ethical  and  religious  ;  in  England 
it  was  partly  political,  but  mainly  educational,  as  we  find  in 
More's  Utopia,  Elyot's  Governor,  and  Ascham's  Schoolmaster. 

The  source  from  which  the  Renaissance  representatives 
drew  inspiration  determined  the  direction  of  the  movement. 
Socrates  had  turned  from  physical  speculation  as  an  un- 
profitable study,  1  and  thereafter  fixed  his  thought  upon 
man  and  his  state.  His  conversion  had  determined  the 
course  of  Greek  culture,  which  became  rich  in  the  products 

'  Cf.  Plato's  Apology,  §  19  :  "  The  simple  truth  is  that  1  have  nothing 
to  do  with  physical  speculation." 


ELYOT  53 

of  the  mind,  in  literature,  philosophy,  and  art,  and  thus  the 
Renaissance  movement  in  Education,  in  its  attempt  to 
reinstate  in  its  entirety  the  golden  age  of  Greece's  greatest 
triumphs,  was  predestined  to  be  humanistic  rather  than 
realistic. 

As  the  Greek  age  was  an  age  of  great  personalities,  there 
was  consequently  in  the  Renaissance  movement,  which 
sought  to  reflect  it,  a  strong  individualistic  tendency. 
Elyot  prescribes  the  education  of  "  noble  children,"  Ascham 
the  education  of  a  well-born  youth,  but  More  pro\ades  a 
striking  exception  when  in  his  Utopia  he  expresses  the 
desire  that  "  all  in  their  childhood  should  be  instructed  in 
learning  in  their  own  native  tongue." 

The  reinstatement  of  a  past  culture,  even  if  completely 
attainable,  must  ultimately  be  unsatisfactory.  The  passage 
of  time  brings  with  it  altered  conditions,  and  in  its  new 
setting  the  old  ideal  appears  obsolete.  No  age  by  reverting 
to  the  past  can  hope  thus  easily  to  escape  the  task  of  offering 
its  own  contribution  to  civilisation  and  history,  and  as  the 
ideal  of  education  reflects  the  general  \'iew  of  life  current 
at  the  time,  no  past  system  of  education  can  fully  satisfy 
present  demands.  Thus  humanism  as  an  educational  idea 
was  doomed  to  failure  ;  it  must  sooner  or  later  exhaust 
itself  and  leave  unsatisfied  the  new  needs  ;  and  this  was 
what  actually  did  happen,  for  "  the  aim  of  education  was 
thought  of  in  terms  of  language  and  literature  instead  of  in 
terms  of  life."  It  was  also,  as  we  have  seen,  an  individual- 
istic and  aristocratic  movement ;  and,  although  for  a  time 
it  might  satisfy  the  requirements  of  a  specially  favoured 
class  in  the  community,  it  had  nothing  to  oiTcr  to  the  rising 
commercial  democracy  and,  like  Plato's  scheme  of  educa- 
tion in  the  Republic,  it  failed  to  make  pro\nsion  f(^r  the 
education  of  the  producing  and  artisan  class. 


54     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

In  1417  Quintilian's  Institutes  was  re-discovered,  and 
became  at  once  the  authoritative  work  on  Education.  So 
true  is  this  that  Erasmus  (in  1512)  apologises  for  touching 
upon  methods  or  aims  in  teaching,  "  seeing,"  as  he  says, 
"  that  Quintilian  has  said  in  effect  the  last  word  on  the 
matter."  Quintilian's  ideal  personality  had  been  the 
orator,  that  of  the  Renaissance  was  the  "  courtier,"  the 
English  equivalent  of  which  was  the  Governor — Governors 
including  all  officers  paid  or  unpaid,  involved  in  executive 
or  legislative  activity,  royal  secretaries,  ambassadors, 
judges,  etc.^  The  training  in  both  cases,  Roman  and 
Renaissance,  was  practically  identical,  namely,  a  training 
for  public  life ;  and  Elyot  in  his  Governor  merely  recapitulates 
the  doctrines  of  Quintilian.  It  was  only  later  in  the 
Italian  Revival,  after  1470,  that  the  influence  of  Plato  and 
of  Aristotle  came  to  be  felt,  and  the  influence  of  the  former 
is  most  evident  in  More's  Utopia. 

As  representative  of  the  early  humanistic  movement  in 
English  education  we  shall  select  for  consideration  Elyot's 
Governor.  This  work,  published  in  1531,  is  the  first  book 
on  the  subject  of  Education  written  and  printed  in  English, 
and  in  this  lies  its  main  interest,  for  although  displaying  no 
great  originality  it  made  accessible  the  views  on  education 
of  the  classical  writers,  especially  of  Quintilian.  The 
purpose  of  the  work  is  to  describe  "  the  best  form  of  educa- 
tion, or  bringing  up  of  noble  children  from  their  nativity, 
in  such  a  manner  as  they  may  be  found  worthy  and  also 
able  to  be  governors  of  a  public  weale."  ^ 

On  account  of  the  diversity  of  gifts  amongst  men,  it  was 
natural,  in  Elyot's  opinion,  that  there  should  be  differences 
of  position  in  the  state,  that  some  should  be  governors  and 

1  Woodward,  Education  during  the  Renaissance,  \t.  272. 
^  Everyman  od.,  p.  1.^. 


ELYOT  55 

that  to  such  the  others  should  minister,  receiving  iu  return 
from  them  direction  as  to  the  way  of  virtue  and  commodious 
living.  As  the  work  was  dedicated  to  Henry  VIII.,  it  was 
incumbent  on  Elyot  to  maintain  tliat  there  shoukl  be  in  the 
state  one  sovereign  governor,  and  that  the  subordinate 
governors,  called  magistrates,  should  be  chosen  or  appointed 
by  the  sovereign  governor. 

Like  Quintilian,  Elyot  requires  that  care  should  be 
exercised  in  the  choice  of  a  nurse  for  the  child  so  that  the 
future  governor  should  not  in  early  infancy  assimilate  evil 
in  any  form.  He  would  also,  with  Quintilian,  have  the 
child's  instruction  begin  early,  even  before  seven  years  of 
age,  giving  as  his  reason  that,  although  certain  of  the  Greek 
and  Roman  writers  were  of  a  contrary  opinion,  knowledge 
for  them  was  to  be  found  in  works  written  in  the  mother 
tongue  of  the  pupils,  whereas  in  Elyots  time  it  was  in 
Greek  and  Latin.  For  the  learning  of  these  languages  much 
time  was  required  ;  it  was  therefore  necessary,  he  main- 
tains, to  encroach  somewhat  upon  the  years  of  childhood. 
The  pupils  are  not,  however,  to  be  forced  to  learn,  but,  in 
accordance  with  the  advice  of  Quintilian,  to  whom  he  refers, 
they  are  "  to  be  sweetly  allured  thereto  with  })raises  and 
such  pretty  gifts  as  children  delight  in.  ' 

They  are  to  be  early  trained  to  speak  Latin,  learning  the 
names  of  objects  about  them  and  asking  in  Latin  for  things 
they  desire.  If  it  is  possible,  the  nurses  and  those  in 
attendance  upon  them  are  to  speak  Latin  or  at  least  only 
pure  English.  This  "  direct  method  "  of  learning  Latin, 
as  it  would  now  be  called,  will  prepare  the  way  for  writing 
Latin  later  on.  Ascham  in  The  SrhoohnasU'r,^  "or  ])lain  and 
perfect  icay  of  leaching  children  to  understand,  write,  and  sjmik 
in    Latin   tongue,"    deprecates    this    method    of   learning, 

^  Written  l.KJ.^S  and  posthumously  published  in  I.")TO, 


56     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

maintaining,  "  If  children  were  brought  up  in  such  a  house 
or  such  a  school,  where  the  Latin  tongue  were  properly  and 
perfectly  spoken,  then  the  daily  use  of  speaking  were  the 
best  and  readiest  way  to  learn  the  Latin  tongue.  But  now, 
commonly,  in  the  best  schools  in  England  for  words  right 
choice  is  smally  regarded,  true  propriety  wholly  neglected, 
confusion  is  brought  in,  barbarousness  is  bred  up  so  in  young 
wits,  as  afterward  they  be,  not  only  marred  for  speaking, 
but  also  corrupted  in  judgment  as  with  much  ado  or  never 
at  all  they  be  brought  to  right  frame  again."  ^  Ascham's 
aim  is  the  same  as  that  of  Elyot,  "  to  have  the  children 
speak  Latin,"  but  he  would  not  allow  them  to  speak  Latin 
till  they  had  read  and  translated  the  first  book  of  Sturm's 
Epistles  "  with  a  good  piece  of  a  comedy  of  Terence  also." 
Speaking  would  come  after  writing  in  Ascham's  scheme, 
which  amounted  to  little  more  than  a  method  of  double 
translation. 

Elyot  advises  that  at  seven  years  of  age  the  pupil  should 
be  removed  from  the  care  of  women  and  assigned  to  a  tutor, 
who  should  be  "an  ancient  and  worshipful  man  in  whom  is 
proved  to  be  much  gentleness  mixed  with  gravity  and  as 
near  as  can  be,  such  an  one  as  the  child  by  imitating  may 
grow  to  be  excellent.  And  if  he  be  also  learned,  he  is  the 
more  conmiendable." 

The  fii'st  duty  of  the  tutor  is  to  get  to  know  the  nature  of 
the  pupil,  approving  and  extolling  any  virtuous  dispositions 
which  the  latter  should  happen  to  possess,  and  condemning 
in  no  hesitating  manner  any  which  might  later  lead  the 
pupil  into  evil.  He  should  also  take  care  that  the  pupil  is 
not  fatigued  with  continual  learning,  but  that  studv  is 
diversified  with  exercise.  To  this  end  Elyot  recommends 
playing  on  musical  instruments  ;    this  should  lead  to  the 

'  Schoolmaster,  Arber  lieprints,  pp.  28-9. 


ELYOT  57 

proper  understanding  of  music  which,  in  its  turn  the  tutor 
should  declare,  is  necessary  for  the  better  attaining  the 
knowledge  of  a  commonwealth.^  Other  recreative  subjects 
which  may  be  taken  up  if  the  pupil  has  a  natural  taste  for 
them  include  painting  and  carving.  The  former  has 
practical  advantages  ;  it  is  not,  however,  for  these  but  on 
account  of  its  recreative  value  that  it  is  to  be  studied. 
These  subjects  are  not  to  be  compulsory.  "  My  inten- 
tion and  meaning  is,"  says  Elyot,  "  only  that  a  noble 
child  by  its  own  natural  disposition  and  not  by  coercion, 
may  be  induced  to  receive  perfect  instruction  in  these 
sciences."  ^ 

The  tutor  is  likewise  to  seek  out  a  master  who  is  learned 
both  in  Greek  and  Latin  and  who  is  also  of  good  character, 
and  the  pupil,  when  he  knows  the  parts  of  speech  and  can 
separate  one  of  them  from  another  in  his  own  language,  is 
to  be  put  under  such  an  one.  Elyot  is  of  the  same  opinion 
as  Quintilian  concerning  the  order  in  which  languages  should 
be  acquired  ;  he  would  have  the  pupil  study  Greek  and 
Latin  authors  both  at  one  time  or  else  to  begin  with  CJreok, 
"  for  as  much  as  that  is  hardest  to  come  by."'  If  the  chiUl 
begins  Greek  at  seven,  he  mav  read  Greek  authors  for  three 
years,  using  Latin  meanwhile  as  "a  familiar  language." 
He  is  not  to  be  detained  long  over  grammar,  either  Latin  or 
Greek,  for  grammar  is  but  an  introduction  to  the  under- 
standing of  authors,  and  if  too  much  time  is  spent  on  it.  or 
it  is  dealt  with  too  minutely,  the  desire  of  learning  fails. 
The  works  to  be  read  are  mainly  those  enumerated  in 
Quintilian ;  first  Aesop's  Fables  and  later  Homer  and 
Virgil.  These  with  the  others  which  he  names  most  of 
the  other  classical  authors  l)eing  mentioned  will,  he 
considers,  suffice  till  the  pupil  is  thirteen  years  of  age  when 
1  p.  28.     Cf.  Plato's  idea  that  justice  is  a  hariiKniy.  -  p.  .'{1. 


58     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

reason  develops  and  he  may  proceed  to  the  study  of  more 
advanced  subjects. 

From  fourteen  to  seventeen  years  of  age  the  pupil  is  to 
study  Logic,  Rhetoric,  Cosmography  or  Geography,  which 
serves  as  a  preparation  for  History.  At  the  age  of  seventeen 
the  pupil  is  considered  ripe  enough  to  pass  to  the  study  of 
Philosophy,  which  Elyot  maintains  should  continue  till 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  protests  against  the  early 
specialisation  in  Law,  which  at  that  time  seemed  common, 
maintaining  that  the  general  training  in  philosophy  would 
ultimately  be  more  profitable.^  In  philosophy  Aristotle's 
Ethics,  Cicero's  De  Officiis,  and  later,  when  the  judgment 
of  man  is  come  to  perfection,  the  works  of  Plato,  the 
proverbs  of  Solomon  with  the  books  of  Ecdesiasfes  and 
Ecclesiasticiis  would  provide  excellent  lessons,  and  the 
historical  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  should  be  used  by  a 
nobleman  after  he  is  mature  in  years.  The  residue  with 
the  New  Testament  "  is  to  be  reverently  touched,  as  a 
celestial  jewel  or  relic."  ^ 

As  continuous  study  without  some  manner  of  exercise, 
according  to  Elyot,  exhausteth  the  vital  spirits,  he  considers 
the  physical  exercises  which  are  regarded  as  befitting  a 
gentleman.  The  attention  which  Elyot  devotes  to  physical 
culture  recalls  Greek  rather  than  Roman  practice,  and  is 
characteristically  English.  Wrestling,  Running,  Swimming, 
Handling  the  sword  and  battle-axe,  Riding  and  Vaulting 
are  recommended  on  the  ground  of  their  utility  as  well  as 
for  the  training  they  afford  ;  and  the  inclusion  of  these 
exercises  is  further  justified  by  copious  references  to  the 
use  made  of  them  by  classical  heroes. 

Other  exercises  recommended,  the  utility  of  which  is  not 
always  evident,  include  Hunting,  mainly  of  deer,  as  lions 
1  Cf.  pp.  G80.  "  1).  48. 


ELYOT  59 

and  wild  beasts  were  not  to  be  found  ;  not,  however,  hunting 
with  dogs  but  rather  witli  javelins  after  the  manner  of  war. 
Hunting  of  the  fox  woukl  only  be  followed  in  the  deep  winter 
when  the  other  game  is  unseasonable,  and  hunting  of  the 
hare  with  greyhounds  was  regarded  as  a  solace  for  men  that 
be  studious,  and  for  gentlewomen  "which  fear  neither  sun 
nor  wind  for  impairing  their  beauty.""  Tennis  seldom  \ised 
and  for  a  little  space  is  a  good  exercise  for  young  men, 
Bowling  he  hardly  approves  of,  Ninepins  and  Quoiting  are 
utterly  abject,  likewise  Football,  "  wherein  is  nothing  but 
beastly  fury  and  extreme  violence  ;  whereof  proceedeth  hurt, 
and  consequently  rancour  and  malice  do  remain  with  them 
that  be  wounded,  wherefore  it  is  to  be  ])ut  in  jjcrpetual 
silence.""  ^  Xo  exercise  can  in  Elyot's  opinion  compare  with 
Archery  or  shooting  with  the  long  bow  ;  on  national  grounds 
he  considers  that  it  ought  to  be  practised  because  it  is  the 
characteristically  English  mode  of  warfare,  and  for  killing 
game  is  as  useful  as  anv  otiier  kind  of  shooting. 

Above  all,  in  respect  to  Dancing-  do  we  iind  Elyot  adopt- 
ing the  Greek  rather  than  the  Roman  standpoint.  Xot 
only  would  he  permit  it,  ])ut  he  would  use  dancing  even  as 
a  means  of  training  the  pui)il  to  prudence.  In  the  vaiious 
steps  or  movements  he  sees  analogies  with  the  difVerent 
aspects  of  morality  and  concludes  that  ''  dancing  diligently 
beholden  shall  apj)ear  to  be  as  well  a  necessary  study  as  a 
noble  and  virtuous  ])astime."'  In  justilication  of  his  view 
Elyot  cites  classical  and  biblical  instances  of  dancing  as 
a  religious  rite  or  as  the  ex])ressi()n  ol"  religious  thanks- 
giving. 

*  In  the  rcipn  of  James  1  of  Scotland,  140(1  14.5T,  the  Kins  ordered 
every  man  who  j)layed  footl)all  to  be  fined  foiir[)en<e.  The  time  that 
w  as  wasted  over  it,  he  thought,  could  more  proiitably  be  given  to  archcrj. 

-pp.  85-107. 


60     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

In  the  Governor  there  is  an  interesting  digression  ^  on  the 
decay  of  learning  in  England.  More,  in  his  Utopia,  had 
previously  ^  complained  that  in  the  England  of  his  day  more 
than  two-fifths  of  the  people  could  not  read  English,  much 
less  Latin  or  Greek.  Elyot  attributes  this  condition  of 
aifairs  to  two  main  causes :  the  pride,  avarice,  and  negligence 
of  parents,  and  the  lack  of  qualified  teachers.  To  be  well 
learned  was  likewise  regarded  as  a  reproach  amongst  gentle- 
men at  that  time,  an  opinion  against  which  Ascham  also 
inveighs,^  and  which  Elyot  opposes  by  citing  from  history 
instaiices  of  great  rulers  who  were  also  great  scholars.  In 
regard  to  the  avarice  of  parents  he  states  that  they  take 
exceeding  care  in  engaging  servants  to  inquire  into  their 
abilities,  but  when  engaging  a  schoolmaster  their  only 
concern  is  for  how  little  he  can  be  secured. 

Of  the  dearth  of  good  teachers  Elyot  remarks  :  "  Lord 
God,  how  many  good  and  clean  wits  of  children  be  nowadays 
perished  by  ignorant  schoolmasters,"  and  for  his  standard 
of  goodness  he  resorts  to  Quintilian  :  "I  call  not  them 
grammarians  which  only  can  teach  or  make  rules  whereby 
a  child  shall  only  learn  to  speak  suitable  Latin,  or  to  make 
six  verses  standing  in  one  foot,  wherein  perchance  shall  be 
neither  sentence  nor  eloquence.  But  I  name  him  a  gram- 
marian by  the  authority  of  Quintilian,  that  speaking  Latin 
elegantly,  can  expound  good  authors,  expressing  the 
invention  and  disposition  of  the  matter,  their  style  or  form 
of  eloquence,  explicating  the  figures  as  well  of  sentences  as 
words,  leaving  nothing,  person  or  place  named  by  the 
author,  undeclared  or  hid  from  his  scholars.  AVherefore 
Quintilian  saith,  it  is  not  enough  for  him  to  have  read  poets, 
but  all  kinds  of  writing  must  also  be  sought  for  ;  not  for  the 

1  pp.  49-72.  M.'ilS-lSie. 

*  Schoolmaster,  Arber  Reprints,  p.  fiO. 


ELYOT  01 

histories  only,  but  also  for  the  propriety  of  words,  which 
commonly  do  receive  their  authority  of  noble  authors." 
Few  answering  this  description,  Elyot  maintains,  are  to  be 
found  in  the  realm.  Contributing  causes  of  this  are  the 
early  withdrawal  of  children  from  school,  which  takes  from 
the  master  "  the  worship  that  he  above  any  reward  coveteth 
to  have  by  the  praise  of  his  pupil,"  also  the  opinion  which 
Quintilian  had  previously  characterised  as  silly,  that  any 
kind  of  master  was  good  enough  to  teach  the  elements. 

To  remedy  these  defects  Elyot  wrote  the  Governor  and, 
in  his  concluding  paragraph,  he  states :  "Now  all  ye  readers 
that  desire  to  have  your  children  to  be  governors,  or  in  any 
other  authority  in  the  public  weale  of  your  country,  if  ye 
bring  them  up  and  instruct  them  in  such  form  as  in  this  book 
is  declared,  they  shall  then  seem  to  all  men  worthy  to  be  in 
authority,  honour  and  noblesse,  and  all  that  is  under  their 
governance  shall  prosper  and  come  to  perfection.  And  as 
a  precious  stone  set  in  a  rich  jewel  they  shall  be  beholden 
and  wondered  at,  and  after  the  death  of  their  body  their 
souls  for  their  endeavour  shall  be  incomprehensibly  re- 
warded of  the  giver  of  wisdom." 


CHAPTER    IV 

LOYOLA 1 

In  the  Jesuit  system  founded  by  Ignatius  of  Loyola  "  the 
aristocratic  tendency  which  characterises  the  educational 
systems  with  which  we  have  already  dealt,  to  some  extent 
survives.  Ignatius,  a  knight  of  noble  birth,  recognised  that, 
for  the  crusade  which  the  Company  of  Jesus  was  enrolled 
to  wage,  all  available  gifts  of  intellect  and  birth  would  be 
required  ;  consequently  it  gave  him  peculiar  satisfaction 
when  the  tests  imposed  on  candidates  for  admission  to  the 
Society  were  passed  by  youths  of  noble  birth.  ^  The  Society 
devotes  itself  mainly,  although  not  exclusively  to  higher 
education,  but  for  this  restriction  there  is  historical  justifica- 
tion. Its  aim  was  to  arrest  the  disintegrating  forces  in  the 
religious  life  of  Europe,'*  and  to  effect  this  it  was  necessary 

1  For  guidance  in  regard  to  recent  literature  on  this  subject  the  writer 
is  indebted  to  Prof.  Corcoran,  S.J. 

*  l.'jth  Aug.  1534  is  given  as  the  birthday  of  the  Company  of  Jesus. 
In  1540  the  Society  was  approved  })y  the  Pope.  For  Bull  bestowing  the 
First  Papal  Approbation  on  the  Company  of  Jesus  see  Ajipendi.v  to 
English  translation  of  The  Constitutions  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  pp.  lOl-d. 

*  Cf.  Francis  Thompson's  Saint  hjnalius  Loyola,  )ip.  171-2. 

■•  It  is  unhistorical  to  regard  the  Society  as  founded  to  opjjose  Pro- 
testantism. It  is  doubtful  whether,  wlien  Ignatius  conceived  the  idea 
of  founding  a  new  Order,  he  had  ever  heard  as  much  as  tlie  name  of 
Luther.  Cf.  R.  Schwickerath,  Jrsuil  Education,  its  History  and  Prin- 
ciples, p.  77. 

62 


LOYOI.A  63 

to  attack  the  evils  at  their  source,  namely,  in  the  univers  - 
ties,  hence  the  Society's  concern  for  higher  education. 

AVhile  the  Jesuits  are  expressly  adjured  to  address  them- 
selves to  higher  education,  they  do  not  hesitate,  when 
necessity  requires,  to  devote  themselves  to  primary  instruc- 
tion.^ As  the  Jesuit  system  is  sometimes  charged  with 
intentionally  and  unnecessarily  restricting  education  to  its 
higher  forms,  it  is  advisable  to  state  the  Society's  attitude 
in  its  own  terms.  According  to  the  Constitutions  -  of  the 
Society  instructing  others  in  reading  and  writing  would  be 
a  work  of  charity  if  the  Society  had  a  sufficient  number  of 
persons  available,  but  on  account  of  dearth  of  teachers  it 
is  not  ordinarily  accustomed  to  undertake  this.  Aquaviva, 
the  fifth  General  of  the  Society,  writing  ^  on  2'2nd  February, 
1592,  regarding  the  admission  of  young  ])upils  to  the  schools 
of  the  Society,  states  that  only  those  are  to  be  admitted  who 
are  sufficiently  versed  in  the  rudiments  of  grammar  and 
know  how  to  read  and  write  ;  nor  is  any  dis])ensation  to  be 
granted  to  any  one,  whatever  be  his  condition  of  life  ;  ))ut 
those  who  press  the  petitions  u])on  us  are  to  l)e  answered, 
"  that  we  are  not  permitted."  In  the  lidtio  Studioni))!  the 
twenty-first  rule  for  the  Provincial  or  Su])erior  of  a  Province 
provides  that  for  the  lower  studies  there  are  to  be  not  more 
than  five  schools  :  one  for  Rhetoric,  one  for  Humanities  and 
three  for  Grammar.  Where  schools  are  few,  the  Provincial 
is  to  see  that  the  higher  classes  are  to  l)e  retained,  the  lower 
ones  being  dispensed  with.*     The  charge  that  the  Society 

'  In  [ho  1832  revi.sioii  of  the  Jiatio  St2idionn)i,  Keii.  IVacf.  stiui.  inf.,  s, 
§  12,  reference  is  made  to  elementary  schools. 

^Constitutions,  Pt.  1\',  ch.  xii,  Declaration  ('.  Cf.  (J.  M.  I'achtlcr, 
Monumenta  Grrniuniar  J'aedd'joijicn,  ii,  p.  r>4.  The  J)c(iaratioiis  are 
not  reproduced  in  the  English  edition  of  the  ('()ii.':lit)iti(iii.<. 

^  Cf.  Pachtler,  Momnncnta  Grrnuiniric  J'aidagogica,  ii,  ]).  311. 

'  liatio  Stiidionnn,  Reg.  Proviiicialis,  21.  §  4.     Cf.  Pachtler,  v,  j).  2.'>S. 


64     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

selected  as  a  special  jfield  for  its  endeavours,  the  sphere  of 
education,  in  which  it  believed  its  efforts  were  most 
required  and  likely  to  be  most  effective,  has  only  to  be 
formulated  to  be  rendered  meaningless. 

It  is  evident  that  there  was  no  intention  to  further  a  social 
exclusiveness,  as  originally  the  instruction  which  the  Jesuits 
did  afford  was  free,^  even  including  the  university  stage, 
and  when  tempted  to  impose  fees  by  the  advantages  accruing 
to  their  competitors  who  did  not  scruple  to  charge  for  educa- 
tion, no  text  was  more  frequently  quoted  ^  than  "  Freely 
ye  have  received,  freely  give."  In  this  respect  the  Jesuit 
system  realised  a  principle  which  many  modern  democracies 
have  not  yet  fully  attained,  the  Jesuit  practice  in  this  regard 
recalling  the  disinterested  Greek  attitude  to  knowledge. 

If  aristocrats,  the  Jesuits  are  not  individualists,  and  for 
much  the  same  reasons  as  Quintilian,  they  extol  public 
education.  "  For  this  moral  strengthening  of  character, 
no  less  than  for  the  invigorating  of  mental  energies,  the 
system  of  Ignatius  Loyola  prescribes  an  education  which 
in  public, — -public,  as  being  that  of  many  students  together, 
public  as  opposed  to  private  tutorism,  public,  in  fine,  as 

^  Constitutions,  Pt.  IV,  ch.  xv,  §  4- :  "As  the  Society  instructs  gratui- 
tously." In  the  Constitutions,  Pt.  IV,  ch.  vii,  §  3,  Ignatius  decrees  that 
gifts  to  which  special  conditions  are  attached  are  not  to  be  accepted  by 
the  Society. 

Schwickerath,  Jesuit  Education,  p.  250,  nevertheless  admits  :  "  It  is 
well  known  that  at  present  most  Jesuit  schools  are  compelled  by  sheer 
necessity  to  accept  a  tuition  fee,  because  few  of  their  colleges  are 
endowed." 

*  Hughes's  Loyola,  pp.  G7,  117.  Gf.  also  Constitutions,  Pt.  IV,  ch.  vii, 
§3  ;   ch.  XV,  §4. 

The  Ratio  Sludiorum,  Reg.  Praef.  stud,  inf.,  9,  enacts  that  no  one  shall 
be  excluded  because  he  is  poor  or  of  the  common  people. 

The  Reg.  com.  Prof,  class,  inferiorum,  50,  declares  that  the  i)rofessor 
is  to  slight  no  one,  to  care  aa  much  for  the  progress  of  the  poor  pupil  as 
of  the  rich. 


LOYOLA  05 

requirinfT  a  sufficiency  of  the  open,  fearless  exercise  both  of 
practical  morality  and  of  religion.""  ^ 

The  aim  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  is  avowedly  religious.  In 
origin  it  was  a  missionary  enterprise.  The  Society  has 
sometimes  been  characterised  as  a  mediaeval  or  Catholic 
Salvation  Army,  but  it  does  not  seek  to  gain  disciples  by 
efforts  at  social  amelioration,  nor  does  it  indulge  in  the 
advertising  methods  and  corybantic  displays  of  the  modern 
religious  organisation.^  It  prizes  culture  and  enlists  scholar?, 
and,  if  military  metaphor  nmst  be  adopted,  it  might  be 
regarded  as  a  Crusade.  Its  characteristic  features  were  its 
missionary  enterprise  and  its  educational  activities  ;  "  the 
two  mainstays  and  supports  of  our  society,""  write  the  six 
commissioners  who  drew  uj)  the  1586  Ratio  Sfi/dioruin,^ 
"  are  an  ardent  pursuit  of  ])iety  and  an  eminent  degree  of 
learning,""  and  these  characteristics  differentiated  the 
Society  from  the  other  religious  orders  whose  elTorts  it 
supplemented.  Thus  Francis  Thompson,  distinguishing 
the  duties  of  its  members,  writes  :  ^  "  Xor  was  any  order 
bound  to  foreign  missions.  But,  above  all.  their  educational 
obligations  were  a  new  thing.  The  teaching  of  children 
and  the  poor  liad  no  bodv  of  men  vowed  to  its  ])erformance, 
and  its  neglect  was  among  the  a])uses  which  drew  down  the 
censure  of  the  council  of  Trent  ;  while,  in  gratuitously 
undertaking  the  higher  education  of  youth,  the  Jesuits 
were  absolutely  original.  In  his  missionary  assault,  by 
])reaching  and  ultimately  by  writing,  u})()n  the  jx^oplc  of 

'  Hughes's  Ixiyola,  p.  90. 

*  rf.  Francis  Thompson's  .S'(/i'h/  Ignatius  hyi/ol'i,  y.  1.")"  :  "  His  methods 
of  evangelisation  were  those  nowa(la\s  associateti  witli  tlie  ISalvation 
Army." 

Schwickorath,  Jrs'iit  ErJucatinn,  j>.  7().  note,  cliarartoriscs  the  analogy 
as  absurd. 

'  Pachtler,  v,  2(1.  ^  Saint  Ignaii^is  Ix»jola,  j).  ITlt. 

K 


66     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

power  and  intellect,  who  were  the  brain  and  marrow  of  the 
anti-Catholic  movement,  he  confronted  the  present  ;  in  his 
masterly  seizmre  of  the  school,  he  confronted  the  future. 
He  not  only  confronted,  but  anticipated  it :  he  tore  from 
the  revolt  the  coming  generation,  and  levied  immediate 
posterity  under  the  Catholic  banner.  If  the  coming  years 
prospered  a  counter-reformation,  a  sudden  return-tide  of 
Catholicism  which  swept  back  and  swamped  the  Renascence, 
that  counter-movement  was  prepared  in  the  Jesuit  schools." 

After  his  surrender  to  the  Christian  life  ^  it  was  early 
borne  in  on  Loyola,  while  reading  in  the  Gospel,  "  they 
understood  none  of  these  things,"  that  without  proper 
education  his  labours  would  be  of  no  avail.  He  forthwith 
resolved,  when  over  thirty  years  of  age,  to  acquire  from  the 
beginning  his  Latin  rudiments  and  patiently  to  learn  his 
lessons  among  the  ordinary  pupils.  Bringing  to  his  studies 
an  adult  mind  of  a  surprisingly  practical  type  and  an 
unerring  judgment — his  life  affords  no  confirmation  of  the 
popular  identification  of  saint  with  simpleton — he  could 
reflect  upon  the  methods  employed,  and  from  his  own 
initial  failures  deduce  a  procedure  from  which  others  might 
profit.  "  One  knows  not  whether  more  to  admire  his 
astonishing  determination  or  his  astonishing  mental  power, 
when  it  is  reflected  that  he  carried  through  his  philosophical 
studies  at  the  age  of  forty-four,  having  begun  his  whole 
education  from  the  very  elements  others  acquire  in  boy- 
hood." 2 

In  the  original  draft  of  what  might  be  termed  the  articles 
of  association  of  the  new  Society,  mention  is  made  of 
teaching.     On  the  3rd  May,   1539,  a  series  of  resolutions 

'  For  life  of  Loyola  sec  Francis  Thom]).son's  Saint  Ignatnis  Loyola. 
Born  1491,  died  155G. 

*  Francis  Thompson's  Saint  Ignatin.s  Loyola,  j).  7.3. 


LOYOLA  C)7 

was  adopted,  by  the  few  compaaions  to  whom  Ignatius 
had  coinmunicatcd  his  ideas  of  founding  a  society,  agreeing 
(1)  to  take  an  explicit  vow  of  obedience  to  the  Pope  ;  (2)  to 
teach  the  Commandments  to  children  or  anyone  else  ;  (3) 
to  take  a  fixed  time — an  hour  more  or  less-  -to  teach  the 
Commandments  and  Catechism  in  an  orderly  way  ;  (4)  to 
give  forty  days  in  the  year  for  this  work.^  In  the  First 
Papal  Approbation  it  is  affirmed  that  the  members  of  the 
Society  "  shall  have  expressly  recommended  to  them  the 
instruction  of  boys  and  ignorant  people  in  the  Christian 
doctrine  of  the  ten  commandments,  and  other  the  like 
rudiments,  as  shall  seem  expedient  to  them  according  to 
the  circumstances  of  persons,  places  and  times."  -  In  the 
last  vows  which  the  Jesuit  takes  ^  he  promises  "  peculiar 
care  in  the  education  of  boys." 

In  the  Constitutions  of  the  Society,  a  work  begun  at  the 
request  of  the  Pope  in  loll,  Ignatius  set  forth  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  the  Society.^  This  work  consists  of 
ten  parts,  the  fourth  and  largest  of  which  presents  in  outline 
the  plan  of  studies  which  was  later  more  fully  elaborated  in 
the  Ratio  Studiori/m.  In  Part  I  of  the  Constitutions 
Ignatius  prescribes  the  conditions  of  admission  to  the 
Society,  and  in  Part  II  he  recounts  the  causes  justifying 
the  dismissal  of  probationers  or  members  of  the  Order. 
The  qualifications  which,  according  to  Ignatius,  the  Society 
should  demand  of  its  entrants  recall  in  several  particulars 

'  Francis  Thompson's  Saint  Ignatius  Loijohi,  p.  ]'M'). 

*  C"f.  Ap}x;ndi.x:  to  Eiiglisli  trans,  oi  Constitutiuns,  p.  1(14.     Cf.  p.  102. 

'  Crmstitution-s,  Pt.  \',  cli.  iii,  §  3,  English  trans.,  p.  r>2. 

^  The  Latin  text  with  an  English  translation  by  an  anonymous  IVo- 
t<>5tant  i)ropagan(list  wa.s  ])ublished  by  RivinL'tdn,  Londmi,  in  1S.'{S. 
Tlie  English  version  extends  to  04  jiages. 

Schwickerath,  Jr.^uit  Education,  p.  t)()2,  cliaraeterises  this  translation 
as  '■  very  unscholarly  and  nnrcliable."  but  himself  quotes  from  it. 


68     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

the  qualities  which  Plato  in  the  Republic  required  of  his 
philosophers.  "  It  is  needful,"  Ignatius  states,^  "  that  those 
who  are  admitted  to  aid  the  Society  in  spiritual  concerns 
be  furnished  with  these  following  gifts  of  God.  As  regards 
their  intellect  :  of  sound  doctrine,  or  apt  to  learn  it ;  of 
discretion  in  the  management  of  business,  or,  at  least, 
of  capacity  and  judgment  to  attain  to  it.  As  to  memory  : 
of  aptitude  to  perceive,  and  also  to  retain  their  perceptions. 
As  to  intentions  :  that  they  be  studious  of  all  virtue  and 
spiritual  perfection  ;  calm,  stedfast,  strenuous  in  what  they 
undertake  for  God's  service  ;  burning  with  zeal  for  the 
salvation  of  souls,  and  therefore  attached  to  our  Institute  ; 
which  directly  tends  to  aid  and  dispose  the  souls  of  men 
to  the  attainment  of  that  ultimate  end,  from  the  hand  of 
God,  our  Creator  and  Lord.  In  externals  :  facility  of 
language,  so  needful  in  our  intercourse  with  our  neighbour, 
is  most  desirable.  A  comely  presence,  for  the  edification 
of  those  with  whom  we  have  to  deal.  Good  health,  and 
strength  to  undergo  the  labours  of  our  Institute.  Age  to 
correspond  with  what  has  been  said  ;  which  in  those  ad- 
mitted to  probation  should  exceed  the  fourteenth  year  and 
in  those  admitted  to  profession  the  twenty-fifth.  As  the 
external  gifts  of  nobility,  wealth,  reputation  and  the  like 
are  not  sufficient,  if  others  are  wanting  ;  so,  if  there  be  a 
sufficiency  of  others,  these  are  not  essential  ;  so  far,  how- 
ever, as  they  tend  to  edification,  they  make  those  more  fit 
for  admission,  who,  even  without  them,  would  be  eligible 
on  account  of  the  qualities  before  mentioned  ;  in  which, 
the  more  he  excels  who  desires  to  be  admitted,  so  much 
the  more  fit  will  he  be  for  this  Society,  to  the  glory  of  God 

•  Conslilutions,  Pt.  ],  ch.  ii,  §§  0-13,  English  tran.s.,  p.  7.  Cf.  qvialifica- 
tions  in  First  Papal  Approbation — "  prudent  in  Christ  and  connpicuous 
in  learning." 


LOYOLA  69 

our  Lord,  and  the  less  he  excels,  so  much  the  less  serviceable 
will  he  be.  But  the  sacred  unction  of  the  divine  Wisdom 
will  instruct  those  who  undertake  this  duty  to  His  service 
and  more  abundant  praise,  what  standard  should  be 
maintained  in  all  these  things." 

In  Part  III  of  the  Constitutions  are  indicated  the  general 
lines  of  behaviour  to  be  followed  in  spiritual  affairs,  and 
what  more  especially  concerns  the  educationist,  a  chapter 
is  included  "  Of  the  Superintendence  of  the  Body."  Loyola, 
speaking  from  his  own  experience,  frequently  warned  hi;-' 
companions  against  the  subversive  influence  of  an  enfeebled 
bodily  condition.  Thus  we  find  him  writing  to  Borgia  :  ^ 
"  As  to  fasting  and  abstinence,  I  think  it  more  to  the  glor}' 
of  God  to  preserve  and  strengthen  the  digestion  and  natural 
powers  than  to  weaken  them  ...  I  desire  then  that  you 
will  consider  that,  as  soul  and  body  are  given  you  by  (Jod, 
your  Creator  and  Maker,  you  will  have  to  give  an  account 
of  both,  and  for  His  sake  you  should  not  weaken  your 
bodily  nature,  because  the  spiritual  could  not  act  with  the 
same  energy."  The  same  sentiment  inspires  the  treatnunit 
in  the  Constitutions.  There  Loyola  writes  :  -  ''  As  over- 
much solicitude  in  those  things  which  })ertain  to  the  body 
is  reprehensible  ;  so  a  moderate  regard  for  the  ])reserva- 
tion  of  health  and  strength  of  body  to  the  service  of  (iod 
is  commendable,  and  to  be  observed  by  all  .  .  .  Let  a  time 
for  eating,  sleeping  and  rising  be  appointed  for  general 
observation.  In  all  those  things  which  relate  to  food, 
clothin<i,  habitation,  and  other  thin<fs  needful  for  the  bodv, 
let  care  be  taken  with  the  divine  aid,  that  iu  every  probation 

1  Cf.  Francis  Thoinpsoirs  Loijohi,  p.  282.  HorL'ia  hccaine  the  tliird 
General  of  the  Order. 

*Pt.  lit,  ch.  ii,  English  trans.,  pp.  24  ."i.  fT.  also  Pt.  IV,  rh.  iv,  §  1, 
English  trans.,  p.  30. 


70     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

of  virtue  and  act  of  self-denial,  nature  be  nevertheless 
sustained  and  preserved  for  the  honour  of  God  and  his 
service,  due  regard  being  paid  to  persons  in  the  Lord.  As 
it  is  not  expedient  that  anyone  be  burdened  with  so  much 
bodily  labour  that  the  intellect  be  overwhelmed,  and  the 
body  suffer  detriment ;  so  any  bodily  exercise,  w^hich  aids 
either,  is  generally  necessary  for  all,  those  not  excepted 
who  ought  to  be  occupied  in  mental  pursuits  which  should 
be  interrupted  by  external  employments,  and  not  continued 
nor  taken  up  without  some  measure  of  discretion.  The 
castigation  of  the  body  should  neither  be  immoderate  nor 
indiscrete  in  vigils,  fastings,  and  other  external  penances 
and  labours,  which  usually  do  harm  and  hinder  better 
things  .  .  .  Let  there  be  some  one  in  every  house  to  preside 
over  everything  that  relates  to  the  good  health  of  the  body.'' 
The  charge  frequently  made  against  the  Jesuit  system  of 
education,  that  it  does  not  regard  the  physical  care  of  the 
pupil,  is  accordingly  not  warranted  by  the  Constitutions 
of  the  Society. 

While  the  vows  to  be  taken,  the  conduct  of  missions  and 
the  administration  of  the  Society  are  the  subjects  treated 
in  the  later  sections  of  the  Constitutions,  the  Fourth  Part 
is  devoted  to  the  regulations  governing  the  instruction  in 
literature  and  other  studies  of  those  who  remain  in  the 
Society  after  their  two  years'  period  of  j)robation.  The 
first  ten  chapters  of  this  Part  are  concerned  with  the 
organisation  and  management  of  the  colleges,  the  remaining 
seven  with  universities. 

The  aim  and  scope  of  the  work  of  colleges  is  thus  defined  ;  ^ 

"  As  the  object  of  the  learning  to  be  acquired  in  this  Society 

is  by  the  divine  favour  to  benefit  their  own  and  their 

neighbours'  souls  ;   this  will  l)e  the  measure  in  general  and 

1  Conslitutionn,  Pt.  JV,  ch.  v,  §  1,  Englisli  trans.,  ]).  31. 


LOYOIA  71 

ill  particular  cases,  by  which  it  shall  be  determined  to  what 
studies  our  scholars  should  apply,  and  how  far  they  should 
proceed  in  them.  And  since,  generally  speaking,  the 
acquisition  of  divers  languages,  logic,  natural  and  moral 
philosophy,  metaphysics,  and  theoloiiy,  as  well  scholastic, 
as  that  which  is  termed  positive,  and  the  Sacred  Scriptures 
assist  that  object  ;  they  who  are  sent  to  our  colleges 
shall  give  their  attention  to  the  study  of  these  facul- 
ties ;  and  they  shall  bestow  greater  diligence  upon  those 
which  the  supreme  Moderator  of  the  studies  shall 
consider  most  expedient  in  the  Lord  to  the  aforesaid 
end,  the  circumstances  of  time,  place,  and  person  being 
considered.'" 

The  order  of  studies  to  be  followed  is  first  the  Latin 
language,  then  the  liberal  arts,  thereafter  Scholastic,  then 
Positive  Theology.  The  Sacred  Scriptures  may  be  taken 
either  at  the  same  time  as  the  fore<foing  or  afterwards.^ 

The  scholars  are  to  be  assiduous  in  attending  lectures, 
and  diligent  in  preparing  for  them  ;  and  when  they  have 
heard  them,  in  repeating  theni  ;  in  places  which  they 
have  not  understood,  making  in(iuiry  ;  in  others,  where 
needful,  taking  notes,  to  provide  for  any  future  defect  of 
memory.-  Latin  was  commonly  to  be  spoken  by  all,  but 
especially  by  the  students  in  Humanity  ;  •'  and  since  the 
habit  of  debating  is  useful,  esj)ecially  to  tlu;  students  in 
Arts  and  Scholastic  Theology,  instructions  are  given'  as 
to  when  and  how  these  debates  or  disputations  are  to  be 
arranged  and  conducted.  There  should  be  in  each  college 
a  common  library,  of  which  the  kcv  is  to  be  given  to  those 

1  Pt.  IV,  cli.  vi,  §4.  2 1  hid.,  §  s. 

'  Ihid.,  §  13.      Repcati'd   in    JinHo  Sliulionim,   \\v<j,.   cum.    I'mf.   ilas.^. 
infer.,  18,  and  moditied  slightly  in  1832  lialio. 
*^S  10-12. 


72     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

who  in  the  Rector's  judgment  ought  to  have  it ;  besides 
these,  however,  every  one  should  have  such  other  books 
as  are  necessary.^ 

Those  scholars  who  intend  to  devote  their  lives  to  the 
work  of  the  Society  are  further  instructed  in  the  perfor- 
mance of  the  ordinances  of  the  Church  ;  ^  "  and  to  discharge 
this  duty  let  them  labour  to  acquire  the  vernacular  tongue 
of  the  country  thoroughly."  ^ 

The  universities  which  the  Society  shall  establish  or 
maintain  shall  consist  of  the  three  faculties :  Languages, 
Arts,  and  Theology  ;*  "  the  study  of  Medicine  and  of  the 
Law  shall  not  be  engaged  in  within  the  Universities  of  our 
Society  ;  or  at  least,  the  Society  shall  not  take  that  duty 
upon  itself,  as  being  remote  from  our  Institute."^  The 
curriculum  in  Arts  shall  extend  over  three  and  a  half 
years,  and  that  in  Theology  over  four  years.  In  the  Arts 
curriculum  reference  is  made  to  the  natural  sciences  which 
"  dispose  the  mind  to  Theology,  and  contribute  to  its 
perfect  study  and  practice,  and  of  themselves  assist  in  the 
same  object,"  *^  and  it  is  further  enjoined,  and  is  an  interest- 
ing comment  on  the  criticism  that  the  Society  neglects 
the  natural  sciences,  that  they  "  be  taught  by  learned 
preceptors,  and  with  proper  diligence,  sincerely  seeking 
the  honour  and  glory  of  God  in  all  things." 

Provision  was  made  by  Ignatius  in  the  Constitutions '' 
for  modification  of  his  outline  plan  of  studies  according  to 
circumstances.  That  this  concession  should  not  be  abused 
and  the  uniformity  of  the  system  destroyed,  it  was  con- 
sidered expedient  that  an  authoritative  yet  more  detailed 

1  Pt.  IV,  chap,  vi,  §  7.  =  Cli.  viii.  »  Ihid.,  §  3. 

*  Ch.  xvii,  §  5.  *  (Jh.  xii,  §  4.  "  Ch.  xii,  §  3. 

'  Cf.  Pt.  W,  c'h.  vii,  §  2  ;  also  ch.  xiii,  §  2.     In  the  Ratio  Sludiorum  the 

same  freedom  ia  retained.  Cf.  Rcgulac  Praepositi  ProvinciaHs,  39. 


LOYOLA  73 

plan  of  studies  than  that  outlined  in  the  Const  it  ul  ions 
should  be  issued  for  the  guidance  of  the  schools  and  colleges 
of  the  Society. 

The  Ratio  atque  Institutio  Studiorum  Societatis  Jesu} 
usually  referred  to  as  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  was  accordingly 
prepared,  becoming  the  main  source  of  the  educational 
doctrines  of  the  Society  ;  and  Jouvancy's  Ratio  Discendi 
et  Docendi  -  is  regarded  as  the  official  complement  to,  and 
commentary  on,  the  Ratio  Studiorum. 

The  first  draft  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum  was  the  result  of 
the  labours  of  six  Jesuits  summoned  to  Rome  in  1581  by 
Aquaviva,  the  fifth  General  of  the  Order.  Availing  them- 
selves of  all  the  material  regarding  methods  and  adminis- 
tration of  education  which  they  could  assemble  and  of 
the  experience  which  the  practice  of  the  Society  itself 
afforded,  they  were  able  after  a  year's  collaboration  to 
present  in  August,  1585,  to  the  General  of  the  Society  the 
results  of  their  efforts.  Li  158G  the  report  was  sent  by 
the  General  to  the  provinces  for  examination  and  comment. 
A  new  report  was  issued  in  1591  as  Ratio  atque  Institutio 
Studiorum,  and  after  further  revision  the  final  plan  of 
studies  was  ])ublislied  at  Naples  in  1599  under  the  title 
Ratio  atque  Institutio  Studiorum  Societatis  Jesu.^ 

'  Cf.  G.  M.  Pochtlcr,  "Ratio  Studiorum  ct  Institutic^iics  iScliola.stitac 
Societatis  .Jesu  "  in  Miniumotta  (IrrmnniiU  J'(itd<i'jii</ic(i,  vol.  v.  'Die 
Latin  text  of  tlie  1580  Ratio  together  with  Latin  texts  and  (ierinan 
translations,  in  j)arallel  columns,  of  the  L")!*!)  and  LS32  versions  are  there 
given.     No  English  translation  of  the  Jialio  is  available. 

^  Published  1703.  French  and  German  translations  (j1  this  work  e.\ist, 
but  no  English  translation.  For  outline  in  English  see  Jlughcs's  Loyola, 
pp.  103-166. 

*  It  is  sometimes  affinned,  e.g.  by  A.  Sf^himberg,  L'  Education  Morale 
dans  les  Colleges  de  la  Compagnie  dc  Jesus  en  France  (j>.  47,  note)  that  the 
first  edition  of  the  Ratio  appeared  in  1586,  that  this  was  withdrawn  on 
account  of  a  certain  latitude  allowed  in  theses  in  the  treatment  of  the 


74     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

The  Ratio  Studiorum,  unlike  the  Constitutions,  deals  ex- 
clusively with  education.  It  sets  forth  the  regulations 
which  are  to  direct  the  Superior  of  a  Province  in  dealing 
with  education  in  his  Province,  then  the  regulations  which 
the  Rector  of  a  college  is  to  apply  in  governing  a  college, 
thereafter  rules  for  the  guidance  of  the  Prefect  of  Studies. 
General  regulations  for  the  professors  of  the  higher 
faculties — Theology  and  Philosophy — are  followed  by 
special  rules  for  the  professors  of  each  subject  in  these 
faculties,  namely,  Sacred  Writings,  Hebrew,  Scholastic 
Theology,  Ecclesiastical  History,  Canonical  Law  and  Moral 
or  Practical  Theology,  Moral  Philosophy,  Physics  and 
Mathematics.  Regulations  for  the  Prefects  of  the  Lower 
Studies,  together  with  regulations  for  the  conduct  of  written 
examinations  and  for  the  awarding  of  prizes,  are  also  pre- 
scribed, and  these  are  succeeded  by  the  general  regulations 
for  the  professors  of  the  lower  classes  and  by  detailed 
regulations  for  the  professors  of  Rhetoric,  Humanity,  and 
Higher,  Intermediate,  and  Lower  Grammar.  Rules  for  the 
pupils  for  the  management  of  Academies,  etc.,  are  added. 
So  comprehensive,  systematic,  and  exliaustive  are  the  regu- 
lations that  the  modern  reader  is  inclined  to  forget  that  the 
Ratio  Studiorum  is  one  of  the  first  attempts  on  record  at 
educational  orj^anisation,  mana<i;ement,  and  method,  at  a 
time  when  it  was  unusual  even  to  grade  pupils  in  classes  ; 
and  one  is  tempted  to  compare  it,  not  always  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  the  Ratio,  with  the  regulations  of  a  modern 

doctrine.s  of  Ht.  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  that  a  new  edition  was  substituted 
in  laOl,  only  to  be  annulled  in  turn  by  the  edition  of  1599. 

This  account  is  controverted  1)y  Pachtler,  v,  15-24,  and  ScJiwickeratli, 
JeHuit  Education,  \t\i.  112-3.  Tlie  real  origin  of  the  trou})le  was  tlie 
opposition  of  the  Spanish  Jesuits  to  a  non-Sjianish  (Jcncral  of  the  (Jrder. 
The  work  was  not  suppressed  in  Home,  but  in  deference  to  tlie  Sjjanish 
Inquisition  the  cause  of  the  offence  was  omitted  in  the  1591  edition. 


LOYOLA  75 

school  system  which  have  only  after  some  generations  been 
evolved  and  j)erfected.  The  Ralio  Slmliorum  comprehends 
all  subjects  from  the  principles  governing  the  educational 
administration  of  a  Province  to  the  fixing  of  school 
holidays,  the  text-books  to  be  used  in  teaching  Latin 
grammar  and  the  method  of  correcting  exercises. 

The  general  organisation  of  the  educational  work  of  the 
Society  may  be  gathered  from  the  regulations  issued  for 
the  direction  of  the  Provincial.^  The  theological  course 
of  four  years  is  the  highest,  and  this  is  preceded  by  a  course 
of  philosophy  extending  over  three  years.  Although  the 
course  for  the  study  of  Humanity  and  Rhetoric  cannot  be 
exactly  defined  it  is  enacted  that  the  Provincial  shall  not 
send  pupils  to  philosophy  before  they  have  studied  Rhetoric 
for  two  years.  All  students  in  the  Philosophical  Course 
must,  according  to  the  Ilatio  of  1599,  attend  lectures  in 
Mathematics  ;  and  provision  is  made  that  students  who 
show  special  ])roficiency  in  any  subject  should  have  the 
opportunity  of  extending  their  study  of  that  su])ject.  The 
Schools  for  the  Lower  Studies  are  not  to  exceed  five  :  one 
for  Rhetoric,  another  for  Humanity,  and  three  for  Grammar. 
These  schools  arc  not  to  be  confused  with  one  another,  a 
warning  which  recalls  the  complaint  of  Quintilian.  Where 
the  number  of  puj)ils  warrants  it,  })ara]lel  classes  for  the 
various  grades  are  to  be  instituted. 

Li  the  regulations  for  the  licet  or  of  a  college  '-^  the  need 
for  trained  teachers  even  for  the  lowest  classes  is  iccognised. 
That  the  teachers  of  the  lower  classes  should  not  take  up 
the  work  of  teaching  without  training,  it  is  there  enacted  ^ 

1  RegiUac  PracptJsiti  Provincialis.     Cf.   rachtlcr.  v.   pj).   I*.'i4-2ti7. 

"Rcgulac  Kcctoris.     Cf.  rachtler,  v,  'JdS-liT."). 

■' Rc;^.  i).  The  same  view  wa.s  cxpros.sed  in  a  criticism  of  tlio  l.").SU 
Ratio.     Sec  Ifughcs's  Tjoyola,  ]ip.  TOO- 1. 


76     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

that  the  Rector  of  the  college  from  which  the  teachers  of 
Humanity  and  Grammar  are  wont  to  be  taken  should 
select  some  one  specially  skilled  in  teaching,  and  that 
towards  the  end  of  their  studies  the  future  teachers  should 
come  to  him  three  times  a  week  for  an  hour  to  be  trained 
for  their  calling  in  methods  of  exposition,  dictation,  writing, 
correcting,  and  all  the  duties  of  a  good  teacher.  The  Rector 
is  also  required  ^  so  to  divide  his  time  and  arrange  his  duties 
that  he  may  be  able  to  visit  the  schools,  even  the  lowest ; 
he  is  likewise  directed  ^  every  month  or  every  other  month 
to  hold  general  consultations  with  all  the  masters  below 
the  course  of  Logic,  the  prefects  being  present,  and  also 
to  confer  with  the  other  teachers  of  the  higher  subjects  in 
the  presence  of  the  general  prefects.  At  such  conferences 
he  is  to  read  some  of  the  regulations  for  the  masters,  and 
especially  those  pertaining  to  piety  and  good  conduct ;  he 
is  to  inquire  of  those  present  what  difficulties  occur,  and 
what  omissions  are  noticed,  in  the  observance  of  the  rules. 

The  Prefect  of  Studies  ^  is  to  be  the  general  instrument 
of  the  Rector,  to  see,  according  to  the  power  entrusted  to 
him,  that  the  studies  are  rightly  ordered,  the  schools  so 
governed  and  managed  that  the  scholars  make  the  greatest 
possible  progress  in  virtue,  the  arts  and  the  sciences.*  He 
is  expected  to  be  familiar  with  the  book  of  the  plan  of 
studies,  and  to  secure  that  the  rules  for  all  students  and 
professors  are  carefully  observed.''  It  is  his  duty  to  ])reside 
at  all  disputations  to  which  the  professors  of  Theology  or 
of  Philosophy  come  ;  he  shall  give  the  signal  for  the  dis- 
putants to  begin,  and  so  divide  the  time  that  each  one  gets 
his  turn.     He  shall  see  that  any  difficulty  raised  does  not 

1  Reg.  :}.  ■■'  Jleg.  1  s. 

'  Regulae  Praefccti  Studioruin,  Pachtlur,  v,  27()-287. 

^  Reg.  1.  ■'  Reg.  4. 


LOYOLA  77 

remain  as  much  a  difficulty  after  as  before  ;  he  himself 
shall  not.  however,  give  the  solution,  but  direct  the  dis- 
putants to  it  by  questioning.  He  shall  not  only  prescribe 
the  curriculum,  the  subjects  of  repetition  and  of  disputation, 
but  also  so  distribute  the  work  of  the  students  that  the 
hours  for  private  study  are  profitably  employed. 

In  the  general  regulations  for  all  the  professors  of  the 
higher  faculties  ^  the  educational  aim  of  the  Society  is 
recalled,  namely,  to  lead  the  pupil  to  the  service  and  love 
of  God  and  to  the  practice  of  virtue.  To  keep  this  before 
him  each  professor  is  required  to  offer  up  a  suitable  prayer 
before  beginning  his  lecture.  Directions  are  given  as  to 
how  far  authorities  are  to  be  followed  and  used  by  the 
profes-sors  in  lecturing,  and  how  they  are  to  lecture  that 
the  students  may  be  able  to  take  proper  notes.-  After 
each  lecture  the  professor  is  to  remain  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
that  the  students  may  interrogate  him  about  th(>  substance 
of  the  lecture.^  A  month  is  to  be  devoted  at  the  end  of 
each  session  to  the  repetition  of  the  course.''  And  the  last 
of  the  general  rules  for  all  the  ])rofessors  declares  that  the 
professor  is  not  to  show  himself  more  familiar  with  one 
student  than  with  another  ;  he  is  to  disregard  no  one,  and 
to  further  the  studies  of  the  poor  equally  with  the  rich  ;  he 
is  to  promote  the  advancement  of  each  individual  student.'' 

Detailed  directions  for  the  professors  of  each  of  the 
subjects  in  the  faculties  of  Theology  and  l'Jiilosoj)hy 
follow  ;  and  of  these  it  need  only  be  jneiitioncd  here  that 
in  the  1832  revision  of  the  liddo  s])ecial  provision  was  made 

*  Regulac  coniimincs  omnibus  Profcssoribiis  Svi]>orionim  Faciiltatuiii. 
Cf.  Pachtlcr,  v,  28()-29.") 

2Cf.  Rcq.  {>.  3pvc<:.  II. 

«  Rep.  13,  1590  Ratio.     No  dpfinitp  tinip  i.=  spfoifiod  in  the  1>^:]2  RaUn. 

•'■  Reg.  20. 


78     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

for  the  teaching  of  Physics,  which  had  previously  been 
treated  under  the  general  title  Philosophy,  and  the  regula- 
tions for  the  teaching  of  Mathematics  were  modernised. 
That  the  Society  did  not  neglect  the  natural  sciences  is 
confirmed  by  these  statements,  and  the  charge  that  the 
Society  ignores  changing  conditions  is  refuted  by  a  glance 
at  the  parallel  columns  on  these  subjects  in  Pachtler's 
edition  of  the  Ratio  Studionim} 

Amongst  the  rules  for  the  prefect  of  the  lower  studies  ^ 
the  following  may  be  noted.  He  is  to  help  the  masters 
and  direct  them,  and  be  especially  cautious  that  the  esteem 
and  authority  due  to  them  be  not  in  the  least  impaired.^ 
Once  a  fortnight  he  is  to  hear  each  one  teach. ^  He  is  to 
see  that  the  teacher  covers  the  class-book  in  the  first  half- 
year,  and  repeats  it  from  the  beginning  in  the  second  term.^ 
The  reasons  for  the  repetition  are  two  :  ®  what  is  often 
repeated  is  more  deeply  impressed  on  the  mind  ;  it  enables 
the  boys  of  exceptional  talents  to  pass  through  their  course 
more  rapidly  than  the  others,  as  they  can  be  promoted  after 
a  single  term.  Promotion  is  generally  to  take  place  after 
the  long  vacation  ;  but  where  it  would  appear  that  a  pupil 
would  make  better  progress  in  a  higher  class  he  is  not  to  be 
detained  in  the  lower,  but  after  examination  to  be  promoted 
at  any  time  of  the  year.^  WTien  there  is  a  doubt  whether 
a  pupil  should  ordinarily  be  promoted,  his  class  records 
are  to  be  examined,  and  his  age,  diligence,  and  the  time 
spent  in  the  class  are  to  be  taken  into  consideration.^  In 
intimating  promotions  the  names  of  pupils  gaining  special 
distinction  are  to  be  announced  first  ;   the  others  are  to  be 

^  Monum&nta  Germaniac  raedngogica,  v,  ]ip.  346-351. 

^  Regulae  Pracfecti  Studioruin  Iiiforionim.     (Jf.  Pat'htler,  v,  3i")()-37I. 

3  Reg.  4.  ^  Jleg.  (i.  ■'  Rpg.  8,  §  3. 

'■  Reg.  8,  §  4.  ■  Hog.  13.  -^  Reg.  23. 


LOYOLA  79 

arranged  in  alphabetic  order.^  To  further  the  literary 
training  of  the  pupils  the  prefect  is  to  institute  Academies 
or  school  societies  ;  in  these  on  specified  days  the  pu])ils 
are  to  hold  lectures,  debates,  etc.,  amongst  themselves. ^ 
A  censor  is  to  be  appointed,  one  who  is  held  in  esteem  by 
his  fellow-pupils  and  who  shall  have  the  power  to  impose 
small  penalties.^  For  the  sake  of  those  who  are  wanting  in 
diligence  and  in  good  manners  and  on  whom  advice  and 
exhortation  have  no  effect,  a  Corrector,  who  is  not  to  be  a 
member  of  the  Society,  is  to  be  appointed.  AVhen  this  is 
not  possible  some  other  suitable  plan  is  to  be  devised.  Only 
seldom  and  for  serious  offences  is  the  punishment  to  be 
administered  in  school.^  When  reformation  is  despaired 
of,  and  the  pupil  is  likely  to  become  a  danger  to  his  fellows, 
he  is  fo  be  expelled.^ 

Among  the  general  regulations  for  the  ])rofessors  of  the 
lower  studies''  are  those  dealing  with  the  Praelectio,  or 
method  of  exposition  of  a  subject  or  lesson,  and  those 
concerning  emulation.  Li  the  exposition  of  a  h^sson  or 
passage  four  stages  are  to  be  distinguished  : "  (1 )  The  whole 
passage,  when  not  too  long,  is  to  be  read  through.  (2)  The 
argument  is  to  be  explained,  also,  when  necessary,  the  con- 
nection with  what  went  before.  (3)  Each  sentence  is  to  ])e 
read,  the  obscure  points  elucidated;  the  sejitences  arc  to  be 
connected  together  and  the  sense  nuule  evident.  Tf.  in 
translating,  the  motlier-tongue  does  not  admit  of  this,  the 
pas.sage  is  to  be  translated  word  for  word,  and  then  the  sen.se 
is  to  be  given  in  the  mother-tongue,  (t)  TIk^  wliole  is  to 
be  repeated  from  the  beginning. 

1  Keg.  26.  2  Reg.  34.  ^  Reg.  37.  *  lies.  3S.  IWg.  40 

"  Regulae  comimiiies  Prufessoribiis  classium  inforioruiu.     C'f.  I'a(  htler. 
V.  378-399. 
■  Reg  27. 


80     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

In  this  section  the  subject  of  emulation  is  also  introduced. 
Throughout  the  Constitutions  and  the  previous  sections  of 
the  Ratio  anything  likely  to  excite  contention  or  produce 
invidious  distinctions  is  deprecated.^  Graduates  are  not 
to  occupy  special  seats  in  the  University  classes,  and  except 
in  cases  in  which  pupils  have  specially  distinguished  them- 
selves, the  class  lists  are  to  be  in  alphabetic  order.  That 
emulation  is  not  a  dominant  or  integral  part  of  the  Jesuit 
system  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  only  four  regula- 
tions are  here  devoted  to  it.^  It  was  merely  one  among 
other  devices,  like  disputations,  etc.,  to  enliven  instruction 
and  develop  in  the  pupils  a  ready  command  of  the  know- 
ledge which  they  had  acquired.  The  directions  governing 
its  use  state  that  the  Concertatio,  or  contest,  is  usually  so 
conducted  that  either  the  teacher  puts  the  question,  and 
the  aemulus  or  adversary  corrects  the  answer,  or  the 
adversaries  question  one  another.  The  contest  is  to  be 
held  in  the  highest  regard,  and  to  take  place  as  frequently 
as  time  permits,  so  that  a  noble  emulation  {honestaaemuhtio), 
which  is  a  great  incitement  to  study,  may  be  fostered.  The 
contest  may  be  engaged  in  by  one  or  more  on  either  side, 
especially  by  the  better  pupils  of  the  class  against  one 
another,  and  a  contest  of  one  against  many  may  even  be 
allowed.  An  average  pupil  may  sometimes  challenge  a 
distinguished  pupil,  and  if  he  overcomes  he  succeeds  to  the 
superior  office.  Public  contests  may  be  allowed  on  occasion, 
but  only  the  better  pupils  should  take  part.  One  class 
may  contend  with  the  class  next  to  it  on  a  common  subject 
of  study,  both  teachers  presiding. 

The  spirit  in  which  this  and  the  other  measures  indicated 
above  were  conducted,  can  be  gathered  from  the  quaint 
account  of  the  actual  practice  of  an  early  Jesuit  school  by 
>  Cf.  Hughes's  Loyola,  i)p.  90.  209.  2  Reg.  31,  .32.  34.  3;"). 


LOYOLA  81 

John  Diiry  (1596-1680), ^  a  Puritan  dmne  and  well-known 
educationist  of  his  time,  and  his  treatment  may  be  recom- 
mended as  a  model  in  objectivity  to  many  more  recent 
and  supposedly  more  enlightened  commentators  on  the 
system. 

Into  the  specific  directions  for  the  various  professors  of 
Rhetoric,  Humanity,  and  Grammar,  the  conduct  of 
Academies  and  the  training  of  Scholastics,  we  cannot  here 
enter.  To  trace  the  history  of  the  system  is  also  beyond 
the  scope  of  this  work  ;  in  truth,  to  the  treatment  of  the 
Ratio  Studionnn  given  in  this  chapter  objection  might  be 
taken,  since  the  Ratio  is  not  the  work  of  Ignatius  ;  it  never- 
theless represents  more  fully,  and  doubtless  more  justly, 
his  views  on,  and  practices  in.  Education  than  his  Con- 
stitutions, in  which  the  subject  could  be  treated  only  as  part 
of  the  general  work  of  the  Society.  By  the  terms  of  our 
Preface  we  are  expressly  excluded  from  discussing  the 
application  of  the  doctrines  of  the  great  educators  ;  but  as 
more  criticism  than  study  has  been  devoted  to  this  system 
by  writers  on  the  history  of  Education  it  is  advisable 
incidentally  to  enumerate  some  of  the  topics  in  regard  to 
which  the  Jesuits  have  anticipated  modern  ])ra('tice,  and 
by  implication  to  reply  to  the  unfounded  criticisms  of 
these  writers. 

To  the  Jesuits  must  be  given  the  credit  of  jiroviding 
Education  with  a  uniform  and  universal  method.  "  So  far 
as  the  e\'idence  of  history  extends,"  it  has  been  said,-  "  an 
organised  caste  of  priests,  combining  the  necessary  leisure 
\vith  the  equally  necessary  continuity  of  tradition,  was  at  all 
times  indispensable  to  the  beginnings  of  scientific  research" ; 
it  appears  also  to  have  been  necessary,  as  it  was  undoubtedly 

*  Cf.  Corcoran's  Studies  in  Classical  Edunttion,  j^p.  220-247. 

*  Gomperz,  Greek  Thinkers,  English  trans.,  vol.  i. 

]• 


82     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

advantageous,  for  the  beginnings  of  teaching  method. 
The  need  for  a  uniform  and  universal  method  in  teaching 
was  thus  declared  in  the  Proem  to  the  1586  Ratio  :  ^  "  Un- 
less a  ready  and  true  method  be  adopted  much  labour  is 
spent  in  gathering  but  little  fruit  .  .  .  We  cannot  imagine 
that  we  do  justice  to  our  functions,  or  come  up  to  the 
expectations  formed  of  us,  if  we  do  not  feed  the  multitude 
of  youths,  in  the  same  way  as  nurses  do,  with  food  dressed 
up  in  the  best  way,  for  fear  they  grow  up  in  our  schools, 
without  growing  up  much  in  learning." 

The  Jesuit  system  does  not  exalt  the  method  at  the 
expense  of  the  teacher,  as  Comenius  did  later.  In  the  selec- 
tion of  teachers  something  of  the  same  discrimination  as 
Ignatius  exercised  in  his  choice  of  the  first  companions  of 
the  Order  is  still  demanded ;  and  the  selected  candidates 
are  subjected  to  a  training  which  in  length  and  thorough- 
ness no  other  educational  system,  with  the  possible  ex- 
ception of  that  sketched  by  Plato  in  the  Republic,  has 
attempted  to  approach.^  Even  yet  the  educational 
authorities  in  many  modern  countries  have  failed  to  realise 
the  importance  of  thorough,  professional  training  for  all 
engaged  in  higher  education,  including  University  teaching. 
The  value  of  training  was  recognised  in  the  draft  Ratio  of 
1586  in  the  statement :  ^  "It  would  be  most  profitable  for 
the  schools,  if  those  who  are  about  to  be  preceptors  were 
privately  taken  in  hand  by  some  one  of  great  experience, 
and  for  two  months  or  more  were  practised  by  him  in  the 
method  of  reading,  teaching,  correcting,  writing,  and 
managing   a   class.     If  teachers   have   not   learned   these 

1  Pachtler,  v,  p.  27. 

*  Cf.   Hughes's  Loyola,  clis.   x,   xii.     Schwickeratli,  Jrsuil   Lduralion, 
ch.  XV. 

'  Pachtlor,  V,  j).  }r>i  ;  Schwickeratli,  ]>]\  432-3. 


LOYOLA  83 

things  beforehand,  they  are  forced  to  learn  them  after- 
wards at  the  expense  of  their  scholars  ;  and  then  they  will 
acquire  proficiency  only  when  they  have  already  lost  in 
reputation  ;  and  perchance  they  will  never  unlearn  a  bad 
habit.  Sometimes  such  a  habit  is  neither  very  serious  nor 
incorridble,  if  taken  at  the  bemnnino; ;  but  if  the  habit  is 
not  corrected  at  the  outset,  it  comes  to  pass  that  a  man, 
who  otherwise  would  have  been  most  useful,  becomes  well- 
nigh  useless.  There  is  no  describing  how  much  amiss 
prece])tors  take  it,  if  they  are  corrected,  when  they  have 
already  adopted  a  fixed  method  of  teaching  ;  and  what 
continual  disagreement  ensues  on  that  score  with  the 
Prefect  of  Studies.  To  obviate  this  evil,  in  the  case  of  our 
professors,  let  the  prefect  in  the  chief  college,  whence  our 
professors  of  Hunumities  and  Grauimar  are  usually  taken, 
remind  the  Rector  and  Provincial,  about  three  months 
before  the  next  scholastic  year  begins,  that,  if  the  Province 
needs  new  professors  for  the  following  term,  they  should 
select  some  one  eminently  versed  in  the  art  of  managing 
classes,  whether  he  be  at  the  time  actually  a  ])rofessor  or  a 
student  of  Theology  or  Philosophy  ;  and  to  him  the  future 
masters  are  to  go  daily  for  an  h(>ur,  to  be  ])repared  by  him 
for  their  new  ministrv,  giving  prelections  in  turn,  writing, 
dictating,  correcting,  and  discharging  the  other  duties  of  a 
good  teacher.'' 

The  predominant  place  assign(>d  to  classics  in  th(»  Jesuit 
curriculum  has  historical  justification.  The  Society  has 
not,  however,  as  is  frecpiently  laid  to  its  charge,  bound 
itself  slavishly  to  a  seventeenth  century  curriciiluni.^ 
From  the  outset  i)ro\'i.sion  was  nuule  for  extension  and 
modification   of  the   curricuhun.    and    of  this   liberty   the 

^  F(ir  adaptation  of  natin  to  moilrrii  coiidit  ion-  si-c  Sdiwickorat  li, 
Jc-iuit  Ediica'ioti,  clis.  vii,  i\. 


84     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

Society  has  availed  itself.  AATiile  it  has  not  rashly 
incorporated  in  its  educational  system  every  innovation  in 
social  life,  it  has  adopted  such  changes  as  seem  to  it  per- 
manent and  valuable.  The  widening  of  the  conception 
of  culture  to  connote  not  only  the  classical  languages  but 
also  a  precise  use  of  the  mother  tongue,  an  appreciation 
of  modern  literature,  the  principles  of  mathematics  and 
the  methods  of  natural  science,  has  been  recognised  by 
the  Jesuits ;  and  the  new  subjects,  when  admitted  to  the 
curriculum,  have  been  taught  with  the  same  thoroughness 
as  the  old.  Indeed  the  changes  which  time  has  brought 
have  been  more  fully  recognised  and  more  effectively  met 
by  the  Jesuits  than  by  some  of  the  schools  whose  pupils 
have  condemned  in  quite  unmeasured  terms  the  conser- 
vatism of  the  Jesuits. 

The  curriculum  and  methods  of  the  Jesuit  system  do 
not  require  for  their  justification  to  resort  to  the  doctrine 
of  formal  training,  and  it  is  unfortunate  that  recourse  has 
been  had  to  this  doctrine  in  its  crudest  form  by  some  who 
seek  to  justify  the  Jesuit  system.^  Schwickerath  assumes 
that  the  term  "  mental  gymnastics  "  satisfactorily  desig- 
nates an  adequate  education,  ignoring  the  fact  that  the 
physical  strength  acquired  by  gymnastic  exercises  can  only 
be  of  value  in  the  business  of  life  or  even  in  sport  when  a 
training  in  its  application  is  also  undergone.  The  fact  on 
which  he  repeatedly  insists  that  the  Jesuit  system  has 
adapted  itself  to  the  requirements  of  the  times  proves  that 
the  Jesuits  do  regard  the  content  of  instruction  as  of 
some  significance  in  education.  Did  they  interpret  the 
doctrine  of  formal  training  as  Schwickerath  does,  these 
changes  would  be  meaningless  ;  the  content  of  instruction 
would  be  a  matter  of  indifference,  the  value  of  the  training 
^  e.g.  by  Schwickerath,  .Jesuit  Education,  eh.  x. 


LOYOLA  85 

being  the  same  whatever  material  was  employed.  A 
modern  statement  of  the  doctrine  of  formal  training  based 
on  careful  experimental  investigation  exactly  characterises 
the  method  of  the  Ratio.  The  Ratio  insists  on  learning 
thoroughly  what  has  to  be  learned,  a  requirement  which 
no  educationist  would  dispute  ;  but  all  would  not  acknow- 
ledge that  the  thoroughness  which  is  acquired  in  the  learning 
of  Latin  would  function  directly  in  statesmanship,  com- 
mercial or  military  life.  But  the  Ratio  provides  what 
is  now  accepted  to  be  the  basis  of  the  transfer  of  training 
from  one  subject  to  another,  namely,  "  concepts  of  method," 
that  is,  generalised  modes  of  procedure  in  teaching,  if  not 
in  learning,  which  can  be  applied  to  new  subjects  as  required 
and  which  facilitate  the  acquirement  of  such.^ 

In  order  of  time  the  mathematical  subjects  follow  the 
classical  subjects  ;  the  subjects  are  taught  successively, 
not  simultaneously.  While  the  Jesuits  defend  on  pedagogi- 
cal grounds  the  successive  teaching  of  different  branches 
of  instruction  in  preference  to  the  simultaneous  treatment 
of  a  number  of  subjects  ^  they  modify  this  procedure  when 
the  educational  prescriptions  of  any  government  system 
require  this.  Their  arrangement,  while  it  does  not  find 
favour  with  other  schools  of  educational  thought,  is  ])artly 
recognised  in  the  demand  of  present  day  educators  wlio 
advocate  successive  periods  of  "  intensive  study  "  of  the 
various  school  subjects.  Li  retaining  the  drama  as 
an   educational   instrument  ^  the   Jesuits   antici])ated   the 

*  Cf.  Keg.  com.  Prof,  class,  inf.  12,  §2  (18.32  revision):  "In  learning 
the  mother  tongue  very  much  the  same  metliod  will  be  followed  as  in  the 
study  of  Latin.' 

*  Cf.  Schwickerath,  pp.  287-8. 

*  Cf.  Reg.  Rectoris,  73  :  "  The  subject  of  tragedies  and  comedies, 
which  would  be  in  Latin  and  but  rarely  ])erfomied,  must  be  ])ious  and 
edifying." 


86     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

modern  movement  represented  by  what  is  termed  the 
dramatic  method  of  teaching  history.  In  insisting  on 
the  speaking  of  Latin  they  likewise  anticipated  the 
direct  method  of  teaching  the  classics.  In  repeating 
the  work  of  the  class  twice  in  the  year,  and  thus 
enabling  the  abler  pupils  to  spend  only  half  a  session 
in  a  grade  and  thus  be  promoted  more  rapidly,  they 
introduced  a  procedure  now  adopted  by  some  modern 
school  systems.  By  their  prefect  system,  they  se|)a- 
rated  the  teaching  from  the  disciplinary  and  organising 
aspect  of  school  work,  a  principle  which  has  recently 
been  extended  to  primary  schools  in  England,  although 
the  prefects  are  in  these  elected  by  their  fellow-pupils. 
Other  systems  have  not  instituted  the  office  of  the 
Corrector  to  administer  punishment,  hoping,  doubtless  like 
the  Jesuits  themselves,  that  improved  methods  of  teaching 
and  better  knowledge  of  the  pupils  may  one  day  make  this 
office  unnecessary. 

Although  the  Jesuits  have  a  Corrector,  who  must  not  be 
a  member  of  the  order,  to  administer  chastisement,  it  must 
not  be  inferred  that  there  is  undue  severity  in  their  methods. 
Gentleness  is  especially  enjoined  towards  the  pujiils, 
Ignatius  prescribing  as  the  maxim  of  the  Society  that  it 
"must  always  govern  by  love."  ^  That  obedience  is  one 
of  the  vows  taken  by  the  members  of  the  Society  must 
lighten  the  work  of  teaching,  and  in  the  Confession  and  the 
Communion  the  Sticiety  possesses  powerful  instruments  for 
the  moral  and  religious  education  of  the  pupil.  Whatever 
others  may  think  of  the  confessional,  the  Jesuit  Society 
recognises  that  it  is  of  inestimable  value  in  the  moral 
training  of  the  pupil, ^  and  through  the  communion  the 

'  Cf.  Francis  Thompson's  Loyola,  p.  21)5. 
'Cf.  Sclnvickcratli,  j)p.  ;"i;";.'3-5. 


LOYOLA  87 

Society  secures  practice  in  worship,  an  exercise  which 
distinguishes  the  religious  from  the  moral  attitude  to  life, 
and  a  training  in  which  is  essential  to  a  complete  and 
generous  education.^ 

The  Jesuit  system  has  survived  since  its  approval  by  the 
Pope  in  1540,^  and  has  adapted  itself  with  a  certain  measure 
of  success  to  changing  conditions.  Its  limitations  are 
mainly  self-imposed,  and  its  defects  are  doubtless  best 
known  to,  and  can  be  best  stated  by,  those  who  are  applying 
it,  the  criticisms  of  others  tending  to  be  beside  the  mark. 
As  its  exponents  are  not  merely  educators,  but  missionaries 
of  a  religious  faith,  it  has  been  applied  in  almost  every 
country  in  the  world.  For  these  reasons  its  founder  is 
worthy  a  place  amongst  the  great  educators  as  amongst 
the  saints. 

Although  with  a  chivalrous  self-clfacemcnt  tlie  modern 
ex])onents  of  this  system  attribute  its  success  to  the  original 
methods  of  the  Rtilio  Studiormn,  it  is  doubtless  to  be 
attributed  in  part  also  to  the  thoroughness  of  the  training 
and  the  devotion  to  their  vocation  of  the  ex})onents  them- 
selves. Francis  Thompson,  writing  of  Loyola  and  the 
statement  may  be  taken  to  apply  to  his  present-day  repre- 
sentatives says  :  "When  he  spoke,  it  was  not  wliat  he 
said,  it  was  the  suppressed  heat  of  personal  feeling,  {)ersonal 
conviction  which  enkindled  men.  This  has  ever  been  the 
secret  of  great  teachers,  were  they  only  schoolmasters  ;  it 
is  the  communication  of  themselves  that  avails."  •■  Their 
reward,  it  may  Ijc  addeei.  is  the  resj)ect  and  alVection  of 
their  pupils,  the  only  reward  of  the  tiue  teacher;  and 
probably  no  class  of  teachers  has  constrained  sucli  atTection 

*  See  ch.  X  of  this  work  for  iiuoinplctoiu'.ss  of  Hcrbart'.s  ((iiucijlinii  of 
the  end  of  education  as  morality. 

*  .Siipprossicd  from  1773-1S14.  ^  p.  181. 


88     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

in  their  pupils  as  the  Jesuits  have  done  and  still  do.  The 
Jesuit  educational  system,  then,  has  taught  the  world  the 
value  of  a  uniform  and  universal  method  in  Education,  and 
the  economy  of  a  cultured  and  highly-trained  teaching 
profession. 


CHAPTER    V 
COM  EN  I U8  1 

The  early  educators  had  confined  their  attention  to  the 
training  of  the  goNerning  classes  of  the  community,  and 
until  the  time  of  Comenius  it  was  only  idealists  like  More 
who  dared  to  suggest  that  education  should  be  given  to  all. 
Comenius  not  only  proposed  to  teach  "  all  things  to  all 
men,"  but  set  about  in  a  practical  fashion  organi.'ing  a 
universal  system  of  education,  devising  a  method  of  teaching 
which  would  hasten  the  realisation  of  his  ideal,  and  even 
preparing  school-books  to  illustrate  how  his  method  should 
be  applied. 

It  was  not  that,  foreseeing  the  triumph  of  democracy, 
he  would  take  time  by  the  forelock  and  "  educate  our 
masters  "  ;  nor  was  it  on  the  grounds  of  an  abstract 
political  principle  like  the  ecjuality  of  man  that  he  ])ased 
his  belief,  but  rather  because  of  the  infiJiite  possibiUties 
in  human  nature  and  uncertainty  as  the  position  to  which 
providence  might  call  this  or  that  man  that  Conicnius 
proposed  to  univcrsalise  education,  to  teach  all  things  to 
all  men.  that  some  might  be  saved  from  ignorance  and  its 
consequences.     It  was  only  on  religious  grounds  that  such 

^  Born  in  Moravia,  28th  March,  1592,  died  1.5th  X(i\ cinlxr,  KiTl,  and 
buried  at  Naardcn,  near  Aii.sterdani.  Kor  Hfe.  see  M.  \V.  Keatinge's  Thr 
On  III  Didartic  of  Comenius,  Pt.  1. 


90     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

a  faith  in  the  universal  education  of  the  people  could  at 
that  time  be  based,  for  the  idea  of  universalising  education 
has  proved  more  difficult  of  achievement  than  could 
possibly  have  been  foreseen  by  Comenius,  and  has  been 
characterised  as  "the  most  momentous  problem  of  the  age."  ^ 

If  it  was  his  zeal  for  the  religious  advancement  of  the 
world  that  inspired  the  early  educational  efforts  of  Comenius, 
his  later  educational  activities  were  secondary  and  sub- 
ordinate to  his  desire  to  realise  his  ideal  of  Pansophia,  a 
conception  which  reflects  the  influence  of  Bacon  and  recalls 
the  New  Atlantis  rather  than  the  scientific  method  of  the 
Advancement  of  Learning  or  the  Novum  Organum.  In  the 
New  Atlantis  the  central  feature  is  Salomon's  House, 
"  which  house  or  college  is  the  very  eye  of  the  kingdom." 
This  foundation  is  the  embodiment  of  the  scientific  spirit 
which  Bacon  hoped  might  bring  happiness  to  humanity. 
Salomon's  House  is  a  great  laboratory  equipped  with  all 
manner  of  scientific  instruments,  and  connected  with  it  is 
an  organised  army  of  scientific  investigators.  All  the 
processes  of  nature  are  there  artificially  reproduced,  and 
the  results  made  to  serve  mankind.  While  Comenius 
failed  to  appreciate  the  value  of  experiment  in  science  on 
which  Bacon  insisted,  he  believed  that  the  progress  of 
humanity  could  be  materially  advanced  by  the  collection 
of  all  available  knowledge  of  God,  nature  and  art,  and  by 
its  reduction,  on  w^hat  he  considered  scientific  principles, 
to  a  system  which  he  denoted  by  the  term  Pansophia  or 
Universal  Wisdom.^ 

During  the  visit  of  Comenius  to  Londoii  in  1611-4  those 
who  had  invited  him  hoped  that  he  might  be  instrumental 

1  Of.  Wm.  Hawley  ymith,  All  the  Children  of  All  the  People. 
^  Cf.  Keatinge,  The  Great  Diddclic  of  Comenius,  j)p.  30-30,  and  Laurie, 
J.  A.  Comenius,  pj).  20,  70. 


COMENIUS  91 

in  founding  a  Salomon's  House  in  England,  while  he  himself 
hoped  by  their  aid  to  hasten  the  millennium  of  learning  to 
be  attained  by  pansophic  methods.  Neither  expectation 
was  realised,  and  the  fame  of  Comenius  rests  on  the  results 
of  his  labours  in  the  preparation  of  teaching-manuals  and 
school-books,  work  which,  in  spite  of  his  protestations  ^  as 
to  the  importance  of  education,  he  himself  despised. 

The  Great  Didactic  of  Comenius  belongs  to  the  earlier 
period,  to  the  religious  rather  than  the  pansophic  ;  but  its 
sub-title  shows  that  it  is  something  more  than  a  manual  of 
teaching  method  and  that  the  general  organisation  of 
education  was  Comenius's  chief  concern.  ''  The  Great 
Didactic  setting  forth  the  whole  art  of  Teaching  all  Things 
to  all  Men  "  has  as  its  sub-title  :  "  A  certain  Inducement 
to  found  such  schools  in  all  the  Parishes,  Towns  and  Villages 
of  every  Christian  Kingdom  that  the  entire  youth  of  both 
sexes,  none  being  excepted,  shall  cjuickly,  ])leasantly,  and 
thoroughly  become  learned  in  the  Sciences,  pure  in  Morals, 
trained  in  Piety,  and  in  this  manner  instructed  in  all  things 
necessary  for  the  present  and  for  future  life." 

That  a  reorganisation  of  educational  methods  and 
institutions  was  urgent  is  evident  from  the  c()m])laint  as  to 
the  condition  of  the  schools  of  their  day  common  to  all  the 
pedagogical  writers  of  the  period.  Of  these  schools 
Comenius  savs  :  -  '"They  are  the  terror  of  Ijoys,  and  the 
slaughter-houses  of  minds,-  -places  where  a  hatred  of 
literature  and  books  i.s  contracted,  where  ten  or  mori^  years 
are  spent  in  learning  what  might  ])e  accpiired  in  one,  where 
what  ought  to  be  jioured  in  gently  is  violently  forced  in 
and  beaten  in,  where  what  ought  to  hv  put   clearly  and 

1  Cf.  Keatinge,  p.  loS  :    "  The  matter  is  indccl  a  sctiinis  (Hie  .  .  .  siiKo 
tlie  salvation  of  the  luiiiian  rare  is  at  stake." 
'  S.  S.  T>aiirie,  John  Amnt!  Comenius,  j).  5.>. 


92     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

perspicuously  is  presented  in  a  confused  and  intricate  way, 
as  if  it  were  a  collection  of  puzzles, — places  where  minds 
are  fed  on  words." 

In  accordance  with  the  ideal  expressed  in  the  sub-title 
of  The  Great  Didactic,  Comenius  would  establish  such  a 
system  of  education  that  all  the  young  should  be  educated,^ 
"  not  the  children  of  the  rich  or  of  the  powerful  only  but 
all  alike,  boys  and  girls,  both  noble  and  ignoble,  rich  and 
poor,  in  all  cities  and  towns,  villages  and  hamlets,  should 
be  sent  to  school.  Let  none  therefore  be  excluded  unless 
God  has  denied  him  sense  and  intelligence."  ^  They  were 
to  be  educated  "  in  all  those  subjects  which  are  able  to 
make  a  man  wise,  virtuous,  and  pious."  ^  Comenius  was 
thus,  like  the  other  writers  of  his  age,  afflicted  with  the 
desire  for  omniscience,  as  the  subjects  which  are  able  to 
make  a  man  wise,  virtuous,  and  pious  afford  a  quite  com- 
prehensive education.  He  requires  that  every  pupil 
should,  in  Milton's  phrase,  have  a  universal  insight  into 
things,  and  the  qualification  which  he  adds  is  apparent 
rather  than  real.  "  But  do  not,  therefore,  imagine  that  we 
demand  from  all  men  a  knowledge  (that  is  to  say,  an  exact 
or  deep  knowledge)  of  all  the  arts  and  sciences.  It  is  the 
principles,  the  causes,  and  the  uses  of  all  the  most  important 
things  in  existence  that  we  wish  all  men  to  learn  ;  all,  that 
is  to  say,  who  are  sent  into  the  world  to  be  actors  as  well  as 

*  Ch.  xii,  §  2.  All  quotations  from  The  Great  Didactic  are  from 
Keatinge's  edition. 

*  Ch.  ix,  §§1-4.  Note  §5  for  justification  for  education  of  girls. 
"  They  are  endowed  with  equal  shar2)ness  of  mind  and  capacity  for 
knowledge,  and  they  are  able  to  attain  the  highest  positions,  since  they 
have  often  been  called  by  Clod  Himself  to  rule  over  nations.  Why,  there- 
fore, should  we  admit  them  to  the  alphabet,  and  afterwards  drive  them 
away  from  books  ?  " 

=>  Ch.  xii,  §  2. 


COMENIUS  93 

spectators.  For  we  must  take  strong  and  vigorous  measures 
that  no  man  in  his  journey  through  life,  may  encounter 
anything  unknown  to  him  that  he  cannot  pass  sound 
judgment  upon  it  and  turn  it  to  its  proper  use  without 
serious  error."  ^ 

This  universal  instruction,  Comenius  believes,  can  be 
better  imparted  in  schools  than  at  home.  Schools  are 
necessary  because  it  is  very  seldom  that  parents  have 
sufficient  ability  or  sufficient  leisure  to  teach  their  children. 
"  And  although  there  might  be  parents  with  leisure  to 
educate  their  own  children,  it  is  nevertheless  better  that 
the  young  should  be  taught  together  and  in  large  classes, 
since  better  results  and  more  pleasure  are  to  be  obtained 
when  one  pupil  serves  as  an  example  and  a  stimulus  for 
another.  For  to  do  what  we  see  others  do,  to  go  where 
others  go,  to  follow  those  who  are  ahead  of  us,  and  to  keep 
in  front  of  those  who  are  behind  us  is  the  course  of  action 
to  which  we  are  all  most  naturally  inclined.  Young 
children  especially  are  always  more  easily  led  and  ruled  by 
example  than  by  precept.  If  you  give  them  a  precept,  it 
makes  little  impression  ;  if  you  jioint  out  that  others  are 
doing  something,  they  imitate  without  being  told  to  do  so."*^ 

The  function  of  the  school  is  fourfold  :  (1)  talents  may 
be  cultivated  by  study  of  the  sciences  and  the  arts  ;  (2) 
languages  may  be  learned  ;  (3)  honest  morals  may  be 
formed  ;  (1)  (Jod  may  be  sincerely  worshi{)})C(l.  A  school 
fulfilling  its  function  jierfectly  would  be  '  "  one  which  is 
a  true  forging  ]ilacc  of  man  ;  where  the  minds  of  those 
who  learn  are  illuminated  by  the  light  of  wisdom,  so  as  to 
penetrate  with  ease  all  that  is  manifest  and  all  that  is 
secret,  where  the  emotions  and  the  desires  are  brought 
into  harmony  with  virtue,  and  whero  the  heart  is  filled 
iCh.  X.  §1.  *Ch.  viii,  §7  fiii).  '  C'li,  xi.  5  I. 


94     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

with  and  permeated  by  divine  love,  so  that  all  who  are 
handed  over  to  Christian  schools  to  be  imbued  with  true 
wisdom  may  be  taught  to  live  a  heavenly  life  on  earth  ; 
in  a  word,  where  all  men  are  taught  all  things  thoroughly." 

The  ideal  school  Comenius  confesses  is  not  to  be  found. 
The  existing  schools  are  "  terrors  for  boys  and  shambles 
for  their  intellects."  ^  The  advantages  which  Comenius 
hoped  might  accrue  from  the  introduction  of  his  scheme 
were  :  ^ 

(i)  All  the  young  shall  be  educated, 

(ii)  And  in  all  those  subjects  which  are  to  make  a  man 
wise,  virtuous,  and  pious. 

(iii)  The  process  of  education,  being  a  preparation  for 
life,  shall  be  completed  before  maturity  is  reached. 

(iv)  This  education  shall  be  conducted  without  blows, 
rigour  or  compulsion,  as  gently  and  pleasantly  as  possible, 
and  in  the  most  natural  manner. 

(v)  The  education  given  shall  not  be  false  but  real,  not 
superficial  but  thorough  .  .  . 

(vi)  This  education  shall  not  be  laborious  ])ut  very  easy. 
The  class  instruction  shall  last  only  four  hours  each  day,  and 
shall  be  conducted  in  such  a  manner  that  one  master  may 
teach  a  hundred  of  pupils  at  the  same  time,  with  ten  times 
as  little  trouble  as  is  now  expended  on  the  teaching  of  one. 

These  aims  could,  in  the  opinion  of  Comenius,  be  realised 
by  basing  school  reform  on  the  principle  of  order.  Order, 
he  believed,^  was  Education's  first  law,  consequently  he 
maintained  that  the  art  of  teaching  demands  nothing  more 
than  the  skilful  arrangement  of  time,  of  the  subjects  taught 
and  of  the  method.  Just  as  Bacon  with  his  new  inductive 
methods  failed  to  appreciate  the  part  which  the  mind  must 
play  in  originating  hyj)otheses,  so  Comenius  failed  to 
i('h.  xi.  §7.  =('Ii.  xii,§2.  ■■(*f.  eh.  xiii. 


CO.AIENirS  95 

recognise  the  importance  in  education  of  the  teacher  ;  as 
Bacon  believed  that  by  his  method  truth  could  straightway 
be  attained,  so  Comenius  assumed  that  it  could  be  easily 
taught  to  all.  Thus  we  find  him  adding.^  "  As  soon  as  wc 
succeed  in  finding  the  proper  method  it  will  be  no  harder 
to  teach  schoolboys,  in  any  numl)er  desired,  than  with  the 
help  of  the  printing  press,  to  cover  a  thousand  sheets  daily 
with  the  neatest  writing."' 

The  right  order,  or  proper  method,  Comenius  conceives 
can  be  secured  if,  after  the  manner  of  the  writers  of  his  time, 
we  "  follow  nature.''  Thus  he  affirms  :  ^  "  That  order 
which  is  the  dominating  principle  in  the  art  of  teaching  all 
things  to  all  men,  should  be,  and  can  be,  borrowed  from  no 
other  source  but  the  operations  of  nature.  As  soon  as 
this  principle  is  thoroughly  secured,  the  process  of  art  will 
proceed  as  easily  and  as  s])ontaneously  as  those  of  nature. 
Very  aptly  does  Cicero  say  :  '  If  we  take  nature  as  our 
guide,  she  will  never  lead  us  astray.'  and  also  :  '  Under  the 
guidance  of  nature  it  is  impossible  to  go  astray."  This  is 
our  belief,  and  our  advice  is  to  watch  the  operations  of 
nature  carefully  and  to  imitate  them."  For  Comenius, 
however,  "  following  nature  "'  consisted  merely  in  adducing 
analogies  from  natural  processes  in  su])j)ort  of  preconceived 
and  inde])endently  ac(iuired  ])rinciples.  The  analogies  are 
in  many  cases  quite  fancifid.  and  lend  no  authority  to  the 
maxims  of  method  which  are  su])])os(m1  to  be  based  on  them. 
The  following  instances  will  illustrate  his  method  wiiile 
supporting  this  contention  : 

''Nature  obsenrs  a  suilahJr  lime.''' 

For  example  :  a  bird  that  wishes  to  inulti])Iy  its  s])ecies. 
does  not  set  about  it  in  winter,  wlieii  everything  is  stifl' 

1  Ch.  x\\\.  §  15.     (f.  ch.  xix.  §s  lii.^'.t. 

«rh.  xiv   §  7.     Cf.  ih.  xvi.  ^ ;"..  ■  (  )i.  xvi.  SS  7-10, 


96     DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

with  cold,  nor  in  summer,  when  everything  is  parched  and 
withered  by  the  heat ;  nor  yet  in  autumn,  when  the  vital 
force  of  all  creatures  declines  with  the  sun's  declining  rays, 
and  a  new  winter  with  hostile  mien  is  approaching  ;  but  in 
spring,  when  the  sun  brings  back  life  and  strength  to  all  .  .  . 

Imitation.- — -In  the  same  way  the  gardener  takes  care  to 
do  nothing  out  of  season  .  .  . 

Deviation. — In  direct  opposition  to  this  principle,  a 
twofold  error  is  committed  in  schools. 

(i)    The  right  time  for  mental  exercise  is  not  chosen. 

(ii)  The  exercises  are  not  properly  divided,  so  that  all 
advance  may  be  made  through  the  several  stages  needful, 
without  any  omission. 

Rectification. — -We  conclude,  therefore,  that 

(i)  The  education  of  men  should  be  commenced  in  the 
springtime  of  life,  that  is  to  say,  in  boyhood. 

(ii)  The  morning  hours  are  the  most  suitable  for  study 
(for  here  again  the  morning  is  the  equivalent  of  spring  .  .  .  ). 

(iii)  All  the  subjects  that  are  to  be  learned  should  be 
arranged  so  as  to  suit  the  age  of  the  students,  that  nothing 
which  is  beyond  their  comprehension  be  given  them  to 
learn. 

Nature  is  not  confused  in  its  operations,  but  in  its  forward 
progress  advances  distinctly  from  one  point  to  another.^ 

For  example  :  if  a  bird  is  being  produced,  its  bones, 
veins,  and  nerves  are  formed  at  separate  and  distinct 
periods  .  .  . 

Imitation. — ^When  a  ])uilder  lays  foundations  he  does 
not  build  the  walls  at  the  same  time,  much  less  does  he 
put  on  the  roof,  but  does  each  of  these  things  at  the  proper 
time  and  in  the  proper  place. 

^  Ch.  xvi,  §§  20-32.  Contrast  with  analogy  used  by  Quintilian  :  sec 
above  p.  49. 


C0MENIU8  97 

Deviation. — Confusion  has  arisen  in  the  scliools  tlirou^h 
the  endeavour  to  teach  the  scholars  many  things  at  one 
time.  As,  for  example,  Latin  and  Greek  grammar,  perhaps 
rhetoric  and  poetic  as  well,  and  a  multitude  of  other 
subjects  .  .  . 

Rectification. — Schools,  therefore,  should  be  organised 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  scholar  shall  be  occupied  with 
only  one  object  of  study  at  any  given  time. 

Nature  nutke.s  no  leaps,  bid  proceeds  step  by  step.^ 

The  development  of  a  chicken  consists  of  certain  gradual 
processes  which  cannot  be  omitted  or  deferred,  until  finally 
it  breaks  its  shell  and  comes  forth. 

Imitation. — The  builder  proceeds  in  the  same  manner  .  .  . 

Deviation.-  At  is  an  evident  absurdity,  therefore,  if 
teachers,  for  their  own  sake  and  that  of  their  jnipils,  do 
not  graduate  the  subjects  which  they  teach  .  .  . 

Rectification.    -It  follows  therefore 

(i)  That  all  studies  should  be  carefully  graduated 
throughout  the  various  classes  in  such  a  way  that  those 
that  come  first  uiay  prepare  the  way  foi-.  and  throw  light 
on,  those  that  come  after. 

(ii)  That  the  time  should  be  carefully  divided,  so  that 
each  year,  each  mouth,  each  day,  and  each  hour  may  have 
its  apj)ointed  task. 

(iii)  That  the  division  of  the  time  and  of  the  subjects 
of  study  should  be  rigidly  adhered  to.  that  nothing  may  be 
omitted  or  ]ierverted. 

Nature  does  not  hurrij.  but  adranccs  sloirhj.- 
For  example,  a  bird  does  not  ])lac(>  its  eggs  in  tiie  tire, 
in  order  to  hatch   them   (piickly,   b\it   lets  them   develop 
slowly  uTider  the  infiu(Mic(>  of  natiu-al  warmth. 

'  Ch.  xvi,  §§  40-50.  =  C'li.  xvii.  §i  .'M  -:5r., 


98    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

Imitation. — The  builder,  too,  does  not  erect  the  walls  on 
the  foundations  with  undue  haste  and  then  straightway 
put  on  the  roof. 

Deviation. — For  the  young,  therefore,  it  is  torture 

(i)  If  they  are  compelled  to  receive  six,  seven,  or  eight 
hours'  class  instruction  daily,  and  private  lessons  in 
addition. 

(ii)  If  they  are  overburdened  with  dictations,  with 
exercises  .  .  . 

Rectification.- — The  ease  and  the  pleasantness  of  study 
will  therefore  be  increased  : 

(i)  If  the  class  instruction  be  curtailed  as  much  as 
possible,  namely  to  four  hours,  and  if  the  same  length  of 
time  be  left  for  private  study. 

(ii)  If  the  pupils  be  forced  to  memorise  as  little  as 
possible,  that  is  to  say,  only  the  most  important  things  ; 
of  the  rest,  they  need  only  grasp  the  general  meaning. 

(iii)  If  everything  be  arranged  to  suit  the  capacity  of 
the  pupil,  which  increases  naturally  with  study  and  age." 

The  value  of  Comenius's  principles  must  clearly  be 
estimated  independently  of  the  analogies  from  nature 
adduced  by  him  in  support  of  them.  The  method  which 
he  adopted  while  apparently  securing  uniformity  in  pre- 
sentation actually  results  in  a  most  unsystematic  arrange- 
ment of  the  principles  of  school  organisation  and  of  the 
maxims  of  teaching  method.  Comenius's  claim  to  present 
an  a  priori  system  is  far  from  justified,  and  his  criticisms 
of  his  predecessors'  collections^  of  «■  posteriori  precepts  are 
not  inapplicable  to  his  own  work.  Thus  stripped  of  the 
quasi-philosophical  deductions  which  accompany  them, 
his  precepts  arrange  themselves  in  order  as  follows  : 

'  Cf.  Greeting  to  the  Reader,  §§  2-3 


("OMEXIUS  •»!) 

The  education  of  men  should  ])e  eoiiiineiiced  in  l)oylio()d. 

The  morning  hours  are  the  most  suitable  for  study. 

All  the  subjects  that  are  to  be  learned  should  be  arranged 
so  as  to  suit  the  age  of  the  students.^ 

It  is  necessary  that  books  and  the  materials  necessary 
for  teaching  be  held  in  readiness. 

It  is  necessary  that  the  understanding  be  first  instructed 
in  things,  and  then  taught  to  express  them  in  language. 

It  is  necessary  that  no  language  be  learned  from  a 
grammar,  but  from  suitable  authors. 

It  is  necessary  that  the  knowledge  of  things  precede  the 
knowledge  of  their  combinations. 

And  that  examples  come  before  rules.- 

It  is  desirable  tha'"  all  who  enter  schools  ])ersevere  in 
their  studies. 

It  is  desirable  that  before  any  spec.al  study  is  introduced, 
the  minds  of  the  students  be  prepared  and  made  receptive 
of  it.=» 

Etc. 

Following  nature  does  not  evidently  produce  that  order 
among  his  ])rinciples  which  ronienius  ussuukmI  would 
result  from  this,  procedure,  and  constitute  the  basis  of 
school  reform.' 

Some  of  the  ])rinciples  and  methods  rccomineiidcd  1)V 
Conienius  are  common  to  him  and  to  the  .Jesuits.  Thus 
Comenius  advises  that  care  should  lie  exercised  in  the 
selection  of  texts  ])ut  into  j)Upils'  hands;  he  maintains  ' 
that  the  books  which  the  scholars  use  should  be  s\\v\\  as 
can  rightly  be  termed  sources  of  wisdom,  virtue,  and  ])i('tv  ; 
and  he  deplores  the  fact  that  more  caution  has  not  been 

U'h.  xii.  >;  m.  -{'h.  xii.  §  )!•.  '<'li.   xii.  §  2.">. 

'  Cf.  ch.   xiii.  t'li.  xvii.  §  t)2  (ii). 


100    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

exercised  in  the  matter.^  To  tlie  argument  that  pagan 
books  should  be  removed  from  the  schools  he  devotes  a 
chapter,^  although  from  his  premises  he  somewhat  in- 
consistently concludes  that  "  we  do  not  absolutely  prohibit 
Christians  from  reading  heathen  writers.  Great  caution 
should  be  used,  and  this  is  what  we  urge."  The  Jesuits 
had  previously  made  similar  recommendations,  the  Ratio 
Studionim  instructing  the  Provincial "  that  the  school 
books  which  might  do  harm  to  virtue  or  good  morals 
should  be  withheld  from  pupils  till  the  offensive  passages 
be  expurgated ;  and  the  Professors  of  the  Lower  Studies  are 
advised  *  to  refrain  from  reading  works  prejudicial  to  good 
morals,  and  not  only  to  abstain  from  expounding  these  but 
also  to  deter  pupils  as  far  as  possible  from  reading  these 
out  of  school.  The  following  paragraphs  of  Comenius  ^ 
likewise  read  almost  Lke  a  paraphrase  of  the  Jesuit  regula- 
tions :  "If  the  scholars  are  to  be  interested,  care  must  be 
taken  to  make  the  method  palatable,  so  that  everything, 
no  matter  how  serious,  may  be  placed  before  them  in  a 
familiar  and  attractive  manner  ;  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue, 
for  instance,  by  pitting  the  boys  against  one  another  to 
answer  and  explain  riddling  questions,  comparisons  and 
fables  ..."  "  The  civil  authorities  and  the  managers  of 
schools  can  kindle  the  zeal  of  the  scholars  by  being  present 
at  public  performances  (such  as  declarations,  disputations, 
examinations  and  promotions),  and  by  praising  the  in- 
dustrious ones  and  giving  them  small  presents  (without 

1  Ch.  ix,  §  G.     Cf.  ch.  xix,  §  52. 

^  Ch.  XXV.     Comenius  also  recommends  the  use  of  Epitomes  (ch.  xxi), 
the  use  of  which  by  the  Jesuits  has  been  (Titiciscd. 

^  Reg.  Provinciahs,  34.  '  Reg.  com.  J'rof.  class,  inf.,  8. 

^Ch.  xvii,  §§  lfl-20.     For  further  references  to  contests  see  ch.  xix, 
§  25  ;  xxvi,  §  5  ;  to  pu})lic  debates  or  dissertations,  ch.  xxxi.  §  5. 


COMEXIUS  101 

respect  of  person)."'  Even  emulation  is  coniineiuletl  by 
Comenius  as  "by  far  the  best  stimulus""^  with  scliool 
pupils. 

There  are  withal  in  the  writings  of  Comenius  certain 
definite  characteristics  distinsuishinn;  his  work  from  that 
of  his  predecessors.  The  most  noteworthy  is  the  strong 
democratic  tendency  resulting  in  an  emphasis  on  the 
teaching  of  the  vernacular.  Thus  he  affirms  :  -  "  The 
education  that  I  propose  includes  all  that  is  proper  for  a 
man,  and  is  one  in  which  all  men  who  are  born  into  this 
world  should  share.  All  therefore,  as  far  as  possible, 
should  be  educated  together,  that  they  may  stimulate 
and  urge  on  one  another. 

"  We  wish  all  men  to  be  trained  in  all  the  virtues, 
especially  in  modesty,  sociability,  and  politeness,  and  it  is 
therefore  undesirable  to  create  class  distinctions  at  such 
an  early  age,  or  to  give  some  children  the  o])portimity  of 
considering  their  own  lot  with  satisfaction  and  that  of 
others  with  scorn. 

"  When  boys  are  only  six  years  old,  it  is  too  early  to 
determine  their  vocation  in  life,  or  whether  they  are  more 
suited  for  learning  or  for  manual  labour.  At  this  age 
neither  the  mind  nor  the  inclinations  are  sufHciently  de- 
veloped, while,  later  on,  it  will  be  easy  to  form  a  sound 
opinion  on  both.  Nor  should  adniission  to  the  Latin 
School  be  reserved  for  the  sons  of  rich  men,  nobles  and 
magistrates,  as  if  these  were  the  only  boys  who  would  ever 
be  able  to  fill  similar  positions.  The  wind  blows  where 
it  will,  and  does  not  always  begin  to  blow  at  a  fixed 
time." 

In  stating  his  \'iews  on  the  university  course  Comenius 
adds  :  ^    "  The  studies  will  progress  with  ease  and  success 

'  rii.  xix.  §  Hi.  -Ch.  x\ix.  §2.  Mli.  xxxi    *  4. 


102    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

if  only  select  intellects,  the  flower  of  mankind,  attempt 
them.  The  rest  had  better  turn  their  attention  to  more 
suitable  occupations,  such  as  agriculture,  mechanics  or 
trade,"  a  recommendation  which  recalls  the  advice  of 
Montaigne  who,  for  the  pupil  having  no  aptitude  for 
learning,  suggests  as  the  best  remedy  that  "he  be  put 
prentice  to  some  base  occupation,  in  some  good  town  or 
other,  yea,  were  he  the  son  of  a  Duke."  ^ 

The  common  school  for  all  pupils  from  six  to  twelve 
years  of  age  necessitates  not  only  that  the  teaching  of 
other  languages  should  be  carried  on  through  the  mother- 
tongue,^  but  also  that  direct  instruction  in  the  mother- 
tongue  itself  should  be  given.  "  To  attempt  to  teach  a 
foreign  language  before  the  mother-tongue  has  been 
learned  is,"  says  Comenius,^  "  as  irrational  as  to  teach  a 
boy  to  ride  before  he  can  walk.  Cicero  declared  that  he 
could  not  teach  elocution  to  those  who  were  unable  to 
speak,  and,  in  the  same  w^ay,  my  method  confesses  its 
inability  to  teach  Latin  to  those  who  are  ignorant  of  their 
mother-tongue,  since  the  one  paves  the  way  for  the  other. 
Finally,  what  I  have  in  view  is  an  education  in  the  objects 
that  surround  us,  and  a  brief  survey  of  this  education  can 
be  obtained  from  books  written  in  the  mother-tongue, 
which  embody  a  list  of  the  things  that  exist  in  the  external 
world.  This  preliminary  survey  will  render  the  acquisition 
of  Latin  far  easier,  for  it  will  only  be  necessary  to  adapt  a 

^  Essays,  "  Of  the  Institution  and  Education  of  Cliildrcn."  From  a 
manuscript  emendation  (cf.  I>auric,  Educational  Ojnnion  from  the 
Rmuissancr,  p.  105)  it  appears  that  Montaigne  would  give  such  pupils 
even  shorter  shrift,  as  he  there  recommends  the  masters  to  "strangle 
such  youths  it  they  can  do  it  without  witnesses." 

2("f.  ch.  xvii,  §§  27,  28. 

^  Ch.  ,\xix,  §§  3-4.  For  the  teaching  of  the  vernacular  see  whole 
chapter. 


COMENIUS  103 

new  nomenclature  to  objects."  Montaigne  had  earlier 
recommended  ^  learning  first  the  mother-tongue,  but, 
unlike  Comenius,  he  was  proposing  an  education  suitable 
for  "a  complete  gentleman  born  of  noble  parentage." 

With  greater  insistence  than  any  of  his  ])redecessors 
Comenius  reiterates  the  principle  that  the  child  should  be 
first  instructed  in  things  before  being  taught  to  express 
them  in  language,'^  that  everything  should  be  first  learned 
through  the  medium  of  the  senses.''  "  Men  must,"  he 
explains.'*  "  as  far  as  possible,  be  taught  to  become  wise  by 
studying  the  heavens,  the  earth,  oaks,  and  beeches,  but 
not  by  studying  books  ;  that  is  to  say,  they  must  learn  to 
know  and  investigate  the  things  themselves,  and  not  the 
observations  that  other  people  have  made  about  the  things. 
We  shall  thus  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  the  wise  men  of  old, 
if  each  of  us  ()l)tain  his  knowledge  from  the  originals,  from 
things  themselves,  and  from  no  other  source."'  And 
echoing  Bacon,  he  adds,  ''  That  no  information  should  be 
imparted  on  the  grounds  of  ])ookish  authority,  but  should 
be  authorised  by  actual  demonstration  to  the  senses  and 
to  the  intellect." 

The  futility  of  the  existing  methods  of  education  sorely 
distressed  Comenius,  and  constrained  him.  as  it  constraiiu'd 
the  Jesuits,  to  fornnilate  a  system  of  school  organisation 
and  of  teaching  method.  Among  the  (i(>fects  which  he 
diagnosed  were  that  each  school  and  (>v(>n  t'ach  teacher 
used  a  different  method,  that  one  method  was  used  in  one 
language  and  another  in  another,  and  even  in  the  same 

'  K.imys,  (1580).  ''  Of  the  Institution  and  Hdmatinn  nf  Children  : "' 
".  .  .  I  would  first  know  mine  own  tv)ngue  perfectly,  tlun  tiiy  iici^'hbonrs 
with  whom  I  have  must  eomnierec." 

-Ch.  xvi.  §  19. 

H'h.  xvii.  §  2  (viii).      t'f.  ^^  :5S  (iii).  '  Ch.  x\  in    :;  28.     Cf.  eli.  xx. 


104    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

subject  the  mettiod  was  so  varied  that  the  pupil  scarcely 
understood  in  what  way  he  was  expected  to  learn.  No 
method  was  known  by  which  instruction  was  given  to  all 
the  pupils  in  a  class  at  the  same  time  ;  the  individual  only 
was  taught.^  To  remedy  these  defects  he  proposed  ^  that 
there  should  only  be  one  teacher  in  each  school  or  at  any 
rate  in  each  class  ;  only  one  author  should  be  used  for  each 
subject  studied  ;  the  same  exercises  should  be  given  to  the 
whole  class ;  all  subjects  and  languages  should  be  taught 
by  the  same  method ;  everything  should  be  taught 
thoroughly,  briefly,  and  pithily ;  all  things  that  are  naturally 
connected  ought  to  be  taught  in  combination  ;  every 
subject  should  be  taught  in  definitely  graded  steps,  that 
the  work  of  one  day  may  thus  expand  that  of  the  previous 
day,  and  lead  up  to  that  of  the  morrow  ;  and  finally, 
everything  that  is  useless  should  be  invariably  discarded. 

Not  only  would  Comenius  make  instruction  more  methodi- 
cal but  he  would  also  make  it  more  agreeable  to  the  pupil. 
He  suggests  ^  that  the  school  should  be  situated  in  a  quiet 
spot,  far  from  noise  and  distraction,  and  explains  further  :  ^ 
"  The  school  itself  should  be  a  pleasant  place,  and  attractive 
to  the  eye  both  within  and  without.  Within,  the  room 
should  be  bright  and  clean,  and  its  walls  should  be  orna- 
mented by  pictures.  These  should  be  either  portraits  of 
celebrated  men,  geographical  maps,  historical  plans,  or 
other  ornaments.''  Without,  there  should  be  an  open 
place  to  walk  and  to  play  in  (for  this  is  absolutely  necessary 
for  children),  and  there  should  also  be  a  garden  attached, 
into  which  scholars  may  be  allowed  to  go  from  time  to 
time  and  where  they  may  feast  their  eyes  on  trees,  flowers 
and  plants.     If  this  be  done,  boys  will,  in  all  proliability, 

'  Ch.  xix,  §S  7,  8-  2(jh    ^.jx    §]4.  .ich.   xvi,  §  nfi  (ii). 

HJh.  xvii,  §  17.  'Cf.  Ibid..  §42. 


nOMENIUS  105 

go  to  school  with  as  much  pleasure  as  to  fairs,  where  they 
always  hope  to  see  and  hear  something  new." 

The  need  for  suitable  school-books  was  early  felt  b}' 
Comenius.  Like  the  other  educators  of  his  time,  and  in 
spite  of  the  prominence  he  assigned  to  the  teaching  of  the 
vernacular,  Comenius  was  condemned  to  devote  attention 
to  the  teaching  of  languages,  especially  of  Latin.  Here, 
however,  he  met  with  his  greatest  practical  success,  for 
the  text-books  which  he  prepared  to  facilitate  the  learning 
of  Latin  ^  won  ready  acceptance,  his  Janua  Linguanim 
Reserla  ^  being  doubtless  the  most  celebrated  school-book 
ever  published,  and  his  Orbis  Piclus  ^  the  first  picture-book 
ever  prepared  for  children. 

On  school  discipline  Comenius  held  enlightened  views, 
and  his  reconnnendations  follow  the  principles  enunciated 
by  Quintilian  *  on  this  subject.  Thus  he  aflirms  :  '  "  That 
no  blows  be  given  for  lack  of  readiness  to  learn  (for,  if  the 
pupil  do  not  learn  readily,  this  is  the  fault  of  no  one  but 
the  teacher,  who  either  does  not  know  how  to  make  his 
pupil  receptive  of  knowledge  or  does  not  take  the  trouble 
to  do  so)  ;  "  and  in  liis  chapter  "  Of  School  Discipline  ""  '' 
the  analogy  he  there  employs  lends  force  to  his  argument. 
Thus  he  says  :  "  A  musician  does  not  strike  his  lyre  a  blow 
with  his  fist  or  with  a  stick,  nor  does  he  throw  it  against 
the  wall,  because  it  ])roduces  a  discordant  sound  ;  but, 
setting  to  work  on  sci(Mitilic  piinci])les,  he  tunes  it  and  uets 

^  See  Kcatingc,  The  Gre<il  Didartic«J  CoincniH'',  Iiitr.,  pp.  ~,'1\). 

^  Cf.  Kcatinge,  cli.  .xxii,  §§  4(1. 

^  Cf.  on  picture-book.s  The  (Irral  Didactic,  i  li.  xxviii.  ^j  l2.">  (i.  Fur 
comparison  of  tlie  Janua  of  Comenius  with  that  earlier  juibli.shed  by 
Bathe,  a  Jesuit  priest  of  the  Irish  College  at  Salaiiianca.  see  'V.  Corcoran. 
Studies  in  the  Histnri/  of  Classical  Teaching,  ])|).  I-IIKI. 

'See  above  eh.  ii.  p.  44.  '  Cli.  xvii.  »41,    i).  'Ch.   xxvi. 


106    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

it  into  order.  Just  such  a  skilful  and  sympathetic  treat- 
ment is  necessary  to  instil  a  love  of  learning  into  the  minds 
of  our  pupils,  and  any  other  procedure  will  only  convert 
their  idleness  into  antipathy  and  their  lack  of  industry 
into  downright  stupidity." 

Among  the  statements  of  Comenius  are  to  be  found 
certain  of  the  maxims  of  teaching  method,  for  example, 
"Proceed  from  what  is  easy  to  what  is  more  difficult,"  ^ 
and  instead  of  the  maxim  "  Proceed  from  the  particular  to 
the  general  "  we  find  "  Proceed  from  the  general  to  the 
particular."  ^  The  principle  of  correlation  is  implied  in 
the  statements  :  "  Great  stress  [should]  be  laid  on  the  points 
of  resemblance  between  cognate  subjects  ;  "  ^  and  "  all 
things  that  are  naturally  connected  ought  to  be  taught  in 
combination."*  The  inductive  method  of  teaching,  or 
what  Adams  terms  "  anticipatory  illustration,"  '  is  ex- 
pressed thus : "  "It  is  necessary  that  examples  come 
before  rules."  Herbart's  doctrine  of  interest  is  anticipated 
in  such  remarks  as  ;  "  The  desire  to  know  and  to  learn 
should  be  excited  in  the  boy  in  every  possible  manner."  " 
"  Every  study  should  be  commenced  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  awaken  a  real  liking  for  it  on  the  part  of  the  scholars  "  ;  '^ 
and  although  C(^menius's  own  psycliology  was  of  the  most 
primitive  type,  he  anticipated  the  psychological  principle 
of  Pestalozzi  when  he  affirmed  '*  that  nothing  shoidd  be 
taught  the  young,  unless  it  is  not  only  permitted  but 
actually  demanded  by  their  age  and  mental  strength. 

^  Ch.  xvi,  §  25,  xvii,  §  2.     For  discussion  of  these  maxims  see  Weltoii, 
J^riticiples  and  Methods  of  Taaching,  ])p.  ()2-6G. 
2  Ch.  xvii,  §  2.  =>  Ch.  xviii,  §  4. 

■•  Ch.  xix,  §  14.  ■'  Expusition  nnd  llluMrntion,  ji.  31. 

"Ch.  xvi,  §  19.  "Ch.  xvii,  §  V.\. 

MJh.  xviii,  §  Ki.     Cf.  ch.  xix,  §2U(ii).  *' Ch.  xvii,  §  38.     (,"f.  §  3.^. 


COMENirS  107 

There  is  much  re])etiti()ii  and  soiuo  conti'adictioii  ^  ain()n<r 
tlio  ])riiiciplos  of  Conienius;  but  throughout  his  work  is 
evinced  a  sincere  sympathy  with  childhood  issuing  in  an 
earnest  aspiration  to  make  education  avaihahle  to  all,  to 
lighten  the  drudgery  of  learning  for  the  child  and  to  intro- 
duce into  schools  a  humane  treatment  of  the  ])upil.  As 
his  conception  of  Education  is  wider  in  extension  than  that 
of  the  Jesuits,  it  is  as  a  consequence  fuller  in  connotation. 
It  does  not  confine  itself  so  exclusively,  as  does  the  1599 
Ratio  of  the  Jesuits,  to  the  teaching  of  languages,  but 
devotes  considerable  attention  to  the  acquisition  of  skill,- 
an  aspect  of  training  which  was  long  neglected  in  Educa- 
tion ;  it  likewise  treats  independently  ^  the  moral  and  the 
religious  training  of  the  pupil.  For  the.se  reasons  Conienius 
has  much  in  common  with  Pestalozzi  and  later  educationists ; 
and  had  his  successors  in  Education  taken  the  .same  ])ains 
to  ac(|uaint  them.selves  with  his  writings  as  he  did  with 
tho.se  of  his  predecessors  and  contemporaries,  the  history 
of  Education  would  not  now  appear  so  much  ol"  a  treadmill 
process  as  it  usually  does  to  the  ])resent-dav  reader. 

'  Cf.  ch.  xvi,  §  .'52 — ''  Schools  slioulil  bf  organised  iti  such  a  iiiaiiner 
that  the  scliolar  shall  be  occii))ied  with  only  one  object  of  study  at  any 
given  time" — with  <h.  xix.  §§41-47 — "  Kxercises  in  rcadini.'  and 
writinji  should  always  be  conibinc^d,  etc."' 

-  (.!h.  xxi.  ^(;h.  xxiii   ch.  xxiv. 


CHAPTER   VI 

MILTON 

Milton's  Tractate  on  Education  is  an  urgent  summons  to 
a  people  engaged  in  strenuous  warfare  to  take  heed  to  its 
educational  system,  lest  in  fighting  for  the  shadow  of  its 
being  it  might  come  to  lose  the  substance  of  its  well-being. 
The  Tractate  rings  with  that  majesty  which  is  characteristic 
of  Milton's  writings.  It  is  poetic,  and  would  have  lost  its 
poetic  effect,  which  is  the  source  of  its  inspiration  to  other 
ages,  had  it  been  translated  into  a  definite  scheme  suitable 
for  a  special  time  and  place.  Its  precepts  are  impracticable, 
the  scope  of  its  curriculum  ridiculous  by  reason  of  its 
catholicity,  yet  it  sounds  a  note  which  even  above  the  din 
of  modern  battles  nations  still  hear,  and  would  l)e  wise 
to  heed. 

In  the  Tractate  Milton  does  not  speak  from  experience  ; 
he  did  indeed  practise  for  a  period  "  the  mean  employ- 
ment "  of  teaching,  as  Johnson  characterised  it,  an  epithet 
which  may  be  pardoned  when  we  reflect  on  the  might  of 
the  man  to  whom  it  was  applied,  but  in  his  educational 
work  Milton  rises  above  experience  and,  coming  near  the 
eternal  verities,  speaks  more  impressively  than  the  limita- 
tions and  hesitations  of  practical  applications  would  have 
allowed.  He  has  all  the  contempt  of  the  omniscient 
amateur  for  the  work  of  the  skilled  craftsman,   and  he 

108 


MIJ.TON  109 

dismisses  the  efforts  of  his  conteni])oraries,  es})ecially  of 
Comenius,  with  tlie  remark  ^  "  to  search  what  many  modern 
Januas  and  Didactics  more  than  ever  I  shall  read,  have 
projected,  my  inclination  leads  me  not/" 

The  importance  of  the  educational  appeal  even  in  time 
of  war  is  urged  in  Milton's  apology  for  the  brevity  of  his 
treatise  :  "  Brief  I  shall  endeavour  to  be  ;  for  that  which 
I  have  to  say  assuredly  this  Nation  hath  extreme  need 
should  be  done  sooner  than  spoken."  ^ 

That  reform  was  necessary  we  can  gather  from  several 
references  in  the  Tractate.  "  We  do  amiss,"  says  Milton,^ 
"  to  spend  seven  or  eight  years  merely  in  scraping  together 
so  much  miserable  Latin  and  Greek  as  might  be  learnt 
otherwise  easily  and  delightfully  in  one  year.  And  that 
which  casts  proficiency  therein  so  much  behind  is  our  time 
lost  partly  in  too  oft  idle  vacations  given  both  to  schools 
and  universities,  partly  in  preposterous  exaction,  forcing 
the  empty  wits  of  children  to  compose  themes,  \  erses  and 
orations  which  are  the  acts  of  ripest  judgment  and  the  final 
work  of  a  head  filled  by  long  reading  and  observing  with 
elegant  maxims  and  copious  invention."  "And  f(»r  the 
usual  method  of  teaching  Arts,  I  deem  it  to  be  an  old  (Mror 
of  universities,"  lie  continues,*  "  that  instead  of  l)eginning 
with  Arts  nujst  easy,  and  those  be  sucli  as  are  niost  obvious 
to  the  sen.se,  they  present  tlunr  young  umuatriculated 
n(nices  at  first  coming  with  tlie  most  intellective  abstrac- 
tions of  Logic  and  ]\reta])hysics.""  And  in  his  most  robust 
])olemical  manner  he  sums  up  his  condemnation  by  charac- 
terising the  current  system  as  "  ])ur('  trifling  at  grannnar 
and  sophistry,'"''  and  dismissing  it ''as  ""that  asinine  feast 
of  sowthistles  and  brambles  which  is  commonly  set  befcjre 

1  Tractntr,  p.  3.  -  j).  :{.  ^  I>.  4. 

*  p.  6.  ■  J).  S.  '■  ]).  s. 


110  doctrinp:s  of  the  great  educators 

them,  as  all  the  food  and  entertainment  of  their  tenderest 
and  most  docile  age." 

By  contrast  Milton's  aim  in  the  Tractate  is  to  describe 
"  a  better  education  in  extent  and  comprehension  far  more 
large  and  yet  of  time  far  shorter,  and  of  attainment  far 
more  certain  than  hath  yet  been  in  practice."  ^  He  does 
not,  however,  attempt  to  deal  like  Comenius  with  the 
education  of  the  people,  but  merely  with  that  of  "  our 
noble  and  our  gentle  youth,"  and  then  only  between  the 
years  of  twelve  and  twenty-one.^  This  restriction  of 
education  to  the  governing  classes  is  a  re-version  to  the 
practice  of  the  early  educators. 

Milton's  definition  of  Education  is  in  these  terms  :  "I 
call  therefore  a  complete  and  generous  education  that 
which  fits  a  man  to  perform  justly,  skilfully  and  magnani- 
mously, all  the  offices  both  private  and  public  of  peace 
and  war."  ^ 

That  the  education  which  he  prescribes  is  "  com])lete 
and  generous  "  an  enimieration  of  the  intellectual  subjects 
included  in  the  curriculum  which  he  projioses,  indisputably 
proves.  These  comprise  in  languages  :  Latin,  Greek, 
Italian,  Hebrew,  Chaldaic,  Syriac  ;  in  the  natural  sciences  : 
Arithmetic,  Geography,  Mathematics  including  Geometry 
and  Trigonometry,  Physics,  Astronomy,  Meteorology, 
Mineralogy,  Anatomy,  Physiology,  Fortification,  Archi- 
tecture, Engineering  and  Navigation  ;  in  the  philosophical 
sciences :  Ethics,  Economics,  Politics,  Jjaw,  Logic, 
Rhetoric  ;  in  lieligion :  the  Scriptures,  Theology  and 
Church  History — ancient  and  modern.  The  encyclopaedism 
dominating  the  thought  of  the  age  may  be  partly  res])on- 
sible  for  this  formidable  array;  and  although  the  science 
subjects  are  not  to  be  studied  directly  but  from  classical 

J  p.  3.  2pp_  17^  s.  3  p.  8. 


MILTON  111 

authors,  and  some  of  these  are  to  be  read  in  conipendiunis, 
the  scheme  is  hopelessly  impossible  of  achievement,  and  we 
are  not  surprised  at  Milton's  warning,  perhaps  the  result 
of  his  own  experience  of  teaching;,  "  that  this  is  not  a  bow 
for  every  man  to  shoot  in  that  counts  himself  a  teacher, 
but  will  require  sinews  almost  equal  to  those  that  Homer 
gave  Ulysses."  ^ 

The  physical  exercises  which  Milton  prescribes  are,  in 
accordance  with  his  definition  of  Education,  those  which 
are  equally  good  both  for  peace  and  war.  Fencing  and 
wrestling  he  mentions,  and  suggests  that  the  interval 
between  exercise  and  meals  should  be  spent  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  music  discoursed  to  the  pupils  on  the  organ. 
Military  exercises,  either  on  foot  or  on  horseback  according 
to  age,  are  also  prescribed.  "  Besides  these  constant 
exercises  at  home,  there  is  another  opportunity  of  gaining 
experience  to  be  won  from  pleasure  itself  abroad.  In  these 
vernal  seasons  of  the  year,  when  the  air  is  calm  and  pleasant, 
it  were  an  injury  and  sullenness  against  nature  not  to  go 
out,  and  see  her  riches,  and  partake  in  her  rejoicing  with 
Heaven  and  Earth.  I  should  not  therefore  ])e  a  persuader 
to  them  of  studying  much  then,  after  two  or  three  year  that 
they  have  well  laid  their  grounds,  but  to  ride  out  in  com- 
panies with  j)rudent  and  staid  guides,  to  all  the  ([uart(ns 
of  the  land,  learning  and  observing  all  })laces  of  strength. 
all  commodities  of  building  and  of  soil,  for  towns  and 
tillage,  harbours  and  ports  for  trade.  Sometimes  taking 
sea  as  far  as  to  our  navy,  to  learn  there  also  what  they  can 
in  the  practical  knowledge  of  sailing  and  of  sea-fight."'  - 

To  realise  his  ideal  of  a  coni})lete  and  generous  education 
Milton  would  establish  a  spacious  house  with  grounds 
about  it  fit  for  an  academy,  and  big  enough  to  lodge  a 
»  p.  23.  -  p.  L'l. 


112    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

hundred  and  fifty  persons,  whereof  twenty  or  thereabout 
may  be  attendants.  This  place  should  be  at  once  both 
school  and  university.  After  this  pattern  as  many  edifices 
may  be  converted  to  this  use  as  shall  be  needful  in  every 
city  throughout  the  land  which  would  tend  much  to  the 
increase  of  learning  and  civility  everywhere.^  The  day's 
work  of  the  pupils  in  such  an  educational  institute  would 
be  divided  into  three  parts  :  their  studies,  their  exercise, 
and  their  diet.  The  advice  Milton  offers  in  regard  to  the 
last  is  that  it  should  be  plain,  healthful,  and  moderate. 

The  only  guidance  IVIilton  deigns  to  offer  in  the  Tractate 
as  to  the  general  method  to  be  adopted  in  instruction  is 
that  there  should  be  a  revision  of  work  previously  learned. 
"  In  this  methodical  course,"  says  he,^  "  it  is  so  supposed 
that  they  (the  pupils)  must  proceed  by  the  steady  pace  of 
learning  onward,  as  at  convenient  times  for  memories'  sake 
to  retire  back  into  the  middle  ward,  and  sometimes  into 
the  rear  of  what  they  have  been  taught,  until  they  have 
confii-med  and  solidly  united  the  whole  body  of  their  per- 
fected knowledge." 

In  respect  to  special  method  Milton  could  not  escape  the 
influence  of  his  times  and  avoid  the  treatment  of  language 
teaching.  It  must  have  first  place  ;  language  is  never- 
theless to  be  regarded  as  "  but  an  instrument  conveying 
to  us  things  useful  to  be  known.  And  though  a  linguist 
should  pride  himself  to  have  all  the  tongues  tliat  Babel 
cleft  the  world  into,  yet  if  he  have  not  studied  the  solid 
things  in  them  as  well  as  the  words  and  lexicons,  he  were 
nothing  so  much  esteemed  a  learned  man,  as  any  yeoman 
or  tradesman  competently  wise  in  his  mother  dialect  only."  ^ 
Immediately  some  of  the  chief  and  necessary  rules  of 
grammar  are  learned,  the  pupils  are  to  be  led  to  the  practice 
ip.  8.  fp.  17.  -'p.  4. 


MILTON  113 

of  thorn  in  some  chosen  short  book.  In  tlie  same  optimistic, 
strain  lie  adds  :  ^  "  They  might  then  forthwitli  proceed 
to  learn  the  substance  of  good  things  and  arts  in  due  order 
which  would  bring  the  whole  language  (juickly  into  their 
power."  To  make  them  expert  in  the  most  useful  points  of 
grammar  he  further  suggests  -  that  some  easy  and  delightfid 
book  of  p]ducation  should  be  read  to  them,  some  (Ireek  work 
or  a  part  of  Quintilian.  With  an  even  more  discreet 
vagueness  the  other  subjects  are  dismissed.  The  elements 
of  geometry  are  to  be  learned  "  even  playing,  as  the  old 
manner  was."'  ^  Italian  may  be  learnt  "  at  any  odd 
hour  "  ;  ^  the  Hebrew  tongue  at  a  set  hour  might  have 
been  gained,  whereto  it  would  be  no  inii)ossibility  to  add 
the  C'haldaic,  and  Syrian  dialect.-'"'  If  it  were  ])ossible  thus 
easily  to  accpiire  knowledge,  then  Milton's  aim  of  giving 
the  ])U])il  ''  a  universal  insight  into  things  ""  might  be 
attainable,  but  even  for  the  select  class  for  which  .Milton's 
scheme  of  education  was  ])ropounded  and  in  an  age  of 
supermen,  of  Shakespeare  and  of  Bacon,  the  ])r()posal 
sounds  andjitious. 

Throughout  his  Tnirltile  it  is  evident  that  .Milton  regards 
Education  from  the  national  and  not  from  the  individualistic 
standpoint.  He  em])hasises.  after  the  (Jreck  fashion,  the 
iniportance  of  a  right  education  for  tiic  safety  of  the  state. 
and  it  is  this  characteristic  that  gives  the  Tnic/nlf  a  ])er- 
manent  vahu\  Thus  at  the  outset  he  iciuarks  that  it  is 
from  the  waiit  of  the  reforming  of  educafinn  that  the 
nation  perishes;  and  towards  the  conclusion/'  he  maintains 
that  the  methods  which  he  ])roposed  would  try  all  the 
pupil's  peculiar  gifts  of  nature,  and  if  lher«'  were  any  secret 
excellence  amon^  them  wotild  fetch  it   out   ami  nWc  it   fair 


]).  5. 

'  I' 

.    10. 

3,. 

>.     II 

p.  14. 

M 

).  1.-.. 

"1' 

i.  2! 

114    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

opportunities  to  advance  itself  by,  whicli  could  not  but 
mightily  redound  to  the  good  of  tbe  nation.  His  definition 
of  education  recognising  public  as  well  as  private  duties, 
and  his  statement  ^  that  the  educational  institute  which 
he  would  found,  should  be  equally  good  both  for  peace 
and  war,  alike  witness  to  the  national  character  of  Milton's 
educational  ideal. 

ip.  18. 


CHAPTER   VII 

LOCKE 

"  Locke's  influence,"  says  Adams/  "  far  exceeds  his  fame. 
Most  of  his  followers  do  not  know  their  juaster.  Ilis  point 
of  view  coincides  so  completely  with  that  of  the  ordinary 
intellifjcnt  man  in  the  street,  that  his  following  in  all 
English-speaking  countries  is  infinitely  greater  than  any 
other  philosoy)hical  writer  can  command."  Although  the 
conclusions  of  a  ])hilosophical  system  must  ultimately  be 
compatible  with  the  beliefs  of  the  plain  man,  the  fact  that 
a  philosophical  doctrine  meets  with  immediate  general 
acceptance  tends  to  arouse  suspicion  as  to  its  validity, 
smce  the  })opular  mind  is  not  distinguished  by  its  desire 
for  scientific  precision  or  a  demand  for  strict  consistency. 
characteristics  of  a  satisfactory  ])hil()so])hical  system. 

The  appeal  to  common  sense  is  likewise  no  recommenda- 
tion now  in  educational  ([uestions,  and  Morley's  eulogy  on 
Locke  -  as  the  apostle  of  comiuon  sense  thus  i)ecouies  a 

•  Ilerharlian  Psijchology,  p.  33. 

-  Morlcy's  Roiuisrau,  ii,  202-3:  "  Hi.'<  iiiuimcr  thniuiilKnit  is  maikcd 
hy  the  stout  wisdom  of  the  prnetical  toa<'hor,  wlio  is  ront<'nt  to  nssume 
good  sense  in  his  hearers,  and  feels  no  nrcessity  for  kindling  a  blaze 
or  raising  a  tempest.  He  gives  ns  a  practical  manual  for  producing  a 
healthy,  instnict«d,  upright,  well-mannered  young  Knclish  squire,  who 
shall  be  rightly  fitted  to  take  his  own  life  sensil)Iy  in  hand  ;  and  procure 
fri>m   it  a  fair  amount   of  wholesome  satisfaction  hoth   for  himself  and 

11.-. 


116    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

challenge  to  the  educationist  to  expect  inconsistencies  and 
compromises.  That  Locke's  writings  exhibit  these  is 
without  question. 

Locke's  great  work,  the  Essay  on  the  Human  Understand- 
ing, was  published  in  1690,  and  his  Two  Treatises  on  Civil 
Government  appeared  about  the  same  time.  The  Thoughts 
concerning  Education  was  published  in  1693,  and  the 
Conduct  of  the  Understanding  was  not  published  till  after 
Locke's  death  in  1704. 

In  the  second  of  his  Treatises  on  Civil  Government  Locke 
sets  forth  his  views  on  the  origin  and  nature  of  political 
power.  Men  are,  he  affirms,^  "  by  nature  all  free,  equal, 
and  independent,"  and  remain  so  until  by  their  own 
consent  they  make  themselves  members  of  some  political 
society.  The  state  is  thus  created  by  a  compact  of  in- 
dividuals to  preserve  and  increase  their  natural  rights. 
All  rights  consequently  inhere  in  the  individual,  and  Locke 
cannot  on  his  thesis  justify  any  action  the  chief  motive  of 
which  is  the  good  of  the  state.  His  political  theory  is 
individualistic,  and  his  educational  views  are  likewise 
individualistic.  Locke  is  thus  far  removed  from  the 
democratic  tendency  found  in  Comenius,  and  in  his  educa- 
tional writings  we  miss  the  national  note  which  retrieves 
Milton's  Tractate  from  ridicule  and  obscurity.^ 

Education  is,  for  Locke,  not  a  state  concern  but  purely 
a  parental  duty.     "  The  power  then  that  parents  have 

the  pco])lc  with  whoiii  he  is  concerned.  Locke's  treatise  is  one  of  the 
most  admirable  protests  in  tlie  world  against  eflcminacy  and  pedantry." 

1  Ch.  viii. 

^  In  the  Epistle  Dedicatory  of  Locke's  Thoughts  indirect  reference  is, 
liowever,  made  to  the  national  aspect  of  education  :  "  Tlie  well  educating 
of  their  children  is  so  much  the  duty  and  concern  of  jiarcnts,  and  the 
welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  nation  so  much  depends  on  it,  that  I  would 
have  every  one  lay  it  seriously  to  heart." 


LOCKE  117 

ov^er  their  children  arises  from  that  duty  which  is  incumbent 
on  them,  to  take  care  of  their  oifspring  during  the  imperfect 
stage  of  childhood.  To  inform  the  mind,  and  govern  the 
actions  of  their  yet  ignorant  nonage,  till  reason  shall  take 
its  place  and  ease  them  of  that  trouble,  is  what  children 
want,  and  the  parents  are  bound  to."  ^  In  a  thorough- 
going individualistic  system  in  which  all  are  free  and  equal, 
it  is  difficult  to  justify  even  the  right  of  a  parent  to  impose 
education  on  his  child,  especially  when  we  camiot  assume, 
as  Locke  does,  that  the  child  wants  it.  Locke  has  con- 
sequently to  confess  -  that  children  are  not  born  in  tiiis 
full  state  of  equality,  though  they  are  born  to  it.  "  Thus 
we  are  born  free  as  we  are  born  rational  ;  not  that  we  have 
actually  the  exercise  of  either  ;  age  that  brings  one,  brings 
with  it  the  other  too.  And  thus  we  see  how  natural  freedom 
and  subjection  to  parents  may  cimsist  together,  and  are 
both  founded  on  the  same  principle." 

The  parent's  power  over  the  child  exists  only  till  the 
child  is  educated.  "  When  the  business  of  education  is 
over  it  ceases  of  itself,  and  is  also  alienable  before.  For  a 
man  may  put  the  tuition  of  his  son  in  other  hands  ;  ami  he 
that  lias  made  his  son  an  apprentice  to  another  has  dis- 
charged him,  during  that  time,  of  a  great  part  of  his 
obedience,  both  to  himself  and  to  his  mother.""  ^  The 
povsition  Jjocke  sums  up**  thus:  '"Paternal  or  ])arental 
power  is  nothing  but  that  which  parents  have  o\er  their 
children  to  govern  them,  for  the  children's  good,  till  they 
come  to  the  use  of  reason,  or  to  a  state  of  knowledge  wherein 
they  may  be   supposed  capable   to  understand  that  rule, 

'  Second  Treatise  on  Civil  Goirriuntiit,  rli.  \  i. 

'  Jhid.,  eh.  vi.  Cf.  Thourjhts,  l(t.  '  As  yoars  iiirreasc  liberty  iiuist 
come  witli  Iheni."" 

=  ('h.  vi.  *  C\\.  XV. 


118    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

whether  it  be  the  law  of  Nature  or  the  municipal  law  of  the 
country." 

In  the  Thoughts  concerning  Education  Locke,  holding 
such  opinions  on  political  science  as  we  have  just  sum- 
marised, naturally  lays  upon  the  parent  the  duty  of  making 
provision  for  the  education  of  the  pupil,  who,  as  we  might 
expect  from  Locke's  aristocratic  associations,  is  "  a  young 
gentleman."  ^  The  parent  can,  however,  absolve  himself 
from  much  of  his  responsibility  by  assigning  his  son  to  the 
care  of  a  tutor,  and  the  Thoughts  is  largely  concerned  with 
the  right  choice,  and  the  requisite  qualifications,  of  a  tutor. 
Locke  approves  of  individual  education  under  a  tutor  and 
condemns  public  school  education.^  The  work  thus  recalls 
Elyot's  Governor  and  indicates  what  little  advance  in 
educational  thought  a  century  and  a  half  had  achieved. 

The  principle  on  which  Locke's  political  theory  is  based, 
namely,  that  men  are  born  equal,  dominates  his  thought 
in  the  early  part  of  his  work  on  Education,  although  in 
the  Conduct  of  the  Understanding  it  is  abandoned.  In  the 
second  Treatise  on  Government  he  modifies  his  statement 
of  the  principle  by  adding,-*  "  Though  I  have  said  above 
'  That  all  men  by  nature  are  equal '  I  camiot  be  supposed 
to  understand  all  sorts  of  '  e(|uality . '  Age  or  virtue  may 
give  men  a  just  precedency.  Excellence  of  parts  and 
merits  may  place  others  above  the  common  level.     Birth 

1  §  G.  "  The  ]>rinci])al  aim  of  my  Discourse  is  how  a  young  gcntlciuaii 
should  be  brought  up."  (!f.  Epistle  Dedicatory  :  "  For  if  those  of  that 
rank  arc  by  tlieir  education  once  set  right,  they  will  quickly  bring  all 
the  rest  into  order."     (!f.  also  §  217. 

'^  §  70.  Note  compromise,  however:  "But  if,  after  all,  it  shall  be 
thought  by  some  that  the  breeding  at  home  has  too  little  company, 
and  that  at  ordinary  schools  not  sucli  as  it  should  be  for  a  young  gentle- 
man, I  think,  there  might  be  ways  found  out  to  avoid  the  inconveniences 
on  the  one  side  and  the  other." 

Wh.  vi. 


LOCKE  119 

may  subject  some,  and  alliance  or  benefits  others,  to  pay 
an  observance  to  those  to  whom  Nature,  gratitude,  or  other 
respects  may  have  made  it  due  ;  and  yet  all  this  consists 
with  the  equality  which  all  men  are  in  respect  of  jurisdiction 
or  dominion  one  over  another,  which  was  the  equality  I 
there  spoke  of  as  proper  to  the  business  in  hand,  being  that 
equal  right  that  every  man  hath  to  his  natural  freedom, 
without  being  subjected  to  the  will  or  authority  of  any 
other  man."  In  the  Thoughts  concerning  Educxitio)i  we 
have  the  same  affirmation  of  equality  in  respect  to  natural 
endowment  with  a  similar  reservation  as  to  the  interpreta- 
tion of  this  equality.  Locke  repeatedly  maintains  ^  that 
the  differences  to  be  found  in  the  manners  and  abilities  of 
men  are  due  more  to  their  education  than  to  anything  else, 
but  he  qualifies  this  assertion  as  to  initial  equality  by 
adding  -  that,  "  in  many  cases,  all  that  we  can  do,  or 
should  aim  at,  is  to  make  the  best  of  what  Nature  has 
given,  to  prevent  the  vices  and  faults  to  which  such  a 
constitution  is  most  inclined,  and  give  it  all  the  advantages 
it  is  capable  of.  Every  one's  natural  genius  should  be 
carried  as  far  as  it  could  ;  but  to  attempt  the  putting 
another  upon  him,  will  be  but  labour  in  vain  ;  and  what 
is  so  plastered  on  will  at  best  sit  but  untowartUy,  and  have 
always  hanging  to  it  the  ungracefulness  of  constraint  and 
affection."  J3ut  in  the  Conduct  of  the  Understanding 
the  reservation  becomes  the  rule,  and  Locke  insists  on 
inequality  in  natural  endowment.  Thus  in  dealing  with 
"  Parts  "  ^   he    affirms  :     "  There    is.    it    is    visible,    great 

'  §§  1,  32. 

-§66.  This  did  not  appear  in  the  169;{  edition.  Cf.  also  §  lul  : 
"There  are  not  more  diflorcnces  in  men's  fares.  .  .  than  tlicre  are  in 
the  makes  and  tampers  of  their  minds." 

Ȥ2. 


120    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  CmEAT  EDUCATORS 

variety  in  men's  understandings,  and  their  natural  con- 
stitutions put  so  wide  a  difference  between  some  men  in 
this  respect,  that  art  and  industry  would  never  be  able  to 
master  ;  and  their  very  natures  seem  to  want  a  foundation 
to  raise  on  it  that  w^hich  other  men  easily  attain  to. 
Amongst  men  of  equal  education  there  is  great  inequality 
of  parts." 

Although  L(jcke  is  evidently  forced  by  experience  to 
abandon  the  view  that  men  are  born  intellectually  equal, 
from  liis  statement  of  this  principle  in  the  Thoughts  the 
importance  of  education  rather  than  the  equality  of  endow- 
ment can  be  deduced,  and  it  is  this  phase  that  has  practical 
value  :  "  The  little,  or  almost  insensible  impressions  on 
our  tender  infancies  have  very  important  and  lasting 
consequences  ;  "  ^  "  We  have  reason  to  conclude  that 
great  care  is  to  be  had  of  children's  minds,  and  giving 
them  that  seasoning  early,  which  shall  influence  their 
lives  always  after.'  ^ 

Although  the  training  of  the  mind  is  the  ])rincipal  ])art 
of  education  "  and  our  main  care  should  be  about  the 
inside,  yet  the  clay-cottage  is  not  to  be  lu^glected.""  ^ 
Sanity  of  mind  and  health  of  body  constitute  Locke's 
aims  in  education.  He  consecpiently  deals  with  physical 
education  at  some  length,  summarising  his  views  thus  : 
"  Plenty  of  o])en  air,  exercise  and  sleep,  j'lain  diet,  no  wine 
or  strong  drink,  and  very  little  or  no  physic,  not  too  warm 
and  strait  clothing,  especially  the  head  and  feet  kept  cold, 
and  the  feet  often  used  to  cold  water  and  ex})osed  to  wet." 
While  such  a  rigorous  regime  may  have  been  in  accordance 
with  the  best  medical  ojjinion  of  J^ocke's  time,  there  would 

'§1.  ^§32. 

■^  §  30.  ("f.  §  1 1">  :  "  t  inii  ixit  s(i  I'oolisli  to  ]ir()j)os(!  tlic  Lacedaoinonian 
(li.s(i[)liiie  in  oiir  a<^<!  and  fonstitiition."" 


LOCKE  121 

be  few  to-day  willing  to  carry  out  his  precepts  in  tlieir 
entirety. 

The  Thoughls  only  refer  to  intellectual  education  in  order 
to  belittle  it  in  comparison  witli  moral  training.^  Thus 
Locke  aflirnis  :  "  We  learn  not  to  live  but  to  dispute  ;  and 
our  education  fits  us  rather  for  the  university  than  the 
world  .  .  .  Latin  and  learning  make  all  the  noise  ;  and 
the  main  stress  is  laid  upon  his  ])roticiency  in  things,  a 
great  })art  whereof  belongs  not  to  a  gentleman's  calling, 
which  is  to  have  the  knowledge  of  a  man  of  business,  a 
carriage  suitable  to  his  rank,  and  to  be  eminent  and  useful 
in  his  country,  according  to  his  station."'  -  '"  "Tis  virtue 
then,  direct  virtue,  which  is  the  hard  and  valuable  part  to 
be  aimed  at  in  education,  and  not  a  forward  pertness,  or 
any  little  arts  of  shifting.  All  other  considerations  and 
accomplishments  should  give  way  and  be  postponed  to 
this.  This  is  the  solid  and  substantial  good  which  tutors 
should  not  only  read  lectures,  and  talk  of,  but  the  labour 
and  art  of  education  should  furnish  the  mind  with,  and 
fasten  there,  and  never  cease  till  the  young  nuin  had  a  true 
relish  of  it.  and  ])laced  his  strength,  his  glory,  and  his 
])leasure  \n  it.""  •' 

The  virtue  which  J^ocke  e.xtols  and  to  which  he  would 
even  sacrifice  intellectual  culture  is  not.  howt^ver.  of  a  high 
order.  It  is  iiu'relv  a  ])ractical  oi'  prudential  molality,  antl 
he  is  more  concerned  that  the  ])U])il  should  iit  all  times 
a])])ear  well-bred.'*  than  that  he  should  l)e  inspired  by  hiudi 
ideals  and  perform  iioble  actions. 

At  the  outset  of  his  treatment  of  virtue  in  the  ThaKfjltls 
his  doctrine  reflects  the  austerity  of  his  views  oi\  physical 

'Cf.    Essay    on    Ilumnn     l' ndrrstnndimj.      Intd.    §  H  :     '■  Our    husiiicss 
hore  is  not  to  kiicnv  all  tliinp.-^.  l>ut  those  wliii  h  ( I'li.  irn  ^<u\■  <(in<liKt."' 
-§94.     Cf.  §  147.  ^§T(t.  '  Ct,  ij '.»:{  4.  141  :{.  144  .".. 


122    DOCTKINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

training.  Thus  he  says  :  ^  "As  the  strength  of  the  body 
lies  chiefly  in  being  able  to  endure  hardships,  so  also  does 
that  of  the  mind.  And  the  great  principle  and  foundation 
of  all  virtue  and  worth  is  placed  in  this,  that  a  man  is  able 
to  deny  himself  his  own  desires,  cross  his  own  inclinations, 
and  purely  follow  what  reason  directs  as  best,  though  the 
appetite  lean  the  other  way."  In  this  statement  is  implicit 
a  dualism,  and  even  a  fundamental  opposition,  between 
appetite  and  reason,  resulting  in  the  somewhat  ascetic 
counsel  analogous  to  that  given  in  his  famous  treatment 
of  habit  by  James,  who  after  enunciating  the  maxim  "  keep 
the  faculty  of  effort  alive  by  a  little  gratuitous  exercise 
every  day,"  adds  "  do  every  day  or  two  something  for  no 
other  reason  than  that  you  would  rather  not  do  it,  so  that 
when  the  hour  of  dire  need  draws  nigh,  it  may  find  you 
not  unnerved  and  untrained  to  stand  the  test."  ^ 

Locke  does  not  ruthlessly  apply  his  ethical  doctrine  in 
Education.  When  seeking  to  give  positive  guidance  he 
relents  somewhat  from  the  self-denying  ordinance  just 
formulated,  and  admits  :  ^  "I  would  not  have  children 
kept  from  the  conveniences  or  pleasures  of  life,  that  are  not 
injurious  to  their  health  or  virtue.  On  the  contrary  I 
would  have  their  lives  as  pleasant  and  agreeable  to  them 
as  may  be,  in  a  plentiful  enjoyment  of  whatsoever  might 
innocently  delight  them."  He  even  goes  so  far  as  to 
suggest  that  were  matters  ordered  aright,  learning  any- 
thing that  should  be  taught  might  be  made  as  much  a 

*  §  33.  Cf.  §  38  :  "  The  principle  of  all  virtue  and  excellency  lies  in 
a  power  of  denying  ourselves  the  satisfaction  of  our  own  desires,  where 
reason  docs  not  authorize  them." 

^  Principles  of  Psychology,  i,  126. 

^  §  53.  Cf.  §  107  :  "  Xot  that  I  would  have  parents  purposely  cross 
the  desires  of  their  children  in  matters  of  indiflcrcncy." 


LOCKE  123 

recreation  to  play  as  play  is  to  learning.^  A  more 
sympathetic  and  comprehensive  view  of  Education  than 
that  first  cpioted  is  contained  in  the  statement :  "  He  that 
has  found  a  way  how  to  keep  up  a  child's  spirit,  easy, 
active,  and  free,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  to  restrain  him 
from  many  things  he  has  a  mind  to,  and  to  draw  him  to 
things  tliat  arc  uneasy  to  him  ;  he,  I  say,  that  knows  how  to 
reconcile  these  seeming  contradictions,  has,  in  my  o])inion, 
got  the  true  secret  of  education."  - 

To  attain  the  ideal  which  Locke  proposes,  the  child  is  to 
be  stimulated  by  example  and  ruled  by  habit.  The  educa- 
tion which  Locke  recommends  is  a  training  by  habit — 
with  all  its  limitations.  It  does  not  encourage  initiative 
or  educate  for  progress.  To  conform  to  the  accepted 
social  standards  is  all  that  Jjocke  requires  ;  to  display 
keeness  for  duty,  exhibit  enthusiasm  for  a  cause,  or  sacrifice 
self  for  an  ideal  would  not  be  "  good  form  "'  in  a  "  well-bred 
youth  "'  upon  whom  custom  lies  "  with  a  weight  heavy  as 
frost,  and  deej)  almost  as  life."  Against  such  a  view 
Fichte's  remark  gains  force  :    "  to  form  habits  is  to  fail." 

Locke's  view  of  the  place  of  habit  in  education  is  (ex- 
pressed in  the  following  ])assages  :  "  The  great  thing  to 
be  minded  in  education  is  what  ha])its  you  settle  ;  and 
therefore  in  this,  as  all  other  things,  do  not  begin  to  make 
anything  custonuiry,  the  practice  whereof  you  would  not 
have  continue  and  increase."  '■''  ''  Whatsoever  introduces 
habits,  and  settles  customs  in  them  deserves  the  care  and 
attention  of  their  governours,  and  is  not  a  small  thing  in 
consetpience."  ^ 

Ijocke  consecpiently  believes  in  practice,  rather  than 
precept.     Thus  he  maintains:  '    "Children  are  not  to  be 

i§74.  2§4ti.  »§18.  «§130. 

•'  §  0().     Cf.  §  H)7  :    "  Sottk'  in  thpin  habitf,  not  anerily  inculcate  rules." 


124    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

taught  by  rules  which  will  be  always  slijiping  out  of  their 
memories.  What  you  think  necessary  for  them  to  do, 
settle  in  them  by  an  indispensable  practice,  as  often  as  the 
occasion  returns  ;  and  if  it  be  possible,  make  occasions. 
This  will  beget  habits  in  them,  which  being  once  established 
operate  of  themselves  easily  and  naturally."  Habits  are 
to  be  initiated  by  imitation  :  "  children  (nay,  and  men  too) 
do  most  by  example  ;  "  ^  "  of  all  the  ways  whereby  children 
are  to  be  instructed,  and  their  manners  formed,  the  plainest, 
easiest,  and  most  efficacious  is  to  set  before  their  eyes  the 
examples  of  those  things  you  would  have  them  do,  or  avoid, 
which  when  they  are  pointed  out  to  them  in  the  practice  of 
persons  within  their  knowledge,  with  some  reflections  on 
their  beauty  and  unbecomingness,  are  of  more  force  to 
draw  or  deter  their  imitation  than  any  discourses  which  can 
be  made  to  them."  ^ 

In  addition  to  the  manner  in  which  habits  should  be 
initiated  Locke  also  considers  of  importance  the  time  of 
initiation,  doubtless  as  a  result  of  the  apjilication  of  his  own 
general  principle  :  ^  "he  that  is  about  children  should  well 
study  their  natures  and  aptitudes,  and  see  by  other  trials 
what  turn  they  easily  take,  and  what  becomes  them  ; 
observe  what  their  native  stock  is,  how  it  may  be  improved, 
and  what  it  is  fit  for  :  he  should  consider  what  they  want, 
whether  they  be  capable  of  having  it  wrought  unto  them 
by  industry,  and  incorporated  there  by  practice  ;  and 
whether  it  be  worth  while  to  endeavour  it." 

Accordingly  Locke  maintains'^  that  children  "should 
seldom  be  put  about  doing  even  those  things  you  have  got 
an  inclination  in  them  to,  but  when  they  have  a  mind  and 
disposition  to  it  .  .  .  The  favourable  seasons  of  aptitude 
and  inclination  should  be  heedfvilly  laid  hold  of :    and  if 

'§()7.  'S82.  3i;(;(;  4^74       Cf.  §  :{4, 


LOCKE  125 

they  are  not  often  enough  forward  of  themselves,  a  <iood 
disposition  should  be  talked  into  them  before  they  be  set 
upon  anything."  He  likewise  adds  :  ^  "  Though  it  be 
past  doubt,  that  the  fittest  time  for  children  to  learn 
anything  is  when  their  minds  are  in  tune,  and  well  disposed 
to  it ;  when  neither  flagging  of  spirit,  nor  intentness  of 
thought  upon  something  else,  makes  them  awkward  and 
averse  ;  yet  two  things  are  to  be  taken  care  of:  (1)  that 
these  seasons  either  not  being  warily  observed,  and  laid 
hold  on  as  often  as  they  return,  or  else,  not  returning  as 
often  as  they  should,  the  improvement  of  the  child  be  not 
thereby  neglected,  and  so  he  be  let  grow  into  an  habitual 
idleness,  and  confirmed  in  this  indisposition  :  (2)  that 
though  other  things  are  ill  learned,  when  the  mind  is  either 
indisposed,  or  otherwise  taken  up  ;  yet  is  of  great  moment, 
and  worth  our  endeavours,  to  teach  the  mind  to  get  the 
mastery  over  itself,  and  to  be  able,  u]>on  choice  to  take 
itself  oif  from  the  hot  ])ursuit  of  (me  thing,  and  set  itself 
upon  another  with  facility  and  delight,  or  at  any  time  to 
shake  off  its  sluggishness,  and  vigorously  employ  itself 
about  what  reason,  or  the  advice  of  another  sliall 
direct."' 

Locke  most  nearly  antici])ates  Jfcrbart's  doctrine  of 
interest  when  he  affirms  :  -  "  A  lasting  continued  attention 
is  one  of  the  hardest  tasks  can  be  imposed  on  children  ; 
and  therefore  he  that  recpiires  their  ai)plicati()n.  should 
endeavour  to  make  what  he  ])ropos('s  as  grateful  and 
agreeable  as  ])Ossible  ;  at  least  he  ought  to  tak(>  care  not 
to  join  any  displeasing  or  frightful  idea  with  it.  If  thev 
come  not  to  their  books  with  some  kind  of  liking;  and  relish, 
"tis  no  wonder  their  thoughts  should  be  ])erp(>tuallv  shiftiuL'' 
from  what  disgusts  them  ;  and  seek  Ix'tter  entertaimuent 
>§Tr..  ^sif.T. 


126    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

in  more  pleasing  objects,  after  which  they  will  unavoidably 
be  gadding  .  .  . 

"  The  great  skill  of  a  teacher  is  to  get  and  keep  the 
attention  of  his  scholar  ;  whilst  he  has  that,  he  is  sure  to 
advance  as  fast  as  the  learner's  abilities  will  carry  him  ; 
and  without  that,  all  his  bustle  and  pother  will  be  to  little 
or  no  purpose.  To  attain  this,  he  should  make  the  child 
comprehend  (as  much  as  may  be)  the  usefulness  of  what  he 
teaches  him,  and  let  him  see,  by  what  he  has  learnt,  that 
he  can  do  something,  which  gives  him  some  power  and  real 
advantage  above  others  who  are  ignorant  of  it.  To  this  he 
should  add  sweetness  in  all  his  instructions,  and  by  a  certain 
tenderness  in  his  whole  carriage  make  the  child  sensible 
that  he  loves  him  and  designs  nothing  but  his  good,  the  only 
way  to  beget  love  in  the  child,  which  will  make  him  hearken 
to  his  lessons  and  relish  what  he  teaches  him." 

The  result  will  be  :  ^  "  From  things  of  use  that  they  are 
employed  in,  they  should  always  be  sent  away  with  an 
appetite  ;  at  least  be  dismissed  before  they  are  tired  and 
grown  quite  sick  of  it,  that  so  they  may  return  to  it  again, 
as  to  a  pleasure  that  diverts  them.  For  you  must  never 
think  them  set  right  till  they  can  find  delight  in  the  practice 
of  laudable  things. ' '  This  last  sentence,  it  may  be  remarked, 
expresses  an  ideal  more  akin  to  the  Greek  conception  of 
virtue  than  to  that  earlier  enunciated  by  Locke. 

As  the  Thoughts  deals  mainly  with  education  in  virtue 
it  must  like  all  treatises  on  this  subject  emphasise  the 
disciplinary  aspect  of  training  ;  hence  Locke  is  frequently 
regarded  as  a  representative  of  the  disciplinary  conception 
of  education.  With  the  exception,  however,  of  occasional 
lapses  2  his  doctrine  of  instruction  in  the  Thoughts  gives  no 

1  §  108. 

^§  159  :  "It  may  l)c  convenient  to  lodge  in  his  mind  tlic  remaining 
moral  rnlcs  scattered  np  and  down  in    the  Bible,  as  the  best  exercise 


LOCKE  vn 

warrant  for  this  conclusion  ;  in  fact,  so  far  as  Locke  gives 
reasons  for  the  inchision  of  the  subjects  sonicwliat  un- 
systematically  enumerated  in  the  Thoughts  these  reasons 
are  decidedly  utilitarian.  In  the  Conduct  of  the  Understand- 
ing the  disciplinary  view  is  however  definitely  implied  and 
as  definitely  contradicted. 

The  curriculum  proposed  in  the  Thoughts  includes 
Reading  taught  in  play,  Writing,  Drawing,  Shorthand, 
French,^  "  because  people  are  accustomed  to  the  right  way 
of  teaching  that  language,  which  is  by  talking  it  into 
children  in  constant  conversation,  and  not  by  grammatical 
rules  ;  "  and  "  because  French  is  a  living  language  and  to 
be  used  more  in  speaking,  that  should  be  first  learned."" 

"  When  he  can  speak  and  read  French  well,  he  should 
proceed  to  Latin,  which  'tis  a  wonder  parents,  when  they 
have  had  the  experiment  in  French,  should  not  think 
ought  to  be  learned  the  same  way,  by  talking  and  reading. 
Only  care  is  to  be  taken  whilst  he  is  learning  these  foreign 
languages,  by  speaking  and  reading  nothing  else  with  his 
tutor,  that  he  do  not  forget  to  read  English.""  - 

Locke  looked  upon  Latin  as  "  absolutely  necessary  to  a 
gentleman,"  ^  but  while  he  grants  that  no  man  can  pass 
for  a  scholar  who  is  ignorant  of  Greek,  he  adds  :  ^  ''  J^ut  I 
am  not  here  considering  the  education  of  a  professed 
scholar,  but  of  a  gentleman."'  Locke  ])r()tests  against  the 
then  accepted  methods  of  teaching  liatin,  recommending  ' 
that  it  should  be  "  talked  into  "'  the  ])uj)il.  that  is,  taught 

of  his  inoinory."  §  107  :  "  In  .sciences  when*  tlieir  reason  in  to  he 
exercised  I  will  not  deny  but  this  method  n\a.y  poinetiiiies  l>e  varied, 
and  difficulties  i)ro])osed  on  puqiosc  to  excite  industry,  and  accustom 
the  mind  to  employ  its  strength  and  sa2a<ity  in  rea.soninL.  V>\\t  yet, 
I  guess,  this  is  not  to  l>e  done  to  children,  wliilst  very  young,  nor  at 
their  entrance  upon  any  sort  of  knowledge." 

i,§lf)2.  =§16.^.  •■'5  1G4.  *  S  19;").  ^§1(15. 


128    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

by  the  direct  method,  and  he  would  limit  the  teaching  of 
the  subject  to  those  who  would  have  occasion  to  use  it. 
"Could  it  be  believed,"  he  asks,i  "unless  we  had  every- 
where amongst  us  examples  of  it,  that  a  child  should  be 
forced  to  learn  the  rudiments  of  a  language  which  he  is 
never  to  use  in  the  course  of  life  that  he  is  designed  to,  and 
neglect  all  the  while  the  writing  a  good  hand  and  casting 
accounts,  which  are  of  great  advantage  in  all  conditions 
of  life,  and  to  most  trades  indispensably  necessary  ?  "  He 
likewise  asks,^  "  Would  not  a  Chinese  who  took  notice  of 
this  way  of  breeding,  be  apt  to  imagine  that  all  our  young 
gentlemen  were  designed  to  be  teachers  and  professors  of 
the  dead  languages  of  foreign  countries,  and  not  to  be  men 
of  business  in  their  own  ?  "  He  also  suggests  ^  that  there 
is  no  correlation  between  ability  in  Latin  and  in  English  ; 
in  Latin  "  the  manner  of  expressing  of  one's  self  is  so  very 
different  from  ours,  that  to  be  perfect  in  that  would 
very  little  improve  the  purity  and  facility  of  his  English 
style." 

The  other  intellectual  subjects  in  Locke's  curriculum 
include  *  Geography,  Astronomy,  Chronology,  Anatomy, 
besides  some  parts  of  History,  Geometry,  Ethics,  Law,  and 
English.^  "  To  conclude  this  part,  which  concerns  a  young 
gentleman's  studies,  his  tutor  should  remember  that  his 
business  is  not  so  much  to  teach  him  all  that  is  kuowable, 
as  to  raise  in  him  a  k)ve  and  esteem  of  knowledge  ;  and  to 
put  him  in  the  right  way  of  knowing  and  improving  himself 
when  he  has  a  mind  to  it."  *' 

1  §  1  ()4.  2  §  ]  08.  »  §  1 72.  *  §  I  (•)().  ■'  §  1 89. 

•'§195.  Cf.  Conduct  of  the  Ujider.stnnding  (Clarendon  Press  edition), 
p.  35,  also  ]).  44  :  "  The  })iisineps  of  education,  as  I  have  already  observed, 
is  not,  as  1  think,  to  make  them  ]>erfeet  in  any  one  of  the  seiences,  Ijiit 
so  to  open  and  dispose  their  minds  as  may  best  make  tlieni  capable  of 
any,  when  they  shall  apply  themselves  to  it." 


LOCKE  129 

Locke's  treatment  of  Grammar  may  be  regarded  as  a 
"  crucial  instance  "  in  deciding  the  question  whether  his 
educational  doctrine  in  the  Thoughts  is  disciplinarian  or 
utilitarian,    for   no   subject   lends  itself  more   readily   to 
justification  on  disciplinarian  grounds.     To  the  question 
"  To  whom  should  Grammar  be  taught  ?  "  Locke  answers/ 
''  Men   learn   lan<rua";es   for   the   ordinary   intercourse    of 
society  and  communication  of  thoughts  in  common  life, 
without  any  farther  design  in  the  use  of  them.     And  for 
this  purpose  the  original  way  of  learning  a  language  by 
conversation  not  only  serves  well  enough,  but  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred as  the  most  expedite,  proper  and  natural.     Therefore 
to  this  use  of  language  one  may  answer,  that  grammar  is 
not  necessary."     "  Others  there  are,  the  greatest  part  of 
whose  business  in  this  world  is  to  be  done  with  their  ttmgues 
and  with  their  pens  ;   and  to  these  it  is  convenient,  if  not 
necessary,  that  they  should  speak  properly  and  correctly, 
whereby   they  may  let  their  thoughts  into  other   men's 
minds  the  more  easily,  and  with  the  greater  impression. 
Upon  this  account  it  is,  that  any  sort  of  speaking,  so  as 
will  make  him  to  be  understood,  is  not  thought  enough  for 
a  gentleman.     He  oujzht  to  studv  irrammar  ainoULrst  the 
other   helps   of  speaking   well  .  .  .     And   to   this   purpose 
granmiar  is  necessary  ;    but  it   is  the  grammar  only   of 
their  own  proper  tongues,  and  to  those  only  who  would 
take  pains  in  cultivating  their  language,  and  in  perfecting 
their  styles."     "  There  is  a  third  sort  of  men,  who  aj)ply 
themselves   to   two    or   three   foreign,    dead,    and    (which 
amongst  us  are  called  the)  learned  languages,  make  them 
their  study,  and  pique  themselves  upon  their  skill  in  them. 
No  doubt,  those  who  pro[)()se  to  themselves  tiu>  learning  of 
any  language  with  this  view,  and  would  be  critically  exact 

I 


130    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

in  it,  ought  carefully  to  study  the  grammar  of  it." 
Grammar  is  throughout  regarded  purely  as  an  instrumental 
subject  and  ancillary  to  language  ;  its  formal  training  value 
is  ignored.  Logic  and  Rhetoric,  frequently  justified  for 
their  value  as  means  of  training  the  mind,  are  dismissed 
by  Locke  with  but  slight  reference,  the  criterion  applied 
being  again  the  utilitarian — "  because  of  the  little  ad- 
vantage young  people  receive  from  them."  ^ 

Locke's  definite  rejection  of  formal  training  or  transfer 
of  training  occurs  in  an  interpolation  on  memory  in  his 
treatment  of  language  teaching  ;  the  view  of  memory 
stated  therein  is  substantially  sound,  and  except  in  a  few 
minor  details  in  agreement  with  the  results  of  modern 
experimental  researches.  It  may  accordingly  be  safely 
quoted  here  without  qualification.  "  I  hear  it  said,"  he 
aflEirms,^  "  that  children  should  be  employed  in  getting 
things  by  heart  to  exercise  and  improve  their  memories. 
I  could  wish  this  were  said  with  as  much  authority  of 
reason,  as  it  is  with  forwardness  of  assurance,  and  that  this 
practice  were  established  upon  good  observation  more  than 
old  custom,  for  it  is  evident  that  strength  of  memory  is 
owing  to  an  happy  constitution,  and  not  to  any  habitual 
improvement  got  by  exercise.  'Tis  true,  what  the  mind 
is  intent  upon,  and,  for  fear  of  letting  it  slip,  often  imprints 
afresh  on  itself  by  frequent  reflection,  that  it  is  apt  to  retain, 
but  still  according  to  its  own  natural  strength  of  retention . . . 
But  the  learning  pages  of  Latin  by  heart  no  more  fits  the 
memory  for  retention  of  anything  else  than  the  graving  of 
one  sentence  in  lead  makes  it  the  more  capable  of  retaining 
firmly  any  other  characters.  If  such  a  sort  of  exercise  of 
the  memory  were  able  to  give  it  strength,  and  improve  our 
parts,  players  of  all  other  people  must  needs  have  the  best 
i§188.  *§]76. 


LOCKE  131 

memories  and  be  the  best  company.  But  whether  the 
scraps  that  have  got  into  their  heads  this  way  make  them 
remember  other  things  the  better  ;  and  whether  their 
parts  be  improved  proportionately  to  the  pains  they  have 
taken  in  getting  by  heart  other's  sayings,  experience  will 
shew.  Memory  is  so  necessary  to  all  parts  and  conditions 
of  life,  and  so  little  is  to  be  done  without  it,  that  we  are 
not  to  fear  it  should  grow  dull  and  useless  for  want  of 
exercise,  if  exercise  would  make  it  grow  stronger.  But  I 
fear  this  faculty  of  the  mind  is  not  capable  of  much  help 
and  amendment  in  general  by  any  exercise  or  endeavour 
of  ours,  at  least  not  by  that  used  upon  this  pretence  in 
Grammar  Schools  ..." 

Before  dismissing  the  Thoughts,  it  is  necessary  to  add  that 
along  with  certain  accomplishments  and  recreations  Locke 
would  have  his  young  gentlemen  learn  a  trade.  Not 
without  apology  does  he  make  this  proposal,  remarking  :  ^ 
"  I  shall  run  the  danger  of  being  suspected  to  have  forgot 
what  I  am  about,  and  what  I  have  above  written  concerning 
education  all  tending  towards  a  gentleman's  calling,  with 
which  a  trade  seems  wholly  inconsistent.  And  yet  I 
cannot  forbear  to  say,  I  would  have  him  learn  a  trade,  a 
manual  trade  ;  nay  two  or  three,  but  one  more  particu- 
larly." The  trades  he  recommends  are  gardening  or 
husbandry  in  general,  and  working  in  wood  as  a  carpenter, 
joiner  or  turner  ;  and  the  grounds  on  which  they  are 
recommended  are  for  the  skill  ac(juired  and  because  the 
exercise  itself  is  useful  for  health.  Li  this  democratic 
suggestion  Locke  anticipates  Rousseau. - 

The  treatment  of  the  education  of  a  young  English 
gentleman  would  not  be  complete  without  reference  to 
travel.^  Locke  objects  to  the  age  at  which  *"  the  grand 
i§201.  *  Cf.  following  chapter.  '§?212  21(). 


132    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

tour  "  is  usually  undertaken,  maintaining  that  the  time  of 
travel,  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  twenty-one,  is  the 
least  suitable. 

The  Conduct  of  the  Understanding  is  but  an  appendix  to 
Locke's  great  work,  the  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding, 
and  was  originally  intended  to  form  a  chapter  of  the  latter. 
In  the  Essay  Locke,  denying  the  existence  of  innate  prin- 
ciples,!  speculative,  practical,  or  theological,  maintains  that 
all  our  knowledge  is  derived  from  experience  ^  in  one  or  two 
ways,  either  in  the  form  of  sensations  arising  from  external 
objects  or  by  reflection  on  the  mind's  own  operations,  the 
mind  being  regarded  as  originally  "  white  paper,  void  of 
all  characters."  ^  The  experiences  thus  derived  Locke 
designates  by  the  general  term  "  ideas,"  by  which  he  under- 
stands "  whatever  is  the  object  of  the  understanding  when 
a  man  thinks."^  The  ideas  thus  received  are  "  simple  "  : 
these  "  simple  "  ideas  may  be  compounded  or  otherwise 
elaborated  and  the  results  are  termed  "  complex  "  ideas. 
In  the  reception  of  all  its  "  simple  "  ideas  the  mind  is 
wholly  passive;  but  it  exerts  several  acts  of  its  own  whereby 
out  of  its  simple  ideas,  as  the  materials  and  foundations 
of  the  rest,  the  others  are  framed.^  Thus,  according  to 
Locke's  doctrine,  arises  knowledge,  which  he  defines  as 
"  nothing  but  the  perception  of  the  connection  of  and 
agreement,  or  disagreement  and  repugnancy  of  any  of  our 
ideas."  « 

Lest  Locke's  view  that  in  regard  to  "  simple  "  ideas  the 
mind  is  passive  should  be  taken  as  a  justification  of  in- 
dolence in  educational  practice,  it  is  necessary  to  quote 
his  statement  in  the  Conduct  of  the  Understanding :    "  We 

1  Bk.  i,  ch.  i-iii.  -  Bk.  ii,  ch.  i,  §  2. 

3  Bk.  ii,  ch.  i,  §  2.  *  Intr.  §  8. 

"  Bk.  ii,  ch.  xii.  "  Bk.  iv,  ch.  i,  §  2. 


LOCKE  133 

are  born  ignorant  of  everything.  The  superficies  of  things 
that  surround  them  make  impressions  on  the  negligent, 
but  no  body  penetrates  into  the  inside  without  labour, 
attention  and  industry  .  .  .  God  has  made  the  intellectual 
world  harmonious  and  beautiful  without  us  ;  but  it  will 
never  come  into  our  heads  all  at  once  ;  we  must  bring  it 
home  piecemeal,  and  there  set  it  up  by  our  own  industry, 
or  else  we  shall  have  nothing  but  darkness  and  a  chaos 
within,  whatever  order  and  light  there  be  in  things  without 
us." 

The  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding  has,  in  spite  of 
its  generally  recognised  importance  in  philosophy,  little 
direct  bearing  on  Education.  Its  influence  on  Education 
was  indirect,  the  result  of  the  impetus  to  the  advancement 
of  psychology  which  the  publication  of  the  Essay  initiated. 
Although  Locke's  problem,  an  examination  of  our  abilities 
to  ascertain  what  objects  our  understandings  were,  or  were 
not,  fitted  to  deal  with,^  is  almost  identical  with  that  later 
proposed  by  Kant  in  his  Critique  of  Pure  Reason,  the 
method  adopted  by  Locke,  and  rejected  by  Kant  in  favour 
of  the  critical  or  metaphysical  method,  was  the  psycho- 
logical method,  what  Locke  terms  the  "  historical  plain 
method,"  ^  and  it  was  this  method  which  influenced  the 
study  of  Education.  Locke  claims  to  have  given  "  a 
short  true  history  of  the  fu-st  beginnings  of  human  know- 
ledge," ^  and  in  the  Essay  there  are  many  passages  which 
would  justify  its  inclusion  in  a  bibliography  of  Child  Study. 
For  example  :  ■*  "  Follow  a  child  from  its  birth,  and  observe 
the  alterations  that  time  makes,  and  you  shall  find,  as  the 
mind  by  the  senses  comes  more  and  more  to  be  furnished 
with  ideas,  it  comes  to  be  more  and  more  awake  ;   thinks 

'  Epistle  to  the  reader.  '  Introduction,  §  2. 

»  Bk.  ii,  ch.  xi,  §  15.  ♦  Bk.  ii.  ch.  i.  §  22. 


134    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

more,  the  more  it  has  matter  to  think  on.  After  some  time 
it  begins  to  know  the  objects  which,  being  most  familiar 
with  it,  have  made  lasting  impressions.  Thus  it  comes  by 
degrees  to  know  the  persons  it  daily  converses  with,  and 
distinguishes  them  from  strangers  ;  which  are  instances 
and  effects  of  its  coming  to  retain  and  distinguish  the  ideas 
the  senses  convey  to  it.  And  so  we  may  observe  how  the 
mind,  by  degrees,  improves  in  these  ;  and  advances  to  the 
exercise  of  those  other  faculties  of  enlarging,  compounding, 
and  abstracting  its  ideas,  and  of  reasoning  about  them, 
and  reflecting  upon  all  these  ;  of  which  I  shall  have  occasion 
to  speak  more  hereafter." 

Locke's  Conduct  of  the  Understanding  is  an  attempt  to 
diagnose  the  defects  which  most  commonly  occur  in  reason- 
ing, and  thereby  determine  conduct,  ^  for  Locke  states  as 
definitely  as  Herbart  that  the  circle  of  thought  determines 
the  will ;  "  in  truth  the  ideas  and  images  in  men's  minds 
are  the  invisible  powers  that  constantly  govern  them,  and 
to  these  they  all  universally  pay  a  ready  submission."  ^ 
As  the  Conduct  of  the  Understanding  deals  with  "  the 
defects  of  the  understanding  capable  of  amendment  "  it 
treats  more  specifically  of  intellectual  training  than  did 
the  Thoughts  concerning  Education. 

The  ordinary  rules  of  formal  Logic  are  in  Locke's  opinion 
not  sufficient  to  guide  the  understanding,^  and  in  justifica- 
tion of  his  attempt  to  formulate  new  rules  he  quotes  the 
authority  of  Bacon.  The  latter  had  in  his  doctrine  of 
Idola  sought  to  classify  the  different  fallacies  to  which  the 
human  mind  is  prone,  and  Locke's  work  amplifies  Bacon's 
treatment. 

^  See  Stout's  reference  to  "  the  conduct  of  the  understanding,"  Manual 
of  Psychology,  p.  733. 

*  Conduct  of  the  Understanding,  §  1.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  4. 


LOCKE  135 

As  formal  Logic  is  rejected,  Locke  turns  to  Mathematics, 
as  did  Descartes  and  Spinoza,  to  find  his  ideal  of  true 
method.  Not  content,  however,  with  taking  the  mathe- 
matical as  the  standard  type  of  reasoning,  Locke  makes 
admissions  which  might  justify  the  charge  of  formal 
training.  Thus  he  declares  :  ^  "  Would  you  have  a  man 
reason  well,  you  must  use  him  to  it  betimes,  exercise  his 
mind  in  observing  the  connection  of  ideas  and  following 
them  in  train.  Nothing  does  this  better  than  Mathematics, 
which  therefore  I  think  should  be  taught  all  those  who 
have  the  time  and  opportunity,  not  so  much  to  make  them 
mathematicians  as  to  make  them  reasonable  creatures." 
All  that  Locke  here  implies,  it  might  legitimately  be 
argued,  is  that  "  a  concept  of  method  "  -  can  be  evolved 
in  mathematical  training  which  may  be  serviceable  in 
certain  other  departments  of  mental  activity,  in  which 
case  Locke  goes  no  further  than  the  conclusions  of  modern 
experimental  investigation  on  the  transfer  of  training. 
Whereas,  if  it  is  assumed  that  Locke  supports  the  older 
view,  that  the  improvement  in  reasoning  resulting  from 
training  in  mathematical  subjects  is  of  advantage  in  every 
intellectual  sphere  irrespective  of  its  nature,  then  this  is 
wholly  at  variance  with  his  deductions  from  other  subjects 
discussed  both  in  the  Thoughts  and  in  other  sections  of  the 
Conduct  of  (he  Understanding. 

Thus,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  Thoughts  Locke  maintains 
that  practice  in  one  phase  of  memory  does  not  result  in 
improvement  in  other  aspects,  that  the  learning  of  one 
language  may  adversely  affect  the  learning  of  another,  and 
that  training  in  grammar  does  not  improve  the  mind  in 
general.     In  the  Conduct  of  the   Understanding  a  similar 

'  Conduct  oj  the  UndcT standing,  p.  20.     Cf.  §  vii. 
*  See  Sleight  :   Educational  Valuer. 


136    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

conclusion  is  deduced  in  respect  to  habit  formation.  The 
practice-effect,  he  maintains,  is  specific,  not  general ;  and 
from  this  he  draws  the  general  conclusion  that  there  is  no 
transfer  of  training-improvement.  Thus  he  asserts  :  ^ 
"  The  legs  of  a  dancing  master  and  the  fingers  of  a  musician 
fall  as  it  were  naturally,  without  thought  or  pains,  into 
regular  and  admirable  motions.  Bid  them  change  their 
parts,  and  they  will  in  vain  endeavour  to  produce  like 
motions  in  the  members  not  used  to  them  and  it  will 
require  length  of  time  and  long  practice  to  attain  but  some 
degrees  of  a  like  ability."  Then  he  adds  :  ^  "  We  see  men 
frequently  dexterous  and  sharp  enough  in  making  a  bargain, 
who  if  you  reason  with  them  about  matters  of  religion, 
appear  perfectly  stupid."  And  in  the  paragraph  im- 
mediately following  that  in  which  occurs  the  statement 
just  quoted,  as  to  the  general  value  of  mathematical 
training,  he  remarks  :  ^  "  The  mistake  is,  that  he  that  is 
found  reasonable  in  one  thing  is  concluded  to  be  so  in  all, 
and  to  think  or  say  otherwise  is  thought  so  august  an 
affront,  and  so  senseless  a  censure,  that  nobody  ventures 
to  do  it." 

The  weight  of  evidence  is  against  the  charge  that  Locke 
supports  formal  training  and  that  he  is  a  representative 
of  the  disciplinary  view  of  education  ;  and  the  lapses  which 
we  have  indicated  are  such  as  are  likely  to  be  encountered 
in  a  writer  who  does  not  specifically  set  himself  to  avoid 
the  implications  of  the  doctrine. 

The  Conduct  of  the  Understanding,  as  we  have  suggested, 
seeks  to  enumerate  the  causes  which  lead  us  into  error. 
Thus  Locke  warns  us  against  the  uncritical  acceptance  of 
popularly  admitted  opinions,'*  counsels  us  to  avoid  pre- 
judice," to  reject  the  doctrine  of  "  the  will  to  believe,"  ^  to 
'  p.  13.  ^'p.  15.  3p.  20.  ^§3.  "§  10.  •"-§11. 


LOCKE  137 

eliminate  the  influence  of  suggestion  in  the  formation  of 
beliefs/  and  to  be  on  our  guard  against  the  detrimental 
effects  of  overstrain.  2 

The  advice  which  he  offers  is  too  general  to  be  of  much 
practical  value  ;  this  he  is  himself  forced  to  admit, ^  and 
it  is  on  this  ground  that  De  Quincey  has  condemned  such 
works  as  Locke's  Conduct  of  the  Understanding.  "  The 
error  in  these  books,"  says  De  Quincey,'*  "is  the  same 
which  occurs  in  books  on  ethics,  and  which  has  made  them 
more  or  less  useless  for  any  practical  purpose.  As  it  is 
important  to  put  an  end  to  all  delusions  in  matters  of  such 
grave  and  general  concern  as  the  improvement  of  our 
understandings,  or  the  moral  valuation  of  actions,  and  as 
the  delusion  here  alluded  to  has  affected  both  equally,  it 
may  be  worth  while  to  spend  a  few  lines  in  exposing  it  .  .  . 
In  every  syllogism  one  of  the  two  premises  (the  major) 
lays  down  a  rule,  under  which  rule  the  other  (the  minor) 
brings  the  subject  of  your  agreement  as  a  particular  case. 
The  minor  is  therefore  distinguished  from  the  major  by  an 
act  of  judgment,  namely,  a  subsumption  of  a  special  case 
under  a  general  rule.  Now  consider  how  this  applies  to 
morals  :  here  the  con.science  supplies  the  general  rule,  or 
major  proposition,  and  about  this  there  is  no  question  ; 
but  to  bring  the  special  case  of  conduct  under  this  general 
rule,  here  first  commences  the  difliculty,  and  just  upon 
this  point  are  ethical  treatises  for  the  most  part  silent. 
Accordingly,   no  man  thinks  of  consulting  them   for  his 

1  §  27.  2  §  28. 

'  Cf.  "  A  proper  and  cffcotual  remedy  for  llii.s  wandering  of  thouplits 
I  would  be  glad  to  find  "  (p.  07)  ;  "'  But  what  are  tlie  Iwundaries  of  the 
mean  between  the  two  viciou.s  e.\ccs;3es  on  both  liandss.  I  fln'nk  i?  hard 
to  set  down  in  words  "  (p.  70). 

*  lAttern  to  a  Ynung  Man. 


138    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

direction  under  any  moral  perplexities  ;  if  he  reads  them  at 
all,  it  is  for  the  gratification  of  his  understanding  in  sur- 
veying the  order  and  relation  amongst  the  several  members 
of  a  system  ;  never  for  the  information  of  his  moral  judg- 
ment .  .  .  With  the  help  of  this  explanation  you  will 
easily  understand  on  what  principle  I  venture  to  denounce 
as  unprofitable  the  w^hole  class  of  books  written  on  the 
model  of  Locke's  Conduct  of  the  Understanding.  According 
to  Locke,  the  student  is  not  to  hurry,  but  again  not  to  loiter  ; 
not  to  be  too  precipitate,  nor  yet  too  hesitating  ;  not  to  be 
too  confiding,  but  far  less  too  suspicious  ;  not  too  obstinate 
in  his  own  opinions,  yet  again  (for  the  love  of  God  !) 
not  too  resigned  to  those  of  others  ;  not  too  general  in 
his  divisions,  but  (as  he  regards  his  own  soul)  not  too 
minute,  etc. 

"  But  surely  no  man,  bent  on  the  improvement  of  his 
faculties,  was  ever  guilty  of  these  errors  under  these  names, 
that  is,  knowingly  and  deliberately.  If  he  is  so  at  all,  it 
is  either  that  he  has  not  reflected  on  his  own  method,  or 
that,  having  done  so,  he  has  allowed  himself  in  the  act  or 
habit  offending  these  rules  on  a  false  view  of  its  tendency 
and  character  ;  because,  in  fact,  having  adopted  as  his  rule 
(or  major)  that  very  golden  mean  which  Mr.  Locke  recom- 
mends, and  which,  without  Mr.  Locke's  suggestion,  he  would 
have  adopted  for  himself,  it  has  yet  been  possible  for  him, 
by  an  erroneous  judgment,  to  take  up  an  act  or  habit 
under  the  rule,  which  with  better  advice  he  would  have 
excluded ;  which  advice  is  exactly  what  Mr.  Locke  has 
not  given.  Over  and  above  all  this,  the  method  of 
the  book  is  aphoristic  ;  and  as  might  be  expected  from 
that  method,  without  a  plan  ;  and  which  is  partly  the 
cause  and  partly  the  consequence  of  having  a  plan  with- 
out foundation." 


LOCKE  139 

Against  such  criticism  it  may  be  retorted  on  Locke's 
behalf  that  all  that  Locke  professes  to  offer  are  general 
principles,  and  these  are  not,  as  De  Quincey  so  lightly  and 
unquestionably  assumes,  supplied  by  conscience,  but 
derived  from  experience  ;  and  that  if  all  that  De  Quincey 
desiderates  could  be  accomplished,  there  would  be  no 
occasion  for  the  exercise  of  individual  initiative,  and  man 
would  be  a  mere  automaton. 

The  value  of  such  a  treatise  as  the  Conduct  of  the  Under- 
standing must  nevertheless  not  be  over-rated,  as  have  all 
Locke's  contributions  to  the  theory  of  Education  by 
English  commentators,  chiefly  because  of  the  characteristic 
English  defect  of  ignoring  the  works  of  the  writers  of  other 
nations,  a  defect  from  which  Locke  himself  was  not  free. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

ROUSSEAU 

The  early  educators  had  one  ideal — the  education  of  the 
statesman,  although  they  regarded  him  differently — as 
philosopher,  orator  or  governor.  Later  the  educator 
sought  to  make  of  his  pupil  "  a  scholar  and  a  gentleman,"  ^ 
but  Rousseau,  although  he  did  not  initiate  the  democratic 
tendency  in  Education — -that  was  done  by  Comenius, — 
at  least  popularised  it,  and  he  advocates  educating — -not 
the  poor  for  poverty,  as  Pestalozzi  later  recommended — 
but  the  rich  for  poverty  ;  he  proposed  to  give  the  sons  of 
the  rich  a  natural  education,  that  whatever  befell  them  in 
later  life  they  would  be  independent  of  fate  or  fortune. 
The  ideal  of  the  superman  of  Plato,  Quintilian,  and  others 
gives  place  with  Rousseau  to  the  ideal  of  the  common  or 
natural  man  ;  the  great  souls,  he  believes,  can  find  their 
way  alone. ^ 

There  are,  according  to  Rousseau,  two  antagonistic 
types  of  educational  systems  ;  one  is  public  and  common 
to  many,  the  other  private  and  domestic.  For  an  account 
of  public  education  Rousseau  refers  the  reader  of  the  Emile 

^  Of.  Rousseau,  Emile,  Everyman  edition,  p.  321  :  "  I  have  not  the 
honour  of  educating  '  a  young  Kcnticinan.'  " 

*  p.  19  Cf.  p.  'iiH')  :  "  I  cannot  repeat  too  often  that  I  am  not  dealing 
with  prodigies." 

140 


ROUSSEAU  141 

to  Plato's  Republic.  He  himself  in  his  article  on  Political 
Economy  had  dealt  with  this  form  of  education,  asserting 
that  "  a  public  education,  according  to  regulations  pre- 
scribed by  govermnent,  and  under  magistrates  appointed 
by  the  supreme  authority  is  one  of  the  fundamental  require- 
ments of  popular  government."  ^  There  he  also  instances 
and  recommends  certain  systems  of  public  education,  of 
the  Cretans,  the  Spartans,  and  the  ancient  Persians  ;  and 
in  his  Considerotions  on  the  Government  of  Poland  he  like- 
wise indicated  the  importance  of  education  in  national 
life.2 

In  the  Emile,  a  work  which  he  tells  us  in  his  Confessions  ^ 
cost  him  twenty  years'  meditation  and  three  years'  labour, 
Rousseau  attempts  an  account  of  private  education,  the 
education  of  the  home,**  and  in  The  Neiv  Heloise  he  gives 
an  idyllic  picture  of  the  latter  with  the  mother  as  chief 
educator,  thus  anticipating  Pestalozzi's  Leonard  and 
Gertrude. 

Although  Rousseau's  views  on  Education  are  not  confined 
to  the  Emile  it  is  nevertheless  by  the  Emile  that  he  will 
continue  to  be  judged  ;  to  it  we  shall  consequently  devote 
most  attention.  Of  this  work  Lord  Morley  writes  :  ^  "It 
is  one  of  the  seminal  books  in  the  history  of  literature,  and 
of  such  books  the  worth  resides  less  in  the  parts  than  in 
the  whole.  It  touched  the  deeper  springs  of  character.  It 
filled  parents  with  a  sense  of  the  dignity  and  moment  of 
their  task.  It  cleared  away  the  accumulation  of  clogging 
prejudices    and    obscure    inveterate    usage,    which    made 

*  See  W.  Boyd,  The  Minor  Educationnl  Writings  of  .Jean  .Janptr^  Roun- 
scau,  p.  45. 

«  Ibid.,  p.  141.  ^Bii   viii. 

*  Cf.  Emile,  p.  295  :   "  I  am  dcalinf^  only  with  lioiiie  trainiiiL'."' 
■•  Rousseau,  ii,  240-250. 


142    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

education  one  of  the  dark  arts.  It  admitted  floods  of  light 
and  air  into  the  tightly  closed  nurseries  and  schoolrooms. 
It  affected  the  substitution  of  growth  for  mechanism.  A 
strong  current  of  manliness,  wholesomeness,  simplicity, 
self-reliance,  was  sent  through  Europe,  while  its  eloquence 
was  the  most  powerful  abjuration  ever  addressed  to  parental 
affection  to  cherish  the  young  life  in  all  love  and  considerate 
solicitude.  It  was  the  charter  of  youthful  deliverance." 
And  Mrs.  Frederika  Macdonald  adds  :  ^  "  Throughout 
Europe,  Rousseau's  voice  went,  proclaiming  with  even 
more  resistless  eloquence  than  it  had  proclaimed  the  Rights 
of  Man,  the  Rights  of  Childhood.  Harsh  systems,  founded 
on  the  old  mediaeval  doctrine  of  innate  depravity,  were 
overthrown.  Before  Pestalozzi,  before  Froebel,  the  author 
of  Emile  laid  the  foundation  of  our  new  theory  of  educa- 
tion :  and  taught  the  civilised  world  remorse  and  shame 
for  the  needless  suffering,  and  the  quenched  joy,  that 
through  long  ages  had  darkened  the  dawn  of  childhood." 
In  Education  three  factors  call  for  consideration,  the 
endowment,  the  social  environment  and  the  physical 
environment  of  the  child  ;  as  Rousseau  expresses  it  in  the 
Emile  :  ^  "  Education  comes  to  us  from  nature,  from  men, 
or  from  things."  The  harmonious  interaction  of  these 
three  factors  would  constitute  an  ideal  education,  but  such 
harmony,  Rousseau  is  persuaded,  is  impossible.  That 
man  and  nature  are  eternally  at  strife  is  his  constant 
complaint.  "  Forced  to  combat  either  nature  or  society, 
you  must,"  he  says,^  "  make  your  choice  between  the  man 
and  the  citizen,  you  cannot  train  both."  Rousseau's 
choice,  at  least  in  the  first  instance,  falls  on  the  natural, 
rather  than  on  the  social  education. 

*  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau  :  A  Neiv  Study  in  Criticism. 

*  p.  6  3  p.  7. 


ROUSSEAU  143 

The  pupil  whom  Rousseau  selects  for  educating  is  not  a 
specific  indi\'idual,  but  "  man  in  the  abstract  "  :  "  We 
must  look  at  the  general  rather  than  the  particular,  and 
consider  our  scholar  as  man  in  the  abstract."  ^  It  is 
because  Rousseau  considers  the  universal  nature  of  man 
and  the  education  applicable  to  this  aspect  of  man  that  the 
Emile  has  become  the  fount  of  democratic  education.  It 
is  merely  the  exigencies  of  exposition  that  compel  him  to 
particularise  and  personify  his  principles  in  the  education 
of  Emile.  The  method  which  he  has  adopted  he  explains 
thus  :  2  "  I  have  been  content  to  state  those  principles  the 
truth  of  which  is  self-e\adent.  But  as  to  the  rules  which 
call  for  proof,  I  have  applied  them  to  Emile  or  to  others, 
and  I  have  shown,  in  very  great  detail,  how  my  theories 
may  be  put  into  practice."  And  in  elaboration  of  this 
principle  of  method  he  states  :  ^  "At  first  I  have  said  little 
about  Emile,  for  my  earliest  maxims  of  education,  though 
very  different  from  these  generally  accepted,  are  so  plain 
that  it  is  hard  for  a  man  of  sense  to  refuse  to  accept  them, 
but  as  I  advance,  my  scholar  .  .  .  appears  upon  the  scene 
more  frequently,  and  towards  the  end  I  never  lose  sight  of 
him  for  a  moment." 

It  is  necessary  to  emphasise  this  fact,  that  Rousseau  is 
expounding  a  universal  system  of  education  and  that  the 
introduction  of  a  specific  pupil  is  merely  an  expository 
device  ;  for  frequently  the  Emile  is  regarded  as  an  account 
of  an  individualistic  scheme  of  education,  of  the  training  of 
an  individual  apart  from  society,'*  and   then  difficulty  is 

*  p.  10.  Cf.  p.  217  :  '■  I  have  discarded  as  artificial  what  belongs  to 
one  nation  and  not  to  another,  to  one  rank  and  not  to  another  ;  and  I 
have  regarded  as  proper  to  mankind  what  was  common  to  all,  at  any 
age,  in  any  station,  and  in  any  nation  whatsoever." 

»p.  IS.  »  Ibid. 

*  Cf.  p.  298  :    "  We  are  not  concerned  with  a  savage  of  this  sort." 


144    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

experienced  in  explaining  how  the  democratic  systems  of 
Pestalozzi  and  others  originated  in  the  Emile. 

This  view  of  the  universal  and  democratic  tendency  in 
the  Emile  is  further  supported  by  Rousseau's  choice  of  a 
pupil.  "  If  I  had  my  choice,"  he  says,^  "  I  would  take  a 
child  of  ordinary  mind,  such  as  I  assume  in  my  pupil.  It 
is  ordinary  people  who  have  to  be  educated,  and  their 
education  alone  can  serve  as  a  pattern  for  the  education  of 
their  fellows."  This  fact  is  easily  overlooked  because 
Emile  is  chosen  from  among  the  rich,  the  reason  being  that 
it  is  more  prudent  to  prepare  a  rich  man  for  poverty  than 
a  poor  man  for  wealth,  and  if  Emile  comes  of  a  good  family 
so  much  the  better — "  he  will  be  another  victim  snatched 
from  prejudice."  The  other  assumption  postulated  in 
regard  to  the  pupil  for  whom  Rousseau  proposes  to  prescribe 
an  education,  is  that  he  should  be  "  a  strong,  well-made, 
healthy  child."  Rousseau  would  not  undertake  the  care 
of  a  feeble  sickly  pupil,  for  a  healthy  body  is  not  only  the 
condition  of  a  healthy  mind  but  also  the  basis  of  moral 
character.^ 

The  general  principle  governing  Rousseau's  training  of 
Emile  is  that  there  is  a  time  when  each  type  of  knowledge 
can  be  most  effectively  assimilated  by  the  pupil,  and  that 
is  when  the  pupil  experiences  the  need  for  it.  This  he 
regards  as  the  natural  order  of  presentation,  whereas  the 
ordinary  procedure  anticipates  tlie  needs  of  the  pupils — ■ 
"  man's  lessons  are  usually  ])remature.""  ^  In  accordance 
with  this  principle  Rousseau  would  retard  the  early  educa- 

*  p.  19.  Cf.  p.  207  :  "  I  assumed  that  my  pupil  liad  neither  surpassing 
genius  nor  a  defective  understanding.  I  chose  him  of  an  ordinary  mind 
to  show  what  education  could  do  for  man." 

'  Rousseau  holds  in  the  same  contempt  as  Tlato  the  science  of  medicine 
and  its  practitioners. 

'p.  17G. 


ROUSSEAU  145 

tion  of  the  pupil  up  to  twelve  years  of  age,  and  by  accelerat- 
ing the  process  from  twelve  years  of  age  onwards,  recover 
the  lost  ground.  This  later  acceleration  is  made  possible 
by  the  more  advanced  age  at  which  the  knowledge  is 
presented  to  the  pupil,  and  by  the  fact  that  the  knowledge 
is  presented  in  a  more  concrete  and  practical  fashion  than 
by  the  ordinary  methods.  "  Give  me  a  child  of  twelve 
who  knows  nothing  at  all,"  says  Rousseau,^  "  at  fifteen 
I  will  restore  him  to  you  knowing  as  much  as  those  who 
have  been  under  instruction  from  infancy  :  with  this 
difference,  that  your  scholars  only  know  things  by  heart, 
while  mine  knows  how  to  use  his  knowledge." 

Rousseau  divides  the  pupil's  life  for  educational  purposes 
into  the  four  phases  :  infancy  ;  childhood,  up  to  twelve 
years  of  age  ;  boyhood,  twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age  ;  and 
adolescence,  from  fifteen  onwards ;  and  in  accordance 
with  his  general  principle  maintains  :  ^  "  There  is  a  time 
for  every  kind  of  teaching  and  we  ought  to  recognise  it, 
and  each  has  its  own  dangers  to  be  avoided." 

In  Book  I.  of  the  Emile  Rousseau  prescribes  the  r6gime 
for  the  training  of  the  infant.  "  Edu('ation  begins  at 
birth,"  he  recognises,^  as  did  Plato,  and  he  consequently 
lays  down  precepts  for  the  feeding  and  care  of  the  child. 
His  aim  at  this  stage  seems  to  be  to  prepare  the  child  for 
"  the  control  of  his  liberty  and  the  use  of  his  strength  by 
leaving  his  body  its  natural  habit,  by  making  him  capable 
of  lasting  self-control,  of  doing  all  that  he  wills  when  his 
will  is  formed."  ^ 

In   enunciating   rules   for   the   attainment   f>f  this   aim 

Rousseau   makes  his  contradictory   statements   regarding 

the  place  of  habit  in  education,  a  contradiction  of  which 

his  commentators  have  eagerly  and  fully  availed  them- 

»p.  292.  *p.  293.  ^  p.  29.  ♦p.  30. 


146    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

selves,  but  which  is  so  obvious  that  Rousseau  must  have 
been  quite  well  aware  of  it  himself.  He  disarms  all  such 
trifling  criticism  by  stating  :  ^  "I  have  noticed  again  and 
again  that  it  is  impossible  in  writing  a  lengthy  work  to  use 
the  same  words  always  in  the  same  sense.  There  is  no 
language  rich  enough  to  supply  terms  and  expressions 
sufficient  for  the  modifications  of  our  ideas  ...  I  am 
convinced  that  even  in  our  poor  language  we  can  make  our 
meaning  clear,  not  by  always  using  words  in  the  same 
sense,  but  by  taking  care  that  every  time  we  use  a  word 
the  sense  in  which  we  use  it  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  the 
sense  of  the  context,  so  that  each  sentence  in  which  the 
word  occurs  acts  as  a  sort  of  definition  ...  I  admit  that 
my  words  are  often  contradictory,  but  I  do  not  think  there 
is  any  contradiction  in  my  ideas."  In  like  manner  he 
defends  his  use  of  paradox,  preferring  rather  to  fall  into 
paradox  than  into  prejudice,^  and  he  does  not  hesitate  to 
acknowledge  exceptions  to  his  own  rules.  ^ 

The  antinomy  in  respect  to  habit  may  be  formulated 
thus  : — Thesis  :  "  Education  itself  is  but  habit,"  *  or  more 
particularised,^  "  The  habit  of  the  bath,  once  established, 
should  never  be  broken  off,  it  must  be  kept  up  all  through 
life."  The  antithesis  is  formulated  in  the  oft-quoted 
statement :  '  "  The  only  habit  the  child  should  be  allowed 
to  contract  is  that  of  having  no  habits."  Rousseau  resolves 
the  antinomy  by  distinguishing  between  natural  habits 
which  he  would  establish — "  leave  his  body  its  natural 
habit,"  and  social  customs  and  usages,  conformity  with 
which,  in  accordance  with  his  general  position,  he  would 
condemn — "  Our  wisdom  is  slavish  prejudice,  our  customs 
consist  in  control,  constraint,  compulsion.  Civilised  man 
'  p.  72,  note.  2  p   57  3  p   207. 

*  p.  7.  •'  p.  27.  ''  I).  30. 


ROUSSEAU  147 

is  born  and  dies  a  slave."  This  is  more  evident  in  the 
statement  :  ^  "  The  only  useful  habit  for  children  is  to  be 
accustomed  to  submit  without  difficulty  to  necessity,  and 
the  only  useful  habit  for  man  is  to  submit  without  difficulty 
to  the  rule  of  reason.     Every  other  habit  is  a  vice." 

A  similar  antinomy  is  inherent  in  all  doctrines  of  habit. 
Of  its  economy  we  must  approve  ;  its  conservatism  we  must 
condemn,  for  here,  if  anywhere,  the  better  may  easily 
become  the  enemy  of  the  best.  Rousseau's  restrictive 
and  negative  attitude  to  habit  gains  significance  when  it 
is  related  to  the  aim  which  he  prescribes  for  early  education, 
namely,  preparing  the  child  to  use  his  liberty  aright  when 
he  attains  that  stage  of  development.  It  is  but  one  aspect 
of  his  negative  education  of  childhood,  the  positive  counter- 
part of  which  is  freedom. 

The  ideal  of  liberty  has  inspired  many  heroic  deeds  and 
poets  have  often  sung  its  praises.  Rousseau,  when  he 
pictures  the  "  delights  of  liberty  "  which  a  pupil  rightly 
educated  might  experience,  proclaims  in  language  almost 
poetic  the  child's  right  to  the  enjoyment  of  his  childhood 
and  to  freedom  from  the  prejudices  and  prepossessions  of 
the  adult,  and  for  his  passionate  pleading  on  the  child's 
behalf  Rousseau  can  be  forgiven  much. 

"  Freedom,  not  power,"  he  says,^  "  is  the  greatest  good. 
That  man  is  truly  free  who  desires  what  he  is  able  to  perform, 
and  does  what  he  desires.  This  is  my  fundamental  maxim. 
Apply  it  to  childhood,  and  all  the  rules  of  education  spring 
from  it.''  The  application  of  this  principle  of  freedom 
leads  to  Rousseau's  panegyric  on  childhood.^  "  Ijove 
childhood,  indulge  its  sports,  its  pleasures,  its  delightful 


^p.  125,  note.                                     »  p.  48. 

*  Pp.    42-!?.     For   similar   eulotry   on    youth. 

S0»' 

R. 

L. 

Stcven.son's 

I'irginibus  Pucrisque. 

148    DOCTEINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

instincts.  Who  has  not  sometimes  regretted  that  age 
when  laughter  was  ever  on  the  lips,  and  when  the  heart 
was  ever  at  peace  ?  Why  rob  these  innocents  of  the  joys 
which  pass  so  quickly,  of  that  precious  gift  which  they 
cannot  abuse  ?  Why  fill  with  bitterness  the  fleeting  days 
of  early  childhood,  days  which  will  no  more  return  for  them 
than  for  you  ?  Fathers,  can  you  tell  when  death  will  call 
your  children  to  Him  ?  Do  not  lay  up  sorrow  for  your- 
selves by  robbing  them  of  the  short  span  which  nature  has 
allotted  to  them.  As  soon  as  they  are  aware  of  the  joy  of 
life,  let  them  rejoice  in  it,  so  that  whenever  God  calls  them 
they  may  not  die  without  having  tasted  the  joy  of  life." 

"  What  is  to  be  thought,  therefore,  of  that  cruel  education 
which  sacrifices  the  present  to  an  uncertain  future,  that 
burdens  a  child  with  all  sorts  of  restrictions  and  begins  by 
making  him  miserable,  in  order  to  prepare  him  for  some 
far  off  happiness  which  he  may  never  enjoy  ?  " 

"  Now  is  the  time,  you  say,  to  correct  his  evil  tendencies  ; 
we  must  increase  suffering  in  childhood,  when  it  is  less 
keenly  felt,  to  lessen  it  in  manhood.  But  how  do  you 
know  that  you  can  carry  out  all  these  fine  schemes  ?  .  .  . 
What  a  poor  sort  of  foresight,  to  make  a  child  wretched  in 
the  present  with  the  more  or  less  doubtful  hope  of  making 
him  happy  at  some  future  day  .  .  . 

"  Mankind  has  its  place  in  the  sequence  of  things  ; 
childhood  has  its  place  in  the  sequence  of  human  life,  the 
man  must  be  treated  as  a  man,  and  the  child  as  a  child. 
Give  each  his  place." 

The  aim  of  the  early  education  of  the  child  is  to  develop 
in  him  "  a  well-regulated  liberty,"  an  aim  similar,  as  we 
shall  see,  to  that  of  Montessori.  Such  liberty  or  freedom 
is  possible  only  when  the  child's  desires  are  confined  within 
the  limits  of  his  powers.     He  must  then  be  taught  these 


ROUSSEAU  149 

limits  ;  they  are  prescribed  by  the  necessity  in  things  and 
by  his  own  weakness—"  the  child's  liberty  is  restricted  by 
his  lack  of  strength."  ^ 

To  attain  liberty,  education  must  act  both  positively 
and  negatively,  although  it  is  the  negative  side  that 
Rousseau  mainly  emphasises.  The  positive  training  con- 
sists in  supplying  the  pupil  with  the  strength  he  lacks  so 
far  as  is  required  for  freedom,  not  for  power. ^  The  negative 
aspect  of  education  consists  in  bringing  the  pupil  to  realise 
that  "  freedom  is  the  truth  of  necessity,"  that  nature  can 
only  be  commanded  by  obeying  it.  Rousseau  recognises 
that  the  freedom  of  caprice  is  merely  a  form  of  servitude, 
and,  as  social  injunctions  are  usually  contradictory  and 
social  order  capricious,  he  seeks  to  protect  the  unformed 
character  of  the  child  from  the  evils  arising  from  such 
irregularity.  Rousseau  desires  to  habituate  the  pupil  to 
right  action,  the  first  stage  of  the  moral  life,  as  Aristotle 
recognised — "  Before  he  knows  what  goodness  is  he  will 
be  practising  its  chief  lesson,"  ^ — -and  such  habituation 
can  only  be  secured  by  the  child's  submission  to  the  constant 
laws  of  nature,  and  not  to  the  arbitrary  admonition  of 
social  life.  "  Let  him  early  fmd  upon  his  proud  neck  the 
heavy  yoke  which  nature  has  imposed  upon  us,  the  heavy 
yoke  of  necessity,  under  which  every  linite  being  nmst 
bow.  Let  him  find  this  necessity  in  things,  not  in  the 
caprices  of  man."  ^ 

It  is  no  mere  empty  prejudice  against  social  life  that 
leads  Rousseau  to  postpone  the  child's  submission  to  social 
order,  but  the  fact  that  such  order  does  not  possess  the 
constancy    of   natural    law.     "  There    are    two    kinds    of 

'  ]).  49.  »  p.  49. 

'p.  05.     Cf.  p.  212  :    "  By  doiiiLT  eood  we  become  pood." 

*  p.  ■")">. 


150    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

dependence  ;  dependence  on  things,  which  is  the  work  of 
nature,  and  dependence  on  men,  which  is  the  work  of 
society.  Dependence  on  things,  being  non-moral,  does 
no  injury  to  liberty  and  begets  no  vices  ;  dependence  on 
men,  being  out  of  order,  gives  rise  to  every  kind  of  vice."  ^ 
He,  however,  immediately  adds  :  "If  the  laws  of  nations, 
like  the  laws  of  nature,  could  never  be  broken  by  any  human 
power,  dependence  on  men  would  become  dependence  on 
things,  all  the  advantages  of  a  state  of  nature  would  be 
combined  with  all  the  advantages  of  social  life  in  the 
commonwealth.  The  liberty  which  preserves  a  man  from 
vice  would  be  united  with  the  morality  which  raises  him 
to  virtue." 

The  leading  principle  for  the  early  education  up  to 
twelve  years  of  age  is  consequently  :  "  Keep  the  child 
dependent  on  things  only,"  ^  the  same  principle  as  that 
imphed  in  the  self-corrective  apparatus  of  the  Montessori 
method.  This  dependence  on  things  has  as  its  correlate 
freedom  from  dependence  on  man  ;  it  is  an  a-moral  and 
non-social  education,  "  Therefore  the  education  of  the 
earliest  years  should  be  merely  negative.  It  consists,  not 
in  teaching  virtue  or  truth,  but  in  preserving  the  heart 
from  vice  and  from  the  spirit  of  error."  ^  The  chief  maxim 
necessitated  by  this  principle  is  :  "  Do  not  save  time,  but 
lose  it."*  "Exercise  his  body,  his  limbs,  his  senses,  hia 
strength,  but  keep  his  mind  idle  as  long  as  you  can."  ^ 

In  justification  of  this  maxim  Rousseau  explains  :  "  You 
are  afraid  to  see  him  spending  his  years  doing  nothing. 
What !  is  it  nothing  to  be  happy,  nothing  to  run  and  jump 
all  day  ?  He  will  never  be  so  busy  again  all  his  life  long. 
Plato,  in  his  Republic,  which  is  considered  so  stern,  teaches 
the   children   only  through   festivals,  games,   songs,   and 

>  p.  49.  «  p.  49.  3  p.  57.  *  Ibid.  ■'  p.  58. 


ROUSSEAU  151 

amusements.  It  seems  as  if  he  had  accomplished  his 
purpose  when  he  had  taught  them  to  be  happy  ;  and 
Seneca,  speaking  of  the  Roman  lads  in  olden  days,  says, 
'  they  were  always  on  their  feet,  they  were  never  taught 
anything  which  kept  them  sitting.'  Were  they  any  the 
worse  for  it  in  manhood  ?  Do  not  be  afraid,  therefore,  of 
this  so-called  idleness.  WTiat  would  you  think  of  a  man 
who  refused  to  sleep  lest  he  should  waste  part  of  his  life  ? 
You  would  say,  '  He  is  mad  ;  he  is  not  enjoying  his  life, 
he  is  robbing  himself  of  part  of  it ;  to  avoid  sleep  he  is 
hastening  to  his  death.'  Remember  that  these  two  cases 
are  alike,  and  that  childhood  is  the  sleep  of  reason."  ^ 

The  importance  of  this  negative  education  is  implied  in 
the  statement  that  '"  the  most  dangerous  period  in  human 
life  lies  between  birth  and  the  age  of  twelve  ;  "'  ^  the  length 
of  treatment  devoted  to  this  period  by  Rousseau  likewise 
testifies  to  its  importance. 

The  principle  of  the  negative  education,  involving  the 
subordination  of  the  child  to  the  natiu:al  order  and  his 
freedom  from  the  social  order,  is  impossible  of  complete 
fulfilment.  This  Rousseau  recognises.^  "  I  think  it  is 
impossible  to  train  a  child  up  to  the  age  of  twelve  in  the 
midst  of  society,  without  giving  him  some  idea  of  the 
relations  between  one  man  and  another,  and  of  the  morality 
of  human  actions.  It  is  enough  to  delay  the  development 
of  these  ideas  as  long  as  possible,  and  when  they  can  no 
longer  be  avoided  to  limit  them  to  })resent  needs,  so  that 
he  may  neither  think  himself  master  of  everything  nor  do 
harm  to  others  without  knowing  or  caring." 

^  p.  71.  Rousseau  misinter])ret3  Locke  {Emilr,  ]>.  ')'.i)  when  he  says  : 
'■  Reason  with  cliildren  was  I^ocke's  chief  maxim."  What  Locke 
intended  was  that  children  should  he  treat<>d  reasonably,  ("f.  Thoughli 
concerning  Education,  §§  54,  8L 

*  p.  57.     Contrast  p.  193.  '  p.  t31. 


152    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

The  aim  of  education  with  Rousseau,  quite  as  much  as 
with  Herbart,  is  morality,^  and  it  is  for  the  sake  of  develop- 
ing in  the  child  a  stable  moral  character  that  he  introduces 
the  negative  education.  Applied  to  the  moral  life  of  the 
pupil  it  results  in  the  discipline  by  natural  consequences, 
a  doctrine  later  advocated  by  Spencer. ^  "  Children 
should  never  receive  punishment  as  such,"  says  Rousseau,^ 
"  it  should  always  come  as  the  natural  consequence  of 
their  fault."  And  again,^  "He  should  never  act  from 
obedience,  but  from  necessity." 

During  the  child's  "  long  period  of  leisure  "  no  direct 
moral  lessons  are  to  be  given.  Children  are  likewise  not 
to  be  reasoned  with  on  moral  questions ;  for,  as  Rousseau 
recognises,  no  reason  can  be  given  for  a  truly  moral  act. 
This  is  evident  from  the  moral  lesson  which  Rousseau 
instances,^  and  from  his  formulation  of  the  moral  law,^ 
which  implies  the  same  absoluteness  as,  and  is  expressed 
in  terms  almost  identical  with,  that  of  Kant  :  "A  good 
action  is  only  morally  good  when  it  is  done  as  such  and  not 
because  of  others." '^  The  only  moral  maxim  Rousseau 
would  teach  his  pupil  is  "  Never  hurt  anybody."  Nor 
should  we  at  this  stage  attempt  to  inculcate  moral  lessons 
indirectly  through  the  teaching  of  fables.  The  pupils  take 
the  wrong  morals  out  of  the  fables,  Rousseau  believes,  or 
contra-suggestion  decides  their  actions.  "  Men  may  be 
taught  by  fables  ;    children  require  the   naked   truth."  * 

'  ('f.  idea!  with  Sophy,  "  to  play  licr  ])art  in  tlio  })liy.sical  and  moral 
order,"  p.  321. 

^  Ednration,  p.  1 30  d  s<:q. 

3  j>.  G3.  '  p.  53.  •'■  ]).  r>4.  '■  J).  ()S.  •  ]).  ()i). 

''p.  77.  Cf.  pp.  210-1  and  PJato'.s  view  of  fables.  Also  Rousseau's 
view  of  inaxim.s,  p.  201,  "  Pliilosophy  in  the  form  of  maxims  is  onl}' 
fit  for  the  experieneed.  Youth  .should  never  deal  with  the  general,  all 
the  teaching'  should  deal  with  individual  instances." 


ROUSSEAU  153 

As  a  consequence  of  the  concession  stated  above  Rousseau 
has  to  give  his  pupil  some  training  for  social  life,  although 
the  latter  cannot  yet  appreciate  social  relationships.  It 
would  be  mainly  a  training  through  imitation  :  ^  "  At  an 
age  when  the  heart  does  not  yet  feel  anything,  you  must 
make  children  copy  the  deeds  you  wish  to  grow  into  habits, 
until  they  can  do  them  with  understanding  and  for  the 
love  of  what  is  good." 

The  negative  education  applied  intellectually  implies 
that  there  should  be  no  verbal  lessons :  ^  the  pupil  should 
be  taught  by  experience  alone.  Rousseau  maintains  that 
when  we  thus  get  rid  of  children's  lessons  we  get  rid  of  the 
chief  cause  of  their  sorrow.  Reading  he  characterises  ^ 
as  the  curse  of  childhood,  whereas  if  the  desire  to  know  is 
awakened  in  the  child  he  will  learn  of  himself.  "  Present 
interest,  that  is  the  motive  power,  the  only  motive  power 
that  takes  us  far  and  safely  :  "'  '^  "  We  learn  nothing  from 
a  lesson  we  detest."'^  Both  in  respect  to  subject-matter 
of  reading  and  the  motive  power  of  interest  Rousseau 
anticipates  Herbart. 

Rousseau  also  reckons  the  studv  of  languages  among 
the  useless  lumber  of  education.'"'  Geography,  instead  of 
teaching  the  pupil  what  the  world  is  like,  is  merely  teaching 
the  map:  "He  is  taught  the  name  of  towns,  countries, 
rivers  which  have  no  existence  for  him  except  on  the  pa])er 
before  him."  "  It  is  a  still  more  ridiculous  error,  in 
Rousseau's  opinion,  to  set  pupils  at  this  stage  to  study 

'  ]i.  ()8.  Rousseau  does  not  award  to  imitation  the  liiizli  jilace  assigned 
to  it  by  Plato.  '"  The  love  of  imitatintr."  he  .'says.  "  is  well  reL'iiiated  l>y 
nature  ;  in  society  it  beeoiiie.s  a  vice  .  .  .  Imitation  has  its  roots  in 
our  desire  to  escajie  from  ourselves.  If  I  succeed  in  my  undertakiiij:. 
Emile  will  certainly  have  no  such  wish." 

=  p.  5(5.  3  p    j<()  «]i.  SI.  ■p.  2<l!l. 

"  p.  r.i.  -  p.  74. 


154    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

history,  for  they  are  not  able  to  understand  the  relations 
which  constitute  political  action. 

The  positive  education  up  to  twelve  years  of  age  com- 
prises physical  exercises  and  the  training  of  the  senses. 
The  physical  education  is  modelled  on  that  of  Sparta,  and 
is  similar  to  the  Gymnastic  prescribed  by  Plato  in  the 
early  education  of  the  philosopher.  "  This  was  the  educa- 
tion of  the  Spartans  ;  they  were  not  taught  to  stick  to 
their  books,  they  were  taught  to  steal  their  dinners.  Were 
they  any  the  worse  for  it  in  after  life  ?  Ever  ready  for 
victory,  they  crushed  their  foes  in  every  kind  of  warfare, 
and  the  prating  Athenians  were  as  much  afraid  of  their 
words  as  of  their  blows."  ^  In  support  of  the  training  in 
gymnastics  Rousseau  cites  the  opinions  of  Montaigne  and 
Locke. 

The  importance  of  physical  condition  for  the  moral  and 
mental  training  of  the  child  is  frequently  insisted  on  by 
Rousseau.  It  is,  as  with  Plato,  "  the  body  for  the  sake  of 
the  soul."  Rousseau's  statements  include :  "  A  feeble 
body  makes  a  feeble  mind,"  ^  which  is  but  the  negative 
counterpart  of  Locke's  ideal — "  A  sound  mind  in  a  sound 
body."  "  All  wickedness  comes  from  weakness."  ^  "  The 
weaker  the  body,  the  more  imperious  its  demands  ;  the 
stronger  it  is,  the  better  it  obeys."  ^  "  Would  you  cultivate 
your  pupil's  intelligence,  cultivate  the  strength  it  is  meant 
to  control.  Give  his  body  constant  exercise,  make  it  strong 
and  healthy,  in  order  to  make  him  good  and  wise  ;  let  him 
work,  let  him  do  things,  let  him  run  and  shout,  let  him  be 
always  on  the  go  ;  make  a  man  of  him  in  strength,  and  he 
will  soon  be  a  man  of  reason."  ^  "  As  he  grows  in  health 
and  strength  he  grows  in  wisdom  and  discernment.  This 
is  the  way  to  attain  to  what  is  generally  incompatible, 
1  p.  84.  *  p.  21.  3  p.  33_  4  p.  21.  ■'  p.  82. 


ROUSSEAU  155 

strength  of  body  and  strength  of  mind,  the  reason  of  the 
philosojiher  and  the  vigour  of  the  athlete."  ^ 

The  other  aspect  of  the  positive  education  up  to  twelve 
years  of  age  is  the  training  of  the  senses.^  Man's  first 
reason  is,  in  Rousseau's  opinion,  a  reason  of  sense  ex- 
perience. Our  first  teachers  are  our  feet  and  hands  and 
eyes.  "  To  substitute  books  for  them  does  not  teach  us 
to  reason,  it  teaches  us  to  use  the  reason  of  others  rather 
than  our  own  ;  it  teaches  us  to  beUeve  much  and  know 
little."  ^  Training  the  senses  does  not  mean,  for  Rousseau, 
practising  formal  exercises  in  their  use  ;  it  means  judging 
by  their  means  in  concrete  situations  similar  to  those  the 
pupil  will  meet  with  in  actual  life,  and  is  consequently  not 
open  to  the  objections  which  have  frequently  to  be  urged 
on  psychological  grounds  against  doctrines  of  sense  training. 

The  first  sense  Rousseau  would  train  would  be,  as  in  the 
Montessori  system,  that  of  touch.  This  he  would  isolate, 
and  train  by  means  of  games  in  the  dark.  "  Although 
touch  is  the  sense  oftenest  used,  its  discrimination  remains 
coarser  and  more  imperfect  than  that  of  any  other  sense, 
because  we  always  use  sight  along  with  it  ;  the  eye  perceives 
the  thing  first,  and  the  mind  almost  always  judges  without 
the  hand.  On  the  other  hand,  discrimination  by  touch 
is  the  surest  just  because  of  its  limitations  ;  for  extending 
only  so  far  as  our  hands  can  reach,  it  corrects  the  hasty 
judgments  of  the  other  senses." 

For  visual  training  Rousseau  proposes  such  tasks  as 
determining  whether  a  ladder  is  long  enough  to  reach  the 
top  of  a  tree,  whether  a  planlc  is  long  enough  to  bridge  a 

1  p.  S4.  ('f.  also  pp.  8<.t,  9U.  Cf.  I'lato,  Ti77uicu.%  §  Sti :  "No  man 
is  voluntarily  bad  ;  but  the  bad  become  bad  by  reason  of  an  ill  dis- 
position of  the  body,  and  bad  education." 

-  Cf.  pp.  97-122.  3  J).  'JO. 


156    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

stream,  the  length  of  line  required  for  fishing,  or  the  length 
of  rope  to  construct  a  swing  between  two  trees.  In  running 
races  the  distances  are  made  unequal,  and  the  pupil  has  to 
exercise  his  judgment  in  estimating  the  lengths  of  the 
various  courses  so  that  he  may  choose  the  shortest.  "  Of 
all  the  senses,"  Rousseau  remarks,^  "  sight  is  that  which 
we  can  least  distinguish  from  the  judgment  of  the  mind  ; 
so  it  takes  a  long  time  to  learn  to  see.  It  takes  a  long  time 
to  compare  sight  and  touch  and  to  train  the  former  sense 
to  give  a  true  report  of  shape  and  distance." 

On  similar  lines  Rousseau  proposes  means  of  training  the 
other  senses,  hearing,  taste,  and  smell. 

The  principle  which  governs  this  sense-training  is  enun- 
ciated later  ^  by  Rousseau  in  dealing  with  the  third  phase 
of  education  :  "  We  must  learn  to  confirm  the  experiences 
of  each  sense  by  itself,  without  recourse  to  any  other, 
though  we  have  been  in  the  habit  of  verifying  the  ex- 
perience of  one  sense  by  that  of  another." 

Throughout  this  period  Rousseau  is  not  educating  Emile 
but  preparing  him  for  education  ;  ^  and  the  art  of  teaching 
at  this  stage  is  to  be  able  "to  lose  time  and  save  it."^ 
The  result  of  the  training  of  the  pupil  on  these  lines  is  thus 
summarised  :  ^  "  His  ideas  are  few  but  precise,  he  knows 
nothing  by  rote  but  much  by  experience.  If  he  reads  our 
books  worse  than  other  children,  he  reads  far  better  in  the 
book  of  nature  ;  his  thoughts  are  not  in  his  tongue  but  in 
his  brain ;  he  has  less  memory  and  more  judgment  ;  he 
can  only  speak  one  language,  but  he  understands  what  he 
is  saying,  and  if  his  speech  is  not  so  good  as  that  of  other 

ip.  107.  *p.  107. 

^  a.   p.    297.     The   succeeding   phase   of  education   from    twelve   to 
fifteen  years  of  age  is  also  inchided  in  the  period  of  preparation. 
*  p.  10(;.  ^'pp.  124-.0. 


ROUSSEAU  157 

children  his  deeds  are  better.''  "He  has  reached  the 
perfection  of  childhood  ;  he  has  lived  the  life  of  a  child  ; 
his  progress  has  not  been  bought  at  the  price  of  his  happi- 
ness ;  he  has  gained  both."  ^ 

The  succeeding  phase  of  education,  covering  the  years 
twelve  to  fifteen,  is  the  transition  stage  between  childhood 
and  adolescence.  The  previous  period  of  education  dealt 
with  the  necessary,  this  deals  with  the  useful,  and  the 
succeeding  stage  with  what  is  fitting  or  right.  ^  "  Time 
was  long  during  early  childhood  ;  we  only  tried  to  pass 
our  time  for  fear  of  using  it  ill ;  now  it  is  the  other  way  ; 
we  have  not  time  enough  for  all  that  would  be  of  use."  ^ 

The  knowledge  to  be  acquired  must  consequently  be 
carefully  selected  ;  it  must  suit  the  pupil's  present  needs. 
"  \\liat  is  the  use  of  that  ?  This  is  the  sacred  formula."  ^ 
The  sciences  rejected  at  a  previous  stage  must  now  be 
reviewed  in  the  light  of  this  principle  of  utility,  and  to 
those  which  stand  the  test  Emile  is  to  be  introduced.  "  It 
is  not  your  business,"  however,  according  to  Rousseau,^ 
"  to  teach  h'un  the  various  sciences,  but  to  give  him  a  taste 
for  them  and  methods  of  learning  them  when  this  taste 
is  more  mature."  The  method  which  Rousseau  has  in 
mind  is  that  which  has  come  to  be  known  as  the  heuristic 
method  and  is  thus  formulated  :  "  Let  him  know  nothing 
because  you  have  told  him,  but  because  he  has  learnt  it 
for  himself.  Let  him  not  be  taught  science,  lot  him 
discover  it."  ^'  "  You  have  not  got  t(^  teach  him  truths 
so  much  as  to  show  him  how  to  set  a])()Ut  discovering  them 
for  himself."  "  The  pupil  is  to  learn  in  a  ])racti('al  fa.shion 
by  rough  experiments  with  apparatus  self-uuule  and  self- 
invented,  for  as  Rous.seau  succinctly  states.  "  The  scientific 

*  !>.  142. 


p.  I2r>. 

H'f.  ]).  130. 

'  ]).  134. 

p.  135. 

"p.  131. 

■  p.  168. 

158    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

atmosphere  destroys  science,"  ^  and  as  he  paradoxically 
expresses  his  method,  "  Among  the  many  short  cuts  to 
science,  we  badly  need  some  one  to  teach  us  the  art  of 
learning  with  difficulty."  ^ 

Emile  must  also  learn  a  trade,  less  for  the  learning  of  it 
than  for  overcoming  the  prejudices  which  otherwise  he 
would  acquire.^  The  learning  of  it  is  not,  however,  without 
significance  in  the  pupil's  development,  for  as  Rousseau 
states,^  "  If  instead  of  making  a  child  stick  to  his  books  I 
employ  him  in  a  workshop,  his  hands  work  for  the  develop- 
ment of  his  mind.  While  he  fancies  himself  a  workman  he 
is  becoming  a  philosopher."  Emile's  trade  must  be  one 
which  does  not  lead  to  fortune  but  makes  him  independent 
of  her,  and  the  trade  which  most  completely  satisfies 
Rousseau's  demands  is  that  of  the  carpenter.  "  It  is  clean 
and  useful ;  it  may  be  carried  on  at  home  ;  it  gives  enough 
exercise  ;  it  calls  for  skill  and  industry,  and  while  fashioning 
articles  for  everyday  use,  there  is  scope  for  elegance  and 
taste."  ^  Rousseau  also  looks  favourably  on  the  making 
of  scientific  instruments ;  but  no  matter  which  trade  is 
adopted  Emile  "  must  work  like  a  peasant  and  think  like 
a  philosopher,  if  he  is  not  to  be  as  idle  as  a  savage."  The 
great  secret  of  education,  Rousseau  adds,*"'  is  to  use  exercise 
of  mind  and  body  as  relaxation  one  to  the  other. 

The  general  principle  governing  the  teaching  at  this 
stage  is  that  of  learning  by  doing.  "  Teach  by  doing 
whenever  you  can,  and  only  fall  back  uj3on  words  when 
doing  is  out  of  the  question."  "  "  Let  all  the  lessons  of 
young  people  take  the  form  of  doing  rather  than  talking  ; 
let  them  learn  nothing  from  books  which  they  can  learn 

»  p.  139.  ^  Ibid. 

^  Contrast  with  Plato's  view  of  the  manual  arts.  '  p.  140. 

■p.  163.  'p.  10.5.  "p.  J 44. 


ROUSSEAU  159 

from  experience."  ^  An  exception  is  made  in  the  case  of 
Robinson  Crusoe,  the  greatest  school  book  ever  written. 
"  This  is  the  first  book  Emile  will  read  ;  for  a  long  time  it 
will  form  his  whole  library  and  it  will  always  retain  an 
honoured  place.  It  will  be  the  text  to  which  all  talks 
about  natural  science  are  but  the  commentary."  ^ 

Thus  far  the  pupil  has  been  as  much  as  possible  dependent 
on  things  ;  "  the  child  observes  things  till  he  is  old  enough 
to  study  men."  ^  The  reason  which  Rousseau  advances 
for  this  is  :  ^  "I  have  not  spoken  to  my  pupil  about  men  ; 
he  would  have  too  much  sense  to  listen  to  me.  His  relations 
to  other  people  are  as  yet  not  sufficiently  apparent  to  him 
to  enable  him  to  judge  others  by  himself.  The  only  person 
he  knows  is  himself,  and  the  knowledge  of  himself  is  im- 
perfect. But  if  he  forms  few  opinions  about  others,  those 
opinions  are  correct.  He  knows  nothing  of  another's 
place,  but  he  knows  his  own  and  keeps  to  it.  I  have  bound 
him  with  the  strong  cord  of  necessity,  instead  of  social 
laws,  which  are  beyond  his  knowledge.  He  is  still  little 
more  than  a  body  ;  let  us  treat  him  as  such."  No  sooner, 
however,  has  Rousseau  stated  this  than — contrary  to  his 
general  principle  enunciated  in  the  statement,^  "  Why  urge 
him  to  the  studies  of  an  age  he  may  never  reach,  to  the 
neglect  of  those  studies  which  meet  his  present  needs  " — 
he  anticipates  the  later  stage  of  education  and  would 
prepare  Emile  for  the  understanding  of  the  requirements 
of  social  life  upon  which  he  will  then  enter.  Instead  of 
straightway  demonstrating  to  Emile  the  reciprocal  duties 
of  men  on  the  moral  side,  Rousseau  would  direct  Emile's 
attention  to  the  industrial  and  mechanical  arts  wliich  call 
for  mutual  co-operation.     "  Given  ten  men,  each  of  them 

ip.  214.  "-p.  147.  ^]..  418. 

«p.  150.  p.  141. 


160    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

has  ten  different  requirements.  To  get  what  he  needs  for 
himself  each  must  work  at  ten  different  trades ;  but  con- 
sidering our  different  talents,  one  will  do  better  at  this 
trade,  another  at  that.  Each  of  them,  fitted  for  one  thing, 
will  work  at  all,  and  will  be  badly  served.  Let  us  form 
these  ten  men  into  a  society,  and  let  each  devote  himself 
to  the  trade  for  which  he  is  best  adapted,  and  let  him  work 
at  it  for  himself  and  for  the  rest.  Each  will  reap  the 
advantage  of  the  other's  talents,  just  as  if  they  were  his 
own  talent,  and  thus  all  the  ten,  well  provided  for,  will  still 
have  something  to  spare  for  others.  This  is  the  plain 
foundation  of  all  our  institutions."  ^ 

The  explanation  offered  here  of  the  origin  of  the  social 
state  is  in  some  respects  similar  to  that  proposed  by  Plato 
and  by  Aristotle.  It  is  based  on  an  initial  inequality 
amongst  the  natural  talents  of  men,  and  it  is  proved  to  be 
advantageous.  While  Plato  and  Aristotle  regard  the 
existence  of  the  social  state  as  natural  and  necessary  to 
man,  Rousseau  maintains  that  so  long  as  only  bodily  needs 
are  recognised  man  is  self-sufficing  ;  it  is  only  with  the 
desire  for  superfluity  that  the  need  for  the  division  of  labour 
arises.^  Plato  and  Aristotle  nevertheless  affirm  that  man 
is  not  individually  self-sufficing  ;  and  it  is  the  needs  of  his 
nature,  not  merely  the  demand  for  luxuries,  that  compel 
him  to  be  a  member  of  a  society.  How  far  removed 
Rousseau's  conception  of  society  is  from  an  unrestricted 
individualism  may,  however,  be  inferred  from  his  view  of 
the  inheritance  of  property  ;  all  wealth,  he  considers,  should 
be  vested  in  the  community  and  every  man  owes  society 
his  personal  service.^ 

ip.  ].'3G.  «  p.  148.     Cf.  "  Social  Contract." 

'  Cf.  ]).  158,  paragrapli  ending  "  Man  in  .society  is  botind  to  work  ; 
rich  or  poor,  -weak  or  strong,  every  idler  is  a  thief."' 


ROUSSEAU  IGl 

Through  the  economic  dependence  of  inan  on  man 
Rousseau  would  bring  his  pupils  to  realise  the  necessity 
for  the  social  order  ;  the  explanation  of  the  moral  relations 
he  would  do  his  best  to  postpone  till  the  })U2)il  had  arrived 
at  the  adolescent  stage  of  development  :  "  the  very  name 
of  history  is  unknown  to  him,  along  with  meta])hysics  and 
morals."  ^ 

"Having  entered  into  possession  of  himself,  our  child 
is  now  ready  to  cease  to  be  a  child.  He  is  more  than  ever 
conscious  of  the  necessity  which  makes  him  de])endent  on 
things.  After  exercising  his  ])ody  and  his  senses  you  have 
exercised  his  mind  and  his  judgment.  Finally,  we  have 
joined  together  the  use  of  his  limbs  and  of  his  faculties. 
We  have  nuide  him  a  work(M'  and  a  thinker  ;  wc  have  now 
to  make  him  loving  and  tender-hearted,  to  j)erfect  reason 
through  feeling.""  -  Such  is  the  reanme  l^ousseau  gives 
of  the  e(hication  of  Emile  u])  to  fifteen  years  of  age. 

To  adolescence,  "the  crown  and  coping-stone  of  educa- 
tion," lif)usseau  devotes  the  fourth  book  of  the  K»iile.'^ 
The  period  when  education  is  usmdiy  finished  is.  he  insists. 
just  the  tinu^  to  l)egin  :  it  is  our  second  birth,  for  "  we  are 
born,  so  to  speak,  twice  over  :  ])orn  into  existence,  and 
born  into  lif(>  :  born  a  human  beini:.  and  boin  a  man.  * 
In  childhood  the  pupil.  l)ound  with  the  stiong  cord  of 
necessitv.  was  rcipiired  to  stud\'  hitnsell"  in  relation  to 
things;  during  adolescence  he  must  lie-in  the  study  of 
himself  in  relation  to  his  f(>Jlo\v men.     This  is  the  critical 

'  1).  170.  ^p.  If,,-,. 

'  Cf.  p.  UTS:  "Works  on  fducation  arc  craiiuiicd  witli  \M>rdy  and 
unnecessary  aeeounts  of  the  iniapiiiary  duties  of  t  hildreii  ;  Imt  tliere 
is  not  a  word  aliout  the  most  iin]>ortaiit  and  iimst  ditticult  ]iart  of  their 
education,  the  crisis  wliicli  forms  tli<>  liri'ltrc  lictwien  tlie  chiiil  and  tlie 
man." 

«  p.  1 72. 


162    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

stage  in  the  pupil's  development  and  education.  "  The 
way  childhood  is  spent  is  no  great  matter  ;  the  evil  which 
may  find  its  way  is  not  irremediable,  and  the  good  which 
may  spring  up  might  come  later.  But  it  is  not  so  in  those 
early  years  when  a  youth  really  begins  to  live.  This  time 
is  never  long  enough  for  what  there  is  to  be  done,  and  its 
importance  demands  unceasing  attention  ;  this  is  why  I 
lay  so  much  stress  on  the  art  of  prolonging  it."  ^ 

We  have  now  reached  the  moral  order,  for  the  appreciation 
of  which  the  previous  education  has  been  but  the  prepara- 
tion. The  attitude  which  at  this  stage  he  would  strive  to 
get  Emile  to  adopt,  Rousseau  describes  in  these  terms  : 
"  I  would  have  you  so  choose  the  company  of  a  youth  that 
he  should  think  well  of  those  among  whom  he  lives,  and  I 
would  have  you  so  teach  him  to  know  the  world  that  he 
should  think  ill  of  all  that  takes  place  in  it.  Let  him  know 
that  man  is  by  nature  good,  let  him  feel  it,  let  him  judge 
his  neighbour  by  himself ;  but  let  him  see  how  men  are 
depraved  and  perverted  by  society  ;  let  him  find  the  source 
of  all  their  vices  in  their  preconceived  opinions  ;  let  him 
be  disposed  to  respect  the  individual,  but  to  despise  the 
multitude  ;  let  him  see  that  all  men  wear  almost  the  same 
mask,  but  let  him  also  know  that  some  faces  are  fairer  than 
the  mask  that  conceals  them."  ^ 

The  studies — history,  etc. — which  were  withheld  at  the 
earlier  age  as  premature  are  now  introduced.  "  What  then 
is  required  for  the  proper  study  of  men  ?  A  great  wish  to 
know  men,  great  impartiality  of  judgment,  a  heart  suffi- 
ciently sensitive  to  understand  every  human  passion,  and 
calm  enough  to  be  free  from  passion.  If  there  is  any  time 
in  our  life  when  this  study  is  hkely  to  be  appreciated,  it  is 
this  that  I  have  chosen  for  Eniile  ;  before  this  time  men 
1  p.  193.  »  p.  198. 


ROUSSEAU  163 

would  have  been  strangers  to  him  ;  later  on  he  would  have 
been  like  them."  ^ 

This  is  consequently  the  time  to  introduce  the  pupil  to 
history  ;  "  with  its  help  he  will  read  the  hearts  of  men 
without  any  lessons  in  philosophy  ;  with  its  help  he  will 
\'iew  them  as  a  mere  spectator,  dispassionate  and  without 
prejudice  ;  he  will  view  them  as  their  judge,  not  as  their 
accomplice  or  their  accuser."  ^ 

Of  the  difficulties  in  turning  history  to  moral  account 
Rousseau  is  fully  conscious.  The  first  is  that  history 
records  the  evil  rather  than  the  good  ;  "  it  is  revolutions 
and  catastrophes  that  make  history  interesting  ;  so  long 
as  a  nation  grows  and  prospers  quietly  in  the  tranquillity 
ofa  peaceful  government,  history  says  nothing  .  .  .  History 
only  makes  them  famous  when  they  are  on  the  downward 
path  .  .  .  We  only  hear  what  is  bad  ;  the  good  is  scarcely 
mentioned.  Only  the  wicked  become  famous,  the  good 
are  forgotten  or  laughed  to  scorn,  and  thus  history, 
like  philosophy,  is  for  ever  slandering  mankind."  ^  In 
"  Crabbed  Age  and  Youth  "  R.  L.  Stevenson  echoes  with 
a  quite  unfeigned  satisfaction  the  same  complaint. 

A  further  difficulty  which  Rousseau  recognises  is  that 
"  history  shows  us  actions  rather  than  men,  because  she 
only  seizes  men  at  certain  chosen  times  in  full  dress  ;  she 
only  portrays  the  statesman  when  he  is  prepared  to  be  seen  ; 
she  does  not  follow  him  to  his  home,  to  his  study,  among 
his  family  and  his  friends  ;  she  only  shows  him  in  state  ; 
it  is  his  clothes  rather  than  himself  that  she  describes."  * 
Against  the  use  of  the  figures  of  history  as  moral  examples 
for  the  instruction  of  youth  Morlev  has  protested  in  the 
following  terms  :    "  The  subject  of  history  is  not  the  heart 

1  p.  206.  »  p.  199.  ^  pp.  199-200. 

*  p.  202.     Cf.  Thaokeray'.s  introduction  to  Esmond. 


164    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

of  man  but  the  movements  of  society.  Moreover  the 
oracles  of  history  are  entirely  dimib  to  one  who  seeks  from 
them  maxims  for  the  shaping  of  daily  conduct,  or  liNing 
instruction  as  to  the  motives,  aims,  caprices,  capacities  of 
self-restraint,  self-sacrifice  of  those  with  whom  the  occasions 
of  life  bring  us  into  contact."  Even  this  objection  was 
foreseen  by  Rousseau  :  "  History  in  general  is  lacking 
because  it  only  takes  note  of  striking  and  clearly  marked 
facts  which  may  be  fixed  by  names,  places  and  dates  ; 
but  the  slow  evolution  of  these  facts,  which  cannot  be 
noted  in  this  way,  still  remains  unknown.  We  often  find 
in  some  battle,  lost  or  won,  the  ostensible  cause  of  a  revolu- 
tion which  was  inevitable  before  this  battle  took  place. 
War  only  makes  manifest  events  already  determined  by 
moral  causes,  which  few  historians  can  perceive."  ^ 

The  dilemma  with  which  we  are  confronted  in  attempting 
to  employ  history  as  a  means  of  moral  instruction  is  that 
the  more  scientifically  history  is  treated  the  more  is  it 
regarded  as  a  history  of  great  movements  and  general 
tendencies,  a  matter  of  ])rinciples  rather  than  of  personal- 
ities, and  consequently  the  less  adapted  does  it  become  to 
provide  moral  examples ;  whereas,  even  assuming  that  the 
historical  heroes  are  worthy  nu)ral  examples,  to  secure 
biographical  material  for  moral  lessons  we  are  compelled 
to  contort  the  presentation  of  history.  The  choice  is  there- 
fore between  the  incompatible  alternatives,  history  or 
moral  instruction. 

These  difficulties  limit  the  field  of  choice,  and  Rousseau 
is  reduced  to  connnending  the  ancient  writers  of  historical 
biographies,  especially  Plutarch,  the  nuxlern  biographies 
being  too  conventional.^  The  sj)ectacles  of  liistory  por- 
trayed in  such  biographies  arc  to  serve  the  ])ui)il  sometimes 
'l)-201.  2  J).  202. 


ROUSSEAU  165 

as  warnings,  somotimes  as  forms  of  "  catharsis,"  as  the 
xicarious  expression  of  his  own  passions  ;  thus  "  the  play 
of  every  liuinan  passion  offers  lessons  to  any  one  who  will 
study  history  to  make  himself  wise  and  good  at  tlie  ex})ense 
of  those  who  went  before.'"  ^  The  examples  of  history 
are  thus  not  to  be  regarded  as  models  for  imitation,  "  for 
he  who  begins  to  regard  himself  as  a  stranger  will  soon 
forget  himself  altogether."  ^ 

In  spite  of  all  the  care  exercised  on  the  training  of  the 
pupil  it  must  needs  be  that  offences  come.  Their  correc- 
tion, Rousseau  suggests,  should  be  secured  indirectly. 
'■  The  time  of  faults  is  the  time  for  fables  ;  "  ^  for  "  when 
we  blame  the  guilty  under  the  cover  of  a  story  we  instruct 
without  offending  him."'  The  moral  of  the  fable  should 
accordingly  not  be  formulated.  "  Nothing  is  so  foolish 
and  unwise  as  the  moral  at  the  end  of  most  fables  ;  as  if 
the  moral  was  not,  or  ought  not  to  be,  so  clear  in  the  fable 
itself  that  tiie  reader  cannot  fail  to  perceive  it." 

Passing  from  the  subject  of  morality,  Rousseau  proceeds 
to  consider  the  religious  education  of  the  adolescent  youth. 
Till  now  Emile  has  scarcely  heard  the  name  of  (lod  ;■*  "At 
fifteen  he  will  not  even  know  that  he  has  a  soul,  at  eighteen 
even  he  nuiy  not  be  ready  to  learn  about  it.""  ^  liousscau 
does  not  propose  to  attach  Kmile  to  anv  sect,  but  aims  at 
giving  him  the  training  to  choose  for  himself  according  to 
the  right  use  of  his  own  reason.  The  doctrines  of  which 
Rousseau  a])proves  are  those  formuiatetl  in  "The  Creed 
of  a  Savoyard  Priest.'"  •"'  Rousseau  does  not  explain  why 
a  creed  is  advisable.  It  uuiy  be,  as  a  modern  writer  ])Uts 
it  :  "     '■  Definitions,    formulae    (some    would   add,    creeds) 

'  11.  20.5.  » I  hid.  2  p.  210. 

*  1>.  210.  p.  220.  •  p|>.  228-27S. 

•  yuilk'r-C'ouih.  On  t/ic.  Arl  nj  Writing,  p.  1."). 


166    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

have  their  use  in  any  society,  in  that  they  restrain  the 
ordinary  unintellectual  man  from  making  himself  a  public 
nuisance  with  his  private  opinions." 

The  philosophy  on  which  this  religious  creed  is  based  is 
a  form  of  intuitionalism  just  as  Rousseau's  ethical  doctrine 
is  intuitional,  the  dictates  of  conscience  being  in  accordance 
with  the  law  of  nature. ^  Rousseau  accordingly  appeals 
to  the  evidence  of  the  Inner  Light  in  support  of  the  truths 
which  he  regards  as  self-evident,  and  which  he  cannot 
honestly  refuse  to  believe.  He  would  also  admit  as  true 
all  that  seemed  to  follow  from  these. 

The  first  indubitable  fact  is  his  own  existence ;  but  whereas 
Descartes  expressed  his  first  principle  in  the  form  "  Cogito 
ergo  sum  "  Rousseau's  principle  would  have  to  be  for- 
mulated "  Sentio  ergo  sum."  As  on  Descartes'  first 
principle  depended  the  necessary  interdependence  of  the 
idea  of  the  self  as  conscious  and  of  the  self  as  existent,  so 
Rousseau's  principle  gives  him  assurance  for  assuming  his 
own  existence  and  that  of  the  universe.^  In  addition  to 
perceiving  Rousseau  finds  himself  possessed  of  the  active 
faculty  of  judging,  and  notes  that  sensations  cannot 
account  for  ideas  of  relation  ;  ^  in  recognising  such  ideas 
of  relation  or  "  objects  of  a  higher  order  "  he  anticipates 
much  of  the  later  criticism  of  sensationahsm. 

Descartes'  dualism  of  mind  and  matter  is,  in  Rousseau's 
opinion,  unsatisfactory — a  view  which  has  been  supported 
by  later  criticism.'*  To  these  two  concepts  must  be  added 
that  of  motion :  "  With  the  help  of  dice  Descartes  made 
heaven  and  earth  ;  but  he  could  not  set  his  dice  in  motion, 
nor  start  the  action  of  his  centrifugal  force  without  the  aid 

'  Cf.  p.  249  :    "  He  who  obeys  his  conscience  is  following  nature." 

»  p.  232.  »  p.  233. 

*  (Jf.  Norman  Smith,  Studies  in  Cartesian  Philosophy. 


ROUSSEAU  1G7 

of  rotation."  ^  Motion  is,  according  to  Rousseau,  of  two 
forms,  either  transmitted  or  spontaneous  ;  and  trans- 
mitted motion  must  ultimately  be  referred  to  an  origin 
possessing  the  power  of  spontaneity.  Matter  itself  cannot 
possess  this  power,  so  the  motion  in  the  universe  must  be 
referred  to  an  active  will ;  "  there  is  no  real  action  witliout 
will."  2  This  is  the  line  of  thought  which  leads  Rousseau 
to  his  first  principle.  "  I  believe,"  he  says,  ''  that  there 
is  a  will  which  sets  the  universe  in  motion  and  gives  life  to 
nature.  This  is  my  first  dogma,  or  the  first  article  of  my 
creed."  ^ 

"  If  matter  in  motion  points  me  to  a  will,  matter  in 
motion  according  to  fixed  laws  points  me  to  an  intelligence  ; 
that  is  the  second  article  of  my  creed."  *  To  the  question, 
Where  does  the  Being  possessing  this  intelligence  reside  ? 
Rousseau  replies  :  "  Not  merely  in  the  revolving  heavens, 
nor  in  the  sun  which  gives  us  light,  not  in  myself  alone,  but 
in  the  sheep  that  grazes,  the  bird  that  flies,  the  stone  that 
falls,  and  the  leaf  blown  by  the  wind."  "  This  Being  who 
wills  and  can  perform  His  will,  this  ]3eing  active  through 
His  own  power,  this  Being  who  moves  the  universe  and 
orders  all  things,  is  what  I  call  God.""  -^  This  second  article 
of  Rousseau's  creed  involves  what  is  known  as  the  teleo- 
logical  argument  for  the  existence  of  (Jod  the  argument 
from  design  or  purpose  in  nature.  It  forms  one  of  the 
three  arguments  for  the  existence  of  God  of  which  Kant 
in  his  Critique  of  Pure  Reason  disposed.  The  chief  objec- 
tions to  it  are  that  all  we  can  legitimately  demand  to 
account  for  the  apparent  design  in  nature  is  not  an  absolute 
cause  but  only  one  adequate  to  produce  the  special  effect 
in  question.  It  further  involves  the  assumption  that 
because  our  thinking  demands  a  cause  for  this  design, 
»  p.  235.  '  Ibid.  '  p.  23G.  *  j).  2:57.  '  p.  2:59. 


168    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

therefore  an  object  corresponding  to  such  a  cause  must 
exist ;  on  such  a  transition  from  the  necessity  of  the  idea 
of  God  to  His  existence  the  ontological  argument  for  God's 
existence  rests,  and  is  vitiated  thereby. 

After  exhausting  the  attributes  of  God,  Rousseau  turns 
to  consider  the  nature  of  man  and  is  led  to  formvilate  the 
third  article  of  his  creed,  namely,  the  freedom  of  the  will  : 
"  Man  is  free  to  act,  and  as  such  he  is  animated  by  an  im- 
material substance  ;  that  is  the  third  article  of  my  creed."  ^ 
From  these  three  articles,  he  maintains,  the  others  can  be 
deduced. 

Rousseau's  proof  of  the  freedom  of  the  will  is  interesting 
in  so  far  as  he  relates  it  to  the  freedom  of  the  intelligence. 
"  When  you  ask  me  what  is  the  cause  which  determines 
my  will,  it  is  my  turn  to  ask  what  cause  determines  my 
judgment ;  for  it  is  plain  that  these  two  causes  are  but  one  ; 
and  if  you  understand  clearly  that  man  is  active  in  his 
judgments,  that  his  inteUigence  is  only  the  power  to  com- 
pare and  judge,  you  will  see  that  his  freedcmi  is  only  a 
similar  power  or  one  derived  from  this  ;  he  chooses  between 
good  and  evil  as  he  judges  between  truth  and  falsehood  ; 
if  his  judgment  is  at  fault,  he  chooses  amiss.  What  then 
is  the  cause  that  determines  his  will  ?  It  is  his  judgment. 
And  what  is  the  cause  that  determines  his  judgment  ?  It 
is  his  intelligence,  his  power  of  judging  ;  the  determining 
cause  is  in  himself.  Beyond  that,  I  understand  nothing. "^ 
Had  Rousseau  been  able  to  carry  his  analysis  further,  he 
would  have  found  the  freed(jm  of  the  intelligence  and  of 
the  will  to  lie  in  man's  spiritual  nature  and  its  characteristic 
creative  activity. 

Having  dealt  with  the  existence  of  God  and  the  freedom 
of  the  will,  Rousseau's  treatment  of  religious  beliefs  would 
»  p.  243.  '  J).  243. 


ROUSSEAU  169 

not  be  complete  without  reference  to  the  subject  of  Im- 
mortality. The  immortality  of  the  soul  he  deduces  first 
from  the  need  of  an  infinite  time  to  redress  the  wrongs  of 
this  life,  to  harmonise  happiness  with  duty,  the  ar<i;ument 
later  employed  by  Kant  in  his  Critique  of  Practical  Reason.^ 
"  Had  I  no  other  proof  of  the  immaterial  nature  of  the  soul,'' 
he  says, 2  ''  the  triumph  of  the  wicked  and  the  o})])ression 
of  the  righteous  in  this  world  would  be  enough  to  convince 
me."  The  further  argument  which  he  presents  is  based 
on  the  essentially  diverse  nature  of  soul  and  body,^  and  as 
he  cannot  conceive  how  the  soul  can  die,  he  presumes  that 
it  does  not  die,  and  as  he  finds  this  assumption  consoling 
and  in  itself  not  unreasonable,  he  sees  no  reason  why  he 
should  refuse  to  accept  it. 

Rousseau  has  recorded  the  creed  of  the  Savoyard  Priest 
not  as  a  rule  for  the  sentiments  which  should  be  ad<j])ted 
in  matters  of  religion,  but  as  an  exam})le  of  the  way  in  which 
the  pupil  should  be  reasoned  with.  "  So  long,"  he  says, 
"as  we  yield  nothing  to  human  authority,  nor  to  the 
prejudices  of  our  native  land,  the  light  of  reason  alone,  in 
a  state  of  nature,  can  lead  us  no  further  than  to  luitural 
religion  ;  and  this  is  as  far  as  I  should  go  with  JMnile.  If 
he  must  have  any  other  religion,  I  have  no  right  to  i)e  his 
guide  ;  he  must  choose  for  himself.*'  * 

The  creed  of  the  Savoyard  Priest  is  frecjuentiy  regarded 
as  an  unwarranted  interpolation  in  the  PJinile,  hut  a  review 
of   Rousseau's    religious    doctrines    as    expressed    in    this 

*  For  criticism  of  argniiiciit  scoCaird,  Tin:  Critical  I'liilo-sojihu  of  Kant, 
vol.  ii,  pp.  302-6. 

»  p.  245. 

^  C'f.  Plato,  Gorgia^i,  §  /')24  :  '"  Death  is  the  .sei)aration  from  one  another 
of  two  things,  sonl  and  hody.  And  after  they  are  .separated  they  retain 
their  several  natures  as  in  life." 

^  I).  278. 


170    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

section  of  his  work  is  necessary  to  make  intelligible,  or  to 
justify,  the  postponement  of  religious  instruction  till  the 
adolescent  stage.  If  it  is  necessary  for  Emile  to  have  an 
intelligent  appreciation  of  the  proofs  of  God's  existence, 
of  freedom  and  of  immortality,  then  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  at  fifteen  he  need  not  have  heard  the  name  of  God 
nor  even  known  that  he  had  a  soul.  Rousseau  has  evidently 
ignored  the  fact  that  he  is  legislating  for  the  ordinary  man 
who  takes  his  creed  on  trust  and  does  not  usually  trouble 
to  justify  it  on  rational  grounds. 

In  addition  to  instruction  inEthics  and  Religion,  Rousseau 
would  prescribe  for  the  adolescent  the  study  of  Aesthetics, 
the  philosophy  of  the  principles  of  taste.  Rousseau's 
account  of  these  principles  is  somewhat  vague  ;  but  this  is 
not  surprising  when  we  remember  the  state  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  science  of  the  beautiful  at  the  time  he  wrote. 
The  simplicity  of  taste  which  goes  straight  to  the  heart  is, 
in  Rousseau's  opinion,  only  to  be  found  in  the  classics,^ 
and  these  Rousseau  would  employ  for  purposes  of  instruc- 
tion in  aesthetics  as  he  previously  recommended  them 
for  instruction  in  morals. 

During  the  critical  period  of  adolescence  Emile's  physical 
training  is  not  neglected.  He  is  required  to  engage  in  an 
occupation  which  keeps  him  busy,  diligent,  and  hard  at 
work,  an  occupation  which  he  may  become  passionately 
fond  of,  one  to  which  he  will  devote  himself  entirely.  For 
this  purpose  Rousseau  recommends  the  chase, ^  although  he 
does  not  even  profess  to  justify  the  cruel  passion  of  killing  ; 
it  is  enough  that  it  serves  to  delay  a  more  dangerous  passion. 

Rousseau  believes  it  necessary  to  prescribe  for  Emile 
direct  moral  exhortation  on  chastity,  although  he  admits 
that  he  has  had  to  abandon  the  task  of  giving  examples  of 
»  Cf.  p.  309.  2  p.  285. 


ROUSSEAU  171 

the  form  which  the  lessons  should  take.  The  general  plan 
of  sexual  instruction  he  outlines  in  the  following  passage  :  ^ 
"  If  instead  of  the  empty  precepts  which  are  prematurely 
dinned  into  the  ears  of  children,  only  to  be  scoffed  at  when 
the  time  comes  when  they  might  prove  useful,  if  instead  of 
this  we  bide  our  time,  if  we  prepare  the  way  for  a  hearing, 
if  we  then  show  him  the  laws  of  nature  in  all  their  truth,  if 
we  show  him  the  sanction  of  these  laws  in  the  physical  and 
moral  evils  which  overtake  those  who  neglect  them,  if 
while  we  speak  to  him  of  this  great  mystery  of  generation, 
we  join  to  the  idea  of  the  pleasure  which  the  author  of 
nature  has  given  to  this  act  the  idea  of  the  duties  of  faith- 
fulness and  modesty  which  surround  it,  and  redouble  its 
charm  while  fulfilling  its  purpose  ;  if  we  paint  to  him 
marriage,  not  only  as  the  sweetest  form  of  society,  but  also 
as  the  most  sacred  and  inviolable  of  contracts,  if  we  tell 
him  i)lainly  all  the  reasons  which  lead  men  to  respect  this 
sacred  bond,  and  to  pour  hatred  and  curses  upon  him  who 
dares  to  dishonour  it  ;  if  we  give  him  a  true  and  terrible 
picture  of  the  horrors  of  debauch,  of  its  stupid  brutality, 
of  the  downward  road  by  which  a  first  act  of  misconduct 
leads  from  bad  to  worse,  and  at  last  drags  the  sinner  to 
his  ruin  ;  if,  I  say,  we  give  him  proofs  that  on  a  desire  for 
chastity  depend  health,  strength,  courage,  virtue,  love 
itself,  and  all  that  is  truly  good  for  man  -I  maintain  that 
this  chastity  will  be  so  dear  and  so  desirable  in  his  eyes, 
that  his  mind  will  be  ready  to  receive  our  teaching  as  to 
the  way  to  preserve  it  :  for  so  long  as  we  are  chaste  we 
respect  chastity  ;  it  is  only  when  we  have  lost  this  virtue 
that  we  scorn  it.'" 

The  sexual  instinct  must  be  sublimated  by  re-directing 
it  to  the  affection  for  an  ideal  of  true  womanhood  which 

>  p.  289. 


172    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

Rousseau  would  picture  for  Emile  with  all  the  eloquence 
and  emotion  he  could  compass,  and  this  ideal  he 
would  personify  and  assign  to  it  a  name,  the  name  Sophy. 
Before,  however,  introducing  Emile  to  Sophy,  Rousseau 
considers  it  necessary  to  describe  the  education  in 
accordance  with  which  the  wife  of  Emile  should  be 
trained. 

Emile's  education  is  not  even  yet  complete.  Between 
his  betrothal  to  Sophy  and  his  marriage  he  is  required  to 
travel,  the  object  being  that  he  should  get  to  know  mankind 
in  general.^ 

Greek  philosophy  constantly  distinguished  between  (pva-ei 
and  I'oVw,  that  is,  between  the  natural  and  the  con- 
ventional. This  opposition  aptly  distinguishes  the  educa- 
tion of  Emile  from  that  of  Sophy.  Emile's  is  the  natural 
education  ;  Sophy's  the  conventional.  "  What  will  people 
think,  is  the  grave  of  a  man's  virtue  and  the  throne  of  a 
woman's."  ^  The  "  double  standard "  is  by  Rousseau 
consciously  adopted  and  maintained. 

This  difference  in  education  arises  not  from  a  difference 
in  natural  endowment,  since,  as  Rousseau  admits,  but  for 
her  sex  a  woman  is  a  man  ;  ^  it  results  from  a  difference 
in  their  life's  aims  ;  ^  "a  man  seeks  to  serve,  a  woman 
seeks  to  please ;  the  one  needs  knowledge,  the  other 
taste."  While  the  yoke  the  boy  has  to  be  trained  to  bear 
is  that  of  necessity,  that  of  the  girl  is  propriety.  Whereas 
liberty  was  the  watchword  of  the  boy's  education,  restraint 
is  that  of  the  girl's.  While  the  boy's  religion  was  to  be 
determined  in  accordance  with  reason,  that  of  the  girl  is 
ruled  by  authority.  We  may  say  of  Rousseau  what 
Johnson  said  of  Milton  :  "  He  thought  women  made  only 
for  obedience,  and  man  only  for  rebellion." 

1  p.  415.  *  p.  :528.  3  p.  321.  ^  p.  339. 


ROUSSEAU  1  T.\ 

Such  antitheses  would  lead  us  to  infer  that  the  education 
of  the  woman  should  complement  that  of  the  man. 
Rousseau,  however,  concludes  that  as  woman  is  made  for 
man's  delirrht,^  her  education  should  be  ])lanned  in  relation 
to,  and  be  made  subservient  to,  that  of  man.  ''  To  be 
pleasing  in  his  sight,  to  win  his  respect  and  love,  t(»  train 
him  in  childhood,  to  tend  him  in  manhood,  to  counsel  and 
console,  to  make  his  life  pleasant  and  ha])py,  these  are  the 
duties  of  women  for  all  time,  and  that  is  what  she  should  be 
taught  while  she  is  young."  ^ 

All  feminine  weaknesses  are  regarded  by  Rousseau  as 
natural,  and  consequently  as  right,  and  in  the  education 
of  the  girl  the  educator  should  avail  himself  of  these  ; 
"  Cunning  is  a  natural  gift  of  woman,  and  so  convinced 
am  I,"'  says  liousseau,^  '"  that  all  our  natural  gifts  are  right, 
that  I  would  cultivate  this  among  otiiers,  only  guarding 
against  its  a])use."'  As  nature  is  thus  on  the  educator's 
side,  habit  is  all  that  is  needed  in  a  girl's  education. 

In  accordance  with  this  princi})le  we  find  that  as  the  girl 
is  naturally  averse  from  learning  to  read  and  write,  she 
should  not  be  re<|uired  to  learn  these  su])jects  till  she  sees 
the  use  of  them,  and  ex])resses  the  desire  to  learn  them  ;  •* 
her  fondness  for  sewing  should  be  encouraged  and  l(>ad  to 
cutting  out.  embroidery,  and  lace-nuiking  ;  the  educator 
should  avail  himself  of  the  coimection  l)etw('('n  taste  in 
dress  and  drawing  to  enlist  the  ])U])irs  interest  in  this  art. 
Cvphering.  Rousseau  suggests,  should  be  studied  before 
reading  and  writing,  and  should  be  )»resented  coiu'retely. 
The  principle  of  method  to  be  followed  is  :  "  Show  the  sense 
of  the  tasks  vou  set  your  little  girls,  but  keej*  them  l>usy." 

1  p.  332.  =  p.  3-JS.  ^  ]..  334. 

^Rousseau  aiiticijuitos  the  Mciitcs.-dri  systnii  in  s\iL't:i--tmLr  that  a 
pupil  might  learn  to  write  before  learniiitr  to  read.     ft.  ]>.  33L'. 


174    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

The  difference  between  Rousseau's  treatment  of  tlie 
teaching  of  religion  to  girls  and  of  the  teaching  of  the  same 
subject  to  boys  is  strikingly  characteristic  of  the  general 
antithesis.  As  they  were  considered  incapable  of  forming 
any  true  idea  of  religion,  Rousseau  concluded  that  that  was 
sufficient  reason  for  the  postponement  of  the  religious 
teaching  of  boys  till  the  adolescent  period  ;  from  the  same 
premise  he  infers  that  we  cannot  speak  of  religion  too  soon 
to  little  girls,  "for  if  we  wait  till  they  are  ready  for  a  serious 
discussion  of  these  deep  subjects,  we  should  be  in  danger 
of  never  speaking  of  religion  at  all."  ^ 

Rousseau's  treatment  of  the  education  of  Sophy  is  usually 
contrasted  unfavourably  with  his  treatment  of  Emile's 
education ;  but  the  religious  teaching  outlined  in  Book  V 
is  more  generally  suitable  and  profitable  than  the  somewhat 
ambitious  scheme  prescribed  for  Emile.  "  When  you 
teach  religion  to  little  girls,"  he  says,^  "  never  make  it 
gloomy  or  tiresome,  never  make  it  a  task  or  a  duty,  and 
therefore  never  give  them  anything  to  learn  by  heart,  not 
even  their  prayers  ...  It  does  not  matter  that  a  girl 
should  learn  her  religion  young,  but  it  does  matter  that 
she  should  learn  it  thoroughly,  and  still  more  that  she 
should  learn  to  love  it."  He  protests  against  teaching 
religion  by  means  of  a  catechism  :  "  The  answers  are  in 
the  child's  mouth  a  lie,  explaining  what  he  does  not  under- 
stand, and  affirming  what  he  cannot  believe."  The  faith 
that  Rousseau  would  have  taught  to  girls  is  contained  in 
the  statement:^  "To  know  that  there  is  a  judge  of  human 
fate,  that  we  are  all  His  children,  that  He  bids  us  all  be 
just,  He  bids  us  love  one  another,  He  bids  us  be  kindly 
and  merciful,  He  bids  us  keep  our  word  with  all  men,  even 
with  our  enemies  and  His  ;  we  must  know  that  the  apparent 
ip.  340.  -p.  341.  "'p.  344. 


ROUSSEAU  175 

happiness  of  this  world  is  naught  ;  that  there  is  another 
life  to  come,  in  which  this  Supreme  Being  will  be  the 
rewarder  of  the  just  and  the  judge  of  the  unjust."  Sophy's 
religion  is  thus  reasonable  and  simple,  with  few  doctrines 
and  fewer  observances.^ 

Incidentally  the  other  subjects  required  to  complete  a 
girl's  education  are  indicated  by  Rousseau  in  the  passage  :  ^ 
"  Women  are  no  strangers  to  the  art  of  thinking,  but  they 
should  only  skim  the  surface  of  logic  and  metaphysics. 
Sophy  understands  readily,  but  she  soon  forgets.  She 
makes  most  progress  in  the  moral  sciences  and  aesthetics  ; 
as  to  physical  science  she  retains  some  vague  idea  of  the 
general  laws  and  order  of  this  world." 

Two  contrasted  and  almost  contradictory  schemes  of 
education  have  been  presented  by  Rousseau  ;  but  for  in- 
dividuals with  a  similar  natural  endowment  who,  although 
their  life  aims  are  different,  must  nevertheless  live  together, 
a  fitting  education  would  doubtless  be  a  compromise 
between  the  two.  The  rational  system  of  training  Emile 
must  be  tempered  by  the  somewhat  irrational  treatment 
proposed  for  Sophy  if  they  are  to  be  educated  for  each 
other.  Although  such  a  modification  may  be  necessary 
for  practical  purposes,  the  firmness  with  which  Rousseau 
has  outlined  the  contrasts  has  caused  the  Emile  to  be 
arresting  and  given  it  a  permanent  place  in  educational 
literature. 

>  p.  359.  '  p.  389. 


CHAPTER  IX 

PESTALOZZI 

Among  the  great  educators  Pestalozzi  presents  a  sorry 
figure  ;  he  appears  as  a  man  afflicted  with  new  ideas  which 
he  found  himself  unable  to  formulate  or  to  put  effectively 
into  practice.  This  he  was  himself  the  first  to  confess. 
In  his  Swansong  he  admits  :  ^  "  My  lofty  ideals  were  pre- 
eminently the  product  of  a  kind,  well-meaning  soul,  inade- 
quately endowed  with  the  intellectual  and  practical  capacity 
which  might  have  helped  considerably  to  further  my 
heartfelt  desire.  It  was  the  product  of  an  extremely  vivid 
imagination,  which  in  the  stress  of  my  daily  life  proved 
unable  to  produce  any  important  results."'  Thus  a  worse 
expounder  of  his  own  doctrines  could  hardly  be  imagined 
than  Pestalozzi  himself.  In  one  work  he  describes  his 
educational  ideal  in  the  form  of  a  romance  ;  in  another, 
he  is,  as  Herbart  says,^  "  metamorphosed  into  a  pedantic 
drillmaster  in  arithmetic,  pleased  with  himself  for  having 
filled  a  thick  book  with  the  multi})lication  table."  The 
production  of  a  complete  and  consistent  system  would  be 
utterly  incompatible  with  the  nature  and  life  of  Pestalozzi  ; 
he  might  nevertheless  have  claimed,  as  liacon  did,  to  have 

*  PcMalnzzis  Educational  Writings,  edited  by  J.  A.  Green,  p.  288. 
^  Cf.  Eckoff's  translation  of  Herbart's  A  BC  of  Sen.se-Pcrception  and 
Minor  Pedagogical  Works,  j).  .12, 

176 


PESTALOZZI  177 

Tun<i  the  bell  that  called  tlie  other  wits  to^^a^tlier,  tor  not 
only  were  the  reforms  of  practical  educationists  in  almost 
every  country  in  Europe  inspired  by  him,  Init  Herl)art, 
Fichte  and  Froebel  also  came  directly  under  his  influence. 

Had  Pestalozzi  been  re([uired  to  cliaracterise  briefly  his 
conception  of  education  he  would  doubtless  have  desi^nuited 
it  an  education  according  to  nature.  This  characterisation 
is,  however,  not  decisive,  for  it  may  coimote  the  most 
diverse  and  even  contrary  views,  just  as  by  Comenius  it 
was  employed  to  justify  the  most  varied  didactical  })ractices. 
One  cause  of  this  is  the  ambi;j;uity  of  the  term  "  nature."' 
Nature  may  be  re<iarded  either  from  a  materialistic  or  from 
an  idealistic  standpoint ;  we  may  evaluate  the  higher  in 
terms  of  the  lower  or  inter])ret  the  lower  by  means  of  the 
hi<,dier.  Accordinjj;  to  the  former  interj»retation  man  mav 
be  rej^arded  as  essentially  one  with  the  brutes,  iU'cordiiiLT 
to  the  latter  as  ])artici])atinj,f  in  the  divine.  Pestalozzi 
undoubtedly  ado])ts  the  ideali.sti('  standpoint.  Thus  in 
How  Gertrude  Teaches  Her  Cliildren  he  writes  :  ^  "  >bni  will 
only  become  man  throu^di  his  inner  and  spiiitual  life,  lie 
becomes  throu;,di  it  inde])endent.  free  and  contented.  .Afere 
physical  nature  leads  him  not  hither.  She  is  in  hei'  veiv 
nature  blind  ;  her  ways  are  ways  of  darkness  and  death. 
Therefore  the  education  and  trainim:  of  our  lace  niu.'^t.  l)e 
taken  out  of  the  hands  of  blind  sensuous  nature,  and  the 
influence  of  her  darkn(\ss  and  (h-ath.  and  put  into  the  hands 
of  our  moral  and  spiritual  b<'inL^  and  its  divine,  eternal, 
inner  light  and  truth."  In  th(>  SmiiisoiKj  he  further 
explains  :  2  "Making  the  methods  of  education  conform 
to  nature's  laws  is  at  bottom  nothing  but  bringing  them 
into  harmony  witli  the  indestructible  characteristics  of  that 

'  Knu'lish  trans.  l)y  L.  K.  Holland  and  F.  ( ".  Turner,  yy.  Kid  I. 
-  Pcslnlozzi's  EduraUoiHil  WrifiiDi'^'.  cd.  hy  ,[.  A.  (ireen,  p.  2S7. 

M 


178    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

eternal  spark  of  Divinity  which  is  always  in  conflict  with 
our  lower  nature." 

With  Pestalozzi,  however,  education  according  to  nature 
is  not  synonymous  with  leaving  education  to  nature  and 
discipline  to  natural  consequences.  It  may  be  questioned 
whether  this  conception  embracing  merely  the  uncontrolled 
and  undirected  influences  on  the  pupil  of  nature  and  of  life 
should  be  regarded  as  education  at  all,  since  to  be  precise 
the  term  "  education  "  must  be  restricted  to  the  conscious 
selection  and  arrangement  of  the  influences  which  affect 
the  child.  Pestalozzi  fully  recognises  this  ;  he  speaks  of 
instruction  helping  nature  to  develop  in  her  own  way,  and 
of  adapting  the  course  of  nature  to  the  aim  of  education.^ 
While  he  believes  in  "  taking  the  cue  "  from  nature  in 
regard  to  the  teaching  process,  he  rejects  the  wasteful 
"  trial  and  error  "  method  of  nature  in  favour  of  a  methodi- 
cal and  uniform  progress.  Thus  he  says  :  ^  "  All  that  you 
carelessly  leave  to  outer  blind  nature  sinks.  That  is  true 
of  lifeless  nature  as  of  living.  Wherever  you  carelessly 
leave  the  earth  to  nature,  it  bears  weeds  and  thistles. 
Wherever  you  leave  the  education  of  your  race  to  her,  she 
goes  no  further  than  a  confused  impression  on  the  senses, 
that  is  not  adapted  to  your  power  of  comprehension,  nor  to 
that  of  your  child,  in  the  way  that  is  needed  for  the  best 
instruction."  In  dealing  with  the  acquisition  of  skill  he 
accordingly  afFums  :  ^  "  The  art  of  instruction  must  take 
the  cultivation  of  our  race  out  of  the  hands  of  Nature,  or 
rather  from  her  accidental  attitude  towards  each  individual, 
in  order  to  put  it  in  the  hands  of  knowledge,  power  and 
methods  which  she  has  taught  us  for  ages,  to  the  advantage 
of  the  race." 

»  JIoiv  Gertrude  Teaches,   j)]).  26,  163.  *  ]).  161. 

=>].    174.     Cf.  also  pp.  187.  190. 


PESTALOZZI  179 

Pestalozzi  also  assumes  that  an  extension  of  the  natural 
process  is  not  inconsistent  with  his  ideal  of  an  education 
according  to  nature  or  in  conformity  to  nature.  Thus  he 
states  :  ^  "  The  elementary  method  limits  itself  to  employ 
the  impressions  which  nature  puts  at  random  before  the 
child's  senses,  but  extends  this  natural  process  along 
definite  lines  adapted  to  his  capacities  and  requirements." 
It  is  in  this  distinction  between  what  is  natural  and  what 
is  conformable  to  nature  that  Pestalozzi's  advance  on 
Rousseau  is  most  evident  ;  it  likewise  justified  Pestalozzi 
in  organising  "  sequences  of  educational  exercises  which 
in  all  branches  of  human  learning  and  activity  should 
start  with  the  very  simplest,  and  proceed  in  continuous 
and  unbroken  gradation  from  easy  to  more  difficult, 
keeping  step  with  the  growth  of  the  pupil's  powers,  taking 
their  cue  from  him,  always  stimulating  him,  never  causing 
weariness  or  exhaustion."  ^ 

Inspired  by  the  political  writings  of  Rousseau,  Pestalozzi 
made  the  welfare  of  the  people  his  vocation,  especially  the 
welfare  of  the  poor,^  and  it  was  his  zeal,  not  for  religion, 
but  for  social  refoan-that  instigated  him  to  dedicate  him- 
self wholeheartedly  to  their  service  and  amelioration. 
"He  did  not  seek  the  wreath  of  merit  in  your  nuiusions," 
writes  Herbart,*  "  but  in  their  hovels."  While  tiiis  stand- 
point narrowed  his  outlook,  it  comjielled  him  to  concentrate 
his  effort"?  on  the  essential  and  fuuc1am<Mital  reciuiremonts 
of  education,  and  thus  enabled  him  to  achieve  at  least  in 
part  what  Comenius  desired,  but  by  reason  of  his  ]ire()ccupa- 
tion  with  the  teaching  of  languages,  failed  to  attain.     The 

^  Swansong,  Pestalozzi's  Educational  Writitvjs,  ji.  204. 

»  Ibid.,  p.  283. 

'  Cf.  Fiohte,  R'^dni  an  dir  daitsrhr  Xulinn.  Xcuiito  Rodo. 

'  Eckofl's  trans,  of  Ucrbari'D  Minor  I'cda'jotjical  Works,  p.  37. 


180    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

economic  pressure  which  weighed  heavily  on  Pestalozzi  and 
on  the  orphans  under  his  charge  necessitated  the  disen- 
tanglement of  the  essential  from  the  multitudinous  demands 
of  life  and  of  education,  and  "as  the  most  pressing  needs  are 
the  most  universal,"  ^  Pestalozzi  was  thus  led  to  devise  and 
formulate  a  universal  system  of  elementary  instruction. 

Elaborating  the  idea  that  the  most  pressing  needs  are 
the  most  universal,  Herbart  reviewing  Pestalozzi's  How 
Gertrude  Teaches  Her  Children  observes  :  ^  "  Without  doubt 
the  most  necessary  instruction  must  be  that  which  teaches 
man  what  he  most  needs  to  know.  Now,  what  is  needful 
to  us  is  needful  either  to  our  physical  or  our  moral  nature. 
We  need  it  either  as  sensuous  beings  to  enable  us  to  live 
or  we  need  it  as  beings  in  the  social  relations  of  citizenship, 
family  life,  and  so  forth,  in  order  that  we  may  know  and  do 
our  duty.  Agriculture,  manufacturing,  commerce,  and  all 
other  gainful  art  and  science  pertain  in  the  first  class  ; 
religion,  ethics,  notions  of  civic  rights  and  obligations 
belong  to  the  second." 

While  in  his  later  writings  Pestalozzi  was  inclined  to 
regard  the  requirements  of  education  as  three  in  number, 
the  training  of  the  hand,  the  head  and  the  heart,  Herbart's 
analysis  faithfully  represents  the  aspects  of  education  in 
Pestalozzi's  earlier  works.  The  ideal  education,  in 
Pestalozzi's  estimation,  consequently  comprised  a  general 
introduction  to  the  various  forms  of  handicraft  and  to  the 
simple  social  relations,  an  ideal  which  he  sought  to  realise 
in  his  earliest  practical  efforts  at  Neuhof  in  Switzerland, 
and  which  in  Leonard  <md  Gertrude  ^  he  images  in  the  form 
of  a  romance. 

'  Ilerhart's  Minor  PcAwjogical  irorA'.s,  p.  .'5*).  ^  Ibid.,  ]).  .'59, 

^  Enf^lisli  translation  (al)ri(l^e(l)  liy  Eva  (Jhannin^.  ^'f-  also  I'c.std- 
lozzVs  Educational  Writiwj>i,  edited  by  J.  A.  tJreen,  pj).  ;52-o.'5. 


PESTALOZZI  181 

Leonard  and  Gertrude  describes  how,  luaiiily  by  inoaii3 
of  education,  the  regeneration  of  a  small  coniinunity  was 
effected  by  the  noble  efforts  of  a  pious  woman,  the  wife  of 
a  village  mason  in  humble  circumstances.  In  the  village 
of  Bonnal  the  home  of  Leonard  becomes  the  model  educa- 
tional institution,  and  Gertrude,  the  mother  of  the  children, 
the  ideal  educator.  This  home-education  represents 
Pestalozzi's  ideal, ^  and  it  was  only  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  laboured,  the  education  of  the  orphaned  children 
of  the  Napoleonic  wars  having  been  thrust  u])()u  him,  that 
com])elled  him  in  ])ractice  to  adopt  class-teaching  methods. 
These  he  regarded  as  a  necessary  but  tem])orary  expedient 
till  mothers  in  sufficient  numbers  should  be  a(le([uately  edu- 
cated to  superintend  the  instruction  of  their  own  children. 

The  economic  conditions  of  the  household  necessitated 
the  children  engaging  in  spinning  ;  industrial  work  is  thus 
recognised  as  an  integral  part  of  Pestalozzi's  system.  It 
was  likewise  utilised  to  present  to  the  child  real  sitiuitions 
in  which  his  training  in  the  more  formal  school  subjects 
could  fuid  ap{)lication,  a  ])rinciple  which  Pestalozzi  adoi)ted 
from  Kousseau  and  which  ])resent-day  teaching  is  only 
rediscovering,  l^ven  the  c.hild"s  religion  must,  for  I'csta- 
lozzi,  have  a  practical  outcome  ;  thus  he  says  :  -  '"  Teach 
your  children  to  ])ray  that  they  mav  be  willing  to  work, 
and  to  work  that  they  may  never  grow  tired  of  praying." 

The  education  descril)ed  in  Ij'onard  (tnd  (irrlrudc  can  be 
estinuited  by  two  representative  (piotations  illustrating 
the  intellectual  and  moral  aspects  of  training.-'' 

*  Cf.  Lronnrd  and  Grrtrudr,  "  Tlie  scliool  ou^ilil  really  i<>  ^taml  in  closest 
fonnoctiou  witli  the  life  of  t)ie  lioiiie."  Kn  iiiiKj  Uonrs  af  n  Ilirmit, 
"  The  home  should  be  the  foundation  of  any  natural  s<hcMH'  of  education. 
Home  is  the  great  sehool  of  eliara<ter  and  of  citizeiishij)."" 

*  Lninard  and  flrrlrudr.  Enu'li-<li  trans.,  p.  SCi. 
•'  Ibid.,  pp.  130-1,  4:?-4. 


182    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

"  Although  Gertrude  exerted  herself  to  develop  very- 
early  the  manual  dexterity  of  her  children,  she  was  in  no 
haste  for  them  to  learn  to  read  and  write.  But  she  took 
pains  to  teach  them  early  how  to  speak  ;  for,  as  she  said, 
'  of  what  use  is  it  for  a  person  to  be  able  to  read  and  write 
if  he  cannot  speak  ? — since  reading  and  writing  are  only 
an  artificial  sort  of  speech.'  To  this  end  she  used  to  make 
the  children  pronounce  syllables  after  her  in  regular  succes- 
sion, taking  them  from  an  old  ABC  book  she  had.  This 
exercise  in  correct  and  distinct  articulation  was,  however, 
only  a  subordinate  object  in  her  whole  scheme  of  education, 
which  embraced  a  true  comprehension  of  life  itself.  Yet  she 
never  adopted  the  tone  of  instructor  toward  her  children  ; 
she  did  not  say  to  them  :  '  Child,  this  is  your  head, 
your  nose,  your  hand,  your  finger  ' ;  or  :  '  Where  is  your 
eye,  your  ear  ?  '  but  instead  she  would  say  :  '  Come  here, 
child,  I  will  wash  your  little  hands,'  'I  will  comb  your  hair,' 
or,  '  I  will  cut  your  finger  nails.'  Her  verbal  instruction 
seemed  to  vanish  in  the  spirit  of  her  real  activity,  in  which 
it  always  had  its  source.  The  result  of  her  system  was  that 
each  child  was  skilful,  intelligent,  and  active  to  the  full 
extent  that  her  age  and  development  allowed. 

"  The  instruction  she  gave  them  in  the  rudiments  of 
arithmetic  was  intimately  connected  with  the  realities  of 
life.  She  taught  them  to  count  the  number  of  steps  from 
one  end  of  the  room  to  the  other,  and  two  of  the  rows  of  five 
panes  each,  in  one  of  the  windows,  gave  her  an  opportunity 
to  unfold  the  decimal  relations  of  numbers.  She  also  made 
them  count  their  threads  while  spinning,  and  the  number 
of  turns  on  the  reel,  when  they  wound  the  yarn  into  skeins. 
Above  all,  in  every  occupation  of  life  she  taught  them  an 
accurate  and  intelligent  observation  of  common  objects 
and  the  forces  of  nature." 


PESTALOZZI  183 

The  practical  form  which  the  moral  instruction  took  is 
evident  from  the  dialogue  which  depicts  Gertrude  on  a 
Saturday  evening  re\'iewing  the  children's  conduct  and 
inculcating  any  lessons  which  the  events  of  tlie  week 
might  have  occasioned. 

"  '  Well,  my  dears,  how  has  it  been  about  doing  right 
this  week  ?  '  The  children  looked  at  each  other  and  were 
silent.  '  Annie,  have  you  been  good  this  week  ?  "  Casting 
down  her  eyes  in  shame,  the  child  replied  :  '  No,  mother  ; 
you  know  how  it  was  with  my  little  brother.' 

'  Annie,  something  might  have  happened  to  the  child,-  - 
and  just  think  how  you  would  like  it,  if  you  should  be  shut 
up  in  a  room  all  alone  without  food  or  amusement  I  Little 
children  who  are  left  alone  in  that  way  sometimes  scream 
so  that  they  injure  themselves  for  life.  Why,  Annie,  I 
could  never  feel  easy  about  going  away  from  home  if  I 
thought  you  would  not  take  good  care  of  the  child.' 

'  Indeed,  mother,  I  will  never  leave  him  alone  again  !  ' 

'  And,  Nicholas,'  said  Gertrude,  turning  to  her  oldest 
son  ;   '  how  is  it  with  you  this  week  ?  ' 

'I  don't  remember  anything  wrong.' 

'  Have  you  forgotten  that  you  knocked  down  little  Peggy 
on  Monday  ?  ' 

'I  didn't  mean  to,  mother.' 

'  I  should  hope  not,  Nicholas  !  Aren't  you  ashamed  of 
talking  so  ?  If  you  grow  up  without  considering  tiie 
comfort  of  those  about  you,  you  will  have  to  h'arn  the 
lesson  through  bitter  experience,  l^enu'inbcr  that,  and 
be  careful,  my  dear  boy  .  .  .' 

Gertrude  talked  similarly  with  all  the  other  chiUlren 
about  their  faults,  even  saying  to  little  Pegi:y  :  '  Vou 
mustn't  be  so  impatient  for  your  souj)  or  1  shall  make  you 
wait  longer  another  time,  and  nive  it  to  one  of  the  others.' 


184    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

After  this  was  over,  the  children  folded  their  hands  and 
said  their  usual  evening  prayer,  followed  by  a  special 
prayer  for  Saturday  night,  which  Gertrude  had  taught 
them." 

AVliile  Leonard  and  Gertrude  reflects  the  romanticism  of 
the  Emile,  How  Gertrude  Teaches  Her  Children  anticipates 
the  formalism  of  Froebel  and  of  Herbart.  Reviewing 
Pestalozzi's  later  work  Herbart  states  :  ^  "It  is  his  intention 
to  place  in  the  hands  of  wholly  ignorant  teachers  and 
parents  such  writings  as  they  need  only  to  cause  the  children 
to  read  off  and  learn  by  heart,  without  adding  anything 
of  their  own.  What  he  believed  could  be  carried  into  effect 
most  immediately  he  preferred  ;  he  must  have  his  levers 
sturdy  enough  not  to  break  even  in  clumsy  hands.  The 
book  in  which,  under  the  form  of  letters  to  a  friend,  he 
describes  the  outlines  of  such  a  plan,  belongs  really  in  the 
hands  of  such  men  as  have  influence  on  the  organisation 
of  the  lowest  schools  and  upon  parents  of  the  lowest  social 
ranks.  Such  men  would  be  able  to  spread  his  actual 
schoolbooks,  which  are  to  be  published  in  the  future. 
What  is  faulty  in  the  whole  publication  therefore  is,  perhaps, 
its  title,  which  brings  it  immediately  into  the  hands  of 
women,  of  mothers." 

Although  the  title  and  the  form  of  Pestalozzi's  chief 
work  are  unfortunate,  it  nevertheless  affords  an  insight 
into  the  means  which  he  adopted  at  liurgdorf  to  secure 
that  the  children  under  his  care  would  have  immediate 

*  J'>ckofT'.s  trans,  of  jl/i«or  l'(.d(i(jogicnl  Works,  ])]).  '.M-H.  Cf.  ]>.  183. 
Cf.  Tcstalozzi'.s  Ihnn  (I'rrtrudr  Teaches  11  er  Children,  lOnglisli  traii.s. , 
J).  41  :  "  ]  l>elievc  it  i.s  not  jJOs.Hible  for  coiiunon  ])0])ii!ar  instruction  to 
advancf!  a  stoj),  so  ionir  a.s  f'ornnilas  of  instruction  arc  not  found  wliicli 
make  the  teaehcr,  at  least  in  the  elementary  stages  of  knowlcdsie,  merely 
t\w  mechanieal  tool  of  a  method,  tlie  result  of  which  sjirings  from  the 
natun?  of  the  formulais  and  not  from  the  skill  of  the  man  who  uses  it." 


PESTALOZZI  185 

experience  or  an  intuitive  apprehension  (Anschauung)  of 
things.^ 

Pestalozzi  arrived  at  the  conception  of  Anschauung  in 
an  indirect  manner.  In  his  early  work  at  Stanz  he  came 
to  appreciate  the  value  of  perfecting  the  first  beginnings 
in  learning  and  of  securing  that  no  essential  fact  or  stage 
of  knowledge  should  be  omitted  in  the  course  of  instruc- 
tion ;  careful  attention  to  these  requirements  could  alone 
guarantee  proper  progress  in  the  later  stages  and  at  the 
end  a  c()m])lete  and  perfect  knowledge  of  the  subject.  "The 
result  of  attending  to  this  perfecting  of  the  early  stages." 
Pestalozzi  admits, ^  "  far  outran  my  expectations.  It 
quickly  developed  in  the  children  a  conscicjusness  of  hitherto 
unknown  })ower,  and  particularly  a  general  sense  of  beauty 
and  order.  They  felt  their  own  j)ower,  and  the  tediousness 
of  the  ordinary  school-tone  vanished  like  a  ghost  from  my 
rooms.  They  wished, — tried,-  ])ersevered,  succeeded,  and 
they  laughed.  Their  tone  was  not  that  of  learners,  it  was 
the  tone  of  unknown  powers  awakened  from  sleep  ;  of  a 
heart  and  mind  exalted  with  the  feeling  of  what  these  powers 
could  and  would  lead  them  to  do." 

These  results,  as  he  acknowledges,-'  were  due  to  '"  a 
simple  ])sychol()gical  idea  which  I  felt  but  of  which  1  was 
not  clearly  aware,"  an  idea  which  we  may  formulate  in 
general  terms  as  the  ada])tation  of  \]\o  subject-nuitter  of 
instruction  to  the  intellectual  ca])acity  and  stage  of  mental 
development  of  the  ])upils,  or  in  terms  more  akin  to  tho.se 
later  adopted  by  Pestalozzi,  as  the  correlation  of  the 
impressions  ])rought  to  the  child  l)v  instruction  with  tho 

'  Anschaiiiitig  is  liorc  rendrrod  iiitiiiti\  o  aiiiircliciisiun,  not  apiirchciisiuii 
for  whic'li  tlio  Cierinau  is  Autlassiiiifr,  or  otisorvatioii  l?c()lia<'lituiif!,  or 
Perception  =  Walirnehiiiunp:. 

*  How  (I'crlrudr  Ti'ich>s  Ihr  Childrni.  Kimlish  trans.,  p.  17 


186    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

initiation  and  progress  of  the  powers  to  be  developed  in 
him.  This  principle  necessitated  the  subject-matter  being 
presented  at  the  "  psychological  moment,"  "  in  order,  on 
the  one  hand  not  to  hold  him  back  if  he  is  ready,  and  on 
the  other,  not  to  load  him  and  confuse  him  with  anything 
for  which  he  is  not  ready."  ^  It  further  demanded  a 
gradual  sequence  in  instruction  following  the  strictest 
psychological  order.  From  his  experiment  at  Stanz, 
Pestalozzi  concluded  that  it  was  possible  to  found  popular 
instruction  on  psychological  grounds.^ 

Only  through  his  later  experience  at  Burgdorf  did 
Pestalozzi  come  to  full  consciousness  of  his  main  principle. 
There  he  first  sought  to  apply  it  to  the  beginnings  of 
spelling  and  counting,  but  later  substituted  for  these  the 
drawing  of  angles,  squares,  lines,  and  curves.  "  With  this 
work,"  he  explains, ^  "  the  idea  gradually  developed  of  the 
possibility  of  an  A  B  C  of  Anschauung  ;  and  while  working 
this  out,  the  whole  scheme  of  instruction  in  all  its  scope 
appeared,  though  still  dimly,  before  my  eyes."  The 
revelation  to  himself  of  his  own  principle  he  attributes  to 
the  chance  remark  of  a  visitor  to  Burgdorf — "  Vous  voulez 
mechaniser  1' education  " — which  Pestalozzi  interpreted  to 
signify  that  he  was  seeking  means  of  bringing  education  and 
instruction  into  psychologically  ordered  sequence.^ 

Applying  consciously  the  principle  that  instruction  can 
only  be  successful  when  the  subject-matter  of  instruction 
is  adapted  to  the  stage  of  mental  development  of  the  pupil, 
Pestalozzi  was  soon  led  to  recognise  that  "  the  child  must 

*  How  Gertrude  Teacheji  Jler  Children,  p.  20.  Of.  p.  12G  :  "  All 
branches  of  instruction  demand  essentially  jisychologioal  analysis  of 
their  methods,  and  the  age  should  be  exactly  fixed  at  which  each  may, 
and  ought  to  be,  given  to  the  child." 

*p.  19.  'p.  23.  '  p.  25. 


PESTALOZZI  187 

be  brought  to  a  high  degree  of  knowledge,  both  of  things 
seen  and  words,  before  it  is  reasonable  to  teach  him  to 
spell  or  read,  that  at  their  earUest  age  children  need  psycho- 
logical training  in  apprehending  objects  intuitively  in  an 
intelligent  manner."  ^  Thus  did  Pestalozzi  arrive  at  the 
principle  that  an  immediate  acquaintanceship  with,  or 
intuitive  knowledge  of,  objects  is  the  indispensable  pre- 
paration for  an  adequate  and  effective  education.  Like 
Rousseau  he  makes  necessity  the  keynote  of  early  educa- 
tion, but  unlike  Rousseau  he  would  not  merely  limit  the 
child's  experience  to  things  but  would  also  subject  him 
from   the  outset  to  social  influences. 

By  Anschauung,  or  intuitive  apprehension,  is  to  be 
understood  the  direct  acquaintance  or  immediate  ex- 
perience of  objects.  The  term  cannot  be  adequately 
rendered  by  "  observation  "  as  it  includes  also  the  apprehen- 
sion of  sensory  impressions  in  modalities  other  than  the 
visual,  nor  by  "  sense-impression  "  since  it  is  employed 
to  connote  affective  and  volitional  experiences.  It  empha- 
sises the  immediacy  of  the  experience  but  does  not  imply 
simplicity  in  the  process  ;  negatively  it  excludes  the 
intervention  of  any  object  or  process  between  the  subject 
and  his  experience. 

The  very  employment  by  Pc.-^talozzi  of  the  term  An- 
schauung illustrates  his  p.sychological  outlook  in  Education, 
and  indicates  the  advance  which  he  has  made  on  Comenius. 
Comenius  insisted  on  the  iieed  for  direct  a(-(piaintance 
with  things  by  the  pupils,  but  this  he  assumed  could  be 
secured  by  extending  the  range  of  objects  brought  within 
the  purview  of  the  pupil,  whereas  Pestalozzi  contended 
that  the  child's  experience  of  things  coukl  be  increased 
by  improvement  through  training  of  the  powers  of  intuitive 
» Ibid.,  p.  20. 


188    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

apprehension.  The  need  for  such  training  and  the  improve- 
ment resulting  therefrom  have  been  confirmed  ^  by  the 
investigations  of  Experimental  Education.  The  difference 
of  standpoint  between  Comenius  and  Pestalozzi  is  evident 
even  in  the  titles  which  they  respectively  employed  for 
their  works,  Comenius's  being  characterised  as  Orbis  pidus 
and  Pestalozzi's  as  A  B  C  der  Anschauungen. 

The  elementary  and  fundamental  aspects  of  intuitive 
apprehension,  according  to  Pestalozzi's  treatment,  are 
form,  number,  and  language.  As  such  an  analysis  differs 
fundamentally  from  that  which  Psychology  would  now 
present  of  the  aspects  of  Anschauung,  it  may  be  advisable 
to  present  Pestalozzi's  account  of  how  he  arrived  at  his 
classification.  "  Living,  but  vague,  ideas  of  the  elements 
of  instruction,"  he  records,^  "  whirled  about  in  my  mind 
for  a  long  time  ...  At  last,  like  a  Deus  ex  machina,  came 
the  thought — -the  means  of  making  clear  all  knowledge 
gained  by  sense-impression  comes  from  number,  form, 
and  language.  I  suddenly  seemed  to  throw  a  new  light 
on  what  I  w^as  trying  to  do. 

"  Now,  after  my  long  struggle,  or  rather  my  wandering 
reverie,  I  aimed  wholly  and  simply  at  finding  out  how  a 
cultivated  man  behaves,  and  must  behave,  when  he  wishes 
to  distinguish  any  object  which  appears  misty  and  confused 
to  his  eyes,  and  gradually  to  make  it  clear  to  himself. 

"  In  this  case  he  will  observe  three  things  : — 

1.  How  many,  and  what  kinds  of  objects  are  before  him. 

2.  Their  appearance,  form  or  outline. 

3.  Their  names  ;  how  he  may  represent  each  of  them  by 
a  sound  or  word. 

^  Cf.  E.  Mcumann,  The,  I'sycholofjy  of  Learnin/j,  Englisli  trans.,  cli.  iii. 
^  How  Oertrude  Tcnrhe.i  Her  Children,  English  trans.,  pp.   80-8.     (,'f. 
]).  !}.'?,  i)p.  .")1  -2. 


PESTALOZZI  189 

"  The  result  of  this  action  in  sucli  a  man  manifest! v 
presupposes  the  following  ready-formed  ])o\vers  : 

1.  The  power  of  recognising  unlike  o])jects,  according  to 
the  outline,  and  of  representing  to  oneself  what  is  contained 
within  it. 

2.  That  of  stating  the  number  of  these  objects,  and 
representing  them  to  himself  as  one  or  many. 

3.  That  of  representing  objects,  their  number  and  form, 
by  s])eech.  and  making  them  unforgettable. 

''  I  also  thought  number,  form  and  language  are,  together, 
the  elementary  means  of  instruction,  because  the  whole 
sum  of  the  external  properties  of  any  object  is  comprised 
in  its  outline  and  its  number,  and  is  brought  home  to  my 
consciousness  through  language.  It  must  then  be  an 
immutable  law  of  the  Art  of  Instruction  to  start  from  and 
work  within  this  threefold  })rinci])le. 

1.  To  teach  children  to  look  u])on  every  object  that  is 
brought  before  them  as  a  unit,  that  is,  as  sejiarated  from 
those  with  which  it  is  connected. 

2.  To  teach  them  the  form  of  every  ol)ject.  that  is.  its 
size  and  ])roportions. 

.'?.  As  soon  as  ]iossible  to  make  them  acMjuaintcd  with  all 
the  words  and  names  descriptive  of  objects  known  to  them. 

"  And  as  the  instruction  of  children  should  ])roceed  from 
these  three  elementarv  ])oints.  it  is  evident  that  tht>  first 
efforts  of  the  Art  of  Instruction  should  bt-  directed  to  the 
primarv  faculties  of  counting,  measiu'ing.  and  speaking, 
which  lie  at  the  l)asis  of  all  accuiate  knowledge  of  oljjccts 
of  sense.  We  should  cultivate  them  with  strictest  ]>sy(ji()- 
logical  Art  of  Instruction,  endeavour  to  strengthen  and 
make  them  strong,  and  to  bring  them,  as  a  means  of  (it>velo])- 
ment  and  culture,  to  the  highest  jiitch  of  simplicity,  con- 
sistencv.  and  harmonv." 


190    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

Recognising  that  some  justification  was  necessary  for 
his  selection  of,  and  the  restriction  of  himself  to  these  three 
aspects  of  Anschauung,  Pestalozzi  proceeds  to  explain  : 
"  The  only  difficulty  which  struck  me  in  the  recognition 
of  these  elementary  points  was  :  WTiy  are  all  qualities  of 
things  we  know  through  our  five  senses  not  just  as  much 
elementary  points  of  knowledge  as  number,  form,  names  ? 
But  I  soon  found  that  all  possible  objects  have  absolutely 
number,  form,  and  names  ;  but  the  other  characteristics, 
known  through  our  five  senses,  are  not  common  to  all 
objects.  I  found,  then,  such  an  essential  and  definite 
distinction  between  the  number,  and  names  of  things  and 
their  other  qualities,  that  I  could  not  regard  other  qualities 
as  elementary  points  of  knowledge.  Again,  I  found  all 
other  qualities  can  be  included  under  these  elementary 
points  ;  that  consequently,  in  instructing  children,  all 
other  qualities  of  objects  must  be  immediately  connected 
with  form,  number,  and  names.  I  saw  now  through 
knowing  the  unity,  form,  and  name  of  any  object,  my 
knowledge  of  it  becomes  precise  ;  by  gradually  learning 
its  other  qualities  my  knowledge  of  it  becomes  clear ; 
through  my  consciousness  of  all  its  characteristics,  my 
knowledge  of  it  becomes  distinct.''' 

The  following  comments  on  Pestalozzi's  conception  are 
necessary.  Pestalozzi  so  extended  the  use  of  the  term 
Anschauung  that  it  connotes  at  times  almost  any  sort  of 
mental  experience.  The  three  aspects  which  he  dis- 
tinguishes, number,  form,  and  name,  are  not  regarded  by 
him  as  of  co-ordinate  rank  ;  while  number  and  form  are 
actual  properties  of  things,  the  name  is  the  means  of 
making  these  elements  clear  and  definite  and  fixing  them 
in  mind.^  By  thus  assigning  to  the  name  a  secondary 
1  Cf.  How  Oertrude  Teaches  Her  Children,  p.  150, 


PESTALOZZl  191 

function  Pestalozzi  escapes  the  charge  of  reintroducing  as 
a  form  of  Anschauung  a  merely  verbal  training.  The 
name,  indeed,  appertains  rather  to  the  apperceptive  aspect 
of  apprehension  than  to  intuitive  apprehension.  The 
aspects  of  Anschauung  which  Pestalozzi  distinguishes, 
number,  form,  and  name,  although  referred  to  as  elementary, 
are  not  simple,  for  forms  are  the  products  of  a  combining 
activity  of  mind  ;  likewise  are  numbers.  The  argument 
by  which  Pestalozzi  excludes  from  Anschauung  the  elements 
of  sense-perception  like  colour  is  not  convincing.  It  should 
also  be  remarked  that  the  temporal  aspects  of  things 
are  ignored,^  and  as  a  consequence  Pestalozzi  limits  An- 
schauung to  objects  which  are  static  and  does  not  embrace 
in  his  conception  the  intuitive  apprehension  of  physical 
activities  and  processes. 

Nevertheless  to  Pestalozzi  is  due  the  credit  of  presenting 
an  analysis  of  Anschauung  which,  though  psychologically 
incomplete  and  defective,  enabled  him  to  secure  a  ground- 
work for  each  of  the  elementary  subjects,  to  throw  new 
light  on  the  relation  of  these  one  to  the  other,  to  introduce 
into  the  primary  school  a  training  in  An.schauung  and  to 
demonstrate  that  actual  experience  of  things  is  the  founda- 
tion of  all  knowledge.^ 

As  knowledge  begins  in  intuitive  apprehension,  its 
development  proceeds,  according  to  Pestalozzi,  from 
Anschauvmg  to  concept  ;  or  more  exactly  ex})ressed  it 
proceeds  from  confused  to  clear  Anschauungen  and  from 
clear  Anschauungen  to  clear  concepts.^     ]'t>stalozzi   thus 

*  Time  is  incidentally  mentioned  b}'  Pestalozzi  (Hoir  (J(rtrtid>-  Tuichrj>, 
English  trans.,  p.  105,  )>.  152),  hut  the  idea  i.s  not  elaborated. 

»Cf.  p.  139  and  p.  144. 

^  Cf.  p.  80  :  "  From  vague  to  precise  sense- impre.-^sions.  from  precise 
sense-impressions  to  clear  images,  and  from  clear  images  to  distinct 
idea-s." 


192    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

presupposes  two  fundamental  mental  activities,  intuitive 
apprehension  and  thinking.  Between  these  stand  certain 
intermediate  activities,  especially  imagination,  which  enable 
us  to  rise  from  intuitive  apprehension  to  conceptual 
thinking.^ 

With  the  language  aspect  of  Anschauung,  Pestalozzi 
concerned  himself  more  particularly,^  leaving  the  develop- 
ment of  number  and  form  to  his  coadjutors  at  Burgdorf. 
He  reasoned  that  the  child  must  learn  to  talk  before  he  can 
be  taught  to  read,^  and  recognised  the  child's  need  for  a  full 
and  facile  vocabulary.  Thus  he  affirms  :  ^  "  The  advantage 
of  a  fluent  and  early  nomenclature  is  invaluable  to  children. 
The  firm  impression  of  names  makes  the  things  unforget- 
table, as  soon  as  they  are  brought  to  their  knowledge  ;  and 
the  stringing  together  of  names  in  an  order  based  upon 
reality  and  truth  develops  and  maintains  in  them  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  real  relation  of  things  to  each  other. 
Certain  it  is  that  when  a  child  has  made  the  greater  part  of 
a  scientific  nomenclature  his  own,  he  enjoys  through  it  at 
least  the  advantage  that  a  child  enjoys  who  in  his  own,  a 
great  house  of  business,  daily  becomes  acquainted  from  his 
cradle  upwards  with  the  names  of  countless  objects." 
Pestalozzi  does  not  propose  that  the  child  should  acquire 

'  Cf.  How  Gertrude  Tcarhcs  Hrr  Childrrn,  p.  85. 

*Cf.  Swansong  :  "My  only  claim  to  influence  on  the  reorganisation 
of  the  theory  of  elementary  education  lies  in  the  department  of  languace 
teaching." 

'  Cf.  How  Gertrude  Teaches  Her  Children,  ]>.  'Mi:  "The  child  must 
learn  to  talk  hcfore  he  can  be  reasonably  taught  to  read,"  ]>.  84  : 
"  Thus  I  found,  in  teaching  to  read,  the  necessity  of  its  sul)ordination 
to  the  power  of  talking." 

■•  p.  33.  ("f  ]»  ol  :  "  Through  a  well-arranged  nomenclature,  indelibly 
impressed,  a  general  foundation  for  all  kinds  of  knowlctlge  can  be  laid, 
by  which  children  and  teacher,  together,  as  well  as  separately,  may  rise 
gradually,  but  with  safe  stej)s,  to  clear  ideas  in  all  branches  of  knowledge." 


pp:stalozzi  193 

a  stock  of  names  merely  for  their  own  sake  but  as  a  means 
to  the  mastery  of  things,  a  function  whicli  the  name  has 
had  from  the  earhest  times.  Against  verbohitry  he  protests 
in  his  criticisms  of  the  catechising  and  Socratizing  methods 
of  Krusi,  which  he  characterised  as  nothing  but  a  parrot-Hke 
repetition  of  unintelHgible  sounds.^  lie  also  complained  ^ 
that  in  the  lower  schools  for  more  than  a  century  there  had 
been  given  to  empty  words  a  weight  in  the  human  mind 
that  not  only  hindered  attention  to  the  impressions  of 
nature,  but  even  destroyed  man's  inner  susceptibility  to 
these  expressions.  His  own  method,  he  explains,^  was 
"  like  Nature  with  the  savage,  I  always  put  the  picture 
before  the  eye,  and  then  sought  for  a  word  for  the  picture." 

Pestalozzi's  insistence  upon  the  need  for  a  training  in 
language  as  an  indispensable  preliminary  to  an  adequate 
education  moved  Herbart  to  ask  :  *  "  What  stands  so  long 
and  universally  in  the  way  of  human  education  as  lack  of 
language  ?  Who  is  more  surely  excluded  from  the  benefits 
of  instruction  conferred  in  human  conversation  than  he 
who  neither  knows  how  to  choose  the  aj)propriate  ex[)ression 
nor  how  to  appreciate  the  force  of  an  expression  well 
invented  ?  Does  even  the  educated  man  ever  come  to 
the  end  of  the  study  of  language,  the  creatress  of  all  con- 
versation, all  society  ?  "' 

Pestalozzi  reduced  language  to  words  or  names,  and  the 
latter  he  resolved  into  sounds.  For  each  stage  he  con- 
structed formal  exercises,  beginning  with  sylla]»les  wliich 
he  regarded  as  the  irreducible  elements.  There  first 
exercises  took  the  form,  for  example,  a  ab  bab,  etc., 
much  after  the  manner  of  the  j)resent-(lay  phonic  methods 
of  teaching  to  read.     Lists  of  names  of  the  most  important 

'  p.  4G.  *  p.  113.      Cf.  also  ]).  Ill',  p.   15S.  '  ]>.  55. 

^  Minor  Pedagogical  Works,  English  trans.,  jjj).  43-4. 

.N 


194    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

objects  in  all  divisions  of  tlie  kingdom  of  nature,  history, 
geography,  human  callings  and  relations  be  required  to  be 
memorised,  and  lastly  sentences  had  to  be  formed  in  various 
ways.^  It  would  be  unjust,  as  it  would  be  unprofitable, 
to  criticise  Pestalozzi's  mechanical  procedure  in  detail,  as 
the  application  of  his  principles  was  in  great  part  left  to  his 
coadjutors  who,  as  he  was  himself  later  constrained  to 
acknowledge,  failed  to  appreciate  fully  his  ideas  ;  Pesta- 
lozzi's method  had,  however,  the  recommendation  that  it 
based  reading  on  sounds  and  not  on  spelling,  and  thereby 
prepared  the  way  for  modern  methods.  Pestalozzi  himself 
claimed^  for  his  method  of  instruction  that  it  made  greater 
use  of  language  as  a  means  of  raising  the  child  from  vague 
sense-impressions  to  clearer  ideas  than  had  ever  been  done 
before  ;  also  that  it  was  distinguished  by  the  principle 
of  excluding  all  collections  of  words,  presupposing  actual 
knowledge  of  language  or  grammar,  from  the  first  stages  of 
elementary  instruction. 

Apprehension  of  form  was  developed  in  the  children 
mainly  through  drawing.  As  Pestalozzi  substituted 
language  exercises  for  reading,  so  he  substituted  drawing 
for  the  early  lessons  in  writing  on  the  ground  that  children 
are  ready  at  an  earlier  age  for  knowledge  of  proportion  and 
the  guidance  of  the  slate  pencil,  than  for  guiding  the  pen, 
and  making  tiny  letters. ^  Pestalozzi,  in  fact,  built  all 
power  of  doing,  even  the  power  of  clear  representation  of 
all  real  objects,  upon  the  early  development  of  the  ability 

1  See  How  Gertrude  Teaches  Her  Children,  English  trans.,  Letter  VIJ. 

*p.  111. 

^  p.  35.  Cf.  p.  84  :  "I  found  in  the  effort  to  teach  writing,  the  need 
of  subordinating  this  art  to  that  of  drawing,  and  in  the  efforts  to  teach 
drawing  the  combination  with,  and  subordination  of,  this  art  to  that  of 
measurement." 


PESTALOZZI  195 

to  draw  lines,  angles,  rectangles,  and  curves.^  Thus  he 
states  2  that  "  by  exercises  in  lines,  angles  and  curves,  a 
readiness  in  gaining  sense-impressions  of  all  kinds  is  pro- 
duced in  the  children,  as  well  as  skill  of  hand,  of  which  the 
effect  will  be  to  make  everything  that  comes  within  the 
sphere  of  their  observation  gradually  clear  and  plain." 
Against  the  tendency  for  the  means  to  obscure  the  aim.  and 
for  drawing  to  become  an  end  in  itself,  Pestalozzi  protested,^ 
saying  once  "  Nature  gives  the  child  no  lines,  she  only 
gives  him  things,  and  lines  must  be  given  him  only  in  order 
that  he  may  perceive  things  rightly.  The  things  must 
not  be  taken  from  him  in  order  that  he  may  see  only  lines." 
And  concerning  the  danger  of  rejecting  Nature  for  the  sake 
of  lines,  on  another  occasion  he  angrily  exclaiuied  :  "*  "  God 
forbid  that  I  should  overwhelm  the  human  mind  and  harden 
it  against  natural  sense-impressions,  for  the  sake  of  these 
lines  and  of  the  Art  of  Instruction,  as  idolatrous  priests 
have  overwhelmed  it  with  superstitious  teaching,  and 
hardened  it  against  natural  sense-impressions." 

Pestalozzi's  method  of  teaching  form  has  not  the  same 
permanent  value  as  his  methods  in  language  and  nmnber 
teaching,  yet  it  was  this  aspect  of  Anschauung  that  Ilerbart 
elaborated  and  to  which  he  devoted  one  of  his  earli(\st 
essays  in  Education.^  By  basing  writing  on  drawing, 
separating  the  accpiisition  of  the  forms  from  the  command 
of  the  writing  instrument,  and  using  the  skill  acquired  in 
writing  for  the  expression  of  significant  ideas  *  Pestalozzi 
anticipated    in   many    points    the    Montessori    method    of 

>  p.  60.  » p.  51. 

'  Hoiv  Qcrtrude  Tcnchfs  Ilcr  Children,  Eiielish  trans.,  p.  00.  '  Ibid. 

^  A  BC  der  Anxchauurig,  English  tran.'^.,  by  \\.  .'.  EckofT. 

•' Cf.  p.  129  :  "  As  writint:.  con.siderod  af>  fi>rrn,  a]>pi'ar.s  in  connwtion 
with  measuring  and  drawing,  so  it  apjicars  again  as  a  special  kind  of 
learning  to  talk." 


196    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

teaching  writing.  The  defect  of  his  method,  as  in  language 
teaching,  is  that  he  carried  his  analysis  to  its  ultimate 
limits,  whereas  what  is  psychologically  simple  to  the  child 
is  not  necessarily  what  remains  when  analysis  cannot  be 
carried  further  ;  in  writing,  the  unit  is  the  word  or  the 
letter,  not  the  so-called  element  of  the  letter. 

Scope  for  the  application  of  Pestalozzi's  principle  of 
concreteness  was  readily  found  in  arithmetic.  Re\aewing 
Kjusi's  development  as  a  teacher,  Pestalozzi  writes  :  "  For 
instance,  when  he  asked  in  arithmetic.  How  many  times 
is  seven  contained  in  sixty-three  ?  the  child  had  no  real 
background  for  his  answer,  and  must  with  great  trouble 
dig  it  out  of  his  memory.  Now,  by  the  plan  of  putting 
nine  times  seven  objects  before  his  eyes,  and  letting  him 
count  them  as  nine  sevens  standing  together,  he  has  not 
to  think  any  more  about  this  question  ;  he  knows  from 
what  he  has  already  learnt,  although  he  is  asked  for  the 
first  time,  that  seven  is  contained  nine  times  in  sixty-three. 
So  it  is  in  other  departments  of  the  method."  ^  The  general 
principle  of  intuitive  apprehension  as  applied  to  arithmetic 
Pestalozzi  formulated  in  these  terms  :  ^  "  That  by  exercising 
children  beginning  to  count  with  real  objects,  or  as  least 
with  dots  representing  them,  we  lay  the  foundation  of  the 
whole  of  the  science  of  arithmetic,  and  secure  their  future 
progress  from  error  and  confusion." 

Whereas  experiment  has  demonstrated  that  the  appre- 
hension of  number-forms  can  be  facilitated  by  a  modification 
of  the  arrangement  of  the  units  proposed  })y  Pestalozzi,^ 

'  How  Oertrude  Teaches  Her  Children,  English  trans.,  p.  rA. 

*  p.  51.  Vertical  strokes  were  usually  adopted  hy  Pestalozzi  to 
represent  the  units. 

See  chapter  on  Arithmetic  in  the  writer's  Introduction  to  Experi- 
mental Education. 


PESTALOZZI  197 

and  discussion  has  arisen  as  to  whether  numbers  are  better 
represented  auditorily  than  \asually,^  experience  has  but 
confirmed  the  general  principle  of  Pestalozzi  that  the 
concrete  representation  of  number  is  indispensable  to  the 
beginnings  of  the  teachings  of  arithmetic. 

The  objections  which  the  formalism  of  Pestalozzi  im- 
mediately suggests  have  been  raised  and  to  some  extent 
met  by  Herbart  in  his  review  of  Hoiv  Gertrude  Teaches  Her 
Children.  As  Herbart  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  application 
of  the  methods  by  Pestalozzi  it  may  be  profitable  to  re- 
produce even  at  some  length  his  apology  of  Pestalozzi.^ 

"  But  why  did  Pestalozzi  cause  so  much  to  be  memorised  ? 
WTiy  did  he  seem  to  have  chosen  the  subjects  of  instruction 
so  little  in  accordance  with  the  natural  inclinations  of 
children  ?  AMiy  did  he  make  them  always  study  or 
practise  ?  Why  never  converse  with  them — ^never  chat, 
never  joke,  never  tell  a  story  ?  Why  were  the  sentences 
so  disconnected  ?  A\Tiy  did  the  names  stand  isolated  by 
themselves  ?  Why  was  the  whole  range  of  devices  for 
softening  the  rigidity  of  school  life  despised  here  ?  In  all 
other  respects  Pestalozzi  is  at  first  sight  a  man  full  of  love 
and  friendliness.  He  greets  so  humanly  everything  human. 
His  first  word  seems  to  say  to  you,  '  Whoever  deserves  to 
find  a  heart,  finds  one  here.'  AATiy  did  he  not  pour  forth 
more  joy  among  the  children  who  fUlod  his  whole  soul  ? 
A\Tiy  did  he  not  combine  more  of  the  agreeable  with  the 
useful  ? 

"  These  questions  did  as  a  fact  not  perplex  me  as  nmch 

as  they  might,  perhaps,  have  shaken  the  faith  of  others. 

I  was  prepared  by  my  own  experience  and  experiments  to 

estimate  the  mental  powers  of  children  very  much  more 

1  Ibid. 

*  Eckoll's  trans,  of  Herbart's  Minor  l'cdag(?<]icnl  Works,  p]).  .'M-6. 


198    DOCTEINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

highly  than  is  usual,  and  to  look  for  the  cause  of  children's 
pleasure  or  displeasure  at  instruction  elsewhere  altogether 
than  in  superfluous  dallying  on  the  one  hand,  or  the  supposed 
dryness  and  difl&culty  of  things  demanding  seriousness  and 
attention  on  the  other.  What  is  deemed  by  the  teacher 
the  easier  and  what  is  deemed  the  more  difficult,  I  had 
several  times  found  in  children  strikingly  reversed.  I  had 
long  held  their  feeling  of  a  clear  apprehension  to  be  the  sole 
and  genuine  spice  of  instruction,  and  a  regularity  of  sequence 
perfect  and  adequate  in  all  respects  was  to  me  the  grand 
ideal  in  which  I  saw  the  thorough-going  means  for  securing 
to  all  instruction  its  rightful  effect.  The  main  endeavour 
of  Pestalozzi,  as  I  was  given  to  understand,  was  exactly 
the  same  ;  namely,  to  find  this  sequence,  this  arrangement 
and  combination  of  all  things  which  must  be  taught  either 
simultaneously  or  successively.  On  the  supposition  that 
he  had  found  it,  or  at  least  that  he  was  on  the  right  way 
thither,  every  inessential  addition,  every  adventitious  aid 
would  be  an  injury.  It  would  be  reprehensible,  because 
it  would  distract  attention  from  the  main  point.  If  he 
has  not  found  that  sequence,  it  still  remains  to  be  found, 
or  at  least  to  be  amended  and  continued.  But  even  in 
that  case  his  method  is  correct ;  at  least  to  the  extent  of 
throwing  out  the  injurious  additions.  Its  laconic  brevity 
is  its  essential  merit.  Not  a  xiseless  word  is  heard  in  his 
school  ;  the  train  of  apperception  is  never  interrupted. 
The  teacher  pronounces  for  the  children  constantly.  Every 
faulty  letter  is  expunged  from  the  slate  immediately.  The 
child  never  dwells  on  its  mistakes.  The  right  track 
is  never  departed  from  ;  hence  every  moment  marks 
progress. 

"  But  the  memorising  of  names,  or  sentences,  of  defini- 
tions, and  the  seeming  carelessness  whether  all  this  was 


PESTALOZZI  199 

understood,  made  me  doubt  and  caused  me  to  inquire. 
Pestalozzi  answered  me  by  a  counter-question  :  '  If  the 
children  did  not  think  in  doing  it,  would  they  learn  so 
swiftly  and  cheerfully  ?  '  I  had  seen  the  cheerfulness.  I 
had  no  explanation  for  it,  unless  I  assumed  that  it  was 
accompanied  by  inner  activity.  Continuing  the  conversa- 
tion, however,  Pestalozzi  led  me  to  the  idea  that,  after  all, 
the  intrinsic  comprehensibleness  of  the  instruction  is  a 
matter  of  far  greater  importance  than  that  the  child  should 
understand  on  the  instant  what  is  taught  at  that  instant. 
Most  of  what  was  memorised  related  to  subjects  of  the 
children's  daily  sense-perceptions.  The  child  bearing  a 
description  in  the  mind  left  the  school,  met  with  the 
object,  and  though  it  did  not  comprehend  the  sense 
of  the  words  until  now,  did  comprehend  it  more  per- 
fectly than  if  the  teacher  had  attempted  to  explain 
his  words  by  other  words.  The  ha})py  moments  of 
comprehension,  and  especially  those  of  deeper  pon- 
dering and  connection,  in  short,  of  reflection,  do  not 
fall  exactly  within  determinate  lesson  periods.  Let  the 
lesson  give  what  is  comprehensible  and  set  together  that 
which  belongs  together.  Time  and  opportunity  will  after- 
wards supply  the  concept  and  will  correlate  what  was  .sot 
forth  together." 

Although  How  Gertrude  Tedcltes  Her  ('hil'Iren  is  mainly 
concerned  with  the  nature  and  devel()[)iiuMit  of  knowledge, 
Pestalozzi  would  not  have  it  thought  that  this  is  the 
aim  of  education,  for  he  says  :  "  To  have  knowledge  without 
practical  power,  to  have  insight,  and  yet  to  be  incapable 
of  applying  it  in  every  day  life.  What  more  dreadful  fate 
could  an  unfriendly  spirit  devise  for  us."  ^  The  last 
sections  of  How  Gertrude  Teaches  are  eonse([uently  devoted 

» Cf.  p.  173. 


200    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

to  practical,  moral  and  religious  training/  and  Pestalozzi's 
ideas  on  these  subjects  are  elaborated  in  his  later  writings.^ 
In  these  subjects  Pestalozzi  warns  us  that  we  cannot 
entrust  nature  with  the  training.  He  thus  defines  his 
aim  in  respect  to  them  :  ^  "To  take  human  education 
out  of  the  hands  of  blind  nature,  to  free  it  from  the  destruc- 
tive influence  of  her  sensual  side,  and  the  power  of  the 
routine  of  her  miserable  teaching,  and  to  put  it  into  the 
hands  of  the  noblest  powers  of  our  nature,  the  soul  of 
which  is  faith  and  love." 

In  the  acquisition  of  skill,  the  development  of  virtue 
and  the  fostering  of  religion,  Pestalozzi  maintains  that  the 
same  methods  must  be  adopted  as  in  the  extension  of  know- 
ledge.* "  The  necessity  of  great  care  for  the  psychological 
manner  of  developing  our  powers  of  doing,  as  well  as  the 
psychological  training  for  the  development  of  our  power  of 
knowing  is  obvious."  We  must  consequently  begin  with 
immediate  experience, — in  morality  and  religion  with  the 
feelings  and  sentiments  aroused  in  a  child  by  the  protection 
and  care  of  the  mother,^ — and  then  apply  "  the  universal 
laws  of  the  art  of  instruction  by  following  which  the  children 
may  be  educated  by  a  series  of  exercises,  proceeding 
gradually  from  the  simplest  to  the  most  complicated."^ 

In  How  Gertrude  Teaches  Her  Children  Pestalozzi  did  not 
attempt  to  determine  the  relationship  which  should  exist 

1  Letters  XII,  XIII,  XIV. 

*  See  J.  A.  Green,  Life  and  Work  of  Pestalozzi,  and  Pestalozzi' a  Educa- 
tional Writings,  edited  by  Green. 

*  How  Gertrude  Teaches,  p.  190.     Of.  p.  174  and  p.  187. 

*  Cf.  p.  173  :    "  The  cultivation  of  dexterity  rests  on  the  same  laws  as 
the  cultivation  of  knowledge." 

'■  How  Gertrude  Teac.he.t,  p.  177.     The  need  for  the  application  of  such 
laws  Pestalozzi  mentions.     See  pp.  177,  IS'J. 


PESTALOZZI  201 

amongst  the  different  aspects  of  education.  In  the  Swan- 
song,  however,  he  definitely  characterises  this  relationship 
as  one  of  harmony.  The  harmony  of  the  powers  is  depen- 
dent on  the  unity  of  human  nature.^  "  The  education  of 
all  three  sides  of  our  nature,"  he  says,^  referring  to  heart, 
head,  and  hand,  "  proceeds  on  common  lines  in  equal 
measiu-e,  as  is  necessary  if  the  unity  of  our  nature  and  the 
equilibrium  of  its  powers  are  to  be  recognised  from  the 
outset." 

In  the  definition  of  Education  which  he  gives  in  How 
Gertrude  Teaches  Her  Children,  the  idea  of  harmony  was 
included  :  ^  "  The  aim  of  all  instruction  is,  and  can  be, 
nothing  but  the  development  of  human  nature,  by  the 
harmonious  cultivation  of  its  powers  and  talents,  and  the 
promotion  of  manliness  of  life."  Emphasis  on  "  harmony  " 
or  on  well-balanced  training,  it  may  be  remarked,  should 
not  blind  us  to  the  fact  that  education  while  suppressing 
idiosyncracy  should  respect  individuality.^  There  is  a 
further  danger  in  this  definition  from  which  Pestalozzi  was 
delivered  by  reason  of  the  poverty  of  the  pupils  whom  he 
instructed,  namely,  that  it  may  lead  to  a  mere  training  of 
the  mental  faculties  without  regard  to  the  social  value  of 
the  training  and  the  social  situations  which  the  pupil  will 
later  have  to  encounter  ;  we  might  train  the  memory  on 
nonsense-syllables,  the  observation  on  Chinese  hieroglyphics, 

'  Swansong,  Pest<ilozzi'fi  Educational  Writings,  cd.  by  Green,  p.  208. 

*  Swansong,  p.  281. 

*  pp.  156-7.  Cf.  "  Views  and  Experiences  "  in  I'cstalozzxs  Educational 
Writings,  ed.  b^  Green,  p.  159  :  "The  sole  aim  of  education  is  the  har- 
monious development  of  the  faculties  and  dispositions  wliich  make  up 
personality." 

*  This  Pestalozzi  recognises  :  "  Unusual  capacity  should  be  given 
every  possible  chance,  and,  above  all.  it  should  be  rightly  guided." 
Swansong. 


202    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

etc.,  and  we  should  only  have  a  very  sorry  specimen  of 
humanity  as  the  result. 

The  peculiar  merit  of  the  Pestalozzian  method  consists, 
according  to  Herbart,^  "  in  having  laid  hold  more  boldly 
and  more  zealously  than  any  former  method  of  the  duty 
of  building  up  the  child's  mind,  of  constructing  in  it  a 
definite  experience  in  the  light  of  clear  sense-perception  ; 
not  acting  as  if  the  child  had  already  an  experience,  but 
taking  care  that  he  gets  one  ;  by  not  chatting  with  him  as 
though  in  him,  as  in  the  adult,  there  already  were  a  need 
for  communicating  and  elaborating  his  acquisitions  ;  but, 
in  the  very  first  place,  giving  him  that  which  later  on  can 
be,  and  is  to  be,  discussed.  The  Pestalozzian  method, 
therefore,  is  by  no  means  qualified  to  crowd  out  any  other 
method,  but  to  prepare  the  way  for  it.  It  takes  care  of 
the  earliest  age,  that  is  at  all  capable  of  receiving  instruc- 
tion. It  treats  it  with  the  seriousness  and  simplicity  which 
are  appropriate  where  the  very  first  raw  materials  are  to 
be  procured."  That  his  system  did  not  pretend  to  com- 
pleteness Pestalozzi  himself  confessed  :  ^  "I  did  not  and 
do  not  wish  to  teach  the  world  art  and  science  ;  I  know 
none.  I  did  and  do  wish  to  make  the  learning  of  the  first 
beginning-points  easy  for  the  common  people,  who  are 
forsaken  and  left  to  run  wild  ;  to  open  the  doors  of  art, 
which  are  the  doors  of  manliness,  to  the  poor  and  weak  of 
the  land  ;  and  if  I  can,  to  set  fire  to  the  barrier  that  keeps 
the  humbler  citizens  of  Europe  in  respect  to  that  individual 
power  which  is  the  foundation  of  all  true  art,  far  behind 
the  barbarians  of  the  south  and  north,  because,  in  the  midst 
of  our  vaunted  and  valued  general  enlightenment,  it  shuts 
out  one  man  in  ten  from  the  social  rights  of  men,  from  the 

'  Eckoff'a  trans,  of  Minor  I'cdcufogical  Works,  j).  61. 

'^  How  Gertrude  Teaches  Ilcr  Children,  Englisli  trans.,  p.  104. 


PESTALOZZI  203 

right  to  be  educated,  or  at  least  from  the  possibility  of 
using  that  right." 

The  estimate  of  Herbart  on  Pestalozzi's  work  is,  however, 
somewhat  at  variance  with  that  of  Froebel.  It  was  the 
earlier  efforts  of  Pestalozzi  in  the  adverse  circumstances 
at  Burgdorf  ^  where  any  measure  of  success  was  com- 
mendable that  Herbart  approved,  whereas  Froebel  later 
encountered  the  more  ambitious  enterprise  at  Yverdun 
only  to  have  his  great  expectations  disappointed.^  Writing 
of  his  first  visit  ^  Froebel  says  :  "  What  I  saw  was  to  me 
at  once  elevating  and  depressing,  arousing  and  also  be- 
wildering .  .  .  The  disappointing  side  of  the  teaching 
plan,  against  which  I  intuitively  rebelled,  although  my  own 
tendencies  on  the  subject  were  as  yet  so  vague  and  dim, 
lay,  in  my  opinion,  in  its  incompleteness  and  one-sidedness. 
Several  subjects  of  teaching  and  education  highly  important 
to  the  all  round  harmonious  development  of  a  man  seemed 
to  me  thrust  far  too  much  into  the  background,  treated  in 
stepmotherly  fashion,  and  superficially  worked  out."  This 
conviction  was  but  confirmed  by  Froebel's  second  visit  to 
Yverdun  ;  ^  and  it  is  not  surprising,  for  by  this  time 
disunion  was  beginning  to  manifest  itself  among  Pestalozzi's 
coadjutors,  and  to  affect  the  work  of  the  institution.  "  The 
powerful,  indefinable,  stirring  and  uplifting  effect  ])r<)duced 
by  Pestalozzi  when  he  spoke,  set  one's  soul  on  fire  for  a 
higher,  nobler  life,"  writes  Froebel,  ''  altliougli  lu'-  had  not 
made  clear  or  sure  the  exact  way  towards  it.  nor  indicated 

*  Herl>art'.s  visit  to  Burc<lorf  tdok  ])iacc  in  IT'.*'.). 

*  Froebel  in  his  Autobioqraphy  admits  :    "  'J'licre  wa.s  no  educational 
problem  whose  resolution  I  did  not  firmly  cxi)ect  to  tind  there." 

'  The  first  visit  lasted  a  fortnight,   Froebel   leaving   Yverdun  mid- 
October,  1805.     See  Autobiography,  English  trans.,  jip.  53-5. 

^  1808-1810.     Sec  Autobiography,  English  trans.,  pp.  78-83 


204    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

the  means  whereby  to  attain  it.  Thus  did  the  power  and 
many  sidedness  of  the  educational  effort  make  up  for  the 
deficiency  in  unity  and  comprehensiveness  ;  and  the  love, 
the  warmth,  the  stir  of  the  whole,  the  human  kindness  and 
benevolence  of  it  replaced  the  want  of  clearness,  depth, 
thoroughness,  extent,  perseverance,  and  steadiness  .  .  . 
On  the  whole  I  passed  a  glorious  time  at  Yverdun,  elevated 
in  tone,  and  critically  decisive  for  my  after  life.  At  its 
close,  however,  I  felt  more  clearly  than  ever  the  deficiency 
of  inner  unity  and  interdependence,  as  well  as  of  outward 
comprehensiveness  and  thoroughness  in  the  teaching 
there." 

Pestalozzi's  efforts  in  Education  were  tentative,  and 
although  lacking  the  scientific  precision  demanded  to-day, 
they  were  in  the  broader  sense  of  the  term  experimental.^ 
His  results  had  not  that  consistency  which  obtains  in  a 
purely  a  jrriori  scheme  of  Education,  nor  did  they  command 
that  respect  which  attaches  to  the  conclusions  of  a  philo- 
sophical theory  ;  ^  as  the  products  of  hard-won  experience 
they  nevertheless  possess  a  reliability  which  many  other 
more  pretentious  results  do  not.  With  Pestalozzi  it  may 
truly  be  said  that  necessity  was  the  mother  of  invention, 
and  this  he  himself  recognised  when  he  prayed  ^  "  God,  I 
thank  thee  for  my  necessity."  It  was  this  necessity  which 
constrained  him  to  allot  to  instruction  in  intuitive  appre- 
hension a  place  in  education,  to  attempt  an  analysis  of 
Anschauung,  to  insist  on  the  necessity  for  training  the 

1  Pestalozzi  frequently  referred  to  his  own  methods  as  experimental. 
Cf.  How  Gertrude  Teaches,  pp.  154,  166,  172. 

*  Cf.  Uow  Gertrude  Teaches  Her  Children,  English  trans.,  p.  83  :  "  Since 
my  twentieth  year,  I  have  been  incapable  of  philosophic  thought,  in 
the  true  sense  of  the  word." 

'  How  Gertrude  Teaches  Her  Children,  English  trans.,  p.  18. 


PESTALOZZI  205 

child  in  intuitive  apprehension  according  to  a  definite 
and  systematic  procedure,  and  above  all  to  make  direct 
acquaintance  with,  or  immediate  experience  of,  actual 
objects  and  processes,  "  the  common  starting  point  of  all 
instruction."  ^ 

^  How  Gertrude  Teaches  Her  Children,  p.   89.     For  Pestalozzi's  own 
statement  of  his  contribution  to  Education  see  p.  139i 


CHAPTER  X 

HERBAKT 

"Pedagogy  as  a  science/'  says  Herbart/  "is  based  on 
practical  philosophy  and  on  psychology.  The  former  points 
out  the  aim  of  culture,  the  latter  the  way,  the  means  and 
the  obstacles."  While  Pestalozzi  sought  to  psych ologise 
Education,  Herbart,  as  is  evident  from  the  statement 
quoted,  by  assigning  to  practical  or  ethical  philosophy  the 
determination  of  the  aim,  sought  in  addition  to  philosophise 
Education. 

Not  only  did  Herbart  define  the  aim  of  Education  but 
he  showed  by  means  of  a  systematic  psychology  how  that 
aim  might  be  attained.  He  gave  to  Education  a  technical 
vocabulary  and  formulated  a  definite  procedure  in  teaching, 
thereby  founding  a  school  which  has  attracted  many  dis- 
ciples and  contributed  largely  to  the  literature  of  Education. 

The  end  of  Education  is  dictated  by  Ethics.  This 
Herbart  repeatedly  affirms  :  "  The  one  problem,  the  whole 
problem  of  Education  may  be  comprised  in  a  single  concept 
■ — morality."^     "The    term    virtue    expresses    the    whole 

^  Umriss  pddagogischer  Vorlesungen,  §  2.  Cf.  Lange's  translation 
under  title,  Outlines  of  Educational  Doctrine..  To  secure  consistency 
quotations  from  the  English  translations  have  been  niodified  as 
required. 

*  Die  aesthetische  Darstellung  der  Welt,  ah  das  JIauptgeschdft  der 
Erziehung,  translated  by  W.  .J.  Eckoil  in  HerbarVs  ABC  of  Sense- 
Perception  and  Minor  Pedagogical  Works,  p.  92. 

206 


HER  BART  207 

purpose  of  Education."^  "The  ultimate  purpose  of 
instruction  is  contained  in  the  notion  virtue."  ^  Notwith- 
standing these  assertions  Herbart  subordinates  the  ethical 
to  the  aesthetic  judgment,  and  subsumes  ethics  under 
aesthetics.  He  does  not,  like  Kant,  regard  morality  as 
absolute,  and  the  moral  judgment  as  "  a  categorical  im- 
perative," but  assumes  that  the  only  type  of  judgment 
which  is  self-contained,  or  "  categorical  "  in  Kant's  sense, 
is  the  aesthetic,  that  its  authority  alone  is  unconditioned. 
He  accordingly  regards  an  aesthetic  representation  of  the 
universe  as  the  ideal  of  Education.^ 

In  support  of  his  subsumption  of  ethics  under  aesthetics 
Herbart  cites  ^  the  authority  of  Plato,  who  in  the  Philebus 
puts  the  good  in  the  class  of  the  beautiful.  A  more  recent 
philosopher,  Nietzsche,  adopted  the  same  standpoint,  and 
"  Beyond  Good  and  E\il  "  ^  set  iip  the  standard  of  good 
and  bad.  The  ethical  and  the  aesthetic  judgments  are, 
however,  different  in  kind,^  and  art  and  morality  are  each 
in  its  own  sphere  absolute.  There  is  doubtless  also  less 
danger  in  subordinating  art  to  morality,  as  Plato  did  in 
the  Republic,  than  in  subordinating  ethics,  as  Herbart 
suggests,  to  aesthetics. 

Neither  ethics  nor  aesthetics  can,  however,  determine 
fully   the    end    of  Education.     This   Herbart    admitted,'' 

^  Umrias,  §  8. 

*  Umriss,  §  62.  For  distinction  which  Herbart  makes  between  virtue 
and  morality  sec  Eckofl's  trans,  of  Minor  Pedagogical  Works,  p.  93. 

'  Minor  Pedagogical  Work.<!,  English  trans.,  ]).  ir>. 

*  Gf.  O.  Hostinsky,  Ilcrbart's  ArMhutik,  p.  71. 

*  Cf.  his  work  under  this  title. 

'■'  Cf.  Mackenzie,  Manual  of  Ethics,  pp    177-182. 

'  AUgemcinc  Pddagogik,  Bk.  I,  ch.  ii,  §  1  :  "I  therefore  believe  that 
the  mode  of  consideration  which  jilaces  morality  at  the  head  is  certainly 
the  most  important,  but  not  the  only  and  comprehensive  standpoint  of 
education." 


208    DOCTEINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

althougli  his  admission  has  usually  been  ignored,  both  by 
his  critics  and  his  expositors.  Education  must  include 
the  ideals  of  truth  and  righteousness  as  well  as  of  goodness 
and  beauty.  Intellectual  inquiry  and  religious  reverence 
are  as  natural  to  man  and  as  necessary  to  him  for  the  full 
realisation  of  his  personality  as  are  ethical  endeavour  and 
aesthetic  enjoyment ;  and  the  aim  of  Education  as  of  life 
itself  cannot  be  formulated  in  any  more  succinct  phrase 
than  that  of  Eucken,  namely,  to  exalt  personality. 

Although  Herbart  regards  psychology  as  providing  the 
way  and  the  means  of  Education,  he  counsels  us  against 
making  the  progress  of  Education  absolutely  dependent 
on  psychology,  afl&rming  ^  that  Education  has  not  time  to 
make  holiday  till  philosophical  investigations  have  been 
settled.  He  himself  did  not  postpone  the  publication  of 
his  educational  works  till  his  psychological  doctrine  was 
determined,  for  his  best  known  work  on  education,  the 
Allgemeine  Pddagogik,^  preceded  his  Lehrbuch  zur  Psycho- 
logie  ^  by  a  decade. 

To  simplify  exposition  we  shall  nevertheless  deal  first 
with  Herbart's  psychology  and  ethics,  and  in  doing  so  we 
are  but  following  the  injunction  of  Herbart  himself,  who,  in 
his  Umriss,^  states  that  his  first  task  must  be  to  deal,  at 
least  briefly,  with  the  ethical  and  the  psychological  bases 
of  Education. 

The  negative  or  critical  aspect  of  Herbart's  psychology 
has  had  more  influence  on  Education  than  the  positive  or 

'  Allgemeine  Pddagogik,  Bk.  I,  ch.  2,  §  ]. 

*  Allgemeine  Pddagogik,  published  1806.  Translated  into  English 
under  title  of  Science  of  Education  by  Henry  M.  and  Emmie  Felkin. 

•  Lehrbuch  zur  Paychologie,  first  edition  1 816.  Translated  into  English 
by  Margaret  K-  Smith, 

*§7. 


HER  BART  209 

constructive.  As  Locke  rejected  the  existence  of  innate 
ideas,  so  Herbart  discarded  the  doctrine  of  mental  faculties.^ 
"  The  soul,"  he  says,^  "  has  no  innate  tendencies  nor 
faculties."  Again,^  "  it  is  an  error,  indeed,  to  look  upon 
the  human  soul  as  an  ago-regate  of -all  sorts  of  faculties." 
The  faculties  are,  indeed,  "  nothing  real,  but  merely  logical 
designations  for  the  preliminary  classification  of  psychical 
phenomena."^  This  rejection  of  the  faculty  hypothesis 
in  psychology  naturally  caused  the  doctrine  of  formal 
training  in  Education  to  be  challenged,  with  important 
consequences  for  the  progress  of  the  second  subject. 

It  is  frequently  maintained  that,  not  content  with 
rejecting  mental  faculties,  Herbart  at  the  same  time 
abolished  the  soul,  and  presents  us  with  "  a  psychology 
without  a  soul."  "The  simple  nature  of  the  soul,"  he 
affirms,^  "  is  totally  unknown.  It  is  as  little  an  object  of 
speculative  as  of  empirical  psychology."  It  is  known  only 
through  its  manifestations  in  ideas  or  presentations  (Vor- 
stellungen)  ^  and  is  then  termed  mind  (Geist),  or  in  feelings 
and  desires  and  is  then  regarded  as  temperament  or  dis- 
position (Gemiit).  With  the  metaphysical  questions  as 
to  the  existence  and  nature  of  the  soul,  psychology  is  not 
concerned.  And,  as  Stout  maintains,"  "  to  the  psychologist 
the  conception  of  a  soul  is  not  helpful.  Ho  has  no  indepen- 
dent means  of  knowing  anything  al)out  it  wliich  could  be 
useful  to  him.     For  him  the  term  '  soul  '  is  virtually  only 

1  Cf.  Lehrbuch  zur  Psychologie,  lik.  ii,  div.  i,  ch.  1-6. 

»  Ibid.,  §  152.  ••'  Umrisfi,  §  20. 

♦  Lehrbuch,  §  236.  ■'  Lehrbuch,  §  153. 

''  Lehrbuch,  §  33.  Herbart's  term  VorsttlluJig  is  rendered  throughout 
by  presentation  and  is  practically  equivalent  to  Locke's  term  idea, 
defined  above,  j).  132. 

■  Groundwork  of  Psycholfigy,  ]^.  8. 


210    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

another  name  for  the  total  system  of  psychical  dispositions 
and  psychical  processes."  To  this  system  Herbart  would, 
as  we  have  indicated,  apply  the  term  "  mind  "  rather  than 
"  soul,"  the  soul  being  for  him  intrinsically  a  simple, 
unchanging  being,  without  any  plurality  of  states,  activities, 
or  powers. 1 

We  must  consequently  turn  to  presentations  to  find 
the  explanation  of  the  mental  life.  The  psychology  which 
Herbart  oifers  is  a  form  of  mental  mechanics.  Although 
presentations  themselves,  he  distinctly  avers,^  are  not  forces, 
yet  they  assume  the  nature  of  forces  when  they  encounter 
one  another,  which  they  do  by  virtue  of  the  unity  of  the  soul.^ 
Similar  presentations,  for  example,  a  sensation  of  green 
yesterday  and  a  sensation  of  green  to-day,  on  encountering 
one  another  are  fused  together.  Contrary  presentations, 
for  example,  black  and  white,  arrest  each  other,  and  if  the 
arrest  is  only  partial,  the  unarrested  remainders  fuse  with 
each  other.  Disparate  presentations,  for  example,  a  visual 
sensation  and  a  tactile,  are  not  said  to  fuse,  but  to  be  com- 
plicated with  each  other. ^ 

An  arrested  presentation  is  never  annihilated  ;  when 
inhibited  or  repressed  it  transforms  itself  into  a  conatus, 
an  effort  at  self-maintenance,  and,  when  the  repressive 
force  is  removed,  reappears  in  consciousness,  or  as  Herbart 
phrases  it,  rises  above  the  threshold  of  consciousness.^ 

Certain  2)reHentations  by  their  repeated  coexistence  in 
consciousness  tend  to  become  more  intimately  connected 
with  one  another  than  with  the  remaining  ])resentations, 
and  thereby  to  constitute  a  relatively  independent  and 

^  Lphrhuch,l\m.  ^  §  jq  3  §  20. 

*  Of.  G.  V.  Stout,  "  Tlic  Herbartian  Psychology,"  Mind,  li  (July, 
1888),  p.  36. 

•''  Lehrbiich,  §  10. 


HER  BART  211 

separate  system  or  presentation-mass.  Such  a  presenta- 
tion-mass facilitates  the  entrance  into  consciousness  of 
presentations  of  a  like  kind  ;  these  then  become  united 
with  the  already  existing  presentations.  This  process  is 
termed  apperception,  and  is  explained  by  Herbart  thus  :  ^ 
"  Apperception,  or  assimilation,  takes  place  through  the 
reproduction  of  previously  acquired  presentations  and  their 
union  \xit\i  the  new  element."  It  implies  the  dependence 
of  the  new  on  the  old,  or  the  interpretation  of  the  new  by 
the  old,  and  is  not  confined  to  sense-perception  but  embraces 
"  inner  perception  "  as  well  ;  one  presentation-mass  may 
exert  a  determining  influence  on  another.^ 

Apperception  emphasises  the  important  part  which  old 
knowledge  plays  in  the  acquirement  of  the  new.  As  Stout 
says  :  ^  "  The  main  principle  which  psychology  lends  to 
the  theory  of  education  as  its  starting  point,  is  the  need 
that  all  communication  of  new  knowledge  should  be  a 
development  of  previous  knowledge."  ^\^lat  we  notice 
depends  not  so  much  on  the  strength  of  the  stimulus  as  on 
the  mental  system  which  for  the  time  being  is  dominant  : 
the  direction  of  attention  is  conditioned  in  like  manner, 
and  the  degree  of  com])re.hension  of  a  new  fact  depends  on 
the  comprehensiveness  of  the  a])perceptive  system  which 
we  bring  to  interpret  it.  This  principle  fmds  expression  in 
literature  in  various  forms.  Carlyle  says  :  "  The  eye  sees 
only  what  it  brings  the  ]K)wer  to  see,"  and  Browning. 
"  'Tis  the  taught  already  that  ]irofit  by  teaching."  Herbart 
remarks'*  that  every  man  has  his  own  world  even  in  the 
same  enviromnent.     In  insisting  on  the  importance  of  the 

1  Uniri.-s,  §  74. 

=  Of.  Lchrbuch,  §  40  ;  I'mriss,  §  143. 
^  AnahjHr  Psyrhnhigij,  ii,  {ip.  137-R. 
*  Lchbuch,  §213. 


212    DOCTEINES  OF  THE  GKEAT  EDUCATOKS 

apperceptive  factor  in  learning,  and  on  the  teacher's  duty, 
when  introducing  a  new  subject,  to  secure  the  presence  of 
the  appropriate  apperception-mass  in  the  child's  mind, 
Herbart  added  the  necessary  complement  to  Pestalozzi's 
conception  of  Anschauung. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  the  manifestation  of  the 
soul  as  mind  ;  we  now  proceed  to  consider  its  manifestation 
in  feehngs  and  desires,  as  disposition  or  temperament 
(Gemiit).  The  temperament  has,  however,  according  to 
Herbart,^  its  seat  in  the  mind  ;  "  feeling  and  desiring  are, 
above  all,  conditions  of  presentations  and  certainly  for 
the  most  part,  changeable  conditions  of  presentations." 
Herbart  in  thus  making  presentations  primordial,  and 
reducing  conations  and  feelings  to  accessory  characteristics 
of  presentations  commits  himself  to  an  intellectualistic 
ethics.  He  nevertheless  thereby  escapes,  and  indeed 
persistently  criticises,  a  transcendental  ethics  which, 
however,  he  avoids  attributing  to  Kant. 

Kant's  aim  was  to  formulate  a  metaphysic  of  ethics  ;  he 
sought  to  determine  the  conditions  of  the  possibility  of  a 
moral  life,  not  to  trace  its  actual  development.  "  Trans- 
cendental "  was  employed  by  Kant  to  designate  what  is  a 
necessary  condition  of  the  possibility  of  ex])erience,  whereas 
Herbart's  criticisms  apply  only  to  what  is  "  transcendent," 
that  is,  beyond  the  limits  of  experience.  Herbart  is  right 
in  maintaining  ^  that  as  far  as  the  educator  is  concerned 
morality  is  an  occurrence,  and  in  offering  an  empirical 
ethics,  as  in  offering  an  empirical  psychology,  he  rendered 
Education  a  service. 

Herbart  seeks  to  avoid  the  indeterminist  view  of  the 
freedom  of  the  will  which  implies  the  possibility  of  action 

1  Lehrbuch,  §  33. 

*  Minor  Pedagogical  Works,  English  trans.,  p.  95. 


HER  BART  213 

without  motives,  thus  making  the  individual's  choice 
arbitrary  and  indifferent  to  the  influences  which  education 
or  en^aronment  may  exert.  Such  caprice  would  stultify  the 
teacher's  efforts  to  develop  in  the  pupil  a  stable  character, 
and  would  render  futile  all  moral  training.  It  is  this 
type  of  freedom,  and  not  Kant's  doctrine,  that  Herbart 
condemns  when  he  says  ^  that  "  not  the  slightest  breath  of 
transcendental  freedom  may  blow  through  any  cranny  into 
the  domain  of  the  educator."  Herbart  also  seeks  to  avoid 
the  fatalism  of  determinism  :  "  Education  would  be  tyramiy 
if  it  did  not  lead  to  freedom."  ^  The  aim  of  the  educator, 
according  to  Herbart's  view,  is  the  paradoxical  one  of 
determining  the  child  to  the  free  choice  of  the  good.  The 
educator  is  in  this  sense,  as  Herbart  says,^  unavoidably  a 
determinist.  His  aim  is  the  same  as  that  formulated  by 
a  modern  French  philosopher  :  "  The  task  of  the  educator 
is  a  strange  one  :  to  act  on  mind  and  conscience  in  such 
a  way  as  to  render  them  capable  of  thinking  and  judging, 
of  themselves,  to  determine  initiative,  arouse  spontaneity, 
and  fashion  human  beings  into  freedom.'"  ■• 

AMien  we  ask  how  Herbart  prop(jses  to  secure  the  realisa- 
tion of  his  aim,  the  answer  is  by  his  doctrine  of  volition. 
Will,  Herbart  states,  is  "  a  desire  combined  with  the  con- 
viction of  its  fulfilment."  ^  Objection  has  been  taken  to 
this  definiti(m,  but  it  accords  almost  exactly  with  that 
given  by  a  modern  psychologist  like  Stout,  who  defines 
voUtion  as  "  a  desire  qualified  and  defined  by  the  judgment 
that  so  far  as  in  us  lies  we  shall  bring  about  the  attaiimient 
of  the  desired  end  because  we  desire  it."  ''     The  conviction 

1  Minor  Pedagogical  Works,  English  trans.,  p.  'JO.     C;f.  Utnriss,  §  3. 

*  Bcrichtc  an  Ilerm  von  Steiger,  1.         *  Aphorismen,  xix. 

^  E.  Boutroiix,  Education  and  Ethics,  English  trans.,  p.  x. 

•'  Lchibuch.  §  107.     Cf.  §  223.  "  Manual  of  Psychology,  p.  711. 


214    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

that  the  desire  is  capable  of  fulfilment  is  based  on  the 
success  attending  previous  efforts  in  similar  circumstances, 
"  for  from  success  springs  the  confidence  of  will  whereby 
desire  ripens  into  decision  ;  "  ^  "  only  when  the  individual's 
own  action  gives  him  either  the  indirect  assurance,  or  the 
direct  notion  of  his  own  power,  does  a  confident  '  I  will ' 
result."  ^ 

Will  thus  depends  on  desire,  just  as  desires,  as  stated 
above,  are  conditions  of  presentations.  "  Man  wills  only 
presentations  and  knows  only  presentations,"  as  Herbart 
says,^  "or  to  speak  more  exactly,  his  knowledge  is  only  a 
perfected,  and  his  volition  an  inhibited,  but  nevertheless, 
realised  presentation."  Without  presentations  then  we 
should  possess  only  "  a  will  that  wills  nothing,"  to  employ 
the  term  with  which  Jacobi  characterised  Kant's  merely 
formal  determination  of  the  will. 

To  secure  right  willing  the  mind  must  be  in  possession  of 
the  right  presentations,  and  these  must  be  so  organised 
that  collectively  they  more  than  counterbalance  the  force 
with  which  a  presentation  leading  to  evil  appears  in  con- 
sciousness. This  organisation  is  a  consequence  of  the 
apperceptive  process  which  thus  plays  as  important  a  part 
in  volitional  as  in  intellectual  life.  "  Man's  worth," 
Herbart  admits,*  "  does  not  lie  in  his  knowing  but  in  his 
willing."  He  adds,  however,  "  But  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  an  independent  faculty  of  will.  Volition  has  its  roots 
in  the  circle  of  thought  ;  not,  indeed,  in  the  details  one 
knows,  but  certainly  in  the  combinations  and  total  effect 
of  the  acquired  presentations."     By  securing  that  the  child 

1  Umriss,  §  152.  ^  Allgcmeine  Pddagogik,  bk.  iii,  cli.  iv,  §  5. 

'  Minor  Pedagogical  Wotks,  English  trans.,  p.  58. 

••  Umriis,  §  58.     Cf.  §  J43  :    "  Different  acts  of  volition  are  the  result 
of  different  presentation-maKses." 


HERBART  215 

shall  possess  the  right  presentations,  or  the  right  "  circle 
of  thought,"  the  educator  can  influence  the  child's  will  and 
fashion  his  character — for  character  is  the  embodiment  of 
the  will  1 — and  this  can  be  attained  in  part  by  the  careful 
selection  of  the  content  of  instruction. ^  "  How  the  circle 
of  thought  is  determined  is  everything  for  the  educator," 
says  Herbart,^  "  since  out  of  thoughts  arise  sensations 
(Empfindungen)  and  from  these  principles  and  modes  of 
action." 

Negatively,  Herbart's  doctrine  implies  that  he  who  lacks 
the  proper  presentations  and  apperception-masses  camiot 
be  virtuous  ;  he  misses  opportunities  for  the  exercise  of 
virtuous  conduct.  Herbart's  doctrine  has,  however,  been 
given  too  intellectualistic  a  bias  by  the  translation  of  the 
dictum^  "  Stumpfsinnige  konnen  nicht  tugenhaft  scin " 
into  "  The  ignorant  man  cannot  be  virtuous."  This  bias 
might  be  removed  and  the  meaning  more  exactly  conveyed 
by  the  rendering--"  The  callous  or  apathetic  man,  that  is, 
the  man  with  blunted  sensibility,  cannot  be  xdrtuous." 
The  sight  of  suffering  fails  to  evoke  in  such  an  individual 
a  sympathetic  response.^ 

'  Allgrmeine  I'ddagogtk,  hk.  iii,  eh.  1.  *  Cf.  Uinri.'>s,  §  58. 

'  Allgrtnctne  I'udagogik,  Introduction.  Eini)findungcu  is  here  ren- 
dered '■  sensations  "  not  "  feelings  "  as  in  the  translations  of  the  Felkins. 
Whereas  in  his  Lchrbuch  zur  Psijclwlogin  Herbart  cin])loys  Knii)lind\ingen 
as  cciiiivalent  to  sensations,  he  uses  (Jefiihle  soiiietiines  for  feelings  in 
the  strict  j)sychological  sense  of  the  term,  and  soiiietinies  for  sensations 
of  touch  just  as  in  English  the  term  "  feeling"  is  jminilarly  employed 
to  denote  one  of  "  the  live  senses."  In  the  AUgnnciiic  I'ddagogik  the 
term  Empfindungen  is  not  so  strictly  emi)loyed  as  in  the  Lchrbuch, 
sometimes  denoting  sensations,  sometimes  feelin^.s.  Only  the  context, 
and  consistency  with  Herbart's  general  doctrine,  can  enable  us  to  decide. 

*  Umriss,  §64.    Lange's  translation  is:  "Imbeciles  cannot  be  virtuous." 

*Cf.  use  of  "Stumpfsinn"  in  §  198  of  Lehrbnch.  This  attitude  is  one 
of  the  possible  evils  of  habit.  See  MacCunn,  The  Makimi  of  Character, 
p.  40. 


216    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

With  this  outhne  of  Herbart's  psychological  and  ethical 
doctrine  in  mind  ^  we  can  the  more  readily  survey  his 
educational  writings.  In  these  Herbart  seeks  to  complete 
the  work  of  Pestalozzi,  and  to  remove  the  one-sidedness 
which  the  latter  "  in  the  pursuit  of  his  purpose  was  neither 
willing  nor  able  to  avoid."  ^  Pestalozzi  had,  according  to 
Herbart,^  only  dealt  with  the  very  beginnings  of  certain 
forms  of  instruction  which  undoubtedly  met  the  most 
necessary  wants  and  thereby  served  the  greatest  number  of 
individuals,  but  they  did  not  satisfy  the  requirements  of  a 
complete  course  of  education  which,  although  appealing  to 
a  smaller  number  of  persons,  must  nevertheless  include  a 
greater  variety  of  activities  than  those  with  which  Pesta- 
lozzi concerned  himself. 

Herbart's  first  educational  work  of  importance  was  his 
ABC  der  Anschauung^  in  which  he  deals  more  exhaustively 
than  Pestalozzi  with  one  of  Pestalozzi's  three  aspects  of 
Anschauung,  namely,  the  apprehension  of  form.  Herbart 
recognised  that  this  was  but  one  branch  of  instruction, 
and  his  ^  .B  C  der  Anschauung  is  given  merely  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  what  should  be  undertaken  for  the  other  subjects 
of  the  curriculum,  for  he  believed  that  literature  was  at 
least  as  important  an  auxihary  of  education  as  mathematics.^ 

Herbart  in  his  Lehrbuch  zur  Psychologie  defines  An- 
schauung as  "  the  apprehension  of  an  object  when  it  is 
given  as  such  and  as  nothing  else  ;  "  ^  it  presupposes  the 
presentation  of  an  object  opposed  to  other  objects  and  to 

'  For  fuller  treatment  see  J.  Davidson  :  A  New  Interpretation  of 
Herbart's  Psychology. 

*  Minor  Pedagogical  Works,  Knglish  trans.,  p.  41).  '  Ibid.,  p.  14. 

*  Appeared  in  1802.  Translated  into  English  by  W.  J.  Eckoff,  and 
included  in  his  Herbart's  A  EC  of  Svnsc-PcrcejAion  and  Minor  Pedagogical 
Works. 

■'  Minor  Pedagogical  Works,  English  trans.,  ]).  25.  ''  §  204. 


HERBART  217 

the  self,  and  hence  brings  into  play  at  the  same  time  most 
of  the  so-called  mental  faculties,  by  no  means  merely  those 
of  sense. ^  The  process,  he  maintains,  is  not  the  result  of  a 
passive  condition  of  the  soul  ;  it  is  a  complicated  process 
securing  the  demarcation  and  isolation  of  the  apprehended 
object  from  the  continuum  in  which  it  appears,  and  for 
its  efficient  working  preparation  through  many  earlier 
productions  of  Anschauungen  is  necessary. 

The  pedagogical  treatment  of  Anschauung,  Herbart 
recognises,  deserves  special  attention  ;  "  Anschauung,  this 
indispensable,  this  firmest,  broadest  bridge  between  man 
and  Nature,  certainly  deserves  as  far  as  it  is  capable  of 
being  cultivated  by  any  art,  to  have  dedicated  to  it  one 
chief  line  of  pedagogical  endeavour."  ^  He  also  affirms  :  ^ 
"  Anschauung  is  the  most  important  among  the  educative 
occupations  of  childhood  and  boyhood.  The  more  quietly, 
the  more  deliberately,  the  less  playfully  the  child  contem- 
plates things,  the  more  solid  the  foundations  it  is  laying 
for  its  future  knowledge  and  judgment.  The  child  is 
divided  between  desiring,  noting  and  imagining.  AVhich 
of  the  three  should  we  wish  to  have  the  preponderance  ? 
Neither  the  first  nor  the  third  ;  out  of  desiring  and  imagin- 
ing originates  the  controlling  power  of  whims  and  delusions. 
Whereas  in  noting  originates  a  knowledge  of  the  nature  of 
things.  Such  knowledge  produces  submission  to  recognised 
necessity,  the  only  compulsion  Rousseau  approved  and 
recommended,  and  which  in  its  turn  originates  reflective 
action  and  a  thoughtful  choice  of  means. 

"  No  introduction  is  more  suitable  to  boyhood  than  that 
through  intuitive  apprehension  (Anschauung).  But  in- 
struction by  means  of  intuiti^^e  apprehension  instructs  in 

*  Lehrbuch,  §  73,  note. 

-ABC  der  Anschauutuj,  English  tran.s.,  p.  200.  '  Ibid.,  p.  137. 


218    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

no  other  way  than  by  actual  definite,  undistracted,  keenly 
comprehending  vision.  Accurate  noting  of  the  differences 
of  shape  is  the  only  security  against  confusion  and  sub- 
stitution. So  it  is  in  natural  history,  in  topography,  and  in 
every  kind  of  imagination  dependent  on  vision,  needed  by 
the  artist  and  the  artisan  in  order  to  represent  to  himself  the 
component  parts  of  an  implement,  machine,  or  an  edifice." 

This  branch  of  instruction  should  aim  at  training  the 
pupil  to  perceive  a  given  object  accurately  and  to  preserve 
it  faithfully  in  mind.  It  is  to  Pestalozzi's  genius,  Herbart 
admits,  that  Education  owes  the  idea  of  such  training. 
Herbart  believes  that  the  analysis  of  objects  on  which 
depends  the  exact  discrimination  of  their  forms,  can  best 
be  secured  by  their  resolution  into  triangular  figures,  since 
triangles — not  quadrilaterals,  as  by  Pestalozzi — are  regarded 
by  him  as  the  fundamental  elements  of  form,  form  being 
produced  for  the  first  time,  and  hence  in  the  simplest 
manner,  by  the  combination  of  three  points.^ 

The  exercises  which  Herbart  proposes  in  the  A  B  C  der 
Anschauung  are  intended  not  only  to  train  sense-perception 
but  also  to  prepare  for  mathematics.  Referring  to  the 
ABC  der  Anschaiumg  in  the  Umriss  almost  forty  years 
after  the  publication  of  the  earlier  work,  Herbart  remarks  :  ^ 
"  The  essential  thing  is  training  the  eye  in  gauging  distances 
and  angles,  and  combining  such  exercises  with  very  simple 
calculations.  The  aim  is  not  merely  to  sharpen  observation 
for  objects  of  sense,  but  preeminently  to  awaken  geometrical 
imagination  and  to  connect  arithmetical  thinking  with  it. 
Therein  lies  the  usually  neglected,  yet  necessary,  prepara- 
tion for  mathematics.     The  helps  made  use  of  must  be 

^  A  BC  der  Anschauung,  English  trans.,  p.  173. 

*  Umriss,  §253,  note.  The  ABC  der  Anschauung  was  published  in 
1802,  the  first  edition  of  the  Umriss  in  1835,  the  second  in  1841. 


HER  BART  219 

concrete  objects.  Various  means  have  been  tried  and 
discarded  ;  the  most  suitable  for  the  first  steps  are  triangles 
made  from  thin  hard-wood  boards  .  .  .  Needless  to  say 
exercises  in  intuitive  apprehension  do  not  take  the  place  of 
geometry,  still  less  of  trigonometry,  but  prepare  the  ground 
for  these  sciences.  AMien  the  pupil  reaches  plane  geometry, 
the  wooden  triangles  are  put  aside,  and  intuitive  appre- 
hension of  sensory  forms  is  subordinated  to  geometrical 
construction." 

The  elaboration  of  Herbart's  methods  and  devices  beh)ngs 
to  the  teaching  of  geometry,  but  it  may  be  inentioned  that 
in  discoursing  in  the  ABC  tier  Anschauung  on  the  place  of 
mathematics  in  education  he  comes  perilously  near  advo- 
cating the  inclusion  of  mathematics  in  the  school  curriculum 
on  disciplinary  grounds  ;  suggesting  that  as  mathematical 
errors  betray  themselves,  the  material  being  to  some  extent 
self-corrective,  they  convict  the  pupil  of  inattention,  and 
the  exercises  can  consequently  be  employed  to  remove 
this  defect.  ]fe  at  the  same  time  recognises  the  importance 
of  a  knowledge  of  mathematics  for  the  study  of  the  other 
sciences,  affirming  ^  in  this  comiection  that  "  we  have  not 
yet  assigned  to  the  investigation  of  nature  its  true  place 
and  rank  among  the  forces  that  must  cooperate  in  the 
mind  of  an  educated  person,  and  hence  in  a  mind  that 
is  being  educated." 

For  an  exposition  of  llerbart's  general  educational 
doctrine  we  turn  to  his  AlUjcmeine  Piidagogik-  and  to  his 
Umriss  jKidagogisclier  Vorlesunycn.^     The  former  work,  as 

'  .1  BC  dtr  Anschauung,  English  trans.,  j).  1.^0. 

*  Published  iSOtl.  Translated  into  English  by  Henry  M.  and  Enunie 
Felkin  nnder  the  title  of  tho  Science  of  Education. 

3  First  edition  183.").  Translated  into  English  by  A.  F.  Lange  under 
title  of  IhrbaH's  Outlines  of  Educaliomd  Doctrine. 


220    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

Herbart  confessed/  owed  its  existence  almost  as  much  to 
his  collection  of  carefully  arranged  observations  and 
experiments  gathered  together  on  very  various  occasions 
as  it  did  to  his  philosophy.  In  his  reply  to  Jackmann's 
review  of  the  Allgemeine  Pddagogik,  which  appeared  five 
years  after  the  publication  of  that  work,  Herbart  never- 
theless stated  that  his  pedagogy  was  nothing  without  his 
views  on  metaphysics  and  practical  philosophy.  As  his 
practical  philosophy  or  ethical  doctrine  and  his  psycho- 
logical theory  were  presupposed  in  his  Allgemeine  Pddagogik 
but  were  not  yet  published,  the  Allgemeine  Pddagogik 
necessarily  appeared  somewhat  enigmatical  to  its  first 
readers,  and  by  reason  of  Herbart's  plan  of  publication  it 
still  remains  somewhat  obscure  to  present-day  students. 
The  book,  he  admitted  in  the  above-mentioned  review,  had 
necessarily  to  contain  much  that  would  make  serious 
demands  on  its  readers  ;  the  plan  and  real  kernel  had  to 
remain  in  many  respects  a  secret  which  only  the  later  philo- 
sophical writing  could  disclose.  The  true  psychology  which 
it  presupposed  could  only  be  mentioned  in  it  as  a  thing  that 
did  not  yet  exist.  Of  its  relation  to  his  practical  philosophy 
or  ethical  doctrine  Herbart  writes  as  follows :  ^  "  My 
General  Pedagogy,  though  it  appeared  earlier  than  the 
Practical  Philosophy,  was  acquainted  with  the  latter. 
The  completed  sketches  of  both,  as  well  as  the  sketch  of 
the  Metaphysics,  lay  side  by  side.  It  was  open  to  choice 
which  was  to  be  elaborated  first.  Precedence  was  given 
to  that  work  which  must  necessarily  by  reason  of  the  lack 
of  psychology  remain  the  less  complete.  The  presentation 
was  made  as  far  as  possible  vivid  and  inciting  to  practice, 
and  was  so  arranged  as  to  let  everybody  meet  first  that 

*  Alhjemeine  Pddagogik,  bk.  iii,  ch.  vi. 

^  Minor  Pedagogical  Works,  English  trans.,  pp.  285-6. 


HERBART  221 

which  is  more  easily  understood,  and  to  put  in,  further  on, 
texts  at  least  for  thoughts  by  the  more  patient  readers.  To 
remove,  however,  the  possibility  of  anybody's  fancpng 
that  the  book  pretended  to  be  understood  altogether  by 
itself,  the  explanation  of  the  main  concepts  was  intention- 
ally given  with  such  aphoristic  brevity  as  to  make  its 
insufficiency  patent  to  everybody." 

The  Umriss  pddagogischer  Vorlesungen,\yas  ^^•ritten  as  a 
supplement  to,  and  serves  as  a  useful  commentary  on,  the 
Allgeyneine  Pddagogik. 

From  his  general  scientific  and  philosophical  attitude  it  is 
only  to  be  expected  that  Herbart  would  seek  to  establish 
Education  as  a  science,  and  in  the  Introduction  to  the 
AUgemeine  Pddagogik  he  pleads  for  its  recognition  as  such, 
condemning  mere  experience  as  an  unsatisfactory  guide 
and  illustrating  its  weakness  by  reference  to  the  progress 
of  other  sciences  ;  "an  exclusively  empirical  knowledge 
of  man,"  he  asserts  in  the  Umriss,^  "  will  not  suffice  for 
pedagogics."  AMiile  Education  avails  itself  of  ethics  in 
the  determination  of  its  aim,  and  of  psychology  in  order 
that  the  educator  may  understand  and  interpret  rightly 
the  data  furnished  by  observation  of  the  child,  nerl)art  is 
anxious  that  not  only  should  Education  be  regarded  as  a 
science  but  even  that  it  should  become  an  independent 
science.  "It  would  be  better,"  he  conse(|uently  says,- 
"  if  the  science  of  Education  remained  as  true  as  possible 
to  its  intrinsic  conceptions,  and  cultivated  more  an  in- 
dependent mode  of  thought  where])y  it  would  become  the 
centre  of  a  sphere  of  investigation,  and  be  no  longer  exposed 
to  the  danger  of  govenmient  by  a  stranger  as  a  remote 
tributary  province.  Only  when  each  science  seeks  to  orient 
itself  in  its  own  way,  and  also  with  the  same  force  as  its 
'  §  2.  *  AUgemdne  Pddagogik,  Introducti(>n. 


222    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

neighbours,  can  beneficial  intercourse  take  place  between 
them." 

The  keynote  of  Herbart's  educational  theory,  the  educa- 
tive value  of  instruction,  is  sounded  at  the  very  outset  of 
his  Allgemeine  Pddagogih.  "  Here  at  once  I  confess,"  he 
says,i  "  that  I  have  no  conception  of  education  without 
instruction,  just  as  conversely,  in  this  book  at  least,  I  do 
not  acknowledge  any  instruction  which  does  not  educate." 
"  He  only  wields  the  full  power  of  education,"  he  adds, 
"  who  knows  how  to  cultivate  in  the  youthful  soul  a  large 
circle  of  thought  closely  connected  in  all  its  parts,  possessing 
the  power  of  overcoming  that  which  is  unfavourable  in  the 
environment,  and  of  dissolving  and  absorbing  into  itself 
all  that  is  favourable."  In  his  reply  to  Jackmann's 
review  he  reiterates  that  "  instruction  will  above  all  form 
the  circle  of  thought,  and  education  the  character.  The 
last  is  nothing  without  the  first — herein  is  contained  the 
sum  total  of  my  Pedagogy." 

While  instruction  is  the  central  theme  of  Herbart's 
theory  its  chief  value  and  end  is  its  influence  on  character 
or  training  (Zuchl),  and  a  primary  condition  of  its  possi- 
bility is  the  proper  behaviour  of  the  pu})il,  secured  by  what 
Herbart  terms  government  {Regiernng).  Thus  government 
{Regierung),  instruction  [Unterricht),  and  training  (Zucht), 
are  the  three  chief  concepts  according  to  which  Herbart's 
whole  doctrine  of  education  is  treated.^ 

While  government  has  no  educative  value,  and,  if  wrongly 
exercised,  may  even  have  a  subversive  influence  on  the 
formation  of  character,  it  demands  treatment  if  only  that 
it  may  be  distinguished  from  training.     "  The  separation 

^  AlUjrme.ine  PMagoijik,  Introduction. 

^  lleriurts  Kcplik  ge^cn  Jackmanns  Rec.nMon  der  Allgemeinen  Fdda- 
gogik.     Cf.  Umrifia,  §  44. 


HER  BART  223 

of  the  concepts,"  as  Herbart  states,^  "  serves  to  aid  the 
reflection  of  the  educator,  who  ought  rather  to  know  what 
he  is  about  than  make  a  perceptible  difference  between 
them  in  practice."  The  distinction  between  Regierung 
and  Zucht  can  best  be  presented  in  a  series  of  antitheses  : 
"  The  aim  o{  (jovernment  lies  in  the  present,  whereas  training 
has  in  view  the  future  adult."  ^  "  To  maintain  quiet  and 
order  in  the  lessons,  to  banish  every  trace  of  disrespect  to 
the  teacher,  is  the  business  of  government  :  direct  action 
on  the  tem})erament  of  youth  with  a  view  to  culture  is 
training.''  ^  "  Government  acts  at  intervals  :  training  is 
continuous,  persevering,  slowly  penetrating,  and  only 
ceasing  by  degrees."  ■*  "  Government  takes  into  account 
the  results  of  actions,  later  on  training  must  look  to  un- 
executed intentions."  ^ 

Government  is,  as  Herbart  from  his  own  experience  as  a 
tutor  was  forced  to  recognise,^  a  necessary  evil,  doubtless 
better  than  anarchy,  but  its  defect  is  that  it  weakens  while 
education  seeks  to  strengthen.  It  implies  external  con- 
straint or  control,  whereas  training  develops  self-control 
and  self-restraint.  The  former  is  therefore  negative  and 
inhi])itive  :  the  latter  is  ])()sitive  and  ])urposivc.  Tiie 
distinction  has  significance  in  Education,  for  the  term 
"  Discipline  "  is  in  English  generally  employed  to  convey 
what  l)y  Herbart  is  characterised  as  govcrnnient.  A  "  well 
disciplined  "  school  mav  be  the  worst  possible  institutitni 
for  the  development  of  character,  since  it  may  leave  no 
opportunities  for  the  ])ractice  of  such  actions  as  are  initiated 

»  Umn'ss,  §  4:5.  "'  ///!(/.,  i^  42.     Cf.  §  12(i. 

^  AU<jcm>'i)ic  Piidniinrjik,  l)k.  iii,  cli.  v,  ^  1 1  1  :    l>k.  iii.  cli.  v.  §  1. 

*  I'mriss,  §  Uil  ;    All'joininr  I'lidatjfxjik.  bk.  iii,  (  li.  v.  §  2. 

■'  Al'gr.mciitr  Piidagogik,  bk.  iii,  eh.  v.  §  2. 

''  Brrichtc  ai)  Ihrrn  von  Hleiijir,  iii. 


224    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

by  the  pupil's  own  motives,  nor  afford  occasion  for  the 
exercise  of  self- discovery  and  the  discipline  of  self-mastery. 
It  does  not  train  the  pupil  to  the  right  use  of  such  freedom 
as  he  will  later  enjoy  ;  it  secures  an  immediate  appearance 
of  docility  by  paralysing  the  pupil's  powers  of  initiative, 
and  it  invites  an  equally  violent  reaction  that  destroys 
any  unity  of  character  which  the  pupil  might  otherwise 
develop.  Discipline  in  Herbart's  sense  of  training,  not  in 
the  sense  of  government,  should  be  the  aim  of  every  teacher 
who  desires  to  play  a  part  in  the  formation  of  character. 

Instruction  and  training  have  this  in  common  that  each 
makes  for  education  and  hence  for  the  future.^  They  are 
distinguished  nevertheless  as  means  and  end  ;  "  instruction 
without  training  would  be  means  without  end,  training 
(character  forming)  without  instruction  end  without 
means."  ^  "  Training  alone,"  as  Herbart  maintains,  "  can- 
not form  character  ;  character  proceeds  from  within, 
consequently  to  fashion  a  character  one  must  know  how  to 
determine  the  inner.  This  is  secured  above  all  else  by 
instruction.  If  Pedagogy  is  to  be  built  on  the  concept  of 
morality,  then  instruction  must  first  of  all  be  determined, 
and  thereafter  training  can  be  added  as  a  helpmate."  ^ 
The  inner,  to  which  Herbart  here  refers,  he  explains  in  the 
Allgemeine  Pddagogik*  to  be  the  circle  of  thought ;  "  The 
circle  of  thought  contains  the  store  of  that  which  by  degrees 
can  mount  by  the  steps  of  interest  to  desire,  and  then  by 
means  of  action  to  volition.  The  whole  iimer  activity, 
indeed,  has  its  abode  in  the  circle  of  thought.  Here  is 
found  the  primordial  life,  the  primal  energy  ;  here  all  must 
circulate  easily  and  freely,  everything  must  be  in  its  place 
ready  to  be  found  and  used  at  any  moment  ;  nothing  must 

'  Umriss,  §  57.  '  Aphorismen,  cxcii.  ^  Ibid.,  xv. 

'  Allgemeine  Padogogik,  bk.  iii,  ch.  iv,  §  2. 


HERBART  225 

lie  in  the  way,  and  nothing  like  a  heavy  load  impede  useful 
activity."  In  the  same  chapter  of  the  AUgemcine  PlUhtgogih 
which  Herbart  has  characterised  as  the  vantage  point  from 
which  the  whole  work  should  be  viewed,  he  repeats  that  in 
the  culture  of  the  circle  of  thought  the  main  part  of  educa- 
tion lies,^  that  the  chief  seat  of  the  cultivation  of  character 
is  the  culture  of  the  circle  of  thought. ^  This  ])rinciple  of 
the  determination  of  the  inner  aspect  of  character  by  means 
of  instruction  is  Herbart's  chief  contribution  to  educational 
thought,  and  proves  how  futile  it  is,  from  his  standpoint, 
to  oppose  education  or  the  training  of  character  to  instruc- 
tion. 

Instruction  consecjuently  accpiires  the  place  of  first 
importance  in  Herbart's  educational  theory.  "  The  chief 
means  of  positive  education  lies  in  instruction  taken  in  its 
widest  sense,"  he  says,^  and  again  : ''  "  It  will  be  seen  when 
the  task  of  setting  forth  the  whole  of  virtue  is  re\'iewed  in 
its  completeness  that  the  main  things  are  accomplished  by 
instruction." 

Instruction  has  two  starting  ])oints.  experience  and 
intercourse,  the  natural  and  the  social  environment.  Its 
function  is  to  complement  these.-''  It  furnishes  the  youth 
with  whole  nuisses  of  thought  which  he  could  not  accpiire 
for  himself.  "  It  grafts  valuable  shoots  on  to  wihl  stems.""  ^ 
When  we  seek  to  specify  more  deiinitely  the  different 
aspects  of  instruction  we  fuid  that  we  cannot  do  so  according 
to  the  mental  faculties  which  are  trained,  since  these  are 
non-existent  ;    nor  yet   according  to  the  sp»>cial  sciences, 

'  Bk.  iii.  ch.  iv,  S  2.  -  V>\i.  iii,  eh.  iv,  §  '.\.  ^  Aphnrismrn,  xxi. 

*■  Rcplik  grgrn  Jackinniuis  liccciifiion  dir  AJUj'nirini  n  I'iulagrxjik. 
■'  Aphorism m,  oii  ;    Allij^nirinc  ruditgnijik.  bk.   ii,  di.  iv.  §  1  ;    I'mrifs, 
§  78. 

''  Aphori^men,  xxi. 

1- 


226    DOCTEINES  OF  THE  GEEAT  EDUCATOKS 

since  these  are  only  means  to  an  end,  and  like  the  means  of 
nutrition  must  be  employed  according  as  the  individual's 
disposition  requires  and  as  opportunity  offers  ;  in  addition 
they  need  to  be  adapted  to  pedagogical  requirements.  For 
an  analysis  of  instruction  recourse  must  then  be  had  to  a 
classification  of  the  temperamental  reactions  induced  in 
the  pupil  by  different  forms  of  instruction,  or  to  the  various 
types  of  interest  which  it  is  desired  that  he  will  acquire.^ 
These  interests,  or  types  of  human  activity  are,  according 
to  Herbart,^  the  empirical,  the  speculative,  and  the  aesthetic, 
representing  different  attitudes  to  our  natural  environment 
or  different  aspects  of  experience  ;  and  the  sympathetic, 
the  social,  and  the  religious  representing  different  attitudes 
in  social  intercourse  or  different  aspects  of  our  spiritual 
environment.^ 

While  the  ultimate  aim  of  instruction  may  be  regarded 
as  virtue  or  morality,  for  practical  purposes  a  nearer  aim 
must  be  interpolated.  This  immediate  aim  is  interest.^ 
Interest,  for  Herbart,  is  the  state  of  consciousness  which 
accompanies  the  process  of  self-realisation  of  a  presentation. 
"  Interest,  in  common  \\dth  desire,  ^vill  and  the  aesthetic 
judgment,  stands  opposed  to  indifference  ;  it  is  distinguished 
from  those  three  in  that  it  neither  controls  nor  disposes  of 

^  Replik  gegen  Jaclcmnnna  Recension. 

*  AlUjemeine  Padagogik,  bk.  ii,  ch.  iii ;   Umriss,  §  83. 

"  A  more  satisfactory  analysis  for  educational  purposes  might  be 

KNVIRONMENT 


SPIRITUAL 


PHYSICAL  INTELLi;CTUAL         AESTHETIC  ETHICAL         RELIGIOUS 

■*  Fichte  in  his  Reden  an  die  deutscke  Nation  makes  morality  the  end  of 
education  and  mental  culture  the  means,  the  connecting  concept  being 
ethical  love. 


HER  BART  227 

its  object,  but  depends  upon  it."  ^  The  state  of  mind 
termed  Noticing  (MerJcen)  tends,  when  itself  aroused  by 
an  external  object,  to  excite  in  mind  a  new  presentation. 
WTien  the  latter  in  its  efforts  at  self-realisation  is  retarded, 
interest  hovers  in  Expectation  {Erwarten).  "\Mien  the 
patience  which  lies  in  Expectation  is  exhausted,  the  state  of 
mind  changes  to  such  an  extent  that  the  mind  loses  itself 
more  in  the  future  than  in  the  present,  and  out  of  interest 
grows  desire.  Desire  leads  to  wanting  an  object,  and 
Wanting  (Fordern),  when  the  organs  are  at  its  disposal, 
issues  in  action  (Handeln).  Interest  appears  when  this 
chain  of  acti\'ity  is  broken  off,  and  desire  and  action  are 
denied  expression.  Such  is  the  psychological  basis  of 
Herbart's  concept  of  interest.-  We  may  consequently 
infer  that  presentations  which  are  indifferent  or  inactive 
do  not  arouse  interest,  and  that  interest  disappears  with  the 
exhaustion  or  satisfaction  of  the  process.  Interest  is  thus 
a  concomitant  of  the  process  of  the  fulfilment  or  realisation 
of  an  idea  or  circle  of  ideas  by  an  extension  of  itself  or 
through  action,  when  this  process  is  working  smoothly,  not 
baulked  by  unnecessary  or  insurmountable  obstructions 
and  not  attaining  its  end  immediately  and  without  effort. 
The  interest  on  the  value  of  which  Herbart  insists  is  thus 
an  apperceptive  interest,  and  effort  is  a  condition  of  the 
existence  of  such  interest.  It  is  the  work  of  iu.struction 
to  arouse  this  interest,  and  it  is  only  he  who  seeks  to  extend 
his  knowledge  who  is  interested  in  it. "' 

By  making  interest  the  immediate  aim  of  instruction  we 
do  not,  as  is  popularly  supposed,  emasculate  education  ; 
interest  is  not  to  be  confused  with  amusement,  and  it  is 
not  for  lack  of  warning  by  Herbart  that  their  identification 

*  AUgcmeine  Padagogik,  bk.  ii,  oh.  ii,  §  1. 

»  Cf.  AUgemeine  Padagogik,  bk.  ii.  ch.  ii,  §  2.  '  Cf.  Umriss,  §  62. 


228    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

has  gained  currency.  "The  teacher,"  he  says/  "should  not 
be  misled  into  turning  instruction  into  play,  nor  designedly 
into  work  ;  he  sees  before  him  a  serious  business  and 
tries  to  forward  it  with  gentle  but  steady  hand."  "  That 
which  is  too  simple,"  he  repeats,^  "must  be  avoided"  ; 
and  again,  ^  "  Instruction  must  be  comprehensible  and  yet 
difficult  rather  than  easy,  otherwise  it  causes  ennui,  or," 
as  his  English  interpreter  explains,*  "  we  find  that  so  far 
from  enervating  the  pupil,  the  principle  of  interest  braces 
him  up  to  endure  all  manner  of  drudgery  and  hard  work  .  .  . 
The  theory  of  interest  does  not  propose  to  banish  drudgery 
but  only  to  make  drudgery  tolerable  by  giving  it  a  meaning." 
The  type  of  interest  which  Herbart  demands  is  charac- 
terised by  the  term  many-sided.  A  many-sided  interest 
or  an  all-round  culture  would  take  account  of  the  different 
classes  of  interest  or  forms  of  human  activity  enumerated 
above.  "  Many-sidedness  does  not  stand  in  opposition  to 
one-sidedness  but  to  fickleness,"  says  Herbart  in  one  of 
his  aphorisms,"'  while  in  the  Umriss  ^  he  says  that  dis- 
cursiveness, no  less  than  one-sidedness,  forms  an  antithesis 
to  many-sidedness.  While  therefore  Herbart  insists  on 
many-sidedness  he  does  not  oppose  the  development  to 
its  fullest  capacity  of  any  ability  with  which  an  individual 
happens  to  be  highly  endowed.  "  Every  man  nuist  have 
a  love  for  all  subjects,  each  nuist  be  a  virtuoso  in  one," 
he  explains.'^  "  But  the  particular  virtuosoship  is  a  matter 
of  choice  ;    whereas  the  manifold  receptivity  which  can 

*  Allgemeine  Fddagogik,  bk.  ii,  ch.  vi.  ^  Umriss,  §  77,  note. 

'  Allgemeine  Fcidagogik,  bk.  iii,  oh.  v,  §  3. 

'' J.  Adams,  llerbartian  Psychology,  pp.   2(12,  2G3  ;  al.so  .1.   Dewey, 
Educational  Essays,  "Interest  in  I'elation  to  Traininj^  of  tlic  Will." 
•'■  Aphorismen,  1.     (Jf.  Allgemeine  I'ddagogik,  bk.  i.  ch.  ii,  §  2. 
"  §  Ixv.  "  Allgemeine  Pddagogik,  bk.  i,  ch.  ii,  §  2. 


HERBART  229 

only  grow  out  of  manifold  beginnings  of  one's  own  individual 
efforts,  is  a  matter  of  education."  What  Herbart  seeks 
to  avoid  is  that  individuality  should  develop  into  mere 
idiosyncrasy.  Where  this  occurs,  a  state  of  society  results 
in  which  "  each  brags  of  his  own  individuality  and  no 
one  understands  his  fellows."  ^  To  this  end  the  concept 
interest  requires  to  be  further  quahfied  by  the  term  evenly- 
balanced  or  equilibrating.  Consequently,  "  the  more  in- 
dividuality is  blended  with  many-sidedness,  the  more  easily 
will  the  character  assert  its  sway  over  the  individual."  - 

Interest  depends  partly  on  native  capacity,  but  partly 
also  on  the  subject-matter  of  instruction.^  Not  all  instruc- 
tion is,  he  thinks,  educative  ;  the  types  of  instruction  which, 
in  Herbart's  opinion,^  are  not  educative,  are  those  which 
afford  only  temporary  pleasure  or  light  entertainment,  and 
such  studies  as  stand  isolated  and  do  not  lead  to  continued 
effort  ;  "  Volition,"  he  explains,^  "  has  its  roots  in  the 
circle  of  thought,  not,  indeed,  in  the  details  one  knows, 
but  certainly  in  the  combinations  and  total  effect  of  the 
acquired  presentations."  The  knowledge,  then,  that  in- 
fluences the  will  does  not  consist  of  isolated  facts  but  of 
closely  integrated  systems.  "  The  proof  of  a  perfect 
instruction,"  he  says,^  "  is  exactly  this  —that  the  sum  of 
knowledge  and  concepts  which  it  has  raised  by  clearness, 
association,  system  and  method  to  tlie  highest  liexibilitv 
of  thought  is  at  the  same  time  capal)le  as  a  mass  of  interests 
of  im])elling  the  will  witli  its  utmost  energy,  by  virtue  of 
the  complete  interpeuetration  of  all  its  parts.  Because 
this  is  wanting,  culture  is  often  the  grave  of  character." 

>  Ibid.,  bk.  ii,  cli.  iv.  §  1.  »  I'Ad.,  l.k.  i.  eh.  ii,  §  G. 

3  Umriss,  §  125.  *  Cf.  I'mri.^.i,  §  ]2(i. 

■'  I'mriss,  §  ."iS, 

''  AUgtmcinc  Vailii(j<Hjik\  hk.  iii,  cli.  iv,  §  5,  iU)to 


230    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

"  Great  moral  energy,"  he  repeats/  "  is  the  result  of  broad 
views,  and  of  whole  unbroken  masses  of  thought."  As 
whatever  remains  isolated  is  of  little  significance  in  educa- 
tion Herbart  emphasises  the  correlation  of  studies.^ 

Herbart  also  distinguishes  between  two  types  of  presenta- 
tions, those  which  have  to  be  designedly  reproduced  and 
those  which  emerge  spontaneously  in  mind.^  The  latter 
have  greater  effect  in  creating  interest  and  in  influencing 
conduct.  "  Instruction  in  the  sense  of  mere  information 
giving,"  he  consequently  states,^  "  contains  no  guarantee 
whatever  that  it  will  materially  counteract  faults  and 
influence  existing  presentation-masses."  The  distinction 
which  Herbart  draws  between  the  two  classes  of  presenta- 
tions is  analogous  to  the  division  of  literature  into  the  two 
kinds,  the  informing  kind  and  the  inspiring  kind,  or  the 
literature  of  knowledge  and  the  literature  of  power.^  In 
this  distinction  would  lie  Herbart's  answer  to  the  question 
which  Spencer  puts  in  the  forefront  of  his  work  on  Educa- 
tion, namely,  "  What  knowledge  is  of  most  worth  ?  " 
Spencer  maintained  that  acquirement  of  every  kind  had 
two  values,  value  as  knowledge  and  value  as  discipline. 
Herbart,  denying  as  a  consequence  of  his  rejection  of  the 
doctrine  of  mental  faciflties  the  value  as  discipline,  would 
distinguish  the  knowledge  that  leads  to  interest  from  the 
knowledge  that  consists  of  mere  information,  and  reply 
to  Spencer's  question  that  the  knowledge  which  creates 

^  Allgemcine  I'culcujogik,  bk.  iii,  ch.  iv,  §  5. 

"^  Umriss,  §  58,  note.  ^  Ibid.,  §  71. 

*  Ibid.,  §35. 

Fichte  in  his  lieden  demands  that  in  the  new  education  which  was  to 
be  the  chief  means  to  Germany's  regeneration  "  no  knowledge  shall 
remain  dead." 

^  Arnold  Bennett,  Literary  Taste  :  How  to  form  il ;  and  William 
Watson,  Pencraft. 


HERBART  231 

interest,  the  knowledge  of  character-forniinfr  value,  is  the 
knowledge  of  most  worth. 

The  distinction  between  the  two  kinds  of  knowledge, 
the  informing  and  the  inspiring  kind,  or  between  the 
designedly  reproduced  and  the  spontaneously  emerging 
class  of  ideas,  is  not  absolute,  for  Herbart  states  ^  that 
"  presentations  that  must  by  effort  be  raised  into  conscious- 
ness because  they  do  not  rise  spontaneously,  may  become 
spontaneous  by  gradual  strengthening,  l^ut  this  develop- 
ment we  cannot  count  on  unless  instruction,  advancing 
step  by  step,  bring  it  about."  He  would  thus  maintain 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  make  the  ''  informing  " 
kind  of  knowledge  also  "  inspiring,"  to  present  it  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  arouse  the  pupil's  interest  in  the  subject- 
matter. 

Wlien  the  subject-matter  is  selected,  it  must  be  adapted 
to  teaching  requirements.  Various  arrangements  are 
possible,  constituting  different  methods  of  exposition. 
These,  according  to  Herbart,-  fall  into  two  main  classes, 
the  synthetic  and  the  analytic.  The  former  again  divides 
into  the  purely  presentative  and  the  strictly  synthetic. 

The  object  of  that  part  of  synthetical  instruction  to 
which  the  name  ])urely  presentative  is  given  is  said  by 
Herbart  ^  to  be  twofold  ;  it  must  su])ply  the  elements  and 
prepare  their  combination,  that  is,  the  teacher  ])rovides 
the  material  and  determines  the  order  and  arrangement 
of  instruction.  Such  instruction  wliicli  builds  witii  its 
own  stones  is  alone  capable  of  erecting  the  entire  structure 

'  Umriss,  §  71. 

*  Cf.  AUgcmfine  I'cidagogik,  bk.  ii,  <h.  v  ;  I'mris.f,  §  lOti  ft  /<rq.  For 
analogous  classification  of  forms  of  instruction  ^ce  .1.  Adaiiis,  Ex-position 
and  Illustration,  pp.  59-60. 

»  Ibid  ,  bk.  ii.  ci).  v,  §  1. 


232    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

of  thouglit  which  education  requires  ;  ^  it  must  be  begun 
early,  and  its  end  is  not  to  be  found.  It  may  with  advan- 
tage be  employed  in  the  teaching  of  literature  by  stories, 
and  in  descriptions  of  historical  incidents  and  geographical 
scenes.  It  has  but  one  law — to  describe  in  such  a  way  that 
the  pupil  believes  that  he  sees  what  is  described.- 

In  the  strictly  synthetic  form  of  instruction  the  teacher 
avails  himself  of  the  ideas  which  the  pupil  already  possesses 
to  erect  in  the  pupil's  mind,  according  to  his  own  plans, 
new  mental  constructions.  The  typical  illustration  of 
this  method  is  to  be  found  in  mathematical  teaching. 

Were  the  pupil's  knowledge  wholly  derived  from  the 
teacher's  synthetic  presentation  it  would  be  free  from  error, 
but  as  much  of  it  is  acquired  in  an  irregular  manner  out  of 
school  it  contains  elements  which  are  wrongly  compre- 
hended or  wrongly  related  ;  hence  the  need  for  analytic 
instruction  which  strives  to  eliminate  from  the  pupil's 
mind  wrong  ideas,  to  make  the  ideas  which  he  possesses 
clearer  and  more  definite,  and  to  arrange  them  in  an  orderly 
and  systematic  fashion.  As  in  strictly  synthetic  exposition 
the  pupil  here  also  provides  the  material ;  but  since  analysis 
must  accept  the  material  as  it  finds  it,  limits  are  set  to  this 
form  of  exposition.''  Such  analytic  instruction  is  hardly 
ever  an  end  in  itself  but  is  usually  a  stage  necessary  for 
further  synthesis.'* 

No  matter  what  material  for  instruction  is  selected  or 
what  inethod  of  exposition  is  adopted,  the  same  sequence 
must  be  followed  in  teaching  if  interest  is  to  ensue.  This 
sequence  is  determined  by  the  conditions  governing  the 
development  of  knowledge.  An  analysis  of  the  growth  of 
knowledge  discloses  a  double  movement  :   (1)  Concentration 

'  AUgcinrinc  I'ddwjogik,  bk.  ii,  ill.  v,  §  1.  ^  Ihld. 

3  Cf.  Ibid.,  bk.  ii,  ch.  V  '  Cf.  Umriss,  110-124. 


HER  BART  233 

( Verliefung)  or  absorption  in  a  subject  ;  this  alone  would, 
however,  produce  one-sidedness,  hence  the  need  for  (2) 
Co-ordination  {Besinnung)  or  systematisation  of  the  results 
of  concentration.  In  his  Lehrbuch  zur  Psychologie  ^  Herbart 
characterises  this  twofold  process  by  the  metaphor  of  mental 
respiration. 

In  one  of  his  aphorisms  ^  he  explains  the  development 
thus  :  "  Concentration  occurs  when  a  thought  or  series  of 
thoughts  becomes  so  powerful  \\'ithin  us  that  it  suppresses 
those  presentations  which  usually  constitute  consciousness. 
Co-ordination  occurs  when  the  ordinary  contents  of  our 
consciousness  come  to  the  front.  The  expression  '  ordinary 
consciousness  "  is  obviously  vague,  but  this  indicates  that 
concentration  as  well  as  co-ordination  can  be  very  partial  and 
consequently  may  be  very  multiform.  Concentration  does 
not  always  suppress  all  the  contents  of  consciousness,  nor 
does  co-ordination  reestablish  them  all."  In  the  AUgcmeinc 
Pddagogik  ^  he  expresses  the  meaning  of  Concentration  in 
more  popular  parlance  by  saying  that  he  who  has  at  anytime 
given  himself  up  con  amore  to  any  object  of  human  activity 
understands  what  concentration  means.  Co-ordination  is 
necessary  to  preserve  the  miity  of  consciousness,  to  collect 
and  combine  the  results  produced  by  concentration. 

As  these  two  concepts  are  too  general  for  ])ractical 
purposes  Herbart  iinds  it  necessary  to  subdivide  Concentra- 
tion into  Clearness  and  Association,  and  Co-ordination  into 
System  and  Method.  Clearness,  Association,  System,  and 
Method  thus  become  Herbarts  formal  ste})s  in  teaching.'' 

"  In  order  always  to  maintain  in  the  mind's  coherence,"" 
he  argues,^   "  instruction  must    follow  the  rule  of  giving 

*  §  210,  note.  -  Aphorismcn,  1.  '  Bk.  ii,  ch.  i,  §  1. 

^  Cf.  Allgemcinc  Padagonik,  bk.  ii,  c  h.  i.  §  2  ;    I'jnriss,  ^^  GS-O'J. 
•'  Allgemcinc  l^ddagogik,  bk.  ii.  ch.  iv,  §  2. 


234    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

equal  weight  in  every  smallest  possible  group  of  its  objects 
to  concentration  and  reflection  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  must  care 
equally  and  in  regular  succession  for  clearness  of  every 
particular,  for  association  of  the  manifold,  for  coherent 
ordering  of  what  is  associated,  and  for  a  certain  practice 
in  progression  through  this  order.  Upon  this  depends  the 
distinctness  which  must  rule  in  all  that  is  taught." 

Under  Clearness  Herbart  includes  the  analysis  and 
synthesis  of  the  given.  It  is  equivalent  to  the  so-called 
Herbartian  step  of  Presentation.  Through  Association 
the  new  knowledge  presented  to  the  pupil  is  connected 
with  the  old ;  and  Association  accordingly  implies  the 
apperceptive  process  and  is  analogous  to  the  Preparation 
stage  of  the  Herbartian  five  formal  steps.  Its  purpose  is 
to  secure  a  proper  orientation  of  the  subject  to  be  taught. 
"For  Association,"  Herbart  tells  us,^  "the  best  mode  of 
procedure  is  informal  conversation,  because  it  gives  the 
pupil  an  opportunity  to  test  and  to  change  the  accidental 
union  of  his  thoughts,  to  multiply  the  links  of  connection, 
and  to  assimilate,  after  his  own  fashion,  what  he  has  learned. 
It  enables  him,  besides,  to  do  at  least  a  part  of  all  this  in 
any  way  that  happens  to  be  the  easiest  and  most  con- 
venient." Association  prepares  the  way  for  System,  which 
is  "the  perfect  order  of  a  copious  co-ordination."  "By 
exhibiting  and  emphasising  the  leading  principles,"  Herbart 
adds,  "  System  impresses  upon  the  minds  of  pupils  the 
value  of  organised  knowledge. "  ^  In  the  generally  accepted 
Herbartian  tradition  system  is  termed  Generalisation. 
Furthermore,  a  system  is  not  to  be  learned  merely  ;  it  is  to 
be  used,  applied,  and  often  needs  to  be  supplemented  by 
additions  inserted  in  appropriate  places.^  This  application 
Herbart  terms  Method,  whereas  by  his  successors  the  self- 

1  Umriss,  §  69.  «  Ibid.,  §  09.  '■  Ibid.,  §  G8. 


HERBART  235 

explanatory  term  Application  has  been  reserved  to  denote 
this  extension  of  System. 

These  various  steps  are  believed  by  Herbart  to  be  requi- 
site, one  by  one,  in  the  order  given  for  every  section,  small 
or  large,  of  subjects  to  be  taught.^  Only  when  this  procedure 
is  adopted  are  we  justified  in  expecting  that  interest  will 
be  insured.  AMiile  various  educationists  have  attempted 
to  substantiate  this  claim,^  the  procedure  can  be  said  to  be 
valid  only  for  that  form  of  instruction  which  Herbart  had 
mainly  in  view,  the  aim  of  which  is  the  acquirement  of 
knowledge  ;  when  the  aim  of  the  lesson  is  the  development 
of  skill,  a  different  procedure  will  doubtless  be  found  to  be 
more  appropriate. 

Herbart's  formal  steps  apply  to  method-wholes  or  method- 
units,  not  to  indi\-idual  lessons  ;  that  is,  they  are  the  stages 
in  the  exposition  of  a  topic  or  section  of  a  subject  which 
has  a  unit}'  and  completeness  in  itself.  It  is  the  mechanical 
application  of  the  formal  steps  in  each  and  every  lesson 
that  has  brought  the  Herbartian  method  into  discredit, 
and  this  formalism  can  best  be  overcome  by  a  return  to 
the  study  of  Herbart's  own  writings. 

Educators  previous  to  the  time  of  Herbart  had  made  the 
training  of  character  the  end  of  education,  while  others  had 
recognised  the  imj)ortance  of  interest ;  but  it  was  left  to 
Herbart  to  connect  instruction  with  character-training 
through  interest,  and  to  make  the  proper  selection  of  the 
content  of  instruction  and  the  right  method  of  presenting 
the  selected  content  moral  duties  incumbent  on  the  teacher, 
and  contributing  factors  in  the  achievement  of  the  aim 
which  he  sets  up  for  himself. 

'  Ibid.,  08.     (f.  §  70,  also  Allgcmcine.  Pddagogik,  bk.  ii,  oh.  iv,  §  2. 
-  E.g..  Findlay,  Frinriple.i  of  Cla.s.t  Tenchivg. 


CHAPTER  XI 

FEOEBEL 

By  the  uninitiated  Froebel  is  regarded  as  an  ardent  lover 
of  childhood,  the  apostle  of  play  in  Education  and  the 
founder  of  the  Kindergarten,  an  institution  for  young 
children  in  which  paper-folding,  mat-weaving,  clay-model- 
ling, symbolic  games,  and  action-songs  are  employed 
according  to  a  methodical  and  systematic  procedure. 
For  the  strict  Froebelian,  however,  these  occupations  and 
plays  are  sacred  rites,  expressing  spiritual  principles  and 
possessing  deep  philosophic  significance.  Froebel  himself 
lends  authority  to  the  interpretation  of  his  disciples, 
maintaining  ^  that  "  the  spirit  in  which  a  play  is  conceived 
and  originated,  as  well  as  the  spirit  in  which  the  plaything 
is  treated  and  the  play  played,  give  to  the  play  its  signifi- 
cance and  its  worth."  An  exoteric  and  an  esoteric  treat- 
ment are  therefore  both  possible,  and  a  just  exposition 
of  Froebel 's  doctrine  must  embrace  both  views. 

Froebel  regards  man's  life  as  a  continuous  process  of 
development  or  of  evolution  from  within.  "  It  is  highly 
important,"  he  affirms,^  "  that  man's  development  should 

*  Die  Fddagocjilc  des  Kirulcrgartens,  English  trans,  under  title  I'ada- 
gogics  of  the  Kindergarten,  by  J.  Jarvis,  p.  34. 

'  Mamchcmrzichung,  English  trans,  under  title  of  Education  of  Man, 
by  W.  N.  Hailnian,  §  22,  ef.  §  24. 


FROEBEL  237 

proceed  continuously  from  one  point,  and  that  this  con- 
tinuous progress  be  seen  and  ever  guarded.  Sharp  limits 
and  definite  subdi\asions  within  the  continuous  series  of 
the  years  of  development,  withdrawing  from  attention  the 
permanent  continuity,  the  li\'ing  connection,  the  inner 
living  essence,  are  therefore  highly  pernicious,  and  even 
destructive  in  their  influence."  For  the  full  realisation 
of  this  development  it  is  necessary,  he  continues,^  "  to 
consider  the  life  of  the  child  and  the  beginnings  of  its  life 
in  its  own  true  deep  significance  and  subjectivity,  as  well 
as  in  its  relation  to  the  totality  of  life  :  to  consider  childhood 
as  the  most  important  stage  of  the  total  development  of 
man  and  of  humanity — indeed,  as  a  stage  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  spiritual  as  such,  and  of  the  godlike  in  the 
earthly  and  human." 

Notwithstanding  Froebel's  insistence  on  the  continuity 
of  development  he  does  not  hesitate  to  distinguish  well- 
marked  stages  and  to  set  these  in  opposition  one  to  the 
other.  Thus  the  period  of  childhood  is  characterised  as 
predominantly  that  of  life  for  the  mere  sake  of  living,  for 
making  the  internal  external  ;  the  period  of  boyhood  is 
predominantly  the  period  for  learning,  for  making  the 
external  internal.^  The  former  is  the  period  of  ]»lay,  the 
latter  of  work  ;  "  what  formerly  the  child  did  only  for 
the  sake  of  the  activity,  the  boy  now  does  for  the  sake 
of  the  result  or  product  of  his  activity  '"  ;  ^  "  whih^  during 

'  Pedagogics  of  the  Kindergarten,  ]>.  9o.  Cf.  Rewinii^cencf.i  of  Frrdt .  tck 
Froebrl,  by  Baroness  B.  von  Marenholz-Biil'nv,  En;2lisli  tran«.  hy  Mrs 
Horace  Mann,  ]).  143  :  "The  earliest  a^e  is  the  most  important  one  for 
C(l\ieation.  because  the  bepinnint;  derides  the  manner  of  progress  and  the 
end.  If  national  order  is  to  be  recof;nised  in  later  years  as  a  benefit, 
childhood  must  tirst  be  accustomed  to  law  and  order,  and  therein  iind 
means  of  freedom." 

2  Education  of  Man,  §  45.  '  .5  40. 


238    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

the  period  of  childhood  the  aim  of  play  consisted  simply 
in  activity  as  such,  its  aim  lies  now  (in  boyhood)  in  a 
definite  conscious  purpose."  ^  "If  activity  brought  joy 
to  the  child,  work  now  gives  delight  to  the  boy."  ^ 

Play  is  the  characteristic  activity  of  childhood  :  it  is, 
says  Froebel,^  "  the  highest  phase  of  child-development — - 
of  human  development  at  this  period  ;  for  it  is  self-active 
representation  of  the  inner — ^representation  of  the  inner 
from  inner  necessity  and  impulse.  Play  is  the  purest, 
most  spiritual  activity  of  man  at  this  stage,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  typical  of  human  life  as  a  whole — of  the  inner 
hidden  natural  life  in  man  and  all  things.  It  gives,  there- 
fore, joy,  freedom,  contentment,  inner  and  outer  rest,  peace 
with  the  world.     It  holds  the  source  of  all  that  is  good." 

To  have  educative  value  the  play  of  the  child  must  not 
be  a  purposeless  activity  ;  his  play  impulses  must  be  directed 
and  controlled  by  the  use  of  dejfinite  material  necessitating 
an  orderly  sequence  in  the  feelings  engendered  and  in  the 
activities  exercised.  "  Without  rational,  conscious  guid- 
ance," Froebel  is  reported  to  have  said,^  "  childish  activity 
degenerates  into  aimless  play  instead  of  preparing  for  those 
tasks  of  life  for  which  it  is  destined  ...  In  the  Kinder- 
garten the  children  are  guided  to  bring  out  their  plays  in 
such  a  manner  as  really  to  reach  the  aim  desired  by  nature, 
that  is,  to  serve  for  their  development  .  .  .  Human  educa- 
tion needs  a  guide  which  I  think  I  have  found  in  a  general 
law  of  development  that  rules  both  in  nature  and  in  the 
intellectual  world.  Without  law-abiding  guidance  there 
is  no  free  development." 

To  the  selection  of  suitable  material  Froebel  devoted 
much   reflection,   with   the   result   that,   on  philosophical 

^  Education  of  Man,  §  49.  *  I  hid. 

'  §  30.  *  Reminiscences,  pp.  67-8. 


FROEBEL  239 

grounds  to  be  explained  below,  he  decided  that  the  sphere 
in  the  form  of  the  soft  ball  should  serve  as  the  first  gift  to 
the  child,  and  the  hard  sphere,  the  cube  and  the  cylinder 
should  constitute  the  second  gift.  Several  of  the  remaining 
gifts  result  from  various  subdivisions  of  the  cube.  The 
gifts  comprise  the  material  for  the  various  "  plays  "  of  the 
child. 

As  an  illustration  of  one  such  play  or  occupation  we  shall 
quote  the  fourth,  which  on  Froebel's  own  admission  ^  has  a 
peculiar  charm  for  the  child  : 

"As  cuhe  I  stand  here  in  my  place; 
As  surface  now,  I  show  my  face, 
Yet  always  am  the  same — 
I  like  this  pretty  game. 
Now  without  delay 
Divide  me  in  your  ])Iay  ; 
Making  fleetly, 
1^)11 1  yet  neatly 
Two  (juite  efpial  parts. 

"  While  the  mother  or  Kindergartener  sings  this  rhyme, 
she  di\ndes  the  whole  cube  by  one  motion  into  two  equal 
parts.  The  division  may  be  made  either  vertically  or 
horizontally.  In  both  cases  the  result  is  the  production 
of  two  square  prisms,  the  positions  of  which  vary  according 
to  the  manner  of  dixnsion.  "\Miile  the  mother  represents 
these,  she  sings  in  the  person  of  the  square  to  the  child  : 

"  From  above  if  you  divide  me, 
Both  the  halves  will   be  upright  ; 
Straight  across  if  you  divide  me 
Halves  recumbent  meet  your  sight. 
In  position  not  the  same  ; 
But  in  size  tliey  are  the  same, 
Each  is  like  the  other  half. 

*  Pedagogics  of  the  Kindergarten,  p.  183, 


240    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

"  If  one  now  wishes  to  represent  more  strikingly  to  the 
child  that  the  size  and  form  remain  the  same  in  different 
positions,  one  places  the  halves  with  their  broad  sides  now 
upon  one  another,  thus  doubling  their  height ;  now  side 
by  side,  thus  doubling  their  length.  In  both  cases  the 
action  is  interpreted  by  song  : 

Place  one  lialf  upon  one  half, 
The  form  is  high  we  see. 
Lay  one  half  beside  one  half, 
A  long  form  this  must  be. 
Yet  equal  form  and  size  do  show 
In  each  position  as  we  know." 

Froebel,  in  addition  to  such  "  plays  "  with  the  gifts, 
introduced  movement  plays  or  games  in  w^hich  the  children's 
movements  represent  a  winding  brook,  a  snail,  a  wheel, 
etc.^  About  the  second  year,  certainly  in  the  third  year,^ 
there  are  substituted  for  the  gifts  other  materials  required 
for  such  occupations  as  modelling,  paper-folding,  stick- 
laying.  These  materials  and  occupations  are  also  supposed 
by  Froebel  to  envisage  the  laws  of  life  and  nature. 

AVhile  play  is  the  characteristic  activity  of  childhood, 
work  is  that  of  boyhood.  Interest  in  the  process  gives  place 
to  interest  in  the  product.  But,  for  Froebel,  there  is  a 
unity  comprehending  this  opposition  between  play  and 
work,  for  both  he  regards  as  means  to  the  individual's 
self-realisation ;  "  Man  works,"  he  affirms,^  "  that  his 
spiritual  divine  essence  may  assume  outward  form,  and 
that  thus  he  may  be  enabled  to  recognise  his  own  spiritual, 
divine  nature  and  the  innermost  being  of  God."     That  the 

*  Pedagogics  of  the  Kindergarten,  ch.  xiv. 

*  Education  by  Development.     The  second  part  of  the  translation  of 
Die  Pddagogik  des  KindergartcTi-s,  p.  61. 

^  Education  of  Man,  §  23. 


FROEBEL  211 

real  significance  of  work  is  its  contribution  to  the  indi\'idiiars 
self-realisation  is  the  doctrine  of  many  social  reformers  ; 
only  when  this  ideal  is  realised  can  man  be  expected  to  find 
blessedness  in  labour,  as  Carlyle  preached.  In  many 
forms  of  activity  there  is  at  present  so  little  opportunity 
for  spontaneity  and  self-expression,  that  nothing  but 
contract  and  obligation  can  avail  to  keep  people  steadily 
engaged  in  them.  "  They  are  happy  men,"  as  Bacon 
says,  "  whose  natures  sort  with  their  vocations  ;  "  and 
it  is  only  in  the  higher  arts  that  an  approximation  to 
Froebel's  ideal  becomes  possible,  that  work  and  play  are 
identified. 

Froebel's  demand  for  the  inclusion  of  manual  work  in 
the  school  curriculum  is  based  on  this  idealistic  conception 
of  work.  Manual  work  is  a  necessary  condition  of  the 
realisation  of  the  pupil's  personality  ;  through  it  he  comes 
to  himself.  "  Every  child,  boy,  and  youth,  whatever  his 
condition  or  position  in  life,  should  devote  daily  at  least 
one  or  two  hours  to  some  serious  acti\'ity  in  the  production 
of  some  definite  external  ])iece  of  work  .  .  .  Children 
mankind,  indeed — are  at  present  too  much  and  too  variously 
concerned  with  aimless  and  purposeless  pursuits,  and  too 
little  with  work.  Children  and  parents  consider  the 
acti\'ity  of  actual  work  so  much  to  their  disadvantage, 
and  so  unimportant  for  their  future  conditions  of  life,  that 
educational  institutions  should  make  it  one  of  their  most 
constant  endeavours  to  dispel  this  delusion.  The  domestic 
and  scholastic  education  of  our  time  leads  children  to 
indolence  and  laziness  ;  a  vast  amount  of  human  power 
thereby  remains  undeveloped  and  is  lost."  ^ 

It  must  not  be  assumed,  however,  that  Froebel  ignored 
the  other  subjects  of  the  curriculum  and  the  later  stages 
1  Education  of  Man,  §  2.3.  of.  ^  ST. 


242    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

of  education  ;  while  in  the  writings  he  advocates  manual 
instruction  he  also  recommends  the  introduction  of  such 
subjects  as  D^a^\ing,  Nature  Study,  and  School  Gardening. 
He  insists,  like  Herbart,  on  an  all-round  development  as 
the  aim  of  education,  and  as  the  main  divisions  of  an 
educational  curriculum  he  enumerates  [a)  Religion  and 
Religious  Instruction,  (6)  Natural  Science  and  Mathe- 
matics, (c)  Language,  {d)  Art  and  Objects  of  Art,  remarking  ^ 
that  human  education  requires  the  knowledge  and  apprecia- 
tion of  religion,  nature,  and  language  ;  and  with  reference 
to  the  aim  of  instruction  in  art  he  states  :  ^  "  Its  intention 
will  not  be  to  make  each  pupil  an  artist  in  some  one  or  all 
of  the  arts,  but  to  secure  to  each  human  being  full  and 
all-sided  development." 

Froebel's  fame  nevertheless  rests  on  the  Kindergarten, 
to  the  establishment  of  which  he  devoted  the  later  part 
of  his  life.  He  was  more  fortunate  than  Pestalozzi  in  his 
coadjutors,  and  some  of  them  could  more  fully  and  more 
faithfully  than  Froebel  himself  expound  the  principles  and 
plays  of  the  Kindergarten.  Notwithstanding  the  issue  of 
a  rescript  ^  prohibiting  the  establishment  of  Kindergartens 
in  Prussia  as  dangerous  to  society — -with  their  "  three-year- 
old  demagogues,"  as  a  comic  paper  of  the  day  explained, — 
Froebel  had  the  satisfaction  before  his  death  of  obtaining  a 
glimpse  of  that  promised  land  to  which  he  had  set  out  to 
lead  the  children  of  the  world. 

Froebel  with  as  much  truth  as  Herbart  might  have 
declared  that  his  educational  principles  were  nothing  apart 
from  his  philosophy  ;  ■*  indeed,  without  any  justification  for 

1  Edurniion  of  Man,  §  77.  *  §  85. 

^  In  1851.     Cf.  Remimscenccx,  p.  200  ct  sen. 

■'  In  a  letter  written  at  Dresden,  28th  January,  1839,  lie  says,  "  You, 
my  dear  wife,  could  have  told  this  man  that,  as  this  system  of  education, 


FROEBEL  243 

his  action  but  not  without  some  justification  for  the  reason 
he  frives  for  it,  von  Raumer  defended  his  rescript  prohibiting]; 
the  establishment  of  Kindergartens  in  Prussia  on  the  ground 
that  the  principle  consisted  in  laying  at  the  foundation  of 
the  education  of  children  a  highly  intricate  theory.^ 

The  philosophy  which  Froebel  inherited,  and  by  which 
through  his  connection  with  the  University  of  Jena  ^  he 
could  not  but  be  influenced,  was  the  idealism  initiated  by 
Kant  and  developed  by  Fichte,  Schelling,  and  Hegel.  A 
short  excursus  into  this  philosophy  is  requisite  to  obtain 
the  right  orientation  for  the  proper  appreciation  of  Froebel's 
doctrines,  although  at  the  outset  it  must  be  premised  that, 
by  reason  of  his  irregular  training,  Froebel  neither  adopted 
nor  developed  a  consistent  philosophic  attitude.  He 
continued  as  he  himself  explains  in  a  letter  to  Krause  ^ 
"  without  ceasing  to  systematise,  symbolise,  idealise, 
realise  and  recognise  identities  and  analogies  amongst  all 
facts  and  phenomena,  all  problems,  expressions,  and 
formulas  ;  and  in  this  way,  life  with  all  varied  phenomena 
and  activities  become  more  and  more  free  from  contra- 
dictions, more  harmonious,  simple  and  clear,  and  more 
recognisable  as  a  part  of  the  life  universal."  Although 
amongst  educationists  Froebel  may  pass  for  a  philosoplior, 
he  would  never  be  so  reckoned  by  philoso])hers. 

as  he  .said,  is  clear  and  j)alpablp  to  the  youngest  rhil<l,  it  also  contaitis  in 
itself  all  Philosophy."  FrochrVs  Lrttrr.t,  English  trans,  hy  Emily  Shir- 
refF,  p.  74. 

*  Cf.  Rfvnnisrrncf^,  p.  109. 

*CA.  Autobiography,  English  trans,  hy  Michaelis  and  Moore,  p.  29: 
"  I  studied  nothing  |)urely  theoretical  except  niatheinatics  ;  and  of 
philosophical  teaching  and  thought  I  learnt  only  so  much  as  the  inter- 
cour.se  of  university  life  hrought  with  it  ;  but  it  was  ])reci.sely  through 
this  intercourse  that  I  received  in  various  ways  a  nianysided  intellectual 
impulse." 

^  Auiohiography,  yi.  107. 


244    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

The  task  which  Kant  set  himself  was  to  determine  the 
conditions  of  knowledge  or  of  experience.  He  found  that 
it  was  impossible  to  account  for  experience  as  a  mere 
reflection  of  nature.  Hume  had  tried  this,  and  ended  in 
scepticism.  The  other  alternative  then  was  that  nature 
must  conform  to  our  method  of  conceiving  it.  The  world 
of  science  is  found  to  be  arranged  in  space  and  time,  and 
its  phenomena  are  connected  in  a  casual  series  ;  this 
arrangement  and  determination,  Kant  maintains,  result 
from  the  fact  that  the  mind  is  so  constituted  that  only 
thus  is  experience  possible  for  it.  The  world  apprehended 
by  the  forms  of  space  and  time  and  conceived  in  accordance 
with  the  categories  of  substance,  cause,  etc.,  Kant  terms 
the  phenomenal  world.  He  leaves  open  the  possibility 
of  another  form  of  experience  by  postulating  the  existence 
of  the  noumenal  world,  a  world  which  cannot  be  known 
through  perception  and  understanding,  but  which  might 
be  experienced  by  an  intuitive  intelligence. 

When  we  attempt  to  apply  the  forms  of  perception  and 
the  categories  of  the  understanding  beyond  the  sphere  of 
the  phenomenal  world,  that  is,  beyond  the  world  of  science, 
we  find  that  such  application  gives  rise  to  antinomies  or 
contradictions.  We  can  prove,  for  example,  both  that  the 
world  had  a  beginning,  and  that  it  had  no  beginning  ;  that 
it  had  a  First  Cause,  and  that  it  had  no  First  Cause  ;  that 
the  soul  is  a  simple  substance,  and  that  it  is  not  so.  The 
conclusion  which  Kant  draws  from  the  antinomies  is  that 
these  conceptions  of  cause,  substance,  etc.,  are  valid  only 
within  the  phenomenal  sphere  ;  it  is  their  application 
beyond  this  sphere  that  causes  the  antinomies  ;  causality 
is,  for  example,  limited  to  the  scientific  world  ;  in  another 
form  of  experience  or  in  another  sphere,  for  example,  the 
moral,  freedom  may  be  possible. 


FROEBEL  215 

Kant  in  his  Critique  of  Pure  Reason  thus  restricted  the 
appHcation  of  the  conceptions  of  cause,  substance,  space, 
etc.,  to  the  scientific  reahn,  granting  nevertheless  the 
possibihty  of  the  existence  of  another  realm  where  freedom 
would  be  possible,  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  the 
existence  of  God  would  not  be  self-contradictory  con- 
ceptions. Opposed  to  the  phenomenal  world  he  set  the 
noumenal  world,  nomnena  being  regarded  as  mere  limiting 
conceptions  implying  the  possibility  of  a  form  of  experience 
other  than  the  material  and  scientific. 

In  the  Critique  of  Practical  Reason  Kant  maintains  that 
the  noumena  which  in  the  First  Critique  were  merely 
possible  objects  in  a  non-scientific  world  have  positive 
significance  and  content.  We  find  in  the  ethical  sphere 
the  conception  of  duty,  a  positive  conception  which  in  its 
nature  demands  freedom.  Thus  for  Kant  there  are  two 
spheres  in  which  man  lives,  the  phenomenal  or  scientific 
world  governed  by  the  conception  of  cause,  and  the  nou- 
menal or  ethical  world  characterised  by  freedom.  Kant 
fails  to  relate  these  two  spheres  properly  to  each  other, 
but  to  him  is  due  the  credit  of  demonstrating  that  either 
alone  is  incomplete.  He  made  naturalism  and  nuiterialism 
as  adecpiate  philosophical  explanations  untenabk\  and  by 
establishing  the  priority  of  the  ethical  life  and  tlie  reality 
of  the  spiritual  realm  laid  the  foundation  of  m()(l(>rn  idealism. 

The  educational  corollary  of  Kant's  doctrine  is  that  in 
opposition  to,  but  not  incompatible  with,  a  mechanical 
concatenation  of  external  phenomena  stands  a  free  imier 
synthetic  or  creative  activity.^  Although  Kant's  method 
was  the  "  critical  "  and  not  the  p.sychological,  tlie  priority 
assigned  by  him  to  the  iimer  and  determining  aspect  of 

*  Froolicl  in  his  Autobicxjraphy  (p.  93)  statt-s  that  even  in  inilitar\- 
exercises  "■  1  could  sec  freedom  ])eiu'atii  tlieir  rccot^iiised  ne<'c.ssitv  ''  ! 


246    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

experience  gives  the  necessary  philosophical  support  to 
the  psychological  treatment  of  Education  which  is  charac- 
teristic of  succeeding  educational  thought. 

The  task  set  to  his  successors  was  to  resolve  the  dualism 
inherent  in  Kant's  system.  His  naturalistic  and  realistic 
interpreters,  on  the  one  hand,  relying  mainly  on  the  First 
Critique,  insisted  on  the  connectedness  and  completeness 
of  the  phenomenal  world,  and  resolved  the  realities  of  the 
noumenal  or  intelligible  world — God,  freedom,  and  im- 
mortality— into  mere  serviceable  illusions.  Fichte,  on  the 
other  hand,  relying  on  the  supremacy  of  the  practical 
reason,  emphasised  the  noumenal  character  of  the  intelligible 
world  to  such  an  extent  as  to  reduce  the  phenomenal 
world  to  a  mere  appearance  or  illusion.  The  free  activity 
of  Reason  or  Self-Consciousness  could  not,  in  Fichte's  view, 
be  conditioned  by  anything  alien  to  itself.  He  consequently 
assumed  that  the  object  which  consciousness  demanded  as 
a  necessary  condition  of  its  own  existence  and  progressive 
realisation  was  not  a  mere  sensuous  element  externally 
"  given,"  but  a  product  of  the  self-estranging  process  of 
consciousness  itself.^ 

Fichte's  influence  on  education,  more  especially  on 
German  education,  was  considerable  ;  this  influence  is, 
however,  derived  from  his  popular  addresses,  not  from  his 
metaphysical  doctrines.  In  his  Reden  an  die  deutsche 
Nation  delivered  in  Berlin  in  1807-8,  when  Prussia,  after 
its  defeat  at  Jena,  was  in  its  adversity  willing  to  attend  to 
its  philosophers  and  to  consider  their  idealistic  views, 
Fichte  contended  that  the  regeneration  of  Germany  could 
only  be  achieved  by  a  complete  change  in  the  existing 
educational  system.  He  demanded  that  the  whole  people 
should  be  educated  without  distinction  of  class,  but  whereas 
*  For  account  of  Fichte's  philosophy  see  11.  Adaiiison's  Fichte. 


FROEBEL  247 

he  coninieiided  favourably  the  efforts  of  Pestalozzi,  Fichte 
differed  from  Pestalozzi  in  maintaining  that  education 
should  be  under  the  control  of  the  nation  and  not  of  the 
home.  As  Kant  taught  that  nature  must  conform  to  the 
mind's  method  of  knowing,  so  Fichte  maintained  that  for 
the  new  education  the  real  world  was  the  world  compre- 
hended through  thought,  and  that  to  this  world  and  not 
to  the  world  of  sense  must  the  child  be  first  introduced.^ 
The  training  in  Anschauung  which  Pestalozzi  reconunended, 
Fichte  approves  of,  although  he  criticises  the  objects  on 
which  Pestalozzi  exercised  this  training.  Fichte  also  agrees 
that  one  of  the  chief  functions  of  the  new  education  is  to 
stimulate  the  development  of  the  niental  powers,  and,  like 
Herbart,  he  makes  morality  the  end  of  education  and  mental 
culture  the  indispensable  means  to  the  attainment  of  this 
end.^  The  discourses  are  undoubtedly  inspiring,  but  the 
exclusively  national  character  of  Fichtes  appeal  and  of 
his  ideal,  and  the  absolute  surrender  of  the  individual 
to  the  nation  demanded  in  them  detract  from  their 
value. 

While  Schelling's  standpoint  was  at  the  outset  practi- 
cally identical  with  that  of  Fichte,  in  his  later  writings 
he  sought  to  correct  the  overstatement  of  Fichte  which 
tended  to  reduce  nature  to  a  nonentity,  by  insisting  that 
the  Absolute  equally  manifests  itself  in  nature  and  in 
spirit,  and  that  the  intelligence  could  lind  itself  in  nature 
as  well  as  in  itself. 

That  Froebel  was  influenced  by  Schelling  is  beyond 
doubt,  for  in  his  Au(obio<jr(ij)li )/'•''  he  admits  that  he  was 
acquainted  with  Schelling's  work  On  the  \Vorl<l  iSoul,  stating 
"  what  I  read  in  that  book  moved  me  ])r()f()undly.  and  1 
thought  1  understood  it."     In  this  work  "  Schelling,""  it  is 

1  Neunte  Rede.  *  Dritte  Rede.  ^  ii.  40. 


248    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

said,^  "  seeks  mainly  for  a  principle  which  shall  reduce  the 
whole  of  nature  to  unity.  This  principle  must  not  be 
sought  in  any  transcendental,  supernatural  region,  whether 
called  God  or  Fate,  but  in  nature  itself.  A  principle  such 
as  is  sought  Schelling  seemed  to  find  in  a  conception  of 
matter  as  a  unity  of  opposite  forces,  and  hence  he  naturally 
attempted  to  reduce  all  the  varied  phenomena  of  nature 
to  the  single  principle  of  a  force  that  always  manifests 
itself  in  opposite  directions.  Accordingly  nature  must  no 
longer  be  divided  up  into  separate  groups  of  phenomena, 
with  a  special  kind  of  force  for  each — mechanical,  chemical, 
electrical,  vital, — but  in  all  must  be  seen  the  same  force 
in  various  forms,  the  same  unity  in  duality  ...  In  thus 
making  the  idea  of  force  the  supreme  principle  of  nature, 
Schelling  has  manifestly  stripped  that  conception  of  its 
purely  mechanical  connotation,  and  thus  it  becomes 
practically  identical  with  the  idea  of  nature  as  an  eternal 
process  or  manifestation  of  self -activity."  Schelling  makes 
the  artistic  view  of  nature  wherein  reality  is  taken  as  a 
living  whole,  as  the  expression  throughout  of  spirit,  the 
highest  reach  of  thought,  and  the  final  attitude  of  specula- 
tion ;  Froebel  likewise  employs  aesthetic  metaphor  to 
explain  the  relation  of  the  world  to  God.  Thus  he  states  :  ^ 
"  The  relation  of  nature  to  God  may  be  truly  and  clearly 
perceived  and  recognised  by  man  in  the  study  and  elucida- 
tion of  the  innermost  spiritual  relation  of  a  genuine  hmiian 
work  of  art  to  the  artist." 

In  Hegel  the  idealism  initiated  by  Kant  finds  its  con- 
smnmation  and  completest  expression.^  When  the  close 
analogy  between  his  law  of  opposites  with  their  reconcilia- 

1  J.  Watson  :   Schellijig's  TransrcndrnUd  Idealism,  ]ip.  95-G. 

^  Education  of  Man,  §  63. 

■'  For  philo.yophy  of  Hegfil  sec  E.  Caird'.s  Hegel. 


FROEBEL  249 

tion  in  a  higher  unity  and  the  dialectual  movement  of 
thought  in  Hegel's  philosophy  was  indicated  by  a  visitor 
to  his  Kindergarten  at  Liebenstein  in  1851,  Froebel,  while 
not  disclaiming  acquaintance  with  Hegel's  principle,  is 
reported  ^  to  have  replied  that  he  did  not  know  how  Hegel 
had  formulated  and  appUed  this  law,  as  he  had  had  no  time 
for  the  study  of  the  latter's  system.  This  may  well  have 
been  the  case,  since  the  idea  of  antitheses  and  their  recon- 
ciliation in  a  higher  synthesis  is  not  peculiar  to  Hegel  but 
is  common  to  Fichte  and  Schelling. 

With  Krause,  a  philosopher  almost  unknown  to  English 
students  of  philosophy,  Froebel  was  acquainted  and  main- 
tained a  correspondence.  To  one  of  Froebel's  letters  to 
Krause  ^  we  owe  a  knowledge  of  many  of  the  autobio- 
graphical details  of  Froebel's  life  ;  that  Krause's  writings 
and  his  ac(j[uaintance  with  Froebel  had  an  influence  upon 
the  latter,  is  acknowledged  by  liaroness  B.  von  Marenholz- 
Biilow  ^  in  her  Reminiscences  of  Friedrich  Froebel,  who 
explains  that  Krause's  writings  even  lent  expression  to 
Froebel's  views,  in  fornuilating  which  the  latter  experienced 
much  difficulty.  For  Krause,  "  this  gentlest  and  humanest 
thinker  of  the  nineteenth  century,"*  everything  exists  in 
God.  The  world  is  not,  however,  God  Himself,  but  it  is 
only  in  and  through  God.  Reason  and  Nature  are  the  two 
highest  hemispheres  of  the  world  as  they  exist  in  God, 
bright  and  powerfid  as  God's  actual  image  and  likeness. 
Natiu'e  is  as  holy,  as  worthy,  as  divine  as  jieason.  The 
life  of  Reason  is  not  lawless  caprice  nor  the  life  of  Nature 

'  licminisccnccs,  p.  225. 

'  24th  March,  1828.     See  Autobiography,  English  trans.,  pp.  104120. 
'  Reminiscence,^,  English  trans.,  p.  247. 

*  K.  C.  F.  Krause,  The  Ideal  of  llttmanili/  and  Universal  Federation. 
English  trans,  by  W.  Hastie.     Translators  Preface. 


250    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

dead  necessity  ;  in  both  are  recognised  divine  freedom  and 
beauty.  A  parallelism  obtains  between  the  power  and 
works  of  Nature  and  Reason.  This  parallelism  is  necessary 
and  abiding,  because  both  Nature  and  Reason  exhibit  the 
same  essential  being  of  the  Deity.  Man  is  the  living  unity 
of  the  two,  and  the  inmost  and  most  glorious  part  of  that 
harmony  of  reason  and  Nature  which  is  established  by  God. 

The  further  movement  of  Krause's  thought  may  be 
inferred  from  Baroness  von  Marenholz-Biilow^'s  statement 
of  his  relation  to  Froebel.  "  The  theory  in  which  Froebel 
and  Krause  agreed  especially,"  she  says,^  "is  the  idea  of 
the  analogy  existing  between  organic  development  in 
nature  and  organic  development  in  the  spiritual  world, 
and  according  to  which  the  historical  development  of 
mankind  had  proceeded,  obeying  the  same  laws  as  those 
of  nature  and  its  organisms.  The  same  logic  of  the  one 
all-penetrating  Divine  reason  rules  in  both,  unconscious 
in  the  one  (nature),  conscious  to  itself  in  the  other  (mind). 
Therefore  are  the  opposites  ruling  everywhere,  not  absolute, 
but  relative,  and  always  find  connection  or  solution  in  the 
process  of  life." 

In  addition  to  the  philosophical  influences  which  we  have 
indicated,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  there  is  considerable 
affinity  between  FroebeFs  ideas  and  those  of  an  earlier 
philosopher,  namely,  Leibniz.  An  attempt  has  been  made 
to  connect  the  rationalism  and  monadism  of  Leibniz  with 
the  doctrines  of  Herbart,^  and  with  as  much  justification 
the  thesis  of  the  correlation  of  the  views  of  Leibniz  and 
of  Froebel  could  be  maintained.  The  problem  of  meta- 
physics is  to  render  the  unity  and  continuity  of  experience 
compatible  with  the  multiplicity  and  reality  of  individually 

^  Reminiscences,  Plnglish  trans.,  p.  248. 

*  J.  Davidson,  A  New  InlerprcUdion  of  Herbart's  Psychology. 


FROEBEL  251 

existin<i;  objects.  Leibniz  maintained  that  the  individual 
was  real,  that  individuals  could  only  preserve  their  indi- 
\4duality  by  being  mutually  exclusive,  and  that  each 
uniquely  reflected  the  whole  from  its  own  specific  stand- 
point. Such  real  ultimate  elements  of  existence  Leibniz 
termed  monads.  These  monads  differing  from  one  another 
qualitatively  and  not  merely  quantitatively,  and  con- 
stituting a  graded  .series,  represent  in  their  totality  the 
universe  from  every  possible  point  of  view.  The  monads 
are  in  no  way  affected  from  without,  but  each  spontaneously 
unfolds  itself  according  to  its  own  immanent  and  original 
nature.  The  only  view  of  development  compatible  with 
this  conception  of  the  ultimate  constituents  of  reality  is 
that  of  preformation.  ''  According  to  the  theory  of 
preformation,  adopted  by  Leibniz,  the  germ  contains  in 
miniature  the  whole  plant  or  animal,  })oint  for  point,  and 
accordingly  the  '  form  '  of  the  plant  or  animal  exists  in 
the  spermatozoon  in  a  contracted  or  '  enveloped  '  state, 
and  it  has  existed  since  the  beginning  of  time."  ^  It  is  this 
view  of  development  that  Froebel  adopts, -  and  he  is  like- 
wise at  one  with  Leibniz  in  contending  that  the  whole 
universe  is  reflected  in  every  individual  unity  of  existence.^ 
With  philosophers  like  Spinoza,  Leibniz,  and  later 
idealists,   Froebel    contends   that  the   Absolute   manifests 

^  11.  Latta,  Leibniz  :  The  Monadology  and  uUur  rhilosophicdl  Writings, 
p.  2<>0,  note. 

*  Cf.  Pedagogics  of  the  Kindergarten,  p.  '>  :  '*  The  tree  germ  bears 
witliin  itself  the  nature  of  the  whole  tree  "  ;  ]>.  ti  :  "  Tho  devolojiiiient 
and  formation  of  the  whole  future  life  of  each  being  i.s  contained  in  tlie 
beginning  of  its  existence  "  ;  ]).  49  :  "  The  man  alreatly  a])pears  and 
indeed  is  in  the  child  with  all  his  talents  and  the  unity  of  his  nature.'' 

*  It  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this  work  to  develop  the  thesis  suggested 
here,  but  there  are  points  of  corrcsitondence  in  the  early  circumstances 
of  Leibniz  and  Froebel,  in  their  brief  attendance  at  Jena,  and  in  their 
mathematiial  interests. 


252    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

itself  in  all  the  varied  forms  of  existence.  "  Nature,  as 
well  as  all  existing  things,  is  a  manifestation,  a  revelation 
of  God."  ^  If  this  immanence  of  God  in  the  imi verse  is 
attained  by  sacrificing  His  transcendence,  the  result  is 
pantheism,  and  Froebel  has  frequently  been  regarded  as  a 
pantheist ;  but  by  identifying  God  with  the  Unity  from 
which  issues  the  all-controlling  law  of  the  universe  and  not 
with  the  universe  itself  he  escapes  the  charge. ^ 

The  immanent  indwelling  of  God  in  the  Universe  may  in 
addition  be  so  conceived  as  to  annihilate  all  finite  distinc- 
tions and  all  independently  existing  things  ;  the  Many 
may  be  completely  lost  in  the  One.  Fichte  by  his  exalta- 
tion of  Self-consciousness  barely  escaped  this  error,  but  he 
always  maintained  that  the  Ego  as  a  condition  of  its  self- 
realisation  must  posit  a  non-Ego.  Froebel  maintains  that 
the  inner  can  only  be  known  through  its  outer  manifesta- 
tions. "  The  inner  being,  the  spirit,  the  divine  essence  of 
things  and  of  man,  is  known  by  its  outward  manifestations, 
accordingly  all  education,  all  instruction  and  training,  all 
life  as  a  free  growth,  start  from  the  outer  manifestations 
of  man  and  things,  and  proceeding  from  the  outer,  act 
upon  the  inner,  and  form  its  judgments  concerning  the 
inner.  Nevertheless,  education  should  not  draw  the 
inferences  concerning  the  inner  from  the  outer  directly, 
for  it  lies  in  the  nature  of  things  that  always  in  some  relation 
references  should  be  drawn  inversely.  Thus,  the  diversity 
and  multiplicity  in  nature  do  not  warrant  the  inference  of 
multiplicity  in  the  ultimate  cause — a  multiplicity  of  gods — 

1  The  Education  of  Man,  §  62. 

'  Cf.  §  63.  "  As  nature  is  not  the  body  of  God,  so,  too,  God  Himself 
does  not  dwell  in  nature  as  in  a  house ;  but  the  spirit  of  God  dwells  in 
nature,  sustaining,  preserving,  fostering,  and  developing  nature.  For 
does  not  even  the  spirit  of  the  artist,  though  but  a  human  spirit,  dwell 
in  his  work,  sustaining,  preserving,  fostering  and  keeping  it  ?  " 


FROEBEL  .        253 

nor  does  the  unity  of  God  warrant  the  inference  of  finality 
in  nature  ;  but,  in  both  cases,  the  inference  lies  conversely 
from  the  diversity  in  nature  to  oneness  of  its  ultimate 
cause  and  from  the  unity  of  God  to  an  eternally  progressing 
diversity  in  natural  developments."  ^ 

The  relation  of  the  Many  to  the  One  Froebel  thus  con- 
ceives to  be  a  relation  of  mutual  dependence  ;  the  multi- 
plicity of  nature  presupposes  the  unity  of  God,  and  the 
Unity  of  God  the  multiplicity  of  nature.  He  does  not 
further  specify  the  relationship,  but  it  may  be  remarked 
that  it  is  an  instance,  or  rather  the  tv])ical  instance,  of 
his  law  of  opposites  which  in  various  forms  frequently 
figures  in  his  pedagogical  methods. 

In  direct  contrast  to  Herbart,  who  assumed  that  the  mind 
was  built  up  out  of  presentations,  Froebel  maintains  that 
the  mind  evolves  from  within.  "  All  the  child  is  ever  to 
be  and  to  become,  lies,  however  slightly  indicated,  in  the 
child  and  can  be  attained  only  through  development  from 
within  outward."  ^  Although  Froebel  gives  priority  to  the 
inner  aspect  of  development,  the  inner,  as  is  evident  from 
a  pre\dously  quoted  statement,^  is,  unlike  Leibniz's  monad, 
affected  from  without.  Were  it  not  so,  and  were  man's 
inner  and  di\'ine  nature  not  marred  by  untoward  external 
influences,  the  ideal  education  would  be  merely  passive, 
non-interfering.  "  Indeed,  in  its  very  essence,  education 
should  have  these  characteristics  ;  for  the  undisturbed 
operation  of  the  Divine  Unity  is  necessarily  good  -camiot 
be  otherwise  than  good.  "  * 

This    ideal    condition    of    affairs    but    seldom    exists. 

"  Nature,*'  Froebel  admits,  ''  rarely  shows  us  that  umnarred 

original  state,  especially  in  man  :    but  it  is,  for  this  reason, 

only  the  more  necessary  to  assvune  its  existence  in  everv 

»  Education  of  Mafi,  §  G.  '  §  .-^n.  '  §  H.  «  §  a 


254    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

human  being  until  the  opposite  has  been  clearly  shown  ; 
otherwise  that  unmarred  original  state,  where  it  might  exist 
contrary  to  our  expectation  might  be  easily  impaired."  ^ 
When,  however,  it  is  clearly  established  that  the  original 
nature  of  the  individual  which  is  in  itself  good  ^  has  been 
marred,  then  Froebel  does  not  hesitate  to  prescribe  cate- 
gorical, mandatory  education  in  its  full  severity. 

As  Kant's  imperative  was  categorical,  and  his  moral  law 
was  valid  only  for  a  free  being  who  voluntarily  imposed  it 
on  himself,  so  for  Froebel  "  in  its  inner  essence  the  living 
thought,  the  eternal  spiritual  ideal,  ought  to  be  and  is 
categorical  and  mandatory  in  its  manifestations  .  .  .  The 
ideal  becomes  mandatory  only  where  it  supposes  that  the 
person  addressed  enters  into  the  reason  of  the  requirement 
with  serene,  childlike  faith,  or  with  clear,  manly  insight. 
It  is  true,  in  word  or  example,  the  ideal  is  mandatory  in  all 
these  cases,  but  always  only  with  reference  to  the  spirit 
and  inner  life,  never  with  reference  to  outer  form."  ^ 

As  freedom  is  obedience  to  a  law  which  is  in  conformity 
with  our  highest  nature  and  as  such  is  self-imposed,  or,  as 
Hegel  puts  it,  as  "  freedom  is  the  truth  of  necessity,"  so  for 
Froebel  ^  "  in  good  education,  in  genuine  instruction,  in 
true  training,  necessity  should  call  forth  freedom  ;  law, 
self-determination  ;  external  compulsion,  inner  free-will  ; 
external  hate,  inner  love.  Where  hatred  brings  forth 
hatred  ;  law,  dishonesty  and  crime  ;  compulsion,  slavery  ; 
necessity,  servitude ;  where  oppression  destroys  and 
debases  ;  where  severity  and  harshness  give  rise  to  stubborn- 
ness and  deceit — all  education  is  abortive.     In  order  to 

1  Education  of  Man,  §  8. 

*  Of.  §  51.     Sec  also  Reminiscences,  ]).  90  :    "  Surely  the  nature  of  man 
J8  in  itself  good." 

3  §  12.  <  I  hid. 


FROEBEL  255 

avoid  the  latter  and  to  secure  the  former,  all  prescription 
should  be  adapted  to  the  pupil's  nature  and  needs,  and 
secure  his  co-operation.  This  is  the  case  when  all  education 
in  instruction  and  training,  in  spite  of  its  necessarily 
categorical  character,  bears  in  all  details  and  ramifications 
the  irrefutable  and  irresistible  impress  that  the  one  who 
makes  the  demand  is  himself  strictly  unavoidably  subject 
to  an  eternally  ruling  law,  to  an  unavoidable  eternal 
necessity,  and  that,  therefore,  all  despotism  is  banished." 

The  function  of  the  individual  is  to  unite  and  harmonise 
the  opposing  elements  of  experience  ;  to  use  the  language 
of  Hegel's  dialectic,  he  is  to  be  the  synthesis  transcending 
and  reconciling  the  opposition  of  thesis  and  antithesis. 
Thus,  as  Froebel  expresses  it,  "  the  destiny  of  the  child  as 
such  is  to  harmonise  in  his  development  and  culture  the 
nature  of  his  ])arents,  the  fatherly  and  motherly  character, 
their  intellectual  and  emotional  drift,  which,  indeed,  may 
lie  as  yet  dormant  in  both  of  them,  as  mere  tendencies  and 
energies.  Thus,  too,  the  destiny  of  man  as  a  child  of  God 
and  of  nature  is  to  re])resent  in  iiarmony  and  unison  the 
spirit  of  God  and  of  nature,  the  natural  and  the  divine,  the 
terrestrial  and  the  celestial,  the  finite  and  the  infinite. 
Again,  the  destiny  of  the  child  as  a  member  of  the  family 
is  to  unfold  and  represent  the  nature  of  the  family,  its 
spiritual  tendencies  and  forces,  in  their  harmony,  all- 
sideness,  and  purity  ;  and,  similarly,  it  is  the  destiny  and 
mission  of  man  as  a  member  of  humanity  to  unfold  and 
represent  the  nature,  the  tendencies  and  forces,  of  hmnanity 
as  a  whole."'  This  .synthesising  activity  of  the  child  is 
but  an  example  of  a  general  tendency  characteristic  of  all 
existing  things.  Thus,  says  Froebel,  "  everything  is  of 
divine  origin.  Everything  is,  therefore,  relatively  a  unity, 
as  God  is  absolute  unitv.     Evervthing,  therefore,  inasmuch 


256    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

as  it  is — ^though  only  relatively — a  unity,  manifests  its 
nature  only  in  and  through  a  triune  revelation  and  repre- 
sentation of  itself,  and  these  only  in  and  through  con- 
tinuously progressive,  hence  relatively  all-sided  develop- 
ment." 1 

Descartes,  as  we  have  indicated  in  dealing  with  Rousseau, 
resolved  existence  into  the  two  spheres,  mind  and  matter. 
Rousseau  recognised  that  a  third  ultimate  factor,  namely 
force,  was  necessary  to  explain  the  diversity  of  nature. 
Froebel,  when  he  seeks  to  explain  the  form  of  natural  objects, 
follows  Rousseau  in  ascribing  to  force  this  diremptive 
tendency  ;  ''  the  peculiar  nature  and  appearance,  the  struc- 
ture and  form  of  each  thing,  are  always  found  to  rest 
ultimately  upon  the  nature  of  force,  as  the  connecting 
unit  from  which  all  individuality  and  diversity  proceed."  ^ 
"Now,  since  force  develops  and  diffuses  itself  in  all  directions 
equally,  freely,  and  unimpeded,  its  outward  manifestation, 
its  material  resultant,  is  a  sphere  ...  In  all  the  diversity 
and  amid  the  apparently  most  incompatible  differences  of 
earthly  and  natural  structures,  the  sphere  seems  to  be  the 
primitive  form,  the  unity  from  which  all  earthly  and 
natural  forms  and  structures  are  derived.  Hence,  too,  the 
sphere  resembles  none  of  the  other  forms,  and  yet  essentially 
contains  the  possibility  and  the  law  of  all  of  them  ;  it  is, 
at  the  same  time,  formless  and  the  most  perfect  form. 
Neither  point  nor  line,  neither  plane  nor  side,  can  be 
discerned  on  its  surface  ;  yet  it  is  all-pointed  and  all-sided, 
contains  all  the  points  and  all  the  lines,  etc.,  of  all  earthly 

*  Education  of  Man,  §  02.  Of.  §  25  :  "  Everything  and  every  being 
comes  to  be  known  only  as  it  is  connected  with  the  opposite  of  its 
kind  and  as  its  unity,  its  agreement  with  its  opposite,  is  discovered." 
Cf.  Education  by  Development,  p.  36. 

*§67. 


FROEBEL  -ITu 

structures  and  forms,  not  in  their  possibility  alone,  not  even 
in  their  actuality."  ^  Here  we  have  Froehel's  metaphysical 
derivation  of  the  first  gift,  the  sphere.  Whatever  we  may 
think  of  the  value  of  such  a  deduction  as  Froe])el  offers, 
the  sphere  is  undoubtedly  on  psycholoiiical  "grounds  an 
earlier  and  better  known  concept  to  the  child  than  the 
square  reconnnended  by  Pestalozzi.  or  the  triangle  of 
Herbart. 

AVhen  the  force  whicli  etjually  active  in  all  directions 
constitutes  the  sj)here  predominates  in  the  direction  of 
one  of  tlie  dimensions — hei<i;ht,  length,  or  l)rcadth — it 
produces  according  to  Froebel  a  number  of  variations  of 
cry.stalline  form.^  Of  the  analogy  of  the  crystal  Froebel 
avails  himself  freely.  We  need  cite  only  the  following,^ 
recognising,  as  in  the  writings  of  (/omenius.  the  treacherous 
nature  of  all  arguments  based  on  analogy  :  "  In  the  entire 
process  of  the  develo])ment  of  the  crystal,  as  it  is  found  in 
natural  o])jects.  there  is  a  highly  remarkable  agrecMuent  with 
the  develojnnent  of  the  human  mind  and  of  the  human 
heart.  Afan.  too,  in  his  external  manifestation  like  the 
crystal- -l)earing  within  himself  the  living  unity,  shows  at 
first  nu)re  one-sidedness.  individuality,  and  incomi)leteiiess, 
and  only  at  a  later  ])eriod  rises  to  all-sichHlncss.  harmony, 
and  completeness."" 

The  second  geometrical  form  included  in  Froelx'Ts  gifts, 
the  cube,  is  in  sha])e  a  crystal,  and  is  derived  by  him  in 
the  following  fashion  :  "  I'^verv  crvstallinc  foicc  that 
manifests  itself  in  and  through  formative  and  externalising 

*  §  (')!).  Cf.  Aphorixin  written  in  1S21.  ([iintrd  ii\  iintc  to  Kiiirlisli 
translation,  p.  KiO.  "  Tlio  spherical  is  the  syinbt'l  of  iliversity  in  unity 
and  of  nnity  in  diversity  ...  It  is  iiitiiiite  developiiieiit,  and  absnluto 
limitation,  etc." 

■-§T0.  3  §21. 

R 


258    DOCTRINES  0¥  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

process  proceeds  from  a  centre,  simultaneously  tending  in 
opposite  directions.  By  its  very  nature,  therefore,  it 
imposes  limits  upon  itself,  is  all-sided,  radiating,  rectilinear, 
and  hence  necessarily  spherical  in  its  operation.  Now,  such 
a  force,  operating  without  hindrance,  will  necessarily  act 
bilaterally  in  any  one  direction  ;  and  in  the  totality  of  all 
directions  there  will  always  be,  starting  in  any  direction, 
from  the  centre,  sets  of  three  such  bilateral  directions 
perpendicular  to  one  another,  in  the  fullest  equilibrium  of 
independence  and  interdependence  .  .  .  The  result  of  the 
predominance  of  these  three  bilateral,  perpendicular 
directions,  which  equally  control  and  determine  all  other 
directions,  must  be  a  crystal  limited  by  straight  lines  and 
planes,  revealing  in  every  part  the  inner  nature  and  action 
of  the  force  ;  it  can  only  be  a  cube,  a  regular  hexahedron."  ^ 

To  derive  the  third  constituent  of  his  second  play-gift, 
Froebel  abandons  the  system  of  crystallography,  and  falls 
back  on  his  principle  of  the  unity  of  opposites  ;  regarding 
the  sphere  and  the  cube  as  opposites,  he  assumes  that  they 
are  united  in  the  cylinder. 

Not  only  does  Froebel  in  his  gifts  and  games  personify 
playthings  and  assume  that  children  will  be  able  to 
appreciate  the  symbolism  involved, ^  but  he  believes  that 
the  quasi-philosophic  conceptions  which  underlie  the 
gifts  and  games  will  impress  themselves  on  the  child's 
mind  and  determine  his  attitude  to  life.  So  obsessed 
is  Froebel  with  his  philosophical  formulae  that  his 
psychological  insight  cannot  save  him  from  such 
absurdities  as  assuming  that  the  child  when  dealing 
with  the  second  gift,  that  is,  during  the  second  half  of 

^  Education  of  Man,  §  72. 

*  For  criticism  of  Froebel'.s  use  of  symbolism  see  W.  H.  Kilpatrick, 
FroebcVs  Kindergarten  I'rineiples  critically  examined. 


FROEBEL  259 

the  firKt  year  of  his  life,  has  some  dim  perception  of 
the  nature  and  destiny  of  man.^  In  his  account  of  the 
same  play  he  affirms  :  ^  man  himself  "  in  play,  even  as  a 
child,  by  play  should  perceive  witliin  and  without  how 
from  unity  proceed  manifoldness,  plurality,  and  totality, 
and  how  plurality  and  manifoldness  finally  are  found  again 
in  and  resolve  themselves  into  unity  and  should  find  this 
out  in  life."  In  reviewing  the  first  plays  he  observes  :  ^ 
"  In  and  by  means  of  the  ball  (as  an  object  resting  in  itself, 
easily  movable,  especially  elastic,  bright,  and  warm)  the 
child  perceives  his  life,  his  power,  his  activity,  and  that  of 
his  senses,  at  the  first  stage  of  his  consciousness,  in  their 
unity,  and  thus  exercises  them  .  .  .  The  ball  is  therefore 
to  the  child  a  representative  or  a  means  of  perception  of  a 
single  effect  caused  by  a  single  power.  The  sphere  is  to 
the  child  the  representative  of  every  isolated  simple  unity  ; 
the  child  gets  a  hint  in  the  sphere  of  the  manifoldness  as 
still  abiding  in  unity.  The  cube  is  to  the  child  the  repre- 
sentative of  each  continually  developing  manifold  body. 
The  child  has  an  intimation  in  it  of  the  unity  which  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  all  manifoldness,  and  from  which  the 
latter  proceeds.  In  sphere  and  cube,  considered  in  com- 
parison with  each  other,  is  presented  in  outward  view  to 
the  child  the  resemblance  between  opposites  which  is  so 
important  for  his  whole  future  life,  and  which  lie  fjcrceives 
everywhere  around  himself,  and  iiiulti furiously  within 
himself." 

While  we  marvel  at  the  credulity  of  his  discij)les  who 
accept  these  statements,  we  must  nevertheless  recognise 
that  it  is  the  glamour  of  the  ])hiloso])hy  underlying  the 
devices  and  of  the  esoteric  jargon  in  which  the  methods  are 

*  Pedagogics  of  Kindrrgnrtcn,  Eiiplisli  trans.,  p.  92. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  98.  ^  Ibid. J  p.  10.->. 


260    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

formulated  that  have  contributed  largely  to  the  popularity 
and  persistence  of  Froebel's  system.  Modern  theosophy  and 
many  other  quasi-philosophical  systems  derive  much  of  their 
support  from  the  same  causes.  Of  Froebel  it  mitiht  be 
said  that  whereas  his  judgments  may  in  many  cases  be 
right,  his  reasons  for  them  are  almost  without  exception 
wrong  ;  his  standpoint  is  the  metaphysical,  not  the  psycho- 
logical, on  which  alone  the  selection  and  arrangement  of 
children's  games  can  be  properly  based. 

We  have  throughout  attempted  to  do  justice  to  Froebel's 
philosophical  conceptions  and  to  refer  them  to  their  sources, 
but  it  must  be  recognised  that  they  have  no  inner  connection 
or  coherence,  that  their  application  is  arbitrary,  and  that 
with  a  sufficiently  large  selection  of  principles  and  un- 
restricted freedom  in  their  application  any  order  amongst 
his  practical  devices  could  readily  be  justified.  The 
principles  are  sometimes  inconsistent  one  with  the  other  ; 
for  example,  "  the  law  of  opposites  "  and  "  education  by 
development,"  since  development,  if  taken  in  the  modern 
evolutionary  sense,  proceeds  by  gradual  differentiation, 
and  modification  of  structure,  and  not  by  alternation 
between  one  extreme  and  one  other.  From  the  philo- 
sophical standpoint  the  chief  error  of  Froebel  is,  however,  the 
assumption  that  knowledge  or  experience  can  be  attained 
by  mere  evolution  from  within,  by  making  the  iimer  outer, 
as  he  repeatedly  urges.  This  is  the  ]irinciple  which  in 
philosophy  rationalism  adopted,  and  thereby  failed  to 
account  for  experience.  Internal  development  is  stimulated 
by  the  external  and  modified  by  it ;  and  the  j^rocess  of 
making  the  internal  external  and  the  external  internal  are 
not,  as  assumed  by  Froebel,  successive  but  contempora- 
neous. In  an  address  delivered  in  the  ])resence  of  the 
Queen  of  Saxony   at   Dresden  in    1839  Froebel   made   a 


FROEBEL  m 

statement  ^  which  might  be  taken  to  imply  the  latter  view  ; 
but  elsewhere  in  his  writings  making  the  inner  outer  and 
the  outer  inner  are  regarded  as  successive  stages  of  develo])- 
ment. 

Notwithstanding  his  philosophical  deficiencies  and  his 
(juestionable  educational  procedure,  it  must  nevertheless 
be  admitted  that  to  Froebel  is  due  the  credit  of  directing 
attention  to  the  training  of  children  under  school  age  and 
of  founding  a  new  type  of  educational  institution.  While 
the  formalism  of  the  Kindergarten  methods  invites  criticism, 
it  was  the  methodical  arrangement  of  the  plays  and  occupa- 
tions 2  which  enabled  the  system  to  be  generally  adopted, 
and  allowed  many  who  had  not  the  spirit  of  the  master  to 
introduce  ])lay  into  schools.  Just  as  to  the  Jesuits  and 
Comenius  Education  owes  the  beginnings  of  a  svsteinatic 
methodology  of  instruction,  so  to  Kr()e])el  it  is  indebted  for 
a  methodology  of  play. 

'  Kdncdlion  '///  l>i  rtli>j)>iii  nl,  p.  24G  r  "'  But  all  a(ti\ity  is  threefold, 
()r  exjire.'ises  itself  in  threefold  action — in  develojnnent,  reception,  and  the 
unity  of  lK)th,  viz.,  comparison  and  formation.  This  threefold  activity 
apjiears  in  all  which  siirrounds  the  chikl,  as,  for  example,  in  every  i)lant 
a.s  well  as  in  the  life  of  the  cliild  himself.  Thus  the  life  of  tlie  child  also 
must  he  comprehended  in  tliis  tri]>licity  of  its  creative  a<tivity,  anti 
must  be  treated  accordini^ly  to  it." 

^  Cf.  ]'(d(tiju(jics  of  (he  Kindfujdrli  n,  ]>p.  2;5.'J-4  :  "  A  want  of  classilica- 
tion  is  the  bane  of  all  combination  ])lays  for  cliildren  which  have  till 
now  been  known  to  me,  and  the  said  j>lays  lose  by  this  their  fnrniative 
intluencc  for  spirit  and  mind,  as  well  as  their  applicability  for  life.  " 


CHAPTER   XII. 

MONTESSORI 

The  Montessori  method  of  education  originated  from  the 
apphcation  to  normal  children  of  a  procedure  devised  for 
the  training  of  defectives,  and  it  was  only  made  possible 
by  a  social  experiment  in  housing  conditions.  This  indicates 
how  complex  the  education  problem  has  become  in  modern 
days,  and  how  far  we  are  removed  from  the  time  when  the 
educator's  sole  concern  was  the  training  of  the  statesman 
or  the  making  of  a  scholar  and  a  gentleman. 

To  remove  the  social  evils  of  the  poorest  quarters  of 
Rome,  the  Association  of  Good  Building  was  formed,  its 
plan  being  to  acquire  tenements,  remodel  them,  put  them 
into  a  productive  condition  and  administer  them  in  the 
interests  of  the  occupier. ^  The  care  of  the  reconstructed 
tenements  was  given  to  the  tenants,  and  they  did  not  abuse 
their  trust.  Difficulties  nevertheless  arose  in  regard  to 
young  children  under  school  age.  Left  to  themselves 
during  the  day,  and  unable  to  appreciate  the  motives  which 
led  their  parents  to  respect  the  property,  such  children 
spent  their  time  defacing  the  buildings.  To  cure  this  evil 
it  occurred  to  the  Director  General  of  the  Roman  Associa- 

^  The  Montejisori  MtUiad,  English  trans.,  p.  50.  All  references  unless 
when  otherwise  stated,  are  to  this  work. 

202 


MONTE  SSORI  2G3 

tioii  for  Good  Building  "  to  gather  together  in  a  hirge  room 
all  the  little  ones  between  the  ages  of  three  and  seven 
belonging  to  the  families  living  in  the  tenement.  The  play 
and  the  work  of  these  children  were  to  be  carried  on  under 
the  guidance  of  a  teacher  who  should  have  her  own  apart- 
ment in  the  tenement  house."  ^  Thus  came  to  be  instituted 
the  House  of  Childhood — -the  school  within  the  tenement. 
The  expenses  of  the  new  institution  were  met  in  accordance 
with  the  general  self-supporting  princi})le  of  the  recon- 
struction scheme  by  the  sum  that  the  Association  would 
have  otherwise  been  forced  to  expend  upon  re-decoration 
and  repairs. 

The  aim  of  the  House  of  Childhood,  according  to  the 
Rules  and  Regulations  of  the  Children's  Jiouses,  is  to  offer, 
free  of  charge,  to  the  children  of  those  parents  who  are 
obliged  to  absent  themselves  from  home  for  their  daily 
occupation,  the  personal  care  which  their  ])arents  are  not 
able  to  give.  All  the  children  in  the  tenement  between  the 
ages  mentioned  are  eligible  for  admission.  Xo  payment  is 
demanded,  but  in  addition  to  sending  the  children  to  the 
House  of  Childhood  at  the  a})p()inted  time  clean  in  Ixxly  and 
clothing,  the  parents  must  undertake  to  show  r('Sj)('(^fc  and 
deference  to  the  Directress,  and  to  co-operate  in  the  educa- 
tion of  the  children.  Those  children  who  attend  unwashed 
or  with  soiled  clothing,  who  jjrove  themselves  to  lie  in- 
corrigible, or  whose  parents  fail  to  respect  the  authorities 
or  otherwise  obstruct  the  educative  work  of  the  institution, 
may  be  expelled. 

It  was  thus  a  social  need  that  brought  about  the  institu- 
tion of  a  new  educational  agency,  and  it  would  he  a  mis- 
fortune if  in  the  expatriation  of  the  system  the  (;ause  of 
its  initiation  was  ignored,  and  if  a  s<".heme  originated  for 

■  p.  4:!. 


264    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

the  children  of  the  poor  should  become  reserved  for  the 
children  of  the  rich. 

Towards  the  end  of  1906^  the  Director  General  of  the 
Roman  Association  of  Good  Building  entrusted  to  Dr. 
Maria  Montessori  the  organisation  of  the  infant  schools  in 
the  model  tenements  in  Rome.  The  method  adopted  by 
her  was  determined  by  her  training  and  previous  experience. 
Dr.  Montessori  having  graduated  in  Medicine,  was  for  a 
time  in  charge  of  the  training  of  mentally  defective  children. 
Her  success  with  these  was  remarkable.  She  taught  a 
number  of  such  children  to  read  and  write  so  efficiently 
that  they  were  able  to  be  presented  for  examination  with 
normal  children  of  the  same  age,  and  this  phenomenal 
result  she  attributed  to  the  fact  that  her  pupils  had  been 
taught  by  an  improved  method.  She  therefore  conjectured 
that  if  the  methods  employed  with  defective  children  were 
applied  in  the  training  of  normal  children,  chey  would 
yield  even  more  surprising  results. 

To  be  successful  these  methods  should  obviously  be 
applied  with  children  at  a  corresponding  stage  of  develop- 
ment to  that  of  the  deficients,  that  is,  they  should  be 
employed  in  the  training  of  infants  ;  at  this  period  of  life 
the  child  has  not  acquired  the  co-ordination  of  muscular 
movements  necessary  to  enable  him  to  perform  dexterously 
the  ordinary  acts  of  life,  his  sensory  organs  are  not 
fully  developed,  his  emotional  life  is  still  unstable  and  his 
volitional  powers  irresolute.  The  significance  of  the 
pedagogical  experiment  for  which  the  institution  of  the 
House  of  Childhood  afforded  the  facilities  lies  in  this,  Dr. 
Montessori   explains  :  ^    "It    represents    the   results  of   a 

•  The  first  House  of  Childhood  was  ojjened  on  the  sixtli  of  .laimary, 
1907. 
^  [>.  4;"). 


MONTESSORI  265 

series  of  trials  made  in  the  education  of  young  children, 
with  methods  already  used  with  deficients." 

Such  an  application  to  normal  children  of  the  methods 
found  successful  with  deficients  was  contemplated  by  the 
earliest  workers  engaged  in  the  education  of  the  feeble- 
minded. Thus,  at  the  laying  of  the  foundation  stone  of 
the  first  American  schools  for  defectives  in  1854,  the  Rev. 
Samuel  J.  May,  basing  his  argument  on  the  theological  or 
metaphysical  doctrine  that  evil  is  never  an  end  in  itself  but 
always  a  means  to  some  higher  good,  ventured  to  declare 
with  an  emphasis  somewhat  enhanced,  he  admits,  by  a 
lurking  distrust  of  the  prediction,  that  the  time  would 
come  when  access  would  be  found  to  the  idiotic  brain,  the 
light  of  intelligence  admitted  into  its  dark  chambers,  and 
the  whole  race  be  benefited  by  some  new  discovery  on  the 
nature  of  mind.^  Seguin  in  his  treatise  on  Idiocy  published 
in  1846  had  thus  anticipated  :  ^  "If  it  were  possible  that 
in  endeavouring  to  solve  the  simple  question  of  the  educa- 
tion of  idiots  we  had  found  terms  precise  enough  that  it 
were  only  necessary  to  generalise  them  to  obtain  a  formula 
api)licable  to  universal  education,  then,  not  only  would  we 
in  our  humble  sphere  have  rendered  some  little  service,  but 
we  would  besides  have  prepared  the  elements  for  a  method 
of  physiological  education  for  mankind.  Nothing  would 
remain  but  to  write  it."  The  neglect  by  educationists 
of  the  methods  successfully  used  in  training  certain  well- 
known  physical  defectives,  for  example,  Laura  Bridgmann 
and  Helen  Keller,  is  undoubtedly  culpable  ;  had  similar 
"  natural  experiments "  presented  themselves  in  other 
spheres,  they  would  have  been  fully  exjiloited. 

'  E.   8ei;uin.    Idiocy  :    and  its    Trcalmcnt  by  thr  Physioltxjical  Method 
(ColuniV)ia  Univ.  Tcvrhers  Coll.  Edurl.  l^ojirints).  pp.  1()-11. 
■  Ibid..  1).  24. 


266    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

Before  proceeding  to  elaborate  the  principles  underlying 
the  new  method  we  should  perhaps  recall  the  fact  that  the 
child  under  school  age  usually  acquires  unaided  an  educa- 
tion which,  if  somewhat  unsystematic  in  character,  is 
nevertheless  not  inconsiderable  in  amount.  When  such 
early  education  has  been  consciously  controlled  and 
systematically  directed,  the  results,  as  in  the  case  of  Karl 
Witte,  appear  miraculous.^ 

By  discovering  the  main  characteristics  of  the  training 
of  defective  children  we  shall  have  the  key  to  the  new 
Montessori  method.  The  first  principle  is  to  train  the 
pupil  to  be  independent  of  others  in  respect  to  the  ordinary 
practices  of  life  ;  it  appears  also  to  necessitate  approach 
to  the  child  mind  at  a  lower  level  than  can  be  adopted  with 
normal  children,  an  appeal  to  the  senses  rather  than  to  the 
intellect.  With  physically  defective  children  it  implies 
training  one  sense  to  function  vicariously  for  another ; 
for  example  with  deaf  children,  teaching  words  not 
by  hearing  the  sounds  but  by  feeling  the  vibrations 
of  the  larynx  of  the  speaker.  The  ultimate  reference  is 
to  the  sense  of  touch,  which  is  regarded  as  funda- 
mental and  primordial.  The  Montessori  system  accord- 
ingly becomes  an  "  education  by  touch."  ^  Dr.  Montessori 
maintains  that  the  sense  of  touch  is  fundamental,  that  it 
undergoes  great  development  during  the  early  years  of  life, 
and  that  if  neglected  at  this  age  it  loses  its  susceptibility 
to  training. 

Seguin,  of  whom  Dr.  Montessori  claims  to  be  a  disciple, 
had  designated  his  treatment  of  the  feeble-minded  as  the 
physiological    method.     Recognising    the    advance    which 

1  The  Education  of  Karl  Witte,  trans,  by  Leo  Wiener. 
*  Cf.  titles  of  Compayre's  series  of  monographs  :  Montaigne  and  Edu- 
cation of  the  Judgment,  Ilerbart  and  Education  by  Instruction. 


MONTESSORI  267 

Dr.  Montessori  has  made,  and  her  adaptation  to  the  train- 
ing of  normal  children  of  a  procedure  specially  devised 
for  deficient  children,  we  may  characterise  her  method 
as  the  psychological  method.  Pestalozzi  had  sought  to 
psychologise  education  but,  as  in  his  day  there  existed  no 
psychology  of  the  school  child,  he  ended  by  mechanising 
instruction,  and  the  methods  which  with  him  yielded 
astonishing  results  are  the  despair  of  the  present-day 
teacher. 

The  psychological  method  in  education  implies  that  the 
educative  process  is  dependent  on  the  stage  of  mental 
development  of  the  child,  even  on  his  interests,  not  on  the 
necessities  of  a  curriculum  or  on  the  teacher's  scheme  of 
work.  "  By  education,"  says  Montessori,^  "  must  be  under- 
stood the  active  help  given  to  the  normal  expansion  of  the 
life  of  the  child."  The  "  psychological  moment  "  in  the 
educative  process  comes  when  consciousness  of  a  need 
arises  in  the  child  mind.  "  It  is  necessary  then,"  in  the 
Montessori  method,  "  to  offer  those  exercises  which  corre- 
spond to  the  need  of  development  felt  by  an  organism,  and 
if  the  child's  age  has  carried  him  past  a  certain  need  it  is 
never  possible  to  obtain,  in  its  fulness,  a  dcvclo])ment 
which  missed  its  pro])er  moment  ;  "  ^  and,  if  a  child  fails 
to  perform  a  task  or  to  appreciate  the  truth  of  a  ])rinciple, 
the  teacher  must  not  make  him  conscious  of  his  error  by 
repeating  the  lesson  ;  she  must  assume  that  the  task  has 
been  presented  prematurely,  and,  before  again  presenting 
the  stimulus,  await  the  manifestation  of  the  symptoms 
which  indicate  that  the  need  exists.  The  duration  of  a 
process  is  determined  not  by  the  exigencies  of  an  authorised 
time-table,  but  by  the  interval  which  the  child  finds  requisite 
to  exhaust  his  interest.  Thus  in  a  Montessori  school  we 
'  p.  104.  "  ]).  358. 


268    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

may  find  a  pupil  working  unremittingly  at  a  self-imposed 
task  for  several  days  on  end.^ 

A  further  consequence  of  the  adoption  of  the  psycho- 
logical standpoint  is  that  there  are  in  the  Montessori 
system  no  prizes.  The  pupd's  sense  of  mastery  is  his  highest 
reward  :  "  His  ow^n  self-development  is  his  true  and  almost 
his  only  pleasure."  ^  Such  correction  as  is  admitted  in  the 
Montessori  system  comes  from  the  material,  not  from  the 
teacher.  "  From  the  '  Children's  Houses  '  the  old-time 
teacher  who  wore  herself  out  maintaining  discipline  of 
immobility  and  wasting  her  breath  in  loud  and  continual 
discourse,  has  disappeared,  and  the  didactic  material  which 
contains  within  itself  the  control  of  errors  is  substituted, 
making  auto-education  possible  to  each  child."  ^  This  is 
the  principle  of  Rousseau  *  and  of  Spencer,^  not  however  as 
by  them  confined  to  moral  misdemeanours,  that  the  child 
should  meet  with  no  obstacles  other  than  physical.  It  is 
an  intellectual  "  discipline  by  consequences." 

The  psychological  method  also  implies  the  perfect 
freedom  of  the  child,  the  freedom  which  consists  in  absolute 
obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  development  of  his  own  nature. 
"  The  method  of  observation  (that  is,  the  psychological 
method)  is  established  upon  one  fundamental  base — the 
liberty  of  the  pupils  in  their  spontaneous  manifestations."  " 
This  liberty  necessitates  independence  of  action  on  the  part 
of  the  child  ;  "  Whoever  visits  a  well  kept  school  is  struck 
by  the  discipline  of  the  children.  There  are  forty  little 
beings  from  three  to  seven  years  old,  each  one  intent  on 
his  own  work  ;  one  is  going  through  one  of  the  exercises 
for  the  senses,  one  is  doing  an  arithmetical  exercise,  one  is 

'  Tozicr,  /1/i.  Educational   Wonder  Worker,  p.  10. 
2  p.  .S.W.  3  p   371  4  f'f  above,  p.  152. 

•'  Educalwn,  ch.  iii.  ''  j).  80. 


MONTESSORI  269 

handliiif];  the  letters,  one  is  drawin*!,  one  is  fastening  and 
unfastening  the  pieces  of  cloth  on  one  of  the  wooden  frames, 
still  another  is  dusting.  Some  are  seated  at  the  tables, 
some  on  rugs  on  the  floor."  ^  To  many  this  scene  would 
suggest  licence,  not  liberty  ;  but  it  is  their  methods  that 
lay  upon  educationists  the  necessity  to  rediscover  from  time 
to  time  the  principle  of  liberty.  The  Montessori  doctrine 
of  liberty  is  just  such  a  re-discovery  ;  needless  to  say  Dr. 
Montessori  was  not  the  first  to  make  liberty  an  ideal  in 
Education. 

Passing  from  a  consideration  of  the  principles  to  the 
practices  of  the  Method  we  find  that  they  fall  into  three 
classes  :  (!)  the  exercises  of  practical  life  ;  (2)  the  exercises 
in  sensory  training  ;    and  (3)  the  didactic  exercises. 

The  main  task  in  the  training  of  feeble-minded  children 
is  to  teach  them  to  take  care  of  themselves.  This  is  like- 
wise the  first  phase  in  the  training  given  in  the  House  of 
Childhood.  It  is  a  training  in  libertv  ;  for  freedom,  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Montessori,  does  not  consist  in  ha\ing  others 
at  one's  command  to  perform  the  ordinary  services,  but  in 
being  able  to  do  these  for  oneself,  in  being  independent  of 
others.  Thus  in  the  Houses  of  Childhood  the  pu])ils  learn 
how  to  wash  their  hands,  using  little  wash-stands  with  small 
pitchers  and  basins,  how  to  clean  their  nails,  brush  their 
teeth,  and  so  on.  Exercises  are  also  arranged  to  train  the 
child  in  the  movements  necessary  in  dressing  and  un- 
dressing. The  a])paratus  for  these  exercises  consists  of 
wooden  frames,  mf)unted  with  two  pieces  of  cloth  or  leather, 
which  are  fastened  by  means  of  })uttoi\s  and  buttonholes, 
hooks  and  eves,  evelets  and  lacings,  or  automatic  fasteners. 
After  some  practice  in  fastening  and  unloosening  the 
pieces  of  cloth  with  the  various  types  of  fasteners,  the  child 

"  p.  34f). 


270    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

finds  that  he  has  acquired  a  dexterity  which  enables  him 
to  dress  and  undress  himself ;  and,  not  content  mth  the 
satisfaction  derived  from  such  independence,  his  conscious- 
ness of  the  possession  of  a  new  power  excites  in  him  a  desire 
to  assist  in  dressing  the  whole  family.^  All  the  furniture 
in  the  House  of  Childhood,  tables,  chairs,  etc. — -for  there 
are  no  fixed  desks — are  of  such  a  size  and  construction 
that  the  pupils  can  handle  them  easily  ;  they  learn  to 
move  them  deftly  and  without  noise,  and  are  thus  afforded 
a  training  in  motor  adjustment. 

Dr.  Montessori  has  also  devised  certain  formal  gymnastic 
exercises  to  develop  in  the  child  co-ordinated  movements. 
She  disapproves  of  the  child  practising  the  ordinary  gym- 
nastic exercises  arranged  for  the  adult.  "  We  are  wrong," 
she  maintains,^  "  if  we  consider  little  children  from  their 
physical  point  of  \iew  as  little  men.  They  have,  instead, 
characteristics  and  proportions  that  are  entirely  special 
to  their  age."  A  new  set  of  exercises  must  consequently 
be  evolved,  and,  in  accordance  with  the  general  Montessori 
principles,  this  has  been  accomplished  by  observing  the 
spontaneous  movements  of  the  child.  One  piece  of 
apparatus,  namely,  the  little  round  stair,  may  be  instanced.^ 
A  wooden  spiral  stairway  enclosed  on  one  side  by  a  balus- 
trade on  which  the  children  can  rest  their  hands,  the  other 
side  being  left  open,  enables  the  children  to  habituate 
themselves  to  ascending  and  descending  stairs  without 
holding  on,  and  teaches  them  to  move  up  and  down  with 
movements  that  are  poised  and  self-controlled.  The  steps 
are  very  low  and  shallow,  and  the  children  can  thereby 
learn  movements  which  they  cannot  execute  properly  in 
climbing  ordinary  stairways  in  their  homes,  in  which  the 
proportions  are  suited  to  adults.  The  general  result  of 
1  Tozier,  p.  10.  «  pp.  139-140.  •'  Cf.  p.  143. 


MONTESSOKI  271 

the  new  exercises  is  to  give  the  pupils  of  the  House  of 
Childhood  a  gracefulness  of  carriage  which  distinguishes 
them  from  other  children. 

For  the  methods  and  the  apparatus  of  her  scheme  of 
sensory  training  Dr.  Montessori  is  largely  indebted  to  the 
tests  and  instruments  employed  by  the  experimental 
psychologist.  The  standpoints  of  Experimental  Psychology 
and  of  sensory  training  are  nevertheless  different.  Experi- 
mental Psychology  seeks  to  determine  by  a  process  of 
measurement  the  actual  condition  of  the  sensory  powers  ; 
it  does  not  attempt  to  improve  the  powers,  whereas  Dr. 
Montessori  is  not  interested  in  measuring  the  powers  but 
in  furthering  their  development.  In  the  application  of 
tests  by  psychologists,  especially  when  the  investigation 
extends  over  a  long  period,  practice-effects  frequently 
disclose  themselves.  These  practice-effects  are  to  the 
psychologist  disturbing  factors  which  he  must  estimate 
and  eliminate,  but  it  is  just  these  practice-effects  that 
sensory  education  strives  to  secure. 

The  psychological  methods  of  determining  sensory  acuity 
and  vsensory  discrimination  had  been  applied  by  ]Jr. 
Montessori  in  training  the  feeble-minded.  In  applying 
them  to  normal  children  she  found  that  they  required 
modification.  With  deficient  children  the  exercises  had  to 
be  confined  to  those  in  which  the  stimuli  were  strongly 
contrasted ;  normal  children  can,  however,  proceed  to 
finely  graded  series.  Normal  children  manifest  great 
pleasure  in  repeating  exercises  which  they  have  successfully 
accomplished  ;  deficient  children  when  they  succeed  once 
are  satisfied,  and  show  no  inclination  to  repeat  the  task. 
The  deficient  child  when  he  makes  mistakes  has  to  be 
corrected  ;  the  normal  child  prefers  to  correct  his  own 
mistakes.    The  differences  are  summed  up  by  Dr.  Montessori 


272    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

in  the  statement  that  the  didactic  material  which,  used 
with  deficients,  makes  education  possible,  used  with  normal 
children,  provokes  auto-education. ^ 

In  sensory  training  Montesson,  like  Rousseau,  believes 
in  isolating  the  senses  whenever  that  is  possible.  This 
procedure,  it  will  readily  be  inferred,  is  suggested  by  the 
education  of  physically  deficient  children.  Blind  people, 
it  is  popularly  assumed,  acquire  a  very  fine  discriminative 
ability  in  the  sphere  of  touch.  We  are  not  surprised  then 
to  find  that  in  the  training  of  their  tactual  sense,  the 
pupils  of  the  Montessori  schools  are  blindfolded,  a  feature 
of  the  training  which  seems  to  add  zest  to  their  efforts. 
The  auditory  exercises  are  given  in  an  environment  not 
only  of  silence,  but  even  of  darkness. 

The  material  used  in  the  sensory  training  recalls  the 
apparatus  of  the  psychological  laboratory.  For  perception 
of  size,  series  of  wooden  cylinders  varying  in  height  only, 
in  diameter  only,  or  in  both  dimensions  at  once,  are  em- 
ployed, likewise  blocks  varying  regularly  in  size,  and  rods 
of  regularly  graded  lengths  ;  for  perception  of  form,  geo- 
metrical insets  in  metal,  in  wood  or  the  shapes  of  the  insets 
drawn  on  paper  ;  for  discrimination  in  weight,  tal)lets  of 
wood  similar  in  size  but  differing  in  weight  ;  for  touch,  a 
highly  polished  surface  and  a  sand-paper  surface  ;  for  sense 
of  temperature,  small  metal  bowls  with  caps  ;  for  auditory 
acuity,  cylindrical  sound  boxes  containing  different  sub- 
stances ;  for  the  colour  sense,  graded  series  of  coloured 
wools. 

The  procedure  adopted  may  be  illustrated  from  the 
method  followed  in  the  training  in  colour  discrimination. 
Montessori  accei)ts  from  Seguin  the  division  of  the  lesson 
into  three   periods  or  steps:     (1)   the  association  of  the 

1  p.  1(39. 


MONTESSORI  273 

sensory  j)rece[)t  witli  tlie  name.  For  exani])le,  tlie  child 
is  shown  two  coh)iirs,  red  and  bhie.  When  the  red  is 
presented,  the  teacher  says  simply,  "  This  is  red  "  ;  when 
the  blue,  "  This  is  blue."  (2)  The  second  period  or  step 
involves  reco;j;nition  of  the  object  when  the  name  is  t^iven. 
Thus  the  teacher  says  to  the  child,  "  Give  me  the  red," 
"  Give  mc  the  blue."  (3)  The  third  stcj)  involves  recalling 
the  name  corresponding  with  the  object.  Thus  the  child 
is  asked,  the  object  being  shown,  "  What  is  this  ?  "  and  he 
responds,  "  Red  "  or  "  Blue."  lUx^all,  as  ordinary  ex- 
perience abundantly  exemplifies,  is  more  dillicult  than 
recognition. 

This  procedure  follows  the  methods  em])loyed  and 
discussed  by  Preyer  and  Baldwin  for  testing  the  colour 
vision  of  children  ;  ^  but,  as  indicated  above,  instead  of 
using  the  methods  for  testing,  ^Nlontessori  em))loys  them 
for  training  the  sensory  activities  of  her  pu])ils. 

Similar  methods  are  ado])ted  in  develo])ing  in  the  child 
tactual  acuity,  and  in  training  him  to  disci'iminate  differ- 
ences in  temperature  and  in  weight.  In  these  exercises 
the  child  is  blindfolded  or  is  enjoined  to  kee))  his  (\ves 
closed  during  the  tests  ;  he  is  encouiagiMl  to  do  so  by  being 
told  that  he  will  thus  be  able  to  feel  the  differences  better. 

To  the  three  periods  or  steps  in  a  lesson  recommended 
by  Seguin,  Montessori  has  in  certain  sensory  modalities 
added  a  prej)aratory  series  of  (werrises  which  i-e])reseiits 
the  real  sense  education  or  auto-education,  and  l)y  which 
the  pupil  accjuires  an  (>xtraor(linarv  ability  in  ditVerentiating 
finelv  graded  stimuli.  1^'or  the  colour  sense  these  exercises 
require  the  sorting  and  grading  of  sixty-four  cards  of 
various  coloured  wools,  and  are  j)rej)aratory  to  the  naming 
step  or  period  in  the  lessons  on  seii'^e  training. 

1  (!f.  tho  writer's  Introduction  to  Exprrimrntnl  Kdnrntinn.  eh.  iv. 


274    DOCTEINES  OF  THE  GKEAT  EDUCATOES 

The  exercises  which  are  directed  to  the  development  of 
form  play  such  an  important  part  in  the  Montessori  system 
as  to  entitle  them  to  separate  treatment.  The  first  exercise 
is  to  sort  out  of  a  heap  bricks  and  cubes  such  as  are 
employed  by  Froebel.  Young  children  come  to  recognise 
the  forms  of  these  merely  by  grasping  them  ;  they  do  not 
require  to  trace  the  contour.  This  exercise  may  be  varied 
by  the  use  of  different  materials,  as  for  example,  by  the  use 
of  coins,  and  so  expert  do  the  children  become  that  they 
can  distinguish  between  small  forms  which  differ  but  little 
from  one  another,  such  as  corn,  wheat,  and  rice.^ 

The  real  training  in  the  perception  of  form  begins, 
however,  when  the  child  passes  to  the  exercises  of  placing 
wooden  shapes  in  spaces  made  to  receive  them,  or  in  super- 
imposing such  shapes  on  outlines  of  similar  form. 

Geometric  insets  of  various  designs,  the  initial  ones 
strongly  contrasted,  the  later  ones  merely  dissimilar  forms 
of  the  same  figure,  as  for  example  the  triangle,  are  mixed  up 
and  have  to  be  sorted  out  by  the  children  and  fitted  into 
the  frames  made  to  receive  them.  The  frames  furnish  the 
control  necessary  to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  work.  Ordi- 
nary solids,  for  example,  cubes,  spheres,  prisms,  are  not 
employed  as  is  usually  the  case  in  the  teaching  of  form, 
but,  instead,  insets  representing  solid  objects  with  one  of 
the  dimensions  greatly  reduced  and  with  the  two  dimensions 
determining  the  form  of  the  plane  surface  made  most 
evident ;  they  differ  in  this  respect  from  the  Froebelian 
gifts,  the  reason  being  that  the  choice  of  material  in  the 
Montessori  method  is  determined  purely  from  the  peda- 
gogical standY)oint,  and  that  the  objects  most  commonly 
met  with  in  practical  life,  table  tops,  doors,  window  frames, 
etc.,  are  of  this  form. 

» p.  190, 


MONTESSORI  275 

In  learning  to  fit  the  geometric  insets  into  the  spaces 
provided  for  them  the  child  employs  not  only  the  visual 
sense  but  also  the  tactual  and  muscular  senses;  he  is  taught 
to  run  the  index  finger  of  the  right  hand  round  the  contour 
of  the  form  and  to  repeat  this  with  the  contour  of  the  frame 
into  which  the  inset  fits.  It  is  frequently  observed  tliat 
children  who  cannot  recognise  a  shape  by  looking  at  it  do 
so  by  touching  it.  The  association  of  the  muscular-tactile 
sense  with  that  of  \'ision,  Montessori  maintains,^  "  aids  in 
a  most  remarkable  way  the  perception  of  the  forms  and 
fixes  them  in  memory." 

From  the  exercises  with  the  solid  insets  in  which  the 
control  is  absolute,  the  child  passes  to  exercises  in  the 
purely  visual  perception  of  form.  The  wooden  insets  have 
to  be  superimposed  on  figures  cut  out  of  blue  paper  and 
mounted  on  cards.  In  a  further  series  of  exercises  the 
figures  are  represented  by  an  outline  of  blue  ])aper,  which 
for  the  child  represents  the  path  which  he  has  so  often 
followed  with  his  finger.  Finally,  he  is  reipiired  to  super- 
impose the  wooden  pieces  on  figures  whose  outlines  are 
represented  merely  by  a  line.  He  thus  ])asses  from  the 
concrete  to  the  abstract,  from  solid  objects  to  plane  figures 
represented  merely  by  lines  and  j)erceived  only  visually. 

Through  such  exercises  the  forms  of  the  a  arious  figures, 
circles,  ellipses,  triangles,  rectangles,  etc.,  come  to  be 
known,  and  when  the  need  for  them  becomes  urgent  the 
names  of  the  figures  are  given.  As  no  analysis  of  the 
forms  is  undertaken,  no  mention  made  of  sides  and  angles, 
it  may  legitimately  be  contended  that  the  teaching  of 
geometry  is  not  being  attempted.- 

*  p.  199.  Thi.s  is  a  pedacogical  application  of  Berkeley's  'J'heory  of 
Vision. 

*  p.  230.  For  the  teaching  of  geometry  see  The  Moult  <<<ort  Mflhod. 
p.  243. 


276    DOCTKIXES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATOES 

The  methods  adopted  in  training  the  perception  of  form, 
involving  as  they  do  the  extensive  employment  of  tactual 
and  motor  imagery,  prepare  the  way  for  the  teaching  of 
writing  and  of  the  other  didactic  processes.  Before  con- 
sidering the  didactic  exercises  it  may  be  opportune  to 
estimate  the  value  of  sensory  training  in  the  education  of 
the  child.  Montessori  maintains  that  if  we  multiply  the 
sensations  and  develop  the  capacity  of  appreciating  fine 
differences  in  stimuli  we  refine  the  sensibility  and  multiply 
man's  pleasures.^  Such  a  claim  would  be  difficult  to  sub- 
stantiate. To  the  practical  exercises  in  the  Montessori 
system  no  objection  can  be  taken,  for  in  addition  to  affording 
sensory  training  they  are  of  direct  value  in  enabling  the 
child  to  meet  the  social  situations  which  arise  in  everyday 
life.  Nor  can  objection  be  urged  against  such  exercises 
in  sensory  training  as  subserve  the  didactic  processes  of 
writing,  etc.  ;  but  one  may  be  allowed  to  question  the  value 
of  a  specific  training  of  the  sensory  powers  for  their  own 
sake,  and  it  is  just  this  aspect  that  Montessori  emphasises. 
While  lack  of  certain  forms  of  sensory  training  may  pre- 
judicially affect  an  individual's  advancement  in  specific 
occupations  and  professions,  high  intellectual  attainments 
may  be  compatible  with  serious  sensory  deficiency,  as  the 
well-known  case  of  Helen  Keller  illustrates.  It  is  also 
doubtful  whether  the  results  of  a  sensory  training  in  a 
specific  sphere  can  be  transferred  even  to  other  sensory 
spheres  ;  the  assumption  that  they  do  transfer  involves 
the  doctrine  of  formal  training  or  transfer  of  training 
which  is  still  in  dispute.  It  has  likewise  to  be  added  that 
the  development  of  certain  senses  n>ight  not  be  socially 
advantageous  ;  and  in  this  connectioii  we  need  only  instance 
the  sense  of  smell  which  Montessori  significantly  ignores. 

1  p.  221. 


MONTESSOKI  277 

The  insistence  on  the  independent  value  of  sensory  training 
is  an  example  of  the  general  tendency  in  Education  to  lose 
sight  of  the  social  significance  of  the  whole  process  and  to 
allow  the  means  to  acquire  interest  for  their  own  sake. 

It  is  by  the  success  attending  the  application  of  the 
didactic  processes  of  writing,  reading,  etc.,  that  poj)ular 
interest  has  been  aroused  in  the  Montessori  method  ;  but 
at  the  inception  of  the  system  it  was  not  intended  that  such 
exercises  should  be  included,  and  the  results  were  incidental. 
In  the  Montessori  system  the  teaching  of  writing  precedes 
the  teaching  of  reading.  Montessori  maintains  ^  that  in 
normal  children  the  muscular  sense  is  most  easily  developed 
in  infancy,  and  this  makes  the  acquisition  of  writing 
exceedingly  easy  for  children.  It  is  not  so  with  reading, 
which  requires  a  much  longer  course  of  instruction  and 
which  calls  for  a  superior  grade  of  intellectual  develo])ment, 
since  it  treats  of  the  interpretation  of  signs,  and  of  the 
modulation  of  the  voice  in  the  accentuation  of  syllables, 
in  order  that  the  word  may  be  understood.  The  former 
is  a  purely  mental  task  ;  whereas  in  writing  to  dictation 
the  child  translates  sounds  into  material  signs  and  jjcrforms 
certain  movements,  the  latter  ])rocess  being  easy  and  usually 
affording  pleasure  to  the  child. 

To  her  predecessors  Montessori  owes  little  in  regard  to 
the  teaching  of  writing  except  by  way  of  warning.  The 
apparatus  used  by  Seguin  with  deficient  children  was 
found  inconvenient,  and  of  his  method  Montessori  remarks  : 
'■  We  have  Seguin  teaching  geometry  in  order  to  teach  a 
child  to  write."  " 

In    accordance    with    her    general    principle    ^lontessori 
adopts  in  respect   to   writing  what   we   have   termed  the 
psychological  stand])oint.     "  Let  us  observe  an  individual 
'  lip.  22t)-7.  '  p.  2M. 


278    DOCTEINES  OF  THE  GREAT  EDUCATORS 

who  is  writing  and  let  us  seek  to  analyse  the  acts  he 
performs,"  she  proposes  ;  and  again  :  "It  goes  without 
saying  that  we  should  examine  the  individual  who  writes, 
not  the  writing  ;    the  subject,  not  the  object." 

The  procedure  followed  in  the  teaching  of  writing  emerged 
from  the  experience  of  teaching  a  feeble-minded  girl  to 
sew.  Dr.  Montessori  discovered  that  weaving  Kindergarten 
mats  enabled  this  girl  to  acquire  such  control  over  the 
movements  of  the  hand  that  she  could  execute  sewing 
which  she  had  previously  been  unable  to  perform.  The 
general  principle  which  she  deduced  from  this  was  that 
"  preparatory  movements  could  be  carried  on,  and  reduced 
to  a  mechanism,  by  means  of  repeated  exercises  not  in  the 
work  itself,  but  in  that  which  prepares  for  it.  Pupils 
could  then  come  to  the  real  work,  able  to  perform  it  without 
ever  having  directly  set  their  hands  to  it  before."  ^ 

Writing,  according  to  the  Montessori  view,  is  not  a  mere 
copying  of  head  lines,  but  significant  writing,  the  writing 
of  words  which  express  ideas.  In  writing  are  involved 
two  diverse  types  of  movement,  the  movement  by  which 
the  forms  of  letters  are  reproduced  and  that  by  which  the 
instrument  of  writing  is  manipulated  ;  in  addition  to  these 
movements  there  is  also  necessary  for  the  writing  of  words 
to  dictation  the  phonetic  analysis  of  spoken  words  into  their 
elementary  sounds.  Preparatory  exercises  for  each  of 
these  factors  must,  in  accordance  with  the  general  principle 
enunciated  above,  be  devised  and  practised  independently 
before  writing  is  actually  commenced. 

As  the  children  had  already  learned  to  know  the  forms 
of  the  geometric  insets  by  running  their  fijigers  round  the 
contours,  so,  to  teach  the  forms  of  the  letters,  it  occurred 
to  Montessori  to  get  the  pupils  to  trace  with  the  finger  the 

'  p.  201. 


MONTESSORI  279 

shapes  of  the  letters  cut  out  in  sand -paper  and  pasted  on 
cards,  the  roughness  of  the  sand-paper  providing  a  control 
for  the  accuracy  of  the  movements.  The  children,  indeed, 
as  soon  as  they  have  acquired  facility  in  this  tracing  of 
the  forms  of  the  letters,  take  great  pleasure  in  repeatmg  the 
movement  with  closed  eyes.  It  has  also  been  noticed  that  the 
children  can  sometimes  recognise  letters  by  touching  them, 
when  they  cannot  do  so  by  looking  at  them.^  Thus  the  forms 
of  the  letter  are  learned  and  impressed  on  the  minds  of  the 
pupils  not  by  mere  visual  analysis  and  visual  imagery,  but  by 
tactual  and  motor  experiences  and  grapho-motor  imagery. 

The  phonetic  sounds  of  the  letters  are  taught  at  the  same 
time  as  the  tracing  of  the  forms,  the  steps  in  the  lesson  follow- 
ing the  three-period  arrangement  already  illustrated.  The 
audito-motor  imagery  helps  to  reinforce  the  grapho-motor 
and  to  facilitate  the  retention  of  the  forms  of  the  letters. 
The  children  are  also  practised  in  analysing  the  spoken 
word  into  its  sounds  and  in  reconstructing  the  word  w  ith 
sand-paper  letters.    The  way  is  thus  prepared  for  reading. 

The  control  of  the  pen  is  also  attacked  indirectly.  Re- 
course is  had  for  this  training  to  the  geometric  insets,  of 
which  frequent  mention  has  already  been  made.  Taking 
one  of  the  metal  frames  into  which  the  inset  fits,  the  child 
draws  on  a  sheet  of  paper  with  a  coloured  crayon  around 
the  contour  of  the  empty  frame.  Within  the  iigure  which 
results  he  places  the  metal  inset,  and  with  a  crayon  of  a 
different  colour  traces  the  outline  of  the  inset.  Thus  are 
reproduced  in  different  colours  upon  the  pa})er  the  two 
figures.  With  another  crayon  of  his  own  selection,  held 
as  the  pen  is  held  in  writing,  the  pupil  fills  in  the  figures 
which  he  has  outlined.  In  making  the  u])ward  and  down- 
ward strokes  he  is  taught  not  to  pass  outside  the  contour. 

•  p.  277. 


280    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  OEEAT  EDUCATORS 

Variety  is  lent  to  the  task  by  the  choice  of  different  coloured 
crayons  and  by  the  use  of  different  insets,  the  enipk)yinent  of 
the  latter  also  training  him  to  make  upward  and  downward 
strokes  of  various  lengths.  Gradually  the  lines  tend  less  and 
less  to  go  outside  the  enclosing  boundary  until  at  last  they 
are  perfectly  contained  within  it,  and  both  the  centre  and 
the  frame  are  filled  in  with  close  and  uniform  strokes.  The 
child  is  now  master  of  the  writing  instrument ;  the  muscular 
mechanism  necessary  to  its  manipulation  is  established. 

The  moment  arrives  when  the  partial  processes  are 
perfected,  when  the  three  prerequisites  to  writing  are  at 
the  pupil's  command  ;  that  is,  when  he  has  acquired  control 
of  the  writing  instrument,  when  he  can  reproduce  the  forms 
of  the  letters  moving  his  fingers  in  the  air,  and  when  the 
composition  of  words  out  of  the  isolated  sounds  of  letters 
can  be  effected  psychically.  At  this  point  the  imitative 
tendency  in  the  child  arouses  in  him  the  impulse  to  write, 
and  a  pupil  who  has  given  no  j)revious  indication  of  having 
developed  ability  in  this  direction  begins  straightway  to 
write.  The  spontaneous  emergence  of  this  writing  activity 
is  recorded  by  the  directress  much  after  the  fashion  that 
the  appearance  of  the  first  snowdrop  or  primrose  would  be 
recorded  by  a  naturalist.  The  children,  not  perceiving  the 
connection  between  the  preparation  and  the  combined 
achievement,  are  possessed  by  the  delusion  that  having 
now  grown  to  the  proper  size,  they  know  how  to  write. ^ 

In  her  first  efforts  Montessori  brought  several  of  her 
pupils  at  the  same  time  to  the  completion  of  the  preparatory 
training  ;  thereupon  what  might  be  termed  a  pedagogical 
Pentecost  possessed  the  school.  The  scene  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  Montessori  :  ^ 

"  One  beautiful  December  day  when  the  sun  shone  and 

'  p.  2HS.  2  pp.  287-8,  280. 


MONTESSORI  281 

tlie  air  was  like  s])rin<i,  I  went  up  to  tlie  roof  with  the 
children.  They  were  playinjz  freely  al)out,  and  a  number 
of  them  were  jiathered  about  me.  I  was  sittini:  near  a 
chimney,  and  said  to  a  little  five  year  old  boy  who  sat 
beside  me,  '  Draw  me  a  picture  of  this  chimney,'  giving 
him  as  I  spoke  a  ])iece  of  chalk.  He  got  down  obediently 
and  made  a  rough  sketch  of  the  chimney  on  the  tiles  which 
formed  the  floor  of  this  roof  terrace.  As  is  my  custom, 
with  little  children,  I  encouraged  him,  praising  his  work. 
The  child  looked  at  me,  smiled,  remained  for  a  moment 
as  if  on  the  point  of  bursting  into  some  joyous  act  and  then 
cried  out,  '  I  can  write  !  I  can  write  !  "  and  kneeling 
down  again  he  wrote  on  the  pavement  the  word  '  hand.' 
Then  full  of  enthusiasm  he  wrote  also  '  chimney,"  '  roof.' 
As  he  wrote  he  continued  to  cry  out,  '  I  can  write  I  I  know 
how  to  write  I  '  His  cries  of  joy  l)rought  the  other  children, 
who  formed  a  circle  about  him,  looking  down  at  his  work 
in  stupefied  amazement.  Two  or  three  of  them  said  to 
me,  trembling  with  excitement,  '  (Jive  me  the  chalk.  I 
can  write  too."  And  indeed  they  began  to  write  various 
words  :  nuima,  hand,  John,  chimney,  Ada  .  .  . 

"  After  the  first  word,  the  children,  with  a  s])ecies  of 
frenzied  joy,  continued  to  write  everywhere  ...  In  these 
first  days  we  walked  upon  a  carjiet  of  written  signs.  Daily 
accounts  showed  us  that  the  same  thing  was  going  on  at 
home,  and  some  of  the  mothers,  in  order  to  save  their 
l^avements,  and  even  the  crusts  of  their  loaves  ujion  which 
thev  found  words  written,  made  their  children  ])resents 
of  ]>aper  and  ])en('il.  One  of  these  children  lirought  to  me 
one  (lav  a  little  note-book  entirely  fil]e<l  with  writing,  and 
the  mother  told  me  that  the  child  had  written  all  day  long 
and  all  evening,  and  had  gone  to  slee])  in  his  bed  with  the 
}ia]>er  and  pencil  in  his  hand."' 


282    DOCTKINES  OF  THE  GKEAT  EDUCATORS 

Montessori  reports  ^  that  the  average  time  that  elapses 
between  the  first  trial  of  the  preparatory  exercises  and  the 
first  written  word  is,  for  children  of  four  years,  from  a 
month  to  a  month  and  a  half.  With  children  of  fiv^e  years 
the  period  is  much  shorter,  being  about  a  month.  The 
pupils  are  generally  expert  after  three  months. 

The  way  to  the  teaching  of  reading  is  prepared  in  the 
Montessori  system  by  the  procedure  adopted  in  the  teaching 
of  writing.  In  the  exercises  preparatory  to  writing  is 
included  word-building  with  sand-paper  script  characters 
representing  the  sounds  of  the  spoken  word.  Reading 
demands  the  inverse  process,  that  is,  the  reproduction  of 
the  sounds  from  the  symbols  and  the  fusion  of  these  sounds 
into  words.  There  is  also  necessary  for  the  correct  enuncia- 
tion of  the  word  the  proper  accentuation  of  the  syllables, 
and  this  comes  only  with  recognition  of  the  meaning. 
Montessori  consequently  refuses  to  give  the  name  '  reading ' 
to  anything  less  than  this.  Just  as,  in  her  system,  writing 
is  something  more  than  mere  copying  pot-hooks  and  head- 
lines, so  reading  is  not  a  mere  '  barking  at  print '  but  bhe 
recognition  of  the  meanings  represented  by  the  visual 
characters.  "  What  I  understand  by  reading,"  she  says, 
"  is  the  interpretation  of  an  idea  from  the  written  signs  ;  " 
and  again  :  "  Until  the  child  reads  a  transmission  of  ideas 
from  the  written  words  he  does  not  read."  ^ 

The  didactic  material  for  the  lessons  in  reading  consists 
of  slips  of  paper  or  of  cards  upon  which  are  written  in  clear 
large  script,  words  and  phrases. 

The  lessons  begin  with  the  reading  of  names  of  objects 
which  are  known  or  which  are  present.  There  is  no  question 
of  restricting  the  selection  of  words  to  those  that  are  easy, 
for  the  child  already  knows  how  to  read  the  sounds  which 

»  p.  294.  »  p.  29G. 


MONTESSOIU  283 

compose  any  word.  The  procedure  is  as  follows  :  The 
child  is  given  a  card  on  which  a  name  is  written  in  script. 
He  translates  the  writing  slowly  into  sounds,  and  if  the 
interpretation  is  exact  the  teacher  limits  himself  to  saying 
"  Faster."  The  child  reads  more  quickly  the  second  time, 
but  still  often  without  understanding.  The  teacher  re])eats, 
"  Faster,  faster."  The  child  reads  "  faster  "  each  time, 
repeating  the  same  accunmlation  of  sounds  ;  finally  the 
word  emerges  in  consciousness.  When  the  child  has 
pronounced  the  word,  he  places  the  card  under  the  object 
whose  name  it  bears,  and  the  exercise  is  finished.  It  is  a 
lesson  which  proceeds  very  rapidly  since  it  is  only  presented 
to  a  child  who  is  already  prepared  through  writing.^ 

Sentences  describing  actions  or  expressing  connnands 
are  likewise  written  on  slips  of  paper,  and  the  children 
select  these  and  carry  out  the  requests  contained  in  them. 
It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  child  do(;s  not  read  the  sentences 
aloud. 2  The  aim  of  reading  is  to  teach  the  child  to  discover 
ideas  in  symliols,  hence  the  reading  should  be  silent  and  not 
vocal.  "  Heading  aloud,"  according  to  the  ^lontessori 
analysis,  "  implies  the  exercise  of  two  mechanical  forms 
of  language — articulate  and  graphic — and  is  a  complex 
task.  The  child,  therefore,  who  begins  to  read  by  inter- 
preting thought  should  read  mentally."  "Truly,""  claims 
Montessori,^  "  we  have  buried  the  tedious  and  stupid  A  hC 
primer  side  by  side  with  the  useless  co])ybo()ks  !  " 

The  success  of  this  method  of  teaching  reading  mav  be 
judged  from  the  following  incident  related  by  Montessori,'* 
which  also  indicates  that  the  system  is  in  its  application 

*  The  child  passes  from  the  reading  of  script  to  tho  reading  of  print 
without  giiidanco  {The  ^fnntr.^.'!ori  Method,  p.  301),  a  j>o:nt  which  has 
been  not<>d  by  other  experimenters  in  the  teatliing  of  reading. 

sj).  :?(H.  ■>.  298.  ^pp.  301-2. 


284    DOCTRINES  OF  THE  GKEAT  EDUCATOKS 

in  Italy  not  confined  to  the  children  of  the  poor.  "  A  four- 
year-old  boy,  educated  in  a  private  house,  surprised  us  in 
the  following  way.  The  child's  father  was  a  Deputy,  and 
received  many  letters.  He  knew  that  his  son  had  for  two 
months  been  taught  by  means  of  exercises  apt  to  facilitate 
the  learning  of  reading  and  waiting,  but  he  had  paid  slight 
attention  to  it,  and,  indeed,  put  little  faith  in  the  method. 
One  day,  as  he  sat  reading,  with  the  boy  playing  near,  a 
servant  entered,  and  placed  upon  the  table  a  large  number 
of  letters  that  had  just  arrived.  The  little  boy  turned  his 
attention  to  these,  and  holding  up  each  letter  read  aloud 
the  address.     To  his  father  this  seemed  a  veritable  miracle." 

As  to  the  average  time  required  for  learning  to  read,  it 
appears  that  the  period  intervening  between  the  commence- 
ment of  the  writing  process  and  the  appearance  of  the 
ability  to  read  is  about  a  fortnight.  Eacility  in  reading  is, 
however,  arrived  at  much  more  slowly  than  in  writing. 
Normal  children  trained  accordmg  to  the  Montessori 
method  begin  to  write  at  four  years  of  age,  and  at  five 
know  how  to  read. 

The  Italians  start  these  processes  with  an  undoubted 
advantage  as  their  language  is  practically  phonetic.  The 
irregular  system  of  representation  of  the  English  language 
must  handicap  teachers  who  seek  to  apply  the  method  in 
English-speaking  countries  ;  nevertheless  "  individual  Eng- 
lish children  who  have  been  taught  by  the  Montessori 
system  have  learned  to  read  and  write  as  rapidly  as  the 
Italian  children  in  the  Montessori  schools."  ^  Miss  Tozier 
tells  of  a  little  boy,  aged  only  three  and  a  half  years,  who, 
without  realising  that  he  had  done  anything  more  than 
play,  could  read  and  write  both  in  English  and  in  Italian. ^ 

*  HolmoH,  The  Montessori  Systrtyi  of  Education,  y).  16. 

*  Tozior,  .-In  Educational  Wonder  Workrr,  ]>.  ].'{. 


MONTESSOKI  285 

Montes.sori's  treatment  of  the  teaching  of  nuniber  does 
not  disphiy  the  same  originality  as  her  method  of  teaching 
writing  and  reading.  This  is,  however,  not  surprising,  for 
psychologists  are  still  undecided  as  to  whether  the  concep- 
tion of  number  in  the  child's  mind  originates  in  counting, 
or  whether  the  idea  can  arise  from  the  simultaneous 
})resentation  of  a  multiplicity  of  objects. 

The  device  of  which  greatest  use  is  made  in  the  teaching 
of  number  in  the  jVIontessori  system  is  the  ''  long  stair,"  a 
set  of  ten  rods,  the  first  being  one  metre  in  length,  the  last 
one  decimetre,  the  intermediate  rods  diminishing  in  length 
by  decimetres.  The  rods  are  divided  into  decimetre  parts, 
the  spaces  on  the  rods  being  painted  alternately  red  and 
blue.  When  arranged  in  order  they  form  what  is  called 
the  "  long  stair."'  They  are  utilised  in  the  sensory  exercises 
for  training  the  children  in  discrimination  of  length.  In 
these  exercises  the  rods  are  mixed  up,  and  the  teacher 
grades  them  in  order  of  length,  calling  the  child's  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  stair  thus  constructed  is  uniform  in 
colour  at  one  end.  The  child  is  then  permitted  to  build 
it  for  himself. 

After  the  child  has  had  practice  in  arranging  the  rods  in 
order  of  length  he  is  re(|uired  to  count  the  red  and  the  blue 
divisions,  beginning  with  the  shortest  rod,  thus  ;  one  ; 
one,  two  ;  one,  two,  three  ;  always  going  back  to  one  in 
the  counting  of  each  rod  and  starting  from  the  same  end. 
He  is  then  required  to  name  the  ^iu■i()us  rods  from  the 
shortest  to  the  longest,  according  to  the  total  number  of 
divisions  each  contains,  at  the  same  time  touching  the  rods 
on  the  side  on  which  "  the  stair  ""  ascends.  The  rods  mav 
then  be  called  '"  ])iece  number  one,"  "  piece  number  two."' 
and  so  on,  and  finally  they  may  be  spoken  of  in  the  lessons 
as  one,  two,  three. 


286    DOCTEINES  OF  THE  GEEAT  EDUCATORS 

The  graphic  signs  for  the  numbers  are  cut  in  sand-paper, 
and  by  the  three-period  lesson  arrangement  previously 
illustrated  the  pupil  is  taught  to  associate  the  names  of  the 
numbers  with  their  graphic  forms.  The  graphic  signs  are 
then  related  to  the  quantity  represented. 

Addition  may  then  be  attacked,  and  is  taught  by  suggest- 
ing to  the  child  to  put  the  shorter  rods  together  in  such  a 
way  as  to  form  tens  ;  1  is  added  to  9,  2  to  8,  and  so  on. 
Subtraction,  multiplication,  and  division  can  also  be  intro- 
duced by  means  of  the  same  didactic  material,  and  later 
on  the  child  is  allowed  to  express  graphically  his  operations 
with  the  rods. 

As  the  Montessori  system  is  still  in  process  of  evolution 
it  would  be  unwise  to  pass  hasty  criticisms  on  its  incom- 
pleteness in  certain  respects.  Since  the  first  formulation 
of  the  method,  clay-modelling  and  dancing  have  been 
added,  and  the  founder  has  marked  out  religious  instruction 
as  a  subject  awaiting  investigation  and  reform  according 
to  the  principles  of  a  scientific  pedagogy.  The  system  has 
been  much  criticised  for  its  neglect  of  literary  training  and 
the  training  of  the  imagination.  Unfortunately  the  critics 
identify  these  two  imputed  defects.  In  defence  of  Mon- 
tessori, or  in  explanation,  it  may  be  said  that  she  accepts 
the  recapitulation  principle  in  education  :  "  The  child 
follows  the  natural  way  of  development  of  the  human  race. 
In  short,  such  education  makes  the  evolution  of  the  indi- 
vidual harmonise  with  that  of  humanity."  ^  To  one  who 
accepts  this  doctrine  it  would  be  open  to  contend  that  just 
as  in  the  early  development  of  mankind  practical  activities 
must  have  figured  more  largely  than  the  literary,  so  the 
early  education  of  the  child  should  be  more  practical  than 
humanistic.     The    origin    of   the    method    may    to    some 

'  p.  IGO. 


MONTESSORI  287 

extent  also  account  for  this  neglect.  The  conditions  under 
which  he  worked  led  Pestalozzi  to  affirm  that  "  the  poor 
ought  to  be  educated  for  poverty  "  ;  doubtless  the  class 
of  pupils  for  whom  the  House  of  Childhood  was  instituted 
was  such  that  literature  would  not  appeal  to  them,  but  with 
an  extension  of  tlie  scope  of  the  system  there  may  go  in  the 
future  an  extension  of  the  curriculum. 

While  Montessori  is  probably  in  error  in  regarding 
imagination  as  a  substitute  for  the  real  and  no;,  an  indepen- 
dent line  of  activity  related  to  the  real  as  play  is  to  work, 
those  who  would  employ  fairy  tales  to  train  the  imagination 
are  in  deeper  error  ;  for  not  only  does  their  position  imply 
the  faculty  psychology  and  the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline, 
but  the  training  which  they  desiderate  is  of  the  free  or 
uncontrolled  imagination,  whereas  the  imagination  that  is 
of  value  is  of  the  controlled  and  constructive  tyi)e  ;  the 
former  requires  to  be  disciplined.  The  proper  defence  of 
fairy  tales  is  that  they  form  part  of  the  literary  heritage 
of  a  people  and  as  such  ought  to  be  known  ;  and  it  may  be 
that  the  early  years  of  childhood,  when  the  contradictions 
between  the  ha])j)enings  of  a  fairy  realm  and  those  of  a 
causally  conceived  world  do  not  press  heavily,  nuiy  be  the 
most  suitable  time  for  learning  them. 

The  Montessori  method  necessitates  the  employment  of 
teachers  who  are  possessed  of  an  extensive  knowledge  of 
child-psychology  and  who  have  accjuired  the  technitjue 
of  laboratory  procedure,  more  especially  in  its  application 
to  young  children.  On  this  Montessori  re])eatedly  insists  : 
"  The  broader  the  teacher's  scientific  culture  and  ])ractice 
in  exj^erinuMital  ])sychol()gy,  the  sooner  will  come  for  her  the 
marvel  of  unfolding  life,  and  her  interest  in  it."  ^  "  The 
more  fully  the  teacher  is  acquainted  with  the  methods  of 

>  p.  89, 


288    DOCTUIXES  OF  THE  GlIEAT  EDUCATOllS 

experimental  psychology,  the  better  will  she  understand 
how  to  give  a  lesson."  ^  The  training  of  the  teacher  should 
enable  her  to  know  when  to  intervene  in  the  child's  activi- 
ties, and,  what  is  more  important,  when  to  refrain  from 
intervening.  "  In  the  manner  of  this  intervention  lies 
the  personal  art  of  the  educator."  ^ 

As  the  function  of  the  teacher  in  the  Montessori  system 
is  different  from  that  of  the  teacher  in  the  ordinary  school 
system,  being  confined  mainly  to  observing  the  psychic 
development  and  to  directing  the  psychic  activity  of  the 
child,  Montessori  has  substituted  for  the  title  "  teacher  " 
the  term  "  directress." 

Montessori  would  probably  rest  her  title  to  fame  on  the 
introduction  into  education  of  her  doctrine  of  sensory 
training.  The  value  of  this,  we  believe,  she  has  much 
overrated.  The  permanent  elements  in  the  sensory 
training  will  doubtless  be  the  practical  exercises  and  the 
exercises  subsidiary  to  the  didactic  processes.  The  intro- 
duction of  a  new  type  of  social  institution  in  the  form  of 
the  House  of  Childhood  is,  however,  a  noteworthy  result  of 
the  system  ;  but  the  most  characteristic  feature  of  the 
method  itself  is  its  individualism,  a  consequence  of  the 
adoption  of  the  psychological  standpoint.  Such  indi- 
vidualising of  instruction  the  Montessori  system  shares 
with  the  most  recent  developments  in  other  fields  of 
educational  activity,  and  this  will  doubtless  bo  a  pro- 
minent feature  of  "  The  Schools  of  To-Morrow."  ^ 

1  p.  107.  *  p.  176.     (V.  p.  224. 

'  See  work  l)y  .).  and  E.  Dewey  under  this  title. 


INDEX  OF  TOPICS  AND  TITLES 


ABC    der   Anschauung,     176   n., 

195  n.,  21G-9. 
ABC  der  Antchauungen,  188. 
Acadt'mies,  79,  81. 
Acquisition  of  skill,  107,  200,  235. 
Adolescence,  145,  157,  101-2. 
Aesthetics,  13  n.,  170,  207. 
All'iemdne.    Piida'/O'/ik,   207,    208, 

215  n.,  219-235.' 
Analogy,  95,  257. 
Anschauunp,  185-192,  204-5,  212, 

210-9. 
Anticipatory  illustration,  100. 
Apperception,  191,  211-2,  214. 
Arithmetic,  37,  190-7,  285-0. 
Art  for  art's  sake,  17. 
A.ssimilation,  Unconscious,  17. 
Astronomy,  24. 
.Attention,  120,  211. 

Catharsis,  105. 
Child  Study,  133. 
Co-education.  29,  31-2,  30,  51. 
Communion,  80. 
Communism,  12. 
Compulsory  e<lucation.  31. 
Concurrent  teachinc,  48-9,  85. 
Conduct  of  the  Undrr standing,  110, 

118,  119,  128  /(.,  132.  1.34-9. 
Confc^i'^ions,  141. 
Confessional,  80. 

Constitutions,  03,  t>4  n.,  07-72,  74. 
Contests,  80,  100. 
Contra-suggestion,  152. 
Co-ordination  of  studies,  49. 


Corporal  punishment,  44,  105. 

Corrector,  79,  80. 

Correlation,  100. 

Critique  of  Practical  Bcason,   109, 

245. 
Critique  of  Pure  Bea-son,  133,  107, 

245. 

Dancing,  33,  48,  59. 

Definition,  4. 

Delphic  oracle,  4. 

Democratic  tendency  in  Education, 
101,  140,  143,  144. 

Dialectic,  25-7,  32. 

Dialogue,  5. 

Direct  method,  .55,  127,  128. 

Director  of  Education,  37. 

Discij)linary  eduiation  :  sec  For- 
mal Training. 

Discipline,  44,  105,  223,  208. 

Diversion,  Study  a,  19,  42,  .'>'>. 

Drama,  85-0, 

Drawing,  127,  194. 

E>niU,  9  «.,  29  n.,  140,  141-75,  184. 
Emulation,  80.  lOl. 
Encyrlopaedism,  92-3,  1 10. 
Endowment  of  pupil,   20,  4o.   44, 

.50,  08,  92  «.,  119. 20,  142. 
Equality,  110,  117.  118-9. 
Esini/  on  th^  Human    Cndcrsland- 

ing,  110,  121  «.,  1;J2  4. 
Experiment.  IH»,  190,  204,  2(>."). 
ExperimentAl  Education.  188. 
Experimental  Psycholi igy, 27 1 , 288. 


289 


290 


INDEX  OF  TOPICS  AXD  TITLES 


Fables,  14,  152,  165. 

Faculty,  23  n.,  209. 

False  first,  14. 

Family,  29. 

First  impressions,  14. 

Form,  188,  194,  195,  274-6. 

Formal  Trainin<^,   22-4,   48,   84-5, 

126-7,  130-1,  135-6,  201-2,  209, 

219.  276. 
Free  education,  64. 
Freedom,  117,  147,  168,  213,  254. 

Geometry,  24,  27,  277. 
Good,  Form  of  the,  24  n.,  28. 
Governor,  52-61,  118. 
Grammar,  45,  63,  74,  76,  81,  112, 

113,  129. 
Great  Didactic,  89-107. 
Greek,  45,  57,  109,  113,  127. 
Gymnastic,  18,  32-3,  35-7,  154. 

Habit,  34,  122,  123-4,  136,  145-7. 
Habituation,  34,  149. 
Herbartian  steps,  233-5. 
Heuri.stic  method,  157. 
History,  58,  74,  110,  163. 
Home  education,  41,  141  ?(..,  181. 
House  of  Childhood,  263,  264,  288. 
How  Gertrude  Teaches,  177,  178  n., 

180,  184-205. 
Humanities,  63,  71,  75,  76,  81. 

Idealism,  13,  243,  244-250. 

Idola,  1.34. 

Imagination,  287. 

Imitation,  8,  16,  17,  93,  124,  153, 

165. 
Immortality,  169,  245. 
Individualistic  education,  117,  143. 
Individuality,  201,  229. 
Inductive  method,  106. 
Inductive  reasoning,  4. 
Industrial  education,  12,  33-4,  53, 

131,  158,  180,  181. 
Innate  ideas,  132,  209. 
Innovatiims,  35. 


Instruction,  222,  224-235. 
Intensive  study,  85. 
Interest,  19,  106,  125,  153,  226-230, 
267. 

Janua,  105,  109. 
Jesuit  system,  62-88. 
Justice,  10,  57  n. 

Kindergarten,  236-261. 
Knowledge,  6,  24  m. 

Labour,  Division  of,  10. 
Language  teaching,  45,  55,  71,  105, 

112,  129,  153,  179,  192-4. 
Latin,  45,  57,  71,  102,   109,   127, 

128,  130. 
Laws,  30-8, 
Lehrhuch  zur   Psychologie,   208-15, 

216,  233. 
Leisure,  3. 
Leonard   and   Gertrude,    141,    180, 

181-4. 
Liberty,  147-9,  268-9. 
Logic,  71,  76,  109,  130,  134,  175. 

Manual  arts,  19,  241. 
Mathematics,  21,  32,  74,  78,  135, 

232. 
Maxims,  152. 
Mechanical  arts,  12. 
Medicine.  144  n. 
Memory,  20,  42,  68,  130-1. 
Metaphy.sics,  21,  71,  109,  161,  175. 
Method  of  Socrates,  5-6 
Moral  education,  121.  163,  183,200. 
Morality,  152,  206-7,  226. 
Music,   14-6,   17-8,  25,  33,  37.  45, 

47,  57. 
Myth,  11. 

National  education,  113,  116. 
Natural  consequences,  152,  268. 
Natural  education,  142. 
Nature,  95,  99,  177,  178,  193. 
Necessity,  149,  159,  161. 


INDEX   OF  TOPICS  AND  TITLES 


291 


Negative  education,  151,  153. 
Ntw  Heloise,  141. 
Number,  21-2,  188,  285-6. 

Opinion,  5. 

Orator,  40. 

Orhix  Picius,  105,  188. 

Organi-sation,  School,  74,  103-4. 

Overlajiping  of  schools,  49,  75. 

Pang  of  philosophy,  5. 
Pansophia.  90. 
Pantheism,  252. 
Philosophy,  26,  71,  74,  76. 
Physical    education,    58,    60,    111, 

l"20-l,  154-5,  170,  270. 
Physics,  78. 
Play,  19,  35-6,  44,   123,   127,  228, 

236-8,  261,  287. 
Praclectio,  79. 
Prefect  s\-stem,  8t). 
Promotion,  78. 

Psychological  moment,  186,  2<)7. 
Public  education,   42-3,   64-5,   93, 

140. 

Quarrel  between  poetry  and  jiliilo- 
sophy,  1 7,  33. 

Ratio  Discendi  ci  Docendi,  73. 
Ratio    Studiorum,    63,    64  n.,    65, 

71  «.,   72  >}.,   73-80,   81,   82,   85, 

87,  100,  107. 
Reading,  153,  173,  193,  282-4. 
Rfden     an     die     dful-irkc     Xalioii. 

179  n.,  22()  II..  230  ».,  246-7. 
Religiouri  education,  15,  181,  220. 
Rejietition,  77.  7S. 
Republic,    10-30.   .")3.   6S,    82,    141, 

150,  207. 
Rhetoric.  49.  63,  75.  Si,  130. 
Rodin-'^on  Criu^af,  159. 

Science.  Kducation  n,  221. 
S<.'ience  teaching,  157.  175. 


Sense  training,  155-6,  271-7,  288. 

Serpent's  sting,  5. 

Sexual  instniction,  171. 

Simplified  spelling,  46. 

Skill,  Acqui.sition  of,  107,  178,  200. 

Social  Contract,  160?). 

Socratizing,  6,  193. 

State,  10,  54,  160. 

Studies,  Distribution  of,  27-8,  35. 

Suggestion.  41. 

Swansong,  177,  179  /(.,  192?;.,  201. 

Teacher,  60,  95,  184  n. 
Temperance,  16. 
Theological  canons,  15. 
Theology,  71,  74.  7(). 
Things  hrst,  103.  150,  187. 
Thoughts     concerning     Education, 

116,    117?;.,    118,'  119,    120-32, 

134,  135,  151  n. 
Tractate.  108-114,  116. 
Trade,  131,  1.58. 
Training  of  Teachers,   75,  82,  88, 

287.   ' 
Trayel,  131,  173. 
Treatises     on     Civil     Govcrnmiiit, 

116-8. 

/  'tiirisM  }iiiihi<iO'ii.-'-h»  r  Vnrh  ■•^iiii'/'  ii, 

206-235. 
I'niversal  insight,  !>2.  11.3. 
I'niversities,  72.  74-82,  HU,  109. 
Itility,  157. 
I'topia,  16  n..  .52.  53,  54. 

X'acations,  75,  109. 

\'ernacuiar,  l(ll. 

\i<t<)r\.  Kducation  and,  38. 

War.  10.  108.  109,  111. 

Women.    Hduoatiim    of.    28-9.    51, 

92  ».,  173-.5. 
Wrestling,  33.  58.  111. 
Writing.     42.      127,      173,      194-6, 

277-82. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES 


Adams,  J.,  6  n.,  106,  115,  228  n., 

231  «. 
Adamson,  R.,  246  n. 
Aesop,  46,  57. 
Alcibiades,  4,  5. 
Anytus,  3. 
Aquaviva,  63,  73. 
Aristotle,  1,  4,  10,  \2n.,  13,  14  w., 

17«.,27n.,  29,  30,  31  ».,  34,42, 

54,  58,  149,  160. 
Ascham,  52,  53,  55,  60. 

Bacon,  90,  94,  113,  134,  176,  241. 
Baldwin,  J.  M.,  273. 
Borgia,  69. 
Bosanquet,  B.,  17  7t. 
Boutroux,  E.,  213w. 
Boyd,  W.,  141  ». 
Bridgmann,  L.,  265. 
Browning,  R.,  211. 
Burnet,  J.,  42  7t. 

Caird,  E.,  9,  169  m.,  248  w. 

Campbell,  L.,  IIji.,  12  m. 

Carlyle,  T.,  5,  211,  241. 

Cato,  40. 

Cicero,  58,  102. 

Comenius,   82,   88-107,    109,    110, 

140,    177,    179,    187,    188,    257, 

261. 
Corcoran,  T.,  62  n.,  81  n.,  105  n. 
Critias,  7. 
Crito,  7. 
(/ritobolus,  7. 


Davidson,  J.,  216  n.,5250  n. 
De  Quincev,  T.,  137,M39. 
Descartes,"! 35,  166.  256. 
Dewey,  J.,  228  «.,  288  m,. 
Dionysodorus,  2. 
Dury,  J.,  81. 

Elyot,  52-61,  118. 
Erasmus,  54. 
Eiithydemus,  2. 

Fichte,    177,    179,    226  n.,    230  n., 

243,  246-7,  252. 
Findlay,  J.  J.,  235  m. 
Froebol,    19,    142,    177,    184,    203. 

236-261.  274. 


Ciomperz,  T.,  81  ». 

Greeks,  22. 

Green,  J.  A.,  176  ?)..  177  /).,  180  v., 

200  /(. 
Green,  T.  H..  13. 

Hegel,  248-9,  254,  255. 

Heine,  45. 

Hcnrv  VIII.,  55. 

Herbert,    19,    106,    134,    152,    1.53, 

176,  177.  179,  180,  184,  193,  195, 

197,    203,    206-235,    242,    2,53, 

257. 
Homer,  15,  57. 
Hughes,    T.,    64  m.,    65  m.,    73  m., 

75  m.,  82  m. 


292 


INDEX  OF  XAMES 


293 


Ignatius.  62,  66,  67.  72,  81,  82, 
86. 

.lacohi.  214. 

James  I.,  59  n. 

James.  W.,  122. 

Jesuits,  62-88,  09,   100,   103,   107, 

261. 
Johnson,  S..  108,  173. 
Jouvancj',  73. 

Kant,  25,  133,  152,  167,  169,  207, 
212,  213.  243.  244-6,  254. 

Keatinge,  W.  31.,  89,  90  h.,  91  ?)., 
92  J).,  105  «. 

Keller.  H.,  26.^).  276. 

Kerscliensteiner,  G..  12  h. 

Kil Patrick,  W.  H.,  258  h. 

Krause,  243,  249-50. 

Latta,  R.,  251  «. 

Laurie,  S.  S.,  90  n.,  91  ?(.,  102  n. 

Leibniz,  2.50,  251. 

I/Mke,  115-139,  151  «.,  154.  209. 

Loyola,  62-88. 

Lysiinai-lnis.  7. 

MacCunn,  J..  215. 

Macdonald.  F.,  142. 

May,  S.  J.,  265. 

Melesius,  7. 

Meno,  3. 

Meumann,  E.,  188  n. 

Milton.  92,  108-114,  116,  173. 

Montainne.  I(t2,  10.3,  154,  173  h. 

Montessori.  19,  148,  ir>0,  155,  195, 

262-2SS. 
Moore.  K.  C.  23n.,  48  »i. 
More.  16  n..  52,  53.  54.  W,  89. 
Morley,  J..  115  «.,  141,  16:{. 

Nietzsche.  207. 


Pe.stalozzi.  6.   106,   107,   140,   141. 
142,    144,    176-205,    212,    216, 
!        257,  267,  287. 
[    Pheidias,  3  n. 

Plato,  1-38,  39,  41,  42,  45,  46.  47, 
!        53  TJ.,  54,  58,  68,  82.   140.   141, 
145,    1.50,    1.52 «.,    153  n..    154, 
155  «.,  158  n.,  160,  169,  207. 
Plutarch,  164. 
Preyer,  W..  273. 
Prodicus.  2. 
Protagoras,  2,  3. 
Pythagoreans,  22. 

yuiller-rouch,  A.  T.,  50  n.,  165  n. 
Quintilian,  .39-51.  .54,  55,  57,  60, 
61,  75,  96/i.,  113,  140. 

Raunier,  von.  243. 
Rousseau.   9.    10  ?(.,   29.    131.    140- 
175,    179,    1S7.    217,    256.    268, 


Schellini;,  243.  247-8. 
Schiruberp,  A..  73  ?i. 
.Schwickerath.     1^.     62/*..     fU  )i. 

(>:>  rt..   6()  H.,   74»)..   82  li..   S3  n. 

S4. 
S«V'»iin,  !•:..  265.  266.  273.  277. 
Seneca,  151. 
.Shakespeare.  I  I'A. 
Slei;:ht.  W.  (i.,  1.35  »i. 
Smith,  N..  166 /(. 
Smith.  \V.  II..  90. 
Socrates.  3.  4.  5.  52. 
Solon,  s. 

Sophists.  2.  3.  4.  39. 
Spencer.  H..  152.  230.  2(i8. 
■Spinoza.  135.  251. 
Stcven.son.  R.  L..  147  »i.  Itili. 
Stout.   (;.    v..    134  ;)..   209,   210  „. 

211.  213. 
Sturm.  M. 


Pachtlcr.  (1.  M.,  63  ii.,  65  n.,  73  ?»., 
74/1..  76  ti.,  7S,  82  n. 


Terence.  '><>. 

Thackeray.  \V.  M..  163  v. 


294 


INDEX  OF  NAMES 


Thompson,    R,    62  n.,    65,    66  n., 

67  n.,  69  n.,  86  w.,  87. 
Thomdike,  E.,  29  n. 

Virgil,  57. 


Welton,  J.,  106 n. 
Wilkins,  A.  S.,  45?i. 
Witte,  K.,  266. 
Woodward,  W.  H.,  54  n. 


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