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BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME
OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT
FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY

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THE GREAT DIDACTIC

OF

JOHN AMOS COMENIUS
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THE

GREAT DIDACTIC

OF

JOHN AMOS COMENIUS

NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME ENGLISHED
<

WITH INTRODUCTIONS, BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL,

BY

M. W. KEATINGE, B.A.

LATE EXHIBITIONER OF EXETER COLLEGE, OXFORD |

LONDON
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
1896
PREFACE

THE present version of the Didactica Magna is a close
paraphrase from the original Latin in the Advocates’
Library, Edinburgh. The Introductions are based upon
original research and on the best German authorities.
They embody a fuller account of Comenius’ life and works
than has hitherto been accessible to the English reader ;
while a part of their contents is, I believe, a fresh con-
tribution to the biography and the historical environment
of the great School Reformer.

The portrait is a reproduction of the frontispiece to
Hartlib’s A Reformation of Schooles, published in 1642.

My best thanks are due to my friend and colleague,
Dr. J. S. Mackay, who read over a large portion of the
work in manuscript, and gave me valuable assistance on

many points. M. W. K.

THE EDINBURGH ACADEMY,
February 1896.
CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION I.—BIOGRAPHICAL ‘ ‘ . I
InTRopucTion II.—HIsToRICAL is 5 103
THE GREAT DIDACTIC . A 153
Notes é 455

APPENDIX—THE Works oF COMENIUS ; i 461
INTRODUCTION

BIOGRAPHICAL

Joun Amos ComeEntus (in Bohemian Komensky) was born
on the 28th of March 1592, in the village of Nivnitz,!
near Ungarisch-Brod in Moravia. His father, Martin
Komensky, was a miller in fairly prosperous circumstances
and belonged to the religious body known as the Moravian
Brethren.2, This community had been organised in 1547 ;
it carried on, with modifications, the traditions of John
Hus, and took a position midway between the Utraquists,
his followers, and the Roman Catholics. Though the
ideas of the Lutherans had not been without a decided
influence, the Moravians differed from that body on certain
fundamental points, such as the Doctrine of Works, and,
at one period, the celibacy of the clergy. Their chief

1 In the Introduction to De cultura ingeniorum oratio (Op. Did. Omn.
iii. 72) he calls himself Hunno Brodensis Moravus ; but, as he was known
at Herborn as John Amos Niwnizensis, was inscribed in the Matriculation
book at Heidelberg as Joannes Amos Nivanus Moravus, and wrote his
name ‘‘ Johannes Amos Nivanus” on the manuscript of Copernicus’
De revolutionibus orbium celestium that he bought from a widow Christ-
man at Heidelberg, it seems probable that Nivnitz was his birthplace and
that he refers to Ungarisch-Brod as the spot where his childhood was
spent.

: 2 By contemporary writers they are also termed the Bohemian Brethren
and The Unity.

I
22 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

characteristic was extreme simplicity, and their great
desideratum to lead a pure life, and one as far as possible
in accordance with the commands of Scripture, which they
interpreted in their most literal sense.

It was in this atmosphere of free Biblical inquiry that
Comenius was brought up, and the result of early training
can be seen in his habit of appealing to the Scriptures on
every possible occasion, and of proving his most technical
propositions directly from their pages.

Shortly after his son’s birth, Martin Komensky left
Nivnitz and moved to Ungarisch- Brod, where he died
in 1602. His wife did not survive him more than a
couple of years, and shortly afterwards his two daughters
Ludmilla and Susanna died also. Comenius was thus left
an orphan at an early age, and his guardians appear to
have robbed him of any small fortune that his father had
bequeathed. This was not the only manifestation of his
evil star. During the two following years, while attending
the elementary school at Strasnic, he made the acquaintance
of Nicolaus Drabik. It was a strange irony of fate that a
wanderer like Comenius, when only eleven years old and
in his native land, should commence the intimacy that was
to embitter his old age in Amsterdam.

From the point of view of positive instruction this early
training was unproductive, and the Latin school at Prerau,
to which he was not sent till his sixteenth year,! appears to
have been even less efficient than the other secondary
schools of the age. Comenius however, who, as we shall
see, was rather inclined to underestimate the educational
activity of contemporary Europe, assures us that his
experience was nothing exceptional, and that he was but
one of the thousands whose youth was wasted in these
“slaughter-houses” of the young.? Often did his eyes fill

1 Admodum enim puer parente utroque orbatus, tutorum supinitate
ita fui neglectus ut demum etatis anno decimo sexto Latina elementa
gustare contigerit.—J. A. Comenius, Ofera Didactica Omnia, Amsterdam,
1657, i. 442.

2 Millibus e multis ego quoque sum unus, miser homuncio, cui
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 3

 

with tears when thinking of his wasted childhood, often
did he vainly wish that he might live those years over
again and employ them more profitably.

Viewed differently, the defects in his early education
were the seeds from which sprang the whole of his didactic
efforts. Considerably older than his schoolfellows, he was
able to criticise the methods in use, and speedily arrived
at the conclusion that the lack of progress was due more
to the inefficiency of the teachers than to the idleness of
their pupils. From this time onwards, full of pity for the
sufferings of his fellows, he began to devise new methods
of class instruction and better schemes of study. From
the vivid memory of the horrors through which he had
passed, of the thousand-and-one rules that had to be
learned by rote before they were understood, of the
monotonous study of grammar, only diversified by the
maddening effort to translate Latin authors without the
assistance of suitable dictionaries or commentaries, sprang
that intense sympathy with beginners which characterises
his whole life and gives practical worth to every precept
that he enunciated.

In the Latin school he only remained for two years.
He had definitely made up his mind to seek ordination as
a minister of the Moravian Brethren, and needed a more
advanced education than could be obtained in Bohemia.
Not that the University of Prague was in any way below
the standard of the age, but it was in the hands of the
Utraquists, whose attitude towards the “Brethren” was
by no means friendly. It was therefore to Herborn in
Nassau that Comenius, then eighteen years old, turned
his steps. A university had been founded in this town
in 1584, and enjoyed a very high reputation. The range
of subjects taught was wide, as, though great prominence
was given to Theology, ample provision was made for the
“ Humanities” as well; and in addition it was possible to
learn music and the French and Italian languages.

amcenissimum vitze totius ver, florentes juventutis anni, nugis scholasticis
transmissi, misere perierunt.—Dzd. Mag. xi. 13.
4 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

It was under the Rectorship of Wolfgang Ficinus that
Comenius matriculated in March 1611. Of his residence
at the University we unfortunately know very little ; but he
can scarcely have remained there for two years without
coming under the influence of John Henry Alsted, and the
similarity of their views and dispositions renders it probable
that the two men were brought into very close contact.
Although only twenty-six years old, Alsted had already a very
considerable reputation, and in point of attainments was
undoubtedly one of the most remarkable men of his time.
His industry was so great that his contemporaries christened
him Sedwéfivas,1 an anagram on the Latinised form of his
name. As an etymologist he took a high place, as a
writer on Didactic he ranks historically with Ratke as the
immediate forerunner of Comenius, and his Encyclopedia
Scientiarum Omnium, published at Herborn in 1630, proves
him to have been a master in every branch of learning.
The range of knowledge was limited, and to write with
authority de omni scibili was not the impossibility that it
now is, but a glance through the pages of this Encyclopaedia
shows that its author obtained a marvellous grip of every
subject that he studied, and had a very unusual power
of co-ordinating the mass of erudition that he possessed.
Nor did his many-sidedness end here. His Zriumphus
Biblicus, in which he attempts to lay the foundation of all
positive knowledge in the literal interpretation of Scripture,
displays an aspect of his character that we do not meet in
the Encyclopzedia, and gives evidence of a mind imbued
with the most intense mysticism.

Of the exact nature of the intercourse between
Comenius and Alsted we have no direct information, but,
as Alsted was in the habit of maintaining the closest
relations with his pupils and is afterwards found in
correspondence with Comenius, we may take it for granted

} Sedulus in libris scribendis atque legendis
Alstedius nomen sedulitatis habet.
Encyclopedia Scientiarum Omnium, Leyden, 1649
(2nd Ed.), ad init.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 5

 

that the great similarity of the views held by the two men
should not be attributed to accident. The only point on
which they were at actual variance was the constitution
of the elementary or vernacular school. This Alsted
would have restricted to the use of girls, and of boys
destined for a handicraft, while Comenius insists on the
necessity of giving a distinct primary education to those
who are afterwards to enter a learned profession. With
the exception of this difference of opinion, a large number
of the most striking precepts that figure in the Great
Didactic might have been taken direct from Alsted’s
Encyclopedia. The man who declared that instruction
in the mother tongue should precede the study of Latin,
who thought that grammar was the least effective instru-
ment in teaching a language,! who proclaimed, almost in
Baconian language, the doctrine of “Experience,”? and
who believed in method to such an extent that he drew
up time-tables of the most intricate description for a day,
a week, a month, and a year, assuredly played the part of
a kindly foster-father to the callow educational zeal of the
Herborn student.

That Comenius, while at Herborn, devoted much atten-
tion to the study of educational method, we know from
his own words. Wolfgang’s Ratke’s essay on the Reforma-
tion of schools had been authorised and approved by the
Universities of Jena and of Giessen in 1612, and a tractate
on the new method, probably that by the Giessen professors
Helwig and Jung, rapidly found its way into Comenius’
hands. To this he gratefully acknowledges his debt and
attributes his efforts to reform the school at Prerau.

From Herborn he proceeded to Heidelberg, where
he matriculated in June 1613. Here he appears to have

1 Nulla lingua docetor ex grammatica.— Encyc. Scient. Oman. ii.
287.

2 Experientize nulla authoritas preejudicet.—J/d7d.

3 Statim ut Wolphgangii Ratichii de Studiorum rectificanda methodo
consilium, ab Academiis Jenensi et Gissena scripto publico laudatum,
Anno 1612, prodierat, fama heec meas quoque ad aures studiis tunc
Herbornze Nassoviorum operam dantis pervenit.—Og. Did. Oma. i. 3.
6 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

devoted some attention to the study of astronomy, as we
find him purchasing the original manuscript of one of
Copernicus’ works. This, however, is the solitary incident
that is known of his residence here.

After a journey through Europe, in the course of which
he visited Amsterdam for the first time, he went back to
Heidelberg. A short illness followed, possibly the result
of exposure on his travels, and in 1614 he returned to
Moravia on foot. He was now twenty-two years old, and,
as he could not be ordained for two years, undertook the
management of the school at Prerau. This was one
of the many schools established by the “Unity” for the
education of those of their own persuasion, and must have
been rather more than an elementary school, as Comenius,
who now for the first time came into contact with the
practical difficulties of instruction, began to evolve an easier
method for teaching Latin. To this he devoted a great
deal of attention! and produced a small book for begin-
ners,” afterwards printed at Prague in 1616, but which has
not been preserved. This was not his first literary effort.
As early as 1612, while at Herborn, he had begun to collect
the materials for a Bohemian dictionary with the twofold
object of purifying his native tongue and of mastering it
thoroughly. As he was now old enough to commence
his ministry in the Moravian Church, he was ordained in
April 1616, in company with his old schoolfellow Drabik.
The two following years he probably spent at Olmiitz.

Of the next few years, as of the whole of the earlier
portion of his life, the information to be obtained is frag-
mentary. In 1618 he was sent. to Fulneck, where he
acted as pastor to the Moravian community and was at
the same time inspector of the school. During the three
years that followed he devoted himself entirely to the
spiritual and bodily welfare of his flock, sparing no pains
to further the prosperity of the town. He even tried to
introduce bee-culture, and sent to Hungary for bees, then

} Multa igitur et multum animo volvebam.—Og. Did. Oman. i. 442.
2 Facilioris grammaticee praecepta.—J/did. i. 3.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 7

 

unknown in Fulneck.! His married life now began, and
in the society of his wife, a Hungarian lady, Comenius
spent what were probably his happiest years.

The year in which he entered upon his pastorate at
Fulneck is memorable for the outbreak of the Thirty
Years’ War, and from this time onwards the position of
the non-Catholic bodies, exposed as they were to the
relentless persecution of Pope Paul V. and the Jesuits,
was most precarious. Their hopes were finally overthrown
by the battle of the White Mountain in November 1620,
and by the execution of the chief Bohemian Protestants,
which followed at Prague in June 1621.

Comenius’ wanderings were now to begin. In 1621
Fulneck was plundered and burned by Spanish troops. On
this occasion he lost everything that he possessed, including
the greater part of his library and the manuscript of some
Didactic works on which he had been engaged, and took
refuge, in company with many others of the Brethren, on
the estate of Karl von Zerotin. Here he remained for
three years, during which time he occupied himself in
reading books on education,? and wrote besides several
religious works in the Czech language. To this period
must also be ascribed his metrical translation of the Psalms,
a composition of great poetic merit; his Labyrinth of the
World, an allegorical description of life, dedicated to Karl
von Zerotin; and a map of Moravia that was for a long
time the best in existence.?

It was doubtless in this literary activity that he sought
relief for the sorrow caused him by the death of his wife
and his two children,* who were carried off in 1622 by an
epidemic that was raging through Moravia. He was thus
once more left alone in the world.

In 1624, with startling rapidity, if we consider the cir-

1 J. A. Comenius, Grosze Unterrichtslehre (Julius Beeger und Franz
Zoubek), p. 14.

2 Of. Did. Oman. i. 442.

3 It had gone through twenty editions by 1695.

4 Ep. ad Montanum, p. 77. Quoted by Kvacsala in Johann Amos
Comenius, Sein Leben und seine Schriften. Notes, p. 12.
8 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

cumstances and the forlorn condition of the Brethren, he
married again. His bride was Maria Dorothea Cyrill, the
daughter of John Cyrill, a Moravian pastor and a former
senior of the Consistory at Prague. The members of the
Unity cannot have been left entirely destitute by the per-
secution to which they were subjected, as Maria brought
her husband a small fortune. The sequel proved that
marriage at such a time had been far from prudent. In
the same year the order was issued that all non-Catholic
preachers and pastors were to leave Bohemia within six
weeks, and a few months later another mandate expelled
them from Moravia as well. Karl von Zerotin had great
influence with Ferdinand II., but the Jesuits were too
strong for him. He received a personal injunction to
cease harbouring non-Catholics on his estate, and the
twenty-four ministers whom he was sheltering had to con-
ceal themselves as best they could in caves and forests.
The Brethren now recognised that all hope of remain-
ing in their fatherland must be relinquished, and in 1625
sent Comenius and two companions to Poland to report
on the advisability of their removing thither in a body.
On the way the messengers made the acquaintance of
Christopher Kotter, a native of Sprottau. Kotter was a
prophet, and his visions and the announcements that he
had to make concerning the future of the Evangelical
Church were full of interest to the Brethren. Comenius,
to whom anything of a prophetic nature was always an
attraction, gave a proof of his remarkable energy by
translating the whole of Kotter’s prophecies into Czech, a
task which took him sixteen days. After a short visit to
Berlin, where there were a number of Bohemian exiles, he
returned to Moravia. During the next two years the
Brethren held themselves in readiness to fly at a moment’s
notice. The only incident of any interest is the appear-
ance on the scene of a prophetess, Christina Poniatowska.
Christina was an hysterical girl, only sixteen years old, and
her visions, like those of Kotter, dealt with the speedy
restoration of the Evangelic Church, and the cessation of
INTRODUCTION—-BIOGRAPHICAL 9

 

the persecutions to which it was being subjected. Need-
less to say, Comenius displayed as great an interest in her
as he had done in Kotter. Already the visionary tend-
encies, out of which his enemies made such capital in
later years, were getting possession of him.

In 1627 a few of the Evangelical Pastors, preparatory
to their final departure, took refuge on the estate of George
Sadowski at Slaupna, and here Comenius again took up
the threads of his didactic efforts. As a slight return for
the protection afforded him, John Stadius, one of the
pastors, had undertaken the education of Sadowski’s three
sons, and asked Comenius, whose interest in the subject
was well known, to draw up a few rules for his guidance.1
The request was gladly complied with, and the return
to his former pursuit was accentuated by the following
incident.

One summer day Comenius and a few of the other pastors
walked over to the castle of Wilcitz to look at the library
there. Among other works of interest they found the
Didactic of Elias Bodinus, which had recently been brought
from Germany. ‘The perusal of this fired Comenius to
attempt a work on a similar scale in his own language.
True, his Church and the institutions that it supported were
falling into ruin before his eyes, but, if he might believe
the prophecies of Kotter and of Poniatowska, the day
was not distant when the Brethren would be restored to
their native land, and then his first task would be the
reorganisation of the schools. “With this end in view,”
he writes, ‘I entered on the work with fervour, and com-
pleted as much of it as I could while I still remained in
my native land.” ?

His efforts were soon interrupted. In 1628 all who
shared the evangelic faith had definitely to leave Bohemia.
Comenius, accompanied by his wife, his father-in-law, and
the prophetess Poniatowska, set out for Poland, and on
the 28th of March reached Lissa, a town in the province
of Posen. Here, under the powerful protection of Count

1 Op. Did. Oman. i. 3. 2 Tbid.
10 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

Raphael of Lissa, he was destined to find a home for the
next twelve years, and it is to this period that his chief
educational activity belongs. Though to the end of his days
he never ceased to devise fresh plans for the easier
instruction of the young, most of the works that made his
name famous were written before 1641. There were
many reasons why these years should be especially fruitful.
Now for the first time since his ordination he took to
teaching as a means of earning his livelihood, and, as a
master of the Gymnasium at Lissa, of which he became
Rector in 1636,1 he had ample means of putting his
theories into practice, and of bringing them into harmony
with the dust and friction of the classroom. To these
years of actual work in a large institution is due much of
the practical character of his writings, and the very faults
of the Gymnasium (it had to be completely remodelled in
1635, in order to bring it into harmony with his ideas)
served to show him more clearly what should be avoided.
In addition to this he had far more time to devote to
educational theory than at any later period of his life.
Though the welfare of the Unity already absorbed a large
share of his energy, he had not that weight of responsi-
bility that made him, as its bishop, look on all else as a
subsidiary task. His pansophic conceptions, that after-
wards took such hold of him, were only in their infancy,
and more important than all, his spirit was still unbroken.
He still believed that the Evangelical religion would be
restored in his native land, and that the happy days of his
early ministry would be repeated. He still believed that
the prophecies of Kotter and of Poniatowska would be
fulfilled, and in his efforts to reform the Gymnasium at
Lissa and to write suitable school-books for it, he saw
nothing but a preparation for the future reformation of
schools in Bohemia, and a means by which the youth of his
own country might be brought up with minds well tempered
to fight for their country and their Church. He accord-
ingly applied himself to his task with great vigour. The
1 Zoubek, p. 28.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPAICAL IL

 

Gymnasium at Lissa consisted of four classes, and instruc-
tion was given for five hours daily. All the time that
remained to him he devoted to the working out of his
ideas. The Great Didactic, his Magnum Opus, for which
he had already begun to make notes at Slaupna, now began
to assume a definite shape, and in order*that it might
embody the views of those whose opinion was most worth
having, he attempted to place himself in communication
with Ratke, first ascertaining that he was still alive. But
Ratke, who in his characteristics resembled a vendor of
quack medicines, returned no answer to Comenius’ letter.1
Again he wrote adjuring him, by all that was sacred, not to
keep him in suspense any longer, but to give him some
details of the true method that he was reported to have
discovered. Again he waited in vain for an answer, and
it was not till three years later that a letter from George
Wincler, pastor of Goldbergen in Silesia, explained the
silence. The fact was that Ratke made as great a mystery
of his method as was possible, and hoped, by judiciously
concealing its details and advertising its merits, to sell it
for a high price to some prince or noble. Without gold he
resolutely refused to speak. ‘What hopes,” writes Wincler,
“did not the pompous eulogy of Ratke’s method by
Helwig and Jung arouse? But our friend Ratke preserves
his silence, and will continue to do so. Mr. Moser, the
chief assistant in our school, actually went to live with him
in the hope of finding out the basis of his method, but
came away empty-handed.” 2

As a matter of fact, Comenius was acquainted with
many points of the method that was so carefully shrouded,
and, though he cannot resist a sneer at the system and its
pretensions,® never forgets to acknowledge that it was Ratke
who first fired him to attempt school-reform.

Getting no answer from Ratke he now addressed a

1 Op. Did. Oman. ii. 282.

2 Jbid. ii. 282.

3 Heec summa est Ratichianze illius vulgo decantatze methodi.—/ézd.
ii, 81.
12 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

letter to John Valentine Andreae,1 whose works, both
religious and educational, he had read with great interest.
Andreae, who was then pastor of the church at Calva in
the Duchy of Wittemberg, sent a prompt reply, but only to
the effect that he was too old to pronounce an opinion on
such matters. Greatly disappointed, Comenius wrote again,
but, though the answer that he elicited was long and
sympathetic, it contained nothing that could help him to
put his ideas into shape.

Of greater use were the didactic works of Rhenius,
Ritter, and Glaum 2 that now came into his hands.? These
writers were loud in their complaints of contemporary
education, and turned a search-light on the defective
arrangements that Comenius saw daily in the Gymnasium.
Less stimulating, perhaps, but of more definite assistance,
were the writings of Eilhard Lubin and of C. Vogel.
Lubin, a friend of Andreae’s, had been elected Professor of
Theology at Rostock in 1605, and had brought out a
parallel edition of the New Testament in Latin and Greek,
to which he had prefixed some hints on the teaching of
Latin to boys.4 Vogel, who was head-master of the
Paedagogium at Gottingen, had drawn up a scheme of
‘instruction in Latin in which he had specified the daily
task for twelve months. The student was to commence
‘by learning a list of simple words, arranged in alphabetical
‘order with the German meanings attached, and was then
to aid his memory by combining these words into sentences.
In this way he claimed that a boy of moderate intelligence,
by working only two hours daily, could easily learn the
whole Latin language in one year. The system was
probably in Comenius’ thoughts when he devised the

1 Op. Did. Omn. ii. 283.

2 In 1628 Gabriel Holstein had expounded Glaum’s method under the
title ‘‘ Divinze Glaumianze Methodi Specimina,” and claimed that any
language could, by its aid, be learned in six months. ‘‘ But,” says
Comenius, ‘‘ hanc methodum prodiise [szc] non vidimus,” ii. 86, 87.

3 Comenius ad Palatinum Belzensem.—Zg. Com. Mus. Boh. [Kvac-
sala. ]

# Consilium de latina lingua compendiose a pueris addiscenda.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 13

 

Janua Linguarum ; the claim has been made with equal
assurance by all the inventors of infallible language-methods,
from that day to this.

More original, and full of sound common-sense, were
the ideas of J. Cecilius Frey, a physician residing in
Paris. He had brought out a work on education in 1629,!
and this must have come into Comenius’ hands shortly
after publication. According to Frey, all languages should
be learned colloquially, and attention should be given to
arithmetic, geography, drawing, and mechanics. In this
upholder of “ real studies” Comenius must have hailed a
kindred spirit.

With these works before him Comenius applied himself
to the double task of creating a more comprehensive and
philosophically-based scheme of education than had ever
before been devised, and of compiling a series of class-
books suited to the various stages of scholars. These
books, while carefully adapted to the capacity of the school-
boy, were written in accordance with the philosophic
principles set forth in Zhe Gveat Didactic, and thus to
a remarkable degree combined theory and practice. The
class-books were written for the practical teacher, the
Didactic was intended for the schoolmaster whose interest
in his work was not confined to the school-room, and for
nobles, statesmen, and philosophers who wished to reform
the schools of their country, but found no scheme ready to
hand that was both practical and comprehensive.

Comenius’ aims were revolutionary, and his didactic
principles were capable of changing by slow degrees the
aspect of civilisation, but the philosophic basis on which
they rested was that of harmonious development from
existing institutions. Children were to learn their lessons
in less time and with less trouble. This had been sug-
gested by previous writers. The time thus gained was to be

1 7. C. Frey, Medici, Paris. Opuscula varia nusquam edita,
Parisiis, 1646, pp. 327-331. Frey recommends ‘‘Coenobia,” or con-
tinuous conversation in a boarding-school, as the best means of learning a
language.
14 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

devoted to a thorough grounding in morality and religion.
This again had been frequently urged, though not so
weightily or so systematically. But when we come to the
introduction of “real studies,” the rudiments of which are
to be taught in the nursery, and when his views on this
subject gradually merge into “ Pansophia” or “ Universal
Knowledge,” we feel that a really new element has been
introduced. This element, however, contains nothing
subversive. Nothing could be further removed from the
method of Rousseau. Comenius starts with no fundamental
condemnation of society. No brilliant paradoxes fill his
pages. His reform is to be a gradual development of
what already exists, and, that his suggestions may be
practicable and may pave the way for a transition with as
little friction as possible, he bases them on the writings of
his predecessors. With some of these he was not familiar.
As we shall see, in our general view of the educational
systems of the age, there were writers of whom he had not
heard ; but, be that as it may, he had done all in his
power to analyse the tendencies actually at work, and his
Didactic is an endeavour to embody all that was good in
existing schemes, while adding many features that were new.

From the first day of his residence in Lissa, Comenius
never ceased to work at his comprehensive treatise Zhe
Great Didactic. Written in Czech, and probably com-
pleted in 1632, it remained in manuscript till 1849, when
it was printed at Prague. A Latin translation, however,
with several additional chapters, was published at Amster-
dam in 1657, and occupies the first ninety-eight pages of
the Opera Didactica Omnia.

Even before his final departure from Bohemia, Comenius
had probably sketched out his educational scheme, in
which he provides for the education of a child from the
very hour of its birth. Six years in what he calls the
Mother School, six years in the Vernacular School, and
six years in the Latin School enable a young man to pro-
ceed to the University at eighteen, having had a training,
though necessarily a somewhat superficial one, in every
INTRODUCTION——BIOGRAPHICAL

 

subject that possesses educational value. In accordance
with this scheme Comenius prepared several guides and
class-books for the use of the teachers and pupils in the
various classes. The first of these, the Jnformatorium
Skoly Materske, or Informatory of the Mother School, was
written in Czech, in which language it was not published
till 1858. A German translation was issued at Lissa in
1633 for the Palatine of Belz.1_ This work, which appears
in the folio of 1657 as Schola Infantia, or The School of
Jnfancy, was primarily intended for parents, and treats at
length some of the points touched on in Zhe Great
Didactic, and more particularly in chap. xxviii, Sketch
of the Mother School. It is written in the voluminous style
characteristic of the author, and the chapters treat of the
following subjects :—

1. The greatest care should be taken of children, God’s
most precious gift.
2. Why God sends so many children into the world.
3. Children stand in great need of a good education.
4. In what subjects children should be instructed.
5. How their safety and health can be attained.
6. How they can be taught to take an intelligent
interest in what they see around them.
7. How they should be habituated to the actualities of
life.
8. How they should be taught eloquence and the
proper use of language. °
9. How they can be brought up in the paths of morality.
10. How they can be imbued with piety.
11. How long they are to be detained in the Mother
School.
12. How they are to be prepared for the Public
Schools.

No mean scheme this for children under six years of
age. Here was a great truth that Comenius was the first
to enunciate. Education begins on the mother’s knee.

1 Op, Did, Omn, i, 197.
16 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

The schools for older boys may be as good as possible, but
they can never be thoroughly effective unless the children
come to them possessed of an elementary grounding in
each subject taught, a grounding that can only be given by
the patient mother.

In this stage education cannot be organised in any cut-
and-dried fashion. What is necessary is a suggestive hand-
book that shall tell parents what is required of them, and
how these requirements can be met. It was to meet this
need that the Jnformatory of the Mother School was com-
posed. For the Mother School class-books were un-
necessary, as the instruction given was naturally of an
informal character. The children who go to the Vernacular
School, however, are old enough to be arranged in definite
classes, and to meet their wants Comenius wrote six class-
books, one for each class. These books, like the Znforma-
tory of the Mother School, were composed with a view to the
reorganisation of Evangelist schools in Bohemia! This
occasion did not come, and the books were never published.
The Czech language, in which they were written, appealed
to a very small audience, while the books dealing with the
Latin School were of universal interest. Under pressure
of other work, therefore, their author never found time to
correct them, and no trace remains but their titles trans-
lated into Latin and a short description of each given by
Comenius himself.1 The first, intended for boys in their
seventh year, is the Violet-bed of the Christian Youth,
containing “the pleasantest flowerets of scholastic _in-
struction.”

The second is the ose-bed of the Christian Youth,
containing “nosegays of the most fragrant flowers of
knowledge.”

For the third year of attendance a more ambitious
work was provided, to be called The Garden of Letters and
of Wisdom. This was to embody a pleasantly-written
account of ‘everything necessary to be known in heaven
and earth.”

1 Op. Dia, Oman. i. 248, 249.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 17

 

For the fourth year’s work the Labyrinth of Wisdom was
provided. This consisted largely of questions and answers
of a subtle description, and was intended to sharpen the
intellect. Next followed the Spiritual Balsam-bed of the
Christian Youth, in which the use of all sciences and arts
is demonstrated, while the series is terminated by the
Paradise of the Soul, which comprised an abstract of Scrip-
ture History, together with the principal Church hymns
and prayers.

It is much to be regretted that this series of books has
not been preserved, but the titles enable us to gather an
adequate idea of their contents. The scholar enters the
vernacular school, having received a grounding in the
elements of knowledge. This groundwork is developed in
a definite manner by means of regular class instruction,
and thus, by the time he reaches his twelfth year, the boy
possesses a fair acquaintance with the realities of the
world in which he lives. This acquaintance is the more
extensive, because his attention has been exclusively de-
voted to “real studies,” and Latin has been completely
deferred to the next stage.

In particular should be noticed the way in which the
principle of gradation is applied. Each class-book is
suited to the age of the pupils. The very name of the
first, Zhe Violet-bed, is intended to attract the child who
comes to school for the first-time, and is apprehensive that
the process of learning will be dull and distasteful, while
the course of instruction for the fifth year is but a more
advanced edition of that for the third.

In spite of the practical tendency of the age, a tendency
strongly exemplified by Comenius himself, the study of
Latin still remained the chief factor in the school curricu-
lum. Nor was this altogether without reason. Apart
from its philological value, Latin was the gate through
which alone the world of letters could be entered, and the
student who could talk and write in the tongue of Cicero
possessed a means of communication with kindred spirits
throughout the world, unequalled in universality by any

2
18 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

language of the present day. It is true that Latin no
longer tyrannised over the intercourse of the learned to
such an extent as in the previous century. The Reforma-
tion had ousted Latin from the services of the Reformed
Church. In every country the vernacular was beginning
to assert itself, and the establishment of the Academia
della Crusca at Florence in 1582, and of the Académie
Francaise in 1637, showed that the instinctive movement
in this direction was becoming thoroughly self-conscious.

But this modernising breeze had not yet stirred the
dust on the school-room benches. Latin was still the
chief subject taught, though the high estimation in which
it stood was shown more by the time devoted to it than
by any successful efforts to teach it rapidly and well.
Attempts had been made, and many of them, to render
the path of the beginner easier, and it was no longer
necessary for him to sit down to the task of finding his
way through Terence with no other assistance than that
given by an ignorant usher; but none of these attempts
had attained any genuine result, and there was still no
suitable class-book from the study of which could be
obtained a fairly comprehensive vocabulary and a know-
ledge of the structure of sentences sufficient to enable a
boy to attack a classic author on his own account.

To the composition of such a class-book Comenius
applied himself in 1628,1 and the result of his efforts was
the publication in 1631 of his Janua Linguarum Reserata,
or Seminarium Linguarum et Scientiarum Omnium. This
book, as an introduction to the study of Latin, was an
immense advance on anything that had yet appeared. Its
method of construction, however, was not original, as the
idea had already suggested itself to two pedagogues, the
one Elias Bodinus, and the other William Bateus, a mem-
ber of the Jesuit College at Salamanca.

With Bodinus’ scheme Comenius had been familiar
since 1627, and from it he doubtless borrowed the essen-
tial features of the /axuva. Bodinus’ suggestion was as

1 Op. Did. Omn. ii. 82.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 19

 

follows: seventeen hundred of the most useful words
were to be skilfully arranged in sentences of a kind
calculated to impress themselves indelibly on the memory
of the student, and by a careful perusal of these a compre-
hensive knowledge of the language was to be obtained
before any classic author was attempted. Such a book,
says Bodinus, would be of great use, and he expresses
a wish that some competent scholar may undertake the
task.

Of the existence of the other work Comenius only
became aware after the plan of his own /anua had taken a
definite shape in his mind. On acquainting his friends
with the scheme, one of them told him that such a book,
under the title /anua Linguarum, had already been written
by some Jesuit priests in Spain. He lost no time in pro-
curing the work, but found that while it proceeded much
on the lines proposed by him, its execution was so imper-
fect as to minimise its educational value.

Of this contribution made by Spain towards the schol-
astic needs of the day, Comenius gives a full account,? and
the book itself is worthy of notice. Originally conceived
by William Bateus, it had been written by him in conjunc-
tion with his brother, John Bateus, and an Irishman
named Stephen. William Bateus died at Madrid in 1614,
but his work survived him. A Prussian nobleman, when
travelling in Spain in 1605 in the company of some
Englishmen of good birth, had made the acquaintance of
Stephen, who displayed to him his new and infallible
method of teaching Latin. Struck by the merit of the
book, he took a copy with him, and, on the return of the
party to England, had it published in 1615 with a French
and an English translation attached. Though imperfect,
it supplied a manifest demand, and was shortly afterwards
republished at Strasburg by Isaac Habrecht with the addi-
tion of a German translation. Still finding favour, it was
again brought out by Gaspar Scioppius at Milan in 1627

1 Op. Did. Omn. i. 250. 2 Tid, ii, 81.
20 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

in Latin and Italian under the title of Aercurius Bilinguts,
and again at Basle in 1636 under the title of Aercurius
Quadrilinguis, the latter edition being in Latin, German,
Greek, and Hebrew.

The work carried into effect the scheme suggested by
Bodinus. All the principal words in Latin were arranged
in 1200 sentences. Each word, with the exception of
auxiliary verbs and connecting particles, only occurred
once, and, by a careful study of the whole, Latin was to be
learned in an incredibly short time. As Isaac Habrecht
remarked, the book was a kind of Noah’s Ark, in which
all the important words were grouped together, and the
necessity of reading voluminous authors in order to find
them was obviated.

The book was so very faulty that its undoubted success
points to the very great demand that existed for a practical
method of teaching beginners. Many of the most import-
ant words were altogether omitted, and others that were
included were uncommon and quite unsuited for beginners.
No care was taken to use the words in their root-significa-
tion, and the sentences themselves, far from possessing any
educational value, were so ill-conceived! as to make it
scarcely credible that the book had been translated into
eight languages by 1629.”

From this work, therefore, Comenius borrowed nothing
but its name, the Gate of Languages, and, indeed, his own
attempt showed so“much Originality that it would be unfair
to hint that he was indebted to his predecessors for the
chief points in its construction.

The Grammar School, as Comenius found it, was as far
removed as possible from the spirit of scientific observation.
Boys were set to translate crabbed authors by the help of
still more crabbed commentaries, and might easily acquire

1 Comenius gives the following examples :
623. Vadem in ergastulo clam confectum comperi.
953. Has dictionum telas posthumus nevit.
Op. Did. Omn, i. 252.
2 [bid.
LNTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 21

 

a fair knowledge of Latin without having any acquaintance
with the objects to which the Latin words referred. The
professed object of Comenius was to write a book for
beginners in Latin, but the bent of his mind was too
practical, and his love of the “real” too pronounced, to
allow him to work out in detail a class-book that could
produce nothing but superficial literary knowledge. With
Spencer and the modern Realists he believed that for
training of any kind—intellectual, moral, or religious—the
study of surrounding phenomena was immensely superior
to the study of grammars and lexicons.1 But grammar
could not be ousted from the schools, and the study of the
classics, that even now takes the giant’s share of the energy
devoted to secondary education, was the only subject to
which any serious attention was given. A compromise
had therefore to be made, and the elements of Latin
became the medium through which an accurate knowledge
could be obtained of the world and of the function played
by the various objects met with in daily life.

The material with which he started was about 8000 of
the most common Latin words, which he arranged so as
to form 1000 sentences. At the beginning of the book
these were short and simple to suit the stumbling efforts
of the beginner, gradually becoming complex and involving
more difficult constructions towards the end. Each word
was used in its root-signification, and, with the exception of
particles like e¢, sed, guia, etc., only occurred once in the
whole work. In the formation of the sentences care was
taken to bring out the differences that existed between the
vernacular, Czech in the first instance, and Latin, while no
grammatical construction of importance was omitted.

The scientific side of the work was accentuated by its
division into one hundred sections or chapters, each dealing
with some one class of phenomena in nature, art, or
society, such as fire, diseases, trade, arithmetic, learned
conversation, and angels.

1 Spencer, Education, ch. i.
22 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

Sec. 36. Of Gardening gives a good idea of the nature of
these sentences.

36. De Hortorum Cultura

379. Hortus, vel pomarium est vel viridarium vel viva-
rium.

380. Sepitur vel aggere, vel macerie, vel plancis, vel
sepe palis [sudibus] longuriis aliisque vitilibus plexa.

381. Hortulanus [olitor] ligone, et rutro, bipalioque
fodit, et per pulvinos semina spargit.

382. Arborator seminario vel taleis vel viviradicibus
consisto [concinnitas est et elegantia si per quincuncem
digerantur] surculos inserit et rigat, scalproque germi
germina putat, stolones amputat.

383. Oleum ex olivis exprimitur; subtus amurca fidit,
fraces abjiciuntur.

384. Aviarius alvearia curat, ceramque liquat.

The sec. Of Constancy shows how abstract subjects are
treated.

92. De Constantia

897. In honesto instituto immoti persistere, constantiz
est, non perseverare levitatis.

898. Sed heus tu, aliud est constantem, aliud pervicacem
esse.

899. Si quis ergo meliora suadet aut dissuadet, adhor-
tatur vel dehortatur, ne sis contumax, ne preefracte repugna,
nec obstinate contradic, sed obsequere.

goo. Verum si quis te in bono labefactat, obfirma
animum et obstina, usque dum perrumpas obstacula: rata
enim irrata reddere dedecet.

The reader will at once ask himself if it could be pos-
sible to teach a boy Latin from a book constructed on
such a plan. The first of the illustrations given above
contains a number of words by no means easy to remember,
and each of these is only used once. If the student found
that a word or a construction did not stick in his memory
his only resource was to go over the sentence again; and
INTRODUCTION— BIOGRAPHICAL 23

 

to learn the same word repeatedly in the same juxtaposition
would wear out the patience of the most diligent pupil.
A modern writer who wished to construct a book of this
kind would proceed on the assumption that a very limited
number of words must be repeated as often as possible, so
that each, by dint of its perpetual recurrence, may impress
itself on the mind. Of the great principle of iteration
Comenius was well aware; indeed he lays special stress
upon it,! and it is therefore the more surprising that in this
instance his practice runs directly contrary to his theory.
Whatever the shortcomings of the book may have been,
and Comenius fully realised that it had many,? its success
was extraordinary. No one was more surprised than the
author himself at the triumphal procession that it made
through Europe.* It was translated into twelve European
languages — Latin, Greek, Bohemian, Polish, German,
Swedish, Belgian, English, French, Spanish, Italian, and
Hungarian, and even travelled as far eastward as Asia,
where it appeared in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and Mon-
golian. For the existence of many of these translations
we have only the author’s word,* but it is an undoubted
fact that in every European country generations of children
thumbed the /azwa and no other book until they were
sufficiently advanced to begin ‘Terence or Plautus, and
that for years after its publication Comenius’ name was
familiar in every school-room.5 Even Bayle, who is little
disposed to sympathise with Comenius, confesses that the

1 Did. Mag. chap. xviii. sec. 43.

2 Hic, inquam, scopus fuit, quem attigisse tantum abest ut glorier, ut
primus etiam defectus agnoscam et confitear.—Op. Did. Omn. i. 254.

3 Factum est, quod futurum imaginari non poteram, ut puerile istud
opusculum universali quodam eruditi Orbis applausu fuerit acceptum.—
(bid, iii. 381.

+ Jbid. iii. 381. Beeger says that a manuscript translation into Turkish
by Ali Beg, and dating from 1650, exists in Paris.

5 Evelyn's Diary, 27th January 1658: ‘‘ My deare son Richard died.
He had before the fifth yeare learned out Puerilis, got by heart almost the
entire vocabulary of,Latin and French primitives and words, could make
congruous syntax, turn English into Latin . . and had made a consider-
able progress in Comenius’ Janua.”
24 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

_Janua met with marvellous success. ‘ Had Comenius written

no other book than this he would have rendered himself
immortal. The work was reprinted countless times, and
was translated, into I know not how many languages.
There are several polyglot editions. I do not doubt that
Comenius speaks sincerely when he admits that the success
of the work surpassed anything that he anticipated, for
who would not be surprised that such a book should have
been translated into twelve European languages,” !

The approval bestowed on the /anua was not quite
universal. Some critics refused to believe that the new
method of teaching Latin was a whit superior to the old,
or, quite overlooking the educational value of the matter,
directed their remarks against the style, which they said
was bad, and the Latinity, which they considered faulty.

Milton in his Zyactate on Education dismisses the book
with a contemptuous remark,? and Adelung, writing a
hundred years later, quotes with approval the criticism,
“In vain will the beginner look for the result that its
author claims from the use of the Janua.”?  Adelung
himself goes so far as to assert that its universal use
would have been the surest way of restoring the barbarous
Latin of the Middle Ages (die Barbarey der mittleren
Zeiten).4

In truth, these criticisms of Comenius’ Latinity are
beside the point. Granted that he was no great scholar
(in comparison with men like the Scaligers and Casaubon
he was none at all), his claim on the historian of education
lies in the fact that he rescued the boys of his generation
from the sterile study of words and introduced them to
the world of mechanics, politics, and morality.

1 Bayle, Dictionnaire historique et critique, Rott. 1697, i. 882.

2 «To tell you therefore what I have benefited herein among old re-
nowned Authors, I shall spare; and to search what many modern Janua’s
and Didactics more than ever I shall read, have projected, my inclination
leads me not.” P

5 Adelung’s Geschichte der menschlichen Narrheit, Leipzig, 1785; p.
205.
4 bid, p. 222.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 25

 

The publication of the Janua and the success with which
it met brought Comenius into contact with many of the
most striking and influential men of the day. In England
in particular the book had been well received, and an
English version, brought out shortly after its publication at
Lissa in 1631 under the title Janua Linguarum Trilinguis,
at once attracted the attention of Samuel Hartlib. Of
German origin, Hartlib resided in London, and took a
keen interest in everything that savoured of intellectual
progress. The friend of Milton and of Evelyn, he formed
the centre of a circle of thinkers to which any foreigner
who arrived in England readily found access, and, in spite
of his many engagements at home, contrived to keep up
a correspondence with men of mark in Europe. At the
beginning of 1632, greatly struck by Comenius’ didactic
venture, and especially by its Encyclopedic features, he
sent him a friendly message with a copy of Streso’s Of the
use and abuse of reason. He also hinted that it might be
possible to procure him some monetary aid in England to
enable him to carry on his work with greater ease.

Comenius, in answering, expressed his satisfaction at
the approval with which his efforts had been received.
Any pecuniary assistance would-be useful. At the moment
he was being aided by the Palatine of Belz, but, as he was
travelling, the funds came in but slowly. He was getting
on with his didactic works as fast as possible, as there
would be much to do when the Brethren were allowed to
return to their labours in Bohemia.

As a matter of fact his scholastic work was to be inter-
rupted. A Latin Grammar that he wrote in 1631? had not
satisfied him, and for the next few years he devoted himself
to history and physics. The Synod of the Brethren that
sat in 1632 asked him to write an account of the events
that had befallen the “Unity,” and this request caused
‘him to compose his Aistory of the Bohemian Brethren and

1 For information about Hartlib I am indebted to Samuel Harilib, a

biographical memoir, by H. Dircks, 1865.
2 «Grammatica latina legibus vernaculz concinnata,’ Not preserved.
26 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

his History of the persecutions of the Bohemian Church, the
latter of which was not published till 1648.

But most of his attention was given to the composition
of his treatise on physics. This work, which appeared at
Leipzig in 1633,! is a most curious publication, and, as
Comenius always based his didactic laws on the operations
of nature and on the fundamental principles that underlie
the constitution of the universe, it is on this account
worthy of special attention.

The scope of the work will be best illustrated by the
headings of the individual chapters, twelve in number.

Sketch of the creation of the world.
OF the invisible principles of the world.
Of motions.
Of the qualities of things.
Of the changes of things.
Of the elements.
Of vapours.
Of concrete substances.
g. Of plants.
to. Of animals.
11. Of man.
12. Of angels.

CO ON es KS

In writing a Christian Cosmogony, Comenius was to a
large extent following precedent. Valesius, Lambartus,
Levinus, Oscalus, Kasmannus, and his own tutor Alsted
had done so before him, and had made the same effort to
combine the desire for scientific progress on inductive
lines and the belief that the truth on every subject, scien-
tific or otherwise, is to be found in the Scriptures.

For the production of works of this kind the curious
conflict of ideas at the close of the sixteenth century was
responsible. The spirit of free inquiry introduced by the
reformed religion had to a large extent overthrown the
authority of Aristotle, but the Christian philosophers of the

1 «Physicee ad lumen divinum reformatz synopsis philodidactorum et
theodidactorum censurze exposita.’
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 27

 

period merely substituted the Bible for the Aristotelian
physics, based their theories on arguments drawn from the
Mosaic account of the Creation, and, while they were half
awake to the value of experimentation, had but little dealing
with it in the actual development of their hypotheses.

The great representatives of these conflicting strains of
thought were Campanella and Bacon, for both of whom
Comenius had a profound admiration.1 The two books
of the ovum Organum had appeared in 1620, and in the
same year Campanella’s De sensu rerum et magia was
published at Frankfort, where his Prodromus Philosophie -
had been published three years previously. These three
works were read with great interest by Comenius ; but, while
he had a great regard for Bacon and alludes to him con-
tinually, he remained in reality little affected by the Induc-
tive Philosophy. Though dimly conscious that Bacon was
on the right path, and attracted by the notion of pene-
trating to the inmost essence of things,? he was but slightly
impressed by the experimental side of the question. In
his Great Didactic, which professes to be founded on an
analysis of natural processes, he never mentions Bacon’s
name, and his method of procedure is based almost en-
tirely on analogy, often of a far-fetched nature.

While Bacon was not free from the fantastic notions of
his age, Campanella is their representative, and with him
Comenius has far more in common. “I could easily show
that our Prometheus stole a large part of his false beacon-
lights from Campanella’s heaven,” wrote Des Marets in
1668,? and, though he was no friendly critic, it must be
confessed that his appreciation was a just one. We need
not be surprised, therefore, to find Comenius dealing with
essences, principles, and similar monstrosities of Physics.

1 Campanellam et Verulamium, philosophiz restauratores gloriosos.
Pansophici Libri Delineatio.—O. Did. Oman. i. 442.

2 Verulamius mirabili suo organo rerum naturas intime scrutandi
modum infallibilem detexit.—/dzd. i. 426.

% Facile ostenderem nostrum Prometheum magnam partem suorum

ignium fatuorum ex illius ccelo suffuraturum fuisse.—Antirrheticus, p. 37
(quoted by Bayle).
28 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

For his cosmogony he rests on the authority of Genesis.
The world is created out of the three principles of Matter,
Spirit, and Light. The qualities of things are Consistency
(salt), Oleosity (sulphur), and Aquosity (mercury). Plants
are endowed with “vital spirit,” while animals are distin-
guished from them by the power of originating movement
and by the possession of “animal spirit.” Man consists
of Body, Spirit, and Soul.

Comenius wrote his Physics under the inspiration of
Campanella; but he differs from his master on certain
points. As substratum for his philosophy Campanella had
taken the existence of two principles, cold and heat.
Alsted also had imagined two principles, heaven and earth,
the first active and the second passive. According to

Comenius this duality is inconsistent with the harmony _ | .

that exists in nature. Whenever two opposing principles
meet we find nothing but strife, and a Trinity of cosmic
principles is therefore necessary to account for the peaceful
working of the universe. In introducing this Trinity he
was doubtless influenced by a desire to make the Christian
Trinity harmonise with the basis of natural phenomena,
but in reality he is only returning to the fancies of Para-
celsus, who had already originated the conception of salt,
sulphur, and mercury as a Cosmic Triad. What part
Comenius made these principles play in the Astronomy!
that he published at the same time as the Physics, it is
impossible to say, as the book has unfortunately been lost.

The writing of school-books was now once more to
occupy his attention. The /anua had proved too difficult
for the boys who entered the Latin School, and to meet
their wants the Vestibulum or Entrance Hall to the Janua
was composed.? His first intention was to write some
dialogues for boys to make them familiar with the Latin
language,? but he decided to preserve the form of the

1 « Astronomia ad lumen physicum reformanda.’

2 «Januz Linguarum reseratze Vestibulum quo primus ad Latinam
Linguam aditus Tirunculis paratur.’

3 Op. Did. Omn. i. 303.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 29

 

Janua that the book might serve the better as an introduc-
tion to it. He selected about 1000 of the most common
Latin words, and out of them constructed 427 sentences.
These are very simple throughout, as the following
examples will show :—

Chapter I
De actidentibus rerum

6. Deus est zternus, mundus temporarius.

7. Angelus immortalis, homo mortalis.

8. Corpus visibile, spiritus invisibilis, anima itidem.
g. Coelum est supremum, Aer medius, Terra infima.

Chapter IV
De rebus in Schola

246. Scholasticus sponte frequentat scholam, quo in
artibus erudiatur.

247. Initium est a literis.

248. Ex syllabis voces componuntur, e dictionibus
sermo.

249. Ex libro legimus tacite, aut recitamus clare.

250. Involvimus eum membrane et ponimus in pulpito.

251. Atramentum est in atramentario.

The preface contains instructions for the book’s use. It
is first to be read through twice, and then the boy is to
commit the sentences to memory, learning two or three in
an hour and repeating them to the master. Each sentence
is to be translated to the pupil before he reads it, that
he may have no difficulty in making it out. The declen-
sion of nouns is to be taught as the boy makes his way
through the book; nouns and adjectives should be declined
together as Deus eternus ; Mundus temporarius. As a help
to recollecting the case-meanings the following table is
given :—
30 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

Ecce Tabula nigra.

Pars Tabulz nigre.

Addo Partem Tabule nigre.
Video Tabulam nigram.

O tu Tabula nigra.

Video aliquid in Tabula nigra.

OvCn ee Se

The Vestibulum met with considerable success, and,
though never as popular as the Jawa, was published in
English, German, Hungarian, and Swedish.

Having once started theorising about the physical con-
stitution of the universe, Comenius carried his ,train of
thought still farther than in the Physics. He had already
enabled the “studious youth” to take an external survey
of natural objects by means of the /anua Linguarum, he
would now introduce him to their essential nature,! and
with this end in view began to compose a Gate of phenomena
or doorway to wisdom ;* the work to be a kind of small
Encyclopzedia or hand-book of universal knowledge.? Some
friends with whom he had discussed this project now visited
England, and excited so much interest by the reports that
they brought of the Pansophistic work on the stocks, that
a “worthy man” (probably Hartlib) wrote to him and
asked for a slight sketch of the projected treatise.
Comenius obligingly complied with the request and sent
him a short manuscript entitled Outline of my work on
Universal Wisdom.*

Imagine his surprise, when the manuscript intended for
his friends’ eyes alone was returned to him in print.5 Still,
though publication had been far removed ftom his intention,
he could not but recognise the advantage of sounding
public opinion and seeing what the learned world thought
of the issue of a work on such ambitious lines. As a feeler,

1 Quid per essentiam suam res queeque sit.—Pansophici Libri De-
lineatio, i, 403.

2 Janua rerum sive Sapientize porta.—J/ézd.

3 Encyclopzediolam seu Pansophiolam.—/did.

4 «Pansophici Libri Delineatio.’

> «Conatuum Comenianorum Preludia. Oxonize, excudebat Gulielmus
Turnerus.’
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 31

 

the Prelude to the efforts of Comenius served its purpose
admirably. ‘Every corner of Europe is filled with this
pansophic ardour,” wrote John Adolphus Tassius, Professor
of Mathematics at Hamburg, in a letter to Hartlib; “if
Comenius were to do no more than stimulate the minds of
all men in this way he might be considered to have done
enough.” ! On all sides opinions were freely expressed.
Some went so far as to say that no greater benefit had
been bestowed on the human race since the revelation of
God’s Word, and called upon Comenius to finish his work.
Others said that the task was too great for one man, that
collaborators must be found for him, and that a Pansophic
College should be established. In some quarters, on the
other hand, the book was openly derided, and in Poland it
met with strong disapproval from those who said that it
was a dangerous experiment to mix things divine with
things human, Theology with Philosophy, Christianity with
Paganism.

This conflicting criticism made Comenius a little un-
certain, and for the moment he discontinued his work.
First, however, he wrote a further Lxplanation of my Pan-
sophic efforts,? to reassure those who saw any impiety in his
design.?

In the conception of a comprehensive Encyclopedia
there was nothing new. As early as 1264 Vincent of
Beauvais had collected the entire knowledge of the Middle
Ages in three volumes, while Alsted’s great work, published
in 1630, performed the same office for the seventeenth cen-
tury. Even while Comenius was engaged on his Dedineatio,
a new Encyclopedia, that of Peter Laurenberg, appeared,
under the title Pansophia. Needless to say, he obtained
and read it eagerly, but found that it was not the kind of
work he had in view, “since it said nothing of Christ, the
fount of true wisdom, and nothing of the life to come.” #

1 Op. Did. Omn. i. 455.
2 *Dilucidatio Conatuum Pansophicorum.’
3 An English translation of the Delineatio and Dilucidatio was brought

out by Hartlib in 1642, under the title ‘A reformation of schooles,
designed in two treatises.’ 4 Op. Did. Omn. i. 458.
32 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

The /anua Rerum was in the first instance to give a
synopsis of natural phenomena in the same way that the
Janua Linguarum did of the Latin language, but its con-
struction was to be quite different from that of the Ency-
clopeedias in use. “ Even the best-arranged Encyclopedias
that I have so far seen have been more like a chain con-
taining many links well fastened together than like an
automaton whose wheels are cunningly contrived so that
the whole can set itself in motion.”! This defect can be
obviated by disposing the arts and sciences in such a
manner that we.may begin with what we know best and
proceed by slow degrees to what is less familiar. In this
way the first chapter will throw light on the second, the
second on the third, and so on.?_ The essential point is
that the universal laws of thought be taken as a basis, and
that then, by sound processes of reasoning, some universal
way be opened to ascertaining the truth of things.? It is
by neglecting to find this universal principle and by limit-
ing themselves to one subject that physicists and philo-
sophers in general have fallen into so many errors and
contradictions. The hypotheses of Copernicus are plausible,
it is true, but quite inconsistent with the laws of physics.
Gilbert, totally absorbed in the study of magnetism, has
tried to base his whole philosophy upon it, and here again
has offended against the true principles of nature. Cam-
panella’s views met with some approval, but were over-
thrown by the telescope of Galileo Galilei. These con-
tradictions cannot be avoided “unless the rays of truth
that are scattered through all things meet together in one
spot, so that the same symmetry may be evident in all
that appertains to the senses, to the intellect, and to divine

1 Delineatio, sec. 39.

2 Ibid, sec, 24.

3 Jbid, sec. 26. Ut per universalissima cognoscendi principia, eosque
ad ultimas usque conclusiones rite deducendi modos, universalem aliquam
veritati rerum cognoscendz aperiret viam. :

4 Jbid. Gilbertus magnetis speculatione abreptus totam Philosophiam
ex magnete deducere voluit: sed evidentissime cum injuria principiorum
Physicorum,
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 33

 

revelation. These are the three channels through which
knowledge comes to us, and error will cease if the balance
between them be preserved.”

For a moment Comenius seems to lay more stress
on the materialistic side, and tells us that ‘ Universal
Wisdom” should reduce all things to number, measure,
and weight; a process of meting out nature with a foot-
rule for which he dutifully finds authority in Scripture
(Wisdom ii. 20).1_ But he soon recedes from the common-
place conception of accurate measurements. Bacon, he
says, seems to have discovered the necessary method of
separating the true from the false by his system of “arti-
ficial induction” ; but this process takes too long, requiring
generations of effort, and, besides, it is useless for the con-
struction of Pansophia, since it deals only with natural
phenomena, while Pansophia treats of the whole universe.”

Very different are the laws or norms by which universal
knowledge is to be obtained, and these Comenius proceeds
to enunciate in eighteen aphorisms :—

1. Universal knowledge, so far as it can be obtained by
man, has as its objects God, nature, and art.

2. A perfect knowledge of these three is to be sought.

3. The knowledge of things is perfect when it is full,
true, and ordered.

4. Knowledge is true when things are apprehended as
they exist in reality.

5. Things are apprehended in their essential nature
when the manner in which they have come into existence
is understood.

6. Each object comes into existence in accordance
with its “idea,” that is to say, in relation to a certain
rational conception through which it can be what it is.

4. Therefore, all things that come into existence,
whether they are the works of God, of nature, or of man,
do so in accordance with their “ideas.”

8. Art borrows the “ideas” of its productions from
nature, nature from God, and God from Himself.

1 Delineatio, sec. 40. » Ibid. sec. 63.
34 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

g. In fashioning the world, therefore, God produces an
image of Himself, so that every creature stands in a
definite relation to its creator.

to. As all things share in the “ideas” of the Divine
mind, they are also mutually connected and stand in a
definite relation to one another. ;

11. It follows that the rational conceptions of things
are identical, and only differ in the form of their manifesta-
tion, existing in God as an Archetype, in nature as an
Ectype, and in art as an Antitype.

12. Therefore the basis of producing as of apprehend-
ing all things is harmony.

13. The first requisite of harmony is that there should
be nothing dissonant.

14. The second is that there should be nothing that is
not consonant.

15. The third is that the infinite variety of sounds and
concords should spring from a few fundamental ones, and
should come into being by definite and regular processes
of differentiation.

16. Therefore, if we know the fundamental concep-
tions and the modes of their differentiation, we shall know
all things.

17. Such rational conceptions can be abstracted from
phenomena by means of a certain method of induction,
and must be posited as the norms of phenomenal existence.

18. These norms of truth must be abstracted from
those objects whose nature is such that they cannot be
otherwise, and which are at every one’s disposal for the
purpose of making experiments, that is to say, from natural
phenomena.

These aphorisms constitute the philosophic basis of
Pansophia. The work constructed with reference to them
is to be “an accurate anatomy of the universe, dissecting
the veins and limbs of all things in such a way that there
shall be nothing that is not seen, and that each part shall
appear in its proper place and without confusion.” Great
care is to be taken that terms, especially general terms,
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 35

 

be carefully defined. These general terms of Pansophia
are, as it were, axioms of physics; ultimate truths that do
not admit of demonstration or analysis, but only need to be
illustrated by examples. They are given us from heaven ;
but in selecting from them great care must be taken to
avoid error. The particular cases that are brought for-
ward in the system should not introduce any new truth,
but should merely consist of a special application of the
general conceptions that have preceded. In this way
physical investigation is to be conducted on the analogy of
geometry, and developed deductively from axioms. It
will be seen that Comenius, in spite of his constant praise
of Bacon and his sympathy with the more fantastic con-
ceptions of that thinker, has but little in common with his
inductive philosophy. His “idea” is an echo of Plato;
his ‘‘ratio” is a reincarnation of Aristotle’s logos; while
his general axioms are obtained by intuition and not by
any definitely planned method of induction. While grant-
ing that Bacon’s “artificial induction” may be of use for
the investigation of natural objects, he distinctly repudiates
it for the purposes of Pansophia, since this deals with the
universe, in which the supernatural is included. With the
exception of the steam-engine, there are few civilising
agencies of the present day that have not been ascribed to
Comenius’ fertile brain by his continental admirers,! and
the attempt to link his name with that of Bacon as an in-
ductive philosopher is backed by equally scanty evidence.
As a natural philosopher he belongs to the century that
preceded him and not to the age of experiment that was
to follow, and his didactic principles were due rather to
an extraordinary intuition of what was necessary than to
patient reasoning on inductive lines.?

It is on the conception of the universe as ordered, and
of the relations that exist between phenomena as rational,

l One commentator actually declares that the rules of Freemasonry have
been taken from Comenius’ writings.

2 In the Preface to the Great Didactic Comenius expressly says that his
principles were arrived at @ priori.
36 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

that any system of education, apart from the mere incul-
cation of facts, must rest, and this is the truth that
Comenius brings out most strongly in his Pansophic
writings. It is towards this “Universal Wisdom” that
all his didactic efforts tend. The student is led from
one fact to another, and, as these facts are arranged in
their natural order, he is thus placed in touch with the
actual cosmic processes, can follow up the train of
thought, and enlarge the circle of knowledge by working
on the lines indicated by the operations of nature. As
result, the mature student is no pedant, crammed to
overflowing with dry and uncoérdinated facts, but a man
whose faculty of original thought has been developed and
whose training fits him to be an independent investi-
gator of the universe. The boldness of the scheme excites
admiration; but the enthusiasm evinced by Hartlib and his
friends can only suggest the thought that these gentlemen
had failed to appreciate that the one important point in
the Baconian philosophy was the insistence on experiment
and verification as a basis for sound induction.

It must not be imagined that this excursion into the
realm of first principles and philosophic abstractions
impeded Comenius in the ‘performance of his practical
duties as a teacher. During these years (1635-1640) his
activity in school-organisation was as great as ever, and
the leading position that he now took in the Moravian
Fraternity laid an extra burden on his shoulders. In
1635 the Synod asked him to bring out a Latin-Bohemian
edition of the Vesttbulum and of the /anua, and expressed
its satisfaction at hearing that the learned David Bechner
was working at a Vindarium Lingue Latine, an amplifica-
tion of the /anua. Additional labour was given by the
reorganisation of the Gymnasium in accordance with the
plans of Comenius, and we accordingly find him drawing
up Zhe rules of the renowned Gymnasium at Lissa. These
are of an eminently practical character. Especial stress
is laid on the need of a spirit of piety throughout the

1 Leges tllustris Gymnasii Lesnensis.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 37

 

school. Rules are laid down for good behaviour in
class, in the streets, and at home. Playing in the streets
is forbidden, though the boys are urged to go and play
outside the town, first choosing one of their number as a
leader. Early rising is recommended, and all are advised
to enter in a notebook anything of interest that they may
learn from day to day. Dancing is strictly forbidden.
“The dance is a circle whose centre is the devil”! is the
portentous phrase by which the heinousness of the offence
was impressed on the boys’ minds.

In the following year a portion of Bechner’s Vividarium,
under the title Proplasma Templi Latinitatis, was completed,
and was subjected to Comenius’ criticism. As a writer of
school - books Bechner was inferior, and the chief value
of the work lies in its preface. Comenius, however, must
have thought well of it, as he includes it in the Amsterdam
Folio (i. 318-345).

In his preface Bechner laments that Latin is learned as
a dead and not asa living language. Themistocles learned
to speak Persian in a short time by going to Persia, and
Ovid picked up Sarmatian rapidly by living at Tomi.
Why do we not bear these examples in mind when we
teach Latin? A suitable place should be set apart with
its own church, school, workshops, and everything necessary
for carrying on life. Here boys should be sent to school,
and in this community nothing but Latin should be talked.
A master must accompany each division of boys to see
that the vernacular is completely laid aside. Pictures and
carved models of every-day objects are to be exposed to
view with their Latin names written under them that the
boys may be given every opportunity of absorbing Latinity,
and, in addition to this, they should act moral and instruc-
tive plays in Latin?

With this last suggestion in view he takes section 5 of
the Janua, “De Igne,” and works it up into a series of
dialogues of increasing difficulty, all illustrative of the

1 Chorea est circulus cujus centrum est Diabolus.
2 Op. Did. Omn. i. 320.
38 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

nature of fire. There are five stages, the Lzmen, the /anua,
the Atrium, the Odeum, and the Adytum. A short extract
from the Azrivm will suffice to show the fantastic nature
of the composition. The actors are Uriel, Pyrodes, and
Caius Carbo, and they elucidate the subject as follows :—

FP. Quis iste concursus hominum et clangor insolens
tinnitusque extra numerum ?

C. Incendium excitatum est.

P. Ubi ergo exarsit ?

C. In edibus nescio cujus; in platea cui ab arce nomen
factum est.

VU. Atque hoc quomodo . . . ? etc.

The Odeum is more advanced, while the Adytum gives,
still in dialogue form, a long philosophical and historical
disquisition on fire. The idea was not new, having been
already employed by the Jesuits, and the dialogues are
written with no dramatic power. The work is dedicated
to Comenius and his friends and well-wishers—Hartlib
in London, Schneider in Leipzig, Evenius in Weimar,
Mochinger in Dantzig, and Docemius in Hamburg.

In this year Comenius succeeded Henrici as Rector of
the Gymnasium ; but his reforming ardour was damped by
the death of his friend and patron Count Raphael, over
whose grave he preached a funeral sermon. This was
afterwards published under the title “‘The mirror of good
government, in which out of the prophet Isaiah, and from
the example of the pious Eliakim, the true qualities of
right and praiseworthy government are depicted and set
forth as a model to all good rulers.”

The death of their patron made no serious difference
to the safety of the Brethren, as his son Bohuslaw
promised to protect them as his father had done. It was
for Bohuslaw that)Comenius composed his Faber Fortune,
The Moulder of Fortune. This work starts with the con-
ception of man as a free agent. We are not dependent
on circumstances, but control them ; we must first, however,
learn to control ourselves and thus to identify our will with
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 39

 

the desire for the true good. Thus the art of moulding
our fortunes consists in depending not on circumstances
but on reason, and not on the reason of another but on
our own; that is to say, on the reason of God that’ works
in us.

It is impossible to say how much time was devoted to
the Jaxua Rerum during the last few years of Comenius’
stay in Lissa. Apart from his work as a schoolmaster, his
other literary productions were sufficient to fill up any
ordinary man’s time, and the claims made on him by
admirers in other towns and countries increased daily.
In 1637 a request was addressed to him from Breslau
asking him to write some hints on school-teaching for the
Gymnasium in that town. With this demand he complied
in his De sermonis Latini studio dissertatio. It is interesting
as being the first published work of Comenius that dealt
with school organisation in a philosophic spirit.

The treatise opens with a dedicatory verse by George
Bechner, in which the author is ranked above Epictetus.!
After some general remarks on the importance of a
knowledge of facts—‘“‘ Verba sine rebus, putamina sunt
sine nucleo, vagina sine gladio, umbra sine corpore, corpus
sine anima”—-Comenius proceeds to divide the Latin
School into four classes, each of which is to have its own
book. The first and second classes are to be provided with
the Vestibulum and the Janua, whose acquaintance we have
already made ; while for the two more advanced classes he
suggests the compilation of two other books, Zhe Palatium
and Zhe Thesaurus. The Palace is to be divided into
four parts—‘‘The Palace of Letter-writing,” “‘The Palace
of History,” “The Palace of Oratory,” and “The Palace of
Poetry.” “The Palace of Letter-writing” is to contain a
hundred letters corresponding to the hundred divisions of
the Janua. The style is to be varied, and a few general
remarks on letter-writing are to be added. “The Palace
of History” is to consist of dialogues embodying historical
information about the objects mentioned in the /anua.

1 Cedat Epictetus nomen tibi, clare Comeni.—Op. Did. Omn. i. 348.
40 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

“The Palace of Oratory” is to repeat the same material in
oratorical form, the phrases used being adapted from Cicero,
Quintilian, and Seneca; while the “Palace of Poetry”
deals with the same subjects treated in verse. The verses
are not to be original, but are to be taken from the classic
poets. In this way Rossie! in England had written a life
of Christ with lines taken from Vergil.

The culminating point in this series of graduated
school-books is the Thesaurus. This is a collection of
extracts from classic writers dealing with the subjects of the
Janua. For all these books suitable lexicons are to be
compiled, and a Latin grammar is to be written for use
with the /amua. As a further assistance to the use of the
Thesaurus he proposes a Clavis Intellectus Humani,? in
which the subject-matter is to be arranged in “a certain
‘general proportion” with reference to the relation in
which things, the concepts of things, and language, stand
to one another.

These books are to be spread over the six years devoted
to the Latin School as follows: for the Vestibulum six
months is sufficient, and for the /amwa a year; for the
falatium a year and a half is allowed, leaving the remain-
ing three years for the study of the authors.

Then follow some general remarks on teaching, after
which come some special rules for the use of the class-
books.

From the use of the Vestibulum the boy must learn to
read Latin words with the proper accent and to write what
he knows with fluency ; he is also to master the rudiments
of grammar and syntax. As a help to writing, some of
the Latin sentences should be printed faintly (green is
recommended as a suitable colour), and over this the boy
may write in black ink.

The Vestibulum is to be read through ten times, and

1 Rosszeus Anglus.—Og. Did. Omn. i. 357. I have been unable to
obtain any further information about this scholar,

? This he further on identifies with the Janwa Rerum.—Op. Did.
Omn. i. 362.
INTRODUCTION— BIOGRAPHICAL , 41

 

each time stress should be laid on some fresh point. By
the ninth reading it should practically be known off by
heart. Great stress is laid on the importance of employ-
ing the morning hours for learning, and the afternoon for
reading and writing. Similarly, the /anua is to be read
ten times, the tenth reading being a kind of Latin disputa-
tion in which the winner gets a prize.1

In the following year (1638) an invitation came from
Sweden asking Comenius to undertake the reformation of
the schools in that country. He refused. The task, he
said, was too great for one man, and he foresaw nothing
but envious opposition from the local schoolmasters.

But, though not induced to leave Lissa, it was brought
home to him how much schools all over Europe were in
need of reformation, and he was induced to commence
the translation of Zhe Great Didactic out of Czech into
Latin. The headings of the chapters he communicated
to Hartlib, who published them in 1642 as an appendix
to his Reforme of Schooles. In other directions his literary
output was as great as ever. To these years belong two
plays, Diogenes Cynicus redivivus and Abrahamus Patriarcha,
which were acted by the students of the Gymnasium.

To the interest excited by his philosophic schemes we
have alluded in our account of the Prodromus. This
interest continued to increase, and Comenius, who had
come to Lissa in 1628, known merely as a member of a
little band of Bohemian exiles, with sensible views on the
teaching of Latin, began to realise that he had achieved
European notoriety and that any country would be glad to
secure his services. Much of his renown was probably
due to the enthusiasm of Hartlib, who was in correspond-
ence with a large number of intellectual men both in
England and on the continent. Pell, an English mathe-
matician and the friend of Hartlib, was in communication
with Mersenne in France; Mersenne had written to
Comenius on the subject of his Pansophic schemes,
and Descartes himself, an old school-fellow and friend of

1 Op. Did. Oman. i. 348-393.
42 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

Mersenne, had expressed his approval of them, though
hitherto he knew of them only by hearsay.?

Comenius thus began to feel that the walls of the Lissa
Gymnasium formed a limited horizon, and one beyond
which his personal influence might with great advantage
be extended. Many causes worked together to make
him dissatisfied with his position. The death of Count
Raphael in 1636 and of his old master Alsted in 1638
had taken from him two of his best friends. Enemies,
envious of his success, had worked upon the distrust that
his brothers in the faith could not refrain from evincing
towards his scientific efforts, and had accused him before
the Synod of displaying irreverence in his Pansophic
writings. Count Bohuslaw had seceded from the Evan-
gelic party and embraced the Catholic faith, and seems to
have given an unsatisfactory reply when Comenius (in
1640) laid before him his further schemes for scholastic
and pansophic works. It is therefore not surprising that
he yielded to the pressing demands of Hartlib and, having
first obtained leave from the Unity, set out for England.

It was after a most unsatisfactory voyage, during which
he had been carried by a storm into the Baltic, that he
reached London in the September of 1641; but, once
there, he was received with open arms by the little band
of which Hartlib was the centre.

A man of great enthusiasm but of less judgment,
Hartlib knew everybody in England who was worth know-
ing. “I could fill whole sheets,” he wrote to Worth-
ington,? “in what love and reputation I have lived these
thirty years in England; being familiarly acquainted with

1 De modo autem speculum ejusmodi conficiendi, naturee maxime con-
sentaneus ille videtur (quem et Comenium hac de re libros mundi utriusque
Majoris nimirum et Minoris cum libro Scripturze, ut audio, potissimum
consulentem sibi eligere conjicio) qui Vestigia Creatoris in producendis
rebus accuratissime observet, ita ut ex rationis lumine primo probetur ;
necessario concedendum esse rerum conditorem et Deum, deinde Creaturze
eo pertractentur modo, quo Moses eas in Genesi sua procreatas luculenter
descripsit. — Excerpta Literarum, J. Durzei, 1638. MS. Sloane, Brit.
Mus. 417.

3 Dr. John Worthington, Master of Jesus College, Cambridge.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 43

 

the best of archbishops, bishops, earls, viscounts, barons,
knights, esquires, gentlemen, ministers, professors of both
Universities, merchants, and all sorts of learned or in any
kind useful men.” Himself a voluminous author! and
translator, he was ever on the look-out for talent in need
of assistance, and was rapidly getting through his fortune
in the promotion of every Utopian scheme that came
under his notice. It was to him and at his request that
Milton addressed his essay Of Education (1644).

At this time in easy circumstances, he was living in
Duke’s Place, Drury Lane, an address which we may be
sure was the centre of Comenius’ London experiences.
Here would have met to discuss the intellectual and
political problems of the day men like Theodore Haak,
John Durie, John Beale, John Wilkins, John Pell, and
Evelyn, who had just returned to London after a three
months’ journey through Europe. Milton was living in
London, and must certainly have met and conversed with
the illustrious stranger ; while no farther off than at Seven-.
oaks was Thomas Farnaby, a very remarkable English
schoolmaster, who had evinced his interest in the /anua by
prefixing a short Latin poem to Anchoran’s edition of 1631.

It was a strange society to which Comenius was intro-
duced. Haak was a naturalised Englishman who had been
ordained deacon in 1634 by Hall, Bishop of Exeter. He
it was who in 1648 suggested the meetings of learned men
that eventually led to the formation of the Royal Society.
To No. 5 of Hooke’s philosophical collections he con-
tributed the criticisms of Marin Mersenne and of Descartes
upon Dr. John Pell’s Ax Jdea of Mathematics, and, accord-
ing to Anthony & Wood, translated half of Paradise Lost
into High Dutch.

John Durie, the son of Robert Durie, minister of the
Scotch Church at Leyden, had been educated for the

1 He wrote among other works ‘An essay for the advancement of
Husbandry-learning : or proposition for the erecting of a College of
Husbandry’ (1651); ‘The advice of W. P. (Sir William Petty) to Mr.
Sam. H. for the advancement of some particular parts of learning’; and
a pamphlet entitled ‘An invention of Engines of Motion.’
44 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

ministry at Sedan under Andrew Melville, and also at
Leyden and Oxford. A great advocate of Evangelical
unity, he was continually employed on semi-religious em-
bassies. Recently ordered out of her country by Christina,
Queen of Sweden, he was now in London without any
definite occupation. Two years later he obtained the post
of Keeper of the books, medals, and manuscripts of St.
James.

John Beale, afterwards rector of Yeovil in Somerset-
shire, and chaplain to Charles I, was, like Hartlib, an
agricultural enthusiast, and wrote, among other things,
Aphorisms concerning Cider. “artlib, writing to Boyle in
1658, says of him: “There is not the like man in the
whole island nor in the continent beyond the seas so far
as I know it—I mean that could be made more universally
use of to good to all, as I in some measure know and
could direct.”

John Wilkins, afterwards Bishop of Chester, was ready
to entertain any absurdity as long as its aim was philan-
thropic. He was the author of some curious works, in-
cluding Discovery of a New World (1638), a description
of communication with the moon by means of flying-
machines, and JAervcury, or the secret and swift messenger,
showing how a man may with privacy and speed communicate
his thoughts to a friend at any distance.

Last comes Dr. John Pell, a mathematician of no mean
order. He had published his Commentationes in Cosmo-
graphiam Alstedit in 1631, and had doubtless many a
conversation with Comenius about the character and parts
of his old master.

Such was the circle in the midst of which Comenius
found himself, and much further our acquaintance with the
details of his visit does not go. He was delighted with
London. To his friends in Lissa he writes with enthusiasm
of the preachers, the libraries, and the anxiety displayed
for school reform.

“T live,” he says in a letter dated the 18th of October,
“as a friend among friends; though not so many visit me as
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 45

 

would do so if they knew that I could speak English, or if
they had more confidence in their own Latin, or if they had
not such a high opinion of me.”

This shyness on the part of callers gave him plenty
of time to talk over plans with his friends. He had
not arrived at a fortunate moment; the king had gone to
Scotland, Parliament had risen for three months, and
nothing remained but to stay in London for the winter
and unfold to Hartlib and his circle! the sketch, such
as it was, of his Pansophic system. His leisure time he
employed in the composition of a new work, entitled Via
Lucis,2 which was, however, not published until the year
1668 in Amsterdam.

Uppermost in the minds of Hartlib and his friends was
the formation of a Universal College for physical research,
on the lines suggested by Bacon in the Mew Atlantis.
Now at last in Comenius they thought they had discovered
a man competent to found a “Solomon’s House,” if only
sufficient assistance were given him by Parliament. This
was their chief object in urging him to come to England,
and it was on the establishment of the college that the
conversation turned. As we have seen, Comenius was
totally unfitted to organise a collection of laboratories for
physical research—for that was what the proposal practi-
cally amounted to. He was, as he himself confesses,
primarily a theologian, and, though he could talk glibly
and attractively of enlarging the boundaries of human
knowledge, he had no conception of the tedious processes
of experimentation that were necessary, and flew off to
vague generalisations at every opportunity. If proof was
necessary, he supplied it from the Scriptures, and as a
means for verification valued a text from Genesis more than
all the paraphernalia of the chemist and the physicist.

The Via Lucis, while much of it is of that fantastic

1 Amicis apparatum Pansophicum (quam tenuis fuit) lustrantibus.—
Op. Did. Oman, ii. preface.

2 ‘Via Lucis, Hoc est, Rationabilis disquisitio, quomodo intellectualis
animorum lux, Sapientia, tandem sub mundi vesperam per omnes mentes
et gentes feliciter spargi possit.’
46 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

nature that we have already noticed in Comenius’ Pan-
sophic writings, contains some points that are both new
and interesting. The term “light” is taken to signify the
millennium of learning to be attained by Pansophic methods,
though at the same time the physical phenomenon of light
is dealt with and its nature declared to consist of waves or
motion (chap. ix.) This “light” is to be obtained by
means of four things—universal books, universal schools,
a universal college, and a universal language (chap. xv.)
The universal college is to consist of men chosen from the
whole world. These must be gifted, industrious, and pious,
and their task is to further the welfare of mankind and
extend the limits of knowledge in every way. England is
a suitable place in which to found this college, partly
because its position renders communication easy with the
whole world, partly in memory of Bacon, and partly because
it has offered to found the college and supply it with funds.

More important than all is the foundation of a universal
language. Vives had suggested Latin, but Comenius
thinks otherwise. Latin is too difficult, and is at the same
time a poor language. A new tongue must be devised,
at the same time easier and more complete than other
languages. With this end in view, it is important to
investigate the relation of sounds to objects and to
harmony.

A new language can be formed in two ways, from the
languages that exist or from things themselves. The latter
is the method approved by Comenius.! This universal
language is not to abolish others. Learned men may still
use Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and nations their vernaculars
(chap. xix.) A golden age is then to set in, in which the
conversion is to take place, first of the Mohammedans,
then of the heathen, and finally of the Jews (chap. Xxi.)

In the conception of a new language, on which he lays
so much stress, he was not alone. Dalgarno, a Scotsman,
published a sketch of a Lingua Philosophica in 1661, and

1 Cujus singulz voces loco definitionum essent, ad rerum ipsarum
numeros, mensuras, et pondera factee.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 47

 

Bishop Wilkins, at the request of the Royal Society,
brought out an elaborate scheme of a similar nature in
1668. Wilkins’ scheme does not deal with the relations
of sounds to things. “The first thing in such an institu-
tion,” he says, “‘is to assign several letters and sounds for
the forty genuses.”1 This is done arbitrarily, and on this
substratum the language is built up. It was to be written
in a kind of shorthand, the signs for which are rather
clumsily chosen. The universal language must have been
one of the topics of conversation between Wilkins and
Comenius, and it is difficult to say which, if either, borrowed
it from the other.

Parliament now sat again, but had too much work on
its hands to devote any attention to Comenius, and told
him to wait. In the meantime he was assured that the
intention was to give over to him some college with its
income for the carrying into effect of his schemes. In
London the Savoy or Chelsea College, and in the country
Winchester College, were suggested as suitable institutions,
so that, as Comenius remarks, “nothing seemed more
certain than that the scheme of the great Verulam, of
opening in some part of the world a universal college,
whose one object should be the advancement of the
sciences, would be carried into effect.” ?

But trouble had broken out in Ireland, and in England
it was evident that affairs were working up to civil war.
Comenius soon perceived that amid so much turmoil there
was little chance of these suggestions being carried into
practice, and began to think of returning home? His
position was unpleasant. On the strength of Hartlib’s
invitation and assurance that funds would be forthcoming,
he had givén up his post in Lissa. Hopes of universal
colleges and pecuniary support were now vanishing into
thin air, and he found himself with baffled expectations,

1 «An Essay towards a real character and a philosophical language,’
by John Wilkins, D.D., Dean of Ripon and Fellow of the Royal Society,
London, 1668. P. 414.

2 0%. Did. Oman. ii. preface.
3 «De novis studia didactica continuandis occasionibus,’
48 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

a wife and daughters to support, and a rapidly emptying
purse.

It was at this juncture that a new patron, Ludwig de
Geer, appeared on the scene. De Geer belonged to an
aristocratic Dutch family, and had realised an enormous
fortune in commerce. The centre of his business transac-
tions, which he left to his agent Hotton, was Amsterdam.
He himself resided on his estates at Finspong and
Norkoping in Sweden. It was through Hotton that he
first heard of Comenius, in whose projects he began to take
a keen interest as soon as his attention was directed to
them. A letter sent to Lissa through Hotton’s agency
arrived too late, and it was not till he had‘been in London
for some time that Comenius received it. Feeling that
Hartlib had perhaps promised more than he could bring
about, he wrote to de Geer saying that if he had received
his letter before leaving Lissa he would now be not in
London but in Sweden.

This letter elicited another pressing invitation from de
Geer, and to this Comenius sent an answer in December,
explaining that he was not quite a free agent; his Church
had the first claim on him, and he must consult his
superiors before taking any fresh step.

Hartlib, who was aware of the correspondence with de
Geer, now did his best to induce Comenius to stay in
London, and brought out an English translation of the
Prodromus under the title 4 Reformation of Scholes, in the
hope of attracting renewed attention to the Pansophic
schemes. But the unsettled state of affairs and his growing
need of money made Comenius daily more anxious to get
away. Fresh correspondence with de Geer followed, in
which he pointed out that, if he was to make any real
progress with his Pansophic books, he must have the assist-
ance of some fellow-workers. Alone, he would find the
task too great. De Geer, however, seems to have demurred
to the proposal, and objected to Joachim Hubner, one of
the proposed colleagues, on the ground of his religious
opinions.
INTRODUCTION— BIOGRAPHICAL 49

 

These negotiations occupied the spring of 1642, during
which time Comenius employed himself by composing his
Pansophiae Diatyposis, published two years later at Am-
sterdam.

He now, quite unexpectedly, received an invitation to
go to France, but, having already made up his mind to
visit Sweden, left London for Holland in June.

In August he reached Norképing and had his first in-
terview with de Geer. On the subject of Pansophia the
new patron preserved a discreet silence; but after several
days’ conversation an understanding appears to have been
arrived at, and nothing remained but to fix on a suitable
spot in which Comenius might settle down to his labours.

Partly with the object of getting suggestions on this
point he went to Stockholm by de Geer’s advice to see
Oxenstierna, the Swedish Chancellor, and Skythe the Rector
of the University at Upsala. The fact was that what de
Geer wanted was not Pansophic works, but school-books
for the Swedish schools, and in sending Comenius to call
on Oxenstierna he was doubtless carrying out a preconcerted
scheme.

Arrived at Stockholm, Comenius had to undergo arunning
fire of interrogation. Oxenstierna in particular plied him
with the most searching questions, and his remarks seem to
have made a deep impression on the worthy pedagogue,
since, in one of the brief biographical notices that are
scattered up and down his works, he devotes more space to
this interview than to any other event in his life. For two
days the Chancellor discussed the Didactic works. From
his youth, he confessed, he had felt that the common
methods of instruction were contrary to nature, but had
been unable to say exactly what the defect was. At last,
when on an embassy to Germany, some learned men with
whom he discussed the subject told him that Wolfgang
Ratke had devised a new method. He immediately put
himself into communication with him; but Ratke absolutely
refused to give him a personal interview, and sent him
instead a ponderous quarto volume, the contents of which

4
50 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

did not come up to his expectation and appeared to be
of less practical worth than the suggestions of Comenius.
Comenius modestly replied that he had done what he
could in this branch of reform and was now busy with his
Pansophic schemes. To which Oxenstierna rejoined that he
was aware of this, as he had read the Prodromus, and that
he would discuss the subject on the following day.

The morrow’s interview was far less pleasing to Comenius.
The hard-headed Chancellor was not nearly so disposed
to be enthusiastic over the Pansophia and the visionary
schemes connected with it as were Hartlib and his circle.
“Can you stand contradiction?” he asked. Comenius
replied that the one object of publishing the Prodromus
had been to obtain criticism of any kind, while that of a
man like Oxenstierna would be doubly valuable. The
Chancellor then began to bring forward objections to the
whole scheme of regenerating the world by means of
Pansophia. Some of these objections were political, others
rested on the Scriptural assurance that darkness rather than
light was to be man’s lot on earth, but to all Comenius
gave such satisfactory replies that he imparted some of his
enthusiasm even to the sceptical critic, who exclaimed,
‘“‘T do not believe that any one ever had ideas like yours.
Continue to build on the foundations that you have laid.”
Wiser judgment then returned, and he strongly advised
him to leave his Pansophic schemes alone for the moment,
to devote himself to the improvement of schools, and to
elaborate his improved method of teaching Latin, since
thus he would pave the way for more ambitious efforts in
the future.

To Comenius, who was heartily sick of what he calls his
Spinosa didactica, this advice must have been a bitter potion,
but, as Skythe echoed Oxenstierna’s opinion, and further
suggested that Elbing in Prussia would be a suitable place
for him to settle in with his family, he gulped it down
with the best grace possible.

Comenius now returned to Norkdping, and, on com-
municating the result of the interview to de Geer, found to
INTRODUCTION— BIOGRAPHICAL 51

 

his disgust that his patron viewed Oxenstierna’s advice with
the highest approval. He had, therefore, no resource but
to submit, and consoled himself with the hope that the task
would only take him a couple of years, after which he
might again devote himself to philosophy.

Preparations for the move, and a preliminary visit to
Elbing, occupied the next few months. In Lissa he had
to take final leave of his scholastic and clerical duties and
engage some assistants to help him with the philological
work in view.

At this return to philology his friends in England were
indignant, and did their best to recall him to his former
projects. “You have devoted sufficient attention to
school-books,” they wrote; ‘others can carry on the
work you have begun. The world will gain far more
advantage from having the paths of true wisdom opened
to it than from any study of Latin.” “Quo moriture ruis ?
minoraque viribus audes?” added Hartlib, more dis-
appointed than any of them at the dissipation of their
Pansophic dreams of the previous winter.

Comenius wavered. He still hankered after Pansophia,
and sent Hartlib’s letter to Sweden in the hope that it
might cause de Geer and Oxenstierna to alter their views.
But a stern reply, bidding him to persist in his undertaking
and complete the school-books, was all that he obtained,
and with great unwillingness he set to work.

In the history of great renunciations surely none is
stranger than this. We have a man little past the prime
of life, his brain teeming with magnificent if somewhat
visionary plans for social reform, a mighty power in the
community that shared his religious ideas, and an object
of interest even to those who may have shrugged their
shoulders at his occasional want of balance. Suddenly he
flings his projects to the winds, consigns his darling plans
to the dust-heap of unrealisable ideas, and retires to a small
sea-side town—not to meditate, not to give definite form
to latent conceptions or to evolve new ones, not to make

1 © De novis studia didactica continuandis occasionibus.’
52 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

preparations for the dazzling of intellectual Europe with an
octavo of fantastic philanthropy or of philosophic mysticism,
but—to write school-books for the little boys in Swedish
schools. True, he was paid. He was bartering his
inclinations against coin of the realm, against the good
gold that streamed from de Geer’s Dutch counting-house.
He was going to do useful work. Europe gained far more
advantage from his school-books than from the Pansophia
that did but impart a certain dignity and finish to his
didactic method. None the less, Comenius was martyrising
himself. Money, sufficient for his daily wants, he could
always obtain, and with ease. Of school-books he had
written enough, and of school method he was sick unto
death. It was the old story. The old inability, on the
part of a versatile man, to realise his true vocation.

Musicians have hankered after brushes and palate, states-
men have grudged to public affairs the energy filched from
literary pursuits, and Comenius, the inspired schoolmaster,
wished to shut up his dictionaries and grammars and to
philosophise about things in general. His Pansophia may
have been useless ; to the progress of exact thought it may
even have been harmful; he may have been totally unfitted
to attempt the welding together of a philosophic system ;
but this it was, and nothing else, that he wished to do, and
this it was that he determined to renounce.

The reason is not far to seek. It was his stead-
fast belief, backed up by the prophecies of Kotter and
of Christina Poniatowska, that his co-religionists would
one day triumph over their enemies and be restored to
their native land, and the agent that was to bring this
about was Sweden, the great Protestant power of Europe.
By thus linking himself with Sweden, by carrying out the
wishes of de Geer, Oxenstierna, and Skythe, he was establish-
ing a powerful claim upon the generous treatment that he
believed the Swedes destined to accord to his countrymen,
and making straight the path along which his Church was
to march home in triumph. This was why he held him-
self bound to accept de Geer’s offer ; this was the ulterior
INTRODUCTION—-BIOGRAPHICAL 53

 

object, to attain which he thought no present sacrifice too
great.

It was in the November of 1642 that he reached Elbing.
In spite of his eagerness to get to work, the first week was
one of enforced idleness, for in the house that he had
taken there were neither tables nor chairs; but these
material defects were soon remedied. The immediate
task was to rewrite the Janua Linguarum and to compose
the lexicon and grammar that were to accompany it. He
was now to have assistance in his labours, and as fellow-
workers had brought with him Paul Cyrillus, Peter Figulus,
Daniel Petreus, and Daniel Nigrinus. Bechner, whom he
had been anxious to secure as a collaborator, was unable
to come. Still further to ensure getting through the work
with speed, he gave out that he must drop all correspond-
ence with his friends for one year, an intention, needless
to remark, that he found impossible to carry out.

The Swedish patron was as good as his word, and as
soon as he heard that Comenius was definitely settled at
Elbing, and ready to set to work, remitted 1000 thaler for
him and for the Brethren. With the letter of thanks that
Comenius sent to Wolzogen, de Geer’s agent at Finspong,
he forwarded also some copies of the Vestibulum, and
suggested that the Swedish boys should write it out from
dictation while waiting for the revised versions on which he
was engaged, such an exercise being an essential part of
his method.

Elbing had seemed an eminently suitable place to work
in, and Comenius had imagined that he would be free
from any great interruption. Unfortunately Bartholomew
Nigrin, formerly minister of the Reformed Church at
Dantzig, had settled there, and his presence appears to
have been a continual source of disturbance to Comenius.
Nigrii had been imbued with the notion, shared, as we
have seen, by John Durie, Hartlib, and many others, that
a union of Christendom was possible. With the apparent
object of furthering this end, he tried to induce Comenius
to throw up his contract with de Geer and withdraw him-
54 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

self from all connection with Sweden. Comenius, who saw
in Sweden the future protector of the Evangelic Faith, had
made his engagement with open eyes, so that it is difficult
to see why these overtures on the part of Nigrin should
have caused him so much annoyance. At any rate, Nigrin
soon went over to the Roman Catholic faith, and from that
time gave Comenius little trouble.

Resolutions notwithstanding, philological works were
very far from getting Comenius’ undivided attention. His
Pansophia Diatyposis' had been commenced in England,
and, in his anxiety to get it into print and thus give his
friends in England some earnest that his Pansophic activity
was only dormant, he devoted a great part of his time to
its completion. In the summer of 1643 we find him in
Dantzig making arrangements for its publication, which
followed shortly after.

He now made a vigorous effort to devote himself
wholly to the revision of the /azwa. Latin authors
had to be gone through with minute care to ensure
that no important word was being omitted, and, the
more labour Comenius and his assistants bestowed on
their task, the farther it seemed to be from completion.
It was impossible to say how many months would pass
before the end was reached, and more than once, while
suffering from the irritation induced by his somewhat petti-
fogging occupation, he was on the point of throwing up
his engagement and returning to his Universal Knowledge.
But the Brethren had to be considered, and de Geer
was helping them liberally. In June a fresh subsidy was
sent, and Comenius, by way of showing some sign of life,
sent letters to his patron, to Bishop Matthiae of Sweden,

1 «J. A, Comenii, Pansophize Diatyposis Ichnographia et Orthographia
delineatione Totius futuri Operis amplitudinem, dimensionem, usus adum-
brans.’ This work was translated into English in 1651 by Jeremy-Collier,
Fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge (father of the non-juror), under
the title ‘A Patterne of Universall Knowledge in a plaine and true
draught : or a diatyposis or model of the eminently learned and pious
promoter of science in generall, Mr. J. A. Comenius, shadowing forth the
largeness and use of the intended work in an ichnographicall and ortho-
graphicall delineation.’
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 55

 

and to Oxenstierna. To the latter he also forwarded a
copy of his Via Lucis, in the hope of stimulating the slight
interest in the Pansophia that the statesman had evinced
in the previous year. In particular he asked him for a
criticism of the didactic principles contained in chap.
xvi. This letter.shows what extravagant expectations he
entertained of the part that Oxenstierna was to play in the
support of Evangelism. “Since we live in hope,” he wrote,
“that the fall of Babylon will give an opportunity for the
restoration of Zion, and since we see that the time is
drawing near, I am of opinion that you ought not to remain
in ignorance of our views on this matter, since you are one of
those in whose hands the rod of judgment has been placed.”

These expectations were increased by his old school-
companion Drabik, of whom he had, for a long time, heard
nothing. Drabik, who was living in Hungary, sent a copy
of fourteen revelations that had been made him from
heaven. ‘These spoke of the brilliant future in store for
the Evangelical Church, and in particular of the exaltation
of Comenius, who was destined to make the good news
known to all nations. Comenius had already had an
unfortunate experience with the prophecies of Kotter and
of Poniatowska, whose weak point was their unfulfilment.
This time he was more wary, and replied that, before he
accepted any prophecies as true, he must examine them,
as well as the prophet, carefully. In the meantime he
would pray God to give him light.

It now began to dawn on de Geer that. the scholar
whom he was paying to write class-books for Sweden was
spending his time over matters philosophical and theologi-
cal. In answer to a remonstrance from Wolzogen, who
complained that time was passing and that nothing had
been produced, Comenius answered that it was too soon to
expect any result. He was writing books and not copying
them ; his work was on a totally new plan, and needed time
and labour to make it harmonious in all its details. If
the Swedish children had no school-books, let them employ
themselves in learning their own language, Scripture history,
56 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

piety, and good manners. They would soon make up for
lost time when the Latin text-books were completed. With
this assurance de Geer had, for the moment, to be content.

But, in spite of his promise to get on with his philo-
logical works as quickly as possible, we find Comenius still
busied with philosophic plans. Under the circumstances,
it is not surprising to find that de Geer strongly objected
to a Dr. Kozak of Bremen, whom Comenius suggested as
a collaborator, since Kozak’s interests were purely scientific.
At the same time an effort was made to induce the Ham-
burg professors, Jung and Tasse, to join him in his Pan-
sophic work, but they refused to leave their present posi-
tions unless a high salary could be guaranteed them, and for
this Comenius knew that it would be useless to ask de Geer.

It is possible that, had he been able to arrange a meet-
ing with his patron in the summer of 1644, he would have
attempted to withdraw from an engagement that he found
so irksome, but travel was rendered dangerous by the war
that had broken out between Sweden and Denmark in the
preceding year. The claims on his time remained as
numerous as ever. In this year (1644) he published a
religious work, Adsurditatum Echo; and, at the request of
the Elbing Town Council, undertook to lecture at the
Gymnasium on the /axua Rerum four times weekly, from
one till three o’clock. For this he was to receive a salary
of 400 florins. As if he were not already sufficiently
occupied, he found himself compelled by his position as
an elder in the Moravian Church to attend an Evangelical
meeting at Orla in Lithuania.

It may appear like dishonesty on Comenius’ part that
he so persistently dissipated his energies on other work
while in de Geer’s pay for one definite purpose, but to any
such accusation two-very strong rejoinders may be made.

In the first place, he was undoubtedly devoting to his
school-books a very great deal if not quite the whole of his
time; and, in the second, he had shown to what extent
he considered himself bound to carry out his engagement,
by refusing two offers of a far more congenial character.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 57

 

In 1643, George Rakoczy, Count of Transylvania, had
asked him to accept the professorship formerly held by
Alsted, and at the same time to undertake a general reform
of the school system in Hungary. Count Radziwill of
Lithuania had gone further, and had actually proposed to
give him a residence on his estate and endow him with the
quarter of his income that he might carry on his Pansophic
studies in peace. Both these suggestions Comenius had
rejected, and he therefore felt that, while practically fulfilling
his promise, he was not called upon to become an utter
slave to de Geer’s desire for school-books.

De Geer, however, did not see matters in the same
light, and, on his return from Orla to Elbing, Comenius
found himself compelled to write a dutiful letter to Hotton,
each line of which shows that the chains that bound him
to philology were galling his flesh. ‘“O that it had pleased
God,” he writes, “to instil these thoughts into another, to
implant these intellectual desires in another’s mind! O
that I might have either greater powers or fewer desires!
But with every forward step that I make, a further insight
is granted me, and I find it impossible not to strive after
what is deeper and better. The consequence is that my
former work always seems imperfect, and though I correct
and improve in a thousand ways and without intermission,
I arrive at no definite result. The task that I have under-
taken is a great one, and my efforts are like a stream whose
volume of water increases as it gets farther from its source.
You see that I have something in my mind greater than a
Vestibulum, a Janua, a Dictionary, or leading-strings for
boys of that description.”

But neither this letter nor one of a later date received
any answer, and Comenius wrote again (November 1644)
imploring de Geer, in God’s name, not to desert him,
since he had refused help from other quarters. In proof
of this he copied several passages from Count Radziwill’s
letter and sent them to Hotton, that de Geer might see if
he had really been guilty of inconstancy. He must at this
time have been in serious pecuniary distress, only slightly
58 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

alleviated by the authorities at Elbing, who provided him
with a house rent-free.

At last the long-expected letter from Sweden arrived.
Hotton had made peace with de Geer, and the result was
a remittance of 400 thaler. In his letter of acknowledg-
ment, Comenius, with that simplicity which is his strongest
characteristic, speaks out of his inner consciousness and
assures his patron that what hinders him in his work is the
novelty of his Pansophic system, and the effort to lay the
foundations of truth without any sophistry.

It must indeed have been small comfort to de Geer,
who was impatiently waiting for his school-books, to be
told that their composer was engaged on a work destined
to reform human affairs, and of which the Pansophia was
only the seventh part.

In the following year (1645) Wladislaw IV. of Poland
summoned a great religious conference at Thorn, and
invited the various religious bodies to send representatives.
The union of Catholics and Protestants had been one of
Comenius’ favourite notions, but, on hearing that Dantzig
proposed to send to the Synod two Lutherans, who had
little in common with the Moravian Brethren, he decided to
have nothing to do with it. Though the Brethren at Lissa
had been very anxious that he should represent them,
they excused him at his earnest request. ‘“ May all these
sects and their supporters perish,” he wrote. “Christ,
whom I serve, knows no sect.” In order, however, that
he might have some reason for absenting himself from
such a representative gathering, he wrote to de Geer,
asking him to send a summons to Sweden and thus free
him from the pressure to which he was being subjected.
But de Geer dissuaded him from coming to Sweden until
the war between that country and Denmark was at an end.

Deprived, therefore, of this excuse, and continually
urged by his friends to attend the conference, Comenius
gave way, and set out for Thorn. On his arrival (August
1645) he received a friendly communication from Hotton,
warning him that de Geer’s patience was exhausted, that he
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 59

 

wished for completed works and not new plans, and that
an angry letter from him was on its way. ,

This news made Comenius anxious, and, as the confer-
ence progressed but slowly and promised to be a long
affair, he determined to return to Elbing. Just before
leaving Thorn he received from de Geer the letter that
had been heralded by Hotton. It was violent and full of
accusations. He had better get those for whom he worked
to support him. The three years at Elbing had been
fruitless, since he had published nothing. Descending to
particulars, de Geer complained that the salary of 400
thaler promised to a Dr. Cyprian Kinner was far too
high.

At first, Comenius was completely overcome by this
attitude on the part of his patron, but, by the time he
returned to Elbing, he had recovered his self-possession,
and wrote de Geer a calm justification of his conduct. He
pointed out that his works, which, as a matter of fact, were
nearly completed, formed a harmonious whole, so that one
could not be published before the other; that the distract-
ing occupations, that de Geer cast in his teeth, were no
more than was necessary to give his mind needful relaxa-
tion after its arduous labours. Coming to the incident of
Kinner, he pointed out that a captain in the army received
more pay than the salary that was considered too high, and
that, if de Geer wanted the books finished at all, it was
absolutely essential that he should supply competent
assistance. If he wished, he might withdraw his support.
“Were I not beset with applications on every side,” he
concludes, “and, in addition, threatened by approaching
old age, I should desire nothing better than to retire into
some solitude and there give myself up to my favourite
investigations. I should seek no patron, but rather strive
with all my might to stand in need of none.”

Comenius’ friends in Lissa now came to the rescue, not
with funds, for money was a very scarce commodity among
the Moravian Brethren, but with what was, from their
point of view, the soundest advice under the circumstances.
60 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

“Finish your school-books as quickly as you can,” they
said, “and then devote yourself to your clerical duties.”
So Comenius set to work once more, and this time in
earnest. There was still a good deal to be done. The
Janua bad to be completely rewritten, in accordance with
a new principle of arrangement, and the composition of
the grammar and lexicon demanded patience. He had
hoped from assistance from Kinner, but for the moment
Kinner was detained in Schleswig-Holstein, and, though
we find him working with Comenius later on, he seems to
have been partly engaged on a Didactic of his own.1

De Geer was mollified by Comenius’ letter and by his
evident intention to complete his task. At the beginning
of 1646 he sent him 500 thaler for himself and the same
sum for the Brethren. At the end of the year we find
Comenius in Sweden, where a commission of three men
examined the school-books, now almost completed, and
reported favourably on them. It only remained to put the
finishing touches.

But poverty and trouble pursued Comenius relentlessly.
Any money that came into his hands soon found its way
to the pockets of the needy scholars and exiles who
clustered round him. At this time he was especially anxious
to aid Ritschel, a former collaborator, now in great dis-
tress. Himself in need of assistance, he made urgent
applications on Ritschel’s behalf to the Reformed Church
in Belgium, and managed to collect the sum of 50 thaler.
Importuning for charity, even though he himself was not
its object, was greatly against the grain; “ Better die than
beg,” he wrote to Hartlib.

In former years Hartlib might have helped him, but he
had already spent the greater part of his fortune in the
promotion of experiments of various kinds, and, though

1 A sketch of this ‘D. Cypriani Kinneri Cogitationum Didacticarum
Diatyposis Summaria’ was translated by Hartlib, under the title: ‘A
Continuation of J. A. Comenius’ School Endeavours, or a Summary
Delineation of Dr. Cyprian Kinner . . . his Thoughts concerning
Education, or the way and method of Teaching. London, 1648.’
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 61

 

Cromwell had awarded him a pension of £100 yearly, it
is doubtful if he received it regularly. Certain it is that,
after the Restoration, he was in great distress. He was
now busily engaged with the project of a “Correspondence
Agency,” which he wished to see established in London.
This was'to be a kind of Information Office, where any one
might seek advice (gratis, if he were poor) on any subject.
In addition, it was to further correspondence and learned
intercourse between men of talent within and without
England, and by this means the realisation of Bacon’s
scientific and of Comenius’ pedagogic schemes was to
be rendered easier. The scheme, however, a somewhat
visionary one, was not carried out, and remained one of
the blind alleys into which so many enthusiasts in England
were led before their efforts culminated in the actual forma-
tion of the Royal Society in 1660.

A considerable portion of the school-books was now
actually ready, and was despatched to Sweden at the
beginning of 1647. This included the Méethodus Lin-
guarum Novissima, with its index and dedication, and part of
the Janua. More Comenius refused to send until definite
arrangements for publication had been made. The /anua
was to be illustrated, and this caused additional delay.
Considering that Comenius was now engaged on his treatise,
Independentia confusionum origo, a work directly aimed
against the sectarian tendency of religious bodies in England,
it is difficult to imagine how he found time to busy himself
with business arrangements at all.

A fresh page in his life was now to be turned, and, had
the bulk of de Geer’s books not been completed, the
chances are that they would have remained unfinished.
The aged Bishop of the Unity, L. Justinius, had died at
Ostrorog, and Comenius was elected to fill his place. His
acquiescence in this choice meant that the connection with
-de Geer must to a large extent be broken, as pastoral duties
would now take up much of his time. In spite, therefore,
of his expectations from Sweden, he at length made up his
mind to turn his back upan that country, and, leaving his
62 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

retreat at Elbing, once more took up his residence at Lissa.
De Geer and Hartlib were both anxious that he should leave
the books to be published by Elzevir in Amsterdam, but
he thought it better to see them printed under his own
eyes, and insisted on entrusting them to a local printer at
Lissa. He was now settling for the second time in the
town where his spurs as a schoolmaster and as an educa-
tionist had been won, and many things combined to
make him enter on this new stage of his career with that
melancholy to which the Slavonic temperament is ever
prone. He was fifty-six years old. His life had been
spent in exile and in the continual struggle against poverty.
His hopes that the Evangelic religion would ultimately
prosper must, by this time, have been a good deal shaken.
The Pansophia was not completed, and, at his age, with
his duties, and in a century when the duration of life was
much shorter than at the present day, he could scarcely
hope to finish it. True, he had produced his school-books,
his Great Didactic, and his Treatise on language, but these
were to him nothing but sézmosa didactica. His life-work,
the work for which he had wished to be remembered,
existed but in his own fancy and in the loose sheets of
uncoérdinated information that he had been collecting for
years. In addition, the death of his wife, for whose weak
state of health the journey to Lissa had proved too much,
made him more than ever in need of the sympathy that,
as a Bishop, he was expected to extend to others.

To leave the author for a moment, and return to his
writings. The printer at Lissa proved unsatisfactory, and,
in 1650, Comenius sent the manuscripts to Amsterdam,
washed his hands of them, and left their publication to de
Geer. The works written between 1642 and 1650 constitute
the second part of the Osera Didactica Omnia. Here we
find the Alethodus Linguarum Novissima, a couple of pages
of the Vestibulum, in Latin and in German, and the same
amount of the /azua, both left unfinished because, as he
tells us,! he brought out an improved edition later on, in

1 Op. Did. Omn, ii. 297.
INTRODUCTION—-BIOGRAPHICAL 63

 

Hungary, and preferred to print. this version in Part III. of
the Folio. The grammar for the /anua, under the title
Janue Linguarum novissima clavis, Grammatica Latino-Verna-
cula, he gives in full, because, though also revised in Hungary,
the two works are practically distinct. The grammar written
at Elbing proved too long for young boys (it occupies over
100 folio pages), and is more suited to the master than to
the pupil,! while that written in Hungary is much shorter.

Following the grammar are some Aznotationes super
Grammaticam novam Janualem ; additional information for
teachers and hints as to the spirit in which the grammar
should be used. “This is a grammar that I have given
you,” he says, in a few concluding words, “but one that is
to serve as a prelude to logic, rhetoric, and the sciences
themselves. Do we wish to train up boys so that they
may always remain boys? Nay, it is to higher things that
they must be advanced.” The Lexicon Januale is not
printed in the folio, since an edition of it was brought out
by Thomas Golz at Frankfort in 1656,? while the publica-
tion of the Afium was hindered by Comenius’ call to
Hungary in 1650.

We thus see that the series of works composed for de
Geer consisted of a philosophic treatise on Language, its
nature, its functions, and the laws to be observed in teaching
it, followed by a set of graduated reading-books and lexicons
based on these laws. The Methodus Novissima deserves
special notice, more indeed than can be given to it here.
Its scope is not so wide as that of the Great Didactic, since
it deals primarily with language, but in breadth of thought
it is fully equal to it. Its great drawback is its bulk (it is
half as long again as the Gveat Didactic). As a writer
Comenius lacked the instinct of limitation, and in the
Methodus, as in much that he wrote, allowed his pen to run
away with him.

The work contains thirty chapters, and these fall
naturally under seven heads.

I. cc. i-iv. Theory of Language.—Philosophic dis-

1 Op. Did. Oma, ii. 304. 2 Ibid. 455. ‘
64 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

cussion of the nature of language, the differences and
resemblances that exist between various languages, and
their respective defects and advantages.

II. ce. v.-viii, Historical.—Especial attention should be
paid to one language in particular. Why this language
should be Latin. The method of teaching it hitherto in
vogue. Brief account of the efforts that have been made
to improve upon that method.

III. cc. ix, x. Didactic—A new method, based upon
true didactic principles, is needed. Thorough exposition
and analysis of these principles.

IV. cc, xi.-xiii, General description of the Methodus
Novissima, with special reference to the principle of
gradation involved.

V. cc. xiv.-xvii, This principle as applied to Latin.
Description of the Vestibulum, Janua, Atrium, and Thesaurus.

VI. cc. xviii.-xxvili. Universal application of the method,
not only to the teaching of Latin, but to the vernaculars
as well; to polyglotty, to scientific ends, to the better
understanding of the Scriptures, to the improvement of
schools, and to the education of rude peoples.

VII. cc. xxix., xxx. Appeal to learned men, theologians,
and rulers, to further the principles involved.

With a large portion of the detail in this work the reader
has already been made familiar, and about one-sixth (chap.
x.) is an abstract of the Great Didactic; but scattered
through the earlier chapters there are a number of suggestive
remarks that illustrate the author’s versatility and breadth
of mind, and these we will briefly indicate.

It must be confessed that some of Comenius’ philo-
sophising on the nature of language is sorry stuff. The
remark that language is derived from thought and
thought from objects (z7ebws), has a plausible air, but is
not developed. Of far greater interest is his description
of a perfect language. For this, four things are neces-
sary: (1) a complete nomenclature of objects, (2) no
ambiguity in the meaning of words, (3) explicit laws for
the proper construction of sentences, (4) the nomenclature
INTRODUCTION— BIOGRAPHICAL 65

 

should not be redundant, each object being represented by
one word and no more.

While such a conception of language is of logical value,
it is evident that it could only seriously recommend itself
to one who lacked all appreciation of literary style. Objects
are limited, but the ways in which they may be viewed are
indefinite, and it is the possession of several words of
varying etymological significance to express different aspects
of the same conception that lends a language its charm.

In the domain of comparative philology we find Leibnitz
to a large extent anticipated. The similarities between
the chief languages of Europe prove beyond a doubt that
they have a common origin, and this can be none other than
Hebrew. In proof of this assertion he purposes, so he
tells us, to write a comparative lexicon of the five chief
languages of Europe. It is scarcely necessary to say that
the choice of Hebrew as a root-language is suggested by
religious associations and by the Scriptural account of the
manner in which diversity of language originated. The
difficulty of intercourse between nation and nation, for
which the Tower of Babel is answerable, can be overcome
by the adoption of some one language as a medium of
communication. Here Comenius forgets his former decision
in favour of a philosophical language, and casts his vote for
Latin. After giving at length the arguments of Vives, he
adds a few of his own. Latin is easy to pronounce, and
in this respect possesses an advantage over most modern
tongues. It is free from the difficulties of the Hebrew
ham and of the Arabic 44a. It has no #% like English, no
nasal vowels like Polish, and its consonants are not some-
times hard and sometimes soft, as in the Slavonic languages.
Hungarian words are monstrously long, Chinese and, to a
large extent, German words are too short, and have to be
joined agglutinatively ; but Latin vocables are of a medium
and practicable length.

This prominence given to Latin as a link between nation
and nation is not to discourage the cultivation of modern
languages. On the contrary, it is of great importance

5
66 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

that each people should learn its own language thoroughly,
and try to preserve it pure and free from admixture with
others. A thorough knowledgé of any tongue can be
obtained by means of translations of the Vestibulum, the
Janua, and the Atrium, and the desire to introduce foreign
words will be diminished as the resources of the vernacular
become better known. In this respect some nations are
great offenders, and particularly the Bohemians, who con-
tinually borrow foreign words and expressions although
their own language is an exceptionally rich one. The best
method of maintaining the purity of a language is the
inception of Academies, such as the Society della Crusca
at Florence, or the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft at Weimar.
Some such society should exist in every country, and its
first object should be to analyse the syntax and grammar
of the vernacular, and to reduce them to definite rules.
The conditions of those nations who are not sufficiently
civilised to do this for themselves, exercises Comenius
greatly. The task obviously falls to the lot of the
neighbouring people. Thus, the language of the Laps
must be set in order by the Swedes, Welsh by the English,
and the American dialects by the Spaniards, Belgians, and
English that live in America.

Such are a few of the interesting points, buried as usual
beneath a mass of verbosity and repetition, that are raised
in the WVovissima Methodus. A short quotation from the
fragment of the Vestibulum that immediately follows it in
the folio edition of 1657, will show how closely the German
was fitted to the Latin—

Invitatio. Einladung.
Veni puer Kom [her du] Knab
aut quisquis es oder wer du seyst
qui cupis discere der du begehrst zu lernen
Latinam linguam : die Lateinische Sprach :
quae pulchra est welche schon ist
communisque populis und gemein den Vélkern

et facit doctos und macht gelehrte [Leut]
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 67

 

It was only in the introduction to the Vestdulum that
the material was worked up into sentences. Comenius’
didactic principles had led him to think that it was a mis-
take to begin with sentences, no matter how simple. The
body of the work, therefore, consisted of lists of words,
arranged under the various headings of the Vestibulum, and
these the child had to learn, preparatory to employing them
later on. The /anua did not undergo so much alteration.
In its new form the plan of not repeating individual
words was abandoned ; it was not written, as was the first
edition, with special reference to the Bohemian language,
and some fresh chapters, embodying an account of the
world’s chief religions, were added.

The grammar composed for the /axwa does Comenius
little credit. It is far too long (it occupies sixty-three folio
pages), it abounds in divisions, subdivisions, and such-like
complications, and is thus totally at variance with the rules
laid down in the Great Didactic. It is followed by some
notes for the teachers who used it.

In the midst of his varied activity Comenius had ever
kept his eyes fixed on one beacon light, and this was the
triumphant return of the Bohemian Protestants to their
fatherland. To this end he had devised plans for school-
organisation, church discipline, social reform, and what not.
For this he had courted Sweden and waited in Oxenstierna’s
antechamber ; for this he had buried himself at Elbing,
and had spent the best part of six years in doing what he
detested, writing school-books; for this he had pocketed
his pride and eaten another’s bread ; for this he had borne
de Geer’s petulant humours and inconsiderate arrogance.
And now it all proved to be in vain. The Thirty Years’
War was at an end. In 1648 the Peace of Westphalia had
been ratified at Miinster and at Osnabriick, and, while
religious toleration had been granted to the Protestants in
general, it had not been extended to the Bohemian
Brethren. These found themselves as far as ever from the
return to their beloved country.
68 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

To the whole Unity the blow was tremendous, but to
none more than to its bishop. The revulsion of feeling
caused by the overthrow of all his hopes was sufficient to
strain the mental equilibrium of a man more evenly
balanced than Comenius, and it is from this juncture
that he commenced to give way to those prophetic tend-
encies that made him the butt of every academic
scoffer in Europe, and contributed more than any-
thing else to neutralise the influence that his life should
have had on the immediate future of school-organisa-
tion.

Hard work, the most easeful of anodynes, came to his
rescue. The bond by which the Brethren had been kept
together was loosened, and the Unity was fast dispersing.
Comenius’ energies were divided between resisting this
tendency and finding places as teachers for those who were
leaving Lissa to seek their fortunes elsewhere. The
Gymnasium had greatly declined since the days of his
Rectorship, and, the effort to bring it up to its former
pitch of excellence laid an additional burden upon him.
It was in literature, however, that he found the most com-
plete refuge from the dull disappointments of life. His
solicitude for the purity of modern languages was not con-
fined to the general propositions laid down in the Méthodus
LVovissima. In this year (1649) a German Dictionary from
his pen was published, followed by a translation of the
eighth book of Lasici’s History of the Bohemian Brethren ;
a last effort to keep the Unity together and excite the
sympathy of Europe in its behalf. In cheerfulness his
family history contrasted favourably with his political out-
look. He had married again, now for the third time, and
in the same year two of his daughters, Dorothea and
Elizabeth, were married, the first to his literary collaborator
Figulus, and the second to a young Hungarian, Molitor by
name. It is to be regretted that we get no glimpse into
the interior of the household, as, in the absence of definite
information, it is difficult to imagine anything but a some-

1 «Index plenus Germanicarum vocum,’ Of. Did. Omn. ii. 457.
INTRODUCTION—-BIOGRAPHICAL 69

 

what dreary environment of depressed theologians and
needy compilers of school-books.

In the following year (1650) he addressed to his flock a
curious document entitled Zhe Will of the Dying Mother.
The “dying mother,” needless to say, is the Bohemian
Church, who exhorts her children and divides among them
her spiritual treasures. The title alone speaks of a morbidly
sensitive state on the part of the author, and it was well
that his activity was soon to find an outlet into a channel
healthier than any provided by the somewhatmoribund Lissa.

Attracted by the Alethodus Novissima, which was printed
at Lissa at the same time as a work of his own, Christopher
von Bnin, the Palatine of Posen, had already asked
Comenius to assist him in founding a three-class Gymnasium
at Sirakow.1 This offer he was unable to accept, since he
was already in communication with the son of George
Rakoczy, his former well-wisher. Sigismund Rakoczy and
his mother, the Countess Susanna, had read the Pansophia,
some of which appears to have been published by this
time,? and invited its author to come to Hungary and open
a school, on the lines laid down in it. Several circum-
stances made Comenius anxious to go to Hungary. There
he would find a large portion of the Moravian Church, and
there lived Nicolas Drabik, in whose revelations of the
future he took more interest daily. He accordingly set
out for Saros-Patak, where he arrived in May (1650). A
short journey to Tokai with his patrons, during which he
discussed the matter, gave him time to make up his mind,
and he accepted the offer on the following conditions.
Count Rakoczy was to provide a! well-built school-house
with seven class-rooms, adjoining which there was to be
boarding accommodation for as many pupils as possible.
There were to be some scholarships by means of which poor
students, of whom a certain number were to be Bohemians,
might receive board and education for a nominal fee; a
sufficient number of masters to allow one for each class ;

1 Op. Did. Oman. ii. 458.
2 Visa enim illis et lecta, eatenus edita.—Jdzd. iii. 3.
70 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

and lastly, but probably, in Comenius’ eyes, the most im-
portant of all, a printing-press, well supplied with type, and
some printers to work it.!

To these conditions the Count agreed, and Comenius
then proceeded to draw up and submit to him a detailed
scheme for the school, which he published in the following
year under the title Sketch of the Pansophic School.2 This
sketch, of which we give a full description elsewhere,
proves Comenius to ‘have been a master of organisation.
In scope and breadth of view, the scheme was centuries
in advance of its time, while many of the suggestions that
it contains are but imperfectly carried into effect at the
present day.

Leaving his wife, his son Daniel, and his daughter
Susanna at Lissa,? Comenius, accompanied by his son-in-
law Figulus, settled definitely at Saros-Patak in October
(1650), and set about his task without any delay. With
the object of exciting the sympathy of the residents in the
town, he commenced a course of lectures on Education.
The first of these, Ox the cultivation of the intellects was
delivered in the lecture-room of the school on the 24th of
November, and was followed, four days afterwards, by
another on Books as the chief instrument of culture.’ But
his ingrained tendency to theorise was as displeasing to
his Hungarian friends as it had been to de Geer. “Your
schemes,” they said, “‘are too ambitious. While you
lecture to us and talk about your seven-class Gymnasium,
the education of our sons is neglected. Make a modest
commencement and open a few classes at once.”

Under this pressure, therefore, Comenius wrote a short
sketch of a three-class Gymnasium,® which he dedicated to
Sigismund Rakoczy, and in accordance with this sketch
the lowest or Vestibular class was opened on the 13th of

1 Op. Did. Omn. iii. 5.

2 «Scholae Pansophicze Delineatio.’

3 Kvacsala, p. 329.

4 «De cultura ingeniorum oratio,’ Os. Did. Omn. iii. 72.

5 ‘De primario Ingenia colendi instrumento, Libris,’ /¢d. 106.
6 «De Schola Latina, tribus classibus divisa,’ /é¢d. 114.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 71

 

February (1651). On this occasion he delivered his
Panegyric of the true method. The second, or Janual class,
followed on the 14th of March, and was inaugurated in
turn by a lecture Ox the advantage of an exact nomenclature
of objects The opening of the Atrial class, occasion for a
lecture on Zhe elegant study of style, had to be postponed
until the January of 1652.

In spite of the enthusiasm with which he had been
welcomed on his arrival at Saros-Patak, Comenius’ path
of reform was a thorny one. In asking for a seven-class
Gymnasium, he had, like a practical man, probably asked
for a good deal more than he expected to get, but he
experienced great difficulty in obtaining that even the
three classes opened should be arranged in accordance
with his didactic principles. The teachers of the school,
who had been vaguely anxious for an improved method
that promised to make their work lighter, were mutinous
when they understood the details of the scheme. The
introduction of so much orderliness meant for them
regular attendance and continuous application, and to
this they objected strongly. Chosen from “the crowd of
students,” accustomed to attend the lectures of professors
and to come into class only in their spare hours, and then
with their minds full of other matters, it is small wonder
that reform was more congenial to them in principle than
in practice? “The task of a schoolmaster needs the
whole man, since it consists in fashioning and refashioning
the countenance, the hands, the minds, and the hearts of
the little ones”; but how could this be expected from
men who only intended to remain in the profession for
one year,* who looked on their occupation as degrading,
and meant to leave it as soon as they could find any more
lucrative employment?® It need scarcely cause surprise

1 * Methodi verze encomia,’ Of. Did. Omn. iii. 739.

2 «De utilitate accuratee Rerum nomenclature Oratiuncula,’ Jdd.

745;

‘Methodi verze encomia,’ preface, /d2d. 736.
Nemo ultra annum perduraturus.—/d7d.
‘Leges Praeceptorum,’ xvi. /dzd. 796.

Ca)
72 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

‘that masters of this stamp were little in sympathy with the
most striking features of the new method. “Of what use
is a complete nomenclature of objects to us? we are not
going to be philosophers,” they said, when the /axua was
placed in their hands. “Of what use is style to us? we
are not going to be Ciceros,”! they remarked, when they
saw the Avium. With such unpromising material it
needed a stronger man than Comenius to achieve success.

He was probably at a loss to know how to treat their
opposition. The publication at this time of the De
Ratione Studit of Joachim Fortius, and of the similarly
named treatise of Erasmus, seems due to ,his desire to
avoid odium by sheltering himself behind the authority of
former writers. These treatises, however, produced no
effect, so he followed them up by a pamphlet of his own,
entitled Fortius redivivus, sive de pellenda Scholis ignavia,
and, that he might enlist the sympathy of the boys on his
side, began to sketch out the work that he called the
Vestibuli et Janue Lucidarium or the Ocular demonstration
of the nomenclature of Objects, afterwards famous as the
Orbis Pictus or World in pictures, and to write his dramatic
arrangement of the /anua, published later as the Schola
Ludus.

But this brings us back to the text-books. Count
Rakoczy had provided a printing-press and other requi-
sites. Their publication was thus rendered a matter of com-
parative ease, and some of the masters in the school fitted
a Hungarian version to the Latin text. They appear in
Part III. of the Amsterdam Folio, arranged in order of
usage.

First comes the Vestibulum, remodelled as already
described. This is followed by a very simple and practical
child’s grammar, occupying only. thirteen folio columns,
after which comes a complete index to the Vestibulum,
referring each word to the number of the section in which
it occurs. A few hints to the teacher express Comenius’
views as to the method to be adopted. The boy is first

1 «De Studii Pansophici Impedimentis,’ Op. Did. Oman. iii. 735.
INTRODUCTION——BIOGRAPHICAL 73

 

to learn, in the vernacular, the names of all the objects
mentioned; an hour’s instruction being arranged as
follows. In the first quarter of an hour, the master reads
over a portion of the Vestibulum to his class, and makes
the boys read it aloud in turn. In the second, they copy
out what he has read to them. In the third, the master
explains the meaning of each word and examines the boys
to see if they understand. In the fourth they learn the
portion off by heart.

Two months should suffice for learning the whole of the
Vestibulum in the vernacular, and then the Latin version
may be placed in the pupils’ hands. The same method
as before may be adopted, and it is estimated that in four
months the class should know their task thoroughly. The
grammar may then be commenced, care being taken to
translate each rule into the vernacular before the boys
learn it. For this, three months are allotted, after which
the pupils proceed to the lexicon or index. This should
be read through in a fortnight, and with a fourfold object:
(1) the boys will thus become accustomed to the abbrevia-
tions that they will find in the lexicon of the /azua ;
(2) it will be an excellent opportunity for seeing how well
they know the meaning of the words; (3) by referring to
the text from the words that they do not know, they will
learn the numbers up to 500; (4) an examination in
grammar can be instituted by asking them to parse each
word as they come to it.?

The pupil is now sufficiently advanced to leave the
Vestibular and enter the Janual class. In the. method
that he suggests for this class, Comenius by no means
rises to his own level, making the extraordinary proposal
that the lexicon (100 folio pages) should be learned first,
that then the grammar (twenty-five folio pages) should be
mastered, and that then only should the text of the /axua
be given to the boys.

Of course he had his reasons for this method, though

1 © De instituendis e Latinze Linguze Vestibulo exercitiis ad Praeceptorem
commonefactio,’ Op. Did. Oma. iii. 206.
74 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

they are scarcely convincing. Under the old system, he
says, when the beginner was introduced straight to the
Janua, he had three difficulties to contend with, ignorance
of the words, of their constructions, and of the objects to
which many of them referred. These difficulties he hopes
to overcome by adopting the order indicated. “First,
rising from its roots, comes the forest of Latin words, the
lexicon. Then we give you the tools for cutting this
forest down, sawing the trees into planks, and fastening
these together, namely, the grammar. Finally we plate
before you a short universal history of objects, fashioned
out of all the words in Latin properly fitted together,
namely, the text of the /anua.”’

This is a good example of Comenius’ habit of running
a fanciful illustration to death. It is quite true, as he
points out, that in making any construction it is necessary
to have, first the materials, and then the tools to work
them into shape; but the result of his reasoning on these
lines is grotesque. He places a ponderous dictionary in
the child’s hand, saying, “Learn this and I will let you
read Latin.” The older grammarians, with their seven
genders and their multitudinous rules, never attained this
pitch of absurdity.

The grammar, if not quite a model, from the modern
standpoint, is yet extremely good. It is far shorter than
that written in Elbing, and the rules are terse and to the
point. It may interest the reader to see how Comenius
introduces the prepositions that govern the ablative.

Prepositiones Ablativi.

Cum lupus nollet cedere de i via, nec ille fugere posset
ab 2 e0, aut stare diu coram 3 0, et sic fuit haud procul
4 morte, nisi pugnaret pro 5 vita: licet esset sine 6 socio
(absque 7 socio) vibravit tamen hastam cum 8 impetu et
transverberavit lupum, distractasque ex 9 illo exuvias
ostentat, prze 10 gaudio, palam omnibus.

The edition of the /anua, that follows, is considerably
INTRODUCTION— BIOGRAPHICAL 75

 

enlarged. It occupies fifty folio pages, and treats at some
length of everything in heaven and earth, as the following
extracts indicate :—

Sec. 518 (Geometria). Ex concursu linearum fit angulus
qui est vel rectus, quem linea incidens perpendicularis efficit,
ut est (in subjecto schemate) angulus ACB; vel acutus,
minor recto, ut BCD; vel obtusus, major recto, ut ACD.

=)

A Cc

Sec. 578 (Chronologia cum Historia). Circa A. ch. 1300,
coepit innotescere vis magnetis, qua se obvertit ad polos
mundi; quod dedit ansam fabricandi Pyxidem nauticam,
cujus ope detectum est alterum hemispherum orbis, totusque
mundus navigationibus factus pervius; ut gentes (prius
seclusz et ignorate sibi invicem), jam possint colere com-
municationem utilitatum.

Sec. 717 (Theologia). Theologia tota fundatur super
Revelationes Dei; quarum nihil ignorare, universalem
sensum tenere catholice et posse vindicare qua inde tor-
quentur heretice, Theologica est exactio.

The pupil of the Janual class had thus the opportunity
of acquiring a very fair knowledge of the world in which
he lived. Armed with this, he proceeded to the study of
the Azvium, and turned his attention to “style.” Com-
mencing with a Grammatica Elegans, which presupposes a
knowledge of the rudiments of grammar and deals with
subjects such as the transposition of sentences and prosody,
he is then introduced to the Afvium Latinitatis. This is the
Janua writ large (it covers eighty folio pages), and is com-
posed with a view to illustrating the ornate capacities of
the Latin language. The lexicon, written for use with it,
was not printed in Hungary, and was first published by
76 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

Janson at Amsterdam in 1657. It was a Latin-Latin and
not a Latin-Vernacular dictionary, as, by the time he reached
the Atrial class, the pupil was supposed to possess a com-
petent knowledge of the language. The Saros-Patak class-
books, with the exception of the grammars for the Vesé#-
bulum and the /Janua, were all inferior to the first editions
previously published at Lissa. In his effort to be scientific
Comenius fell into the very trap that he wished to avoid,
and became complicated and tedious. But this relapse
was more than compensated for by the celebrated Ovdis
Pittus, or World in Pictures. It was impossible to publish
this work at the printing-office of the Patak Gymnasium,
as nO engraver competent to execute the illustrations
could be found, and it was therefore sent to Nuremberg,
where it was brought out at the cost of Michael Endter in
1658. In the preface, Comenius states the philosophic
principles by which he was guided in the composition of
the work. “There is nothing in the intellect that has not
first existed in the senses,” says he, with an airy assump-
tion of the materialistic standpoint that he rejects when-
ever he philosophises about things in general, but which
yet plays such a living part in his pedagogy. “It is
because schools commonly neglect this truth, and give the
pupils things to learn that they do not understand and
which have never been properly placed before their organs
of sense-perception, that the tasks of the teacher and of
the learner are so irksome, and that so little result is pro-
duced.” When dealing with objects that are in the school-
room it is easy enough to point them out to the beginner,
but, when the range of the boys’ vocabulary becomes more
extended, the “‘ object-lesson ” process can only be effected
by means of a picture-book. Such 4 book will serve
several purposes. Small boys generally imagine that the
operations of the school-room must necessarily be of a most
dismal character. ‘ Now it is well known that, from their

1 «Orbis sensualium pictus, hoc est Omnium fundamentalium in mundo
rerum, et in vita actionum, Nomenclatura, ad ocularem demonstrationem
deducta.’
INTROD UCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 77

 

earliest childhood, boys delight in pictures and feast their
eyes upon them greedily. If we can thus free the gardens
of wisdom from their terrors, our labour will have been
well employed.” In the second place, the book will excite
the boy’s interest and help him to fix his attention; and,
thirdly, it will serve as a stepping-stone to the Vestibulum
and the /Janua, with which end in view it was primarily
written.

Imagine the Janua Linguarum considerably shortened,
simplified, and illustrated, and you have before you the
Oriis Pictus. ach section has a picture corresponding to
it, and numbers, affixed to individual words in the text,
enable the boy to pick out in the picture the exact object
to which the word refers. For example :—

AER

 

ee Sin, ——— a ll

Aura (1), spirat leniter; Ventus (2), flat valide; Procella (3), sternit arbores ;
Turbos (4), agit se in gyrum ; Ventus subterraneus (5), excitat Terra motum ;
Terre motus facit Labes (et ruinas), 6.

Translated into the vernacular, it was to serve as a first
reading-book. Even the letters and the manner of pro-
nouncing them might be learned from a kind of picture
78 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

alphabet by which the text is preceded, and which suggests
a connection between the sound of the letter and the cry

of an animal.

 

Cornix cornicatur,

Agnus balat,

Cicada stridet,

 

Upupa dicit,

Infans ejulat,

 

 

 

ad

bé éé

et ct

du du

eee

Ag

Bé

Ce

Dd

The success of this book was even more extraordinary
than that of the Janua Linguarum. It went through
numberless editions, and was bought by thousands of
parents who knew little of Comenius, and cared less
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 79

 

for his didactic principles. They found that children
liked the pictures and picked up their alphabet, and a few
words, easier in that way than in any other. That was
sufficient for them, and they paid no attention to pedantic
detractors who insisted that pictures should have been
given only of those objects that could not be submitted to
direct inspection. The Ovdis Pictus was the first picture-
book ever written for children, and exercised a softening
influence on the harshness with which, in an unsympa-
thetic age, the first steps in learning were always asso-
ciated. For years it remained unequalled. Basedow’s
Elementarwerk mit Kupfern (1773) was the first attempt,
not altogether successful, to improve upon it. “Apart
from the Ovrézs Pictus of Amos Comenius,” wrote Goethe,
“no book of this kind found its way into our hands.” ?

It is impossible to pass such a favourable criticism on
the Schola Ludus, or dramatised form of the Janua. These
plays were to be acted at the end of each term, and put
the subject-matter of the /azuva into the mouths of the
dramatis persone. These were generally about fifty in
number, so that the greater part of the school could take
part in the performances. The plays were intended to
interest the pupils, but, if the boys of Saros-Patak in the
seventeenth century were like those of the present day, they
must have looked upon them as an unmitigated nuisance,
and have objurgated the name of Comenius when they
had to get up the dreary screed. In one of them, the
mathematical section of the /anua is worked into.a dia-
logue between Mathematicus, Metrito, and Trytanio,

Math. And so you are seized with a desire to learn
mathematics ?

Num. We are, sir. We seek for information, and pro-
mise you our gratitude.

Mathematicus then proceeds, in the most stilted manner,
to expound the elements of mathematics, occasionally
interrupted by expressions of wonder on the part of his
pupils. Were it not wholly contrary to Comenius’ character

1 Aus meinem Leben, pt. i, bk. i.
80 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

to jest with a subject so sacred as education, we might almost
suspect that the following was intended to be humorous :—

“This demonstration,” says Mathematicus, referring to
Archimedes’ calculation dealing with the sand on the sea-
shore, “is very accurate. But Iam unwilling to waste time.”

“ Marvellous, marvellous!” breaks in Numeriano, evi-
dently afraid that Mathematicus may think better of it, and
enter on a long discourse. “Let us proceed to addition.”

The plays occupy too folio pages, and are dismal stuff.
If the audiences were as delighted with them as Comenius
assures us they were, they must have been easily satisfied.

Of more interest are the hints as to their production,
by which they are preceded.

Great care is to be taken that all the boys are present
at the performances (attendentibus decurionibus ne quis
absit). The actors are to be praised, if they acquit them-
selves successfully, and any of the poorer students who are
among them may be presented with a prize of books.
Finally, he adds, evidently mindful of reluctance on the part
of all concerned, it will be a great stimulus if the actors
and their masters are invited to supper after the play.

Of the Patak publications it only remains to mention
‘the little tract On Manners,” and the Laws of a well-ordered
School

These are both so full of interest that we greatly regret
that lack of space prevents our giving them in full.
Comenius, in this respect in accord with William of
Wykeham, was evidently a great stickler for good manners.
“He who excels in learning, but lacks manners, is deficient
rather than proficient,” he writes at the head of his pre-
cepts. These treat of dress, of how to stand and how to
walk, of speech, of manners toward the master and toward
school-fellows, of behaviour in school, in church, at table,
and in the playground. The following are some of the
tules for behaviour at meals.

1 Peractis cum applausu hisce Ludis.—Op. Did. Omn. iii. 1042.
2 « Preecepta morum, in usum juventutis collecta.’
3 « Leges scholze bene ordinatze.’
INTRODUCTION— BIOGRAPHICAL 81

 

It is ill-mannered for boys :—

To lean their elbows on the table,

Or to hold their hands beneath the table.

To place morsels of excessive size in their mouths.

To gnaw bones with their teeth,

Or to hand on to others food that they have half-
eaten.

To take food out of their mouths.

To scratch their heads, or chatter and laugh while
eating. ;

To drink with their mouths full, or to make a noise
while drinking.

To pick their teeth with their nails or with their
forks.

At table a boy should not speak until first spoken to.

In the playground, boys are urged to run, to jump, and
to play games with balls, since it is necessary to put the
body in motion and allow the mind to rest. Forbidden
pastimes are games played with dice, wrestling, boxing, and
swimming, since these are either useless or dangerous.

On getting up in the morning, a boy is first to say his
prayers, then to comb his hair, wash his hands and face,
and dress neatly. He must remember to wish good morn-
ing to all whom he may meet. At night, he is to go
straight to bed after evening prayers, and should not
forget his private devotions. Once in bed, he should take
care not to lie on his back, but must sleep half the night
lying on his right and the other half lying on his left side.
If several boys are sleeping in one room, there must be no
talking after a given hour, and in any case all conversation
out of school must be carried on in Latin.!

The Zaws of a well-ordered School repeat many of what
we may call the commonplaces of the Comenian method,
but also contain much that is new and to the point.
Each class must have a separate class-room, and this
should contain a raised desk for the master and a suffi-

1 Og. Did. Oman. iii. 776-784.
6
82 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

cient number of seats for the boys, so arranged that the
master can see all his pupils at once. The boys should
sit with their backs to the window, that the light may fall
on the master as he works at the blackboard. In addition
to the class-rooms there must also be a big school for
dramatic performances and speech-days. Once a month
the headmaster, accompanied by the clergyman of the
parish or by one of the school-managers, should examine
the class to see if fitting progress has been made. At the
end of the year an examination on a larger scale is to be
held, but, as it is impossible to examine the whole class,
boys should be selected haphazard and questioned on their
year’s work. Promotions must be arranged in accordance
with this examination. ,

Flogging is allowed, but with certain restrictions. On
the first hour of Sunday, the whole school shall be called
together, and, after the headmaster has read the rules, each
master shall chastise those of his own pupils who have
broken any of them during the previous week.

Comenius had evidently been a sufferer at the hands
of that scourge of schoolmasters, the unreasoning parent.
Before any boy is admitted to the school, his father must
sign a document by which he undertakes to abide by the
rules of the institution, and promises that his son’s attend-
ance shall be as regular as possible.

In the boarding-house, no meals are allowed out of
hours, and such a thing as a tuck-shop is evidently not
to be tolerated for a moment. Boys go to bed at eight
o’clock and get up at four, and must make their own beds
as soon as they rise.

The masters are reminded that their position is one of
dignity and of great importance. For the headmaster, in
particular, special duties are laid down. He should be a
model to the whole school of virtue, piety, and diligence.
As he has no class of his own he ought to go through
all the classes daily, “as the sun courses through the
heavens.” He is to look after the school archives, and
to keep an exact record of each boy’s entrance to and
INTRODUCTION— BIOGRAPHICAL 83

 

departure from the school. He is to be hospitable, and
should give testimonials of good conduct to deserving
boys who leave the school.. If other schools or cities send
to him for masters, he may send them some of his best
pupils.}

It may seem surprising that Comenius remained for
any length of time in Hungary. With his colleagues he
was not a persona grata. His patron, Sigismund Rakoczy,
died in 1652, and there was no prospect that the
Gymnasium would be increased beyond the three classes
already in existence. The Protestants in Lissa were
continually urging him to return to them, and enemies
whispered that his only object in staying at Saros-Patak
was to line his own purse.

The Countess Susanna herself, a lady of a thrifty disposi-
tion and not particularly enthusiastic about Comenius,
was the best refutation of this latter charge, and any dis-
inclination to return to Poland must probably be ascribed
to the influence of his evil genius Drabik.

Drabik, though living at Lednic, was in constant
correspondence with Comenius and paid several visits to
Saros-Patak, with the object of inducing the Rakoczy
family to take some interest in his prophecies. In this
he was not very successful, although Comenius did his
best to impress on George Rakoczy that the revelations
deserved careful attention, if not credence.

Were it not that Sludge is still with us and that
scientific men of our own day still fall victims to the
spirit-rapper, it would be difficult to understand how a
man of Comenius’ practical gifts, and not Comenius only
but a host of Protestants throughout Europe, could for
one minute have given any credence to this wretched
impostor. Kotter may possibly have believed in his own
revelations ; Christina Poniatowska was a weak-minded
and weak-bodied girl, subject to genuine fits of hysteria ;
but Drabik was a cunning calculator, who took stock of
the material with which he had to deal and saw that, in

1 Op. Did. Oman. iii. 784.
84 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

their present state of despair combined with superstitious
expectation, the struggling Protestant communities would
swallow almost any prophetic farrago that he chose to
deliver to them. Count Rakoczy was to overthrow the
house of Hapsburg, and Comenius was to anoint him
king at Pressburg. In combination with Sweden, the
Count was then to make Protestantism the faith of Europe.
In this operation the Turks, of all people in the world,
were to assist him, and, by the translation of the Bible into
Turkish, for which the Countess Susanna was to supply the
funds, were to be made cognisant of the exact grounds of
dispute between the Reformed and the Catholic Church.

The transparency of Drabik’s motives was only equalled by
his brazen-facedness. In ignorance of the events that were
taking place in the Rakoczy family, he continued to receive
and to impart revelations concerning the future actions of
Sigismund Rakoczy for months after his death. The shout
of laughter that the scoffers raised at this unfortunate mis-
take would have been sufficient to induce most prophets to
retire from business, but Drabik, with the greatest calmness,
created George Rakoczy his brother’s prophetic heir, and
had the impudence to announce repeatedly that in a few
weeks—so he was informed from heaven—he would be
summoned to Saros-Patak, and taken on by the Rakoczys
as a kind of family seer; a hint that produced no effect of
the kind intended.

Comenius was as yet indisposed to give these revelations
full credence, but he thought them well worth considering,
and, as events of a peculiarly startling character were fore-
told for the year 1653, he remained in Hungary, thinking
that it might be as well to encounter a social upheaval
under the protection of the powerful Rakoczy family.
Needless to say, nothing remarkable occurred at the
prescribed date, and, as the Church in Lissa needed his
presence urgently, he finally (1654) made up his mind to
leave Saros-Patak. The non-fulfiiment of the prophecies
had, strange to say, not diminished his interest in Drabik,
whose hold upon him grew firmer daily.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 85

 

On the 2nd of June he delivered a farewell oration in
the great hall of the Gymnasium. All the circumstances
that had led to friction between himself and his colleagues
were forgotten, and, in an eloquent speech, he wished
prosperity to the school, and reminded its governors and
patrons of the golden rules by which it might be attained.?
Shortly afterwards he left Saros-Patak. ;

He did not, however, go straight back to Lissa, but
stayed for a few weeks at Lednic, where he was in daily
communication with Drabik. During the last few months
of his residence in Hungary he had redoubled his efforts to
induce George Rakoczy to take an interest in the Revela-
tions, and had actually been invited to go to Siebenbiirgen
and expound them in person. This he had been unable
to do, but, with the object of retaining the Count’s interest,
he wrote the tractate Gentis felicitas, in which, after
discussing the general essentials of good and successful
government, he treats of Hungary in particular, and urges
the Count, as the perfect ruler and saviour of the Hungarian
nation, to place himself in opposition to the house of
Hapsburg and uphold the cause of Evangelism.

Under the fire of so much exhortation, George Rakoczy
was unable to make up his mind. From a letter to Count
Jonas Mednyanszky it appears that he did not attach very
much importance to the prophecies, though, for other
reasons, he was decidedly disposed to take the line suggested
by them. To Comenius he wrote that his difficulties were
immense, as he had to cope with the Emperor, the king
of Poland, the Turks, and the fickleness of his own
subjects. If, however, another defender of Evangelism
were to arise, he would be quite willing to assist him.

The occasion was not far to seek. The succession of
Charles Gustavus to the throne of Sweden introduced a new
element into the political situation, and may have induced
Rakoczy to think that Drabik’s forecast of striking events
in the near future was, after all, a divine communication.
That he was greatly tempted to ‘abandon the cautious pro-

1 *Oratio valedictoria,’ Of. Did, Omen. iii. 1041,
86 THE GREAT DIDAC TIC OF COMENIUS

 

cedure of diplomacy, and show his hand with the careless
indifference of a passionate enthusiast, seems beyond a
doubt. In sending an ambassador to the young king he
was acting in conjunction with and under the direct
influence of Comenius. Constantine Schaum, to whom
the task of conducting the negotiations with Charles and
with Oxenstierna was entrusted, had orders to go to Lissa
on his way to Sweden, and the Count begged Comenius to
give his envoy what advice he could.

For the Protestant exiles in Lissa the position was now
greatly altered. Though Count Bohuslaw, on embracing
the Catholic faith, had not withdrawn his protection from
Comenius and the Brethren under his spiritual charge, it
was evident that, in case of war, their situation was pre-
carious. The undisguised sympathy that they displayed
for Sweden did not mend matters, and, when Charles
Gustavus, in the August of 1657, actually crossed the
Polish frontier and marched as a victor on Warsaw and
Cracow, danger stared them daily in the face. It was
distinctly the moment when Comenius should have pre-
served a discreet silence, and have suffered himself and his
compatriots to remain screened by their political insigni-
ficance ; instead of this, with his habitual simplicity, he
published a Panegyric on Charles Gustavus, in which he
hailed him as “the liberator of humanity, the comfort of
the afflicted, and the pattern for kings.” The work, which
had a considerable vogue, cannot have failed to embitter
the feelings of the Poles against the aliens in their midst,
and, as Comenius’ enemies afterwards declared, may have
been partly responsible for the calamities that befell Lissa.

During his victorious march through Poland, Charles
had spared a town that contained so many non-Catholics,
and merely left a Swedish garrison to maintain the footing
that he had acquired in the district. On the 17th of April,
a large body of Polish troops came down unexpectedly,
compelling the garrison to withdraw and leave Lissa at the
mercy of the infuriated Poles. A large number of Pro-
testants sought safety .by fleeing into the forests on the
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 87

 

Silesian frontier, but Comenius and some of his friends
scorned this course, and, with confidence inspired by
Drabik’s prophecies, calmly awaited the development of
events. They were not left long in suspense. On the
29th of April, the Poles burst once more into the defence-
less town, sacked it, and reduced it to ashes. It was with
the greatest difficulty that any of the Protestants who had
remained there saved their lives. Comenius succeeded in
escaping to Silesia, where he took refuge with a wealthy
nobleman, the Freiherr of Budova. He was once more
homeless, and his worldly assets consisted of the clothes
in which he stood, a few good friends, and a reputation
somewhat damaged by the fanatical views to which he had
committed himself.

Some days afterwards, his host sent Comenius’ amanuensis
over to Lissa with an escort to see if anything had escaped
the conflagration; nothing could be found, however, but a few
pages of the Pansophia that he had buried before his flight.
Amongst other things he had lost his library, and pro-
missory notes to the value of 1000 thaler ; though these he
valued but little in comparison with his precious manu-
scripts, into which he had put the best part of his energy,
and with which his fondest hopes were bound up. His
Sylva Pansophie, containing “the definitions of all things” ;
his Dictionary of the Bohemian Language, on which he had
been engaged for thirty years ; his Harmony of the Evangel-
ists; his refutations of Descartes and of the Copernican
theory, and his collected sermons of forty years, all. had
been devoured by the flames,! and he filled the air with
his lamentations. “Had God only spared me the Sylva
Pansophia,” he cried, “all else would have been easier to
bear, but even this is destroyed.” 2 | Was ever such irony?
With the exception of the Bohemian dictionary, the works
that were lost could have elicited little but contempt from
subsequent generations. Those, on which his fame to a
large extent rests, were already in the hands of half the

1 Op. Did. Omn. iv. 5.
®? Letter to Harsdorfer, Zoubek, p. 90.
88 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

school-boys in Europe, and beyond the reach of any casual
conflagration.

A letter of Pell’s,! dated July 17th, shows that Comenius’
friends in England were kept well informed as to the state
of his affairs. “Five days ago,” writes Pell, “I received a
letter dated Dantzig, June 17th, containing a letter from
Mr. Comenius, dated 22nd of May, wherein he describes
the sad estate of those Protestants that escaped from
Lesna, where he, for his own part, besides his writings,
lost in money, books, and household stuff, above 3000
reichs-dalers (about £700 sterling). He had with in-
credible labour and no small journeys gotten the favour
of some liberal persons, and hoped perhaps to leave his
children £200 apiece, which among so many poor exiles
would have seemed great riches. J hear he is sixty-five
years old, and, it seems, hath nothing left but the clothes
on his back. Those papers which have been found in the
ashes and rubbish of Lesna are little worth in comparison
of those which he accounts irrevocably lost. . . I should
have been willing to read over his refutations of the
Copernicans and Cartesians, but with that prejudice that
I do not believe him to be a competent judge of all the
differences between them and other writers. And there-
fore of all his papers, there is none for whose loss I am less
sorry, though he say of them, ‘Me valde dolet, siquidem
in iis multum posueram operz et diligentie.’

“T have caused his letter to be fairly written out and
have sent it to the divines (pastors and professors) of
Zurich, who esteem him and have introduced his /anua
into their higher school some years ago. I make no
question but they will do something for him.” 2

The terrible calamity that had befallen the Protestant
community at Lissa excited the sympathy of non-Catholics
throughout Europe. On every side collections were made

1 Probably to Hartlib,
® The Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, by Robert Vaughan, D.D.

London, 1839. Vol. ii. p. 431. From Lansdowne Coll. of MS. in
Brit. Mus.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 89

 

in aid of the homeless exiles. From Dantzig as much as
3000 thaler was contributed to the fund, and in England
it was even suggested that a grant of land should be made
to them in Ireland. For Comenius, Silesia was but a
temporary refuge, and on leaving it his first movements
were unfortunate. His effort to settle at Frankfort on the
Oder was frustrated by an outbreak of the plague, and in
Hamburg, his next resting-place, the old man, worn out
by the fatigues to which he had been subjected, underwent
a severe illness.

As regards money he had no cause for anxiety.
Laarence de Geer, the son of his former patron, came to
the rescue and insisted that he should settle permanently
in Amsterdam, under his immediate protection. Laurence
had long been a passionate admirer of Comenius, though
more from the religious and philosophical than from the
educational standpoint. The hard-headed old merchant,
his father, had refused to listen to Pansophic schemes and
prophetic rhapsodies, and had sternly insisted that school-
books and nothing else were what he wanted for his
money; but the younger de Geer would place no such
restriction upon his friend. Comenius might still dabble
in education, if he wished; but he was to be left free to
rewrite the Pansophic works that had been destroyed by
the flames, and thus to complete what he regarded as the
great work of his life.

As soon as he was well enough to travel, he set out
with his family to Amsterdam, and here he found himself
in the midst of friends. ‘Mr. Drury has returned to
Amsterdam,” writes Hartlib to Pell, “and promises with
all speed to hasten unto us, and it is very like Mr.
Comenius will come along with him.”! But the invitation
to England was not accepted. Comenius’ time was fully
occupied in getting together a library to replace that lost
at Lissa, and in arranging for the publication of his
collected works on education, and of the prophecies
of Kotter, Poniatowska, and Drabik. At the printer’s

1 Lansdowne Coll. of MS. Quoted by Vaughan, ii. 423,
90 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

de Geer seems to have given him unlimited credit. Indeed,
his literary renown was so great, that a profit was actually
expected from the sale of the Didactic Works, and with this
his patron offered to finance a new translation of the Bible
into Polish.

It is impossible to say if the magnificent folio, in which
the Didactic Works appeared, sold as well as was antici-
pated. The edition must have been a small one, as the
book was very rare a few years after Comenius’ death. To
the modern student it is invaluable on account of the
numerous autobiographical notices of the author that it
contains; but there is no doubt that it can have done
little to further Comenius’ renown as a theoretic educa-
tionist. The school-books, that appear in chrono-
logical order, were already well known, and their collected
mass is so great that it quite swamps the Great Didactic.
Had this work been published separately it could scarcely
have failed to go through several editions, and might have
been the means of rescuing the Comenian method from
the oblivion into which it afterwards fell.

In itself the volume is a fine one, over 1000 folio pages
in length, well printed and well bound. Under the title
The Complete Didactic Works of J. A. Comentus,) it com-
prises works written, in Part I., between 1627 and 1642;
in Part II., between 1642 and 1650; in Part III., between
1650 and 1654;.in Part IV., between 1654 and 1657.

With the contents of the first three parts the reader is
already acquainted. Part IV., which is comparatively
short, consists of works written in Amsterdam. A collec-
tion of sentences based on the Vestibulum, arranged in
alphabetical order and entitled Vestiduli Auctarium, is the
only section of it that forms an essential part of the
Comenian series of school-books. It is dedicated to a Dr.
Rulice of Amsterdam, with whom Comenius was in daily

1 «J, A. Comenii Opera Didactica Omnia, variis hucusque occasionibus.
scripta, diversisque locis edita ; nunc autem non tantum in unum, ut simul
sunt, collecta, sed et ultimo conatu in Systema unum mechanice con-

structum, redacta, Amsterdami. Impensis D. Laurentii de Geer,
Excuderunt Christophoros Cunradus et Gabriel a Roy. Anno 1657.’
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 91

 

intercourse. Of greater interest is the work that follows,
An Apology for the Latinity of the Janua. On his arrival in
Amsterdam, Comenius had been asked by some influ-
ential citizens to open a small school, and try the efficacy
of his method on the Dutch boys. This suggestion
seems to have made the established schoolmasters of the
town apprehensive that the stranger, with his new methods,
would make a bid for their teaching connection, and thus
render their position insecure. They therefore brought
against him the only charge that would hold water, namely,
that his scholarship was poor and likely to Tead boys
astray.1 To this Comenius replied in his Apologia Latinitats,
and, anxious to leave his enemies no case against him, he
followed this up by his Ventilabrum Sapientie,? in which he
subjects his own method to a critical examination and
points out his own shortcomings so unsparingly as to leave
nothing for the ill-disposed to say.

He had now finished with the Latin school-books,
“from which he had so often turned in disgust,” ° and was
free to devote himself to the Pansophia. “Mr. Comen,”
writes Hartlib to Pell, “to retire himself to give himself
wholly to his Pansophia goes this spring to be at Monsieur
de Gerre’s house for a certain time, where he is provided
for as a prince, but nobody knows he is there but we three
and one of Comen’s amanuenses.”* It would have been
well had de Geer’s sympathy stopped short at the Pan-
sophia. Unfortunately he took quite as much interest in
the Revelations and in the cognate doctrine of Chiliasmus,
or the one thousand years’ reign of peace on earth to be
inaugurated by Christ at His second coming, and even
invited Drabik to come to Amsterdam.5 The year 1656,
so fateful to the Unity, had béen foretold as that in which

1 Og. Did. Omn. iv. 6.

2 ¢Ventilabrum Sapientize sive sapienter sua retractandi ars. Cum
adjuncta authoris omnium Didacticarum suarum cogitationum retracta-
tione brevi.’

3 Latinitatis studia mihi toties nauseata.—Op. Did. Omn. iv. 6.

4 Hartlib to Pell, quoting a letter of Rulice, Vaughan, ii. 448.

5 Ibid,
92 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

the reign of peace was to commence, and, this expecta-
tion falsified, 1671 or 1672 was the next date to which
Comenius, inspired by Drabik, had given his entire con-
fidence. The alliance of Rakoczy with Charles Gustavus,
and the death of Ferdinand II., had given a passing air of
plausibility to Drabik’s ravings, and poor Comenius finally
threw common-sense scruples to the wind and definitely
identified himself with the party of prophecy. The publica-
tion by him of Lux in Tenebris, or the collected prophecies
of Kotter, Poniatowska, and Drabik, may have been largely
due to dé Geer’s influence, but it must be borne in mind
that men like Thomas Burnet and William Whiston were
staunch adherents of the doctrine of Chiliasmus, and that
both on the continent and in England a large number of
Protestants had no doubt whatever that Drabik was directly
inspired from heaven. “This last week I have twice read
the book of Drabicius,” writes Beale to Hartlib, “and can-
not doubt but, in the main, God is in it.” Comenius was
now leaving the legitimate paths of Churchmanship and
pedagogy, and entering upon the trackless maze of vati-
cination. Revelation succeeded revelation. ‘ About three
weeks ago,” writes Hartlib to Pell in 1658, “ Mr. Comen
did impart unto me a copy of the last three visions of
Drabicius from March 8th to September 1st, wherein he
says again that the king of France is to be the German
emperor.” In the following year appeared the Azstory of
the Revelations ; in 1663, the more recent visions of Drabik
were given to the public; and, two years later, a complete
illustrated edition of all the prophecies up to date, under
the title Zux e Tenebris, was issued.

In spite of the popularity of these works, murmurs of
disapproval were heard in many quarters. Nicholas
Arnold, a professor at Franecker, gave vent to his feelings
in his Discursus Theologicus contra Comenium, and Samuel
Des Marets, Professor of Theology at Groningen, published
several brochures, in which, however, he was careful to
state that the object of his attack was not Comenius, but
the Revelations fathered by him. Even in his own
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 93

 

family he met with opposition. We learn from letters of
Figulus to Arnold, that his son-in-law had disapproved of
the publication of Lux in Tenebris in 1657.

It is difficult to understand how Comenius found it
possible to do much more work at his Pansophia during
these years, since to edit the prophecies and fight their
battles with the sceptical must have taken up nearly as
much time as to write school-books at Elbing. De Geer,
however, seems to have made every arrangement in his
power to ensure that the Universal Knowledge should be
carried to a successful issue. “I still more and more
admire the zeal and piety of that admirable man,” wrote
Rulice to Hartlib in 1658. “I must tell you zm aurem, if
Comen do not mention it, he hath called also Figulus,
with his family, hither, and will maintain him only to assist
his father-in-law and to know all concerning Pansophia, that
if Comen should die or be carried away, he may finish it.”

De Geer, in fact, was willing to spend his money on
any object that commended itself to his evangelical friends.
The Rakoczy family had refused to finance the translation
of the Bible into Turkish, but he came to the rescue with
his inexhaustible purse. The work was undertaken by a
certain Warner, who had travelled in Turkey, and was to
be revised by Golius, the well-known orientalist. Hartlib
announces this in triumph to Boyle and Worthington. At
last the Deus ex machina, destined to interpose and strike
the final blow at Catholicism, would be instructed in the
part that he was called upon to play.

With the publication of the Ogera Omnia Didactica,
Comenius had not entirely ceased to take an interest in
matters educational. In 1658 we find him giving practical
instruction in his method to Jacob Redinger, master of
the Latin School at Frankenthal. Redinger had heard
of him from afar, and was not satisfied till he came to
Amsterdam to consult the great oracle of school-craft.
Comenius’ magic influence, that enthralled every school-
master with a disinterested love for the profession of
education, made a deep impression on him. He became
94 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

the most devoted adherent of the new method, and, in his
young enthusiasm, brought out an edition of the Vestibulum
and a German translation of the Schola Ludus. A
follower of Comenius in one direction, he soon became
his disciple in another, embraced the doctrine of Chiliasmus,
and joined the crowd of Protestants who, throughout
Europe, were eagerly awaiting the fulfilment of the Drabi-
cian prophecies.

That the Pansophia made but slow progress need cause
little surprise, as, in addition to his occupations of a purely
theological nature, Comenius had undertaken the task of
managing the finances of the Bohemian Brethren. The
sympathy of friends in England had not been confined to
words, but had led to collections on a large scale. In
1658 £5900, and in the following year £3000, were sent
to the Continent in aid of the exiled victims of Catholicism.
At the same time, collections were made in Holland and in
Switzerland, and the whole sum of money had to pass
through Comenius’ hands. Applications for assistance
poured in from every side, and the aged Bishop had to
tear himself from his philosophic labours and undertake
the duties of a paymaster-general. From England supplies
continued to come in until, in 1661, Charles II., alarmed
at the removal of so much money from the country, put a
stop to the collection, and impounded the money that was
ready for transmission. Needless to say, an indignant
letter from Amsterdam remained ineffective and unanswered.
In the midst of so many distractions it is remarkable that
Comenius, whose health was rapidly failing, found time
to conduct some physical experiments on the nature of
heat and cold, and to correspond with Robert Dalgarno
in England on the subject of a complicated clockwork
construction that the latter was devising.?

Of the last ten years of Comenius’ life our information,
never very direct or very full, is extremely scanty. His
correspondence with Hartlib ceases in 1662, and we are

1 The works of the Hon. Robert Boyle. London, 1772. Vol. vi.
P. 99.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 95

 

thus deprived of an important source of information.1_ In
1665 death took from him his wife, his friend Dr. Rulice,
and his patron Laurence de Geer, and, though the place of
the latter was, to a certain extent, supplied by his brother
Gerard, who continued to support him in comfort, he must
have led but a forlorn existence, an exile from his native
land, and the survivor of most of his friends. In his
loneliness he devoted himself to his metaphysical writings
with all the energy that a feeble old man, whose life had
been a perpetual hoping against hope, could muster. His
Janua Rerum appears to have been completed in 1666,
though, if this was identical with a work of the same name
that he mentions previously as being in print,” it is im-
possible to say. The only edition known was published at
Leyden in 1681.3 Of this treatise it suffices to say that it
is a deductive metaphysic, totally unlike the /anwa Rerum
that he anticipated in his younger days, and that it bears
no trace of Bacon’s influence. The same may be said of
his Pansophic writings, some of which were completed in
the same year. Under the title of A general deliberation
jor the improvement of the human race* were comprised six
parts, named respectively, Panegersia, Panaugia, Pantaxta or
Pansophia, Panpedia, Panglottia, and Panorthosia, concluded
by a seventh consisting of a general exhortation. If the
first two were published during Comenius’ lifetime, the
editions must have been limited to a few copies, as
Buddaeus, in 1702, had to edit the Pamnegersia from the
original manuscript,® and of the Panaugia there only exists
one copy—in the museum at Prague.® The anegersia
excited the admiration of Herder,’ but it is unnecessary

1 Hartlib had been in ill-health for some time, and probably died in
this year.

2"In his letter to the bookseller Montanus (Van den Berge) in 1661.

3 ‘Janua Rerum reserata, hoc est Sapientia prima (quam vulgo meta-
physicam vocant), Authore J. A. Comenio. Lugduni Batavorum ; apud
heredes Jacobi Heeneman. Anno 1681.’

4 ‘De rerum humanarum emendatione consultatio catholica.’

5 There is a manuscript copy of the Pamegersia in the British Museum.

8 Kvacsala.
7 «Briefen zur Beforderung der Humanitat,’ No. 41.
96 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

for us to say more than that its contents embody a curious
admixture of fantastic metaphysic and weak analogies
drawn from the processes of nature. The general drift of
the argument is that of the Via Luczs, written during his
stay in England, and published by Cunrad at Amsterdam
in 1668. Of this work Comenius sent a copy to the
Royal Society in London, with a letter in which he im-
plored its members not to deal too exclusively with the
physical aspect of the universe to the neglect of the more
important metaphysical and supernatural side.

He was now seventy-seven years old, but his desire to
write and to publish remained as great as ever. His
Unum Necessarium, a religious work, appeared in 1668,
and in the following year he again plunged into con-
troversy with a tract? directed against Samuel Des Marets,
who still persisted in his sceptical attitude towards the
prophecies and the chiliastic doctrine. The result of this
brochure was startling. Des Marets lost his temper com-
pletely, and in his reply Antirrheticus? he quits the ground
of argument and assails Comenius’ personal character in
a manner quite unjustifiable, if the age and failing strength
of his antagonist be considered. After terming Comenius
“a fanatic, a visionary, and an enthusiast in folio,” he pro-
ceeds, “I would venture to say that by feeding one family,
that of de Geer, on pansophic hope, and by nourishing it
or rather bewitching it with chiliastic smoke and Drabik’s
prophecies, he has been able to make a yearly income
three or four times as great as the salary that I receive
from the government.” ?

The sharp tone of this attack cut Comenius to the quick.
Forlorn, and on the verge of the grave, he had neither the
force nor the inclination to rebut the insinuations of dis-
honesty that it contained. Some consolation in his dis-
tress he may have derived from the society of the aged

' «De Zelo sine scientia et charitate, admonitio fraterna J. A. Comenii
ad D. Samuelum Maresium : pro minuendis odiis et ampliandis favoribus.”

2 T have been unable to find any copy of this tractate. Bayle quotes it
largely.

3 Bayle, Dictionnaire historique et critique, Vol. ii, p. 884, note.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 97

 

French prophetess and visionary, Antoinette Bourignon,
who had recently come to reside at Amsterdam; but his
life was burning low, and not even the fuel of fanaticism
was able to revive the flame. Early in the year 1670 his
son-in-law Figulus died, and, on the 15th of November, the
last Bishop of the Bohemian Brethren quitted that life in
which every ambition that he entertained had been doomed
to disappointment. He was buried at Naarden, near
Amsterdam, on the 22nd of November.

It was a strange account on which the ledger had
closed. For himself, Comenius was a failure, and his life
bankrupt ; not so for mankind. The despised pedagogy,
the “ puerilia illa mihi toties nauseata” have laid posterity
under an eternal obligation, and have given the deepest
possible meaning to the words of Leibnitz,

“Tempus erit, quo te, Comeni, turba bonorum.
Factaque spesque tuas, vota quoque ipsa colet.” !

Of Comenius’ descendants little is known. His son
Daniel was ordained, and died in 1694, but these two
facts exhaust the material for his biography. Nor have
we much more information about the fate of his literary
remains. Gerard de Geer’s interest in the Pansophic
writings did not cease with the death of their author, and
he entrusted the arrangement and publication of the manu-
scripts to a certain Nigrinus, who appears to have found
his task a difficult one, owing to the complex nature of the
plan that Comenius had been trying to work out. In 1677
he announced that the Panorthosia was completed, but no
trace of its publication remains. In 1680 he brought out
a Specilegium Didacticum,? giving the scheme of the didactic
works. If he was responsible for the jJanua Rerum that
appeared in 1681 it is impossible to. say.

1 Leibnitz, Coll. Works. Ed. Pertz. Vol. iv. p. 270.
2 «Specilegium Didacticum artium discendi aut docendi summam
brevibus preeceptis exhibens.' °

7
98 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

We now approach the question, ‘ What was the effect of
the personality and of the theoretic writings of Comenius on
the generation that immediately succeeded him, and on the
following century?” The answer is somewhat surprising.
The man whom we unhesitatingly affirm to be the broadest-
minded, the most far-seeing, the most comprehensive, and
withal the most practical of all the writers who have put
pen to paper on the subject of education, the man whose
theories have been put into practice in every school that
is conducted on rational principles, who embodies the
materialistic tendencies of our “modern side” instructors,
while avoiding the narrowness of their reforming zeal, who
lays stress on the spiritual aspect of true education while
he realises the necessity of equipping his pupils for the
rude struggle with nature and with fellow-men—Comenius,
we say, the prince of schoolmasters, produced practically
no effect on the school organisation and educational
development of the following century. His school-books,
frequently reprinted, were thumbed for years to come by
boys in every corner of Europe; but the theoretic works,
The Great Didactic, The Newest Method of Languages, The
Mother School, remained unknown and ineffective. For all
the result that they produced, they might as well have
perished in the flames at Lissa.

The cause of this is not far to seek. If we have laid stress
on his entanglement with the prophet Drabik, the reason has
been less the intrinsic value of that worthy’s revelations
than their effect on the reputation of his unfortunate dupe.
Comenius was not alone in believing them to be heaven-
sent. As we have seen, the prophet had a large following.
Few members of the Bohemian Church but had followed
the example of their bishop, and put their faith in the
misty fabrication; and throughout Europe, Protestants, if
not convinced of its truth, awaited the future with
interest.

Imagine the effect produced, when, eight months after
Comenius’ death, Drabik formally retracted all the prophecies
and went over to the Roman Catholic faith.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL 99

 

The reaction was terrible. ‘The remnant of the Moravian
Brethren, who felt they had been duped, laid all the blame
upon their spiritual, guides. In Hungary, a minister who
had been a keen partisan of Drabik’s was dismissed from
his office. Daniel Comenius, anxious to go to Hungary,
was warned by his friends that his life would scarcely be
safe there ; while his father’s efforts and sacrifices on behalf
of his flock were forgotten in the virtuous indignation that
was showered on his want of judgment. Worse than this,
the dictionary-makers, biographers, and historians, who
should have been the guardians of his fair fame, either took
their impressions from the hostile tractates of his enemies,
or, in ignorance of his theoretic works, measured his value
as an educationist by their peddling standard of correct
Latinity. “He worked at a Pansophia,” wrote Morhof,
in 1688, “which he left only half finished. He wrote
a Prodromus to it, and this, together with some other
philosophic matter, he published at Amsterdam in folio.”
“His Janua is full of barbarisms, which he tried in vain to
defend ; for his Apology stands itself in need of one.” He
also wrote a Physic remodelled in accordance with Divine
Light... . 1 praise the man’s piety, but piety alone will
not do everything.” !

The whole of his writings on the theory of education
alluded to as “some other philosophic matter”! This
is bad enough, but worse was to follow. The sceptical
Bayle, writing in 1697, gets the greater part of his material
from Des Marets’ Antirrheticus, and treats the angry retort
of an antagonist as a reliable estimate of Comenius’
character. Des Marets gets a special word of praise.
“ On ne sauroit assez louer notre Des Marets,” he writes,
“de sa vigueur contre les Enthousiastes et contre les
annonciateurs de grandes révolutions. On a pu voir
comme il poussa Comenius.”2 Of the Amsterdam folio
he says, “C’est un ouvrage in folio divisé en quatre parties

} Morhof, Polyhistor literarius, philosophicus, et practicus. Lubece,

1688, pp. I19, 120. a
2 Bayle, Dictionnaire historique et critique, Rott, 1697, ii. 559.
100 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

qui cofita beaucoup de veilles & son auteur, et beaucoup
d’argent 4 d’autres et dont la République de lettres n’a
tiré aucune profit ; et je ne crois pas méme qu'il y ait rien
de practicable dans les idées de cet auteur.” +

In the eighteenth century Bayle’s Dictionary was widely
circulated, and ignorant readers readily acquiesced in the
estimate given to Comenius’ character and merits. In
1742 a protest was raised by Paul Eugene Layritz, school-
director at Nuremburg, under the title Vindication of the
Memory of Comenius? but this was unable to counteract
Bayle’s influence, and a still more deplorable fate awaited
the unhappy pedagogue. Adelung, in his story of
Human Folly? gives him a prominent place, and classes
him with magicians, alchemists, and soothsayers—a truly
humiliating position for the father of modern education.

To be abused tries one’s temper, but need not diminish
his self-esteem ; to be misunderstood may embitter a dis-
position, but need not shatter a sense of merit; but to be
absolutely ignored presents no element of compensation,
and this is what befell Comenius at the hands of his
successors in the path of school reform. While the
pedagogic writers of the seventeenth century were firm
believers in the continuity and organic development of
educational theory, those of the eighteenth to a large
extent ignored the efforts of their predecessors, and were
at no pains to discover if the principles that they enunciated
had already been worked out by others. A. H. Francke
mentions the Unum JVecessarium, but never alludes to the
Great Didactic. Had Rousseau been put through a course
of Comenian method, his Zmz/e might have lost in paradox
and in piquancy, but the educationist would have gained,
where the lover of polite literature lost. In How Gertrude

1 Bayle, Dictionnaire historique et critique. Rott. 1697, i. 883.

2 «Manes Comenii vindicati, ejusque docendi discendique methodus a
Petri Baylii injuriis liberata,’ 1742.

3 Adelung’s ‘Geschichte der menschlichen Narrheit, oder Lebenschrei-
bungen beriihmter Schwarzkiinstler, Goldmacher, Teufelsbanner, Zeichen-
und- Liniendeuter, Schwarmer, Wahrsager, und anderer philosophischen
Unholden.’ Leipzig, 1785.
INTRODUCTION—BIOGRAPHICAL IOI

 

Teaches her Children, Pestalozzi, from a slightly different
point of view, enunciates principles almost identical with
those of the School of Infancy, and, had Pestalozzi been led
to study the Great Didactic, he would probably have con-
fined himself to the development, on the subjective side,
of the objective principles embodied in that treatise.
Subsequent writers were wittier than Comenius, none
possessed, in combination, his sympathy with children, his
power of analysis, and his breadth of mind.

It is only recently that Comenius has been rediscovered.
Von Raumer : in his History of Pedagogy (1843) was the
first to attract attention to the surpassing merit of the
Great Didactic, and since then several translations of that
work and a voluminous Comenian literature have appeared
in Germany. In 1841 Professor Purkytie found the
manuscript of the Bohemian Didactic at Lissa. It was
published at Prague in 1849, and has since been twice
reprinted. The School of Infancy was translated into
English by D. Benham in 1858, and more recently
Professor Laurie has provided the student with an admir-
able epitome of the Amsterdam Folio of 1657. In the
present volume, the Great Didactic is presented to English
readers for the first time.
INTRODUCTION

II
HISTORICAL

WE have already traced the growth of Comenius’ Educa-
tional Theories, and pointed out his debt to contemporary
writers, notably in the case of the /Janua Linguarum.
We will now endeavour to show the general relation in
which he stands to his predecessors, to bring into greater
relief the condition in which he found schools and school-
masters, and to estimate the worth of his school-books
for his own age, and of his theoretical writings for all
time.

Against Comenius, as against his predecessors and con-
temporaries, the accusation may be brought that, in spite of
professions of a desire to widen the school curriculum
and shake off the more binding traditions of the past, he
still retained Latin as the concentration-point of his system,
and allowed it to usurp more than its fair share of attention.
While this charge is to a certain extent justified, a brief
consideration of the circumstances will suffice to show that
the blame lies less with Comenius than with the strength,
born of tradition, that enabled the Latin language to
blockade every avenue that led to polite learning or scien-
tific pursuits.

In medizval times the schools were in the hands of the
104 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

monasteries, and Latin was the language of Christendom.
After the Renaissance, Latin was the language of culture
and opened the door to a more perfect literature than any
that existed in the vernaculars. After the Reformation,
though banished from the services of Protestantism, it still
remained a most important medium of communication
between nation and nation. At the present day great
stress is laid on the practical value of modern languages,
but in the sixteenth century a man furnished with a good
colloquial knowledge of Latin might have travelled over
Europe with nearly as great comfort as if he had been
thoroughly acquainted with the language of each country
through which he passed. To write English fluently and
well is now of infinitely more value to a man than to have
acquired the same proficiency in Latin; but in the
sixteenth century the advantage was greatly on the side of
the Latin scholar. By sending his son to learn Latin an
uncultured parent immediately raised him into a higher
sphere of society and placed in his hands a passport which
secured admission where the language of the country
invited rebuff.

But the study of Latin in the latter half of the six-
teenth century was very different both in manner and
method from that of the monkish schools. Up to the
time of Comenius, and indeed till very recently, grammar
was allowed to usurp far more than its due share of the
school programme ; but in medizeval schools it was the chief
subject taught, sometimes indeed the only one. A slight
knowledge of arithmetic sufficed to enable the future monk
to make the computus or calculation necessary for ascertain-
ing on which days the festivals of the church should fall,
and the remainder of his energies he was forced to devote
to Priscian or Donatus. The work of the latter, De
partibus ovationis pars minor had been arranged in 2645
leonine hexameters by Alexander de Villa dei in 1199,
and under the name of the Doctrinal was the staple
grammar for nearly 300 years. The school-books bought
for the Dauphin in 1484 consisted of “Ung A, B, C, Ungs
INTRODUCTION—-HISTORICAL 105

 

sept pseaulmes, Ung Donast, Ungs accidens, Ung Caton,
and Ung Doctrinal.” !

Another famous Grammar was the Grecism of Ebrard,
written in 1212. It was still in use at Deventer when
Erasmus was at school there in 1476,? and was popular in
the Parisian schools until the end of the fifteenth century.®
This work,* a bulwark of linguistic training in the fourteenth
century, commences with a metrical treatise on grammatical
forms, each of which is labelled with a Greek name. This
is followed by chapters nominally on the declensions and
the conjugations, but really on the exact meanings of words
that resemble one another. Its editor, Johannes Vincentius
Metulinus, who had a high opinion of its merits, introduces
it as follows :—

Hic liber Ebrardi Celebris : doctique magistri
Graecismus fons est: arida corda fovens.
Cujus in irriguo tu margine sisteris: a quo
Sumere grammatices plura fluenta potes.®

Here is a sample of the draughts of grammar that he
who stands on the brink may quaff. In chap. i, De
Jiguris, we are informed that:

Sincopa de medio tollit quod epenthesis auget :
Aufert apocope finem quem dat paracope.

Pages of this stuff had to be learned by the unfortunate
scholar, nor was his case much better when he came to the
grammar proper. In chap. xvi, under the heading De
verbis secunde conjugationis, he was given the following
information :—

Hortibus insideo: pius medicus assidet egro; (sic)
Subsidet his caro: presidet ille solo.
Obsidet hic muro : considet ille loco,

 

1 «La vie privée d’autrefois ; Ecoles et Colléges, par Alfred Franklin,’
Pp. 153.

2 Preelegebatur Ebrardus et Joannes de Garlandia. Vita Erasmi.
Erasmo auctore.’ .

3 “Les colloques scolaires du seiziéme siécle.’ Massebieau, p. 21.

4 ‘Libri Ebrardi Greciste.'’ (Adv. Lib. Edin, No date or place.)
Massebieau quotes an edition of 1487. 5 Preface ad init.
106 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

and so forth. The so-called grammar is little more than a
vocabulary, in which the words are strung into rude verses
illustrating their usage.

The other bugbear of Erasmus’ childhood was John de
Garlande. Garlande was the author of a Compendium
Grammatice and of an epic poem entitled De Zriumphis
Lclesie. The latter may well have been among the works
that the student was expected to read, as its subject-matter
would have removed any prejudice to which its. monkish
eccentricities might have given rise.1 The main object of
learning Latin was to read Ambrose and Hilary. As late as
1523 we find Vives recommending the poems of Prudentius,
Sydonius, Paulinus, Arator, Prosper, and Juvencus, as being
equal to the classics in style and infinitely superior in matter.”

The Reformation may have been prejudicial to the
advancement of Humanism at the higher seats of learning,
but to schools it was the breath of life. Though a few
sensibly-managed institutions were to be found, such as
the Collége de Guyenne at Bordeaux, these were great
exceptions. In the schools attached to the monasteries
prejudiced monks would have little to say to the new learn-
ing, looked on it with suspicion, and deemed it safer to
abide by Ebrard and the Doctrinal.

But a more energetic man than Erasmus was to turn
upon them and tear their pedantry into shreds. Martin
Luther had been subjected to the mill of scholasticism, and
grammar-lessons, flogged in with the customary vigour, had
left an iron impression on his soul. ‘Instead of sound
books,” he cries in 1524, ‘“‘the insane, useless, harmful,
monkish books, the Catholicon,® the Florista, the Greecista,

1 It contains ‘' retrogradi Versus,’’ such as :—

Parisiis proba non pugnat gens parcere clero
Provida, non curat perfidiam sua lex.
Lex sua perfidiam curat, non provida clero
Parcere, gens pugnat non proba Parisiis.
Wright's Ed. p. 41.
Bik Jo. Lodovici Vivis Valentini Opera, in duos distincta tomos. Basileze,
1555)" i. p. 7.
“A Grammar and Vocabulary,’ by John Balbi, printed by Gutenberg
in 1460,
INTRODUCTION—-HISTORICAL 107

 

the Labyrinth, the Dormi secure, and such-like stable-refuse
have been introduced by the devil, so that the Latin
tongue has decayed, and in no place is any good school or
instruction or method of study left.” 1

With his wide-minded contempt for petty details he
would have wished to abolish the formal study of grammar
altogether. The books to be used are “the poets and
orators, be they Christian or heathen, Greek or Latin.
From these the grammar must be learned.”2 Now, while
it is certainly a grievous error to sacrifice the whole morn-
ing of youth to the study of grammar, it is also evident
that to neglect it altogether could only lead to a slipshod
habit of mind in later years. A corrective for Luther’s com-
plete carelessness of academic accuracy was at hand in
Philip Melanchthon, the grammarian of the Reformation
in Germany, whose Latin Grammar appeared in 1525.3
Melanchthon, while attaching the utmost importance to
grammar, was fully aware how necessary it was to make
rules as short and concise as possible. Other Grammars,
he tells us, existed, but most of them were neglected on
account of their length, and he had therefore written his
to supply the practical wants of the age.

In truth the Grammar of 1525 is many centuries in
advance of the shibboleth that Erasmus learned at Deventer.
Apart from its intrinsic merit, Melanchthon’s name on the
title-page would have secured its widespread use in Pro-
testant schools. It underwent many editions, notably that by
Jacob Micyllus, and was still in use at the beginning of the
eighteenth century. Worthy of notice is the relative im-
portance given to the rules for gender (these take up thirty-
three pages), and the introduction of words like Halec, Huber,
Lafer, and Meninx ; but the main interest of the work lies
in its preface, which embodies Melanchthon’s views on the
study of grammar. “Of what importance it is to Christ’s

1 « An die Rathsherren aller Stidte deutschen Landes, dass sie christliche
Schulen aufrichten und halten sollen.’

2 Tbid,

3 I quote from the Paris edition of 1643.
108 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

Church,” he says, “that boys be rightly instructed in
grammar! . . . How many grievous errors I might relate
that have wrought great havoc in the Church, and that
have arisen solely from ignorance of grammar!” More
than this, grammar is made an indispensable preliminary to
knowledge of any kind. “A defective grounding in grammar
leads to a most impudent misuse of other studies.” !
Melanchthon was not without competitors. We find
Vives 2 (1523) recommending Catherine of Aragon to get
Thomas Linacre’s Grammar for her daughter Mary; and
elsewhere? he says that any one may be selected from
among those of Perottus, Aldus, Nebrissensis, Mancinella,
Sulpitus, Melanchthon, and Ninivita. The Grammar of the
last mentioned, who is better known as Despauter,* was for
a long time in vogue, both in France and in Germany. An
abridged edition was brought out by Sebastian of Duisburg
in 1534, and was used in Scotland as late as 1637.° It is
greatly inferior to Melanchthon’s Grammar, and burdens the
mind of the student with an inordinate quantity of mnemonic
verses.© It is surprising to what an extent the notion
prevailed that grammar should be made as complex as
possible. Few scholars would care to name off-hand the
seven genders in Latin, yet this was the number commonly

1 Qui non recte Grammaticen didicerunt, postea czeteras disciplinas
audacissime corrumpunt.

2 Opera, vol. i. p. 5. Buchanan also recommended Linacre’s Grammar,
and brought out a Latin translation of it, printed at Paris in 1533.

3 Tbid. p. 10.

4 His full name was Joannes Despauterius Ninivita. He flourished in
Holland, 1460-1520.

5 I have before me a copy entitled, ‘Joan. Despauterii Ninivitee, Gram-
maticze Institutiones, Lib. vii. Docte et concinne in compendium
redacti, per Sebastianum Duisburgensem, multo quam antea castigatiores.
Edinburgi. Sumptibus Heeredum Andrez Hart. Julii2s5. Anno 1637.’

6 The following are good examples, taken from the rules for the 3rd
declension :—

Tertia dat varios fines, dans is genitivo,
Greecorum patrius vel in os, vel in i vel in us fit.
or
Em dat et im buris, pelvis cum clave securis
Et puppis, turris, restis: sic febris, aequalis,
Sic pestis, navis, tor quis conjunge bipennim.
INTRODUCTION—AHISTORICAL 109

 

given in sixteenth-century works. Even in 1633 a Scotch
Grammar? tells us that “the genders are seven in number:
masculine, feminine, neuter, common of two, common of
three, promiscuous, and doubtful.” At this rate, why stop
at seven? It is surprising that the writer did not bring
their number up to twenty-one and work them into a
mnemonic verse. For the beginner seven genders must
have been a more crushing burden than the As zx present
that caused such agony to our grandfathers.

The set of metrical rules beginning with this locution,
as well as the Propfria que maribus, were by Lily, one of
the first masters at St. Paul’s School and afterwards high-
master of Wolsey’s school at Ipswich, and are often found
affixed to his Bvevissima Institutio, the most popular
Grammar ever written and the basis of the Eton Latin
Grammar published in 1826.

Lily’s work appeared in many forms. The edition of
15777 is in English with a Latin appendix, and is prefaced
by an injunction of Elizabeth “‘ Not to teache your youth
and scholers with any other Grammar than with this
English introduction hereafter ensuing, and the Latine
Grammar affixed to the same.” The use of the Brevissema
Jnstitutio was confined to England, but Lily’s Syntax met
with considerable success on the continent. An edition?
was brought out by Erasmus at Strasburg in 1515, and
was afterwards reprinted at Basle, Paris, Antwerp, and
Cologne.

We cannot leave Lily without giving some account of
his rules Ad discipulos de moribus. ‘These survey the whole
field of school morality in elegiac verse.

1 «Rudimenta Grammatices in Gratiam juventutis Scotize conscripta.
Edinburgi. Excudebat Joannes Wrentoun. 1633.’

Quid adfers de genere? Genera sunt numero septem: Masculinum,
Foemininum, Neutrum, Commune duum, Commune trium, Promiscuum,
et Dubium.

2 ¢A short introduction of Grammar generally to be used, compyled
and set forth for the bringing up of all those that intend to attayne the
knowledge of the Latin tongue.’ London, 1577.

3 * Absolutissimus de octo Orationis partium constructione libellus,
nuperrime recognitus. Argentorati, 1515.’
110 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

Scalpellum, calami, atramentum, charta, libelli,
Sint semper studiis, arma parata tuis.

At tamen inprimis facies sit lota manusque
Sint nitidee vestes, comptaque czesaries.

With Lily, as with the continental educationists, a
colloquial knowledge of Latin was highly prized—

Et quoties loqueris, memor esto loquare Latine
Et scopulos veluti barbara verba fuge.

For the boy who prompts in class a terrible punishment
is threatened—

Nec verbum quisquam dicturo suggerat ullum
Quod puero exitium non mediocre parit.}

Comenius’ complaint that the beginner in Latin was
compelled to learn the unknown through the medium of
the unknown, does not apply with very much force to
England. As early as 1495 we find a black-letter treatise,
Pervula*® by name, giving the rules of syntax in English.
Nothing could be simpler or more explicit than the pro-
position with which it starts. ‘What shalt thou doo
when thou hast an englyssh to be made in latyne? I
shall reherse myn englysshe fyrst ones, twyes, or thryes,
and loke out my princypal verbe and aske hym this ques-
tion, who or what. And that worde that answeryth to the
questyon shall be the nominatyf case to the verbe.”

In English is also the curious Grammar and Syntax by
M. Holt, entitled Zac Puerorum.? On the subject of
gender Holt exercises a rare restraint and only inflicts
one page on the learner; but his pent-up passion for
analysis bursts forth when he comes to the moods, and he
introduces us to “the shewynge mode,” the “biddynge
mode,” “the askynge mode,” “the wysshynge mode,”

1 Appendix to Wolsey’s Rudimenta Grammatices, 1529.

? ‘Pervula. Printed at Westmynstre in Caxton’s house by Wynkyn

de Worde.’
3 «Lac Puerorum. M. Holti. Mylke for children. 1510. Emprynted

at London by Wynkyn de Worde in Flete Strete in the sygne of the
sonne.’
INTRODUCTION—AISTORICAL III

 

“‘the potencyal mode,” and the “subjunctyf mode.” A
heavy burden for the boy who cannot yet conjugate Amo.

That it is in English and, from the book-fancier’s point
of view, its rarity claim notice for Linacre’s Grammar,! but
otherwise this work is not superior to other Grammars of
the age. In company with those previously mentioned it
is scarcely worthy of remark by the side of the Grammar?
written by Cardinal Wolsey for his school at Ipswich. An
almost touching simplicity breathes through the pages of
his little volume, showing the great Cardinal in a most
pleasing light as the sympathiser with blundering boyhood.
In the preface he confesses that Grammars exist in abund-
ance, but he considers them unsuitable for beginners, for
whose need he therefore takes it upon himself to cater.
“In which lytel boke I have left many thynges out of
purpose, consydering ye tendernes and smal capacite of
lytell mynds.” He then proceeds to state the rudiments
of grammar in the simplest way imaginable. J/usa is
declined in full, and the conjugations of the regular verbs
are given at length. The inevitable “seven genders”
make their appearance, it is true, but no time is wasted
over them. This Grammar does not appear to have been
as popular as its contemporaries, still it is quite the best
written for beginners before the Vestibular Grammar of
Comenius.

In Scotland, Latin appears to have been the medium
through which the rudiments were learned, though vernacular
grammars were not unknown. In 1528 John Vaus, master
of the Grammar School at Aberdeen, published a Grammar ®
a large part of which is in Scotch ; and there is in existence

1 ‘Linacri Progymnasmata grammatices vulgaria. Emprynted in
London on the sowth syde of paulys by John Rastell, with the privylege
of our most suverayn lord Kyng Henry the VIII. graunted to the compyler
thereof.’

2 «Rudimenta grammatices et docendi methodus, non tam scholze
Gypsuichianz per reverendissimum Thomam Cardinalem Eborem feliciter
institutae quam omnibus aliis totius Anglize scholis preescripta. Peter
Treveri. 1529.’

3 «Rudimenta puerorum in artem grammaticam per Joannem Vaus
Scotum.’ Paris, 1528.
112 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

a fragment of a Donatus written in Scotch, which has
been hypothetically placed as early as 1508.1

Of mathematics and science, the subjects that form the
backbone of a “modern side” curriculum, only the first
was in a sufficiently advanced state to be even given con-
sideration as a subject of school instruction, and it is
improbable that boys were taught more than the barest
elements. Indeed there appears to have been a consider-
able amount of prejudice against mathematics as a means
towards general culture. ‘Mark all mathematical heads,
which be only and wholely bent to those sciences,” writes
Ascham in the Scholemaster, “how solitary they be them-
selves, how unfit to live with others, and how unable to
serve in the world.” Many educationists, however, were
not of this opinion, and efforts were made by the more far-
seeing among them to render the study of numbers more
accessible to the beginner. In 1522 Cuthbert Tonstall,
afterwards Bishop of London, published his Arithmetic De
arte supputand?. Written for boys (Tonstall suggests that
it may be of use to Sir Thomas More’s sons), it is very
practical, and well suited for school use,? and was far
ahead of anything else that had been written on the
subject. Sturm thought so highly of it that he brought
out a reprint at Strasburg in 1544,° and in his preface
assured the public that the book was the best in the
market, and that any student who mastered it would know
all that was to be known on the subject.*

It must be confessed that in the sixteenth century the
advocates of arithmetic as a study laid more stress on its

‘1 «Notes on a leaf of an early Scottish Donatus, printed in Black
Letter. By E. Gordon Duff, Edinburgh Bibliographical Society. Session
1892-93.’

2 It contains a large number of exercises on the various rules given.
De Morgan says of it: ‘‘For plain common-sense well expressed,
Tonstall’s book has never been surpassed in the subject of which it
treats.""—Arithmetical Books, p. 13.

3 «De arte supputandi, Libri quattuor, hactenus in Germania nusquam
ita impressi. Argentorati, 1544.’

4 Nec abest longe a perfectione, qui ejus praecepta intelligit.—Sturm’s
preface.
INTRODUCTION—AISTORICAL 113

 

practical and commercial worth than on its value as a
factor in the expansion of the mental powers. Cardinal
Sadoleto, writing in 1549, points out the necessity of adding
arithmetic to the school curriculum, but only because
without its aid we cannot tell how many fingers we have
or with how many eyes we see.!

On this position a great advance is made by Robert
Recorde, who published his Arithmetic in 1561 under the
title Zhe Grounde of Artes. According to Recorde the
great claim of arithmetic is that it exercises the mind
purely, apart from lines as in geometry and from spheres
and axes as in astrology.2, The capacity for mathematics
is the special prerogative of man. ‘‘Whoso setteth small
price by the witty device and knowledge of numbring, he
little considereth it to be the chief point (in manner)
whereby men differ from all brute beasts; for as in all
other things (almost) beasts are partakers with us, so in
numbring we differ cleane from them and in manner
peculiarly, sith that in many things they excell us againe.”
It must not be imagined from this quotation that the
Grounde of Artes is of a philosophical nature. It is a very
practical arithmetic,’and is of special interest as being
written in English. In his work on algebra also, Zhe
Whetstone of Witte, published in 1557, Recorde discards
Latin in favour of the vernacular.

In France a staunch upholder of mathematics was that
many-sided man of learning, Peter Ramus. Himself the
author of an Arithmetic,? he was at some pains to ascer-
tain the modes of instruction most approved of in other
countries. Ina letter to John Dee, dated 1565, he begs
him to say what old mathematical books he has in his
library, who are the teachers of mathematics in English

1 Cujus usus ita necesse est ut videamur absque ea ne quot digitos
quidem habeamus in manibus, aut quot oculis intueamur scire posse. —
‘De Liberis recte instituendis Liber. Jacobi Sadoleti Opera. Moguntiz,
1607,’ p. 547.

2 Preface to The Grounde of Artes.

3 ‘Petri Rami Arithmetices Libri duo, et Algebrz totidem.'’ De
Morgan says this was published in 1584.

8
114 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

grammar schools, and what method they follow! In
Germany, at a rather later date, the Arithmetic 2 of Christo-
pher Clavius, a Jesuit priest, went through many editions,
though it is difficult to say if it was used outside the Jesuit
schools. It is worth noting that Alsted, Comenius’ teacher
at Herborn, wrote several works on mathematics,’ though
these were for more advanced scholars.

The question now arises, “By what method or system
of teaching were these books backed up? What pains
were taken to ascertain the difficulties of the individual
school-boy and remove them by timely explanation ?”

The answer is as simple as it is unsatisfactory. In
every difficulty or dilemma the one resource of the school-
master was the stick. Between recalcitrant school-boys
and ignorant teachers the friction was great, and the
sturdy use of the cane proved the readiest way to disperse
the evil humours of the master. Witness the complaint
of Ascham: “The scholar is commonly beat for the
making, when the master were more worthy to be beat for
the mending or rather marring of the same: the master
being many times as ignorant as the child what to say to
the matter.”* In France the same complaint was made.
*« Those daily and severe floggings,” wrote Maturin Cordier,
“deter simple-minded youths from the study of letters to
such an extent that they hate school worse than a dog
or a snake.”> From time to time protests were raised
against this process of brutalising children ; but the general
tendency of the age was to. believe that a little physical

1 «Petri Rami Professoris Regii, Przefationes, etc. Parisiis, 1577.
P. 204. Petrus Ramus, Joan. Dio Londinensi.’ ‘‘Itaque gemino pig-
nore amoris erga me tui obligatus mihi videbor, si hoc utrumque abs te
impetravero, et qui sunt e veteribus in bibliotheca tua scriptores mathe-
matici, et quinam in vestris gymnasiis, quaque authoritate mathematicas
artes profiteantur.”

2 «Christopheri Clavii Bambergensis e Societate Jesu, Epitome Arith-
meticee practicze,’ rst ed. 1583 (the edition before me is of 1607).

3 *Methodus admirandorum Mathematicorum, novem libris exhibens
universam Mathesin.’ Herborn, 1641. (De Morgan.)

4 Ascham, Scholemaster.

5 «De corrupti sermonis emendatione.’ Paris, 1530. Preface.
INTRODUCTION—-HISTORICAL 115

 

pain, judiciously applied, was worth much persuasion of a
gentler kind. Instructive in this connection is the conver-
sation between Sir William Cecil and his friends reported
by Ascham in the preface to his Scholemaster. “I have
strange news brought me this evening,” says Cecil, “ that
certain scholars of Eton be run away from the school for
fear of beating.” To this Mr. Peter replied that “the
rod only was the sword that must keep the school in
obedience and the scholars in good order”; while Mr.
Haddon went so far as to say that the best schoolmaster
of their time (Nicholas Udall) was the greatest beater.

Small wonder that the boys left the Grammar School
‘great lubbers, always learning and little profiting!”

Machyn, writing in 1563, quotes a typical case of
brutality: “A schoolmaster that had a child to lerne, and
for a small fault did bett him so severely with a leden
gyrdyll with buckles that he left no skyne on his body.”
Even for the sixteenth century this seems to have passed the
limits of legitimate severity, as we read that “thys master
was sett on the pelere and wyped that his blude ran
downe.”? A curious way this of maintaining the doctrine
that corporal punishment should be sparingly adminis-
tered.

The extensive use of Latin as a medium for imparting
knowledge was frequently brought forward by reformers,
and in particular by Comenius, as the reason why begin-
ners made such slow progress. To a certain extent they
were undoubtedly right. Many Grammars and Arithmetics
were written in Latin, and though constant exercise in
that language may have been of use to the more advanced
student, the combination of a new tongue and a new sub-
ject must have had a disastrous effect on younger boys
whose knowledge of Latin was limited.

It would, however, be an error to lay too much stress
on this point, as there is evidence that side by side with
the enthronement of Latin there was a strong under-

1 Scholemaster, Bk. it 2 Machyn's Diary, 1563.
116 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

current of feeling in favour of the vernaculars. In Eng-
land the use of the English language in learned works
found a strong upholder in Peter Levins! In the Preface
to his Pathway to Health (1587) he avers that those who
think that such books should be written in an unknown
tongue, and thus hide the knowledge of health from the
people, are guilty of “malice exceeding damnable and
devillish.” Some years previously (1570) Levins had
brought out an English-Latin dictionary with the title
Manipulus Vocabulorum. ‘ This,” he tells us in his Pre-
face, ‘‘I brought out for conscience sake, thinking that
when I have bene long conversant with the schooles and
have from tyme to tyme lamented to see the youth of our
country (in the studies of the Latin tong) lacke such little
instruments as this fit and needful for their exercises,
and saw no man set his hand to the same, I was bound
for the portion of my small talent to do somewhat
therein.” ?

If Levins thought that his was the first English-Latin
dictionary he was mistaken, as nearly 100 years before
(1499) Pynson had printed the Promptuorium parvulorum
sive clericorum.® But the English used in this lexicon was
the Norfolk dialect, and the work was more suitable for
older students than for boys.

To the Latin grammars written in English reference

1 According to Anthony 4 Wood, Levins taught a Grammar School.

2 A quotation from this dictionary may be of interest. It is arranged,
not alphabetically, but in accordance with the termination of the words,
forming in fact a kind of rhyming dictionary ; e.g.

Coste Sumptus -us

The frost Gelu -us ; hoc Frigus
A ghoste Spiritus -us. Larva
An hoste of men Exercitus

An hoste Hospes, hospitis, etc.

3 «Promptuorium parvulorum sive clericorum. Auctore fratre Galfrido
Grammatico dicto. 1440.’ A short extract will indicate its nature :—

Byryele ” Sepulchrum, tumulus

Byrthe Nativitus, partus

Byschelle Modius, chorus, busellus

Bysshope Episcopus, antistes, pontifex, presul
INTRODUCTION—HISTORICAL 117

 

has already been made, and as regards arithmetic, Ton-
stall tells us that there was scarcely a nation that did not
possess a vernacular treatise on that subject.t If further
proof is necessary that Latin had never become so
fashionable in England as on the continent it can be
found in the Governour of Sir Thomas Elyot, and in
Ascham’s Scholemaster. Ascham seems to have been ap-
prehensive that scholars on the continent might think an
English setting somewhat undignified for so academic a
theme as Education, and in a letter to Sturm at Strasburg
he instances the uncultured condition of England as his
excuse. He was writing “for Englishmen and not for
foreigners,” 2 and wished to be understood. In France,
where the Latin of the Renaissance had taken a far stronger
hold, Montaigne had advanced precisely the same reason
for writing his essays in French. He was addressing a
French and not a European audience. Rabelais had
chosen the language that they despised as an instrument
for the abuse of pedants and scholastics. In the Collége
de France, founded in 1529, Francis I. had ordained that
the lectures should be given in French and not in Latin.
Peter Ramus (Pierre de la Ramée) Latinised his name and
wrote in Latin, but this did not prevent him from bringing
out a French Grammar in 1562.3 A cursory glance at
the list of their publications would not lead us to suppose
that Robert and Henry Estienne give much thought to
their native language. Vet Robert Estienne published his
Traicté de la Grammaire Francaise in 1569, and his son
Henry gives us to understand that French was already
ousting all other languages as a refined medium of expres-
sion. “It is proverbial,” he tells us, “that the Italians
bleat, the Spaniards groan, the Germans howl, and the

1 Nulla pene natio est que non eam artem vulgi lingua scriptam
habeat.—De arte supputandi, Preface.

2 Et quia meus hic Preeceptor non e Gxzecia, non ex Italia accersitus
est, sed in hac barbara insula natus, et domi intra parietes meos altus est,
propterea barbare hoc est Anglice loquitur. . . . Nostris non alienis,
Anglis non exteris scribo.—Letter to Sturm.

3 Published by André Weckel at Paris.
118 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

French sing.”? In 1549 Joachim de Bellay had written
his spirited Défense et illustration de la langue Francaise, in
which he is at pains to prove “que la langue Francoise
n’est pas si pauvre que beaucoup l’estiment.”? In his
intense desire that his countrymen shall write in French
he advances the somewhat paradoxical argument that, in
view of the present “literary competition,” French writings
have the best chance of surviving. ‘‘Vrai est que le nom
de cesluy cy (ze. the author who writes in Latin) s’estend
en plus de lieux; mais bien souvent comme la fumée qui
sort grosse au commencement, peu a peu s’esvanouit
parmy le grand espace de Jair, il se perd ou pour estre
opprimé de l’infinie multitude des autres plus renommey, il
demeure quasi en silence et obscurité.” ?

These objections to the encroachments of the Latin
tongue were largely due to a patriotic desire to dethrone a
language whose tendency was to usurp for itself all the
high places in literature. Another argument on the same
side, the plea of lack of time, had already begun to make
itself heard. Merchants wanted to give their sons a good
education, but, as they needed their assistance at an early
age, grudged the inordinate length of time that had to be
spent before good scholarship could be attained. “My
father wished to see my learned education completed in
one year,” says the school-boy in Cordier’s CoMloguies, when
told what a long business it is to learn Latin colloquially.*

In Germany the vernacular was more backward in assert-
ing itself. Luther’s sermons and hymns were a powerful
factor in the development of German style, but the troubled
state of the country during the following century hindered
any progress towards the refinement of the language. The
foundation of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, a kind of
“academy” organised at Weimar in 1617 by Ludwig,

1 Projet du livre intitulé ‘ De la precellence du langage Frangais.’ Par
Henri Estienne. Paris, 1579. Preface. ‘‘ Balant Itali, gemunt Hispani,
ululant Germani, cantant Galli.”

2 Pt. i. ch. 4.

3 Pt. ii. ch. x2.
4 Cordier, Colloguies, iii. 31.
INTRODUCTION—AISTORICAL 119

 

Prince of Anhalt-Kothen, marks the first effort to purify
the German tongue and set it on a firm basis.

It must be confessed that the earlier humanists had not
so much wished to impede the use of the vernaculars in
Europe, as to add another language to those already in
“vogue.” “Just as a gem set in a gold ring ornaments it
rather than disfigures it,” wrote Laurentius Valla in 1450,
“so our language (Latin), if added to the vernaculars of
other nations, increases rather than diminishes their lustre.” +
Latin, though essentially a scholar’s tongue, was not to be
treated as a classic language, but was to be placed on
exactly the same footing as the vernaculars. To write like
Cicero was not sufficient, the accomplished man of letters
was also expected to talk like the characters of Terence
and Plautus. If the Latin vocabulary of the golden age
proved unequal to the heavier demands of sixteenth-century
life, it had to be stretched and supplemented by Greek
words. Above all, fluency was the great desideratum. In
addition to the accuracy that he acquired by a patient study
of grammar, of the moods and of the figures, a school-boy
had to learn to chatter in Latin without any hesitation and
with as much correctness of expression as could be
obtained. Some idea of the task thus imposed on teachers
may be realised by those who have experienced the
difficulty of imparting a colloquial knowledge of French or
German through the medium of class instruction. The
humanist schools sought to solve the question by making it
obligatory that boys should talk Latin and nothing else
during their play-hours as well as in school ; but this was
very difficult to enforce, and, in spite of the usher with his
tabella delatoria*® ready to report the slightest lapse into the
mother-tongue, they drifted into the vernacular on every
possible occasion. “Our boys,” wrote Cordier in 1530,
“always chatter French with their companions, or if they

1 Laurentii Vallensis, Zlegantia Lingue Latine, preface.

2 Pueri . . . tabellis illis delatoriis ad Latinee linguze observationem
in Gymnasiis adiguntur.—‘ Commentarius puerorum de quotidiano sermone,
qui prius Liber de corrupti sermonis emendatione dicebatur. Maturino
Corderio autore. Parisiis, 1541' (1st ed. in 1530). Preface.
120 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

try to talk Latin, cannot keep it up for three consecutive
words.” } ;

It was to remedy this state of things that Cordier com-
piled, under the title De corrupti sermonis emendatione, a
French-Latin manual of useful phrases, arranged under a
variety of headings. The Latin is not always of the most
academic type, but the sentences were doubtless useful to
boys whose vocabulary was limited. Thus, in chap. v.,
under the heading Beneficiorum, officiorum, et gratificands,
we find “Tu mas faict.ung grand plaisir,” “‘Magno me
affecisti beneficio. Vehementer me oblectasti. Pergratum
mihi fecisti.” Chapter ix., under the heading Cedendi,
concedendi, obseguendi, gives us a remark that only a very
priggish boy could have used—‘Je confesse que tu es
meilleur grammarien que moy,” ‘“Grammatice scientiam
tibi concedo.” More in sympathy with school-boy nature
is the joyful announcement, “Le régent nous a rien baillé
& estudier,” “ Praeeceptor nihil dedit nobis ad studiendum ”
(chap. xix.) That the most renowned schoolmaster of
the sixteenth century should render “Je vouldroye que tu
disse cela de bon cceur” by “Ego vellem quod tu istud
diceres de bono corde” is startling to those who live in
an age when the practice of talking Latin, entailing, as it
must, much monkish inaccuracy, has fallen into disuse.

Of more importance than this phrase-book were the
Colloquies by various authors, so much used in schools,
even as late as the end of the eighteenth century. These
represented conversations between school-boys or young
students, and were intended to be learned off by heart, and
thus to supply the student with a stock of phrases suitable
for use in every-day life. Occasionally, indeed, these
dialogues outstripped themselves. Those of Erasmus are
conversations of great literary and philosophic merit, and
are on this account often unsuitable for school-boys. They
were, however, extensively used, and, together with the

1 Nostros autem cum suis condiscipulis aut Gallice semper garrire,
aut si Latine loqui tentarent non posse tria verba Latina continuare.—
‘Commentarius puerorum,’ etc.
INTROD UCTION—HISTORICAL 121

 

dialogues of Vives,1 were recommended as an extra study
in the Pansophic school. This is the only occasion on which
Comenius alludes to the Colloquies. It is, indeed, surpris-
ing that he makes so little mention of what must have
been one of the most important instruments in the pro-
cess of teaching conversational Latin.

More practical than either of the above-mentioned
works were Maturin Cordier’s dialogues.? Cordier did
not publish these till 1564, when he was quite an old man.
The choice of words and phrases speaks of a long life
spent in intelligent teaching, while the vivid descriptions of
the life and conversation of the typical school-boy show that
Cordier, kindly and observant, did not confine his interest
in his pupils to the hours of class-instruction. The anxious
parent or schoolmaster desirous to obtain the best Colloquies
possible had indeed a long list to choose from. Sturm, to
whom Latin conversation was the most important element
in education, published his /Veaniscd in 1570, a set of
Dialogues that no longer survives since the burning of
the library at Strasburg. Even Mosellanus, Professor of
Greek at Leipzig, published a Pedology‘ in 1517, though
some persuasion had been necessary before he consented
to compose it. ‘For a long time,” he writes in his pre-
face to John Polyander, headmaster of St. Thomas’
School, who had asked him to write some colloquies, “I
resisted your request, as you know, partly because the
importance of my occupations made me disdain this
work, doubtless useful, but humble and almost mean in
appearance, and partly because, not being used to it, I
found it difficult to play the part suitably, since I saw that
for this kind of comedy a man must become a child once

1 Lingue Latine exercitatio. Pub. in 1539.

2 ©Colloquiorum scholasticorum libri quattuor ad pueros in sermone
Latino paulatim exercendos Maturini Corderii. Lugduni excudebat
Thomas de Straton. 1564.’

3 L. Massebieau, ‘Les Colloques Scolaires du seiziéme Siécle et leurs
Auteurs,’ p. 61.

4 «Pzedologia Petri Mosellani Protegensis, jam denuo in puerorum
usum diligenter zedita et recognita. Moguntize, 1521.’ (Mass. p. 81.)
122 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

more.”! Happily for the Leipzig boys he overcame his
contempt for school-book compilation, and has left us a
book which, apart from its educational merits at the time,
is now invaluable as a record of the student manners and
morals of the sixteenth century.

Of a different character are the Colloquies of Schottenius,
published in 1535.2 Schottenius was a private school-
master at Cologne, and his dialogues, though written in
poor Latin, are more natural than the somewhat stilted
phraseology of Mosellanus. The subject-matter also is
different. Mosellanus treats of the poor student at his
wits’ end for food and lodging. The pupils of Schottenius
are the sons of rich citizens of Cologne. They eat and
drink, and talk about their food on all occasions, now and
then lapsing into expressions of disgust at the spy who
carries word to the master that they are not talking Latin,
or at the flogging that they know will follow this breach of
the rules.

The story of the Colloquies does not end here. Louvain
supplies its quotum in the Dialogues of Barland.? These
were partly composed for a gentleman of position who
wished to renew his acquaintance with the Latin language,
but were doubtless used in schools as well. Not being
written expressly for boys, they deal with scenes out-
side school life, and in their pages innkeepers, canons, and
merchants figure more largely than pedagogues.

In short, with the exception of England, there is scarcely
a country in Europe but made some addition to the library
of scholastic conversation. Even in the newly-conquered
Mexico, the Colloquies established themselves as an adjunct
of polite learning. Francis Cervantes Salazar, Professor of
Rhetoric in the University of Mexico, published an edition
of Vives’ Exercitationes in 1554, and added to them seven

1 Pedologia. Preface; quoted by Massebieau, p. 83.

2 © Colloquia moralia ex variis philosophorum dictis condita, per que
stulta juventus sapere possit et eam prosequi prudentiam quam senibus
contulit longzevitas’ (Mass. p. 116).

3‘ Dialogi xlii. per Hadrianum Barlandium, ad profligandam e scholis
barbariem utilissimi. Colonize apud Eucharium, anno 1530.’ (Mass.)
INTRODUCTION—AISTORICAL 123

 

dialogues of his own composition treating of Mexico and
its institutions.?

Though Colloquies in the strict sense were lacking, it
must not be imagined that the English school-boy of the
sixteenth century was without a convenient hand-book of
phrases. The Vulgary of Stanbridge? gives a list of useful
sentences, and these the scholars were doubtless made to
learn by heart with a view to using them in their daily
conversation :—

Good morowe. Bonum tibi hujus diei sit pri-
mordium.
I was set toschole when Iwas Datus eram scholis cum sep-
seven years olde. tennis eram.
What part singest thou ? Qua voce tu cantas ?
It is evyll with us when the Male nobiscum est cum pre-
master apposeth us. ceptor examinat nos.

It is difficult to imagine a boy eulogising one of his
“chums” with the remark, “He is born to drink well,
both on the faders side and moders side” ; but Stanbridge
duly provides for the emergency—“ Ex utraque parentum
parte aptus ad bibendum nascitur.” Even for the senten-
tious scholar proverbial expressions are given—

He is an evyl coke that cannot lycke his own lyppes.
Fatuus est coquus qui nescit lambere labra.

Of a more pretentious though less practical nature was
the Vulgary of William Horman,? headmaster of Eton.
Horman cannot be congratulated on the selection of his
phrases, which are arranged under thirty-seven heads. “Put
not your trust in a bunglar of printer’s craft,” ‘‘ Mancipem
librariz officinze ne sequaris,” is not good material for the

1 «Tres dialogos Latinos que Francisco Cervantes Salazar escribid é
imprimid en México en dicho afio. Los reimprime, con traducion
Castellana y notas, Joaquim Garcia Icazbalceta.’’ Mexico, 1875. (Mass. )

2 The copy in the British Museum is bound up with the ‘ Accidentia
ex Stanbrigiana editione, nuper recognita et castigata lima Roberti Whitin-
toni Lichfeldensis, Wynkyn de Worde. 1528,’

3 ‘Vulgaria viri doctissimi Guil. Hormani Czesariburgensis, Apud
inclytam Londini urbem, 1519.’
124 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

daily conversation of a boy, and “Jacent heec in caliganti
vetustatis recessu” is but a clumsy translation of “These
matters be out of my mynde.”

The foregoing pages give the reader some notion of
the books that a good school might have possessed in the
century preceding the publication of the /amwa, and no
commentary is necessary on the contrast that they bear to
those of Comenius. Grammars are diffuse, complicated,
and overburdened with unnecessary matter. Phrase-books
are haphazard compilations often ill-suited to the end in
view. In every case exclusive attention is paid to form ;
any actual information about the world in which he lives
the scholar may pick up for himself. If he satisfies the
spirit of pedantry by mastering the seven genders he is
not prevented from using his powers of observation as
much as he pleases; but he is not encouraged or helped to
do so. The Colloquies, it is true, conveyed some definite
information, but they were primarily intended as phrase-
books, and between them and the systematised exposition
of nature in the /anua a very great gulf is fixed.

We should now wish to give a slight sketch, and it
must necessarily be a very slight one, of the essays towards
the creation and organisation of schools that form the
historical background to the. life efforts of Comenius.
Ours will not be the received method of the comprehen-
sive history of education. Of Rabelais, of Montaigne,
of Erasmus, of Vives we shall make no mention. Like
Ascham and Locke they dealt with the training of the
“young gentleman,” and stand in no relation to schemes
for the education of the people. For the same reason
we shall pass over the great teaching corporation of the
Jesuits. In many ways their methods of instruction have
never been surpassed. For the organisation of boarding-
schools a body of priests starts with a very great advantage,
and solves with comparative ease the grave questions of
discipline that always confront the directors of such
institutions. The usher, who is at the same time an
acolyte, gains a degree of dignity to be obtained in no
INTRODUCTION—HISTORICAL 125

 

other way; and in addition to this the priest-usher of one
year developes with ease into the trained teacher of the next.
But though we may grant the Jesuits these and other merits,
we must yet recognise that their mansion stands far away
from the high-road of true educational development. Leav-
ing out of sight the carefully planned and narrowing one-
sidedness of the training they supplied, we shall only lay
stress on the fact that they excluded the people from any
participation in it. Among the upper classes the supremacy
of Mother Church was to be promoted by the teacher armed
with the methods of the Jesuit school; among the ranks of
labour by the preacher, whose task was rendered easier by
the prevalence of superstition and the limitation of know-
ledge. Very different was the ideal of Comenius. The
day school open to children of every rank; the large class
managed by a single teacher as the only means by which
such schools were economically possible ; the introduction
of every subject of instruction that could free the under-
standing from sophistic habits and teach men to look
facts squarely in the face—these were the goals towards
which his efforts strove, and his historical antecedents are
bound up with the great democratic movement of which
the Reformation was the most striking manifestation, with
the names of Luther, Sturm, Calvin, and Knox.

The conscience had been installed by the Reformers as
guide, and its counsellor, the understanding, needed educa-
tion. Good schools, and nothing else, could remove monkish
ignorance from the land ; and this truth Luther was not slow
to enunciate. In his stirring letter to the Magistrates
of Germany,! he exhorts them to erect and maintain
Christian schools. “Is it not evident,” he cries, “that it
is now possible to educate a boy in three years so that
when he is fifteen or eighteen years old he shall know
more than the whole sum of knowledge of the high
schools and monasteries up to this time? Hitherto, in
the high schools, and monasteries, men have only learned to

1 «An die Rathsherren aller Stadte deutschen Landes, dasz sie christ-
liche Schulen aufrichten und halten sollen,’ 1524.
125 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

be asses, blocks, and stones. They have studied for
twenty and forty years and have learned neither Latin nor
German.” ?

Schools must therefore be established for boys and
girls, and these must be managed, not by the Church, but
by the civil powers. As for the subjects taught, “Had I
children,” says Luther, “I should make them learn not
only languages and history, but also singing, music, and
mathematics.” To the poor who objected that they
needed the services of their children at home and could
not afford to bring them up as gentlemen, he answers:
“Let them go to school for one or two hours daily, and
spend the rest of their time in learning a trade. These
few hours they can easily spare ; indeed, as it is, they waste
far more time in playing at ball.” If parents refuse to
send their children to school they must be made to do so;
“T am of opinion that those in authority should compel
their subjects to send their children to school.” ?

Luther did but formulate the charter of national
education ; its accomplishment he left to other hands, and
it must be confessed that the schoolmasters of the
Reformation carried out his recommendations in a very
half-hearted way. In the then state of Europe, an
approximation to the national school could scarcely have
been expected, and we accordingly find that the leading
reformed schools are of the ‘“‘Grammar School” type, and
intended for the middle class. It is their programme of
instruction that is so disappointing. A glance at the
curriculum proposed by Sturm at Strasburg in 1539 will
show that to read and speak Latin still remained the chief
objects. It is not until a boy is sixteen and in the highest
class that he commences such useful subjects as arithmetic,
history, and geography.

While according to Sturm the object of instruction is

1 ‘An die Rathsherren aller Stadte deutschen Landes, dasz sie christ-
liche Schulen aufrichten und halten sollen,’ 1524.

2 «Ein Sermon oder Predigt, dasz man solle Kinder zur Schule halten ’—

“‘Tch halt aber, dasz auch die Obrigkeit hie schuldig sei, die Unterthanen
zu zwingen, ihre Kinder zur Schule zu halten.”’
INTRODUCTION—-HISTORICAL 127

 

to instil learning and piety, it is evident that learning is
of little use unless we can express it fitly. Therefore, in
their early youth children should be taught to speak well.
Of the teachers no more is specified than that they should
excel other men in learning and piety.2. Some corporal
punishment is necessary, but masters who take actual
pleasure in flogging must be removed from their office.?
Not all boys should be sent to school, but only those who
are naturally fitted for the study of letters. A certain
number of poor children should be educated, but these
must be of exceptional ability, and are to be excluded
from the school at once if they give any trouble.© In
each town there should be one school.6 In large cities
such as Paris more are naturally required; but if possible
the educational needs of a town should be met by one
Gymnasium of the liberal arts.

This Gymnasium should be divided into nine classes, in
each of which the boy remains one year. In this manner,
if he goes to school in his sixth year, he will be able to
proceed to a university course of five years at the age of
sixteen.” The removes from one class to another shall
take place in October, and shall be made the occasion for
an imposing ceremony at which the magistrates, clergymen,
parents of boys and their friends should be present, and
when prizes should be given to the first two boys in each
class.®

Sturm then proceeds to give a detailed programme for
each class, commencing with the ninth or lowest.

In this class reading and writing are taught. Care
must be taken that the pupils learn to form their letters as
neatly as possible, and particular attention must be given
to reading aloud. Boys must be shown how to moderate
their voices and how to speak distinctly. If any time is

1 ‘De Literarum Ludis recte aperiendis Liber Joannis Sturmii, emendatus
et auctus ab ipso Auctore, Argentorati, 1557’ (1st ed. 1538), p. 4.

2 Ibid. p. 5.

3 Amovendi a literariis ludis sunt quicunque ex verberibus voluptatem
capiunt. 4 Ibid. p. 9. 5 Tbid. p. 12.

§ Jbid. p. 14. 7 Ibid. p. 16. 8 [bid. p. 18.
128 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

left after these points have been mastered a few of the
easiest of Cicero’s letters may be read.1

In the eighth class the study of grammar is to be
attacked; but no exceptions should be learned, and not more
than two hours daily should be devoted to the elements.
The rest of the day may be employed in reading Virgil’s
Eclogues and Cicero’s Letters.2. In the seventh class the
pupil may advance to grammar of a more advanced kind,
and to syntax. One hour daily is enough for this. Another
may be devoted to reading Cicero’s De Amicitia and De
Senectute. During the third hour the poets, such as Virgil,
Catullus, Tibullus, and Horace, the latter only in selections,
may beread. The fourth hour can be employed in exercises
of style.

In these three classes the memory is the chief thing to
be exercised. Neither boys nor masters should work less
than four or more than five hours daily in school.4 The
boy who now enters the sixth class is nine or ten years old
and has mastered the rudiments of Latin. Ceesar’s Com-
mentaries, Plautus, Terence, and Sallust may be added to
the authors already in hand. One hour daily to be given
to style and composition.®

In the next class Greek is commenced. After a
few months’ preliminary grammar Aesop’s Fables and the
Olynthiac Orations of Demosthenes may be attempted.®

The fourth class adds Homer to the list, and introduces
the pupil to the study of rhetoric.’

In the third class dialectic may be commenced, and
should be studied in Aristotle. Cicero’s Topics and Livy
are also recommended.®

In the second class the Dialogues of Plato and of Cicero
may be read. The pupil has now got beyond the stage
when he should spend time in learning rules. What he
needs is practice.®

1 «De Literarum Ludis recte aperiendis Libe Joannis Sturmii,’ etc.,
PS ak eet 3 Ibid. p. 20. 4 bid. p. 22.

5 [bid. p. 23. 6 [bid. p. 25. 7 Ibid. p. 26.

8 /bid. p. 30. 8 Jbid. p. 31.
INTRODUCTION—AISTORICAL 129

 

The boy is now fifteen years old, and enters the first
class. Here he reads Aristotle’s De Jnterpretatione, and
should learn some arithmetic, geography, history, and the
elements of astrology. In the classics he should continue
to read Demosthenes, Homer, and Cicero.?

Religious instruction is to be left for Saints’ days and
Church festivals. Before a boy leaves the school he should
be well acquainted with the history of Christ and the
Apostles, and with the most important events in the Old
Testament. In the first class the Catechism, and in the
first two the elements of Hebrew grammar should be
taught. The afternoon of the last day in each week should
be devoted to music, since this is an essential part of a
liberal education.”

_ Such was Sturm’s scheme, the model for most of the

‘ post-Reformation schools on the continent. Humanist to
the back-bone he yet sees the need of real studies, of
mathematics, of history, of music. But it is not for these
that the school exists. Latin, either written or spoken, is
the dish served up for each form. The tardy recom-
mendation of “modern subjects” for the first class, barely
saves Sturm from falling into the category of “ gerund-
grinders.”

Of equal celebrity with Sturm’s establishment, though
even less “modern,” was the Latin school reorganised by
Calvin at Geneva in 1559. Calvin took the Strasburg
school as his model, and the differences to be found in the
copy are typical of the man. Great stress is laid on disci-
pline. The boys are to be conducted home from their
classes by the masters of the four lowest forms. Each
lesson, no matter what the subject be, must commence
with prayer,‘ and at every turn we are confronted with the

1 «De Literarum Ludis recte aperiendis Liber Joannis Sturmii, etc.,
Pp. 32.

2 Ibid. p. 34.

3 «L’Ordre des Escholes de Gentve reveu et augmenté par ordon-
nance de nos trés honnorez Seigneurs, Syndiques, et Conseil, l’an 1576,’
sec, 17.

4 Tbid. sec. 16.
130 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

order to repeat “L’Oraison Dominicale, la Confession de
Foy qu’on appelle le Symbole et puis les dix commande-
mens de la Loy.” All the boys must learn how to sing,
and a master especially appointed for the purpose must
teach them how to intone the Psalms.+

In the general organisation of the institution, we find
one remarkable piece of common-sense. The Principal
(who is controlled by the Rector of the University) is not to
be the stern and academic personage generally connected
with the term “headmaster.” ‘Que le principal, estant
de moyen scavoir pour le moins, soit surtout d’un esprit
debonnaire et non point de complexion rude ni apre; afin
quwil donne bon exemple aux enfants en toute sa vie, et
aussi qu’il puisse porter tant plus doucement le travail de
sa charge.” ? With its “debonnaire” headmaster and with
Maturin Cordier, grown grey in the service of the young,
to expound his Colloquies in person, the Genevan
school must have been imbued with a genial spirit rare
indeed in this age of pretentious grammarians and flogging
pedagogues.

In the lowest of the eight classes, into which the school
was divided, the boys learned their ABC. Inthe seventh,
they read Latin and conjugate and decline “selon la forma-
tion qui en est dressée”; the sixth is chiefly devoted to
Latin grammar, of a more advanced kind.

The fifth class brings the boys on to the rudiments of
syntax and the Bucolics of Virgil. In the fourth, Cicero’s
letters and some Ovid may be read, but the special task
is the elements of Greek. In the next class Greek
grammar is continued, and the Aineid and Cesar’s Com-
mentaries are read.

On reading that in the second class the pupils, who
have only recently commenced Greek, are to study Xeno-
phon, Polybius, Homer, and Hesiod, one is inclined to
wonder if this scheme could ever have been actually en-
forced. At the same time dialectic, rhetoric, and syllo-

1 «L’Ordre des Escholes de Geneve,’ etc., sec. 18,
2 Jbid. sec. 7.
INTRODUCTION——HISTORICAL 131

 

gisms are commenced, and St. Luke’s Gospel is read in
Greek.

The list of subjects for the first class comprises the
Categories, the Topics, and the Elenchi, as well as Cicero
and Demosthenes. _

We have thus the programme of an eight-class school
dealing with nothing but grammar and the classics,
relieved by prayers and psalm-singing. Luther’s mathe-
matics and history have disappeared altogether.

In England the history of the Reformed Church is not
bound up with educational progress to the same extent.
Edward VI, it is true, founded a number of Grammar
Schools, but with the exception of the regulations for the
Cathedral Schools drawn up by Cranmer in his Reformatio
legum Lcclesiasticarum,! we meet with no very definite
scheme for school organisation. Nor is the section in the
Reformatio, ‘Of the schools to be attached to the Cathe-
drals,” of very great value to the historian of Education.
No division of classes is given, and the whole plan is
sketchy in comparison with those of Sturm, Calvin, and
Buchanan.

A school is to be attached to each Cathedral, that boys
who have learned the rudiments from a private tutor may
be able to obtain instruction in public classes.2 These
schools are primarily ecclesiastical in character, and exist
“that the knowledge of God’s word may be maintained in
the Church ; which is scarcely possible without a knowledge
of languages.” 3

The master is to be chosen by the Bishop, and must be
a sincere believer in the Evangelic doctrine, of good char-
acter, learned in grammar and humane letters, and suff-
ciently strong to stand the strain of teaching. The school
shall be visited once a year by the Ordinary, who shall
expel any boys on whom he thinks education is wasted,

1 «Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum, ex authoritate primum Regis
Henrici 8 inchoata; deinde per Regem Edovardum 6 provecta adauctaque
in hunc modum, atque nunc ad pleniorem ipsarum reformationem in lucem
edita auctore T. Cranmero.’

2 Ibid. p. 110. 3 [bid. p. 109.
132 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

shall substitute good school-books for inefficient ones, if
necessary, and summon the master to appear before the
dean if he has neglected his charge. As for the class-
divisions and methods of teaching, these are left to the
individual judgment of the master.1 Special attention is
to be paid to the Catechism, and at the beginning and
end of the day the boys are to repeat the twelve articles of
the faith, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments.
Boys are not to be admitted before they are eight, or after
they are fourteen years old, and each, on admission, must
be able to read English, repeat the Catechism in English,
and write his own name. He must also possess an English
New Testament.? For further information as to the
functions of the master and management of the boys, we
are referred to the “Statutes of the Cathedral, if any such
exist ’—a vague statement that does not add much to our
knowledge.

That so little attention should be given to education in
the Reformatio is the more remarkable, because in other
respects very minute instructions for the subject under dis-
cussion are forthcoming. In the section on “ Matrimony,”
for example, the writer even urges mothers to suckle their
own children. It is only when he deals with schools that
he leaves the organisation to the man in charge.

It must be confessed that the rules drawn up by
Wolsey for his school at Ipswich,? though prior to the
Reformation, are better conceived, and present more points
of interest.

To this establishment boys below a certain standard were
not tobe admitted. “If your chyld can red and wryte Latyn
and Englyshe suffycyently, so that he be able to rede and
wryte his owne lessons, then he shall be admitted into the
schole for a scholer.” An attendance rule is enforced. “If
he be absent six dayes, and in that meane season ye shewe
not cause reasonable (reasonable cause is only sekeness),

1 Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum, p. 111. 2 Jb¢d. p. 112.
3 Rudimenta Grammatices.
INTRODUCTION—HISTORICAL 133

 

then his rowme to be voyde without he be admytted
agayne and pay 4d.”

“ Also ye shall fynde hym ware in the winter.”

“Also ye shall fynde hym convenyent bokes to his
lernynge.”

The instructions to the masters embody a scheme for
an eight-class school. In the lowest class especial attention
is to be paid to articulation. In the second, Asop and
Terence may be read, and Lily’s gender rules learned ; and
so on with successive doses of classics throughout the
remainder of the classes. Of special interest is the method
indicated for reading one of Terence’s Comedies in the
eighth or highest class. The teacher is to commence by
prefacing a short account of the author’s life, genius, and
manner of writing. He should then proceed to explain
the pleasure and profit to be derived from reading a
Comedy, and to discourse on the signification and etymology
of the word. Next he must give a summary of the story,
and an exact description of the metre. Then he should
construe in the natural order, and, finally, may indicate to
his pupils the more remarkable elegances of style.

Throughout the general scheme no mention is made of
arithmetic, though a small concession is made to the
mother-tongue. “Sometimes you ought, in the English
language, to throw out a slight groundwork for an essay ;
but let it be somewhat that is elegant.”

In Scotland, religious and educational reform went hand
in hand, and the necessity for the establishment of the
parish schools, that have existed in that country for three
hundred years, was definitely formulated by John Knox.
Knox, unlike Luther, wished the school to be dependent on
the Church and not on the civil magistrate; but in his
desire to put education within the reach of the very poorest,
he is essentially at one with the German reformer, and
endorses the principle of compulsion. “Of necessitie we
judge it, that everie severall Churche have a schoolmaister
appointed, suche a one as is able, at least, to teache
Grammar and the Latine toung, yf the Toun be of any
134 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

reputation. Yfit be Upaland, whaire the people convene
to doctrine but once in the weeke, then must either the
reidar or the minister take cayre over the children and
youth of the Parische, to instruct them in their first rudi-
ments.” “This must be carefully provideit, that no fader,
of what estait or condition that ever he be, use his children
at his awin fantasie, especiallie in thair youth-heade; but
all must be compelled to bring up their children in
learnyng and virtue.”! In addition to these elementary
schools, a secondary school was to be established “in everie
notable toun,” while the three Universities of St. Andrews,
Glasgow, and Aberdeen completed the system. To smaller
details, such as subjects of instruction or class-divisions,
Knox did not condescend; but the deficiency is supplied
by George Buchanan in his scheme for the “College of
Humanite,” to be attached to the University of St. Andrews.
In this scheme,? written before 1567, Buchanan gives us
a curriculum which is purely humanist and literary, and
which was possibly modelled on Calvin’s school at Geneva.

The school is divided into six classes, divided in turn
into decuriones, each in charge of a nxomenclator. In the
lowest class the boys begin to read and write Latin through
the medium of Terence. “In thys classe thay salbe con-
straint to speik Latin; and dayly to compone sum smal
thyng eftyr thair capacite.”

In the fifth and fourth classes they shall read Terence,
Cicero, and Ovid. The third class commences Greek
grammar, and the study of prosody. It also attacks
Linacre’s Latin Grammar.

In the second and first classes. Cicero’s Rhetoric and
Orations, as well as the works of Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and
Homer, are read. The boys are to be exercised every
month in verse, oration, and declamation.

At the end of the year, in August, a kind of examination,

1 Buke of Discipline. Circ. 1560.

2 «Mr. George Buchanan's Opinion anent the Reformation of the
Universitie of St. Andros.’ (Vernacular writings of George Buchanan,
edited by P. Hume Brown, 1891-92. Scottish Text Society. )
INTRODUCTION——-HISTORICAL 135

 

consisting of theme-writing and disputations, is to be held,
and then the school breaks up for holidays. “Heir efter
because the maist part of the countrey will be glaid to
se thair bairnis and mak thayme clathys, and provid to
thair necessiteis the rest of the yeir, thair may be given
sum vacans on to the first day of October, on the quhilk
day al lessonis begynnis againe in al collegis. At the
quhilk day naine salbe promovit to na classe without he
be examinat be the principal and regentis committit
thairto.”

Corporal punishment by inferior masters is forbidden.
“Nor yit sal it be leful to the said pedagogis to ding thair
desciples, but only to declair the fall to the principal or to
thair regent, and refer the punition to thayme.”

Of a large portion of this, his academic ancestry,
Comenius was unaware, though, as has been shown, he did
his best to assimilate and to build upon the efforts of
previous workers. It remains to mention three of his con-
temporaries who exercised an undoubted influence upon
him. These are Wolfgang Ratke, John Valentine Andrez,
and John Henry Alsted.

At first sight it would appear as if Ratke (1571- 1635)
were the chief inspirer and forerunner of the Great Didactic,
but a little investigation tends to weaken this presumption.
It has already been shown that Comenius, while putting
his ideas into shape at Lissa, did not know with any exact-
ness in what the method of Ratke consisted, and that the
secrecy maintained by the latter hindered his contemporaries
from knowing what were the actual suggestions that he had
formulated. It was possibly the eulogy of his method by
the Giessen professors Helwig and Jung that had reached
Comenius at Herborn, and it is more than probable that
no more detailed account ever came into his hands. True,
he lays stress on the fact that Ratke’s examples fired
him, in the beginning, to attempt school-reformation,
but he speaks with little appreciation of his system of
teaching Latin; and, though he can scarcely have been
ignorant of the general principles contained in them, does
136 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

not appear to have been intimately acquainted with his
works.+

Far more immediate was the influence of Andres, to
whose Utopia, Republica Christiano-Politice Descriptio, and
the educational reforms described in it, Comenius’ debt is
very great. Andrez, imbued with the scientific spirit that
was awakening throughout Europe, wished to add both
mathematics and natural science to the ordinary humanist
curriculum, and was undoubtedly a strong factor in the
development of Comenius’ “modern side” tendencies.

But it is to John Henry Alsted, his friend and teacher at
Herborn, that the debt is greatest. In his Lxcyclopedia of
all the Sciences, published in 1630, Alsted included a very
complete treatise on Education, and, though many of the
propositions brought forward resemble those of Ratke, it
does not appear that they were directly borrowed from him.
Indeed, in the list of writers on Education at the beginning
of Alsted’s Constlarius Academicus, Ratke’s name does not

1 The great similarity between the method of Ratke and of Comenius
is well exemplified by the programme submitted by Ratke to a commission
at Jena in 1629. 1. Everything is to be preceded by prayer. 2,
Everything according to the method of nature. 3. Not more than one
thing at a time. 4. And that frequently. 5. Everything first in the
vernacular, 6. From the vernacular into other languages. 7. Every-
thing without compulsion. 8. All subjects should be taught on principles
that are similar and harmonious. 9, All effort should be on the side of the
teacher. ro. The pupil should maintain a Pythagorean silence, and
should not ask questions or talk while the lesson is proceeding. 11. Each
language should be taught in accordance with its own genius. 12. The
pupil should ‘approach everything with an unbiassed mind. 13. Not
more than one teacher in one subject. 14. Form should not precede
matter. 15. Education should begin with religion. 16, All the young
should be educated. 17. All certainty should be obtained through
induction and experiment. 18. Nothing but the subject actually before the
class should be discussed. 19. All subjects should be taught in two ways,
first superficially, then in detail. 20. The teacher should do nothing but
teach. Discipline must be left to the ushers. 21. All the pupils should
sit in a row, in view of the teacher. 22. A pupil must miss no school
hour. 23. At home a boy should be subjected to the same discipline as
at school. 24. In printing school-books the importance of local memory
should be borne in mind. 25. Languages should be taught with a view
to conversation. 26. Nothing that can give rise to any evil thought is
to be placed before the pupil (Geschichte der Pddagogik, Prof. Th.
Ziegler, p. 149).
INTRODUCTION—HISTORICAL 137

 

appear. Helwig’s Didactica, however, is mentioned, and it
was doubtless through this work that Alsted was brought
into contact with the educational scheme that was causing
so much stir at Giessen. A few quotations from his maxims
will suffice to show how great must have been the influence
of this thinker, an influence that was personal as well as
intellectual, as he made a point of maintaining the closest
intercourse with his pupils.

1. Not more than one thing should be taught at a
time.

2. Not more than one book should be used on one
subject, and not more than one subject should be taught
on one day.

3. Everything should be taught through the medium of
what is more familiar.

4. All superfluity should be avoided.

5. All study should be mapped out in fixed periods.

6. All rules should be as short as possible.

7. Everything should be taught without severity, though
discipline must be maintained.

8. Corporal punishment should be reserved for moral
offences, and never inflicted for lack of industry.

9. Authority should not be allowed to prejudice the
mind against the facts gleaned from experience ; nor should
custom or preconceived opinion prevail.

1o. The constructions of a new language should first be
explained in the vernacular.

11. No language should be taught by means of grammar.

12. Grammatical terms should be the same in all lan-
guages?

In restricting the use of the vernacular school to girls,
and to boys destined for manual labour,? Alsted was less
thorough than his disciple ; but in duly valuing the personal
influence of the individual teacher, he shows, on this point
at least, the sounder judgment. “The teacher,” he says,?
“should be a skilled reader of character, that he may be

1 Encyclopedia Scientiarum Omnium, ii. 287. 2 [bid, ii. 281.
3 bid. ii. 273.
138 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

able to classify the dispositions of his pupils. . . . Unless
he pays great attention to differences of disposition he will
but waste all the effort that he expends in teaching.” This
is the one point of which Comenius sometimes appears to
lose sight. He relies too much on the class-book and too
little on the class-master. The class becomes a machine,
flawless it is true, but lacking spontaneity—the spontaneity
that a teacher can only supply if left free to employ his
trained faculties according to the dictates of a trained
judgment.

The foregoing sketch, brief though it is, will suffice to
show in outline the position in which Comenius found the
problem of education. His contribution to the material of
the school-room we have already discussed in treating of his
Janua Linguarum, his grammars, his dictionaries, and his
other class-books; while the philosophical principles on
which his educational precepts are based will be found in
the Great Didactic. It remains to give, as a pendant to the
school programmes of Sturm and Calvin, the scheme, only
half carried out, that he drew up for the Pansophic school
at Saros-Patak ; a scheme which is none the less interest-
ing because it differs in certain details of classification from
that contained in the Great Didactic.

The most cursory glance at the Patak scheme will suffice
to show that Comenius is more than two centuries ahead
of his immediate predecessors. His programme is essenti-
ally modern, and, even at the present day, is extremely
suggestive for those engaged in the practical work of school
organisation.

The Outline of the Pansophic School+ is divided into two
parts. The first prescribes general rules, while the second
takes the classes one by one and gives a detailed description
of each.

To a large extent Part I. does but reiterate the general
positions with which the reader is already familiar. The
scheme of instruction is to be universal, and as much

1 ‘«Scholee Pansophicee Delineatio,’ Og. Did. Ommn. iii. ro.
INTRODUCTION— HISTORICAL 139

 

attention is to be paid to the formation of character as to
the instilling of knowledge. Boys are to be urged to read
for themselves out of school-hours, and among the books
suggested for private study are the Dialogues of Erasmus
and of Vives, since these are easy and require little
explanation.

Great care must be taken not to overstrain the minds of
the pupils. After each hour’s work they are to be allowed
half an hour’s play, and after dinner and supper should
rest for an hour at least. At night eight hours, from eight
in the evening till four in the morning, must be set aside
for sleep, and twice in the week, on Wednesday and on
Sunday, a half-holiday is to be given. At Christmas,
Easter, and Whitsuntide the boys may have a fortnight’s
holiday, and in the Autumn a full month.

Comenius begs the reader not to consider this an
excessive allowance of holidays. There still remain forty-
two weeks with thirty school-hours in each. This makes a
total of 1260 hours, and by employing these rationally an
immense amount of knowledge may be acquired in seven
years. The general sketch concludes with a time-table to
be employed throughout the whole school.

Morning

. (i) 6-7. Hymns, Bible-reading, and prayers.
(ii) 7.30-8.30. The principal subject of the class,
theoretically treated. :
(iii) 9-10. The same, treated practically.

Afternoon

(i) 1-2. Music, or some other pleasant mathematical
exercise.

(ii) 2.30-3.30. History.

(iii) 4-5. Exercises of style.
140 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

In Part II. we find a detailed account of the seven
classes.

Class I.—TZhe Vesttbular

1. Over the door is placed the inscription :
“Let no one enter who cannot read.”

2. The walls of the class-room are to appeal to the
senses of the pupils, and should be covered with diagrams,
illustrating the subjects taught in the class. These diagrams
are to represent: (1) The Latin alphabet, in small and in
capital letters. (2 and 3) Types of the declensions and
conjugations. The beginner is to be allowed to look at
these while repeating his grammar lesson, until he knows
them so well that it is less trouble to repeat from memory
than to tire his eyes by looking at the wall. (4) Short
maxims containing the most important rules of conduct,
which will thus be impressed on the memory of the
class.

3. The religious exercises consist of the heads of the
Catechism, together with a few short hymns and prayers.

4. The class-book is to be the Vestibulum, containing
the chief matters on which the constitution of the universe
hinges, the roots of the words on which language is depen-
dent, the fundamental principles of intelligence, and a
course of Moral Philosophy suited to children.

5. In mathematics the boys learn the elements of
arithmetic ; but no geometry, except the difference between
‘a point and a line. In music they may learn the scale
and the keys.

6. No special history-book is provided for this class.
The Vestibulum is sufficient.

7. Exercises in style will here consist in the explanation
of words, in translation and re-translation, and, near the
end of the course, in joining the words together into sen-
tences.

8. The only accessory studies are good hand-writing
and drawing.
INTRODUCTION—AISTORICAL 141

 

g. Those games to be allowed that are suitable to the
boys’ age and nationality.

to. In place of a dramatic performance at the end of a
term there is to be an examination, in which each boy is
to challenge another, and to ask and answer questions on
the subject-matter of the Vestibulum.

Class IIl.—Zhe /Janual
1. Over the door is the inscription:

“Let no one enter who is ignorant of mathematics,”

that is to say, the elements are supposed to be known.

2. On the walls are to be pictures of the more im-
portant objects mentioned in the /anua (if the things
themselves cannot be procured). On one wall may be
drawn those that are natural, on another those that are
artificial On the other two walls grammatical rules may
be written.

3. The Catechism is to be thoroughly learned.

4. The class-books are the /anua, the Latin Vernacular
dictionary, and the Janual grammar.

5. In arithmetic, addition and subtraction are to be
taught ; in geometry, plane figures. The music is to be
rather more advanced than in the Vestibular class.

6. In history no book other than the /azwa is to be
used.

7. Exercises of style will deal with the structure of
phrases, sentences, and periods.

8. No accessory study is prescribed for the boys in this
class, as they have already enough to do. It will be suffi-
cient if they learn with exactness the names and natures of
external objects.

9. Games to be chosen by the master.

to. In place of a dramatic performance, the boys may
ask one another hard questions on the subject-matter of
the Janua. :
142 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

Class III.—Zhe Atrial

1. Over the door is to be written:

«Let no one enter who cannot speak.”

2. The walls are to be covered with ingenious diagrams,
and with select maxims relative to the adornment of speech.
3. In this class the boys should begin to read the Bible ;
but not as it stands. An abridged form, suited to their
intelligence, should be given to them, and a portion of this
must be expounded daily.
~ 4. The class-books are the Aévium of the Latin language,
the Grammar of Elegance, and the Latin-Latin dictionary,
especially written for the Adviwm.

5. In arithmetic the boys may learn multiplication,
division, and the table of Cebes. In geometry, solid
figures. In music, harmony. The rudiments of Latin
verse may be taught, together with selections from Cato,
Ovid, and Tibullus.

6. The history for this class is the famous deeds of the
Biblical narrative.

7. Exercises of style consist in making paraphrases and
in transposing sentences. No boy may attempt to write
verse until he has been in the class eleven months.

8. It will be sufficient accessory study if the boys read
attentively and imitate what they read. They should be
able to read any Latin author, and to talk Latin fluently
by the time they leave this class.

g. Recreation to be taken at fixed hours.

1o. For dramatic purposes the Schola Ludus is provided.

Class IV.—Zhe Philosophical

1. Over the door is to be written:

‘‘ Let no one ignorant of history enter here.”

2. The walls should be adorned with pictures illustra-
INTRODUCTION—HISTORICAL 143

 

tive of arithmetic, geometry, and statics. Adjoining the
class-room there should be a dissecting-room and a chemical
laboratory.

3. A special collection of hymns and psalms must be
arranged for this class; also an epitome of the New
Testament, which should comprise a continuous life
of Christ and His Apostles compiled from the four
Gospels.

4. The class-book is to be the Palace of Wisdom, in
which natural phenomena should be described in such a
manner as to show how they came into existence.

5. In mathematics the rules of proportion should be
learned, and trigonometry and the elements of statics may
be commenced. The pupils should now learn instrumental
music.

6. The history for this class should be natural history,
and may be learned from Pliny and #lian.

7. Exercises of style may be discontinued, and the time
thus gained devoted to the study of Greek.

8. The accessory study is Greek. This is a difficult
subject, but need not cause the pupil much alarm for
three reasons: (a) No learned man is expected to have
an exhaustive knowledge of Greek. (4) It is comparatively
easy to learn enough to read the New Testament, and this
is the chief utility of the study. (¢) Difficulties must be
surmounted by a good method, so that in one year, by
employing the last hour on four afternoons in the week,
the intricacies of the language may be overcome. In
addition to the New Testament, suitable selections from
Greek authors may be read.

g. In this class serious matters and not games claim
the attention of the pupils; but fitting recreation must not
be neglected.

to. For dramatic performances, plays that deal with
philosophy and philosophers may be acted.
144 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

Class V.—Zhe Logical

1. Over the door is the inscription :

“ Let no one enter who is ignorant of natural philosophy.”

2. The walls are to be covered with the rules of logic
and ingenious devices of a similar nature.

3. Religious instruction comprises hymns, psalms, and
prayers. A Bible manual also, called the Gate of the
Sanctuary, is to be placed in the pupils’ hands. This is to
contain the whole of Scripture history in the words of the
Bible, but so digested that it may be read in one year.

4. The class-book is a work dealing with the human
mind, and consisting of three parts, which are respectively :
(a) Pansophic, treating of the things that have been dis-
covered and that should be discovered by man. (4) A formal
logic, in which the whole process of reasoning should be
explained, and a description given of the analytic, synthetic,
and syncritic methods. (¢) A repertory of all the problems
that can be suggested by the mind.

5. For the afternoon the following studies are advised:

In arithmetic, the rules of partnership, alligation, and
position.? ;

In geometry, mensuration of heights, distances, and
plane surfaces.

In geography and astronomy, the general descrip-
tion of the earth and the heavens.

In optics, the most important facts.

6. The history studied should be that of mechanical
inventions.

7. With a view to style, historians like Cornelius Nepos,
Curtius, Ceesar, and Justin may be read.

8. As an accessory study, attention may be devoted to
Greek. Isocrates and Plutarch are recommended.

1 ‘ Regule Societatum, Alligationis, Falsi.'
INTRODUCTION—HISTORICAL 145

 

g. By way of recreation the pupils are advised to ask
one another hard questions.

1o. A dramatic performance, illustrating the contest
between grammar, logic, and metaphysic, and their final
reconciliation, may complete the year’s work.

Class VI.—TZhe Political

1. Over the door is the inscription :

‘¢ Let no one enter who cannot reason.”

2. The pictures on the wall should illustrate the
necessity of order and limitation. With this in view, the
human body may be represented in four ways: (a) Lack-
ing certain limbs. (4) Supplied with superfluous limbs.
(c) With its limbs wrongly put together. (d) A perfect
body, properly constructed and shapely.

3. In theology the whole Bible is to be read.

4. The class-book is to be a work dealing with human
society and the laws of economics.

5. In arithmetic Logistic, and in geometry Architectonic
may be learned. Special attention should be given to
geography and to that part of astronomy that deals with
the theory of the planets and the laws of eclipses.

6. The history should be that of ritual.

7. For the sake of style Sallust, Cicero, Virgil, and
Horace may be read.

Compositions in verse are not to be insisted upon.
They are extremely difficult, aptitude for them is rare,
and the time devoted to them might be more profitably
employed on other things. But if a boy shows very great
aptitude for verse-writing, he is not to be dissuaded from it.

8. As an accessory study, Thucydides or Hesiod may
be read.

g. Suitable recreations may be chosen according to
inclination. They should not be dangerous or excessive.

1o. A dramatic performance may be given representing
the degeneration of Solomon and his moral downfall.

10
146 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

Class VII.—TZhe Theological

1. Inscription over the door:

‘Let no one enter who is irreligious.”

2. The walls should be covered with mystic symbols
illustrating the wisdom hidden in the Scriptures. On one
wall diagrams of Hebrew grammar may be placed.

3. The most devotional psalms and hymns of the
Church may be used, as well as prayers of a special nature
taken from the Scriptures and from the works of the most
inspired theologians and of the sainted martyrs. In addi-
tion a compendium of Christian beliefs, duties, and hopes,
written in the phraseology of the Bible, should be read
daily.

4. The class-book should be a work dealing with the
last stage of wisdom on earth, that is to say, the com-
munion of souls with God, and should consist of three
parts:

(a) The ascent of the mind to God. In this a survey

should be made of the universe, preserving the order of
the /anua, and with regard to each fact should be pointed
out what God tells us about it in the Scriptures, and how
the heaven and the earth and all that in chew is tell the
glory of God.
' (6) The formal part should consist of a i to God’s
Book ; that is to say, practical rules for reading the Scrip-
tures with profit and for duly considering the works of
God. Here a three-fold commentary should be supplied:
(1) from Scripture itself; (2) from reason ; (3) from sense-
experience.

(¢) The third part should be a Repertory of Theology,
giving a detailed account of the mysteries of Salvation.

5. In arithmetic the sacred and mystic numbers that
occur in the Scriptures should be studied; also sacred
architecture, as exemplified by Noah’s ark, the Tabernacle,
and the Temple.
INTRODUCTION—HISTORICAL 147

 

6. Universal history should be studied, and in particular
the history of the Church, for whose sake the world exists.

7. In this class some training should’ be given in
oratory. The future minister must learn how to address
a congregation, and should be taught the laws of sacred
oratory. The future politician must be taught how to’
appeal to the reason of his hearers.

8. The accessory study is Hebrew, which must be
studied in such a way that before the end of the year the
pupil shall be able to read and understand the original
text of the Scriptures.

g. Recreation is to be allowed, but must not interfere
with the theological studies.

10. Religious plays dealing with the character of, say
Abraham or David, may be acted.

Thus ends the detailed description of the Pansophic
school. A few general remarks follow. Each class is to
have its own master, and in addition there is to be a
headmaster, whose duty it will be to enter each class daily,
superintend the school, and take the place of any master
who may be kept away by illness. The headmaster must
be well paid, as indeed should the class-masters, since this
is the only way to make them contented with their posi-
tions and prevent them from seeking more remunerative
work in some other profession.

Comenius then pertinently asks, “Where is the money
to come from?” It is not his business, he replies, to
answer this question, but he suggests that citizens should.
give a fixed proportion of their incomes for educational, as
they already do for charitable purposes, and that it is the
duty of princes and of wealthy citizens to assist schools in
every way.
148 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS :

 

Comenius’ title to fame as an educationist rests on
the discovery, application, and embodiment in a large-
minded treatise on Didactic, of the fundamental principles :

I. That all instruction must be carefully graded.

II. That in imparting knowledge to children the teacher
must, to the utmost, appeal to the faculties of sense-
perception.

If the reader wishes to realise with any force to what
extent the gradation and proper articulation of studies
was neglected, or rather unthought of, when Comenius
was writing, let him read a few chapters in the Great
Didactic and then turn to Milton’s tractate Of Education.
In the one he will find a rigorous distribution of the
subject-matter of instruction, based on an analysis of the
capacity and age of the scholar and on a common-sense
estimate of the difficulty of the subject. In the other he
meets with breadth of mind, it is true, but with no scheme
of gradation whatever. Subjects and authors are dumped
down in a heap and are declared suitable for educational
purposes, but no effort is made to sort them.

Now to construct a solid pile of subjects of instruction
that are really suitable instruments with which to educate
the young is no easy task; but a greater difficulty arises
when we try to pull the large heap to pieces, and to arrange
it in nine or ten smaller heaps, carefully graduated as
regards quantity and quality. Both these tasks Comenius
undertook and performed ; the first with as great success
as could possibly be expected, if we consider how ill the
several branches of knowledge were then defined, and the
second in a manner which, even at the present day, can
excite nothing but admiration.

By Comenius the principle of gradation is carried into
every department of school management, the result being
a careful grading of schools, of boys, and of books. The
twenty-four years to be devoted to education are divided
into four periods of six years, and to each of these a school
is assigned. The first of these, the Mother School, was a
totally new conception, and emphasises the necessity of
INTRODUCTION—HISTORICAL 149

 

commencing education from the moment the child leaves
the cradle. The next stage, the Vernacular School, lays
the foundation of all that is to follow, with the exception
of Latin, and grounds the boy thoroughly in one or two
modern languages. The next stage, the Latin School,
introduces the boy to the classics, continues the modern
subjects commenced in the Vernacular School, and corre-
sponds to a present-day secondary school with a good
modern side. Finally the University gives the scholar
the opportunity of thoroughly mastering any one of the
branches of knowledge that he has already learned super-
ficially and in outline.

In the Vernacular and in the Latin School the proper
gradation and classification of the boys is attained by a
division into six classes, in each of which the scholars
must remain one year, and which they must not leave
until their fitness to proceed to the next class has been
tested by an examination. Throughout the twelve classes
of these two schools a properly graded series of school-
books is supplied, all, from the lowest to the highest,
treating of the same subjects, namely, the entire world of
phenomena, and leading the scholar from the rudimentary
facts and bare nomenclature acquired in the Mother School
to the detailed exposition of them in Latin that awaits him
in the higher classes of the Latin School.

But it may be asked, Does Comenius supply a graded
method? Is there any essential difference in his manner
of presenting knowledge to his most elementary and to
his most advanced pupils ?

While it is evident that his graded classes and graded
books ensured that the beginner should have the subject-
matter of his studies presented to him more simply and
with less complications than to the advanced pupil, it
must be confessed that the same method seems intended
to run through all the classes, from the lowest to the
highest. Of this method the basis is the presentation of
information to the senses first, and then, but not till then,
to the understanding. Appeal, that is to say, is to be
150 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

made to the sight and to the touch, and models or pictures
of everything that has to be learned should be given to the
pupil.

To Comenius’ eternal credit be it that he was the first
to realise that the object-lesson was the only way in which
any impression could be made on the half-developed
thinking powers of the child, that he practically anticipated
Pestalozzi, and paved the way for Froebel. Unfortunately
he stops here. Up to the highest classes of the Pansophic
school, the pictures on the wall and the models in front of
the pupils are the prime aids to the teacher in his task of
instilling knowledge. Visualisation in all things is the
watchword of the Comenian method.

Now while it is evident that this factor is of great
value at every stage of education, it is also evident that, at
a certain stage, it becomes of secondary importance. By
means of pictures, models, and what-not, a boy’s progress
in acquiring the nomenclature of, let us say a language,
may be immensely facilitated; but, when he reaches a

certain point, when he is beginning to grapple with syntax,
with analysis, with the various modal forms, or, in algebra,
when he is attacking the mysteries of quadratic equations,
a completely new element is introduced. Visualisation
and object-lessons barely touch the fringe of the teacher’s
difficulties. Between the ages of twelve and sixteen, when
the boy is learning, not to see, but to think, not r to exer-
cise his sense of touch, but to draw conclusions, the
schoolmaster, even at the present day, receives but slight
assistance from systems of psychology, systems which, until
recently, have consisted of little more than a somewhat
arbitrary analysis and classification of states of conscious-
ness. It can therefore scarcely be called weakness, on the
part of Comenius, if he failed to solve the problem that
still waits to be attacked, in the laboratory, by the special
application to psychology of physiological methods, and,
in the class-room, by the patient observation of teachers
who are anxious to educate rather than to instruct.

It was his lack of a firm psychological basis and his
INTRODUCTION—HISTORICAL 151

 

belief that at sixteen a boy might be subjected to much
the same educational discipline as a child of six that led
Comenius so entirely to overlook the great gulf that exists
between the two ages, and made ‘him so absolutely certain
that he had, once and for all, solved the problem of
education.

Into this train of thought he was to a large extent led
by his habit of appealing to nature as a standard and of
taking natural processes as models. It is true that to him
Nature and the Deity are almost synonymous terms. ‘“ By
the voice of Nature we understand the universal providence
of God, which never ceases to work all in all things; that
is to say, which continually developes each creature for
the end to which it has been destined.” But, in practice,
Nature comes to mean the external processes that are to
be seen in the. growth of a tree or of an animal, and here
it is that the fatal error is introduced, the error into which
other writers on education have fallen, as well as Comenius.
As long as the child is in the stage of “nutrition and
growth,” as long as his education consists of the training
of organs of sense-perception, so long the appeal to nature
is justified. But when a higher stage is reached, when the
child becomes thoroughly self-conscious, a very different
element is introduced. The work of the true educationist,
far from furthering natural tendencies, frequently consists
in counteracting them, in making a careful selection of
qualities, in developing some and in hindering the growth
of others, and this in accordance with an ideal to be
found nowhere but in the mind, and to which Nature,
in the ordinary sense of the word, has nothing to say.
Here again we may reasonably excuse Comenius for going
astray, when so recent a writer as Mr. Herbert Spencer
has committed himself to the statement that “ Nature
illustrates to us in the simplest way the true theory and
practice of moral discipline ! ise

For the rest, it is to practical sehopinastes that
Comenius, writing as a practical schoolmaster, particu-
larly recommends himself. If his work is not overloaded
152 THE GREAT DIDACTIC OF COMENIUS

 

with psychology, it appeals all the more to men whose
habit of mind leads them to action rather than to the
analysis of mental phenomena. While there is scarcely a
problem connected with education that is not discussed in
the Great Didactic, the work never becomes academic, and
the author never forgets that he is writing for the teacher
in his class-room and not for the philosopher in his study.
The Great Didactic

of

John Amos Comenius
The Great Didactic

Setting forth

The whole Art of Teaching
all Things to all Men

or

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

Quickly, Pleasantly, & Thoroughly

Become learned in the Sciences, pure in Morals,
trained to Piety, and in this manner
instructed in all things necessary
for the present and for
the future life,

in which, with respect to eufiiok that is suggested,

Irs FunpamentaL Princrpxes are set forth from the essential
nature of the matter,
Irs Truru is proved by examples from the several
mechanical arts,
Irs Orper is clearly set forth in years, months, days, and
hours, and, finally,
Aw easy AND surE Mertuop is shown, by which it can
be pleasantly brought into existence.
Let the main object of this, our Didactic, be as follows: To
seck and to find a method of instruction, by whith teachers
may teach less, but learners may learn more ; by which schools
may be the scene of less notse, aversion, and useless labour,
but of more leisure, enjoyment, and solid progress; and
through which the Christian community may have less dark-
ness, perplexity, and dissension, but on the other hand more
light, orderliness, peace, and rest.

God be merciful unto us and bless us, and cause his face to
shine upon us ;

That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health
among all nations.—Psalm Ixvii. 1, 2.
GREETING TO THE READER

[The References are to notes at the end of the book]

1. Dripactic signifies the art of teaching. Several men of
ability, taking pity on the Sisyphus-labour of schools, have
lately endeavoured to find out some such Art, but with
unequal skill and unequal success.

2. Some merely wished to give assistance towards
learning some language or other with greater ease. Others
found ways of imparting this or that science or art with
greater speed. Others suggested improvements of various
kinds ; but almost all proceeded by means of unconnected
precepts, gleaned from a superficial experience, that is to
say, @ posteriori.

3. We venture to promise a Great Dipactic, that is to
say, the whole art of teaching all things to all men, and
indeed of teaching them with certainty, so that the result
cannot fail to follow ; further, of teaching them pleasantly,
that is to say, without annoyance or aversion on the part
of teacher or pupil, but rather with the greatest enjoy-
ment for both; further of teaching them thoroughly, not
superficially and showily, but in such a manner as to lead
to true knowledge, to gentle morals, and to the deepest
piety. Lastly, we wish to prove all this @ grior7, that is to
say, from the unalterable nature of the matter itself, drawing
off, as from a living source, the constantly flowing runlets,
and bringing them together again into one concentrated
stream, that we may lay the foundations of the universal
art of founding universal schools.
N

158 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

4. The prospect which is here held out is indeed great
and very desirable, though I can easily foresee that to many
it will appear to be an idle dream rather than the exposi-
tion of a real possibility.

In the meantime let each one, whoever he may be,
withhold his judgment until he knows the true nature of
my proposition. He will then be at liberty not only to
form his judgment, but also to make it public. For I
cannot wish, and much less can I claim, to hurry along
any one by persuasion so that he give his approval to an
insufficiently established proposition ; but rather desire that
each observer should naturally bring to bear on the matter,
his own, and indeed his keenest senses (which should be
dulled by no deceits of the imagination). This it is that
I most earnestly demand and entreat.

5. The matter is indeed a serious one, and, as all should
earnestly wish for the result, so should all, with united effort,
carefully pass judgment on the means, since the salvation
of the human race is at stake.

What better or what greater service could we perform
for the state than to instruct and to educate the young?
Especially at the present time and in the present condition
of morals, when they have sunk so low that, as Cicero says,
all should join to bridle them and keep them in check. It
was Philip Melanchthon who remarked that to educate the
young well was a greater feat than to sack Troy; and in
this connection we may note the saying of Gregory
Nazianzen:! “To educate man is the art of arts, for
he is the most complex and the most mysterious of all
creatures.”

6. Now to portray the art of arts is a troublesome
matter, and calls for exceptional criticism ; and not that of
one man alone, but of many ; since no individual is so keen-
sighted that the greater part of any matter does not escape
his observation.

4. With justice therefore I demand from my readers, and
adjure all who shall see this undertaking, by the salvation
of mankind: firstly, not to attribute it to indiscretion if
GREETING TO THE READER 159

 

any one resolve not only to investigate so weighty a matter,
but also to give promises; since this can only have the
advantage of others as its object. Secondly, not to lose
heart at once, if the first attempt do not succeed on the
spot, and the longed-for result be not brought to full com-
pletion by us. For in any matter it is necessary that the
seed should first sprout, and then raise itself gradually.

However incomplete, therefore, our essay may be, and
however much it fall short of the goal at which we aim,
the investigation itself will prove that it has reached a
higher stage, and one lying nearer the goal than hitherto.
Finally, I ask my readers to bring with them to their
criticism as much attention and keenness as is befitting
in matters of the greatest importance. It will be my first
step to touch briefly on the circumstances that led to this
essay and to enumerate the chief points that present any
novelty ; I can then with full confidence entrust the one to
my reader’s candour, the other to his further research.

8. This art of teaching and of learning was in former
centuries to a great extent unknown, at any rate in that
degree of perfection to which it is now wished to raise it,
and on that account the world of culture and the schools
were so full of toil and weariness, of weakness and deceits,
that only those who were gifted with parts beyond the
ordinary could obtain a sound education.

g. But recently it has pleased God to let the morning
glow of a newly-rising age appear, in which He has inspired
some sturdy men in Germany, who, weary of the errors of
the present method of instruction, began to think out an
easier and shorter way of teaching languages. This they
did, the one after the other, and therefore some with
greater, others with less success, as may be seen in the
didactic works that they gave to the world.

to. I here allude to men like Ratke,? Lubin,? Helwig,*
Ritter,> Bodin,® Glaum, Vogel,’ Wolfstirn,’ and he who
deserves to be placed before them all, John Valentine
Andrez® (who in his golden writings has laid bare the
diseases not only of the Church and the state, but also of
160 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

the schools, and has pointed out the remedies). In France
too they set this stone in motion, since, in the year 1629,
Janus Cecilius Frey 1° brought out a fine work on Didactic
(under the title, 4 new and easy way to the goodly Sciences
and Arts, to Languages, and to Rhetoric).

11. It is almost incredible what pleasure I found, and
how my pain over the decline of my native land and the
terribly oppressed state of all Germany was lightened when-
ever opportunity arose and I turned over the pages of these
writings. For I began to hope that it was not without
purpose that the providence of the Almighty had allowed
it to come to pass that the decline of the old schools and
the foundation of new ones in harmony with new ideas
should take place at one and the same time. For he who
intends to raise a new building, invariably levels the ground
beforehand and removes the less comfortable or ruined
houses.

12. This thought raised in me a joyful hope mingled with
pleasant emotion ; but I soon felt this vanish, and reflected
that it would be impossible to reconstruct such an important
institution from the very beginning.

13. As I wished for instruction on some points, and on
others wished, myself, to instruct my fellows, I applied by
letter first to one then to another of the above-mentioned
writers. In vain, however, partly because some guarded
their ideas with great care, partly because the letters did
not reach those to whom they were directed, and therefore
remained unanswered.

14. Only one of them (the renowned-J. V. Andrez)
sent the friendly answer that he wished to be of some
assistance, and urged me to proceed with my efforts.
Stimulated by this, my spirit began to take more daring
flights, till at last my unbounded solicitude for the public
good led me to take the matter thoroughly in hand.

15. So, putting on one side the discoveries, thoughts,
observations, and admonitions of others, I began myself to
investigate the matter thoughtfully and to seek out the
causes, the principles, the methods, and the objects of the
GREETING TO THE READER 161

 

art of teaching (dscentia as they may be called after Ter-
tullian).

16. This was the origin of my treatise, which, as I trust,
developes the subject more thoroughly than has hitherto
been done. It was first composed in my mother tongue
for the use of my people, and afterwards on the advice of
several men of standing translated into Latin, in order that,
if possible, it might be of universal use.

17. For, as Lubin says in his Didactic, Charity bids us
not to niggardly withhold from mankind what God has
intended for the use of all, but to throw it open to the
whole world.

For it is the nature of all true possessions that they can
be shared by all; and that they advantage all more and
more in proportion as they are shared by greater numbers.

18. It is also a law of human existence that if any know
of assistance lying close at hand to those who are struggling
he should not withhold it from them ; especially in a case,
as in the one before us, where the matter concerns not one
but many, and not individuals merely but towns, provinces,
kingdoms, and in short the whole human race.

19. Should there be any man who is such a pedant as to
think that the reform of schools has nothing to do with the
vocation of a Theologian, let him know that I was myself
thoroughly penetrated with this idea. But I have found
that the only way in which I can be freed from it is to
follow God’s call, and without digression to devote myself
to that work to which the divine impulse directs me.

20. Christian readers, suffer me to speak with you con-
fidentially! My more intimate friends know that I am a
man of little ability and almost without literary training,
but that, nevertheless, I lament the defects of the age, and
make great endeavours to remedy these in any way that is
possible, whether by means of my own discoveries or those
of others (though this can only take place by the grace of
God).

- Therefore, if anything should find favour, it is not
my work but His who is wont to win praise from the mouths

II
162 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

of children, and who in order to prove Himself faithful,
earnest, and benign, gives to those who ask, opens to those
who knock, and grants Himself to those who seek Him
(Luke ii.), and whose good gifts to us we ought to pass on
ungrudgingly to others. As my Saviour knows, my heart
is so simple that it makes no difference to me whether I
teach or am taught, whether I exhort or am exhorted,
whether I am the teacher of teachers, or the scholar of
scholars.

22. And so, what the Lord permits me to observe, that
give I forth for public use and as common property.

23. If any find anything better, let him follow my
example, lest, having buried his talent in a napkin, he be
accused of wantonness by our Lord, who wills that His ser-
vants put out to usury so that the talent which is given to
each may win another talent (Luke xix.)

To seek what is great is noble, was ever noble, and ever will
be noble.
What thou hast begun with God cannot remain without result.
DEDICATORY LETTER?

To all superiors of human society, to the rulers of states,
the pastors of Churches, the parents and guardians of
children, grace and peace from God the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ in the Holy Ghost.

God, having created man out of dust, placed him in a
Paradise of desire, which he had planted in the East, not
only that man might tend it and care for it, but also that
he might be a garden of delight for his God.

For as Paradise was the pleasantest part of the world, so
also was man the most perfect of things created. In Para-
dise each tree was delightful to look at, and more pleasant
to enjoy than those which grew throughout the earth. In
man, the whole material of the world, all the forms and
the varieties of forms were, as it were, brought together into
one in order to display the whole skill and wisdom of God.
Paradise contained the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil; man had the intellect to distinguish, and the will to
choose between the good and the bad. In Paradise was
the tree of life. In man was the tree of Immortality itself ;
that is to say, the wisdom of God, which had planted its
eternal roots in man.

And so each man is, in truth, a Garden of Delights for
his God, as long as he remains in the spot where he has
been placed. The Church too, which is a collection of
men devoted to God, is often in Holy Writ likened to
a Paradise, to a garden, to a vineyard of God. But alas

t

1 Following Lindner, I have slightly curtailed this Dedicatory Letter.
164 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

for our misfortune! We have at the same time lost the
Paradise of bodily delight in which we were, and that of
spiritual delight, which we were ourselves. We have been
cast out into the deserts of the earth, and have ourselves
become wild and horrible wildernesses. We were ungrateful
for the gifts, both of the body and of the soul, with which God
had so richly provided Paradise ; with right therefore have
we been deprived of them and been dowered with calamity.

But glory, praise, honour, and blessing for everlasting
to our merciful God who abandoned us for a while but did
not thrust us from Him for ever. . . . The garden of the
Church, the delight of God’s heart, blooms anew.

But does this new plantation of God succeed entirely
according to His wishes? Do all the shoots grow success-
fully? Do all the newly-planted trees bring forth spike-
nard, crocus, cinnamon, myrrh, spices, and costly fruits ?
Do we hear the voice of God calling to His Church: I had
planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then
art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine
unto me? (Jeremiah ii. 21). Here we have the complaint
of God that even this new plantation of Paradise is deterior-
ating. ...

He who knows not that he is ill cannot heal himself;
he who feels not his pain utters no sigh; he who sees
not his danger does not start back, even though he be on
the. brink of an abyss; and so it is not to be wondered
at that he who perceives not the wave of disorder which
is sweeping over the human race and over the Church,
does not lament the fact. But he who sees himself and
others covered with countless wounds ; he who remarks that
the wounds and boils, both his own and other men’s, fester
ever more and more ; and who knows that he, with others,
stands in the midst of gulfs and precipices and wanders
among snares, in which he sees one man after another
being caught, it is hard for him not to be terrified, not to
marvel, not to perish with grief.

For what part of us or of our concerns is in good
condition? None. Everything lies overturned or in
DEDICATORY LETTER 165

 

shreds. With most men such a dulness of wit is pre-
dominant, instead of the understanding through which we
ought to be equal to the angels, that they know no more
about those things which are worthy of our attention than
do the beasts. Instead of the circumspection with which
those who are destined for eternity ought to prepare them-
selves for it, there reigns such forgetfulness, not only of
eternity but also of mortality, that most men give themselves
up to what is earthly and transient, yea, even to the death
that stands before them. Instead of the godly wisdom
through which it has been given to us to know, to honour,
and to enjoy the One who is the height of all goodness,
there has arisen a horrible shrinking from that God in
whom we live, move, and have our being, and a foolish
conjuration of His holy name. Instead of mutual love and
purity, reign hatred, enmity, war, and murder. Instead of
justice, we find unfairness, roguery, oppression, theft, and
rapine ; instead of purity, uncleanliness and audacity of
thought, word, and deed; instead of simplicity and truth,
lying, deception, and knavery; instead of modesty, pride
and haughtiness between man and man.

But in spite of all this, there remains for us a twofold
comfort. First, that God keeps the eternal Paradise in
readiness for His chosen ones, and that there we shall find
a perfection, more complete and more durable than that
first one which we lost. Into this Paradise went Christ
(Luke xxiii. 43), thither was Paul caught up (2 Corinthians
xii. 4), and John saw its splendour with his own eyes (Rev.
i, 125 xxi. 10).

Another consolation consists in this, that here below also
God continually renews the Paradise of the Church, and
turns its deserts into a garden of delights. We have on
several occasions seen with what grandeur this has already
taken place: after the Fall, after the Flood, after the entrance
of the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, under
David and Solomon, after the return from Babylon and the
rebuilding of Jerusalem, after Christ’s ascension into heayen
and the preaching of the Gospel to all nations, under
oe

-

166 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

Constantine, and elsewhere. Perchance even now, after
such a bloody war and after such devastation, the Father
of mercy looks upon us graciously: how thankfully should
we approach Him, and ourselves take care of our own
interests, working by those ways and means which the most
wise God, the Ordainer of all things, will show us.

The most useful thing that the Holy Scriptures teach us
in this connection is this, that there is no more certain way
under the sun for the raising of sunken humanity than the
proper education of the young. Indeed Solomon, after he
had gone through the whole labyrinth of human error and
had mournfully recognised that perverseness could not be
cured nor imperfections enumerated, turned at length to
the young and adjured them to remember their Creator in
the days of their youth, to fear Him, and to keep His
commandments, for that this was the whole duty of man
(Eccles. xii. 13). And in another place, “Train up a child
in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not
depart from it” (Proverbs xxii. 6). David also says, “ Come,
ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of
the Lord” (Psalm xxxiv. 11). The heavenly David himself,
the true Solomon, the eternal Son of God who came down
from heaven to turn us from sin, leads us on to the same
path when He says, “‘ Suffer the little children to come unto
me, and forbid-them not: for of such is the kingdom of
God” (Mark x. 14), and said to us besides, “‘ Verily I say
unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven”
(Matthew xviii. 3). What advice is this! Hear, all of you,
and weigh carefully what the Lord and Master declares ;
how He announces that the little ones only are fit for the
kingdom of God, that they are heirs of the kingdom and
that only those who become as little children are to be
admitted to share this inheritance. O dear children, may
you rightly appreciate this goodly privilege! Just consider,
we elders, who consider that we alone are men, but that
you are apes, that we alone are wise, and that you lack
sense, that we are eloquent, but you speechless—we, I say,
DEDICATORY LETTER 167

 

are sent to learn our lessons from you! You are set over
us as masters, you are to be our models and examples. If
any one should wish to deliberate why God prizes chil-
dren so highly, he will find no weightier reason than this,
that children are simpler and more susceptible to the
remedy which the mercy of God grants to the lamentable
condition of men. For this reason it is that Christ
commands us elders to become as little children, that is,
to throw off the evil that we have gained from a bad
education and from the evil examples of the world, and to
return to our former condition of simplicity, gentleness,
modesty, purity, and obedience. But, because nothing is
harder than to lay aside our habits, it comes to pass that
there is no more difficult task than for a badly-trained
man to return to his former state. The tree remains as it
grows, high or low, with straight or with crooked branches,
and when it is full grown cannot be altered. The felloe,
the piece of wood which has been bent to the shape of the
wheel and has become hard in this position, breaks rather
than be straightened, as experience teaches us. God also
says the same of men who are accustomed to evil dealing:
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his
spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do
evil” (Jeremiah xiii. 23). From this it necessarily follows
that, if the corruption of the human race is-to be remedied,
this must be done by means of the careful education of
the young.

But in order to educate the young carefully it is neces-
sary to take timely precautions that their characters be
guarded from the corruptions of the world, that the seed
of honour sown in them be brought to a happy growth by
pure and continuous teaching and examples, and, lastly,
that their minds be given over to the true knowledge of
God, of man, and of nature, that they may grow accus-
tomed to see in this light the light of God, and to love and
to honour the Father of Light above all things.

If this take place, the truth of the Psalmist’s words will
be evident, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast
168 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou
mightest still the enemy and the avenger” (Psalm viii. 3).

For this reason has God given the little ones angels as
guardians (Matthew xviii. 10), has placed their parents
over them to take care of them, and bidden to bring
them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord
(Ephesians vi. 4); and thus He solemnly bids all others,
under penalty of eternal damnation, not to lead the young
into sin through a bad example (Matthew xviii. 6, 7).

But how are we to carry this out when corruption is
spreading so rapidly? In the time of the Patriarchs, since
these holy men dwelt in seclusion from the world, and,
in their own families, were not only fathers but priests,
masters, and teachers as well, this was not such a difficult
matter. For, after they had removed their children from
intercourse with wicked men and had enlightened them by
good and virtuous example, they brought them up by
gentle admonition, encouragement, and, where necessary,
by correction. God Himself is witness that Abraham did
so, when He says: “For I know him, that he will com-
mand his children and his household after him, and they
shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judg-
ment” (Genesis xviii. 19). But now we dwell close
together, the good and the bad are mingled, and the bad are
many more than the good. The example of these men
makes so powerful an impression on the young that the
precepts for the practice of virtue, which we administer as
an antidote against evil, have either no result at all or one
that is inappreciable. But what must be the result if even
these precepts are seldom delivered? There are few
parents who are in the position to teach their children
anything good, either because they have themselves never
learned anything of the kind, or because their heads are
full of other things ; and thus education is neglected.

There are also few teachers who can bring good prin-
ciples home to the young, and when one arises he is
snatched up by some man in high position that he may
busy himself with his children ; the people get little advan-
DEDICATORY LETTER 169

 

tage from him. Thus it comes to pass that the rest of the
children grow up without the education that they need, like
a forest which no one plants, waters, cuts, or keeps in order.
Hence it is that we find unruly manners and customs in
the world, in towns and in market-places, in houses and in
men, for these both in body and soul are full of confusion.
If Diogenes, Socrates, Seneca, or Solomon were to come
to life again this day and visit us, they would find the
world in the same state as formerly. Were God to address
us from heaven He could only say as He said before:
“They are all gone astray, they are all together become
filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one”
(Psalm xiv. 3). If, therefore, any man exist who can
devise some plan, or who with tears, sighs, and entreaties
can obtain from heaven a method by which some improve-
ment may be made in the youth who are growing up, let
him not hold his tongue, but rather let him advise, think,
and speak. ‘Cursed be he that maketh the blind to
wander out of the way,” says God (Deuteronomy xxvii. 18).
And cursed, therefore, is he who can free the blind from
their error and does not do so. ‘Woe unto him who shall
offend one of these little ones,” says Christ (Matthew xviii.
6, 7). Woe also unto him who can prevent injury and
does not. God wills not that the ass or the ox that
strays through field and forest and sinks under its burden
be deserted, but that it receive help, even if the helper do
not know to whom it belongs, or if he know that it is his
enemy’s (Deuteronomy xxii. 1). Can it then please Him
that we pass by without thought, and stretch out no help-
ing hand, when we see the errors, not of beasts, but of
intelligent beings, not of one or two, but of the whole
world? Let this be far from us!

Cursed be he that doeth the work of thé Lord deceit-
fully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from
blood (Jeremiah xlviii. ro). And yet we hope to remain
guiltless while we thoughtlessly suffer the terrible Babylon
of error that is ours! Up, let him seize his sword who is
girt with one, or who knows where one lies buried in its
170 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

sheath! Let him demand the destruction of Babylon,
that he be blessed by the Lord!

And so fulfil this command of the Lord with eagerness,
ye rulers, ye servants of the Most High, and with the
sword of righteousness banish the disorder with which the
world is filled.

Busy yourselves, ye governors, ye faithful servants of
Jesus Christ, and utterly destroy evil with the sword that
is entrusted to you, with the two-edged sword of speech!
Ye have seen that early youth is the best time to attack
the evils of the human race; that the tree which is to
thrive for ages is best planted when quite young; that
Sion is most easily raised on the site of Babylon when the
living building-stones of God, the young, are early broken,
shaped, and fitted for the heavenly building. If we wish
to have well-ordered and prosperous Churches, states, and
households, thus and in no other way can we reach our
goal.

But how to take this in hand and to carry it out with
the desired result, this I will place before your eyes, I
whose spirit the Lord has called to the work. See, hear,
and mark its nature carefully, you to whom the Lord has
given eyes to see, ears to hear, and minds to judge.

If a light, unseen before, be revealed to any, let him
give God the glory and not grudge the illumination to the
rising generation. But if he perceive any defect, even the
smallest, in this light, let him complete and perfect it, or,
that it may be perfected, let him recall the saying, “ Many
eyes are better than one.”

Thus we shall mutually help one another to carry out
the work of God with unanimity ; thus we shall escape the
curse which threatens those who neglect the Lord’s work ;
thus we shall consult the welfare of the world’s most
precious possession, the young, as much as is possible;
thus we shall shine with the brightness granted to those
that turn others to righteousness (Daniel xii. 3).

May God have mercy on us, that we see the light!
Amen.
THE USE OF THE ART OF TEACHING”

Tuart the art of teaching be placed on a proper foundation
is to the advantage—

1. Of parents, who up to this time have for the most
part been uncertain how much to expect from their
children. They hired tutors, besought them, strove to win
them over by gifts, changed them, just as often in vain as
with any result. But now that the method of teaching has
been reasoned out with unerring accuracy, it will, with the
assistance of God, be impossible that the desired result
should not follow.

2. Of schoolmasters, the greater number of whom have
been quite ignorant of their art, and who used therefore to
wear themselves out when they wished to fulfil their duty,
and to exhaust their strength in laborious efforts: or used
to change their method, trying in turn first one plan then
another—a course which involved a tedious waste of time
and of energy.

3. Of students, who may master the sciences without
difficulty, tedium, complaints, or blows, as if in sport and
in merriment.

4. Of schools, which, when the method has been
established, will be not only preserved continuously in full
vigour, but increased without limit. For they will indeed
become places of amusement, houses of delights and
attractions, and since (on account of the infallibility of the
method) each student, of whatever capacity, will become
a doctor (of a higher or lower grade), it will never be
172 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

possible for a dearth of suitable school-teachers to arise, or
for learning not to flourish.

“5. Of states, according to the testimony of Cicero.
With whom agrees that of Diogenes the Pythagorean (to
be found in Stobzeus ”). For what is the foundation of the
whole state? Surely, the development of the young. Since
vines that have not been well cultivated will not bear good
fruit.

6. Of the Church, since the proper organisation of
schools alone can bring it about that the churches shall
never lack learned doctors, and that learned doctors shall
never lack suitable hearers.

7. And lastly, it is to the advantage of heaven that
schools should be reformed for the exact and universal
culture of the intellect, that those whom the sound of the
divine trumpet is unable to stir up may be the more easily
freed from darkness by the brilliancy of the divine light.
For, although the Gospel be preached everywhere (and we
hope that it will be preached to the ends of the earth),
still the same thing is apt to happen as takes place in any
meeting-place, tavern, or other tumultuous gathering of
men, that not he alone is heard or gains particular atten-
tion who brings forward the best things, but that each one
occupies with his own trifles the man near whom he
happens to sit or to stand. Thus it comes to pass in the
world. Though the ministers of the Word fulfil their duty
with great zeal; though they talk, orate, exhort, testify,
they none the less remain unheard by the greater part of
mankind. For many never go to religious meetings except
by chance; others come with their ears and eyes closed,
and, as their minds are occupied with other matters,
pay little attention to what is taking place. And lastly,
if they do attend and grasp the purport of the sacred
exhortation, they are not so greatly affected by it as they
should be, since the accustomed sluggishness of their
minds and the evil habits that they have acquired, blunt,
bewitch, and harden them, so that they are unable to free
themselves from their old custom. And thus they stick
USE OF THE ART OF TEACHING 173

 

fast in their habitual blindness and sin, as if bound so firmly
by chains that none but God Himself could free them
from their ingrained perverseness. As one of the fathers
has said, it is very near a miracle if an inveterate sinner
be converted to repentance. Now, as in other matters,
so in this; where God supplies means, to ask for a
miracle is to tempt Him. Let us therefore consider it
our duty to meditate on the means by which the whole
Christian youth may be more fervidly stirred up to vigour
of mind and love of heavenly things. If we can attain
this we shall see the kingdom of heaven spread more and
more, as of old.”

Let none therefore withdraw his thoughts, desires,
strength, or resources from such a sacred undertaking. He
who has given the will, will also grant its fulfilment, and
we ought without exception to demand this with good
heart from the divine mercy. For the salvation of man
and the glory of the Most High is at stake.

Jou. VaL. ANDREA.

P.S.—It is inglorious to despair of progress, and wrong
to despise the counsel of others.
Il,
ITI.
IV.

VI.

Vil.

£
VILL.

IX.

SUBJECTS OF THE CHAPTERS

. Man is the highest, the most absolute, and the

most excellent of things created
The ultimate end of man is beyond this life
This life is but a preparation for eternity

There are three stages ‘in the preparation for
eternity: to know oneself (and with oneself
all things); -to rule oneself; and to direct
oneself to God 7

. The seeds of these three (learning, virtue,

religion) are naturally implanted in us

If a man is to be produced, it is necessary that
he be formed by education

A man can most easily be formed in early youth,
and cannot be formed properly except at this
age

The young must be educated in common, and
for this schools are necessary

All the young of both sexes should be sent to
school

The instruction given in schools should be
universal

PAGE

177
179
184

188

192

204

209

213

218

222
 

SUBJECTS OF THE CHAPTERS 175
PAGE
XI. Hitherto there have been no perfect schools . 228
XII. It is possible to reform schools 3 e233
XIII. The basis of school reform must be exact
order in all things 245
“Urry, The exact order of instruction must be
borrowed from nature 250
XV. The basis of the prolongation of life . 256
XVI. The universal requirements of teaching and of
learning ; that is to say, a method of teach-
ing and of learning with such certainty that
the desired result must of necessity follow . 263
XVII. The: principles of facility in teaching and in
learning 279
XVIII. The principles of thoroughness in teaching
and in learning 294
XIX. The principles of conciseness and rapidity in
teaching 312
XX. The method of the sciences, specifically 335
XXI. The method of the arts 346
XXII. The method of languages 385
XXIII. The method of morals 363
XXIV. The method of instilling piety 370
J XXV. If we wish to reform schools in accordance
with the laws of true Christianity, we must
remove from them books written by pagans,
or, at any rate, must use them with more
caution than hitherto 383
XXVI. Of school discipline . 401
176

THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

XXVII.

XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX,
XXXII.

XXXII.

XXXII.

Of the four-fold division of schools, based
on age and acquirements .

Sketch of the Mother-School
Sketch of the Vernacular-School
Sketch of the Latin-School .

Of the University, of travelling students, of
the College of Light

Of the universal and perfect order of in-
struction .

Of the things requisite before this universal
method can be put into practice

PAGE

407
4II
418
426

433

439

447
CHAPTER I

MAN IS THE HIGHEST, THE MOST ABSOLUTE, AND THE
MOST EXCELLENT OF THINGS CREATED

1. WHEN Pittacus¥ of old gave to the world his saying
“‘ Know thyself,” the sentiment was received by the wise
with so much approval, that, in order to impress it on the
people, they declared that it had fallen from heaven, and
caused it to be written in golden letters on the temple of
the Delphic Apollo, where great assemblies of men used
to collect. Their action was prudent and wise; but their
statement was false. It was, however, in the interests of
truth, and is of great importance to us.

2. For what is the voice from heaven that resounds in
the Scriptures but “ Know thyself, O man, and know Me.”
Me the source of eternity, of wisdom and of grace; thyself,
My creation, My likeness, My delight.

3. For I have destined thee to be the companion of
My eternity ; for thy use I designed the heaven, the earth
and all that in them is; to thee alone I gave all those
things in conjunction, which to the rest of creation I gave
but singly, namely, Existence, Vitality, Sense, and Reason.
I have made thee to have dominion over the works of My
hands. I have placed all things under thy feet, sheep
and oxen and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air
and the fish of the sea, and I have crowned thee with
glory and with honour (Psalm viii.) To thee, finally, lest
anything should be lacking, I have given Myself in personal

12
178 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

communion, joining My nature to thine for eternity, and
in this distinguishing thee from all created things, visible
and invisible. For what creature in heaven or in earth
can boast that God was manifest in his flesh and was seen
of angels (1 Tim. iii. 16), not, forsooth, that they might
only see and marvel at Him whom they desired to see
(1 Peter i. 12), but that they might adore God made
manifest in the flesh, the son of God and of man (Hebrews
i. 63; John i. 51; Matthew iv. 11). Know therefore that
thou art the corner-stone and epitome of my works, the
representative of God among them, the crown of My glory.

4. Would that this were inscribed, not on the doors of
temples, not on the title-pages of books, not on the
tongues, ears, and eyes of all men, but on their hearts!
Would that this could be done to all who undertake the
task of educating men, that they might learn to appreciate
the dignity of the task and of their own excellence, and
might bring all means to bear on the perfect realisation of
their divinity ! .
CHAPTER II
THE ULTIMATE END OF MAN IS BEYOND THIS LIFE

1. Reason itself dictates that such a perfect creature is
destined to a higher end than all other creatures, that of
being united with God, the culmination of all perfection,
glory, and happiness, and of enjoying with Him absolute
glory and happiness for ever.

2. Now although this is clear from Scripture, and we
stedfastly believe that it is the truth, it will be no loss of
time if we lightly touch on the various ways in which God
has indicated that our destination lies beyond this life.

3. First, in the creation itself; for He did not simply
command man to exist, as He did the rest of His creatures ;
but, after solemn consideration, He formed a body for him
with His own fingers and breathed the soul into it from
Himself.

4. Our nature shows that this life is not sufficient for
us. For here we live a threefold life, the vegetative, the
animal, and the intellectual or spiritual. Of these the
action of the first is confined to the body, the second can
extend itself to objects by the operation of the senses and
of movement, while the third is able to exist separately, as
is evident in the case of angels. So that, as it is evident
that this, the last stage of life, is greatly overshadowed and
hindered in us by the two former, it follows of necessity
that there will be a future state in which it may be brought

to perfection.
180 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

5. All our actions and affections in this life show that
we do not attain our ultimate end here, but that every-
thing connected with us, as well as we ourselves, has
another destination. For whatever we are, do, think,
speak, contrive, acquire, or possess, contains a principle of
gradation, and, though we mount perpetually and attain
higher grades, we still continue to advance and never reach
the highest.

For in the beginning a man is nothing, and has been
non-existent from eternity. It is from his mother’s womb
that he takes his origin. What then is a man in the
beginning? Nothing but an unformed mass endowed
with vitality. This soon assumes the outlines of a human
body, but has, as yet, neither sense nor movement.

Later on it begins to move and by a natural process
bursts forth into the world. Gradually the eyes, ears, and
other organs of sense appear. In course of time the
internal senses develope and the child perceives that he
sees, hears, and feels. Then the intellect comes into
existence by cognising the differences between objects ;
while, finally, the will assumes the office of a guiding
principle by displaying desire for certain objects and
aversion for others.

6. But in all these individual points of progress we find
nothing but succession. For the intelligence that under-
lies matter makes itself seen by degrees, like a ray of
dawn shining through the darkness of night, and, as long
as life remains, there is a continual access of light, unless
aman become utterly brutish, Thus our actions are at
first weak, unformed and confused; then the virtues of
the mind unfold themselves proportionately to the forces
of the body, so that as long as we live (unless the greatest
lethargy take possession of us and bury us alive) we are
continually exercising our faculties.

In a worthy mind all these functions tend to a higher
development, nor can we find any end of the things that
we desire or wish to accomplish.

7. In whatever direction a man turns he may perceive
MAN’S END IS BEYOND THIS LIFE 181

 

this experimentally. If any have an excessive desire for
riches he will not find anything that can satisfy his greed,
though he possess the whole world; as was evident in the
case of Alexander. If any burn with desire for honour
he will not be able to rest though the whole world adore
him.

If any give himself over to pleasure, rivers of delight
may bathe all his senses, but he becomes accustomed to
them, and his appetite continues to desire one thing after
another. If any apply his mind to the study of wisdom
he will find no end; for the more a man knows, the more
he realises his ignorance. Rightly did Solomon say that
the eye could not grow tired of seeing or the ear of
hearing.

8. Indeed, the examples of those who die teach us that
death does not put the last touch to existence. For those
whose life has been righteous rejoice that they are to enter
on a better one; while those who are filled with love of
the present life, seeing that they must leave it and migrate
elsewhere, begin to tremble and to reconcile themselves
with God and man, if by any chance this be still possible.
And, although the body, broken down by pain, grows faint,
the senses become clouded, and life itself slips away, the mind
fulfils its functions more vividly than ever, as we see when
a man circumspectly summons his family and heirs about
his death-bed. So that he who sees a pious and wise man
dying sees nothing but the structure of clay falling asunder ;
he who listens to him hears an angel’s voice and cannot
but confess that the dweller is only taking his departure
while the house falls to ruin about him. Even the
heathen understood this, so that the Romans, according to
Festus,!4 called death aéz#o, and with the Greeks, oixerOa,
which signifies “to go away,” is frequently used instead of
“to die” and “to perish.” This can only be because by
“death” nothing is understood but transition to another
life.

g. This is all the more evident to us Christians, now
that Christ, the Son of the living God, has been sent from
182 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

heaven to regenerate in us the image of God. For having
been conceived of a woman He walked among men; then,
having died, He rose again and ascended into heaven,
nor had death any more dominion over Him. Now He
has been called “our forerunner” (Hebr. vi. 20), “the
firstborn among his brethren” (Rom. viii. 30), “the head
over all things” (Ephes. i. 22), and the archetype of
all who are to be formed in the image of God (Rom.
viii. 29). As then, He did not visit this earth in order
to remain on it, but that, when His course was run, He
might pass to the eternal mansions; so we also, His com-
panions, must pass on and must not make this our abiding-
place.

10. To each of us, then, his life and his abiding-place
is threefold. The mother’s womb, the earth, and the
heaven. From the first into the second he passes by
nativity, and from the second into the third by death and
resurrection. From the third he makes no move, but rests
there for all eternity.

In the first stage we find life in its simplicity, with the
commencement of movement and of feeling. In the
second we have life, motion, sense, and the elements of
intellect. In the third we find the full plenitude of all.

11. The first life is preparatory to the second, and the
second to the third, while the third exists for itself and
is without end. The transition from the first into the
second and from the second into the third, is narrow and
accompanied by pain; and in both cases some covering
or surrounding must be laid aside (in the first case the
after-birth, in the second the body itself), just as the egg-
shell is discarded when a chicken is hatched. Thus the
first and second abiding-places are like workshops in
which are formed, in the first the body, for use in the
following life; in the second the rational soul, for use in
the life everlasting. In the third abiding-place the per-
fection and fruition of both will be realised.

12. Thus (to use them as a type) were the Israelites
born in Egypt. Thence, through the passes of the
MAN’S END IS BEYOND THIS LIFE 183

 

mountains and through the Red Sea, they were brought
into the desert. They built temples, they learned the law,
they fought with various tribes, and, at length, having
with difficulty crossed the Jordan, they were made heirs of
Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey.
CHAPTER III
THIS LIFE IS BUT A PREPARATION FOR ETERNITY

1. Tuat this life, since its destination is elsewhere, is not
(properly speaking) a life at all, but only the prelude to a
real and everlasting existence, will be evident, firstly, from
the witness of our own selves, secondly, from the world,
and, thirdly, from the Holy Scriptures.

2. If we examine ourselves, we see that our faculties
grow in such a manner that what goes before paves the
way for what comes after. For example, our first life
is in our mother’s womb. But for the sake of what does
it exist ? of the life itself? Not at all. The process that
here takes place is intended to form the embryo into the
suitable abiding-place and instrument of the soul, for con-
venient use in the life on earth which follows. As soon
as this preparation is finished we burst forth into the
light because in this stage no further development is
possible. In the same way, this life on earth is nothing
but a preparation for eternity, and exists in order that the
soul, through the agency of the body, may prepare for
itself those things which will be of use in the future life. As
soon as this is accomplished we go hence, because further
undertakings are of no avail. Many of us, also, are snatched
away unprepared or are hurled to destruction, just as
abortive embryos are produced from the womb, destined
not for life but for death. In each of which cases God,
LIFE A PREPARATION FOR ETERNITY 185

 

it is true, gives His permission, but man is the guilty
cause.

3. The visible world itself, from whatever point of
view we regard it, bears witness that it has been created for
no other end than that it may serve for the progeneration,
the nutrition, and the training of the human race. For
as it pleased God not to create all men at the same
moment, as was done with the angels, but only a male
and a female who should increase by generation ; and, as
a sufficient length of time was necessary for this purpose,
He granted some thousands of years. And in order that
this period might not be confused, silent, and dark, He
spread forth the heavens and placed in them the sun, the
moon, and the stars, and commanded these, by circling
round, to measure out the hours, the days, the months,
and the years. Further, because the beings whose birth
was contemplated were corporeal and needed a place to
dwell in, space to breathe and move in, food to nourish
them, and clothing to adorn them, He constructed in
the lowest part of the firmament a solid substratum, the
earth. Around this He poured the air, He irrigated it with
waters, and bade plants and animals of various kinds to
spring forth; and this not only to supply necessary wants,
but also to promote enjoyment. And because He had
made man in His own image and had given him a mind,
in order that its proper nutrition might not be wanting to
that mind, He divided each class of creatures into many
species, that this visible universe might be a continual
mirror of the infinite power, wisdom, and goodness of
God, and that by its contemplation man might be com-
pelled to marvel at the Creator, moved to recognise Him,
and enticed to love Him, when the might, the beauty, and
the sweetness that lie invisible in the abyss of eternity
shone out on all sides through these visible manifestations,
and suffered themselves to be handled, seen, and tasted.
Thus the world is nothing but our nursery, our nurturing
place, and our school, and there is, therefore, a place
beyond, whither we shall be transferred when we are
186 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

dismissed from the classes of this school and are sent to
that university which is everlasting. Reason alone makes
this truth manifest, but it is more plainly visible in the
divine oracles.

4. God Himself testifies in Hosea that the heavens exist
for the sake of the earth, the earth that it may produce
corn, wine, and oil, and these in turn for man (Hosea ii.
21, 22). All things therefore, even time itself, exist for
the sake of man. For no longer a duration of time will be
granted than is necessary to fill up the number of the
elect (Rev. vi. 11). As soon as this is accomplished the
heavens and the earth will pass away and the place shall
know them no more (Rev. xi. 1). For a new heaven
and a new earth will appear, in which justice shall dwell
(Rev. xxi. 1; 2 Peter iii. 13). And finally, the way in which
the Scriptures speak of this life show that it is nothing but
the preparation for that to come. For they call it a way,
a progress, a gate, and an expectation, while us they call
pilgrims, newcomers, sojourners, and lookers forward to
another and lasting state (Gen. xlvii. 9 ; Psalm xxxix. 12 ;
Job vii. 10; Luke xii. 33).

5. Now this we are taught by the facts themselves and
by the manifest condition of all men. For what mortal
has ever existed who, having been born, has not dis-
appeared again from the earth, since we have been destined
for eternity. This being the case, it follows that our state
here is one of transition. Whence Christ says, ‘“‘ There-
fore be ye also ready, for in an hour that ye think not the
Son of Man cometh” (Matt. xxiv. 44). And this is the
reason (as we learn from Scripture) that God calls some
hence in early youth; for He sees that they are ready, as
was Enoch (Gen. v. 24; Wisdom iv. 14). Why, on the
other hand, does He show such long-suffering toward the
wicked? Because He does not wish that any should be
overtaken unprepared, but that he should repent (2 Peter
ili. g). If, however, any man abuse the patience of God,
He bids him be snatched away.

6. As, then, it is certain that our sojourn in our mother’s
LIFE A PREPARATION FOR ETERNITY 187

 

womb is a preparation for the life in the body, so certain
is it that our sojourn in the body is a preparation for the
life which shall follow this one, and shall endure for ever.
Happy is he who leaves his mother’s womb with limbs
well formed! Happier a thousand times is the man who
shall bear his soul hence in purity and cleanliness.
CHAPTER IV

THERE ARE THREE STAGES IN THE PREPARATION FOR
ETERNITY: TO KNOW ONESELF (AND WITH ONESELF
ALL THINGS) ; TO RULE ONESELF ; AND TO DIRECT
ONESELF TO GOD.

1. Iris evident, then, that the ultimate end of man is eternal
happiness with God. The subordinate ends, also, at which
we aim in this transitory life, are evident from the words of
the divine soliloquy which the Creator uttered when about
to make man. “Let us make man,” He said, “in our
image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth ” (Gen.
i, 26).

2. From which it is plain that man is situated among
visible creatures so as to be

(i) A rational creature.

(ii) The Lord of all creatures.

(iii) A creature which is the image and the joy of its
Creator.

These three aspects are so joined together that they
cannot be separated, for in them is laid the basis of the
future and of the present life.

3. To be a rational creature is to name all things, and
to speculate and reason about everything that the world
contains, as we find it in Gen. ii. 19, or, in the words of
THREE STAGES OF PREPARATION 189

 

Solomon (Wisdom vii. 17), to know how the world was
made and the operation of the elements; the beginning,
ending, and midst of the times; the alterations of the
turning of the sun, and the change of seasons; the circuits
of years and the positions of stars; the natures of living
things and the furies of wild beasts ; the violence of winds
and the reasonings of men; the diversities of plants and
the virtues of roots; in a word, everything that is secret
and that is manifest. To man belong the knowledge of
handicrafts and the art of speaking, lest (as says the son
of Sirach) anything should remain unknown, be it small
or great, in any department of knowledge (Eccles. v. 12).
For thus, if he know the properties of all things, will he be
able to justify his title of “ rational being.”

4. To be the lord of all creatures consists in subjecting *
everything to his own use by contriving that its legitimate
end be suitably fulfilled; in conducting himself royally,
that is, gravely and righteously, among creatures (adoring
only one above him, his Creator; recognising God’s angels,
man’s fellow-servants, as his equals, and considering all
other things as far beneath him). Thus will he preserve
the dignity which has been granted to him. He should
enslave himself to no creature, not even to his own flesh
and blood; but should use all freely in his service, and not
be ignorant where, when, how, and to what extent each
may prudently be used, how far the body should be
gratified, and how far our neighbour’s interests should be
consulted. In a word, he should be able to control with
prudence his own movements and actions, external and _
internal, as well as those of others.

5. Finally, to be the image of God is to represent
the perfection of his Archetype, who says Himself “Ye
shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Ley.
xix. 2).

6. ae this it follows that man is naturally required
to be: (1) acquainted with all things; (2) endowed with
power over all things and over himself; (3) to refer himself
and all things to God, the source of all.
190 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

Now, if we wish to express these three things by three
well-known words, these will be:

(i) Erudition.

(ii) Virtue or seemly morals.

(iii) Religion or piety.

Under Erudition we comprehend the knowledge of all
things, arts, and tongues; under Virtue, not only external
decorum, but the whole disposition of our movements,
internal and external; while by Religion we understand
that inner veneration by which the mind of man attaches
and binds itself to the supreme Godhead.

7. In these three things is situated the whole excellence
of man, for they alone are the foundation of the present
and of the future life. All other things (health, strength,
beauty, riches, honour, friendship, good-fortune, long life)
are as nothing, if God grant them to any, but extrinsic
ornaments of life, and if a man greedily gape after them,
engross himself in their pursuit, occupy and overwhelm
himself with them to the neglect of those more important
matters, then they become superfluous vanities and harm-
ful obstructions.

8. To illustrate the matter by an example. The time-
piece (either the sun-dial or the mechanical clock) is an ele-
gant and very necessary instrument for measuring time, and
its essential excellence depends on the accurate joining to-
gether of all its parts. The case which is added, the chas-
ings, the engravings, and the gildings are accessories which
add something to its external appearance, but nothing to
its utility. Were any to prefer a handsome clock to a
good one, men would laugh at him for not realising in
what the essential excellence of the object consisted. In
the same way, the value of a horse consists in its strength,
combined with spirit, speed, and promptness in obeying its
rider’s wishes. A flowing tail or one tied in a knot, hair
combed and standing erect, gilded bits, gay coverings, and
trappings of whatever kind, add decorative beauty, it is true,
yet we call a man a fool if we see that he measures a
horse’s excellence by them.
THREE STAGES OF PREPARATION 191

 

Finally, a sound condition of health depends on the
proper cooking of food, and on our digestive organs being
in good order. To sleep softly, to dress well, and to fare
delicately, add nothing to our health, but rather detract
from it, and therefore a man is a fool who prefers dainties
to wholesome viands. But much more, and to his own
damnation, is that man a fool who, wishing to be a man,
gives more heed to the ornaments than to the essentials of
human existence. The Preacher, therefore, pronounces
those ignorant and impious who think that our life is a
pastime or a simple pursuit of wealth, and says that the
praise and the blessing of God is very far from them
(Wisdom xv. 12, 19).

g. It follows, therefore, that we advance towards our
ultimate end in proportion as we pursue Learning, Virtue,
and Piety in this world.

These three are undoubtedly the main issues of our life ;
all else are side channels, hindrances, or ornamentations.
CHAPTER V

THE SEEDS OF THESE THREE (LEARNING, VIRTUE, AND
PIETY) ARE NATURALLY IMPLANTED IN US

1. By the word zature we mean, not the corruption which has
laid hold of all men since the Fall (on which account we are
naturally called the children of wrath, unable of ourselves
to have any good thoughts), but our first and original con-
dition, to which, as to a starting-point, we must be recalled.
It was in this sense that Ludovicus Vives) said, “What
else is a Christian but a man restored to his own nature,
and, as it were, brought back to the starting-point from
which the devil has thrown him?” (Lib. i. De Concordia
et Discordia). In this sense, too, must we take the words
of Seneca, ‘“‘ This is wisdom, to return to nature and to the
position from which universal error (that is to say, the error
of the human race, originated by the first men) has driven
us,” and again, ‘Man is not good but becomes so, as,
mindful of his origin, he strives toward equality with God.
No man who is viciously inclined ventures the ascent
towards the place whence he descended” (£752. 93).

2. By the voice of nature we understand the universal
Providence of God or the influence of Divine Goodness
which never ceases to work all in all things; that is to
say, which continually developes each creature for the end
to which it has been destined. For it is a sign of the
divine wisdom to do nothing in vain, that is to say, without
a definite end or without means proportionate to that end.
MAN'S NATURAL CRAVING FOR KNOWLEDGE 193

 

Whatever exists, therefore, exists for some end, and has
been provided with the organs and appliances necessary to
attain to it. It has also been gifted with a certain inclina-
tion, that nothing may be borne towards its end unwillingly
and reluctantly, but rather promptly and pleasantly, by
the natural instinct that pain and death will ensue if any
obstacle be placed in the way. And so it is certain that
man also is naturally fitted for the understanding of facts,
for existence in harmony with the moral law, and above all
things for the love of God (since for these we have already
seen that he is destined), and that the roots of these three
principles are as firmly planted in him as are the roots of
any tree in the earth beneath it.

3. In order, therefore, that we may thoroughly understand
the saying of the son of Sirach, that Wisdom has placed
everlasting foundations in man (Ecclesiasticus i. 14), let us
examine the foundations of Wisdom, of Virtue, and of
Piety, which have been laid in us, that we may see what
a marvellous instrument of wisdom man is.

4. It is evident that man is naturally capable of acquir-
ing a knowledge of all things, since, in the first place, he is
the image of God. For an image, if it be accurate, neces- °
sarily reproduces the outlines of its archetype, as otherwise
it will not be an image. Now omniscience is chief among
the properties of God, and it follows that the image of this
must be reflected in man. And why not? Man, in truth,
stands in the centre of the works of God and possesses a
lucid mind, which, like a spherical mirror suspended in a‘
room, reflects images of all things that are around it. All
things that are around it, we say; for our mind not only
seizes on things that are close at hand, but also on things
that are far off, whether in space or in time; it masters
difficulties, hunts out what is concealed, uncovers what is
veiled, and wears itself out in examining what is inscrut-
able; so infinite and so unbounded is its power. If a
thousand years were granted to man, in which, by grasp-
ing one thing after another, he might continually learn
something fresh, he would still find some spot from which

13
194 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

the understanding might gain fresh objects of know-
ledge.

So unlimited is the capacity of the mind that in the
process of perception it resembles an abyss. The body is
enclosed by small boundaries; the voice roams within
wider limits; the sight is bounded only by the vault of
heaven ; but for the mind, neither in heaven nor anywhere
outside heaven, can a boundary be fixed. It ascends as
far over the heavens above as below the depths beneath,
and would do so if they were even a thousand times more
vast than they are; for it penetrates through space with
incredible speed. Shall we then deny that it can fathom
and grasp all things ?

5. Philosophers have called man a Microcosm or Epi-
tome of the Universe, since he inwardly comprehends all
the elements that are spread far and wide through the
Macrocosm, or world at large; a statement the truth of
which is shown elsewhere. The mind, therefore, of a man
who enters this world is very justly compared to a seed
or to a kernel in which the plant or tree really does exist,
although its image cannot actually be seen. This is evi-
dent ; since the seed, if placed in the ground, puts forth
roots beneath it and shoots above it, and these, later on,
by their innate force, spread into branches and leaves, are
covered with foliage, and adorned with flowers and fruit.
It is not necessary, therefore, that anything be brought to
a man from without, but only that that which he possesses
rolled up within himself be unfolded and disclosed, and
that stress be laid on each separate element. Thus Pytha-
goras used to say that it was so natural for a man to be
possessed of all knowledge, that a boy of seven years old,
if prudently questioned on all the problems of philosophy,
ought to be able to give a correct answer to each interro-
gation ; since the light of Reason is a sufficient standard
and measure of all things. Still it is true that, since the
Fall, Reason has become obscure and involved, and does
not know how to set itself free; while those who ought to
, have done so have rather entangled it the more.
MAN’S NATURAL CRAVING FOR KNOWLEDGE 195

 

6. To the rational soul, that dwells within us, organs of
sense have been supplied, which may be compared to
emissaries and scouts, and by the aid of these it compasses
all that lies without. These are sight, hearing, smell, sound,
and touch, and there is nothing whatever that can escape
their notice. For, since there is nothing in the visible
universe which cannot be seen, heard, smelt, tasted, or
touched, and the kind and quality of which cannot in this
way be discerned, it follows that there is nothing in the
universe which cannot be compassed by a man endowed
with sense and reason.

7. In addition to the desire for knowledge that is im- ,
planted in him, man is imbued not merely with a tolerance
of but with an actual appetite for toil. This is evident in
earliest childhood, and accompanies us throughout life. For
who is there that does not always desire to see, hear, or
handle something new? To whom is it not a pleasure to
go to some new place daily, to converse with some one, to
narrate something, or have some fresh experience? In a
word, the eyes, the ears, the sense of touch, the mind itself,
are, in their search for food, ever carried beyond them-
selves ; for to an active nature nothing is so intolerable as
ease and sloth. Even the fact that the ignorant admire
learned men is but a sign that they feel the promptings
of a certain natural desire. For they would wish them-
selves to be partakers of this wisdom, could they deem it
possible. But, since they despair, they only sigh, and
marvel at those whom they see in advance of them.

8. The examples of those who are self-taught show us
most plainly that man, under the guidance of nature, can
penetrate to a knowledge of all things. Many have made
greater progress under their own tuition, or (as Bernard 1
says) with oaks and beeches for their teachers, than others
have done under the irksome instruction of tutors. Does
not this teach us that, in very truth, all things exist in
man; that the lamp, the oil, the tinder, and all the
appliances are there, and that if only he be sufficiently
skilled to strike sparks, to catch them, and to kindle the
196 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

lamp, he can forthwith see and can reap the fullest enjoy-
ment of the marvellous treasures of God’s wisdom, both in
himself and in the larger world; that is to say, can appreciate
the numerical and proportional arrangement of the whole
creation. Now, when the internal lamp is not lit, but the
torches of strange opinions are carried round without, the
effect must be as if lights were carried round a man shut
up in a dark dungeon; the rays indeed penetrate the
chinks, but the full light is unable to enter. Thus, as
Seneca says: “The seeds ofall arts are implanted in us,
and God the master brings forth intellect from the darkness.”

g. The things to which our minds may be likened
teach the same lesson. For the earth (with which the
Scriptures often compare our heart) receives seeds of every
description. One and the same garden can be sown with
herbs, with flowers, and with aromatic plants of every kind,
if only the gardener lack not prudence and industry. And
the greater the variety, the pleasanter the sight to the eyes,
the sweeter the attraction to the nose, and the more potent
the refreshment to the heart. Aristotle compared the
mind of man to a blank tablet on which nothing was
written, but on which all things could be engraved. And,
just as a writer can write or a painter paint whatever he
wishes on a bare tablet, if he be not ignorant of his art, thus
it is easy for one who is not ignorant of the art of teaching
to depict all things on the human mind. If the result be
not successful, it is more than certain that this is not the
fault of the tablet (unless it have some inherent defect), but
arises from ignorance on the part of the writer or painter.
There is, however, this difference, that on the tablet the
writing is limited by space, while, in the case of the mind,
you may continually go on writing and engraving without
finding any boundary, because, as has already been shown,
the mind is without limit.

to. Again, the comparison of our brain, the workshop
of thought, to wax which either receives the impress of a
seal, or furnishes the material for small images, is an apt
one. For just as wax, taking every form, allows itself to be
MAN'S NATURAL CRAVING FOR KNOWLEDGE 197

 

modelled and remodelled in any desired way, so the brain, ~

receiving the images of all things, takes into itself whatever
is contained in the whole universe. This comparison
throws a remarkable light on the true nature of thought
and of knowledge. Whatever makes an impression on my
organ of sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch, stands to me
in the relation of a seal by which the image of the object
is impressed upon my brain. So true is this simile that
when the object is removed from my eyes, my ears, my
nostrils, or my hand, its image still remains before me;
nor is it possible that it should not remain, unless my
attention has wandered and the impression has been a
weak one. For example, if I have seen or spoken to any
one; if, when taking a journey, I have seen a mountain,
a river, a field, a wood, or a town, or if I have read any-
thing attentively in some author, all these things are im-
printed on the brain, so that, as often as the recollection
of them comes into my mind, the effect is the same as if I
were actually seeing them with my eyes, hearing them with
my ears, tasting them, or feeling them. And although of
these impressions the brain places one before the other or
receives some more distinctly and vividly than others, it
still, in some way or other, receives, represents, and retains
them all.

11. Here we have mirrored before us the marvellous
wisdom of God, who was able to arrange that the small
mass of our brains should be sufficient to receive so many
thousands of images. For, if the particulars can be
remembered of anything that any of us (and this applies
particularly to men of learning) have, many years before,
seen, heard, tasted, read, or collected by experience or by
reasoning, it is evident that these details must be carried
in the brain. Yet it is a fact that images of objects formerly
seen, heard, or read of, of which thousands of thousands
and many more exist, and which are daily multiplied as
we daily see, hear, read, or experience something new, are

f

all carefully stored up. What inscrutable wisdom and.

power of God lies here? Solomon wonders that all rivers
198 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

run into the sea, and that yet the sea is not full (Eccles. i.
7), and who will not marvel at this abyss of memory which
exhausts all things, which gives all back again, and yet is
never overfull or too void? In truth our mind is greater
than the universe, since that which contains is necessarily
greater than that which is contained.

12. Finally, the eye (or a mirror) resembles the mind
in many ways. If you hold anything before it, of whatever
shape or colour, it will soon display a similar image in itself.
That is to say, unless you are in the dark, or turn your
back, or are too far off, at a distance greater than is fitting,
or hinder the impression, or confuse it by movement ; for
in these cases it must be confessed that the result will be
failure. I speak, therefore, of what takes place naturally,
when light is present and the object is suitably placed.
Just as, then, there is no need for the eye to be compelled
to open and look at any object, since, naturally thirsting
for light, it rejoices to be fed by gazing, and suffices for all
objects (provided that it be not confused by too many at
once), and just as it can never be satiated by seeing, so
does the mind thirst for objects, ever longs and yearns
to observe, grasps at, nay, seizes on all information, and
is indefatigable, provided that it be not surfeited with
an excess of objects, and that they be presented to its
observation one after the other, and in the proper order.

13. Even the heathen philosophers saw that a harmony
of morals was necessary for man, although, being ignorant
of that other light granted by heaven, which is the most
certain guide to eternal life, they set up these sparks as
torches; a vain endeavour. Thus Cicero says: “The
seeds of virtue are sown in our dispositions, and, if they
were allowed to develope, nature herself would lead us to
the life of the blest.” This goes rather too far! ‘Now,
however, from the time when we are brought forth to the
light of day, we continually move in all wickedness, so that
we almost seem to suck in faults with our nurse’s milk”
(Zuscul, iii.) Thus the truth of the statement that the seeds
of virtue are born with man is bound up with this two-
MAN’S NATURAL CRAVING FOR KNOWLEDGE 199

 

fold argument: (1) every man delights in harmony ; (2)
man himself, externally and internally, is nothing but a
harmony.

14. That man delights in harmony and pursues it
greedily, is obvious. For who does not take pleasure in a
well-made man, an elegant horse, a beautiful portrait, or a
charming picture? And what is the reason of this if not
that the proportion of the parts and of the colours is a
source of enjoyment? This pleasure of the eye is very
natural. Again, who is not affected by music ? and why?
Because a harmony of voices makes a pleasing consonance.
To whom does well-flavoured food not taste good? For
the proper mixing of the flavours tickles the palate.
Every man rejoices in moderate heat, in moderate cold,
in the moderate inactivity or motion of the limbs. Why?
if not because everything that is harmonised is congenial
and lifegiving to nature, while everything that lacks modera-
tion is hostile and harmful to her.

Even the virtues of others are a source of admiration
to some people (for those devoid of them like them in
others; though they may not imitate them, thinking good
habits impossible to acquire when once vice has got the
upper hand). Why then should not each man like them
in himself? Surely we are blind if we do not recognise
that we all have within us the roots of harmony.

15. Indeed, man is nothing but a harmony, both in
respect of his body and of his mind. For, just as the
great world itself is like an immense piece of clockwork
put together with many wheels and bells, and arranged
with such art that throughout the whole structure one part
depends on the other, and the movements are perpetuated
and harmonised; thus it is with man, The body is in-
deed constructed with wonderful skill. First of all comes
the heart, the source of all life and action, from which the
other members receive motion and the measurement of
motion. The weight, the efficient cause of motion, is the
brain, which by the help of the nerves, as of ropes,
attracts and repels the other wheels or limbs, while the
200 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

variety of operations within and without depends on the
commensurate proportion of the movements.

16. In the movements of the soul the most important
wheel is the will; while the weights are the desires and
affections which incline the will this way or that. The
escapement is the reason, which measures and determines
what, where, and how far anything should be sought after
or avoided. The other movements of the soul resemble
the less important wheels which depend on the principal
one. Wherefore, if too much weight be not given to the
desires and affections, and if the escapement, reason,
select and exclude properly, it is impossible that the har-
mony and agreement of virtues should not follow, and this
evidently consists of a proper blending of the active and
the passive elements.

17. Man, then, is in himself nothing but a harmony,
and, as in the case of a clock or of a musical instrument
which a skilled artificer has constructed, we do not forth-
with pronounce it to be of no further use if it become dis-
organised and corrupt (for it can be put to rights); thus,
with regard to man, we may say that, no matter how dis-
organised by his fall into sin, he can, through the grace of
God and by certain methods, be restored again to har-
mony.

18. That the roots of piety are present in man is
shown by the fact that he is the image of God. For an
image implies likeness, and that like rejoices in like, is an
immutable law of nature (Eccles. xii. 7). Since, then,
man’s only equal is He in whose image he has been made,
it follows that there is no direction in which he can be
more easily carried by his desires than towards the foun-
tain whence he took his origin; provided that he clearly
understand the conditions of his existence.

19. The same thing is shown by the example of the
moral philosophers, who, instructed by no word of God,
but led by the blind instinct of nature, both acknowledged
the Deity, venerated Him, and called upon His name,
though they erred in the manner in which they put their
MAN'S NATURAL CRAVING FOR KNOWLEDGE 201

 

religion into practice. ‘All men have some conception
of the gods, and all assign the highest place to a divine
being,” writes Aristotle (De Calo, i. 3). Seneca also
says: “The worship of the gods consists first in believing
in them; then in acknowledging their majesty and their
goodness, without which no majesty exists; then in recog-
nising that it is they who preside over the world, include
everything under their dominion, and act as guardians
of the human race” (Z#is¢. 96). How closely this re-
sembles what the Apostle says (Hebrews xi. 6): “He that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that seek after him.”

20. Plato also says: “God is the highest good, elevated
high above all existence and above nature; towards which
all creation strives” (Zimaeus). And this is so true (that
God is the highest good, which all things seek) that Cicero
was able to say: “The first to teach us piety is nature”
(De Natura Deorum,i.) And this is because (as Lactan-
tius 1’ writes, bk. iv. ch. 28): ‘ We receive pardon on condi-
tion that we give just and due worship to the God who
produced us. Him alone let us know and follow. By
this chain of piety we have been bound and linked to God,
and it is from this fact that religion derives its name.”

21. It must be confessed that the natural desire for
God, as the highest good, has been corrupted by the Fall,
and has gone astray, so that no man, of his strength
alone, could return to the right way. But in those whom
God illumines by the Word and by His Spirit it is so
renewed, that we find David exclaiming: ‘Whom have I
in heaven but thee? And there is none on earth that I
desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth, but
God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever”
(Psalm Ixxiii. 25, 26).

22. Therefore, while we are seeking for the remedies
of corruption, let none cast corruption*in our teeth. For
God will remove it through His Holy Ghost and by the
intervention of natural means. For as Nebuchadnezzar,
when human reason was taken from him and the soul of a
202 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

beast was his, yet retained the hope of returning to his
senses, and to his royal dignity as well, as soon as he
acknowledged that heaven was his superior (Daniel iv. 25),
so to us, who are trees rooted out of God’s Paradise, the
roots are left, and these can germinate afresh when the rain
and the sun of God’s grace are shed upon them. Did not
God, soon after the Fall, and after the exile threatened to
us (the penalty of death), sow in our hearts the seeds of
fresh grace (by the promise of His blessed offspring)? Did
He not send His Son to restore us to our former estate ?

23. It is base, wicked, and an evident sign of ingrati-
tude, that we continually complain of our corrupt state,
but make no effort to reform it; that we bring forward
what the old Adam can work in us, but never experience
what the new Adam, Christ, can do. The Apostle says
in his own name and in that of his Redeemer: “I can do
all things through him that strengtheneth me” (Phil. iv.
13). If it be possible for a shoot grafted on a willow,
on a thorn, or on any other shrub, to germinate and bear
fruit, what would it not do if grafted on a stock similar to
itself? See the argument of the Apostle (Romans xi. 24).
In addition, if God is able from these stones to raise up
children unto Abraham (Matthew iii. 9), why should He
not be able to excite to good works man, the son of God
from the first creation, adopted anew through Christ, and
born again through the Spirit of grace ?

24. Ah! let us beware lest we neglect the grace of God,
which He is prepared to pour most liberally upon us. For
if we, who are made one with Christ through faith, and dedi-
cated to Him through the spirit of adoption, if we, I say,
deny that we, with our offspring, are fit for those things
which are of the kingdom of God, how was it that Christ
said of children that theirs was the kingdom of heaven?
or how can He refer us to them, bidding us to become as
little children, if We wish to enter into the kingdom of
heaven ? (Matthew xviii. 3).

How is it that the Apostle pronounces the children of
Christians to be sacred (even where one only of the
MAN'S NATURAL CRAVING FOR KNOWLEDGE 203

 

parents is faithful), and says that they are not unclean
(1 Cor. vii. 14). Even of those who have been impli-
cated in the gravest crimes the Apostle dares to affirm:
“Such were some of you; but ye were washed, but ye
were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1. Cor.
vi. 11). Can it therefore appear impracticable to any one,
when we demand that the children of Christians (not
the offspring of the old Adam but of the new, the sons
of God, the little brothers and sisters of Christ) may be
carefully trained, and declare that they are fit to receive
in their hearts the seeds of eternity? We do not indeed
demand fruit from a wild olive, but we come to the assist-
ance of grafts freshly grafted on the tree of life, and help
them to bear fruit.

25. We see, then, that it is more natural, and, through
the grace of the Holy Spirit, easier for a man to become
wise, honest, and righteous, than for his progress to be
hindered by incidental depravity. For everything returns
easily to its own nature, and this it is that the Scriptures
say: ‘“ Truth is easily seen by those who love her, and can
readily be found by those who seek her. She grants her-
self to the understanding, and those who wait before her
door obtain her without trouble” (Wisdom vi. 13, 15). As
the poet of Venusia says:

No one is so wild that he cannot be tamed,
If he patiently turn his ear to instruction and knowledge.
i:
/

if

CHAPTER VI

IF A MAN IS TO BE PRODUCED, IT IS NECESSARY THAT
HE BE FORMED BY EDUCATION

1. THE seeds of knowledge, of virtue, and of piety are, as
we have seen, naturally implanted in us; but the actual
knowledge, virtue, and piety are not so given. These
must be acquired by prayer, by education, and by action.
He gave no bad definition who said that man was a
“teachable animal.” And indeed it is only by a proper
education that he can become a man.

2. For, if we consider knowledge, we see that it is the
peculiar attribute of God to know all things by a single
and simple intuition, without beginning, without progress,
and without end. For man and for angels this is im-
possible, because ‘they do not possess infinity and eternity,
that is to say, divinity. It is enough for them to have
received sufficient keenness of intellect to comprehend the
works of God, and to gather a wealth of knowledge from
them. As regards angels, it is certain that they also learn
by perception (1 Peter i. 12; Ephes. iii. 10; 1 Kings xxii.
20; Jobi. 6), and that their knowledge, like our own, is
derived from experience.

3. Let none believe, therefore, that any can really be
a man, unless he have learned to act like one, that is, have
been trained in those elements which constitute a man.
This is evident from the example of all things created,
which, although destined for man, do not suit his uses until
MAN MUST BE FORMED BY EDUCATION 205

 

fitted for them by his hands. For example, stones have
been given to us as material with which to build houses,
towers, walls, pillars, etc.; but’ they are of no use until
they are cut and laid in their place by us. Pearls and
precious stones destined to adorn man must be cut,
ground, and polished. The metals, which are of vital use
in daily life, have to be dug out, melted, refined, and vari-
ously cast and hammered. Till this is done they are of
less use to us than common earth.

From plants we derive food, drink, and medicines ; but
first the herbs and grains have to be sown, hoed, gathered,
winnowed, and ground; trees have to be planted, pruned,
and manured, while their fruits must be plucked off and
dried ; and if any of these things are required for medi-
cine, or for building purposes, much more preparation is
needed. Animals, whose essential characteristics are life
and motion, seem to be self-sufficing, but if you wish to
use them for the purposes for which they are suitable,
some training is necessary. For example, the horse is
naturally suited for use in war, the ox for drawing, the ass
for carrying burdens, the dog for guarding and hunting,
the falcon and hawk for fowling; but they are all of little
use until we accustom them to their work by training.

4. Man, as far as his body is concerned, is born to
labour ; and yet we see that nothing but the bare aptitude
is born in him. He needs instruction before he can sit,
stand, walk, or use his hands. Why, therefore, should it
be claimed for our mind that, of itself, it can exist in its
full development, and ‘without any previous preparation ;
since it is the law of all things created that they take their
origin from nothing and develope themselves gradually, in
respect both of their material and of the process of de-
velopment? For it is well known, and we showed in our
last chapter, that the angels, whose perfection comes very
near to that of the Almighty, are not omniscient, but make
gradual advances in their knowledge of the marvellous
wisdom of God.

5. It is evident, too, that even before the Fall, a school
206 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

in which he might make gradual progress was opened for
man in Paradise. For, although the first created, as soon
as they came into being, lacked neither the power of walk-
ing erect, nor speech, nor reason, it is manifest, from the
conversation of Eve with the serpent, that the knowledge
of things which is derived from experience was entirely
wanting. For Eve, had she had more experience, would
have known that the serpent is unable to speak, and that
there must therefore be some deceit.

Much more, therefore, in this state of corruption must
‘it be necessary to learn by experience, since the under-
standing which we bring with us is an empty form, like
a bare tablet, and since we are unskilled to do, speak, or
know anything ; for all these faculties do but exist potenti-
ally and need development. And indeed this is much
more difficult now than it can have been in the state of
perfection, since not only are things obscure, but tongues
also are confused (so that instead of one, many must now
be learned, if a man for the sake of learning wish to hold
communion with divers people, living and dead). The
vernacular tongues also have become more complex, and
no knowledge of them is born with us.

6. Examples show that those who in their infancy have
been seized by wild animals, and have been brought up
among them, have not risen above the level of brutes in
intellect, and would not have been able to make more use
of their tongues, their hands, and their feet than beasts
can, had they not once more come into the society of
men. I will give several instances. About the year 1540,
in a village called Hassia, situated in the middle of a
forest, a boy three years of age was lost, through the care-
lessness of his parents. Some years afterwards the country
people saw a strange animal running about with the wolves,
of a different shape, four-footed, but with a man’s face.
Rumour of this spread through the district, and the gover-
nor asked the peasants to try to catch it alive and bring it
to him. This they did, and finally the creature was con-
veyed to the Landgrave at Cassel.
MAN MUST BE FORMED BY EDUCATION 207

 

When it was taken into the castle it tore itself away,
fled, and hid beneath a bench, where it glared fiercely at
its pursuers and howled horribly. The prince had him
educated and kept him continually in men’s society, and
under this influence his savage habits grew gentler by
degrees ; he began to raise himself up on his hind-legs and
walk like a biped, and at last to speak intelligently and
behave like a man. Then he related to the best of his
ability how he had been seized and nurtured by the wolves
and had been accustomed to go hunting with them. The
story is found in M. Dresser’s!8 work on Ancient and
Modern Education, and Camerarius,!® in his Hours, mentions
the same case, and another one of a similar nature
(bk. i. ch. 75).

Gulartius 2° also (in Marvels of our Age) says that the
following occurred in France in 1563. Some nobles went
hunting, and, after they had killed twelve wolves, at last
caught in their nets something like a naked boy, about
seven years old, with a yellow skin and curly hair. His
nails were hooked like an eagle’s, he was unable to speak,
and could only utter wild shrieks. When he was brought
into the castle he struggled so fiercely that fetters could
scarce be placed on him; but after a few days of starvation
he grew gentler, and within seven months had commenced
to speak. He was taken round to various towns and
exhibited, and his masters made much money out of him.
At length a certain poor woman acknowledged him as her
son. So true is Plato’s remark (Laws, i. 6): ‘“ Man is the °
gentlest and most divine being, if he have been made so by
true education ; but if he have been subjected to none or
to a false one he is the most intractable thing in the world.”,

7. Education is indeed necessary for all, and this is
evident if we consider the different degrees of ability. No
one doubts that those who are stupid need instruction,
that they may shake off their natural dulness. But in
reality those who are clever need it far more, since an
active mind, if not occupied with useful things, will busy
itself with what is useless, curious, and pernicious ; and,
208 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

just as the more fertile a field is, the richer the crop of
thorns and of thistles that it can produce, so an excellent
intelligence becomes filled with fanciful notions, if it be
not sown with the seeds of wisdom and of virtue; and,
just as a millstone grinds itself away with noise and
grating, and often cracks and breaks, if wheat, the raw
material of flour, be not supplied to it, so an active mind,
if void of serious things, entangles itself utterly with vain,
curious, and noxious thoughts, and becomes the cause of
its own destruction.

8. What are the rich without wisdom but pigs stuffed
with bran? What are the poor who have no understanding
of affairs but asses laden with burdens? What is a hand-
some though ignorant man but a parrot adorned with
feathers, or, as has been said, a golden sheath in which
there is a leaden dagger ?

g. For those who are in any position of authority, for
kings, princes, magistrates, pastors of churches, and doctors,
it is as necessary to be imbued with wisdom as it is for a
guide to have eyes, an interpreter to have speech, a trumpet
to be filled with sound, or a sword to have an edge.
Similarly, those in subordinate positions should be educated
that they may know how to obey their superiors wisely and
prudently, not under compulsion, with the obedience of an
ass, but of their own free will and from love of order. For
a rational creature should be led, not by shouts, imprison-
ment, and blows, but by reason. Any other method is an
insult to God, in whose image all men are made, and fills
human affairs with violence and unrest.

10. We-see then that all who are born to man’s estate
have need of instruction, since it is necessary that, being
men, they should not be wild beasts, savage brutes, or
inert logs. It follows also that one man excels another
in exact proportion as he has received more instruction.
We may conclude this chapter with the words of the “‘ Wise
Man.” “He who deems wisdom and discipline of no avail
is wretched ; his hopes (of attaining his desire) are vain,
his labour is fruitless, and his work idle” (Wisdom iii. 11).
CHAPTER VII

A MAN CAN MOST EASILY BE FORMED IN EARLY YOUTH, AND
CANNOT BE FORMED PROPERLY EXCEPT AT THIS AGE

1. From what has been said it is evident that the circum-
stances of men and of trees are similar. For, as a fruit
tree (an apple, a pear, a fig, or a vine) is able to grow from
its own stock and of its own accord, while a wild tree will
not bring forth sweet fruits until it be planted, watered,
and pruned by a skilled gardener, so does a man grow of
his own accord into a human semblance (just as any
brute resembles others of his own class), but is unable to
develope into a rational, wise, virtuous, and pious creature,
unless virtue and piety are first engrafted in him. We
will now show that this must take place while the plants
are young.

2. From the human point of view there are six reasons
for this. First, the uncertainty of our present life. For that
we must leave it is certain, but when and how is uncertain.
And that any should be snatched away unprepared is a
danger greatly to be dreaded, since a man is thus doomed
eternally. . For, just as a man must go through life without
a limb if he leave his mother’s womb bereft of it, so, if,
when we leave this world, our minds have not been
moulded to the knowledge of and participation in God,
there will be no further opportunity given us. And there-
fore, as the matter is of such importance, the greatest haste
is necessary, lest any man be lost.

14
210 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

3. And although death be far off and a long life be
assured, the formation of character should none the less
begin early, because life must be spent not in learning
but in acting. We should therefore be prepared for the
actions of life as soon as possible, since we may be com-
pelled to desist from action before we have learned our
lesson properly. Indeed, if any wish to devote his life to
learning, the multitude of objects which the Creator has
placed before his happy gaze is infinite, and, if he chance
to have a life like Nestor’s, he will find his most useful
occupation in discerning the treasures of divine wisdom
that the Creator has provided, and in thus preparing for
himself the bulwarks of a happy life. Man’s senses, there-
fore, must be early brought to bear on the world that
surrounds him, since throughout his whole life he’ has
much to learn, to experience, and to accomplish.

4. It is the nature of everything that comes into being,
that while tender it is easily bent and formed, but that,
when it has grown hard, it is not easy to alter. Wax,
when soft, can be easily fashioned and shaped ; when hard
it cracks readily. A young plant can be planted, trans-
planted, pruned, and bent this way or that. When it has
become a tree these processes are impossible. New-laid
eggs, when placed under a hen, grow warm quickly and
produce chickens; when they are old they will not do so.
If a rider wish to train a horse, a ploughman an ox, a
huntsman a ,dog or a hawk, a bear-leader a bear for
dancing, or an old woman a magpie, a raven, or a crow,
to imitate the human voice, they must choose them for
the purpose when quite young; otherwise their labour
is wasted.

5. It is evident that this holds good with man himself.
His brain, which we have already compared to wax, because
it receives the images of external objects that present them-
selves to its organs of sense, is, in the years of childhood,
quite wet and soft, and fit for receiving all images that
come to it. Later on, as we find by experience, it grows
hard and dry by degrees, so that things are less readily
MAN MOST EASILY FORMED IN YOUTH 211

 

impressed or engraved upon it. Hence Cicero’s remark,
“ Boys pick up countless things with rapidity.” In the same
way it is only in the years of boyhood, when the muscles
are still capable of being trained, that the hands and the
other members can be trained to produce skilled work. If
a man is to become a good writer, painter, tailor, smith,
cabinet-maker, or musician, he must apply himself to the
art from his early youth, when the imagination is active
and the fingers flexible: otherwise he will never produce
anything. If piety is to take root in any man’s heart, it
must be engrafted while he is still young ; if we wish any one
to be virtuous, we must train him in early youth; if we
wish him to make great progress in the pursuit of wisdom,
we must direct his faculties towards it in infancy, when desire
burns, when thought is swift, and when memory is tenacious.
“ An old man who has still to learn his lessons is a shame-
ful and ridiculous object ; training and preparation are for
the young, action for the old” (Seneca, Zpzst. 36).

6. In order that man may be fashioned to humanity, *
God has granted him the years of youth, which are unsuit-
able for everything but education. While the horse, the’
ox, the elephant, and other beasts, mere animated masses,
come to maturity in a few years, man alone scarcely does
so in twenty or thirty. Now, if any imagine that this arises
from chance or from some accidental cause or other, he
surely betrays his folly. To all other things, forsooth, God
has meted out their periods, while in the case of man
alone, the lord of all, He allows them to be fixed by
chance! Or are we to suppose that nature finds it easier
to complete the formation of man by slow processes?
Nature, who with no trouble can produce vaster bodies in
a few months. We can only suppose, therefore, that the
Creator, of deliberate intent, interposed the delay of youth,
in order that our period of training might be longer; and
ordained that for some time we should take no part in the
action of life, that, for the rest of our lives, and for eternity,
we might be the more fitted to do so.

7. In man, that alone is lasting which has been imbibed
212 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

in early youth, as is clear from the same examples. A jar,
even though broken, preserves the odour with which it
was imbued when new. When a tree is young its branches
spread out all round it, and remain in this position for
hundreds of years, until it is cut down. Wool is so tena-
cious of the colour with which it is first dyed, that it cannot
be bleached. The wooden hoop of a wheel, which has
been bent into a curve, will break into a thousand pieces
rather than return to straightness. And similarly, in a
man, first impressions cling so fast that nothing but a
miracle can remove them. It is therefore most prudent
that men be shaped to the standard of wisdom in early
youth.

8. Finally, it is most dangerous if a man be not imbued
with the cleanly precepts of life from his very cradle. For,
when the external senses begin to fulfil their functions, the
mind of man cannot remain at rest, and, if not engaged
with what is useful, it occupies itself with the vainest and
even with harmful things (a process which is assisted by
the evil examples of a corrupt age), while later on, if it
wish to unlearn what it has acquired, it finds this impos-
sible or very difficult; as we have already shown. Hence
the world is full of enormities which neither the civil
magistrates nor the ministers of the Church are able to
quell, since no serious attention is given to the source from
which the evil flows.

g. If, then, each man have the welfare of his own chil-
dren at heart, and if that of the human race be dear to the
civil and ecclesiastical guardians of human affairs, let them
hasten to make provision for the timely planting, pruning,
and watering of the plants of heaven, that these may be
prudently formed to make prosperous advances in letters,
virtue, and piety.
CHAPTER VIII

THE YOUNG MUST BE EDUCATED IN COMMON, AND FOR
THIS SCHOOLS ARE NECESSARY

1. Havinc shown that those plants of Paradise, Christian
children, cannot grow up like a forest, but need tending,
we must now see on whom this care should fall. It is
indeed the most natural duty of parents to see that the
lives for which they are responsible shall be rational,
virtuous, and pious. God Himself bears witness that this
was Abraham’s custom, when He says: “ For I have known
him, to the end that he may command his children and
his household after him, that they may keep the way of
the Lord, to do justice and judgment” (Gen. xviii. 19).
He demands it from parents in general, with this com-
mand: ‘And these words, which I command thee this
day, shall be upon thine heart, and thou shalt teach them
diligently unto thy children, and shall talk of them when
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the
way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up”
(Deut. vi. 7). By the Apostle also He says: “And ye
fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but nurture
them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord”
(Ephes. vi. 4).

2. But, since human occupations as well as human beings
have multiplied, it is rare to find men who have either
sufficient knowledge or sufficient leisure to instruct their
children. The wise habit has therefore arisen of giving

~

i
214 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

over children, for their common education, to select per-
sons, conspicuous for their knowledge of affairs and their
soberness of morals. To such instructors of the young
the name of preceptor, master, schoolmaster, or professor
has been applied, while the places destined for this com-
mon instruction have been named schools, elementary
schools, lecture-rooms, colleges, public schools, and univer-
sities.

3. On the authority of Josephus we learn that the
patriarch Shem opened the first school, just after the
flood. Later, this was called the Hebrew school. Who
does not know that in Chaldza, especially in Babylon,
there were many schools, in which the arts, including
astronomy, were cultivated? since, later on (in the time
of Nebuchadnezzar), Daniel and his companions were
instructed in the wisdom of the Chaldeans (Dan. i. 20),
as was also the case with Moses in Egypt (Acts vii. 22).
By the command of God, schools were set up in all the
towns of the children of Israel; they were called syna-
gogues, and in them the Levites used to teach the law.
These lasted till the coming of Christ, and became re-
nowned through His teaching and that of His Apostles.
The custom of erecting schools was borrowed by the
Romans from the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Jews,
and from the Romans it spread throughout their whole
empire, especially when the religion of Christ became
universal through the care of pious princes and bishops.
History relates that Charlemagne, whenever he subjected
any heathen race, forthwith ordained for it bishops and
learned men, and erected churches and schools; and after
him the other Christian emperors, kings, nobles, and magis-
trates have increased the number of schools so much that
they are innumerable.

4. It is to the interest of the whole Christian republic
that this Godly custom be not only retained but increased
as well, and that in every well-ordered habitation of man
(whether a city, a town, or a village), a school or place of
education for the young be erected. This is demanded :—
THE YOUNG MUST BE EDUCATED IN COMMON 215

 

5. (i) By the admirable method of transacting business
which is in common use. For, as the head of a household
makes use of various craftsmen when he has no leisure
time to prepare what is necessary for his household economy,
why should he make any difference in the case of education?
When he needs flour, he goes to the miller ; when flesh, to
the butcher ; when drink, to the inn-keeper ; when clothing,
to the tailor ; when shoes, to the cobbler; when a house, a
ploughshare, or a key, to the builder, the smith, or the lock-
smith. Again, we have churches for religious instruction, and
law courts and assembly rooms in which to discuss the causes
of litigants and make weighty announcements to the assem-
bled people ; why not schools also for the young? Farmers
do not feed their own pigs and cows, but keep hired herds-
men who feed them all at one time, while their masters,
free from distraction, transact their own business. For
this is a marvellous saving of labour, when one man, un-
disturbed by other claims on his attention, confines himself
to one thing; in this way one man can be of use to many,
and many to one man.

6. (ii) By necessity, because it is very seldom that
parents have sufficient ability or sufficient leisure to teach
their children. ‘The consequence is that there has arisen
a class of men who do this one thing alone, as a profession,
and that by this means the advantage of the whole com-
munity is attained.

7. (iii) 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.

It is when the steed has rivals to surpass or leaders to follow,
That he runs his best.
216 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

Young children, especially, are always more easily led
and ruled by example than by precept. If you give them
a precept, it makes but little impression ; if you point out
that others are doing something, they imitate without being
told to do so.

8. (iv) Again, nature is always showing us by examples
that whatever is to be produced in abundance must be
produced in some one place. Thus, for instance, wood is
produced in quantities in forests, grass in fields, fish in
lakes, and metals in the bowels of the earth.

Specialisation, too, is carried to such an extent, that the
forest which produces pines, cedars, or oaks, producesthem in
abundance, although other kinds of trees may be unable to
grow there; and, in the same way, land that produces gold
does not produce other metals in like quantity. This truth
can be seen much more plainly in our own bodies. It is
very important that each limb share in the nourishment
that is assimilated by the body. Its share, however, is not
transmitted to each in its raw state, to be there digested
and adaptéd; but there are certain fixed members, designed
as workshops for the performance of this function, namely,
to receive food for the use of the whole body, to heat it,
to digest it, and, at length, to distribute nourishment to
the other members. Thus, chyle is produced by the
stomach, blood by the liver, vital spirit by the heart, and
mental spirit by the brain: and these elements, when
prepared, are properly diffused throughout all the limbs
and preserve life in the whole body. And therefore, as
workshops supply manufactured goods, churches supply
piety, and law courts justice, why should not schools
produce, purify, and multiply the light of wisdom, and
distribute it to the whole body of the human community ?

g. (v) And, finally, we see the same tendency in the arts,
if a rational procedure be used. When a tree cultivator,
in his walks through woods and thickets, finds a sapling
suitable for transplanting, he does not plant it in the same
place where he finds it, but digs it out and places it in an
orchard, where he cares for it in company with a hundred
THE YOUNG MUST BE EDUCATED IN COMMON 217

 

others. And thus also, the man who breeds fishes for the
kitchen, digs fish-ponds and allows thousands to multiply
together. In these cases the larger the orchard the better
grow the trees, and the larger the fish-pond the larger
grow the fish. And therefore, as fish-ponds are dug for fish
and orchards are laid out for fruit-trees, so also should
schools be erected for the young.
fw

/

CHAPTER IX

ALL THE YOUNG OF BOTH SEXES SHOULD BE SENT TO
SCHOOL

1. THE following reasons will establish that not the chil-
dren of the rich or of the powerful only, but of 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.

2. In the first place, all who have been born to man’s

' estate have been born with the same end in view, namely,

N

‘that they may be men, that is to say, rational creatures,
the lords of other creatures, and the images of their Creator.
All, therefore, must be brought on to a point at which,
being properly imbued with wisdom, virtue, and piety, they -
may usefully employ the present life and be worthily pre-
pared for that to come. God Himself has frequently
asserted that with Him there is no respect of persons, so
that, if, while we admit some to the culture of the intellect,
we exclude others, we commit an injury not only against
those who share the same nature as ourselves, but against
God Himself, who wishes to be acknowledged, to be loved,
and to be praised by all upon whom He has impressed His
image. In this respect the fervour of all men will increase
in proportion to the flame of knowledge that has been
kindled. For our love is in direct ratio to our knowledge.

3. Now we do not know to what uses divine providence
has destined this or that man; but this is certain, that out
ALL THE YOUNG MUST GO TO SCHOOL 219

 

of the poorest, the most abject, and the most obscure, He
has produced instruments for His glory. Let us, therefore,
imitate the sun in the heavens, which lights, warms, and
vivifies the whole earth,.so that whatever is able to live, to
flourish, and to blossom, may do so.

4. Nor is it any obstacle that some seem to be naturally
dull and stupid, for this renders more imperative the
universal culture of such intellects. The slower and the
weaker the disposition of any man, the more he needs
assistance, that he may throw off his brutish dulness and
stupidity as much as possible. Nor can any man be found "
whose intellect is so weak that it cannot be improved by
culture. A sieve, if you continually pour water through it,
grows cleaner and cleaner, although it cannot retain the
liquid ; and, in the same way, the dull and the weak-minded,
though they may make no advance in letters, become softer
in disposition and learn to obey the civil magistrates and the
ministers of the Church. There have, besides, been many
instances in which those who are naturally stupid have
gained such a grasp of the sciences as to excel those who
were more gifted. As the poet truly says: “ Industry over-
comes all obstacles.” Again, just as some men are strong
as children, but afterwards grow sick and ailing, while
others, whose bodies are sickly and undersized in youth,
develope into robust and tall men; so it is with intellects.
Some develope early, but soon wear out and grow dull,
while others, originally stupid, become sharp and pene-
trating. In our orchards we like to have not only trees
that bring forth early fruit, but also those that are late-
bearing ; for each thing, as says the son of Sirach, finds
praise.in its season, and at length, though late, shows that
it has not existed in vain. Why, therefore, should we wish
that in the garden of letters only one class of intellects, the
forward and active, should be tolerated? Let none be ex-
cluded unless God has denied him sense and intelligence.

5. Nor can any sufficient reason be given why the
weaker sex (to give a word of advice on this point in
particular) should be altogether excluded from the pursuit
220 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

of knowledge (whether in Latin or in their mother-tongue).
They also are formed in the image of God, and share
in His grace and in the kingdom of the world to come.
They are endowed with equal sharpness of mind and
capacity for knowledge (often with more than the opposite
sex), and they are able to attain the highest positions,
since they have often been called by God Himself to rule
over nations, to give sound advice to kings and princes, to
the study of medicine and of other things which benefit
the human race, even to the office of prophesying and of
inveighing against priests and bishops. Why, therefore,
should we admit them to the alphabet, and afterwards
drive them away from books? Do we fear their folly?
The more we occupy their thoughts, so much the less will
the folly that arises from emptiness of mind find a place.

6. But let not all books be given to them indis-
criminately, as they have been given to the young of the
other sex (and indeed it is greatly to be deplored that
more caution has not been displayed in this matter) ; but
only those from which, by the due observation of God and
of His works, true virtue and true piety can be learned.

4. And let none cast in my teeth that saying of the
Apostle: “I permit not a woman to teach” (1 Tim. ii. 12),
or that of Juvenal in the sixth satire: “See that thy lawful
wife be not a chatterbox, that she express not the simplest
matter in involved language, nor be deeply versed in history,”
or the remark of Hippolytus in Euripides: ‘I detest a blue-
stocking. May there never be a woman in my house who
knows more than is fitting for a woman to know. For
tis in the wise especially that Cypris engenders the desire
for evil.” These opinions, I opine, stand in no true oppo-
sition to our demand. For we are not advising that
women be educated in such a way that their tendency to
curiosity shall be developed, but so that their sincerity and
contentedness may be increased, and this chiefly in those
things which it becomes a woman to know and to do; that.
is to say, all that enables her to look after her household
and to promote the welfare of her husband and her family.
ALL THE YOUNG MUST GO TO SCHOOL 221

 

8. If any ask, “What will be the result if artisans, ~
rustics, porters, and even women become lettered?” I
answer, If this universal instruction of youth be brought
about by the proper means, none of these will lack the
material for thinking, choosing, following, and doing good
things. All will know how the actions and endeavours of
life should be regulated, within what limits we must pro-
gress, and how each man can protect his own position.
Not only this, but all will regale themselves, even in the
midst of their work and toil, by meditation on the words
and works of God, and, by the constant reading of the
Bible and other good books, will avoid that idleness which
is so dangerous to flesh and blood. To sum up, they will
learn to see, to praise, and to recognise God everywhere,
and, in this way, to go through this life of care with enjoy-
ment, and to look for the life to come with increased
desire and hope. Does not such a condition of the Church
represent to us the only paradise that it is possible to realise ,
on this earth ?
CHAPTER X

THE INSTRUCTION GIVEN IN SCHOOLS SHOULD BE
UNIVERSAL

1. WE have already shown that every one ought to receive a
universal education, and this at school. But do not, there-
fore, imagine that we demand from all men a knowledge
(that is to say, an exact or deep knowledge) of all the arts
and sciences. This would neither be useful of itself, nor, on
account of the shortness of life, can it be attained by any
man. For we see that each science is so vast and so com-
plicated (as are physics, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy,
or even agriculture and arboriculture) that it would occupy
the lifetime of even the strongest intellects if they wished
to master it thoroughly by investigation and experiment.
Thus did Pythagoras devote himself to arithmetic, Archi-
medes to mechanics, Agricola to metallurgy,2 and Longo-
lius #2 (who spent his whole life in endeavouring to acquire
a perfect Ciceronian style) to rhetoric. 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 spectators.
For we must take strong and vigorous measures that no
man, in his journey through life, may encounter any-
thing so unknown to him that he cannot pass sound judg-
ment upon it and turn it to its proper use without serious
error.

2. We must, therefore, concentrate our energies on
INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOLS TO BE UNIVERSAL 223

 

obtaining that, throughout our whole lives#dn schools and
by the aid of schools: (i) our talents may be cultivated
by study of the sciences and of the arts; (ii) languages
may be learned ; (iii) honest morals may be formed; (iv)
God may be sincerely worshipped.

3. He spoke wisely who said that schools were the *
workshops of humanity, since it is undoubtedly through
their agency that man really becomes man, that is to say
(to refer to our previous analysis): (i) a rational creature ;
(ii) a creature which is lord over all creatures and also
over himself; (iii) a creature which is the delight of his
Creator. This will be the case if schools are able to pro-
duce men who are: wise in mind, prudent in action, and
pious in spirit.

4. These three principles, then, must be implanted in
all the young in all schools, and this I shall prove, starting
from the following fundamental points :—

(i) From the circumstances by which we are surrounded ;

(ii) From ourselves ;

(iii) From Christ the God-man, the most perfect example
of our perfection.

5. Things themselves, as far as they concern us, can
be divided into three classes only: (i) objects that we can
observe, such as the heavens, the earth, and all that is in
them ; (ii) objects that we can imitate, such as the marvellous
order which pervades all things, and which man ought to
imitate in his actions ; (ili) objects that we can enjoy, such
as the grace of God and His manifold blessing here and for
eternity. If man is to acquit himself creditably when
brought into contact with this order of nature, he must be
trained to know the things that are spread out for his
observation in this marvellous amphitheatre, to do the
things that it is right for him to do, and, finally, to enjoy
those things of which the most benign Creator, treating
him as a guest in His house, has, with liberal hand, given
him the fruition.

6. If we consider ourselves, we see clearly that learning,
virtue, and piety are of importance to all alike ; whether we
224 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

look at the essential being of the soul, or at the object of
our creation and introduction into the world.

7. The soul in its essential elements consists of three
potentialities, which recall the uncreated Trinity, and these
are the intellect, the will, and the memory. The province
of the intellect is to observe the differences between things,
even down to the smallest details. The will concerns itself
with choice—that is to say, with the choice of things that
are advantageous and the rejection of those which are not.
The memory stores up for future use all the things with
which the intellect and the will have been busied, and
reminds the soul of its dependence on God and of its
duty ; in which aspect it is also called conscience.

~ In order, then, that these faculties may rightly fulfil
their offices, it is necessary that they be furnished with
such things as may illumine the intellect, direct the will,
and stimulate the conscience, so that the intellect may be
acute and penetrating, the will may choose without error,
/ and the conscience may greedily refer all things to God.
Therefore, just as these faculties (the intellect, the will,
and the conscience) cannot be separated, since they con-
stitute the same soul, so it is impossible to separate those
. three ornaments of the soul, erudition, virtue, and piety.
ui 8. Now, if we consider why we have been sent into the
world, it will be evident from two points of view that the
object is threefold, namely, that we may serve God, His
creatures, and ourselves, and that we may enjoy the
pleasure to be derived from God, from His creatures, and
. from ourselves.

g. If we wish to serve God, our neighbours, and our-
selves, it is necessary for us to possess, with respect to
God, piety; with respect to our neighbours, virtue; and
with respect to ourselves, knowledge. These principles,
however, are intimately connected, and a man, for his own
advantage, should be not only learned, but also virtuous
and pious; for that of his neighbour, not only virtuous,
but also learned and pious; and for the glory of God, not
only pious, but also learned and virtuous.

1
INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOLS TO BE UNIVERSAL 225

 

to. If we consider the happiness to which God has
destined mankind, we find that He showed His intention
clearly when creating man, since He introduced him
into a world furnished with all good things; prepared
for him, in addition, a paradise of delights; and, finally,
arranged to make him a partner of His eternal happiness.

11. Now, by the term “happiness” we understand not
the pleasures of the body (though these, since they consist
of the vigour of good health, and of the enjoyment of food
and of sleep, can only arise from the virtue of temperance),
but those of the soul, which arise either out of the objects
around us, or from ourselves, or, finally, from God.

12. The pleasure which arises out of things themselves,
is the pleasure that a wise man experiences in speculation.
For, wherever he betakes himself, whatever he observes,
and whatever he considers, he finds everywhere such attrac-
tions, that often, as it were, snatched out of himself, he merges
his identity inthem. It is to this that the book of Wisdom
refers: “The conversation of wisdom hath no bitterness ;
and to live with her hath no sorrow, but mirth and joy”
(viii. 16). And a heathen philosopher says: “There is
nothing in life more pleasant than to seek out wisdom.”

13. Pleasure in self is that very sweet delight which
arises when a man, who is given over to virtue, rejoices in
his own honest disposition, since he sees himself prompt
to all things which the order of justice requires. This
pleasure is far greater than the former one, according to
the proverb “A good conscience is a perpetual feast.”

14. Delight in God is the highest point to which
pleasure can attain in this life, and is found when a man,
feeling that God is eternally gracious to him, exults in His
fatherly and immutable favour to such a degree that his
heart melts with the love of God. He desires to know or
to do nothing further, but, overwhelmed by God’s mercy,
he rests in peace and tastes the joys of eternal life. This
is “the peace of God which passeth all understanding”
(Phil. iv. 7), than which nothing more sublime can be
desired or imagined.

15
226 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

These three principles, therefore, learning, virtue, and
piety, are the three founts from which all the streams of
the most perfect pleasures flow.

15. Lastly,God Himself, manifest in the flesh (that He
might exhibit in Himself the perfection of all things), has
taught by His example that these three elements must exist
in each individual. For the Evangelist testifies that He
advanced not only in stature, but also in wisdom and favour
with God and man (Luke ii. 52). Here can be seen
the blessed Trinity that adorns us. For what is wisdom
but the knowledge of things as they are? What is it that
brings us favour with men, if not amiability of character?
What procures us the grace of God, if not the fear of the
Lord, that is to say, inward, serious, and fervid piety?
Let us, therefore, realise in ourselves that which we have
seen in Jesus Christ, the absolute ideal of all perfection,
the standard set up for us to imitate.

16. For this reason He said, “ Learn of me” (Matt. xi.
29). And since this same Christ has been given to the
human race as the most learned teacher, as the most holy
priest, and as the most powerful king, it is evident that
Christians should be formed on His model and should
be enlightened through their intellects, sanctified through
their consciences, and made powerful through their deeds
(each in his own calling). Our schools, therefore, will
then at length be Christian schools when they make us as
like to Christ as is possible.

17. It is, therefore, an unhallowed separation if these
three elements be not bound together as if by an
adamantine chain. How wretched is the teaching that
does not lead to virtue and to piety! For what is literary
skill without virtue? He who makes progress in know-
ledge but not in morality (says an old proverb), recedes
rather than advances. And thus, what Solomon said of
the beautiful but foolish woman, holds good of the learned
man who possesses not virtue: “As a jewel of gold in
a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without dis-
cretion” (Prov. xi. 22). For, just as gems are set not in
INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOLS TO BE UNIVERSAL 227

 

lead but in gold, in which combination both are more
beautiful, thus should knowledge be joined not to
immorality but to virtue, when each will add adornment
to the other. For the fear of the Lord, as it is the
beginning and the end of wisdom, is also the coping-stone
and crown of knowledge. The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom (Prov. i. and elsewhere).

18. Since, therefore, a man’s whole life depends on
the instruction that he has received during boyhood,
every opportunity is lost unless the minds of all are then
prepared for every emergency that may arise in life. Just
as in his mother’s womb each man receives his full com-
plement of limbs,—hands, feet, tongue, etc.—although all
men are not to be artificers, runners, scribes, or orators ;
so at school all men should be taught whatever concerns ~
man, though in after life some things will be of more use
to one man, others to another.
ae

CHAPTER XI
HITHERTO THERE HAVE BEEN NO PERFECT SCHOOLS

1. THis confident heading may seem too presumptuous ;
but I challenge the facts themselvés, and, while I constitute
the reader as judge, will myself do nothing but summon
witnesses. I call a school that fulfils its function perfectly,
one which is a true forging-place of men ; 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 (comp. Wisdom vii. 21), where the emotions
and the desires are brought into harmony with virtue, and
where the heart is filled 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.

2. But has any school either existed on this plane of
perfection or held this goal in view; not to ask if any has
ever reached it? Lest I should seem to chase Platonic
ideas and to dream of perfection such as exists nowhere
and cannot be hoped for in this life, I will point out by
another argument that such schools ought to be and have
never yet existed.

3. Dr. Luther, in his exhortation to towns of the
empire on behalf of the erection of schools (a.p. 1525),
asks for these two things, among others. Firstly, that
schools may be founded in all cities, towns, and villages,
AITHERTO NO PERFECT SCHOOLS 229

 

for the instruction of all the young of both sexes (the
necessity of which we proved in chap. ix.), so that
even peasants and artisans may, for two hours daily,
receive instruction in useful knowledge, in morality, and in
religion. Secondly, that an easier method of instruction
may be introduced, so that students, instead of developing
an antipathy towards learning, may be enticed by irresistible
attractions, and that, as he says, boys may gain no less
pleasure from study than from spending whole days in
playing ball and amusing themselves. These are the
views of Dr. Luther.

4. This is indeed a noble counsel, and worthy of such
aman! But who does not see that matters have gone no
farther than his wish? For where are those universal
schools, where is that attractive method ?

5. It is evident that nothing has been done, since in
the smaller villages and hamlets no schools have been
founded.

6. Where schools exist, they are not for the whole
community, but only for the rich, since, owing to their
cost, the poor cannot gain admission to them, except by
some chance, such as pity on the part of some one.
Among those excluded there are probably some excellent
intellects, which are thus ruined and destroyed, to the
great loss of the Church and of the state.

7. Further, the method used in instructing the young
has generally been so severe that schools have been looked
on as terrors for boys and shambles for their intellects,
and the greater number of the students, having contracted
a dislike for learning and for books, have hastened away
to the workshops of artificers or to some other occupation.

8. On the other hand, those who remained at school
(whether compelled to do so by parents and guardians, or
influenced by the hope of obtaining some honourable
position by means of their attainments, or drawn towards
the liberal arts spontaneously and of their own nature)
did not receive a serious or comprehensive education, but
a preposterous and wretched one. For piety and virtue,
230 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

which form the most important element in education, were
neglected more than anything else. In all the schools
(and even in the universities, which ought to embody the
greatest advances of human culture) these subjects held
only a secondary place, so that for the most part, instead
of tractable lambs, fiery wild asses and restive mules were
produced ; and instead of characters moulded to virtue,
nothing issued from the schools but a spurious veneer of
morality, a fastidious and exotic clothing of culture, and
eyes, hands, and feet trained to worldly vanities. How
few of these mannikins, who had for so long been polished
by such a training in the languages and in the arts,
realised that to the rest of the world they ought to be
an example of temperance, charity, humility, humanity,
gravity, patience, and continence!

The reason of this evidently is that the question of
“virtuous living” is never raised in the schools. This is
shown by the wretched discipline in nearly all schools, by
the dissolute morals of all classes, and by the never-
ceasing complaints, sighs, and tears of pious men. Can
any one defend the condition in which our schools have
been? An hereditary disease, sprung from our first
parents, pervades all classes, so that, shut out from the
tree of life, we direct our desires inordinately towards the
tree of knowledge, and our schools also, permeated by this
insatiable appetite, have hitherto pursued nothing but
intellectual progress.

g. But with what method or with what success have
they done even this? In truth, the only result achieved
was the following. For five, ten, or more years they
detained the mind over matters that could be mastered in
one. What could have been gently instilled into the
intellect, was violently impressed upon it, nay rather
stuffed and flogged into it. What might have been
placed before the mind plainly and lucidly, was treated of
obscurely, perplexedly, and intricately, as if it were a
complicated riddle.

to. In addition, though for the present we will pass
AITHERTO NO PERFECT SCHOOLS 231

 

this over, the intellect was scarcely ever nourished by the
actual facts, but was filled with the husks of words, with
a windy and parrot-like loquacity, and with the chaff of
opinions.

~ 11. The study of the Latin language alone (to take
this subject as an example), good heavens! how intricate,
how complicated, and how prolix it was! Camp followers
and military attendants, engaged in the kitchen and in
other menial occupations, learn a tongue that differs from
their own, sometimes two or three, quicker than the
children in schools learn Latin only, though children have
abundance of time, and devote all their energies to it.
And with what unequal progress! The former gabble
their languages after a few months, while the latter, after
fifteen or twenty years, can only put a few sentences into
Latin with the aid of grammars and of dictionaries, and
cannot do even this without mistakes and _ hesitation.
Such a disgraceful waste of time and of labour must
assuredly arise from a faulty method.

12. On this subject the celebrated Eilhard Lubinus,
professor in the University of Rostock, has with justice
remarked: “When I consider the ordinary method of
teaching boys in schools, it seems to me as if it had
been laboriously devised with a view to make it impos-
sible for teachers and pupils alike to lead or to be led to
a knowledge of the Latin tongue, without great labour,
great tedium, infinite trouble, and the greatest possible
consumption of time. A state of things which I cannot
think of without shuddering.” And a little farther on:
“ After frequent consideration of these matters I find
myself always led to the conclusion, that the entire system
must have been introduced into schools by some evil and
envious genius, the enemy of the human race.” So says
Lubinus, who is only one out of many authorities whom
I could quote in my favour.

13. But what need is there of witnesses? How many
of us there are who have left the schools and universities
with scarcely a notion of true learning! I, unfortunate
232 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

man that I am, am one of many thousands, who have
miserably lost the sweetest spring-time of their whole life,
and have wasted the fresh years of youth on scholastic
trifle. Ah, how often, since my mind has been en-
lightened, has the thought of my wasted youth wrung
sighs from my breast, drawn tears frém my eyes, and filled
my heart with sorrow! How often has my grief caused
me to exclaim:

Oh that Jupiter could bring back to me the years that are past
and gone!

14. But these prayers are in vain.. Bygone days will
never return. None of us who is advanced ir years
can grow young again, commence his career anew, and,
furnished with a better method, pursue it more success-
fully. Of this there is no question. One thing alone
does remain, and that is to give those who come after us
such advice as we can. By showing how it was that our
masters led us into error we shall be able to point out the
way in which such errors may be avoided.
CHAPTER XII
IT IS POSSIBLE TO REFORM SCHOOLS

1. To cure deep-seated maladies is difficult and often
well-nigh impossible. But if any one offer an efficacious
remedy, does the sick man reject his services? Does he
not rather wish to obtain aid as quickly as possible, and
especially if he think that the physician is guided not by
mere opinion but by solid reason? We, at any rate, in
this our undertaking, have reached the point at which we
must make plain (1) what we actually promise, and (2) on
what principles we intend to proceed.

2. We promise, then, such a system of education that

(i) All the young shall be educated (except those to
whom God has denied understanding).

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

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

(iv) That this education shall be conducted without
blows, rigour, or compulsion, as gently and pleasantly as
possible, and in the most natural manner (just as a
living body increases in size without any straining or forcible
extension of the limbs; since if food, care, and exercise
are properly supplied, the body grows and becomes strong,
gradually, imperceptibly, and of its own accord. In the
same way I maintain that nutriment, care, and exercise,
AS

234 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

prudently supplied to the mind, lead it naturally to wisdom,
virtue, and piety).

(v) That the education given shall be not false but real,
not superficial but thorough; that is to say, that the
rational animal, man, shall be guided, not by the intellects
of other men, but by his own; shall not merely read the
opinions of others and grasp their meaning or commit them
to memory and repeat them, but shall himself penetrate to
the root of things and acquire the habit of genuinely
understanding and making use of what he learns.

(vi) That this education shall be not laborious but 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 hundreds of pupils at the same time,
with ten times as little trouble as is now expended on the
teaching of one.

3. But who will have faith in these things before he
see them? It is a well-known peculiarity of men that
before a remarkable discovery is made they wonder how
it can be possible, while after its achievement they are
surprised that it was not discovered before. When Archi-
medes undertook for King Hiero to move down to the sea
with one hand an immense ship that a hundred men were
not able to stir, his proposal was received with laughter ;
but its accomplishment was viewed with stupefaction.

4. When Columbus suspected that there were new
islands in the west, no one, with the exception of the King
of Castille, was willing to hear him or give him any assist-
ance towards making the experiment. It is related that
his very companions on the voyage, in despair at their
frequent disappointments, were within a little of throwing
him into the sea and returning with their task unfulfilled.
But, in spite of all, that vast new continent was discovered,
and now we all wonder how it could have remained so
long unknown. ‘That well-known jest of Columbus illus-
trates the same point. For when, at a banquet, some
Spaniards, who were envious that an Italian should have
the glory of such a discovery, began to mock him, and
IT IS POSSIBLE TO REFORM SCHOOLS 235

 

tauntingly said that the other hemisphere had been dis-
covered not by skill but by chance, and could have been
just as easily discovered by anybody else, he proposed an
elegant problem. “How,” he asked, “can a hen’s egg,
unsupported, be made to stand on its end?” When all
had tried in vain to do this, he tapped the shell gently
upon the table, cracked it, and in this way made it stand.
The others laughed, and exclaimed that they could do the
same thing. “No doubt you can, now that you have seen
how it can be done,” said he, “but how is it that no one
could do it before me?”

5. I believe that the same thing would have happened
if John Faust, the inventor of printing, had made it known
that he possessed a method by which one man, within
a week, could copy more books than ten of the fastest
copyists could copy in a year in the ordinary way; that
the books would be better written ; that from beginning to
end all the copies would be exactly similar; and that all
would be absolutely free from errors provided that one
copy had been corrected. Who would have believed him?
Who would not have thought it a riddle, or a piece of vain
and foolish boasting? And yet every child knows now
that this is sober truth.

6. If Berthold Schwartz, the inventor of muskets, had
addressed the archers with these words: “ Your bows, your
catapults, and your slings are of little worth. I will give
you a weapon which, without any human force, by the
agency of fire alone, will not only hurl forth stones and
iron, but will propel them farther and with more certainty,
so that they will strike, uproot, or lay low whatever comes
in their way.” Which of them would not have received
him with laughter? So much is it the custom to consider
everything new as marvellous and incredible.

7. Nor could the American Indians comprehend how
one man is able to communicate his thoughts to another
without the use of speech, without a messenger, but by
simply sending a sheet of paper. Yet with us a man of
the meanest intelligence can understand this.
236 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

Thus do the perplexities of one age afford amusement
to the next.

8. I can easily see that this will happen to my new
undertaking ; in fact, I have already experienced it. Some
people are certain to be indignant that there are men who
find imperfections in the schools, books, and methods in
use, and who dare to promise something unusual and ex-
traordinary.

g. It would be easy for me to appeal to results as the
most trustworthy witnesses (such confidence do I place in
my God). But since I am writing this, not for the un-
learned crowd, but for men of education, I must give
demonstrative proof that it is possible to imbue all the
young with knowledge, virtue, and piety, and to do so
without that unpleasantness and difficulty continually
experienced by the teachers, no less than by the learners,
under the old system.

1o. The one and sufficient demonstration is this: That
each individual creature not only suffers itself to be easily
led in the direction which its nature finds congenial, but is
actually impelled towards the desired goal, and suffers pain
if any obstacle be interposed.

11. A bird learns to fly, a fish to swim, and a beast to
run without any compulsion. They do these things of
their own accord as soon as they feel that their limbs are
sufficiently strong. Water runs downhill of its own accord,
and, in the same way, fire burns when fuel and a current
of air are supplied; a round stone rolls down hill, while a
square stone remains stationary; the eye and a mirror
receive the impression of an object when there is sufficient
light, and seeds sprout when their surroundings are
suitably warm and damp. In fact, each of these things
strives to fulfil the function for which it is naturally fitted,
and does this more perfectly when assisted, no matter how
slight the assistance may be.

12. Since then, as we saw in chap. v., the seeds of
knowledge, of virtue, and of piety exist in all men (with
the exception of monstrosities), it follows of necessity that
LT IS POSSIBLE TO REFORM SCHOOLS 237

 

they need nothing but a gentle impulse and prudent
guidance.

13. But, it is objected, it is not out of every piece of
wood that a Mercury can be carved. I answer: But out
of every human being, if he be not utterly corrupt, a man
can be formed.

_14. But our inner strength, some one will remark, has
been weakened by the Fall. I reply, weakened, yes, but
not extinguished. Even our bodily force, if it be in bad
condition, can be restored to its natural vigour by walking,
running, and artificial forms of exercise. For, although
the first created were able to walk, speak, and think as
soon as they came into existence, while we cannot do so
unless taught by practice, it does not therefore follow that
these things cannot be learned without perplexity, labour,
and uncertainty. For, if we learn without very great diffi-
culty to perform the functions of the body, such as eating,
drinking, walking, and jumping, why should we not learn
to perform those of the mind with similar ease, if the
proper instruction be given? Again, in a few months
a horse-trainer can teach a horse to trot, jump, run in a
circle, and perform evolutions to signs given by a whip ;
a mere circus performer teaches a bear to dance, a hare to
beat the drum, and a dog to plough, to wrestle, or to
divine; a weak old woman can teach her parrot, her
magpie, or her crow to imitate a human voice or a melody ;
and all these things can be taught in a short time, although
they are contrary to nature. And shall not a man be
easily taught those things to which nature, I will not say
admits him, or leads him, but rather urges and impels him ?
The trainers of animals would laugh at any one who
seriously brought forward this argument.

15. But it is objected that, owing to the difficulty of
the subjects to be learned, all men cannot grasp them.
I reply: What is that difficulty? Does there exist any
body of such a dark colour that it cannot be reflected in a
mirror, if placed conveniently in the light? Is there any-
thing that cannot be painted on a canvas, provided that
238 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

the man who paints has learned the art of painting? Is
there any seed or root that the earth cannot receive and
bring to germination by its warmth, if the gardener under-
stand when, where, and how it should be sown? More-
over, there is in the world no rock or tower of such a
height that it cannot be scaled by any man (provided he
lack not feet) if ladders are placed in the proper position
or steps are cut in the rock, made in the right place, and
furnished with railings against the danger of falling over.
It is true that very few scale the heights of wisdom, though
many start gaily on the journey, and that those who get any
distance do so at the cost of toil, loss of breath, weariness,
and giddiness ; this, however, does not prove that there
is anything inaccessible to the human intellect, but only
that the steps are not well disposed, or are insufficient,
dangerous, and in bad repair—in other words, that the
method is complicated. It is an undoubted fact that any
man can attain any height that he may desire by means
of steps that are properly disposed, sufficient in number,
solid, and safe.
16. It will be urged, Some men have such weak
intellects that it is not possible for them to acquire
knowledge. I answer, It is scarcely possible to find a
“mirror so dulled that it will not reflect images of some kind,
or for a tablet to have such a rough surface that nothing
t can be inscribed on it. Again, if the mirror be soiled by
dirt or by spots, it must first be cleaned; if the tablet be
rough, it must be polished; both will then perform their
, functions. In the same way, if teachers take sufficient
“ trouble, men will become polished, and finally all men will
\ understand all things (I stand firmly by my watchword
because my fundamental principles prove correct). There
is naturally a difference in intellects, and while those who
are slow may only be able to attain to one stage of
knowledge, the more gifted advance higher and higher,
from one object to another, and collect new observations
which are of great utility. Finally, though there may be
some intellects that do not admit of culture, just as knotty
IT IS POSSIBLE TO REFORM SCHOOLS 239

 

wood is unsuitable for carving, even then my assertion will
hold good for men of ordinary capacity, of whom, through
God’s grace, there is always a sufficiency. Indeed a man
quite wanting in intellect is as rare a phenomenon as one
who, from his birth, has lacked his full complement of
limbs. For, in truth, blindness, deafness, lameness, and
weakness seldom accompany a man from his cradle, but
are caused by his own negligence; and thus it is with
exceptional weakness of intellect.

17. A further objection is brought forward: With
many not the capacity to learn but the inclination is lack-
ing, and to compel these against their will is as unpleasant
as it is useless. JI answer: There is a story told of a
philosopher who had two pupils, of whom one was idle and
the other industrious. Both were sent away by their
master; for one would not learn, though able to do so,
while the other could not, though anxious to acquire
knowledge. But how does the matter stand if it be shown
that the teacher himself is the reason of the pupil’s aversion
to learning? Truly did Aristotle say that all men are
born anxious to acquire knowledge, and that this is so we
have seen in chapters v. and xi. In practice, however, the
tender indulgence of parents hinders the natural tendency
of children, and later on frivolous society leads them into
idle ways, while the various occupations of city and court
life, and the external circumstances which surround them,
turn them away from their real inclinations. Thus it comes
to pass that they show no desire to investigate what is
unknown, and cannot concentrate their thoughts with ease.
(For just as the tongue, when permeated with one flavour,
judges another with difficulty, so the mind, when occupied
with one subject, finds it hard to give its attention to
another.) In these cases the external distraction must
first be removed; nature will then assert itself with its
original vigour, and the desire for knowledge will once
more be apparent. But how many of those who undertake
to educate the young appreciate the necessity of first
teaching them how to acquire knowledge? The turner
240 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

shapes a block of wood with his axe before he turns it;
the blacksmith heats iron before he hammers it ; the cloth-
weaver, before he spins his wool, first cleans, washes, cards,
and fulls it; the shoemaker, before he sews the shoe, pre-
pares, shapes, and smooths the leather; but who, I ask,
ever thinks it necessary that the teacher, in the same way,
should make his pupils anxious for information, capable of
receiving instruction, and therefore ready for a many-sided
education, before he begins to place knowledge before
them? Teachers almost invariably take their pupils as
they find them ; they turn them, beat them, card them,
comb them, drill them into certain forms, and expect them
to become a finished and polished product; and if the
result does not come up to their expectations (and I ask
you how could it?) they are indignant, angry, and furious.
And yet we are surprised that some men shrink and recoil
from such a system. Far more is it matter for surprise
that any one can endure it at all. .

18. This is a suitable place in which to make a few
remarks about differences of character. Some men are
sharp, others dull; some soft and yielding, others hard
and unbending ; some eager after knowledge, others more
anxious to acquire mechanical skill. From these three
pairs of contradictory characters we get in all six distinct
divisions.

1g. In the first division must be placed those who
are sharp-witted, anxious to learn, and easily influenced.
These, more than all others, are suited for instruction.
There is no need to provide them with what we may term
a nutritive diet of knowledge, for, like goodly trees, they
grow in wisdom of themselves. Nothing is needed but
foresight ; for they should not be allowed to hurry on too
fast and thus to tire themselves out and wither away before
their time.

20. Others are sharp-witted, but inclined to be slow and
lazy. These must be urged on.

21. In the third place we have those who are sharp-
witted and anxious to learn, but who at the same time are
IT IS POSSIBLE TO REFORM SCHOOLS 241

 

perverse and refractory. These are usually a great source
of difficulty in schools, and for the most part are given
up in despair. If treated in the right way, however,
they frequently develope into the greatest men. A good
example of this type is Themistocles, the great Athenian
general. As a youth he was very wild, so that his tutor
said to him: “ My boy, you will not develope into anything
mediocre ; you will be either of great use or of great harm
to your country.” And later on, when people wondered
at his strange character, he used to say, “ Wild colts make
the best horses, if only they are properly trained.” Indeed,
this was the case with Bucephalus, the horse of Alexander
the Great. For, when Alexander saw that his father
Philip was about to give away this unruly animal, which
would suffer no rider on his back, he said: ‘What a
magnificent horse these people are spoiling. They are
unskilled and do not know how to treat it!” He forth-
with took the horse in hand, and with marvellous skill (for
he never used blows) he got it into such a condition that
not only then but ever afterwards it carried him well, and
no horse more noble or more worthy of his great master
could be found in the whole world. Plutarch, who tells us
this anecdote, remarks: “This story reminds us that many
men of good parts are ruined by their teachers, who, in
their inability to rule or to guide free men, treat them not
as horses but as asses.”

22. In the fourth place we have those who are flexible
and anxious to learn, but who at the same time are slow
and heavy. ‘These can follow in the footsteps of the last-
mentioned. But to render this possible the teacher must’
meet their weak natures half-way, must lay no heavy burden
on them, must not demand anything excessive, but rather
have patience, help them, strengthen them, and set them
right, that they may not be disheartened. Though such
pupils take longer to come to maturity, they will probably
last all the better, like fruit that ripens late. And, just as
the impression of a seal made in lead lasts a long time,
though hard to make, so these men have more stable

16
242 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

characters than those who are more gifted, and do not
easily forget what they have once learned. At school,
therefore, they should be given every opportunity.

23. The fifth type are those who are weak-minded and
at the same'time lazy and idle. With these also a great
improvement can be made, provided they are not obstinate.
But great skill and patience are necessary.

24. Finally, we have those whose intellects are weak,
and whose dispositions are perverse and wicked as well.
These seldom come to any good. But, as it is certain that
nature always provides some antidote for pernicious things,
and that barren trees can be rendered fruitful if properly
transplanted, we ought not to give up all hope, but should
see if the perverseness, at least, cannot be combated and
got rid of. It is only when this proves impossible that
the twisted and knotted piece of wood may be cast aside, ,
since it is useless to attempt to carve a Mercury out of it.
“ Barren land,” says Cato, “should not be cultivated ; nor
even once ploughed.” But an intellect of this kind, amen-
able to no treatment, can scarcely be found in a thousand,
and this is a great proof of God’s goodness.

25. The substance of these remarks is in harmony with
the following saying of Plutarch: “For the characters of
young children, no man is responsible ; but it is in our power
to make them virtuous by a proper training.” Mark this
well; he says “in our power.” For the gardener can
unfailingly train a struggling shoot into a tree, by using
his skill in transplanting.

26. The four following reasons show that all the young,

‘though of such different dispositions, may be instructed
and educated by the same method.

27. Firstly: For all men the goal is the same, namely,
knowledge, virtue, and piety.

28. Secondly: All men, though their dispositions may
differ, possess the same human nature, and are endowed
with the same organs of sense and of reason.

29. Thirdly: The differences of character are caused
by nothing more than a superfluity or a lack of some of
IT 1S POSSIBLE TO REFORM SCHOOLS 243

 

the elements in the natural harmony, just as bodily
diseases are nothing but abnormal states of wetness or
dryness, of heat or cold. For example, what is sharpness
of intellect but the fineness and rapid motion of the vital
spirit in the brain, which passes through the sensory lobes
with very great speed, and rapidly apprehends external
objects? But if no obstacle be put in the way of this
rapid motion, it dissipates the intellect and leaves the
brain either weak or sluggish. Hence it is that so many
precocious boys either die young or become stupid.

On the other hand, what is stupidity but a clammy
viscosity of the humours of the brain, which can only be
set in motion by constant suggestion? What are insolence
and intractability but an excess of spirit and stubbornness,
which must be tempered by discipline? What is slack-
“ness but a great lack of spirit which must be made good?
Just as, then, the best remedies for bodily diseases are not
those which try to put one extreme to flight by another
(for this only makes the struggle greater), but those which
seek to moderate all extremes, so that there shall not be
too little on one side and too much on the other; so the
best remedy against the errors of the human mind is a
didactic method of such a kind that by its means excess
and defect may be neutralised in the natural disposition,
and that all the mental principles may be brought into
harmony and into a pleasant agreement. Our method,
therefore, is intended for intellects in which no element
exists in an extreme form (and indeed these are always the
most common), so that neither reins may be wanting to
restrain active minds (that they may not wear themselves
out before their time) nor spurs and goads to urge on the
laggards.

30. Finally: Every excess or defect of disposition can
be counteracted as long as it is not of old standing. In
warfare, recruits are mixed with old soldiers ; the weak and
the strong, the sluggish and the active, fight under the same
standard and obey the same orders as long as the battle
continues. But, when the victory is gained, each pursues
244 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

the enemy as far as he is able, and takes as much booty as
he wants. Thus it is in the camp of knowledge; the slow
are mixed with the swift, the weak with the quick-witted,
the obstinate with the yielding, and are guided by the
same precepts and examples as long as guidance is
necessary. But, when school-days are over, each one must
finish the remainder of his studies with what speed he can.

31. When I talk of admixture of intellects, I refer not
so much to the spot where the instruction takes place as
to the additional assistance that can be given to the pupil.
For instance, if the teacher observe that one boy is cleverer
than the rest, he can give him two or three stupid boys
to teach; if he perceive one more trustworthy than the
others, he may allow him to watch and to control those
who have less character. Both will gain great advantage
from this, provided that the teacher keep his eye on them, -
to see that everything is conducted as reason prescribes.
But it is now time to have done with preliminaries, and to
deal with the real subject of this treatise.
CHAPTER XIII

THE BASIS OF SCHOOL REFORM MUST BE EXACT ORDER
IN ALL THINGS

1. WE find on investigation that the principle which really
holds together the fabric of this world of ours, down to
its smallest detail, is none other than order ; that is to say,
the proper division of what comes before and what comes
after, of the superior and the subordinate, of the large and
the small, of the similar and dissimilar, according to place,
time, number, size, and weight, so that each may fulfil its
function well. Order, therefore, has been called the soul
of affairs. For everything that is well ordered preserves
its position and its strength as long as it maintains its
order; it is when it ceases to do so that it grows weak,
totters, and falls. This may be seen clearly in instances
taken from nature and from art.

2. Through what agency, I ask, does the world maintain
its present condition? what is it that gives it its great
stability? It is this, that each creature, obeying the com-
mand of nature, restrains its action within the proper
limits; and thus, by careful observation of order in small
details, the order of the universe is maintained.

3. Through what agency is the flux of time divided so
accurately and so continuously into years, months, and
days? Through none but the inflexible order of the vault
of heaven.

4. What enables bees, ants, and spiders to do work of
246 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

such fineness that the mind of man finds it easier to marvel
at than to imitate it? Nothing but their natural talent
for harmoniously combining order, number, and mass in
their constructions.

5. What is it that constitutes the human body such a
marvellous instrument that it can perform almost countless
functions, even though it have very few resources at its
disposal? I mean, that with the few limbs it possesses,
it can produce works whose complexity is so wondrous
that nothing remains to be desired? It is without question
the harmonious disposition of the limbs, and of their
constituent parts, that brings this about.

6. What is it that makes it possible for a single mind
to rule the whole body in which it dwells, and to direct so
many operations at the same time? Nothing but the
harmonious order in which the limbs are connected, and
which enables them to obey the slightest hint given by the
mind, and to set themselves in motion immediately.

7. How is it that a single man, a king or an emperor,
can rule whole nations ; that, although there are as many
wills as there are individuals, all subordinate themselves to
the service of that one man, and that, if his affairs go well,
the affairs of each subject also must prosper? Again it
is order that brings this about. Through its agency all
are held together by the connecting bands of law and of
obedience, so that some subjects are directly subordinate
to and in immediate contact with the supreme ruler,
while others in their turn are subordinate to these, and so
on down to the meanest serf. The arrangement thus
resembles a chain in which each link is intimately con-
nected so that if the first be moved or remain at rest all
the others will follow suit.

8. How was it that Hiero, unaided, could move a
weight which hundreds of men had in vain tried to stir?
Assuredly it was by means of a cleverly-devised machine,
in which the cylinders, wheels, and other parts were
arranged in such a way that when one worked on the
other the force applied was much increased.
ORDER THE BASIS OF SCHOOL REFORM 247

 

g. The terrible operations of artillery, by which walls
are broken down, towers are shattered, and armies are laid
low, depend on nothing but the proper arrangement of
materials, so that the active is placed in close connection
with the passive element; that is to say, on the proper
mixing of saltpetre with sulphur (the coldest substance with
the hottest), on the proper construction of the cannon, on
its being skilfully loaded with powder and missiles, and,
lastly, on its being correctly pointed at the objects to be
hit. If one of these conditions be not properly fulfilled,
the whole apparatus is useless.

to. How is it that the processes of printing, by which
books can be multiplied quickly, neatly, and correctly, are
properly carried out? Assuredly by means of order.
The type must be cut, moulded, and polished, placed
suitably in the type-boxes, and then arranged in the
right order, while the paper must be prepared, damped,
stretched, and placed under the press.

11. To take another example of mechanism. How is
it that a carriage, a construction of wood and iron, can be
so easily drawn by the horses that are fastened to it, and
can be of such use for the conveyance of men and
burdens? This is brought about by nothing but the
skilful arrangement of wood and of iron in the wheels, the
axle-trees, and the shafts. If one of these parts give way,
the whole construction is useless.

12. How is it that men can trust themselves to the
stormy sea in a construction made of a few pieces of
wood? How is it that they make their way to the
antipodes and return safe and sound? It is nothing but
the proper combination of keel, mast, rudder, compass,
etc., in the ship that enables them to do so. If any one
of these fail in its action, they are in great danger of
shipwreck or of foundering.

13. Finally, how is it that the machine for measuring
time, the clock, which is nothing but a well-arranged and
well-devised disposition of iron parts, moves harmoniously
and evenly, and marks off minutes, hours, days, months,
248 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

and sometimes years? and this not only for the eyes but
for the ears as well, that it may give some sign at night
and to those at a distance? How is it that such an
instrument can wake a man out of sleep at a given hour,
and can strike a light to enable him to see? How is it
that it can indicate the quarters of the moon, the positions
of the planets, and the eclipses? Is it not a truly
marvellous thing that a machine, a soulless thing, can
move in such a life-like, continuous, and regular manner ?
Before clocks were invented would not the existence of
such things have seemed as impossible as that trees could
walk or stones speak? Yet every one can see that they
exist now.

14. What is the hidden power that brings this to
pass? Nothing but the all-ruling force of order; that is
to say, the force derived from arranging all the parts
concerned according to their number, size, and import-
ance, and in such a manner that each one shall perform
its own proper function as well as work harmoniously with
and assist the other parts whose action is necessary to
produce the desired result ; that is to say, the size of each
part must be carefully regulated to suit that of the rest;
each part must fit properly into those which surround it ;
and the general laws that regulate the equal distribution
of force to the several parts must be observed. In such
a case all the processes are more exact than in a living
body controlled by one mind. But if any part get out of
position, crack, break, become loose or bent, though it be
the smallest wheel, the most insignificant axle, or the tiniest
screw, the whole machine stops still or at least goes wrong,
and thus shows us plainly that everything depends on the
harmonious working of the parts. _

15. The art of teaching, therefore, demands nothing
more than the skilful arrangement of time, of the subjects
taught, and of the method. As soon as we have succeeded
in finding the proper method it will be no harder to teach
school-boys, in any number desired, than with the help of
the printing-press to cover a thousand sheets daily with
ORDER THE BASIS OF SCHOOL REFORM 249

 

the neatest writing, or with Archimedes’ machine to move
houses, towers, and immense weights, or to cross the
ocean in a ship, and journey to the New World. The
whole process, too, will be as free from friction as is the
movement of a clock whose motive power is supplied by
the weights. It will be as pleasant to see education
carried out on my plan as to look at an automatic machine
of this kind, and the process will be as free from failure as
are these mechanical contrivances, when skilfully made.

16. Let us therefore endeavour, in the name of the
Almighty, to organise schools in such a way that in these
points they may bear the greatest resemblance to a clock
which is put together with the greatest skill, and is cunningly
chased with the most delicate tools.
CHAPTER XIV

THE EXACT ORDER OF INSTRUCTION MUST BE BORROWED
FROM NATURE, AND MUST BE OF SUCH A KIND THAT
NO OBSTACLE CAN HINDER IT.

1. Ler us then commence to seek out, in God’s name,
the principles on which, as on an immovable rock, the
method of teaching and of learning can be grounded. If
we wish to find a remedy for the defects of nature, it is in
nature herself that we must look for it, since it is certain
that art can do nothing unless it imitate nature.

2. A few examples will make this clear. We see a fish
swimming in the water; it is its natural mode of progres-
sion. Ifa man wish to imitate it, it is necessary for him
to use in a similar manner the limbs that are at his dis-
posal; instead of fins he must employ his arms, and
instead of a tail, his feet, moving them as a fish moves its
fins. Even ships are constructed on this plan; in the
place of fins they must employ oars or sails, and in the
place of a tail, the rudder. We see a bird flying through
the air; it is its natural mode of progression. When
Daedalus wished to imitate it, he had to take wings (large
enough to carry such a heavy body) and set them in
motion. :

3. The organ of sound production in animals is a pipe
consisting of muscular rings, provided at the top with the
thyroid cartilage, as with a lid, and at the bottom with the
lungs, as with a wind-bag.
NATURE IS OUR GUIDE 251

 

On this model flutes, whistles, and other wind instru-
ments are made.

4. It has been discovered that the substance that
causes thunder in the clouds, and hurls down fire and
stones, is saltpetre ignited in combination with sulphur.
In imitation of this, gunpowder is now made out of sulphur
and saltpetre. When this is ignited and fired from
cannon, a mimic storm, with thunder and lightning, is
produced.

5. It has been found that water always tends to
preserve a level surface, even in yessels that communicate
but are at some distance from one another. The experi-
ment has been made of conducting water through pipes,
and it has been found that it will rise from any depth to
any height, provided that it originally fall from that height.
This is an artificial arrangement, but it is also natural;
for the exact mode in which the action takes place is
artificial, but the law on which the action depends is
natural.

6. The vault of heaven, on observation, has been
found to revolve continuously, thus, by the various revolu-
tions of the planets, producing the changes of the seasons
which are so pleasant. In imitation of this an instru-
ment has been devised, representing the daily revolution
of .the vault of heaven. It is composed of wheels
arranged so that not only can one be driven by the other,
but that all can be put into continuous motion. Now it
was necessary to construct this instrument out of movable
and immovable parts, as the universe itself is constructed,
and consequently we find a solid pedestal, pillars, and
circular rings, corresponding to the earth, the immovable
element in the universe, while in place of the movable
orbits in the heaven we have the various wheels. But
because it was impossible to command any one wheel ‘to
turn round and to carry others with them (as the Creator
gave the heavenly lights the power to move themselves,
and others with them), the motive power has to be
borrowed from nature, and a weight or a spring is used.
252 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

Either a weight is hung from the axle of the principal
wheel, and by its tension causes the axle, the wheel to
which it belongs, and the other wheels to turn; or a long
strip of steel is forcibly bound round the axle, and by its
endeavours to get free and straighten itself, makes the
axle and the wheel turn round. In order that the rotation
may not be too fast, but slow like that of the vault of
heaven, other wheels are added, of which the last, driven
by two teeth only, makes a clicking noise and is analogous
to the change between the coming and the going light,
or to that between day and night. In addition to that
part of the mechanism which gives the signal for the
hours and the quarters, skilfully-devised triggers are
added, which set it in motion at the right time, and
then stop it again, just as nature, by the movement
of the vault of heaven, allows winter, spring, summer,
and autumn to come and to depart again at the right
moment.

4. It is now quite clear that 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 processes of art will
proceed as easily and as spontaneously 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.

8. But some one may laugh at our expectations and
may cast in our teeth the saying of Hippocrates: “ Life
is short, and art is long; opportunities are fleeting,
experience is deceptive, and judgment is difficult.” Here
are five obstacles, the reasons why so few scale the heights
of wisdom :—

(i) The shortness of life; through which so many are
snatched away in youth before their preparations for life
are finished. (ii) The perplexing crowd of objects which
NATURE IS OUR GUIDE 253

 

the mind has to grasp, and which makes the endeavour to
include all things within the limits of our knowledge, very
weary work. (iii) The lack of opportunities to acquire the
arts, or their rapid departure when they occur (for the
years of youth, which are the most suitable for mental
culture, are spent in playing, and the succeeding years,
in the present condition of mankind, bring far more
opportunities for worthless than for serious matters); or if
a suitable opportunity present itself, it vanishes before we
can grasp it. (iv) The weakness of our intellects and the
lack of sound judgment. The result of this is that we
get no farther than the outside shell, and never attain to
the kernel. (v) Finally, the circumstance that, if any wish
to grasp the true nature of things by patient observation
and experiments repeated as often as possible, the process
is too wearisome, and is at the same time deceptive and
uncertain (for instance, in such accurate observations the
most careful observer may maké an error, and as soon
as one error creeps in, the whole observation becomes
worthless).

g. If all this be true, how can we dare hope for a
universal, sure, easy, and thorough road to learning? I
answer: Experience teaches us that this is true, but the
same experience teaches us also that the proper remedies
can be found. These things have been ordained thus by
God, the all-wise arranger of the universe, and are for our
good. He has given us a short span of life because, in
our present state of corruption, we should be unable to
employ a longer one profitably. For if we, who are born
and die, and with whom the end of life is but a few years
distant from the beginning, give ourselves up to folly:
what would we not do if we had hundreds or thousands
of years before us? God, therefore, has only wished to
grant as much time as He deemed sufficient preparation
for a better life. For this purpose life is long enough, if
only we know how to use it.

to. The diversity of objects has been equally ordained
by God for our advantage, that there might be no
254 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

lack of material to occupy, exercise, and educate our
minds.

11. God permits opportunities to be fleeting, and only
to be grasped by the fore-lock, that we may learn to seize
them the very instant they present themselves.

12. Experience is deceptive in order that our attention
may be excited, and that we may feel the necessity of
penetrating to the essential nature of things.

13. Finally, judgment is difficult, in order that we may
be urged on to eagerness and to continual effort, and that
the hidden wisdom of God, which permeates all things,
may, to our great satisfaction, become ever more apparent.

“Tf everything could be easily understood,” says St.
Augustine, “men would neither seek wisdom with keenness,
nor find it with exultation.”

14. We must therefore see in what way those obstacles
which God’s foresight has placed in our paths to make us
keener and more energetic may, with God’s aid, be set
aside. This can only be attained—

(i) By lengthening our lives, that they may be sufficiently
long for the scheme proposed.

(ii) By curtailing the subjects taught, that they may be
proportionate to the duration of life.

(iii) By seizing opportunities, and not letting them slip
away unused.

(iv) By unlocking the intellect, that it may grasp things
with ease.

(v) By laying a foundation that is not to be shaken,
and that will not deceive us, in the place of a tottering
fabric of superficial observation.

15. We will therefore proceed, taking’ nature as our
guide, to seek out the principles :—

(i) Of prolonging life.

(ii) Of curtailing the subjects, that knowledge may be
acquired faster.

(iii) Of seizing opportunities, that knowledge may be
acquired without fail.
NATURE IS OUR GUIDE 255

 

(iv) Of unlocking the intellect, that knowledge may be
easily acquired.

(v) Of sharpening the judgment, that knowledge may
be thoroughly acquired.

To each of these points we shall devote a chapter. The
question of curtailing the subjects of instruction will be
treated of last.
CHAPTER XV
THE BASIS OF THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE

1. ARISTOTLE, as well as Hippocrates, has complained of the
shortness of human life, and accuses nature of granting a
long term of years to stags, ravens, and other animals,
while she hems in by narrow boundaries the lives of men
born to great responsibility. Seneca, however, opposes
this view, and wisely says: ‘‘ The life that we receive is not
short, unless we make it so. We suffer from no lack of
years, but carouse away those that are granted us. Life
is long, if we do but know how to use it.” And again:
‘Our lives are sufficiently long, and, if we order them well,
allow us to bring the greatest undertakings to completion ”
(De Brevitate Vita, cc. i. and ii.)

2. If this be correct, and indeed it is very true, it is
grossly culpable on our parts if our lives do not prove
sufficiently long to bring great undertakings to completion,
since the reason is that we waste our lives, partly by taking
no care of them, so that they do not reach the natural
limit, and partly by frittering them away on worthless
objects.

3. A trustworthy authority (Hippolytus Guarino) %
asserts, and gives good reasons for his assertion, that a
man of the most delicate constitution, if he come into the
world without any deformity, possesses enough vitality to
carry him on to his sixtieth year; while a very strong man
should attain to his hundredth year. If any die before this
THE BASIS OF THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE 257

 

age (it is, of course, well known that most men die as
children, as youths, or in middle age), they are themselves
to blame, since, by excesses, or by neglect of the natural
demands of life, they have undermined their own health
and that of their children, and have hastened their death.

4. The examples of men who, before middle age, have
reached a point to which others could not attain in the
course of a long life, prove that a short lifetime (ze. one of
fifty, forty, or thirty years) is sufficient to realise the highest
aims, if only it be properly used. Alexander the Great
died when he was thirty-three years old, and he was not
only a master of all the sciences, but also conqueror of the
world, which he had subdued less by sheer force than by
the wisdom of his plans, and the rapidity with which he
put them into execution. Giovanni Pico Mirandola,** who
was even younger than Alexander when he died, attained
by his philosophical studies such proficiency in all the
departments of human knowledge, that he was considered
the marvel of his age.

5. To take one more example, Jesus Christ, our Lord,
remained only thirty-four years on earth, and in that time
completed the task of Redemption. This He undoubtedly
did to prove (for with Him every event has a mystic mean-
ing) that whatever length of life a man may enjoy, it is
sufficient to serve him as a preparation for eternity.

6. I cannot leave this question without quoting a golden
saying of Seneca (out of his ninety-fourth letter): “I have,”
he says, “found many men who are just in their dealings
with men, but few who are just in their dealings with God.
We daily lament our fate; but what does it matter how soon
we quit this world, since we must certainly quit it one day
or other? Life is long if it be full, and it becomes full if
the spirit exert its power on itself; if it learn the secret of
self-control.” And again: “I entreat of you, my Lucilius!
let us strive that our lives, like earthly jewels, may be, not
of great bulk, but of great weight”; and a little farther
on: “Let us, therefore, deem that man one of the blest,
who has used well the time allotted to him, no matter how

17
258 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

short it may have been. For he has seen the true light.
He has not been one of the common herd; but has lived
a full life, and has come to maturity.” And again: “Asa
perfect man can exist in a small body, so can a perfect life
be found in a short term of years. The duration of life is
a purely accidental circumstance. Do you ask which is
the path of life that reaches farthest? It is the path that
leads to wisdom. He who attains wisdom, has reached not
only the farthest, but also the highest goal.”

7. Against this shortness of life, which is complained of,
there are two remedies for us and for our children (and
therefore for schools also). We must take all possible pre-
cautions that—

(i) Our bodies may be protected from disease and from
death.

(ii) Our minds may be placed in such an environment
that they can attain all knowledge.

8. The body must be protected from disease and from
accidents, firstly, because it is the dwelling-place of the
soul, which must leave this world as soon as ever the body
is destroyed. If it fall into bad repair, and suffer damage
in any of its parts, the soul, its guest, will have an inhos-
pitable abode. Therefore, if we wish to dwell as long as
possible in the palace of this world, into which we have
been brought by God’s grace, we must take wise forethought
for the fabric of our bodies.

Secondly, this same body is not only intended to be
the dwelling-place of the reasoning soul, but also to be
its instrument, without which it could hear nothing, see
nothing, say nothing, conduct no business, and could not
even think. And since nothing exists in the mind that
has not previously existed in the senses, the intellect takes
the material of all its thoughts from the senses, and _per-
forms the operations of thought in a manner that may be
termed “inner sensation,” that is to say, by acting on the
images of things that are brought before it. It follows,
therefore, that, if the brain receive an injury, the imagina-
tion will be impaired, and that if an impression be made
THE BASIS OF THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE 259 -

 

on the body, an impression will be made on the soul
also. We may therefore unhesitatingly say that all
should pray that they may have a sound mind in a sound
body.

g. Our bodies are preserved in health and strength by
a regular and moderate life, and on this we will make a
few remarks from the medical point of view, taking a tree
as illustration. In order to maintain its freshness, a tree
needs three things: (1) a continuous supply of moisture ;
(2) copious transpiration ; (3) an alternating period of rest
and activity.

Moisture is necessary, because the tree would wither and
dry up without it, but it must not be supplied in too great
a quantity, as, if it be, it causes the roots to rot away. In
the same way the body needs nourishment, because it
wastes away from hunger and thirst without it; but it
should not obtain a supply so large that the stomach is
unable to digest it. The greater the moderation with
which men partake of food, the easier they find its diges-
tion. The generality of men pay but little attention to
this law, and by taking too much food diminish their
strength and shorten their lives. For death is caused by
disease, disease by unwholesome juices, and these, in turn,
by insufficient digestion. Insufficient digestion arises from
over-nutrition, and takes place when the stomach is so
full that it cannot digest, and is compelled to supply the
various members of the body with semi-digested juices,
and in this case it is impossible that diseases should not
arise. As the son of Sirach says: “By surfeiting have
many perished, but he that taketh heed prolongeth his
life” (Ecclesiasticus xxxvii. 31).

to. In order that good health may be preserved, it is
necessary that nourishment be not only moderate in
quantity, but also simple in quality. When a tree is young
and tender, the gardener does not water it with wine or
with milk, but with the liquid that suits trees, namely
water. Parents should therefore take care not to spoil
their boys, particularly those who study, or ought to study,
260 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

by giving them dainties. Are we not told that Daniel and
his companions, the youths of noble birth who had to
apply themselves to the pursuit of wisdom, lived on a diet
of pulse and water, and that they were found to be more
capable and more active, and, what is of greater value,
more intelligent, than all the other youths who ate of the
king’s meat ? (Daniel i. 12 sgg.) But of these particulars
we will speak in another place.

rz. A tree must also transpire, and needs to be copi-
ously refreshed by wind, rain, and frost ; otherwise it easily
falls into bad condition, and becomes barren. In the
same way the human body needs movement, excitement,
and exercise, and in daily life these must be supplied,
either artificially or naturally.

12. Finally, a tree needs rest at stated periods, that it
may not have to put forth branches, blossoms, and fruit
perpetually, but may have some time to fulfil its inner
functions, to develope sap, and in this way to strengthen
itself. It was for this reason that God ordained that
winter should follow summer, namely, to guarantee rest to
all things that live on the earth, and even to the earth
itself, since he commanded that the fields should lie
fallow every seventh year (Lev. xxv.) In the same way He
has ordained the night for man, and for other animals, in
order that, by sleep and by resting their limbs, they may
once more gather together the strength which the exer-
tions of the day have dissipated. Even the smaller
periods, such as the hours, are devised with a view to
giving the body and the mind some relaxation ; otherwise
a strained and unnatural condition would set in. It is,
therefore, useful to intersperse the labours of the day with
recreation, amusements, games, merriment, music, and
such-like diversions, and thus to refresh the inner and the
outer senses.

13. He who observes these three principles (that is to
say, eats moderately, exercises his body, and uses the
relaxations supplied by nature) cannot fail to preserve his
life and his health as long as possible. We naturally leave
THE BASIS OF THE PROLONGATION OF LIFE 261

 

out of consideration accidents that depend on a dispensa-
tion higher than ours.

We see then that a large portion of the good organisa-
tion of schools consists of the proper division of work and
of rest, and depends on the disposition of studies, intervals
to relieve the strain, and recreation.

14. This can be attained by the skilful disposition of
the time devoted to study. Thirty years seem insignifi-
cant, and are easily dismissed from the tongue. But these
years include many months, more days, and countless
hours. In a single period of such duration much progress
can be made, no matter how slow the process of advance-
ment may be, provided it be continuous. We can see
this in the growth of plants. It is impossible for the
sharpest sight to perceive the process, since it takes place
too gradually; but every month some increase is visible,
and at the end of thirty years every one can see that the
sapling has turned into a large and shady tree. The same
holds good in the growth of our bodies. We do not see
them growing, but only perceive that they have grown.
So, too, with the acquisition of knowledge by the mind, as
we learn from the well-known Latin couplet :

To a little add a little, and to that little yet a little more,
And in a short time you will pile up a large heap.

15. He who realises the natural strength of progress
will easily understand this. From each bud a tree puts
forth but one shoot yearly; but in thirty years the same
tree will possess thousands of shoots, large and small, and
leaves, blossoms, and fruit without number. Why then
should it seem impossible to bring the activity of a man to
any degree of intensity or fulness, and this in twenty or
thirty years? Let us examine the matter more closely.

16. There are twenty-four hours in a day, and if, for
the daily uses of life, we divide these into three parts,
setting aside eight hours for sleep, and the same number
for the external needs of the body (such as care of the
health, meals, dressing and undressing, agreeable recrea-
262 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

tion, friendly converse, etc.), we have eight hours left for
the serious work of life. We shall therefore have forty-
eight working hours a week (setting aside the seventh day
for rest). In one year this will amount to 2945 hours,
and in ten, twenty, or thirty years to an immense number.

17. If, in each hour, a man could learn a single frag-
ment of some branch of knowledge, a single rule of some
mechanical art, a single pleasing story or proverb (the
acquisition of which would require no effort), what a vast
stock of learning he might lay by?

18. Seneca is therefore right when he says: “ Life is
long, if we know how to use it; it suffices for the com-
pletion of the greatest undertakings, if it be properly
employed.” It is consequently of importance that we
understand the art of making the very best use of our
lives, and to this point we will now direct our investigation.
CHAPTER XVI

THE UNIVERSAL REQUIREMENTS OF TEACHING AND OF
LEARNING ; THAT IS TO SAY, A METHOD OF TEACHING
AND OF LEARNING WITH SUCH CERTAINTY THAT THE
DESIRED RESULT MUST OF NECESSITY FOLLOW.

1. EXCEPTIONALLY fine is that comparison made by our
Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel, ‘“‘So is the kingdom of
God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth; and
should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should
spring up and grow, he knoweth not how. The earth beareth
fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full
corn in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, straightway
he putteth forth the sickle, because the harvest is come”
(Mark iv. 26).

2. The Saviour here shows that it is God who operates
in everything, and that nothing remains for man but to
receive the seeds of instruction with a devout heart; the
processes of growth and of ripening will then continue of
themselves, unperceived by him. The duty of the teachers
of the young, therefore, is none other than to skilfully scatter
the seeds of instruction in their minds, and to carefully water
God’s plants. Increase and growth will come from above.

3. Is there any who denies that sowing and planting need
skill and experience? If an unpractised gardener plant
an orchard with young trees, the greater number of them
die, and the few that prosper do so rather through chance
than through skill. But the trained gardener goes to work
264 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

carefully, since he is well instructed, where, when, and how
to act and what to leave alone, that he may meet with no
failure. It is true that even an experienced man meets
with failure occasionally (indeed it is scarcely possible for a
man to take such careful forethought that no error can
arise) ; but we are now discussing, not the abstract question
of circumspection and chance, but the art of doing away
with chance by means of circumspection.

4. Hitherto the method of instruction has been so
uncertain that scarcely any one would dare to say: “In so
many years I will bring this youth to such and such a point ;
I will educate him in such and such a way.” We must
therefore see if it be possible to place the art of intellectual
discipline on such a firm basis that sure and certain pro-
gress may be made.

5. Since this basis can be properly laid only by assimi-
lating the processes of art as much as possible to those of
nature (as we have seen in the 15th chapter), we will follow
the method of nature, taking as our example a bird hatch-
ing out its young; and, if we see with what good results
gardeners, painters, and builders follow in the track of
nature, we shall have to recognise that the educator of
the young should follow in the same path.

6. If any think this course of action petty or common-
place, let him consider that from that which is of daily
occurrence and universal notoriety and which takes place
with good results in nature and in the arts (the teaching
art excepted), we are seeking to deduce that which is less
known and which is necessary for our present purpose.
Indeed, if the facts from which we derive the principles
that form the basis for our precepts are known, we can
entertain hopes that our conclusions will be the more
evident.

First PRINCIPLE

7. LVature observes a suitable time.
For example: a bird that wishes to multiply its species,
does not set about it in winter, when everything is stiff
UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF INSTRUCTION 265

 

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.
Again, the process consists of several steps. While it is
yet cold the bird conceives the eggs and warms them inside
its body, where they are protected from the cold; when
the air grows warmer it lays them in its nest, but does not
hatch them out until the warm season comes, that the
tender chicks may grow accustomed to light and warmth
by degrees.

8. Jmitation.—In the same way the gardener takes care
to do nothing out of season. He does not, therefore, plant
in the winter (because the sap is then in the roots, prepar-
ing to mount and nourish the plant later on); nor in
summer (when the sap is already dispersed through the
branches) ; nor in autumn (when the sap is retiring to the
roots once more); but in spring, when the moisture is
beginning to rise from the roots and the upper part of the
plant begins to shoot. Later on, too, it is of great import-
ance to the little tree that the right time be chosen for
the various operations that are needful, such as manuring,
pruning, and cutting. Even the tree itself has its proper
time for putting forth shoots and blossoms, for growing, and
for coming to maturity.

In the same manner the careful builder must choose
the right time for cutting timber, burning bricks, laying
foundations, building, and plastering walls, etc.

9. 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. As long as the boy is still a child
he cannot be taught, because the roots of his understanding
are still too deep below the surface. As soon as he be-
comes old, it is too late to teach him, because the intellect
266 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

and the memory are then failing. In middle age it is
difficult, because the forces of the intellect are dissipated
over a variety of objects and are not easily concentrated.
The season of youth, therefore, must be chosen. Then life
and mind are fresh and gathering strength ; then everything
is vigorous and strikes root deeply.

10. Rectification.—We conclude, therefore, that

(i) The education of men should be commenced in the
springtime of life, that is to say, in boyhood (for boyhood
is the equivalent of spring, youth of summer, manhood of
autumn, and old age of winter).

(ii) The morning hours are the most suitable for study
(for here again the morning is the equivalent of spring,
midday of summer, the evening of autumn, and the night
of winter).

(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.

SzconD PRINCIPLE

11. Nature prepares the material, before she begins to give
it form.

For example: the bird that wishes to produce a crea-
ture similar to itself first conceives the embryo from a drop
of its blood ; it then prepares the nest in which it is to lay
the eggs, but does not begin to hatch them until the chick
is formed and moves within the shell.

12. Jmitation.—In the same way the prudent builder,
before he begins to erect a building, collects a quantity of
wood, lime, stones, iron, and the other things needful, in
order that he may not have to stop the work later on from
lack of materials, nor find that its solidity has been im-
paired. In the same way, the painter who wishes to
produce a picture, prepares the canvas, stretches it on a
frame, lays the ground on it, mixes his colours, places his
brushes so that they may be ready to hand, and then at
last commences to paint.
UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF INSTRUCTION 267

 

In the same way the gardener, before he commences
operations, tries to have the garden, the stocks, the grafts,
and the tools in readiness, that he may not have to fetch
the necessary appliances while at work, and so spoil the
whole operation.

13. Deviation. — Against this principle schools are
offenders: firstly, because they take no care to prepare
beforehand the mechanical aids such as books, maps,
pictures, diagrams, etc., and to have them in readiness for
general use, but at the moment that they need this or that,
they make experiments, draw, dictate, copy, etc., and when
this is done by an unskilled or careless teacher (and their
number increases daily), the result is deplorable. It is just
as if a physician, whenever he wishes to administer a
medicine, had to wander through gardens and forests, and
collect and distil herbs and roots, though medicaments to
suit every case should be ready to his hand.

14. Secondly, because even in school-books the natural
order, that the matter come first and the form follow, is
not observed. Everywhere the exact opposite is to be
found. The classification of objects is unnaturally made
to precede a knowledge of the objects themselves, although
it is impossible to classify, before the matter to be classified
is there. I will demonstrate this by four examples.

15. (1) Languages are learned in schools before the
sciences, since the intellect is detained for some years over
the study of ianguages, and only then allowed to proceed
to the sciences, mathematics, physics, etc. And yet things
are essential, words only accidental; things are the body,
words but the garment; things are the kernel, words the
shells and husks. Both should therefore be presented to
the intellect at the same time, but particularly the things,
since they are as much objects of the understanding as are
languages.

16. (2) Even in the study of languages the proper
order is reversed, since the students commence, not with
some author or with a skilfully-compiled phrase-book, but
with the grammar; though the authors (and in their own way
268 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

the phrase-books) present the material of speech, namely
words, while the grammars, on the other hand, only give
the form, that is to say, the laws of the formation, order,
and combination of words.

17. (3) In the encyclopedic compilations of human
knowledge, the arts are always placed first, while the
sciences follow after; though the latter teach of the
things themselves, the former how to manipulate the
things.

18. (4) Finally: it is the abstract rules that are first
taught and then illustrated by dragging in a few examples ;
though it is plain that a light should precede him whom it
lights.

19. Rectification.—It follows, therefore, that in order to
effect a thorough improvement in schools it is necessary :

(i) That books and the materials necessary for teach-
ing be held in readiness.

(ii) That the understanding be first instructed in things,
and then taught to express them in language.

(iii) That no language be learned from a grammar, but
from suitable authors.

(iv) That the knowledge of things precede the know-
ledge of their combinations.

(v) And that examples come before rules.

THIRD PRINCIPLE

20. Vature chooses a fit subject to act upon, or first submits
one to a suitable treatment in order to make it fit.

For example: a bird does not place any object in the
nest in which it sits, but an object of such a kind that a
chicken can be hatched from it, that is to say, an egg. If
a small stone or anything else falls into the nest, it throws
it out as useless. But when the process of hatching takes
place, it warms the matter contained in the egg, and looks
after it until the chicken makes its way out.

21. Jmitation.—In the same way the builder cuts down
timber, of as good quality as possible, dries it, squares it,
UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF INSTRUCTION 269

 

and saws it into planks. Then he chooses a spot to build
on, clears it, lays a new foundation, or repairs the old one
so that he can make use of it.

22. In the same way, if the canvas or the surface do
not suit his colours, the painter tries to make them more
suitable, and, by rubbing them and polishing them, fits
them for his use.

23. The gardener too (1) chooses from a fruit-bearing
stock a shoot that possesses as much vitality as possible ;
(2) transplants it to a garden, and places it carefully in the
earth ; (3) does not burden it with a new graft unless he
sees that it has taken root; (4) before he inserts the new
graft, removes the former shoot, and even cuts a piece away
round the stock in order that none of the sap may perform
any function other than that of vivifying the graft.

24. Deviation.—Against this principle the schools are
offenders: not because they include the weak of intellect
(for in our opinion all the young should be admitted into
the schools) but far more because :

(1) These tender plants are not transplanted into the gar-
den, that is to say, are not entirely entrusted to the schools,
so that none, who are to be trained as men, shall be allowed
to leave the workshop before their training is complete.

(2) The-attempt is generally made to engraft that noblest
graft of knowledge, virtue and piety, too early, before the
stock itself has taken root; that is to say, before the desire
to learn has been excited in those who have no natural bent
in that direction.

(3) The side-shoots or root-suckers are not removed
before the grafting takes place; that is to say, the minds
are not freed from all idle tendencies by being habituated to
discipline and order.

25. Rectification.—It is therefore desirable :

(i) That all who enter schools persevere in their
studies.

(ii) That, before any special study is introduced, the
minds of the students be prepared and made receptive of
it. (See the following chapter, Principle 2.)
270 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

(iii) That all obstacles be removed out of the way of
schools.

“For it is of no use to give precepts,” says Seneca,
“unless the obstacles that stand in the way be removed.”
But of this we will treat in the following chapter.

FOURTH PRINCIPLE

26. LVature 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 ; at one time its flesh becomes firm, at another it
receives its covering of skin or feathers, and at another it
learns how to fly, etc.

27. Imitation.—When a builder 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.

28. In the same way a painter does not work at twenty
or thirty pictures at once, but occupies himself with one
only. For, though he may from time to time put a few
touches to some others or give his attention to something
else, it is on one picture and one only that he con-
centrates his energies.

29. In the same way the gardener does not plant
several shoots at once, but plants them one after the other,
that he may neither confuse himself nor spoil the operation
of nature.

30. Deviation.—Confusion has arisen in the schools
through 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. For it is notorious that in the classical
schools the subject-matter for reading and for composition
is changed almost every hour throughout the day. If this
be not confusion I should like to know what is. It is
just as if a shoemaker wished to make six or seven new
UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF INSTRUCTION 271

 

shoes at once, and took them up one by one in turn, only
to lay them aside in a few minutes ; or as if a baker, who
wished to place various kinds of bread in his oven, were
to take them out again immediately, removing one kind as
he put in another. Who would commit such an act of
folly? The shoemaker finishes one shoe before he begins
another. The baker places no fresh bread in the oven
until that already in it is thoroughly baked.

31. Rectification.—Let us imitate these people and take
care not to confuse scholars who are learning grammar by
teaching them dialectic, or by introducing rhetoric into
their studies. We should also put off the study of Greek
until Latin is mastered, since it is impossible to con-
centrate the mind on any one thing, when it has to busy
itself with several things at once.

That great man, Joseph Scaliger, was well aware of
this. It is related of him that (perhaps on the advice
of his father) he never occupied himself with more than
one branch of knowledge at once, and concentrated all
his energies on that one. It was owing to this that he
was able to master not only fourteen languages, but also
all the arts and sciences that lie within the province of
man. He devoted himself to these one after the other
with such success that in each subject his learning excelled
that of men who had given their whole lives to it. And
those who have tried to follow in his footsteps and imitate
his method, have done so with considerable success.

32. 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.

FrrrH PRINCIPLE

33. In all the operations of nature development is from
within.

For example: in the case of a bird it is not the claws,
or the feathers, or the skin that are first formed, but the inner
parts ; the outer parts are formed later, at the proper season.
272 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

34. Jmitation,—In the same way the gardener does not
insert his graft into the outer bark nor into the outside
layer of wood, but making an incision right into the pith,
places the graft as far in as it will go.

In this way he makes the joint so firm that the sap
cannot escape, but is forced right into the shoot, and uses
all its strength in vivifying it.

35. So too, a tree, that is nourished by the rain of
heaven and the moisture of the earth, assimilates its nutri-
ment, not through its outer bark, but through the pores of
its inmost parts. On this account the gardener waters,
not the branches, but the roots. Animals also convey
their food, not to their outer limbs, but to the stomach,
which assimilates it and nourishes the whole body. If,
therefore, the educator of the young give special attention
to the roots of knowledge, the understanding, these will
soon impart their vitality to the stem, that is, to the
memory, and finally blossoms and fruits, that is to say, a
facile use of language and practical capacity will be pro-
duced.

36. Deviation.—lIt is on this point that those teachers
fall into error who, instead of thoroughly explaining the
subjects of study to the boys under their charge, give them
endless dictations, and make them learn their lessons off
by heart. Even those who wish to explain the subject-
matter do not know how to do so, that is to say, do not
know how to tend the roots or how to engraft the graft of
knowledge. Thus they fatigue their pupils, and resemble
a man who uses a club or a mallet, instead of a knife, when
he wishes to make an incision in a plant.

37. Rectification.—It therefore follows

(i) That the scholar should be taught first to under-
stand things, and then to remember them, and that no
stress should be laid on the use of speech or pen, till after
a training on the first two points.

(ii) That the teacher should know all the methods by
which the understanding may be sharpened, and should
put them into practice skilfully.
UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF INSTRUCTION 273

 

SrxTH PRINCIPLE

38. Nature, in its formative processes, begins with the
universal and ends with the particular.

For example: a bird is to be produced from an egg.
It is not the head, an eye, a feather, or a claw that is first
formed, but the following process takes place. The whole
egg is warmed ; the warmth produces movement, and this
movement brings into existence a system of veins, which
mark in outline the shape of the whole bird (defining the
parts that are to become the head, the wings, the feet,
etc.) It is not until this outline is complete that the indi-
vidual parts are brought to perfection.

39. Lmitation—The builder takes this as his model.
He first makes.a general plan of the building in his head,
or on paper, or in wood. Then he lays the foundations,
builds the walls, and lays on the roof. It is not until he
has done this that he gives his attention to the small de-
tails that are necessary to complete a house, such as doors,
windows, staircases, etc. ; while last of all he adds orna-
mentation such as paintings, sculptures, and carpets.

40. An artist proceeds in the same way. He does not
begin by drawing an ear, an eye, a nose, or a mouth, but
first makes a charcoal sketch of the face or of the whole
body. If he be satisfied that this sketch resembles the
original, he paints it with light strokes of the brush, still
omitting all detail. Then, finally, he puts in the light
and shade, and, using a variety of colours, finishes the
several parts in detail.

41. The procedure of the sculptor is the same. When
he wishes to carve a statue, he takes a block of marble
and shapes it roughly. Then he sets to work more care-
fully and outlines the most important features. Finally, he
chisels the individual parts with the greatest accuracy and
colours them artistically.

42. In the same way the gardener takes the most
simple and universal part of a tree, namely, a shoot.

18
274 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

Later on, this can put forth as many branches as it
possesses buds.

43. Deviation.—From this it follows that it is a mistake
to teach the several branches of science in detail before a
general outline of the whole realm of knowledge has been
placed before the student, and that no one should be in-
structed in such a way as to become proficient in any one
branch of knowledge without thoroughly understanding its
relation to all the rest.

44. It follows also that arts, sciences, and languages
are badly taught unless a general notion of the elements
be first given. I remember well that, when we began to
learn dialectic, rhetoric, and metaphysics, we were, at the
very beginning, overburdened with long-winded rules, with
commentaries and notes on commentaries, with compari-
sons of authors and with knotty questions. | Latin grammar
was taught us with all the exceptions and irregularities ;
Greek grammar with all its dialects, and we, poor wretches,
were so confused that we scarcely understood what it was
all about.

45. Leectification.—The remedy for this want of system is
as follows: at the very commencement of their studies, boys
should receive instruction in the first principles of general
culture, that is to say, the subjects learned should be arranged
in such a manner that the studies that come later introduce
nothing new, but only expand the elements of knowledge
that the boy has already mastered. Just as a tree, even if
it live for a hundred years, puts forth no new branches, but
only suffers those that already exist to develope and to
spread.

(i) Each language, science, or art must be first taught
in its most simple elements, that the student may obtain a
general idea of it. (ii) His knowledge may next be developed
further by placing rules and examples before him. (iii) Then
he may be allowed to learn the subject systematically with
the exceptions and irregularities ; and (iv), last of all, may
be given a commentary, though only where it is absolutely
necessary. For he who has thoroughly mastered a subject
UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF INSTRUCTION 275

 

from the beginning will have little need of a commentary,
but will soon be in the position to write one himself.

SEVENTH PRINCIPLE

46. Nature makes no leaps, but 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. When
this takes place, the mother does not allow the young bird
to fly and seek its food (indeed it is unable to do so), but
she feeds it herself, and by keeping it warm with her body
promotes the growth of its feathers. When the chick’s
feathers have grown she does not thrust it forth from the
nest immediately and make it fly, but teaches it first to
move its wings in the nest itself or perching on its edge,
then to try to fly outside the nest, though quite near it, by
fluttering from branch to branch, then to fly from tree to
tree, and later on from hill to hill, till finally it gains
sufficient confidence to fly right out in the open. It is
easy to see how necessary it is that each of these processes
should take place at the right time; that not only the time
should be suitable but that the processes should be gradu-
ated; and that there should be not graduation merely, but
an immutable graduation. __

47. Imitation.—The builder proceeds in the same
manner. He does not begin with the gables or with the
walls, but with foundations. When the foundations are
laid he does not go on with the roof, but builds the walls.
In a word, the order in which the several stages are com-
bined depends on the relation that they mutually bear to
one another.

48. The gardener likewise has to adopt the principle of
graduation. The wild-stock must be found, dug up, trans-
planted, pruned, and cut; the graft must be inserted and
the joint made firm, etc., and none of these processes can
be omitted or taken in a different order. But, if these
processes are carried out properly and in the right order,
276 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

it is scarcely possible, in fact it is impossible, for the result
to be unsuccessful.

49. Deviation.—It is an evident absurdity, therefore, if
teachers, for their own sake and that of their pupils, do
not graduate the subjects which they teach in such a way
that, not only one stage may lead on directly to the next,
but also that each shall be completed in a given space of
time. For unless goals are set up, means provided for
reaching them, and a proper system devised for the use of
those means, it is easy for something to be omitted or
perverted, and failure is the result.

50. 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 may prepare the way for and throw light on
those that come after.

(ii) That the time should be carefully divided, so that
each year, each month, each day, and each hour may have
its appointed 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 perverted.

EIGHTH PRINCIPLE

51. Lf nature commence anything, it does not leave off until
the operation ts completed.

If a bird, urged by the impulse of nature, begin to sit
on eggs, she does not leave off until she has hatched out
the chickens. If she sat on them for a few hours only, the
embryo in the egg would become cold and die. Even when
the chickens are hatched she does not cease to keep them
warm, but continues to do so until they have grown strong,
are covered with feathers, and can endure the cold air.

52. Lmitation.—The painter also, who has begun a
picture, will produce his work best if he finish it without
any interruption. For in this case the colours blend better
and hold faster.
UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF INSTRUCTION 277

 

53. For this reason it is best to finish the erection of a
building without any interruption ; otherwise the sun, the
wind, and the rain spoil the work, the later additions will
not be so firm, and on every side there will be cracks,
weak spots, and loose joints.

54. The gardener too acts with wisdom, for when once
he has begun to work at a graft he does not cease until the
operation is completed. Since, if the sap dry in the stock
or in the graft, owing to a delay in completing the process,
the plant is ruined.

55. Deviation.—it is therefore injurious if boys are sent
to school for months or years continuously, but are then
withdrawn for considerable periods and employed otherwise;
equally so if the teacher commence now one subject, now
another, and finish nothing satisfactorily ; and lastly, it is
equally fatal if he do not fix a certain task for each hour,
and complete it, so that in each period his pupil can make
an unmistakable advance towards the desired goal. Where
such a fire is wanting, everything grows cold. Not without
reason does the proverb say “Strike while the iron is hot.”
For if it be allowed to cool it is useless to hammer it, but
it must once more be placed in the fire, and thus much
time and iron are wasted. Since every time that it is heated,
it loses some of its mass.

56. Rectification.—It follows therefore

(i) That he who is sent to school must be kept there
until he becomes well informed, virtuous, and pious.

(ii) That the school must be situated in a quiet spot,
far from noise and distractions.

(iii) That whatever has to be done, in accordance
with the scheme of study, must be done without any shirk-
ing.
(iv) That no boys, under any pretext whatever, should
be allowed to stay away or to play truant.
278 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

into PRINCIPLE

57. Wature carefully avoids obstacles and things likely to
cause hurt.

For example, when a bird is hatching eggs it does not
allow a cold wind, much less rain or hail, to reach them.
It also drives away snakes, birds of prey, etc. :

58. Jmitation.—In the same way the builder, so far as
is possible, keeps dry his wood, bricks, and lime, and does
not allow what he has built to be destroyed or to fall down.

59. So, too, the painter protects a newly-painted picture
from wind, from violent heat, and from dust, and allows
no hand but his own to touch it.

60. The gardener also protects a young plant by a
railing or by hurdles, that hares or goats may not gnaw it
or root it up.

61. Deviation.—It is therefore folly to introduce a
student to controversial points when he is just beginning
a subject, that is to say, to allow a mind that is mastering
something new to assume an attitude of doubt. What is
this but to tear up a plant that is just beginning to strike
root? (Rightly does Hugo say: ‘“‘He who starts by
investigating doubtful points will never enter into the
temple of wisdom.”) But this is exactly what takes place
if the young are not protected from incorrect, intricate, and
badly written books as well as from evil companions.

62. £ectification.—Care should therefore be taken

(i) That the scholars receive no books but those suit-
able for their classes.

(ii) That these books be of such a kind that they can
rightly be termed sources of wisdom, virtue, and piety.

(iii) That neither in the school nor in its vicinity the
scholars be allowed to mix with bad companions.

63. If all these recommendations are observed, it is
scarcely possible that schools should fail to attain their
object.
CHAPTER XVII
THE PRINCIPLES OF FACILITY IN TEACHING AND IN LEARNING

1. We have already considered the means by which the
educationist may attain his goal with certainty, we will
now proceed to see how these means can be suited to the
minds of the pupils, so that their use may be easy and
pleasant.

2. Following in the footsteps of nature we find that the
process of education will be easy

(i) If it begin early, before the mind is corrupted. |

(ii) If the mind be duly prepared to receive it. :

(iii) If it proceed from the general to the particular.

(iv) And from what is easy to what is more difficult.

(v) If the pupil be not overburdened by too many
subjects.

(vi) And if progress be slow in every case.

(vii) If the intellect be forced to nothing to which its
natural bent does not incline it, in accordance with its age
and with the right method.

(viii) If everything be taught through the medium of
the senses.

(ix) And if the use of everything taught be continually
kept in view.

(x) If everything be taught according to one and the
same method.

These, I say, are the principles to be adopted if
education is to be easy and pleasant.
280 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

first PRINCIPLE

3. Nature begins by a careful selection of materials.

For instance, for hatching a bird she selects fresh eggs
and those that contain pure matter. If the formation of
the chicken have already begun, it is in vain to expect any
result.

4. Imitation.— The architect who wishes to erect a
building, needs a clear plot of ground, and, if there be a
house already standing there, he must pull it down before
he can build the new one.

5. The artist, too, does his best work on a clean canvas.
If it have already been painted on, or be dirty or rough, it
must be cleaned or smoothed before he can use it.

6. For the preservation of precious ointments, empty
jars must be procured, or those that are in use must be
carefully cleansed of their contents.

4. The gardener, too, prefers to plant young trees, or,
if he take them when too old, cuts off the branches in
order that the sap may not be dissipated. For this reason
Aristotle placed “privation” among the principles of
nature, for he held that it was impossible to impress a new
form on any material until the old one had been removed.

8. Deviation.—It follows from this: (1) That it is best
to devote the mind to the pursuit of wisdom while it is
still fresh, and before it has acquired the habit of dissipat-
ing its strength over a variety of occupations ; and that the
later the education begins, the harder it will be for it to
obtain a hold, because the mind is already occupied by
other things. (2) That the result must be bad if a boy;
be instructed by several teachers at once, since it is
scarcely possible for them all to use the same method, and,
if they do not, the boy’s mind is drawn first in one direc-
tion and then in another, and its development is thus
hindered. (3) That it shows great lack of judgment if,
moral instruction be not made the first point when the
education of children or of older boys is commenced ; since,
THE PRINCIPLES OF FACILITY 281

 

when they have been taught to control their feelings, they
will be the more fit to receive other instruction. Horse-
tamers keep a horse under absolute control with an iron
bit, and ensure its obedience before they teach it its paces.
Rightly does Seneca say: “ First learn virtue, and then
wisdom, since without virtue it is difficult to learn wisdom.”
And Cicero says: ‘‘ Moral philosophy makes the mind fit
to receive the seeds of further knowledge.”

9. fectification.—Therefore

(i) Education should be commenced early.

(ii) The pupil should not have more than one teacher
in each subject.

(iii) Before anything else is done, the morals should be
rendered harmonious by the master’s influence.

SECOND PRINCIPLE

10. ature prepares its material so that it actually strives
to attain the form.

Thus the chicken in the egg, when sufficiently formed,
seeks to develope itself still further, moves, and bursts the
shell or breaks through it with its beak. After escap-
ing from its prison, it takes pleasure in the warmth and
nutriment provided by its mother, opens its beak expect-
antly and swallows its food greedily. It rejoices to find
itself under the open sky, exercises its wings, and, later on,
uses them with enjoyment; in a word, it displays a keen
desire to fulfil all its natural functions, though throughout
the whole process of development it advances step by
step.

11. Jwutation.—The gardener also must bring it about
that the plant, properly provided with moisture and with
warmth, take pleasure in its vigorous growth.

12. Deviation.—Therefore, those who drive boys to their
studies, do them great harm. For what result can they
expect? If a man have no appetite, but yet takes food
when urged to do so, the result can only be sickness and
vomiting, or at least indigestion and indisposition. On
282 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

the other hand, if a man be hungry, he is eager to take
food, digests it readily, and easily converts it into flesh and
blood. Thus Isocrates says: ‘He who is anxious to learn
will also be learned.” And Quintilian says: ‘ The acquisi-
tion of knowledge depends on the will to learn, and this
cannot be forced.”

13. Rectification.—Therefore

(i) The desire to know and to learn should be excited
in boys in every possible manner.

(ii) The method of instruction should lighten the drud-
gery of learning, that there may be nothing to hinder the
scholars or deter them from making progress with their
studies.

14. The desire to learn is kindled in boys by parents,
by masters, by the school, by the subjects of instruction,
by the method of teaching, and by the authority of the
state.

15. By parents, if they praise learning and the learned
in the presence of their children, or if they encourage
them to be industrious by promising them nice books and
clothes, or some other pretty thing ; if they commend the
teachers (especially him to whom they entrust their sons)
as much for their friendly feeling towards the pupils as for
their skill in teaching (for love and admiration are the
feelings most calculated to stimulate a desire for imita-
tion); finally, if, from time to time, they send the child to
him with a small present. In this way they will easily
bring it about that the children like their lessons and their
teachers, and have confidence in them. ,

16. By the teachers, if they are gentle and persuasive,
and do not alienate their pupils from them by roughness,
but attract them by fatherly sentiments and words ; if they
commend the studies that they take in hand on account of
their excellence, pleasantness, and ease; if they praise the
industrious ones from time to time (to the little ones they
may give apples, nuts, sugar, etc.) ; if they call the children
to them, privately or in the class, and show them pictures
of the things that they must learn, or explain to them
THE PRINCIPLES OF FACILITY 283

 

optical or geometrical instruments, astronomical globes, and
such-like things that are calculated to excite their admira-
tion ; or again, if they occasionally give the children some
message to carry to their parents. In a word, if they treat
their pupils kindly they will easily win their affections, and
will bring it about that they prefer going to school to re-
maining at home.

17. 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 ornamented by pictures. These should be either por-
traits 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, as we shall show later), and there
should also be a garden attached, into which the 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 probability, go to school with as
much pleasure as to fairs, where they always hope to see
and hear something new.

18. The subjects of instruction themselves prove attrac-
tive to the young, if they are suited to the age of the
pupil and are clearly explained ; especially if the explanation
be relieved by a humorous or at any rate by a less serious
tone. For thus the pleasant is combined with the useful.

1g. If the method is to excite a taste for knowledge, it
must, in the first place, be natural. For what is natural
takes place without compulsion. Water need not be forced
to run down a mountain-side. If the dam, or whatever
else holds it back, be removed, it flows down at once. It
is not necessary to persuade a bird to fly; it does so as
soon as the cage is opened. The eye and the ear need
no urging to enjoy a fine painting or a beautiful melody
that is presented to them. In all these cases it is more
often necessary to restrain than to urge on. The requisites
of a natural method are evident from the preceding chapter
and from the rules that follow.
284 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

In the second place, 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, compari-
sons, and fables. But of this more in the proper place.

20. 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 indus-
trious ones and giving them small presents (without respect
of person).

TuHirD PRINCIPLE

‘21. Nature developes everything from beginnings which,
though insignificant in appearance, possess great potential strength.

For instance, the matter out of which a bird is to be_
formed consists of a few drops, which are contained in a
shell, that they may be easily warmed and hatched. But
these few drops contain the whole bird potentially, since,
later on, the body of the chicken is formed from the vital
principle which is concentrated in them.

22. Imitation.—In the same way a tree, no matter how
large it may be, is potentially contained in the kernel of its
fruit or in the shoot at the end of one of its branches. If
one or the other of these be placed in the earth, a whole
tree will be produced by the inner force that it contains.

23. Terrible deviation.—In direct opposition to this
principle a terrible mistake is generally made in schools.
Most teachers are at pains to place in the earth plants
instead of seeds, and trees instead of shoots, since, instead
of starting with the fundamental principles, they place
before their pupils a chaos of diverse conclusions or the
complete texts of authors. And yet it is certain that
instruction rests on a very small number of principles, just
as the earth is composed of four elements (though in
diverse forms); and that from these principles (in accord-
THE PRINCIPLES OF FACILITY 285

 

ance with the evident limits of their powers of differentia-
tion) an unlimited number of results can be deduced, just
as, in the case of a tree, hundreds of branches, and thou-
sands of leaves, blossoms, and fruits are produced from the
original shoot. Oh! may God take pity on our age, and
open some man’s eyes, that he may see aright the true
relations in which things stand to one another, and may
impart his knowledge to the rest of mankind. With God’s
assistance I hope, in my Synopsis of Christian Wisdom, to give
an earnest of my efforts to do so, in the modest hope that it
may be of use to others whom God, in due season, may
call to carry on the work.

24. Rectification.—In the meantime we may draw three
conclusions :

(i) Every art must be contained in the shortest and
most practical rules.

(ii) Each rule must be expressed in the shortest and
clearest words.

(iii) Each rule must be accompanied by many examples,
in order that the use of the rule may be quite clear when
fresh cases arise.

FourTH PRINCIPLE

25. Wature advances from what is easy to what is more
difficult.

For example, the formation of an egg does not begin
with the hardest part, the shell, but with the contents.
These are at first covered by a membrane; it is not till
later that the hard shell appears. The bird that learns to
fly accustoms itself first to stand on its legs, then to move
its wings gently, then to do so with more force until it can
raise itself from the ground, and last of all gains sufficient
confidence to fly through the air.

26. Jmitation—In the same way a carpenter’s appren-
tice learns, first to fell trees, then to saw them into planks
and fasten them together, and finally to build complete
houses of them.
286 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

27. Various Deviations.—It is therefore wrong to teach
the unknown through the medium of that which is equally
unknown, as is the case:

(i) If boys who are beginning Latin are taught the
rules in Latin. This is just as if the attempt were made
to explain Hebrew by Hebrew rules, or Arabic by Arabic
rules.

(ii) If these same beginners are given as assistance a
Latin-German instead of a German-Latin dictionary. For
they do not want to learn their mother-tongue by the aid
of Latin, but to learn Latin through the medium of the
language that they already know. (On this error we will
say more in chap. xxii.)

(iii) If boys are given a foreign teacher who does not
understand their language. For if they have no common
medium through which they can hold communication with
him, and can only guess at what he is saying, can anything
but a Tower of Babel be the result ?

(iv) A deviation is made from the right method of
teaching, if boys of all nations (ze. French, German,
Bohemian, Polish, or Hungarian boys) are taught in accord-
ance with the same rules of grammar (those of Melanchthon
or of Ramus,”6 for example), since each of these languages
stands in its own particular relation to Latin, and this
relation must be well understood if Latin is to be
thoroughly taught to boys of these several nationalities.

28. Rectification.—These errors may be avoided

(i) If the teachers and their pupils talk the same
language.

(ii) If all explanations are given in the language that
the pupils understand.

(iii) If grammars and dictionaries are adapted to the
language through the medium of which the new one is to
be learned (that is to say, the Latin Grammar to the mother-
tongue, and Greek Grammar to the Latin language).

(iv) If the study of a new language be allowed to
proceed gradually and in such a way that the scholar learn
first to understand (for this is the easiest), then to write
THE PRINCIPLES OF FACILITY 287

 

(for here there is time for consideration), and lastly to
speak (which is the hardest, because the process is so
rapid).

(v) If, when Latin is combined with German, the
German be placed first as the best known, and the Latin
follow.

(vi) If the subject-matter be so arranged that the
pupils get to know, first, that which lies nearest to their
mental vision, then that which lies moderately near, then
that which is more remote, and lastly, that which is
farthest off. Therefore, if boys are being taught some-
thing for the first time (such as logic or rhetoric), the
illustrations should not be taken from subjects that cannot
be grasped by the scholars, such as theology, politics, or
poetry, but should be derived from the events of every-
day life. Otherwise the boys will understand neither the
rules nor their application.

(vii) If boys be made to exercise, first their senses
(for this is the easiest), then the memory, then the com-
prehension, and finally the judgment. In this way a
graded sequence will take place ; for all knowledge begins
by sensuous perception ; then through the medium of the
imagination it enters the province of the memory; then,
by dwelling on the particulars, comprehension of the
universal arises; while finally comes judgment on the
facts that have been grasped, and in this way our know-
ledge is firmly established.

FrrtH PRINCIPLE

29. Nature does not overburden herself, but is content with
a little.

For instance, she does not demand two chickens from
one egg, but is satisfied if one be produced. The gardener
does not insert a number of grafts on one stock, but two
at most, if he consider it very strong.

30. Deviation—The mental energies of the scholar
are therefore dissipated if he have to learn many things
288 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

at once, such as grammar, dialectic, rhetoric, poetic,
Greek, etc., in one year (cf. the previous chapter, Prin-
ciple 4).

SIXTH PRINCIPLE

31. Wature does not hurry, but advances slowly.

For example, a bird does not place its eggs in the fire,
in order to hatch them quickly, but lets them develope
slowly under the influence of natural warmth. Neither,
later on, does it cram its chickens with food that they may
mature quickly (for this would only choke them), but it
selects their food with care and gives it to them gradually
in the quantities that their weak digestion can support.

32. Lmitation.—The builder, too, does not erect the
walls on the foundations with undue haste and then
straightway put on the roof; since, unless the foundations
were given time to dry and become firm, they would sink
under the superincumbent weight, and the whole building
would tumble down. Large stone buildings, therefore,
cannot be finished within one year, but must have a
suitable length of time allotted for their construction.

33. Nor does the gardener expect a plant to grow
large in the first month, or to bear fruit at the end of the
first year. He does not, therefore, tend and water it
every day, nor does he warm it with fire or with quicklime,
but is content with the moisture that comes from heaven
and with the warmth that the sun provides.

34. 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, and with the lessons that they have to commit
to memory, until nausea and, in some cases, insanity is
produced.

If we take a jar with a narrow mouth (for to this we
may compare a boy’s intellect) and attempt to pour a
quantity of water into it violently, instead of allowing it to
trickle in drop by drop, what will be the result? Without
THE PRINCIPLES OF FACILITY 289

 

doubt the greater part of the liquid will flow over the side,
and ultimately the jar will contain less than if the opera-
tion had taken place gradually. Quite as foolish is the
action: of:those who try to teach their pupils, not as much
as they cari assimilate, but as:‘much as: they themselves
wish ; for the faculties need ‘to be supported and not to
be overburdened, and the teacher, like the physician, is
the servant and not'the master of nature.

_ 35. 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.

SEVENTH PRINCIPLE

36. Wature compels nothing to advance that is not driven
Jorward by its own mature strength.

‘For instance, a chicken: is not compelled .to quit the
egg before its limbs are properly formed and set; is not
forced to fly before its feathers have grown; is not thrust
from the nest before it is able’ to fly-well, etc.

A tree, too, does not put forth shoots before it is
forced to do so by the sap that rises from the roots, nor
does it permit fruit to appear before the leaves and
blossoms formed by the sap seek further development,
nor does it permit .the blossoms to fall before the fruit
that they contain is, protected by.a skin, nor the fruit to
drop before it is ripe.

34. Deviation.—Now the faculties of the young are
forced :

(i) If boys are compelled to learn things for which
their age and capacity are not yet suited.

19
290 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

(ii) If they are made to learn by heart or do things that
have not first been thoroughly explained and demonstrated
to them.

38. Rectification.—From what has been said, it follows

(i) That nothing should be taught to the young, unless
it is not only permitted but actually demanded by their
age and mental strength.

(ii) That nothing should be learned by heart that has
not been thoroughly grasped by the understanding. Nor
should any feat of memory be demanded unless it is
absolutely certain that the boy’s strength is equal to it.

(iii) That nothing should be set boys to do until its
nature has been thoroughly explained to them, and rules
for procedure have been given.

EIGHTH PRINCIPLE

39. Wature assists tts operations in every possible manner.

For example, an egg possesses its own natural warmth ;
but this is assisted by the warmth of the sun and by the
feathers of the bird that hatches it. God, the father of
nature, takes forethought for this. The newly - hatched
chicken, also, is warmed by the mother as long as is
necessary, and is trained by her in the various functions
of life. This we can see in the case of storks, who assist
their young by taking them on their backs and _ bearing
them round the nest while they exercise their wings. In
the same way nurses help little children. They teach
them first to raise their heads and then to sit up; later
on, to stand on their legs, and to move their legs
preparatory to walking; then by degrees to walk and step
out firmly. When they teach them to speak they repeat
words to them and point to the objects that the words denote.

40. Deviation.—It is therefore cruelty on the part of a
teacher if he set his pupils work to do without first
explaining it to them thoroughly, or showing them how it
should be done, and if he do not assist them in their
‘first attempts; or if he allow them to toil hard, and
THE PRINCIPLES OF FACILITY 291

 

then loses his temper if they do not succeed in their
endeavours.

What is this but to torture the young? it is just as if
a nurse were to force a child to walk, while it is still afraid
to stand on its legs, and beat it when it failed to do so.
Nature’s teaching is very different, and shows that we
ought to have patience with the weak as long as their
strength is insufficient.

41. Rectification.—From this it follows:

(i) That no blows should 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
doés not take the trouble to do so).

(ii) That the subjects that have to be learned by the
pupils should be so thoroughly explained to them, that
they can understand them as well as they understand their
five fingers.

(iii) That, as far as is possible, instruction should be
given through the senses, that it may be retained in the
memory with less effort.

42. For example, the sense of hearing should always
be conjoined with that of sight, and the tongue should
be trained in combination with the hand. The subjects
that are taught should not merely be taught orally, and
thus appeal to the ear alone, but should be pictorially
illustrated, and thus develope the imagination by the help
of the eye. Again, the pupils should learn to speak with
their mouths and at the same time to express what they
say with their hands, that no study may be proceeded
with before what has already been learned is thoroughly
impressed on the eyes, the ears, the understanding, and
the memory. With this object, it is desirable to represent
pictorially, on the walls of the class-room, everything that
is treated of in the class, by putting up either precepts
and rules or pictures and diagrams illustrative of the
subjects taught. If this be done, it is incredible how
much it assists a teacher to impress his instruction on the
292 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

pupils’ minds. It is also useful if the scholars learn to
write down in their note-books or among their collections
of idioms everything that they hear or read, since in this
way the imagination is assisted and it is easier to re-
member them later on.

NintH PRINCIPLE

43. LVothing is produced by nature of which the practical
application ts not soon evident.

For example, when a bird is formed it is soon evident
that the wings are intended for flying and the legs for
running. In the same way every part of a tree has its
use, down to the skin and the bloom that surround the
fruit.

Therefore

44. Lmitation.—The task of the pupil will be made
easier, if the master, when he teaches him anything, show
him at the same time its practical application in every-day
life. This rule must be carefully observed in teaching
languages, dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, physics, etc.
If it be neglected, the things that you are explaining will
seem to be monsters from the new world, and the attitude
of the pupil, who is indifferent whether they exist or no,
will be one of belief rather than of knowledge. When
things are brought under his notice and their use is
explained to him, they should be put into his hands that
he may assure himself of his knowledge and may derive
enjoyment from its application.

Therefore

45. Those things only should be taught whose applica-
tion can be easily demonstrated.

TentH PRINCIPLE

46. Nature ts uniform in all its operations.
For instance, the production of all birds, and, indeed,
of all living creatures, resembles that of any single bird
THE PRINCIPLES OF FACILITY 293

 

which you may choose. It is only in the minor details
that there are differences. So too in the case of plants,
the development of one plant from its seed, the planting
and the growth of a single tree, serve as illustrations
of the way in which all the others, without exception,
develope. One leaf on a tree resembles all the others,
and in this respect does not change from year to year.

47. Deviation.—Differences of method, therefore, con-
fuse the young, and make their studies distasteful to them,
since not only do different teachers use different systems,
but even individual teachers vary their method. For
example, languages are taught in one way, dialectic in
another, though both might be brought under the same
method, in accordance with the harmony of the universe,
and the universal and intimate relations that exist between
objects and words.

48. Rectification.—Henceforth, therefore

(i) The same method of instruction must be used for
all the sciences, the same for all the arts, and the same
for all languages.

(ii) In each school the same arrangement and treat-
ment should be adopted for all studies.

(iii) The class-books for each subject should, as far as
is possible, be of the same edition.

In this way difficulties will be avoided and progress
will be made easy.
CHAPTER XVIII

THE PRINCIPLES OF THOROUGHNESS IN TEACHING AND IN
LEARNING

1. Ir is a common complaint that there are few who leave
school with a thorough education, and that most men retain
nothing but a veneer, a mere shadow of true knowledge.
This complaint is corroborated by facts.

2. The cause of this phenomenon appears on investiga-
tion to be twofold: either that the schools occupy them-
selves with insignificant and unimportant studies, to the
neglect of those that are more weighty, or that the pupils
forget what they have learned, since most of it merely goes
through their heads and does not stick fast there. This
last fault is so common that there are few who do not
lament it. For if everything that we have ever read, heard,
and mentally appreciated were always ready to hand in
our memories, how learned we should appear! We do, it
is true, make practical use of much that we have learned,
but the amount that we recollect is unsatisfactory, and the
fact remains that we are continually trying to pour water
into a sieve.

3. But can no cure be found for this? Certainly there
can, if once more we go to the school of nature, and in-
vestigate the methods that she adopts to give endurance
to the beings which she has created.

I maintain that a method can be found by means of
which each person will be enabled to bring into his mental
THOROUGHNESS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING 295

 

consciousness not only what he has learned, but more as
well; since he will recall with ease all that he has learned
from teachers or from books, and, at the same time, will be
able to pass sound judgment on the objective facts to
which his information refers.

4. This will be possible :

(i) If only those subjects that are of real use be taken
in hand.

(ii) If these be taught without digression or inter-
ruption.

(iii) If a thorough grounding precede instruction in
detail.

(iv) If this grounding be carefully given.

(v) If all that follows be based on this grounding, and
on nothing else.

(vi) If, in every subject that consists of several parts,
these parts be linked together as much as possible.

(vii) If all that comes later be based on what has gone
before.

(viii) If great stress be laid on the points of resemblance
between cognate subjects.

(ix) If all studies be arranged with reference to the
intelligence and memory of the pupils, and the nature of
language.

(x) If knowledge be fixed in the memory by constant
practice.

We will now consider each of these principles in detail.

First PRINCIPLE

5. Nature produces nothing that is useless.

For example, nature, when commencing to form a bird,
does not give it scales, gills, horns, four feet, or any other
organs that it cannot use, but supplies a head, a heart,
wings, etc. In the same way a tree is not given ears,
eyes, down, or hair, but bark, bast, wood, and roots.

6. Imitation in the arts—In the same way no one who
wishes to grow fruit in his fields, orchards, and gardens,
296 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

plants them with weeds, nettles, thistles, and thorns, but
with good seeds and plants.

7. The builder, also, who wishes to erect a well-built
house, does not collect straw, litter, dirt, or brushwood,
but stones, bricks, oak planks, and similar materials of
good quality.

8. And in schools.—In schools therefore ;

(i) Nothing should be studied, unless it be of un-
doubted use in this world and in the world to come,—its
use in the world to come being the more important
(Jerome reminds us that knowledge, that is to be of
service to us in heaven, must be acquired on earth).

(ii) If it be necessary to teach the young much that is’
of value solely in this world (and this cannot be avoided),
care must be taken that while a real advantage is gained
for our present life, our heavenly welfare be not hindered
thereby.

g. Why then pursue worthless studies? What object
is there in learning subjects that are of no use to those
who know them and the lack of which is not felt by those
who do not know them? subjects, too, which are certain to
be forgotten as time passes on and the business of life
becomes more engrossing? This short life of ours has
more than enough to occupy it, even if we do not waste it
on worthless studies. Schools must therefore be organised
in such a way that the scholars learn nothing but what is
of value (the value and importance of recreation will
be treated of in the right place). .

SECOND PRINCIPLE

10. When bodies are being formed, nature omits nothing that
ts necessary for their production.

For example: in the formation of a bird, nature does
not forget the head, the wings, the legs, the claws, the
skin, or anything, in short, that ‘is an essential part of a
winged being of this kind.

11. Lmitation in schools—In the same way schools,
THOROUGHNESS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING 297

 

when they educate men, must educate them in every way,
and suit them not only for the occupations of this life, but
for eternity as well. Indeed it is with a view to the future
life that all strenuous human effort should be undertaken.

12. Not the sciences alone, therefore, should be taught
in schools, but morality and piety as well. Now a training
in the sciences improves the understanding, the faculty of
speech, and manual dexterity, so that everything that is
of use can be suitably considered, discussed, and put into
practice. If any one of these elements be omitted, a great
gap is left, and, as result, not only is the education defective
but the stability of the whole is endangered. Nothing
can be stable unless all its parts are in intimate connection
with one another.

THIRD PRINCIPLE

13. Vature does not operate on anything, unless tt possess a
JSoundation or roots.

A plant does not shoot upwards before it has taken
root, and would wither and die if it tried to do so. For
this reason a clever gardener does not insert a graft unless
he sees that the stock has taken root.

In the case of birds and of beasts we find, in the place of
roots, the intestines (for in these the vitality is situated),
and this part of the body is the first to be formed, being,
as it were, the foundation of the rest.

14. Jmitation.—In the same way an architect does not
build a house without first laying a solid foundation, since
otherwise the whole structure would soon fall down.
Similarly an artist paints a foundation of colour before he
puts in the fine shades ; otherwise the colours would easily
crack and fade. ;

15. Deviation.—The laying of such a foundation for
their instruction is neglected by those teachers (1) who
take no trouble to make their pupils diligent and attentive,
and (2) who do not begin by giving a general idea of the
whole course of study, so that the pupils may realise how
298 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

much of the scheme projected is actually got through.
For if the scholars perform their work without inclination,
without attention, and without intelligence, how can any
lasting result be expected ?

16. Rectification.—Therefore

(i) Every study should be commenced in such a
manner as to awaken a real liking for it on the part of the
scholars, and this should be done by proving to them how
excellent, useful, pleasant, and otherwise. desirable it is.

(ii) A general notion of the language or art (consisting
of a sketch, as slight as is possible, but yet embracing
every branch of the subject in question) should be given
to the pupil before the detailed consideration of the sub-
ject is proceeded with, in order that he may thus, at the
very beginning, realise its aims, limits, and internal struc-
ture. For as the skeleton is the foundation of the whole
body, so the general sketch of an art is the foundation of
the whole art.

FouRTH PRINCIPLE

17. LVature strikes her roots deep.

Thus, the entrails of an animal are buried deep in its
body. The deeper a tree strikes its roots, the firmer it
will stand ; while if the roots only just penetrate beneath
the turf it is easily rooted up.

18. Correction of the deviation.—It follows, therefore,
that the desire to learn should be thoroughly awakened in
the pupils, and that the general conception of the subject
should be thoroughly got into their heads. Until this hds
been carefully done a more detailed exposition of the art
or language should not be attempted.

Frvtu PRINCIPLE

19. Nature developes everything from its roots and from no
other source.

The wood, bark, leaves, flowers, and fruit of a tree come
from the roots and from no other source. For although
THOROUGHNESS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING 299

 

the rain may fall on the tree and the gardener may water
it, the moisture must all be taken up through the roots,
and then dispersed through the trunk, branches, boughs,
leaves, and fruit. On this account the gardener, though
he takes his graft from some other source, must let it into
the stock in such a way that it may become incorporated
with it, absorb moisture from its roots, and, nourished in
this way, be capable of development. It is from the
roots that a tree derives everything, and there is no neces-
sity to supply leaves and branches from any other source.
It is just the same when a bird is to be clothed with
feathers. They are not taken from another bird, but
grow from the innermost part of the body.

20. Imitation in the arts—The prudent builder, too,
erects a house in such a way that it can stand securely
on its own foundations and can be supported by its own
beams, without the need of any external props. For, if a
building need external support, this is a proof of incom-
pleteness and of a tendency to fall down.

21. When a man lays out a fishpond or a lake he finds
a spring, and, by means of canals and pipes, conducts its
water to his reservoir; but he does not allow water to flow
in from any other source, nor does he use rain-water.

22. From this precept it follows that the proper educa-
tion of the young does not consist in stuffing their heads
with a mass of words, sentences, and ideas dragged
together out of various authors, but in opening their
understanding to the outer world, so that a living stream
may flow from their own minds, just as leaves, flowers, and
fruit spring from the buds on a tree, while in the following
year a fresh bud is again formed and a fresh shoot, with
its leaves, flowers, and fruit, grows from it.

23. Terrible deviation in schools—Hitherto the schools
have not taught their pupils to develope their minds like
young trees from their own roots, but rather to deck them- ,
selves with branches plucked from other trees, and, like
Esop’s crow, to adorn themselves with the feathers of
other birds; they have taken no trouble to open the
300 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

fountain of knowledge that is hidden in the scholars, but
instead have watered them with water from other sources.
That is to say, they have not shown them the objective
world as it exists in itself, but only what this, that, or the
other author has written or thought about this or that
object, so that he is considered the most learned who best
knows the contradictory opinions which many men have
held about many things. The result is that most men
possess no information but the quotations, sentences, and
opinions that they have collected by rummaging about in
various authors, and thus piece their knowledge together
like a patchwork quilt. ‘Oh you imitators, you slavish
pack!” cries Horace. A slavish pack indeed, and accus-
tomed to carry burdens that are not their own.

24. But why, I ask you, do we allow ourselves to be
led astray by the opinions of other men, when what is
sought is a knowledge of the true nature of things? Have
we nothing better to do than to follow others to their
cross-roads and down their by-ways, and to study atten-
tively the deviation that each makes from the right path?
O brother mortals! let us hasten to the goal and give up
this idle wandering. If our goal be firmly set before us, why
should we not hasten to it by the shortest road ; why should
we use the eyes of other men in preference to our own?

25. The methods by which all branches of knowledge
are taught show that it really is the schools that are to
blame for this; that they really teach us to see by means
of the eyes of others, and to become wise by employing
their brains. For these methods do not teach us to dis-
cover springs and conduct streams of water from them, but
place before us the water that has been drawn off from
various authors and teach us to return from these to the
springs. For the dictionaries (at least so far as I know,
though perhaps with the exception of the one by Cnapius,?”
but even in this one there are some things left to be
desired, as will be shown in chap. xxii.) do not teach
how to speak but only how to understand; the grammars
do not teach how to construct sentences but only how to
THOROUGHNESS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING 301

 

dissect them ; and no vulgary gives any assistance towards
joining the phrases skilfully together in conversation, or
towards ringing changes on them, but only provides a hap-
hazard collection of sentences. Scarcely any one teaches
physics by ocular demonstration and by experiment, but
only by quoting the works of Aristotle and of others. No
one seeks to form the morals by working on the inward
sources of action, but by purely external explanations and
analysis of the virtues a superficial veneer of morality is
given. This will be more evident when I come to the
special methods of the arts and languages, but still more
so, please God, when I give the outline of my Pansophia.

26. It is really to be wondered at that the men of
former times did not understand this better, or that this
error has not long since been rectified by those of the
present day; since it is certain that we have here the
actual reason why such slow progress has hitherto been
made. Does the builder teach his apprentice the art of
building by pulling down a house? Oh no; it is during
the process of building a house that he shows him how to
select his materials, how to fit each stone into its proper
place, how to prepare them, raise them, lay them and join
them together. For he who understands how to build
will not need to be shown how to pull down, and he who
can sew a garment together will be able to unrip it without
any instruction. But it is not by pulling down houses or
by unripping garments that the arts of building or of
tailoring can be learned.

27. It is only too evident that the methods which are
so faulty in this respect have not been rectified (1) since
the education of many, if not of most men, consists of
nothing but a string of names; that is to say, they can
repeat the technical terms and the rules of the arts, but
do not know how to apply them practically; (2) since
the education of no man attains the position of universal
knowledge that can give itself support, strength, and
breadth, but is a heterogeneous compound of which one
part is borrowed from one source and another from
302 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

another, whose elements are joined together on no logical
principle, and which therefore bears no worthy fruit. For
the knowledge that consists of the collected sayings and
opinions of various authors resembles the tree which
peasants erect when they make holiday, and which,
though covered with branches, flowers, fruit, garlands, and
crowns, cannot grow or even last, because its ornamenta-
tion does not spring from its roots, but is only hung on.
Such a tree bears no fruit, and the branches that are
attached to it wither and. fall off. But a man who is
thoroughly educated resembles a tree which grows from its
own roots and is nourished by its own sap, and which, on
that account, increases in size (and from day to day with
more vigour), and puts forth leaves, blossoms, and fruits.

28. Rectification.—We arrive therefore at the following
conclusion: men must, as far as is 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 obtain his knowledge
from the originals, from things themselves, and from no
other source. We may therefore lay it down as a law:

(i) That all knowledge should be deduced from, the
unchanging principles of the subject in question.

(ii) That no information should be imparted on the
grounds of bookish authority, but should be authorised by
actual demonstration to the senses and to the intellect.

(iii) That in dealing with any subject the analytic
method should never be used exclusively; in fact, pre-
ponderance should rather be given to the synthetic method.

SixTH PRINCIPLE

29. The more the uses to which nature applies anything, the
more distinct subdivisions that thing will possess.
For instance, the greater the number of joints into
THOROUGHNESS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING 303

 

which the limbs of any animal are divided, the more
complex will be its movements, as we can see if we compare
a horse with a snake. In the same way a tree stands more
firmly and is more picturesque if its branches and roots
spread out well and stand away from one another.

30. Jmitation.—In the education of the young,’ care
should be taken that everything that is taught be carefully
defined and kept in its place, so that not only the teacher,
but the pupil as well, may know exactly what progress he
has made and what he is actually doing. It will also be
of great assistance if all the books that are used in schools
follow nature’s example in this respect.

SEVENTH PRINCIPLE

31. Wature never remains at rest, but advances continually ;!
never begins anything fresh at the expense of work already in
hand, but proceeds with what she has begun, and brings it to
completion.

For instance, in the formation of the embryo, it is the
feet, the head, and the heart that come first into existence,
and these organs are not discarded but are perfected. A
tree which is transplanted does not cast the branches that
have previously grown upon it, but continues to provide
them with sap and vitality, that with each successive year
they may put forth more shoots.

32. Jmitation.—In schools therefore

(i) All the studies should be so arranged that those
which come later may depend on those that have gone
before, and that those which come first may be fixed in
the mind by those that follow.

(ii) Each subject taught, when it has been thoroughly
grasped by the understanding, must be impressed on the
memory as well.

33. For since, in this natural method of ours, all that
precedes should be the foundation of all that comes after,
it is absolutely essential that this foundation be thoroughly
laid. For that only which has been thoroughly understood,
304 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

and committed to memory as well, can be called the
property of the mind.

Truly does Quintilian say: “Theacquisition of knowledge
depends on the memory. Instruction is in vain if we forget
what we hear or read.” Ludovicus Vives also says: “The
memory should be exercised in early youth, since practice
developes it, and we should therefore take care to practise
it as much as possible. Now, in youth, the labour is not
felt, and thus the memory developes without any trouble
and becomes very retentive.” And in the Jntroduction to
Philosophy he says: “The memory should not be permitted
to rest, for there is no faculty that acts with greater readi-
ness or developes more through action. Commit something
to memory daily, for the more you commit to memory the
more faithfully it will be retained, and the less, the less
faithfully.” The example of nature shows us that this is true.
The more sap a tree sucks up, the stronger it grows, and,
conversely, the stronger it grows, the more sap it pours
through its fibres. An animal also developes in proportion
to the strength of its digestion, and, conversely, the larger
it grows the more nourishment it requires and the more it
digests. This is the characteristic of every natural body
that developes. In this respect, therefore, children should
not be spared (though of course no over-pressure should be
applied), for the foundations of unfailing progress will thus
be laid.

LiigHTH PRINCIPLE

34. LVature knits everything together in continuous com-
bination.

For instance, when a bird is formed, limb is joined to
limb, bone to bone, and sinew to sinew. So too in the
case of a tree, the trunk is joined to the roots, the branches
to the trunk, the young shoots to the branches, the buds to
the shoots, and to these again the leaves, flowers, and fruits ;
so that, though there may be thousands of each, the whole
constitutes one tree. So with a house, if it is to be durable,
the walls must rest on the foundations, the ceilings and the
THOROUGHNESS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING 395

 

roof upon the walls, and, in short, all the parts, from the
largest to the smallest, must be connected and fitted
together, so that they form a single house.

35- Lmitation.—From this it follows:

(i) That the ‘studies of a lifetime should be so arranged
that they form an encyclopedic whole, in which all the parts
spring from a common source and each is in its right place.

(ii) That everything taught should be supported by good
reasons, so that no easy entrance may be given either for
doubt or for forgetfulness.

Indeed these reasons are the nails, the clasps, and the
clamps that hold an object fast in the memory and prevent
it from fading away.

36. Now, to strengthen all information by giving reasons
is equivalent to explaining things by their causes. That is
to say, not only the nature of each object is pointed out
but also the reason why it cannot be otherwise. For
knowledge is nothing but the acquaintance with an object
that we gain by mastering its causes. For instance, if the
question arose whether it would be more correct to say
totus populus or cunctus populus, and the teacher were merely
to say “cunctus populus is the right phrase,” but omitted to
give any reason, the pupil would soon forget it. If, on the
other hand, he were to say “ Cumctus is a contraction for
conjunctus,8 and therefore totus should be used when the
object denoted is homogeneous, cwnctus when the con-
ception is collective, as here,” it is scarcely conceivable that
the pupil could forget it, unless his intelligence were very
limited. Again, if the grammatical question were to arise
why we say mea refert, tua refert, but eyus refert; that is to
say, why we use the ablative (as it is supposed to be) in the
first and second persons, but the genitive in the third
person ; if I were to answer, that vefe¢ is a contraction for
ves fert, and that the phrases are therefore mea res fert, tua
ves _fert, ejus res fert (or in their contracted form mea refert,
tua refert, ejus refert), and that therefore mea and ‘wa are
not the ablative but the nominative, would not the pupil
be stimulated to further efforts ?

20
306 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

The scholars, therefore, should learn, and _ learn
thoroughly, the etymology of all words, the reasons for
all constructions, and the principles on which the rules for
the various subjects of study have been formed (the
principles of the sciences should in the first instance be
impressed on the mind, not by merely giving the reasons,
but by actual demonstration on the objects themselves).

This will prove most congenial to the pupils, and will
therefore be of the greatest use in paving the way for the
most thorough education possible; for their eyes will be
opened to a remarkable extent, and they will acquire the
habit of easily and naturally advancing from one thing to
another.

37. In schools, therefore, everything should be taught
through its causes.

NintH PRINCIPLE

38. Mature preserves a due proportion between the roots and
the branches, with respect to both quality and quantity.

The development of the branches above the earth is
proportionate to that of the roots beneath. This could
not be otherwise ; for if the tree were only to grow upwards
it would be unable to maintain its erect position, since it
is the roots that help it to do so. If, on the other hand,
it only grew downwards it would be useless, for it is the
branches and not the roots that bear the fruit. With
animals also there is a close connection between the
external and the internal organs, for if the internal organs
are healthy the external ones are so also.

39. Lmuitation.—The same holds good of education. It
must first be applied to the inner roots of knowledge, and
thus develope and gain strength, while at the same time
care must be taken that it afterwards spread out into
branches and foliage. That is to say, whenever instruction
is given the pupil should be taught to apply his knowledge
practically, as in the case of a language by speaking, and
not merely to assimilate it mentally.
THOROUGHNESS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING 307

 

40. Therefore

(i) With every subject of instruction the question of its
practical use must be raised, that nothing useless may be
learned.

(ii) Whatever has been learned should be communicated
by one pupil to the other, that no knowledge may remain
unused. For in this sense only can we understand the
saying: “Thy knowledge is of no avail if none other
know that thou knowest.” No source of knowledge, there-
fore, should be opened, unless rivulets flow from it. But
of this will say more in the following principle.

TenrH PRINCIPLE

41. Nature becomes fruitful and strong through constant
movement.

Thus, when a bird hatches eggs, it does not only warm
them, but, in order that they may be warmed equally on
all sides, it turns them round daily (this can be easily
observed in the case of geese, hens, and doves, since these
hatch their eggs under our very eyes). When the chicken
has broken through the shell it exercises itself by moving its
beak, its limbs, and its wings, by stretching itself and raising
itself from the ground, and by repeated attempts to walk
and to fly, until it is sufficiently strong to do so.

The more a tree is buffeted by the winds, the faster it
grows and the deeper it drives its roots. Indeed it is
healthy for all plants to be stimulated by rain, storms, hail,
thunder, and lightning, and for this reason those localities
that are greatly exposed to storms of wind and of rain
ought to produce harder wood than others.

42. Imitation in the mechanical arts—In the same way
the builder leaves the wind and the sun to make his build-
ings dry and firm. The smith also, who wishes to harden
and temper his iron, places it repeatedly in the fire and in
water, and thus, by alternating cold and heat, and by
repeatedly softening the metal, ultimately renders it hard
and durable.
308 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

43. From this it follows that education cannot attain to
thoroughness without frequent and suitable repetitions of
and exercises on the subjects taught. We may learn the
most suitable mode of procedure by observing the natural
movements that underlie the processes of nutrition in living
bodies, namely those of collection, digestion, and distribu-
tion. For in the case of an animal (and in that of a plant
as well) each member seeks for digestion food which may
both nurture that member (since this retains and assimilates
part of the digested food) and be shared with the other
members, that the well-being of the whole organism may
be preserved (for each member serves the other). In the
same way that teacher will greatly increase the value of
his instruction who

(i) Seeks out and obtains intellectual food for him-
self.

(ii) Assimilates and digests what he has found.

(iii) Distributes what he has digested, and shares it with
others.

44. These three elements are to be found in the well-
known Latin couplet :—

To ask many questions, to retain the answers, and to teach
what one retains to others ;
These three enable the pupil to surpass his master.

Questioning takes place when a pupil interrogates his
teachers, his companions, or his books about some subject
that he does not understand. Retention follows when the
information that has been obtained is committed to memory,
or is written down for greater security (since few are so
fortunate as to possess the power of retaining everything
in their minds). Teaching takes place when knowledge
that has been acquired is communicated to fellow-pupils
or other companions.

With the two first of these principles the schools are
quite familiar, with the third but little; its introduction,
however, is in the highest degree desirable. The saying,
THOROUGHNESS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING 309

 

“He who teaches others, teaches himself,” is very true, not
only because constant repetition impresses a fact indelibly
on the mind, but because the process of teaching in itself
gives a deeper insight into the subject taught. Thus it was
that the gifted Joachim Fortius ® used to say that, if he had
heard or read anything once, it slipped out of his memory
within a month ; but that if he taught it to others it became
as much a part of himself as his fingers, and that he did
not believe that anything short of death could deprive him
of it. His advice, therefore, was that, if a student wished
to make progress, he should arrange to give lessons daily in
the subjects which he was studying, even if he had to hire
his pupils. “It is worth your while,” he says, “to sacrifice
your bodily comfort to a certain extent for the sake of
having some one who will listen while you teach, or, in
other words, while you make intellectual progress.” <

45. This would certainly be of use to many and could
easily be put into practice if the teacher of each class would
introduce this excellent system to his pupils. It might be
done in the following way: in each lesson, after the teacher
has briefly gone through the work that has been prepared,
and has explained the meanings of the words, one of the
pupils should be allowed to rise from his place and repeat
what has just been said in the same order (just as if he
were the teacher of the rest), to give his explanations in
the same words, and to employ the same examples, and if
he make a mistake he should be corrected. Then another
can be called up and made go through the same perform-
ance while the rest listen. After him a third, a fourth,
and as many as are necessary, until it is evident that all
have understood the lesson and are in a position to explain
it. In carrying this out great care should be taken to call
up the clever boys first, in order that, after their example,
the stupid ones may find it easier to follow.

46. Exercises of this kind will have a fivefold use.

(i) The teacher is certain to have attentive pupils.
For since the scholars may, at any time, be called up and
asked to repeat what the teacher has said, each of them
310 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

will be afraid of breaking down and appearing ridiculous
before the others, and will therefore attend carefully and
allow nothing to escape him. In addition to this, the
habit of brisk attention, which becomes second nature if
practised for several years, will fit the scholar to acquit
himself well in active life.

(ii) The teacher will be able to know with certainty if
his pupils have thoroughly grasped everything that he has
taught them. If he finds that they have not, he will
consult his own interest as well as that of his pupils by
repeating his explanation and making it clearer.

(iii) If the same thing be frequently repeated, the dullest
intelligences will grasp it at last, and will thus be able to
keep pace with the others ; while the brighter ones will be
pleased at obtaining such a thorough grip of the subject.

(iv) By means of such constant repetition the scholars
will gain a better acquaintance with the subject than they
could possibly obtain by private study, even with the
greatest diligence, and will find that, if they just read the
lesson over in the morning and then again in the evening, it
will remain in their memories easily and pleasantly. When,
by this method of repetition, the pupil has, as it were,
been admitted to the office of teacher, he will attain a
peculiar keenness of disposition and love of learning ; he
will also acquire the habit of remaining self-possessed while
explaining anything before a number of people, and this
will be of the greatest use to him throughout life.

47. Following out this idea, the scholars, when they
meet one another after school hours, or when they go for
walks together, should compare notes and discuss informa-
tion that they have recently acquired, or should converse
on anything new that attracts their attention. It would
be of great assistance, when a certain number of scholars
meet for such discussion, if one of them (to be chosen
either by lot or by vote) were to take the place of teacher,
and control the proceedings. If the scholar thus selected
by his companions refuse the position, he should be
severely reprimanded. For, far from being rejected, such
THOROUGHNESS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING 311

 

opportunities of teaching and of learning should be sought
after and competed for. wee

Of written exercises (a great help to progress) we will
speak in our chapters on the Vernacular-School and on
the Latin-School (chaps. xxvii. and xxviii.)
CHAPTER XIX

THE PRINCIPLES OF CONCISENESS AND RAPIDITY IN
TEACHING

1. “Bur these projects are too wearisome and too com-
prehensive,” many readers will here remark. ‘What a
number of teachers and of libraries, and how much labour
will be necessary in order that thorough instruction may
be given in one subject!” I answer: This is undoubtedly
so, and unless our labours are shortened the task.will be
no easy one; for this art of ours is as long, as wide, and
as deep as the universe that has to be subdued by our
minds. But who does not know that diffuse and difficult
things can be brought into a small compass? who is
ignorant that weavers can weave together a hundred
thousand threads with the greatest rapidity, and can pro-
duce from these a great variety of stuffs? or that millers
can grind thousands of grains with the greatest ease, and
can separate the bran from the flour with great exactness
and without any difficulty ?. Every one knows that engineers,
without the slightest trouble and with comparatively small
machines, can raise enormous weights, and that a weight
of one ounce, if at a sufficient distance from the fulcrum
of a lever, can counterbalance many pounds.

We see, therefore, that great achievements are more
often a question of skill than of strength. Are learned
men then to be the only people who do not know how
to conduct their affairs with skill? Surely shame should
CONCISENESS AND RAPIDITY IN TEACHING 313

compel us to emulate the inventive spirit of other profes-
sions and find a remedy for the difficulties with which
schools have hitherto struggled.

2. It is impossible to find a remedy until we have dis-
covered the diseases and their causes. What can it be
that has impeded the efforts of the schools and hindered
their success to such an extent that most men during their
whole stay at school do not traverse the whole range of
the sciences and arts, while some of them scarcely even
cross the threshold ?

3. The causes of this are undoubtedly the following :
firstly, no fixed landmarks were set up, which might serve
as goals to be reached by the scholars at the end of each
year, month, or day, and there was a complete lack of
system.

4. Secondly, the roads that would infallibly lead to
these goals were not pointed out.

5. Thirdly, things that should naturally be associated
were not joined together, but were kept apart. For in-
stance, the scholars in elementary schools were taught to
read, but were not given lessons in writing till some months
afterwards. In the Latin-School boys were allowed to
spend some years in learning words without any reference
to their meanings, so that their boyhood was wholly occu-
pied by grammatical studies, and all philosophic interest
was reserved for a later period. In the same way the
scholars were only allowed to learn, never to teach, though
all these things (reading and writing, words and things,
learning and teaching) should be associated, just as, in
running, the raising of the feet is combined with the
setting of them on the ground again, or, in conversation,
listening is combined with answering, or, in playing ball,
throwing is combined with catching.

6. Fourthly, the arts and the sciences were scarcely
ever taught as part of an encyclopedic whole, but were
dealt out piece-meal. This has been the reason why, in
the eyes of the scholars, they seemed like a heap of wood
or of faggots, in which the exact connection and combining-
314 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

links can scarcely be discerned. Thus it came to pass
that some grasped one fact, others another, and that none
received a really thorough and universal education.

7. Fifthly, many different methods were employed.
Each school and even each teacher used a different one.
What was worse, teachers would use one method in one
subject or language, and another in another, and, worst of
all, even in one individual subject they varied their method,
so that the scholar scarcely understood in what way he was
expected to learn. This was the cause of the many delays
that took place, and of the lassitude of the scholar, who
had frequently no desire even to attempt new branches of
study.

8. Sixthly, no method was known by which instruction
could be given to all the pupils in a class at the same time;
the individual only was taught. With a large number of
pupils this must have been an impossible task for the
teacher. The pupils also must have found it very wearisome
and extremely irksome, if each had to go on preparing
work until his turn arrived.

g. Seventhly, if there were several teachers, this was
a fresh source of confusion; since each hour some new
subject was introduced. Not to mention the fact that a
diversity of teachers tends to distract the mind quite as
much as a diversity of books.

to. Finally, both in school and out of it, the scholars
had perfect freedom as regards the books they read, and
the teachers gave them no assistance in their choice. For
all were imbued with the idea that to read many authors
afforded many opportunities of making progress, whereas
such diversity produced nothing but distraction. It was
not surprising, therefore, that very few mastered all the
branches of study. The wonder was that any one was able
to find his way out of such a labyrinth,—and indeed only
the most gifted succeeded in doing so.

11. For the future, therefore, hindrances and delays of
this sort must be set aside, and we must make straight for our
goal, neglecting everything that is not of immediate service.
CONCISENESS AND RAPIDITY IN TEACHING 315

 

As the proverb says: ‘Where small means suffice, great
should not be used.”

12, Let us choose the sun for imitation, since it affords
a striking example of the operations of nature. Its functions
are laborious and almost unlimited (namely, to send forth
its rays over the whole world and to supply all the elements,
minerals, plants, and animals, of which countless species
exist, with light, warmth, life, and strength), but it proves
equal to them all, and every year fulfils the circle of its
duties in the most admirable manner.

13. We will therefore examine its various principles of
action, with reference to the above-mentioned desiderata
of school management.

(i) The sun does not occupy itself with any single
object, animal, or tree; but lights and warms the whole
earth at once.

(ii) It gives light to all things with the same rays;
covers all things with moisture by the same processes
of evaporation and condensation; it causes the same
wind to blow on all things; it puts all things in motion by
the same warmth and cold.

(iii) It causes spring, summer, autumn, and winter to
make their appearance in all lands at the same time. At
the same time, through its agency, the trees grow green,
blossom, and bear fruit (though naturally some do so
earlier than others).

(iv) It always preserves the same order; one day
resembles another, one year resembles the next. It always
operates on one object by the same method.

(v) It produces everything from its elementary form,
and from no other source.

(vi) It produces in combination everything that ought
to be combined ; wood with its bark and its core, a flower
with its leaves, a fruit with its skin and its stalk.

(vii) It causes everything to develope through definite
stages, so that one stage prepares the way for the next,
and each stage follows naturally from the previous one.

(viii) Finally, it brings into existence nothing that is
316 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

useless, or destroys such an object if it be accidentally
produced.

14. In imitation of this

(i) There should only be one teacher in each school,
or at any rate in each class.

(ii) Only one author should be used for each subject
studied.

(iii) The same exercise should be given to the whole
class.

(iv) All subjects and languages should be taught by
the same method.

(v) Everything should be taught thoroughly, briefly,
and pithily, that the understanding may be, as it were, un-
locked by one key, and may then unravel fresh difficulties
of its own accord.

(vi) All things that are naturally connected ought to
be taught in combination.

(vii) 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.

(viii) And finally, everything that is useless should be
invariably discarded.

15. If these reforms could be introduced into schools,
there is no doubt that the whole circle of the sciences
might be completed with an ease that surpasses our ex-
pectation, just as the sun completes its circling course
through the heavens every year.

Let us therefore get to work and see if these counsels
can be carried into effect, and how the difficulties that
hinder their realisation can be overcome.

LIRST PROBLEM

How can a single teacher teach a number of boys, no matter
how great, at one time?

16. I maintain that it is not only possible for one
teacher to teach several hundred scholars at once, but that
it is also essential; since for both the teachers and their
CONCISENESS AND RAPIDITY IN TEACHING 317

 

pupils it is by far the most advantageous system. The
larger the number of pupils that he sees before him the
greater the interest the teacher will take in his work
(just as the hands of a miner tremble with excitement
when he discovers a rich vein of ore); and the keener the
teacher himself, the greater the enthusiasm that his pupils
will display. To the scholars, in the same way, the presence
of a number of companions will be productive not only of
utility but also of enjoyment (for it gives pleasure to all to
have companions in their labours) ; since they will mutually
stimulate and assist one another. Indeed for boys of this
age emulation is by far the best stimulus. Again, if a
teacher’s class be small, this point or that may escape the
ears of all his pupils. But if many hear him at once, each
one grasps as much as he can, and then, when the lesson
is repeated, all comes back into their minds again, since
one mind has an invigorating effect on another and one
memory on another. In short, as a baker makes a large
quantity of bread by a single kneading of the dough and a
single heating of the oven, as a brick-maker burns many
bricks at one time, as a printer prints hundreds of thousands
of books from the same set of type, so should a teacher be
able to teach a very large number of pupils at once and
without the slightest inconvenience. Do we not see that
one trunk can support innumerable branches and supply
them with sap, and that the sun is able to vivify the whole
earth ?

17. How is this to be done? Let us take our former
examples, and watch the processes of nature. The trunk
does not extend to the outermost branches, but remaining
in its place supplies sap to the large ones that are in
immediate connection with it, these pass it on to others,
and these again in their turn to others, and so on until
the smallest twigs have been reached. In the same way
the sun does not illumine each individual tree, plant, or
animal, but, sending forth its rays from on high, lights up
half the world at once, and thus supplies each creature
with light and warmth for its own use. We should here
318 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

notice that the sun’s action may be assisted by the lie of
the ground. Valleys and depressions, for instance, collect
the rays and thus attain a higher degree of warmth.

18. If matters be arranged in the following manner,
one teacher will easily be able to cope with a very large
number of scholars. That is to say

(i) If he divide the whole body into classes, groups of
ten, for example, each of which should be controlled by a
scholar who is, in his turn, controlled by one of higher
rank, and so on. .

(ii) If he never give individual instruction, either
privately out of school or publicly in school, but teach all
the pupils at one and the same time. He should, therefore,
never step up to any one scholar or allow any one of
them to come to him separately, but should remain in his
seat, where he can be seen and heard by all, just as the
sun sends forth its rays over all things. The scholars, on
the other hand, must direct their ears, eyes, and thoughts
towards him and attend to everything that he tells them
by word of mouth or explains by means of his hand or
of diagrams. Thus, with a single blow, not one but many
flies are killed.

19. (iii) With a little skill it will be possible to arrest
the attention of the pupils, collectively and individually,
and to imbue them with the notion that (as really is the
case) the mouth of the teacher is a spring from which
streams of knowledge issue and flow over them, and that,
whenever they see this spring open, they should place
their attention, like a cistern, beneath it, and thus allow
nothing that flows forth to escape. The teacher also
should take the greatest care never to speak unless all his
pupils are listening, nor to teach unless they are all
attending. In this connection that remark of Seneca’s
is very apposite: “We should speak to none who is
unwilling to listen.” Solomon also says: “Wisdom is
before the face of him that hath understanding” (Prov.
xvii. 24). That is to say, we should talk not to the winds
but to the ears of men.
CONCISENESS AND RAPIDITY IN TEACHING 319

 

20. It is not solely by means of the leaders or of the
other boys in charge, that attention can be awakened and
retained.. The teacher is himself the most important
factor, and will succeed in his efforts if he observe eight
rules.

(i) If, when he teaches, he take the trouble continually
to introduce something that is entertaining as well as
of practical use; for in this way the interest of the
scholars will be excited and their attention will be
arrested.

(ii) If, at the commencement of any new subject, he
excite the interest of his pupils, either by placing it before
them in an attractive manner or by asking them questions.
These latter may either refer to what has preceded, and
thus illustrate the connection between it and the subject
in question, or to the new branch of study. For, if the
scholar’s ignorance of the subject be mercilessly exposed,
he may be fired with a desire to master it and understand
it thoroughly.

(iii) If he stand on an elevated platform, and, keeping
all the scholars in his sight at once, allow none of them to
do anything but attend and look at him.

(iv) If he aid their attention by appealing to the
senses, especially to that of sight, whenever it is possible
(as we have shown above, chap. xvii., in the third rule of
the eighth Principle).

(v) If he occasionally interrupt his explanation with
the words: Tell me (mentioning some boy), what have I
just said? Repeat that sentence! Tell me; how have I
reached this point? and remarks of a similar kind, the
exact nature of which must depend on the class that he
is teaching. If any pupil be found who is not paying
attention, he should be reprimanded or punished on the
spot. In this way the scholars will be made keen and
attentive.

(vi) Similarly, if he ask one boy, and he hesitate, he
should pass on to a second, a third, a tenth, or a thirtieth,
and ask for the answer without repeating the question.
320 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

The result of this will be that all listen carefully to what
is said to one of their number, and apply it to their own
use.

(vii) If some of the boys cannot answer a question he
should ask the whole class, and then, in the presence of
the rest, praise those who answer best, that their example
may serve to stimulate the others. If any pupil make a
mistake he should be corrected, but at the same time the
cause of the error (which a clever teacher will have no
difficulty in discovering) should be made clear and the
necessity for its recurrence obviated. It can scarcely be
realised what an assistance to rapid progress this will be.

(viii) Finally, when the lesson is over, the scholars
should be given leave to ask questions on any point that
they wish explained, either in the present lesson or in
a previous one. Private questioning should not be per-
mitted. Each scholar who wishes to ask a question
should either ask the teacher openly or get the leader of
his division to do so (if this latter is unable to solve the
difficulty himself). In this way the whole class will be
benefited, and as much by the question as by the answer.
If any scholar help to illustrate an important point by
the intelligence of his questions, he should be commended,
in order that the rest may thereby be incited to industry
and keenness.

21. Such a daily training of the attention will not only
be of momentary use to the young, but will stand them
in good stead throughout their whole lives. For if this
training last for some years, and they get into the habit
of concentrating their minds on whatever is being done at
the time, they will continue to do so of their own accord
without any external pressure. If schools are organised
on this principle, surely we may look forward to a con-
siderable increase in the number of clever and intelligent
men !

22. To this it may be objected that individual attention
is necessary to see that each scholar keeps his books
tidy, writes his exercises carefully, and learns his lessons
CONCISENESS AND RAPIDITY IN TEACHING 321

 

accurately, and that, if the class be large, this will take a
great deal of time. I answer: It is not necessary for the
teacher to hear the lessons or inspect the books of each
individual scholar ; since he has the leaders of divisions to
assist him, and each of these can inspect the scholars in
his own division.

23. The teacher, as chief inspector, should give his
attention first to one scholar, then to another, more
particularly with the view of testing the honesty of those
whom he distrusts. For example, if the scholars have to
say a repetition lesson, he should call first on one pupil,
then on another, first one at the top of the class and then
one at the bottom, while all the rest attend. He may thus
ensure that each one be in readiness, since none can be
certain that he will not be examined. Ifthe teacher observe
that a scholar begins his lessons without hesitation, and
feel convinced that he knows the rest equally well, he may
let another one go on, and if this one in turn seem well
prepared, may pass on toa third. In this way, by hearing
a few, he can rest assured that he has the whole class
under his control.

24. The same method should be pursued with dicta-
tions. One or more scholars should read out what has
been written, with the right punctuation and in a clear
voice, while the rest correct what they have written in
their books. The teacher should also himself examine the
books from time to time, and should punish any scholar
who has been doing his work carelessly.

2s. The correction of written translations seems to
demand more time; but here also the same method may
be adopted with advantage. As soon as the leaders of
divisions have secured attention, one scholar should be
called upon to stand up and choose as his adversary any
other scholar that he pleases. As soon as this latter
stands up, the first scholar reads out his translation
sentence by sentence, while all the rest listen attentively,
the teacher in the meantime looking at the exercise to see
that it is properly written. At the end of each sentence

21
322 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

the scholar stops, and his adversary has the opportunity of
pointing out any mistake that he may have perceived.
Then other scholars in the division, and after them the
whole class, may. make criticisms on the rendering, and
finally the teacher supplies any point that has been
omitted. While this is going on, the others correct the
mistakes in their own exercises. The adversary, however,
should not do so, but should keep his own unaltered that
he may submit it to the criticism of his companions. As
soon as the first sentence has been properly corrected, the
next is taken, and so on until the exercise is finished.
Then the adversary should read out his in the same way,
while the original challenger takes care that he really
reads his original translation and does not insert the
corrections that have been made. The individual words
and phrases are then criticised as before.

After this, a second pair of adversaries is chosen, and
the same procedure is repeated for as long as the time
permits.

26. In this connection the leaders have two duties to
perform. Before the corrections begin they should see
that all the scholars have their exercises ready, and while
it is going on they should take care that each of them
corrects his exercise when it contains the mistake that is
under consideration.

27. The result of this will be

(i) That the work of the teacher will be lightened.

(ii) That no scholar will be neglected.

(iii) That the scholars will attend better than formerly.

(iv) That what is said to one will be of equal advan-
tage to all.

(v) The differences in the mode of expression, that
are certain to occur in so many different translations, will
not only improve and strengthen the scholar’s acquaint-
ance with the subject-matter, but will also give him facility
in using the language.

(vi) Finally, as soon as the first, second, and third
pair have finished, it will frequently happen that the
CONCISENESS AND ‘RAPIDITY IN TEACHING 323

 

others have few or no mistakes left to correct. When
this is the case, the remainder of the time may be devoted
to the class in general, that those who are still uncertain
about a passage may bring forward their difficulties, or those
who think that their rendering is better than that which
has been given may read it and receive criticism on it.

28. The method here suggested has been illustrated
by an exercise in translation. Its application, however, is
just as easy, if the exercise be one in style, rhetoric, logic,
theology, or philosophy.

29. We have thus seen that one teacher can instruct a
hundred scholars with as little labour as he would expend
in teaching a few.

SzeconD PROBLEM

How is it possible for all the scholars to be taught from the
same books ?

30. It is an undisputed fact that too many objects
at once distract the attention. It will therefore be of
immense advantage if the scholars be allowed to use no
books but those that have been expressly composed for
the class in which they are; and in this way it will always
be possible to use with effect the order that was given to
the worshippers in the temples of old, namely, “This
shalt thou do.” Since the less the eyes are distracted,
the easier it is to concentrate the mind.

31. Secondly, if all the materials that are required
for instruction, blackboards, inscriptions, first reading
books, dictionaries, schematic diagrams of the arts, etc.,
be kept in constant readiness. For if (as is often the
case) the teacher must prepare the exercise-books for the
scholars, and write a model for them to copy, or if he have
to dictate grammatical rules, the text of an author, or its
translation, how much time is thereby lost! It is there-
fore necessary that sufficient quantities of all the books
which are used in each class be kept in readiness, and that
translations be supplied with those texts that are to be
324 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

translated into the mother-tongue. In this way the time
that would otherwise have been employed in dictation,
copying, and translating, can be used, and with far greater
advantage, for explanation, repetition, and imitation.

32. There need be no fear that any concession is here
being made to the teacher’s idleness. For a preacher is
considered to have done his duty if he read a text from
the Bible, explain it, and point out its application, and it
is a matter of indifference to his hearers whether he has
himself translated the text from the original, or has used
some standard translation ; and in the same way it makes
no difference to the scholars whether the teacher has
arranged his own materials or whether some one else has
done so for him. The important thing is that everything
necessary be ready to hand, and that, under the teacher’s
direction, it be properly employed. It is indeed much
better that everything of this nature be prepared before-
hand, since, on the one hand, it will be freer from errors,
and, on the other, more time will be left for the actual
process of instruction.

33. For every school, therefore, books of this kind
should be written,—in accordance with the rules already
laid down for the attainment of ease, thoroughness, and
economy of time,—and should constitute a complete,
thorough, and accurate epitome of all the subjects of
instruction. In short, they should give a true representa-
tion of the entire universe, which can thus be impressed
upon the minds of the scholars. They should also, and
this is a most important point, be written simply and
clearly, and should give the scholars sufficient assistance
to enable them, if necessary, to pursue their studies with-
out the help of a teacher.

34. With this end in view it is desirable that they be
written in the form of a dialogue. In this way (1) it is
possible to suit the subject-matter and its exposition to
the minds of the young, that neither may appear to them
to be too full of difficulties. Nothing is more suited to
inspire confidence than dialogue-form, and by means of it
CONCISENESS AND RAPIDITY IN TEACHING 325

 

the mind can be gradually led on to the desired goal. It
is in this form that playwrights have expressed their views
on the deterioration of morals, and have thereby ad-
monished the people; in this form Plato wrote all his
philosophical, and St. Augustine all his theological works,
and Cicero also has employed it largely, thus coming
down to the level of his readers. (2) Conversational form
excites and retains the attention, while the alternation
between question and answer, the various forms of expres-
sion and the amusing remarks that may be introduced,
and even the changes that may be rung upon the dvamatis
persone, all tend, not merely to counteract any antipathy to
the subject, but even to create a keen desire to know
more about it. (3) Instruction makes a far greater impres-
sion when given in this way. Weremember an event better
when we have seen it ourselves than when we have simply
heard it narrated, and, in the same way, instruction that
is given through the medium of a drama or of a dialogue
stays in the heads of the scholars far better than if it be
merely set forth by a teacher in the ordinary way, as
may be proved by experience. (4) The greater part of
our lives consists of friendly conversation, and it should.
therefore be easy to induce the young to acquire useful
information, when they are at the same time learning to
express themselves fluently and well. (5) Finally, dia-
logues of this kind act as a mild recreation, and may
enliven the private gatherings of the students.

35. It is also desirable that the books used be of the
same edition, so that they may be similar page for page
and line for line. This is important both for the sake of
reference and that the localisation of passages on certain
pages may assist the memory.

36. It will also be of great use if an abstract of the
contents of all the books used in the class be placed on
the walls of the room. This should consist of the text,
greatly abbreviated and condensed, or of illustrative pictures
and reliefs, by means of which the senses, the memory,
and the understanding may be daily exercised in con-
326 ; THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

junction. Not without purpose was it that, as the ancients
relate, the walls of the temple of A’sculapius were covered
with the precepts of the art of medicine, written there by
Hippocrates himself. This great theatre of the world, also,
God has filled with pictures, statues, and living emblems of
His wisdom, that He may instruct us by their means. (Of
these pictorial aids we will say more when we treat of the
individual classes. )

Turrp PROBLEM

How is it possible for all the scholars in a school to do the
same thing at one time?

37. It is evident that it would be a useful arrangement
if all the pupils in a class did the same lesson at one time,
for in this way the teacher would have less trouble and the
scholars greater advantage. It is only when the attention
of all is fixed on the same object, and when each tries in
turn to correct the other, that keen rivalry can arise. In
every way the teacher must imitate a captain of recruits.
This latter does not exercise each of his men separately,
but leads out a whole company at once and shows them
how to use their arms; and even if he explain anything
to one man apart, the remainder have to go through
the same exercise in order that their attention may be
retained.

The teacher should proceed on precisely similar lines.

38. Before he can do this it is necessary

(i) That the course of instruction commence at one
definite time in each year, just as the influence of the sun
on the vegetable world commences at one definite time,
namely, in spring.

(ii) That the subjects of instruction be so divided that
each year, each month, each week, each day, and even
each hour may have a definite task appointed for it, since,
if this be done, everything that is proposed will be com-
pleted with ease. But of this we will say more in the
proper place.
CONCISENESS AND RAPIDITY IN TEACHING 327

 

FourtH PROBLEM

How 1s it possible to teach everything according to one and the
same method ?

39. That there is only one natural method for all the
sciences, and only one for all the arts and languages,
will be shown in chaps. xx., xxl, and xxii. Any devia-
tions that may be necessary are not important enough to
constitute a fresh class, and are due less to peculiarities in
the subject-matter than to the teacher himself, who must
be guided by the ability, or the reverse, of his pupils and
by the progress that they make’ in the actual languages or
arts that he is teaching. The universal adoption of the
natural method, therefore, will be as great a boon to
scholars as a plain and undeviating road is to travellers
It will be easier to point out special aberrations, if the
universal principle be first laid down as indisputable.

FrrH PROBLEM

flow can many things be explained in a few words ?

40. To fill the minds of scholars with a dreary waste of
books and of words is lost labour. For it is certain that a
crust of bread and a mouthful of wine are more nutritious
than a paunchful of trifle and of ragout, and that it is
better to have a few gold pieces in one’s purse than a
hundred-weight of lead. Rightly does Seneca say of in-
struction: “Its administration should resemble the sowing
of seed, in which stress is laid, not on quantity, but on
quality.” The conclusion, therefore, that we reached in
chap. v. holds good: In man, the microcosm, everything
is contained potentially. Bring light and he will straight-
way see.

And indeed for men who are working in the dark the
faintest glimmer of light is sufficient. It is therefore
necessary to select or to write handbooks of the sciences
and languages which are small in compass and practically
328 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

arranged—cover the whole subject and contain a great
deal of matter in a short space (Ecclesiasticus xxxii. 8)—
that is to say, which place before the scholar the whole of
the subject-matter by means of a small number of rules
and definitions expressed in the simplest and clearest
language, and sufficient in themselves to lead to more
profound study.

SrixTH PROBLEM

How is it possible to do two or three things by a single
operation ?

41. The example of nature shows that several things
can be done at one time and by means of the same opera-
tion. -It is an undoubted fact that a tree grows above the
ground and beneath it at the same time, and that its wood,
its bark, its leaves, and its fruit, all develope simultaneously.
The same observation applies to animals, whose limbs all
develope and grow stronger at the same time. Further, each
limb performs several operations. The feet, for instance,
not only support a man. but also move him forwards and
backwards in various ways. The mouth is not only the
entrance to the body, but also serves as a masticator and
as a trumpet that sounds whenever called upon to do so.
With a single inspiration the lungs cool the heart, purify
the brain, and assist in voice-production.

42. We find the same thing in the arts: (1) In the
sun-dial, the single shadow cast by the gnomon points out
the hour of the day, the sign of the zodiac in which the
sun is moving, the length of the day and of the night, the
day of the month, and several other things. (2) One pole
serves to direct, to turn, and to hold back a carriage. (3)
A good orator or writer instructs, excites, and pleases at
the same time, even though his subject may make it diffi-
cult to combine these three elements.

43. The instruction of the young should be similarly
organised, so that every activity may produce several
results. It may be laid down as a general rule that each
CONCISENESS AND RAPIDITY IN TEACHING 329

 

subject should be taught in combination with those
which are correlative to it; that is to say, words should
be studied in combination with the things to which they
refer; while reading and writing, exercises in style and
in logical thought, teaching and learning, amusement and
serious study, should be continually joined together.

44. Words, therefore, should always be taught and
learned in combination with things, just as wine is bought
and sold together with the cask that contains it, a dagger
with its sheath, a tree with its bark, and fruit with its skin.
For what are words but the husks and coverings of things ?
Therefore, when instruction is given in any language, even
in the mother-tongue itself, the words must be explained
by reference to the objects that they denote ; and contrari-
wise, the scholars must be taught to express in language
whatever they see, hear, handle, or taste, so that their
command of language, as it progresses, may ever run
parallel to the growth of the understanding.

The rule shall therefore run as follows:

The scholar should be trained to express everything
that he sees in words, and should be taught the meaning
of all the words that he uses. No one should be allowed
to talk about anything that he does not understand, or to
understand anything without at the same time being able
to express his knowledge in words. For he who cannot
express the thoughts of his mind resembles a statue, and
he who chatters, without understanding what he says,
resembles a parrot.

But we wish to train up men, and to do so as quickly
as possible, and this end can only be attained when
instruction in language goes hand in hand with instruction
in facts.

45. From this it follows that we ought to exclude from our
schools all books that merely teach words and do not at
the same time lead to a knowledge of useful objects. We
must bestow our labour on that which is of real importance,
and, therefore (as Seneca says in his gth Letter), must
devote ourselves to the improvement of our understanding
330 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

rather than to the enlargement of our vocabulary. Any
reading that is necessary can be got through quickly out
of school-hours without tedious explanations or attempts
at imitation; since the time thus spent could be better
employed in the study of nature.

46. Exercises in reading and writing should always be
combined. Even when scholars are learning their alphabet,
they should be made to master the letters by writing them;
since it is impossible to find a more agreeable method
or one that will give them a greater incentive to work.
For, since all children have a natural desire to draw, this
exercise will give them pleasure, and the imagination will
be excited by the twofold action of the senses. Later
on, when they can read with ease, they should be made to
exercise their powers on subject-matter that would in any
case have to be learned, that is to say, something calculated
to give them practical information or to instil morality or
piety. The same plan may be adopted when they learn to
read Latin, Greek, or Hebrew. It will be of great advan-
tage to read and copy the declensions and conjugations
over and over again, until, by this means, reading, writing,
the meaning of the words, and the formation of the case-
endings, have been thoroughly learned. In this case we
have a fourfold result from a single exercise. A system of
concentration that is of such vital importance should be
applied to all branches of study, in order that, as Seneca
says, what is learned by reading may be given form by writing,
or that, as St. Augustine says of himself, we may write
while we make progress and make progress while we write.

47. As arule, no care is shown in the choice of the
subjects that are given as exercises in style, and there
is no connection between the successive subjects. The
result is that they are exercises in style and nothing else,
and have very little influence on the reasoning powers ;
indeed it frequently happens that, after much time and
study have been devoted to them, they prove absolutely
worthless and of no use for the business of life. Literary
taste should therefore be taught by means of the subject-
CONCISENESS AND RAPIDITY IN TEACHING 331

 

matter of the science or art on which the reasoning powers
of the class are being exercised. The teacher should tell
his pupils stories about the originators of the subject and
the times in which they lived, or should give them exer-
cises in imitation based on the subject-matter, so that, by a
single effort, notions of style may be imbibed, the-reasoning
powers may be improved, and, since either the teacher or
the pupils are continually talking, the faculty of speech
also may be exercised.

48. Towards the end of the 18th chapter I have shown
that it is possible for the scholars to give instruction in the
subject that they have just learned, and, since this process
not only makes them thorough but also enables them to
make progress more rapidly, it should not be overlooked
in this connection.

49. Finally, it will be of immense use, if the amuse-
ments that are provided to relax the strain on the minds of
the scholars be of such a kind as to lay stress on the more
serious side of life, in order that a definite impression may
be made on them even in their hours of recreation. For
instance, they may be given tools, and allowed to imitate
the different handicrafts, by playing at farming, at politics,
at being soldiers or architects, etc. In spring they may be
taken into the garden or into the country, and may be
taught the various species of plants, vying with one another
to see who can recognise the greater number. In this
way they will be introduced to the rudiments of medicine,
and not only will it be evident which of them has a natural
bent towards that science, but in many the inclination will
be created. Further, in order to encourage them, the mock
titles of doctor, licentiate, or student of medicine may be
given to those who make the greatest progress. The same
plan may be adopted in other kinds of recreation. In the
game of war the scholars may become field-marshals,
generals, captains, or standard-bearers. In that of politics
they may be kings, ministers, chancellors, secretaries,
ambassadors, etc., and, on the same principle, consuls,
senators, lawyers, or officials ; since such pleasantries often
332 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

lead to serious things. Thus would be fulfilled Luther’s
wish that the studies of the young at school could be so
organised that the scholars might take as much pleasure
in them as in playing at ball all day, and thus for the first
time would schools be a real prelude to practical life.

SEVENTH PROBLEM

How ave the subjects of study to be progressively graded ?

50. How this can be done, we have seen in the 5th,
6th, 7th and 8th Principles of the 16th chapter, and in the
sth, 6th and 7th Principles of the 18th chapter. The
important point is that suitable books should be written
for the classical schools, and that these should embody
hints to the teacher for their proper use, so that learning,
morality, and piety may be led from one stage to another
until they reach the highest.

EicHTH PROBLEM

Of the removal and avoidance of obstructions.

51. Truly has it been said, that nothing is more useless
than to learn and to know much, if such knowledge be of
no avail for practical purposes; and again, that not he
who knows much is wise, but he who knows what is useful.
The task of schools will therefore be rendered easier if the
subjects taught be curtailed. This can be done if omission
be made

(i) Of all unnecessary matter.

(ii) Of all unsuitable matter.

(iii) Of all minute detail.

52. Anything is unnecessary that is productive neither
of piety nor of morality, and that is not essential for the
cultivation of the mind. Such are the names of heathen
deities, the myths connected with them, and ‘the religious
observances of the ancients, as well as the productioris of
scurrilous and indecent poets and dramatists. It may
occasionally be necessary for the individual to read these
things in private, but in the schools, where the founda-
CONCISENESS AND RAPIDITY IN TEACHING 333

 

tions of wisdom should be laid, nothing of the kind should
be permitted. “What madness it is,” says Seneca, “to
learn so much trash, when time is so precious.” Nothing,
therefore, should be learned solely for its value at school,
but for its use in life, that the information which a scholar
has acquired may not vanish as soon as he leaves school.

53- Knowledge is unsuitable when it is uncongenial to
the mind of this or that scholar. For there is as great a
difference between the minds of men as exists between the
various kinds of plants, of trees, or of animals; one must
be treated in one way, and another in another, and the
same method cannot be applied to all alike. It is true
that there are men of great mental power who can compass
every subject; but there are also many who find the greatest
difficulty in mastering the rudiments of some things. Some
display great ability for abstract science, but have as little
aptitude for practical studies as an ass has for playing on
the lyre. Others can learn everything but music, while
others again are unable to master mathematics, poetry, or
logic. What should be done in these cases? If we
attempt to counteract a natural disinclination we are
fighting against nature, and such effort is useless. For
there will be either no result or one totally incommen-
surate with the energy expended. The teacher is the
servant and not the lord of nature; his mission is to
cultivate and not to transform, and therefore he should
never attempt to force a scholar to study any subject if he
see that it is uncongenial to his natural disposition ; since
it is more than probable that what is lacking in one direc-
tion will be compensated for in another. If one branch
be cut off a tree, the others become stronger, because
more vitality flows into them; and if none of the scholars
be forced to study any subject against his will, we shall
find no cases in which disgust is produced and the intelli-
gence is blunted. Each one will develope in the direction
of his natural inclinations (in accordance with the Divine
will), and will serve God and man in his station in life,
whatever that may be.
334 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

54. In the same way, if all minute and technical details
(such as the species of plants and of animals, the various
callings of mechanics, the names of all their tools and so
forth) had to be learned, this would be a most wearisome
and confusing task. In school-work it is sufficient if the
wide classes that exist in nature, with their most important
and most essential divisions, be made thoroughly clear.
More specialised knowledge can easily be acquired later, as
the opportunity arises.

Those who wish to win a speedy victory over the enemy,
do not waste time in storming unimportant places, but go
straight to the head-quarters of the war; since it is certain
that, if they can get the upper hand in a pitched battle,
and capture the most important strongholds, all the others
will surrender of their own accord. In the same way, if
the principal points of any subject be mastered, the sub-
sidiary details will be acquired with great ease. To this
class of obstructions belong the voluminous dictionaries
that contain every word in a language. For, since the
greater number of them are never used, why should we
force boys to learn them all, and thus overburden the
memory ?

We have now treated of the saving of time and effort in
teaching and in learning.
Y CHAPTER XX
THE METHOD OF THE SCIENCES, SPECIFICALLY

1. WE must now collect together the scattered obser-
vations that we have made on the proper teaching of the
sciences, of the arts, of morality, and of piety. By proper
teaching I mean teaching that combines ease, thorough-
ness, and rapidity.

2. Science, or the knowledge of nature, consists of an
internal perception, and needs the same accessories as the
external perception of the eye, namely, an object to ob-
serve, and light by which to observe it. If these be given,
perception will follow. The eye of the inner perception is
the mind or the understanding, the object is all that lies
within or without our apprehension, while the light is the
necessary attention. But, as in the case of external per-
ception a definite procedure is necessary in order to appre-
hend things as they are, so with internal perception a
certain method is necessary if things are to be presented
to the mind in such a way that it can grasp them and
assimilate them with ease.

3. The youth who wishes to penetrate the mysteries of
the sciences must carefully observe four rules:

(i) He must keep the eye of his mind pure.

(ii) He must see that the object be brought near
to it.

(iii) He must pay attention.

(iv) He must proceed from one object to another in
336 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

accordance with a suitable method. For thus he will
apprehend everything surely and easily.

4. Over the amount of ability that we possess we have
no control, for God has portioned out this mirror of the
understanding, this inner eye, according to His will. But
it lies in our power to prevent it from growing dusty or
dim. By dust, I mean the idle, useless, and empty occu-
pations of the mind. For our mind is in constant activity,
like a continually running mill-stone, and is supplied by its
servants, the external senses, with material from every side.
But unless the chief inspector, the reason, be continually
on the watch, worthless material is supplied, such as chaff,
straw, or sand, instead of corn or wheat. Thus it comes to
pass that, as in the case of a mill, every corner is filled with
dust. This inner mill, therefore, the mind (which is also
a mirror) will be kept free from dust, if the young be kept
away from worthless occupations and be skilfully trained
to like worthy and useful things.

5. In order that the mirror may duly receive the images
of the objects, it is necessary that these latter be solid and
visible, and be also placed suitably before the eyes.
Clouds and similar objects that possess little consistency
make but a slight impression on a mirror, while objects
that are not present make none at all. Those things,
therefore, that are placed before the intelligence of the
young, must be real things and not the shadows of things.
I repeat, they must be ¢Azmgs; and by the term I mean
determinate, real, and useful things that can make an im-
pression on the senses and on the imagination. But they
can only make this impression when brought sufficiently
near.

6. From this a golden rule for teachers may be derived.
Everything should, as far as is possible, be placed before
the senses. Everything visible should be brought before
the organ of sight, everything audible before that of hear-
ing. Odours should be placed before the sense of smell,
and things that are tastable and tangible before the sense
of taste and of touch respectively. If an object can make
METHOD OF THE SCIENCES, SPECIFICALLY 337

 

an impression on several senses at once, it should be
brought into contact with several, though with the limita-
tions imposed in the seventh Principle of chap. viii.

7. For this there are three cogent reasons. Firstly,
the commencement of knowledge must always come from
the senses (for the understanding possesses nothing that it
has not first derived from the senses). Surely, then, the
beginning of wisdom should consist, not in the mere learn-
ing the names of things, but in the actual perception of
the things themselves! It is when the thing has been
grasped by the senses that language should fulfil its func-
tion of explaining it still further.

8. Secondly, the truth and certainty of science depend
more on the witness of the senses than on anything else.
For things impress themselves directly on the senses, but
on the understanding only mediately and through the
senses. This is evident from the fact that belief is at
once accorded to knowledge derived from the senses, while
an appeal is always made to them from a@ grior7 reasoning
and from the testimony of others. We do not trust
a conclusion derived from reasoning unless it can be veri-
fied by a display of examples (the trustworthiness of which
depends on sensuous perception). No one could have
such confidence in the testimony of another person as
to disbelieve the experience of his own senses. Science,
then, increases in certainty in proportion as it depends
on sensuous perception. It follows, therefore, that if we
wish to implant a true and certain knowledge of things
in our pupils, we must take especial care that everything
be learned by means of actual observation and sensuous
perception.

g. Thirdly, since the senses are the most trusty servants
of the memory, this method of sensuous perception, if
universally applied, will lead to the permanent retention of
knowledge that has once been acquired. For instance, if
I have once tasted sugar, seen a camel, heard a nightingale
sing, or been in Rome, and have on each occasion atten-
tively impressed the fact on my memory, the incidents will

22
338 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

remain fresh and permanent. We find, accordingly, that
children can easily learn Scriptural and secular stories
from pictures. Indeed, he who has once seen a rhinoceros
(even in a picture) or been present at a certain occurrence,
can picture the animal to himself and retain the event in
his memory with greater ease than if they had been de-
scribed to him six hundred times. Hence the saying of
Plautus: “An eye-witness is worth more than ten ear-
witnesses.” Horace also says: ‘‘ What is entrusted to the
fickle ears makes less impression on the mind than things
which are actually presented to the eyes and which the
spectator stores up for himself.”

In the same manner, whoever has once seen a dissection
of the human body will understand and remember the
relative position of its parts with far greater certainty than
if he had read the most exhaustive treatises on anatomy,
but had never actually seen a dissection performed. Hence
the saying, “Seeing is believing.”

to. If the objects themselves cannot be procured,
representations of them may be used. Copies or models
may be constructed for teaching purposes, and the same
principle may be adopted by botanists, geometricians,
zoologists, and geographers, who should illustrate their
descriptions by engravings of the objects described. The
same thing should be done in books on physics and else-
where. For example, the human body will be well ex-
plained by ocular demonstration if the following plan be
adopted. A skeleton should be procured (either such an
one as is usually kept in universities, or one made of wood),
and on this framework should be placed the : muscles,
sinews, nerves, veins, arteries, as well as the intestines, the
lungs, the heart, the diaphragm, and the liver. These
should be made of leather and stuffed with wool, and
should be of the right size and in the right place, while on
each organ should be written its name and its function.
If you take the student of medicine to this construction
and explain each part to him separately, he will grasp all
the details without any effort, and from that time forth will
METHOD OF THE SCIENCES, SPECIFICALLY 339

 

understand the mechanism of his own body. For every
branch of knowledge similar constructions (that is to say,
images of things which cannot be procured in the original)
should be made, and should be kept in the schools ready for
use. It is true that expense and labour will be necessary
to produce these models, but the result will amply reward
the effort.

ti. If any be uncertain if all things can be placed
before the senses in this way, even things spiritual and
things absent (things in heaven, or in hell, or beyond the
sea), let him remember that all things have been harmoniously
arranged by God in such a manner that the higher in the
scale of existence can be represented by the lower, the
absent by the present, and the invisible by the visible.
This can.be seen in the Macromicrocosmus of Robert
Flutt,®° in which the origin of the winds, of rain, and of
thunder is described in such a way that the reader can
visualise it. Nor is there any doubt that even greater
concreteness and ease of demonstration than is here dis-
played might be attained.

12. So much of the presentation of objects to the
senses. We must now speak of the light, the absence of
which renders the presentation of objects to the eyes use-
less. This light of the teaching art is attention, and by
its means the learner can keep his mind from wandering
and can take in everything that is put before him. It is
impossible for any man to see an object in the dark, or
if his eyes be closed, no matter how near to him it may be;
and in the same way, if you talk to one who is not attend-
ing, or show him anything, you will make no impression on
his senses. This we can observe in the case of those who,
while lost in thought, do not notice what is going on before
their eyes. He, therefore, who wishes to show anything
to another at night must provide light, and must polish the
object so that it shines; and in the same way a master, if
he wish to illumine with knowledge a pupil shrouded in
the darkness of ignorance, must first excite his attention,
that he may drink in information with a greedy mind.
340 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

How this can be done we have shown in the 17th chapter,
and in the first Principle of the 19th chapter.

13. So much of the light. We will now speak of the
mode in which objects must be presented to the senses,
if the impression is to be distinct. This can be readily
understood if we consider the processes of actual vision.
If the object is to be clearly seen it is necessary: (1)
that it be placed before the eyes ; (2) not far off, but at a
reasonable distance; (3) not on one side, but straight
before the eyes; (4) and so that the front of the object be
not turned away from, but directed towards, the observer ;
(5) that the eyes first take in the object as a whole; (6)
and then proceed to distinguish the parts; (7) inspecting
these in order from the beginning to the end; (8) that
attention be paid to each and every part; (9) until they
are all grasped by means of their essential attributes.
If these requisites be properly observed, vision takes place
successfully ; but if one be neglected its success is only
partial.

14. For instance, if any one wish to read a letter that
has been sent him by a friend, it is necessary: (1) that it
be presented to the eyes (for if it be not seen, how can it
be read?); (2) that it be placed at a suitable distance
from the eyes (for if it be too far off, the words cannot be
distinguished) ; (3) that it be directly in front of the eyes
(for if it be on one side, it will be confusedly seen); (4)
that it be turned the right way up (for if a letter or a book
be presented to the eyes upside down or on its side, it can-
not be read); (5) the general characteristics of the letter,
such as the address, the writer, and the date must be seen
first (for unless these facts be known, the particular items
of the letter cannot be properly understood) ; (6) then the
remainder of the letter must be read, that nothing be
omitted (otherwise the contents will not all be known, and
perhaps the most important point will be missed); (7) it
must be read in the right order (if one sentence be read
here and another there, the sense will be confused) ; (8)
each sentence must be mastered before the next is com-
METHOD OF THE SCIENCES, SPECIFICALLY 341

 

menced (for if the whole be read hurriedly, some useful
point may easily escape the mind); (9) finally, when the
whole has been carefully perused, the reader may proceed
to distinguish between those points that are necessary and
those that are superfluous.

15. These points should be observed by those who
teach the sciences, and may be expressed in nine very use-
ful precepts.

(i) Whatever is to be known must be taught.

Unless that which is to be known be placed before a
pupil, how is he to acquire a knowledge of it? Therefore
let those who teach beware of concealing anything from
their pupils, whether of intent, as do the envious and dis-
honest, or through carelessness, as is the case with those
who perform their duties in a perfunctory manner. The
two things necessary are honesty and hard work.

16. (ii) Whatever is taught should be taught as being of
practical application in every-day life and of some definite
use.

That is to say, the pupil should understand that what
he learns is not taken out of some Utopia or borrowed
from Platonic Ideas, but is one of the facts which surround
us, and that a fitting acquaintance with it will be of great
service in life. In this way his energy and his accuracy
will be increased.

17. (iii) Whatever is taught should be taught straight-
forwardly, and not in a complicated manner.

This means that we must look straight at objects and
not squint, for in that case the eyes do not see that at
which they look, but rather distort and confuse it. Objects
should be placed before the eyes of the student in their true
character, and not shrouded in words, metaphors, or hyper-
boles. These devices have their use if the object be to
exaggerate or to detract from, to praise or to blame what is
already known. But when knowledge is being acquired
- they should be avoided and the facts should be set forth
plainly.

18. (iv) Whatever is taught must be taught with reference
342 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

to its true nature and its origin; that is to say, through its
causes.

This method of cognition is the best if the true nature
of a fact is to be learned. For if its true nature be not
made evident, this is not cognition but error. The true
nature of a fact lies in the process that brought it into
being. If it appear to contain elements not accounted for
by that process, it is evident that there is some mis-
apprehension. Now everything is brought into existence
by its causes. Therefore to explain the causes of anything
is equivalent to making a true exposition of that thing’s
nature, in accordance with the principles: “Knowledge
consists in having a firm grip of causes,” and “Causes
are the guides of the understanding.” Objects can thus
be best, easiest, and most certainly cognised through a
knowledge of the processes that produced them. If a
man wish to read a letter he holds it as it was written,
since it is a difficult thing to read a document that is
inverted, or on its side, and in the same way, if a fact be
explained by means of the process that gave it birth, it will
be easily and surely understood. If, however, the teacher
reverse the order of nature, he is certain to confuse the
student. Therefore, the method employed in teaching
should be based on the method of nature. That which
precedes should be taken first, and that which follows
last.

1g. (v) If anything is to be learned, its general principles
must first be explained. Its details may then be considered,
and not till then.

The reasons for this have been given in chap. xvi.
Principle 6. We give a general notion of an object when
we explain it by means of its essential nature and its
accidental qualities. The essential nature is unfolded by
the questions what? of what kind? and why? Under the
question what? are included the name, the genus, the
function, and the end. Under the question of what kind?
comes the form of the object, or the mode in which it is
fitted to its end. Under the question wy? the efficient
METHOD OF THE SCIENCES, SPECIFICALLY 343

 

or causal force by which an object is made suitable to its
end. For example, did I wish to give a student a general
notion of a man, I should say: Man is (1) the chief
creation of God, and destined for dominion over other
creatures ; (2) endowed with freedom of choice and action ;
(3) and on that account provided with the light of reason,
that he may direct his choice and his actions with wisdom.
This is but a general notion of man, but it goes to the root
of the matter and says everything about him that is
essential. To these you may, if you like, add some of his
accidental qualities, still keeping to generalities, and this
must be done by asking the questions: from what origin ?
whence? when? You may then proceed to his parts, the
body and the soul. The nature of the body can be demon-
strated through the anatomy of its organs; that of the soul
by examining the faculties of which it consists. All these
points must be taken in their proper order.

20. (vi) All the parts of an object, even the smallest, and
without a single exception, must be learned with reference
to their order, their position, and their connection with one
another.

Nothing exists in vain, and sometimes the strength of
the larger parts depends on that of the smallest. Certain
it is that in a clock, if one pin be broken or bent, or
moved out of its place, the whole machine will stop.
Similarly, in a living body, the loss of one organ may cause
life to cease, and in a sentence it is often on the smallest
words, such as prepositions and conjunctions, that the
whole sense depends. Perfect knowledge of an object can
therefore only be attained by acquiring a knowledge of the
nature and function of each of its parts.

21. (vii) All things must be taught in due succession,
and not more than one thing should be taught at one time.

The organ of vision is unable to take in two or three
objects at one time (certain it is that he who reads a book
cannot look at two pages at once, nay, cannot even see two
lines, though they lie quite close together, nor two words,
nor two letters, otherwise than successively); and in the
344 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

same way the mind can only grasp one thing at a time.
We should therefore make a distinct break in our progress
from one thing to another, that we may not overburden
the mind.

22, (viii) We should not leave any subject until it is
thoroughly understood.

Nothing can be done in a moment. For every process
involves motion, and motion implies successive stages.
The pupil should therefore not pass on from any point in
a science until he has thoroughly mastered it and is
conscious that he has done so. The methods to be em-
ployed are emphatic teaching, examination, and iteration,
until the desired result is attained. This we have pointed
out in chap. xviii. Principle ro.

23. (ix) Stress should be laid on the differences which
exist between things, in order that what knowledge of
them is acquired may be clear and distinct.

Much meaning lies concealed in that celebrated saying:
“He who distinguishes well is a good teacher.” For too
many facts overwhelm a student, and too great a variety
confuses him. Remedies must therefore be applied: in
the first case order, by means of which one thing may
be taken after another; in the second, a careful considera-
tion of the differences that exist in nature, that it may
always be evident in what respects one thing differs from
another. This is the only method that can give distinct,
clear, and certain knowledge ; since the variety and actuality
of natural objects depend on their distinctive attributes,
as we have hinted in chap. xviii. Principle 6.

24. Now it is impossible that all teachers, when they
enter on their profession, should be possessed of the re-
quisite skill, and it is therefore necessary that the sciences
which are taught in schools be mapped out in accordance
with the foregoing laws. If this be done it will be difficult
for any teacher to miss his mark. For, if the laws be
rigorously observed, it is beyond question that any man who
is once admitted into the royal palace and is allotted a
certain space of time can easily and without any trouble
METHOD OF THE SCIENCES, SPECIFICALLY 345

 

master its whole contents, its pictures, statues, carpets,
and other ornaments; and just as easy will it be for a
youth who jis admitted to the theatre of this world to
penetrate with his mental vision the secrets of nature, and
from that time forward to move among the works of God
and of man with his eyes opened.
CHAPTER XxI
THE METHOD OF THE ARTS

1. “THEORY,” says Vives, “is easy and short, but has no
result other than the gratification that it affords. Practice,
on the other hand, is difficult and prolix, but is of
immense utility.” Since this is so, we should diligently
seek out a method by which the young may be easily led
to the practical application of natural forces, which is to be
found in the arts.

2. Art primarily requires three things: (1) A model or
a conception ; that is to say, an external form which the
artist may examine and then try to imitate. (2) The
material on which the new form is to be impressed. (3) The
instruments by the aid of which the work is accomplished.

3. But when the instruments, the materials, and the
model have been provided, three more things are necessary
before we can learn an art: (1) a proper use of the
materials; (2) skilled guidance; (3) frequent practice.
That is to say, the pupil should be taught when and how
to use his materials; he should be given assistance when
using them that he may not make mistakes, or that he may
be corrected if he do; and he should not leave off making
mistakes and being corrected until he can work correctly
and quickly.

4. With respect to these points eleven canons must be
observed: six on the use of materials; three on guidance ;
and two on practice.
THE METHOD OF THE ARTS 347

 

5. (i) What has to be done must be learned by practice.

Artisans do not detain their apprentices with theories, but
set them to do practical work at an early stage; thus they
learn to forge by forging, to carve by carving, to paint by
painting, and to dance by dancing. In schools, therefore,
let the students learn to write by writing, to talk by talking,
to sing by singing, and to reason by reasoning. In this
way schools will become work-shops humming with work,
and students whose efforts prove successful will experience
the truth of the proverb: “We give form to ourselves and
to our materials at the same time.”

6. (ii) A definite model of that which has to be made
must always be provided.

This the student should first examine, and then imitate,
as though he were following in the footsteps of a guide.
For he who neither knows what has to be done nor how
to do it, is unable to produce anything of himself, but must
have a model placed before him. Indeed it is sheer cruelty
to force any one to do what you wish, while he is ignorant
what your wishes are; to demand, that is to say, that he
form straight lines, right angles, or perfect circles, unless
you first give him a ruler, a square, and a pair of compasses,
and explain their use to him. Further, great care should
be taken to provide in the school-room formule for or
models of everything that has to be made, and these,
whether drawings and diagrams, or rules and models,
should be correct, definite, and simple; easy both to
understand and to imitate. There will then be no
absurdity in demanding of a man that he see, when
provided with a light; that he walk, when he already
stands on his feet ; or that he use the tools that are already
in his hands.

7. (iii) The use of instruments should be shown in
practice and not by words; that is to say, by example
rather than by precept.

It is many years since Quintilian said: “Through
precepts the way is long and difficult, while through
examples it is short and practicable.” But alas, how little
348 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

heed the ordinary schools pay to this advice. The very
beginners in grammar are so overwhelmed by precepts,
rules, exceptions to the rules, and exceptions to the ex-
ceptions, that for the most part they do not know what
they are doing, and are quite stupefied before they begin
to understand anything. Mechanics do not begin by
drumming rules into their apprentices. They take them
into the workshop and bid them look at the work that has
been produced, and then, when they wish to imitate this
(for man is an imitative animal), they place tools in their
hands and show them how they should be held and used.
Then, if they make mistakes, they give them advice and
correct them, often more by example than by mere words,
and, as the facts show, the novices easily succeed in their
imitation. For there is great truth in that saying of
the Germans, “A good leader finds a good follower.”
Very apposite, too, is the remark of Terence, “Do you go
before; I will follow.” This is the way, namely, by
imitating, and without any laborious rules, that children
learn to walk, to run, to talk, and to play. Rules are like
thorns to the understanding, and to grasp their meaning
needs both attention and ability, while even the dullest
students are aided by example. No one has ever mastered
any language or art by precept alone; while by practice
this is possible, even without precept.

8. (iv) Practice should commence with the rudiments
and not with ambitious works.

A carpenter does not begin by teaching his apprentice
to build turrets, but first shows him how to hold the axe,
to cut down trees, to shape planks, to bore holes, and to
fasten beams together. A painter does not make his
pupil commence by painting portraits, but teaches him
how to mix colours, to hold the brush, and to make lines ;
then to attempt rough outlines, and so on. He who
teaches a boy how to read explains to him, not the contents
of the book, but the names and nature of the letters, and
shows him how they can be joined together into syllables ;
then he proceeds to words, and then to sentences. In the
THE METHOD OF THE ARTS 349

 

same way the beginner in grammar should learn, first how
to inflect single words, then how to join two together.
Then he may advance to simple and compound sentences,
and so on till he reach continuous prose. So too in
dialectic. The student should first learn to distinguish
things and the concepts of things by means of their genera
and species ; then to classify them afresh, with respect to
some other common quality (for such links exist between
all things); then to define and distribute them; then to
estimate the value of the things and their concepts in
combination, seeking out the what? the whence? and the
why? and whether it be necessary or contingent. When
he has had sufficient practice in this, he may proceed to
ratiocination and seek how to draw conclusions from given
premises, and finally he may essay discursive reasoning or
the complete conduct of disputations. The same course
may with advantage be followed in rhetoric. The student
should first devote some time to the collection of synonyms,
and may then learn to add epithets to nouns, verbs, and
adverbs. He may then proceed to the use of antithesis,
and later on to that of periphrasis. Then he may substitute
figurative words for the originals, alter the order of the
words for the sake of euphony, and adorn a simple sentence
with all the figures of speech. Finally, when thoroughly
versed in all these several points, and not sooner, he may
proceed to the composition of a complete discourse. If
any one advance step by step in any art, as here indicated,
it is impossible that he should not make progress.

The basis of the foregoing was discussed in chap. xvii.
Principle 4.

g. (v) Beginners should at first practise on a material
that is familiar to them.

This rule we obtain from the gth Principle of the 17th
chapter, and from the 6th Corollary of the 4th Principle.
Its meaning is that students should not be overburdened
with matters that are unsuitable to their age, compre-
hension, and present condition, since otherwise they will
spend their time in wrestling with shadows. For example,
350 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

when a Polish boy is learning to read or to write his letters
he should not be taught to do so from a book written in
Latin, Greek, or Arabic, but from one written in his own
language, that he may understand what he is doing. Again,
if a boy is to understand the use of the rules of rhetoric,
the examples on which he is made to practise them should
not be taken from Virgil or from Cicero, or from theological,
political, or medical writers, but should refer to the objects
that surround him, to his books, to his clothes, to trees,
houses, and schools. It will also be of use if the examples
that are taken to illustrate the first rule. be retained,
although familiar, to illustrate the remainder. In dialectic,
for example, a tree may be taken, and its genus, its species,
its relations to other objects, its characteristic peculiarities
and the logical definition and distribution of the term may
be treated of. We may then proceed to the various ways
in which a statement may be made about a tree. Finally,
we may show how, by a perfect train of reasoning, and by
taking the facts already ascertained as our starting-point,
we may discover and demonstrate other properties of a
tree. In this way, if, in each case, the use of the rules be
illustrated by the same familiar example, the boy will easily
master their application to all other subjects.

10. (vi) At first the prescribed form should be imitated
with exactness. Later on more freedom may be allowed.

A form will be expressed with more exactness in propor-
tion as care is taken to make it resemble its original. Thus
coins that are struck by one die are exactly like the die and
one another. So also with books printed from metal type,
and with casts made in wax, plaster, or metal. In all other
artistic operations, therefore, as far as is possible, any
imitation (at any rate the first) should be an exact copy of
its original, until the hand, the mind, and the tongue
gain more confidence, and can produce good imitations by
working freely on their own lines. For instance, those who
learn writing take a thin and transparent sheet of paper,
place it over the copy that they wish to imitate, and thus
can easily form the letters that show through. Or the
THE METHOD OF THE ARTS 351

 

characters may be printed very faintly on a white page, so
that the pupil may go over them with pen and ink, and in
this way may easily acquire the habit of shaping them.
The same thing holds good in style, if any construction or
sentence extracted from a classic writer have to be imitated.
If the original phrase be “Rich in possessions,” the boy
should be made to imitate it by saying, “Rich in coins,”
“Rich in moneys,” “ Rich in flocks,” “Rich in vineyards.”
When Cicero says, “In the opinion of the most learned
men, Eudemus easily holds the first place in astrology,”
this may be copied with very little alteration as “In the
opinion of the greatest orators, Cicero easily holds the first
place in eloquence,” “In the opinion of the whole Church,
St. Paul easily holds the first place in Apostleship.” So
too in logic, if the well-known dilemma be given: It is
either day or night. But it is night; therefore it is not
day ; the boy may learn to imitate it by similarly opposing
contradictory conceptions to one another. As, “He is
either unlearned or learned. But he is unlearned; there-
fore he is not learned” ; ‘Cain was either pious or impious,
but he was not pious”; and so on.

11. (vii) The models of the objects that have to be
produced must be as perfect as is possible, so that if
any one exercise himself sufficiently in imitating them it
will be possible for him to become perfect in his art.

It is impossible to draw straight lines with a curved
ruler, and in the same way a good copy cannot be made
from a bad model. Great care should therefore be taken
that models be prepared of everything that is to be done
in school, or indeed in life, and that these be exact,
simple, and easy to imitate. They may be either models,
pictures and drawings, or precepts and rules; but all must
be very short, very clear, self-evident, and absolutely correct.

12. (viii) The first attempt at imitation should be as
accurate as possible, that not the smallest deviation from
the model be made.

That is to say, as far as is possible. For whatever comes
first is, as it were, the foundation of that which follows. If
352 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

the foundation be firm, a solid edifice can be constructed
upon it, but if it be weak this is impossible. According to
the observations of physicians, the initial defects of digestion
cannot be repaired later on, and similarly in any operation
an error at the beginning vitiates all that follows. For this
reason Timotheus the musician used to demand twice as
large a fee from those pupils who had learned the rudiments
of their art elsewhere, saying that his labour was twofold,
as he had first to get them out of the bad habits that they
had acquired, and then to teach them correctly. Those,
therefore, who are learning any art should take care to
make themselves masters of the rudiments by imitating
their copies accurately. This difficulty once overcome,
the rest follows of itself, just as a city lies at the mercy of
foes when its gates are broken in. All haste should be
avoided, lest we proceed to advanced work before the
elementary stages have been mastered. He goes fast
enough who never quits the road, and a delay which is
caused by obtaining a thorough grip of first principles is
really no delay, but an advance towards mastering what
follows with ease, speed, and accuracy.

13. (ix) Errors must be corrected by the master on the
spot ; but precepts, that is to say the rules, and the excep-
tions to the rules, must be given at the same time.

Hitherto we have urged that the arts be taught rather
by example than by precept: we now add that precepts
and rules must be given as well, that they may guide the
operations and prevent error. That is to say, the less
obvious points of the model should be clearly explained,
and it should be made evident how the operation should
begin, what it should aim at, and how that aim can be
realised. Reasons should also be given for each rule. In
this way a thorough knowledge of the art, and confidence
and exactness in imitating, will be attained.

But these rules should be as short and as simple as
possible, since we do not want to grow gray while acquir-
ing them. When once mastered they should be of per-
petual use, even when laid aside, just as knee-bands are of
THE METHOD OF THE ARTS 353

 

use to a child who is learning to walk, and, though they
are afterwards discarded, the advantage derived from them
remains. ;

14. (x) The perfect teaching of art is based on synthesis
and analysis.

We have already shown (chap. xviii. Principle 5) by
examples taken from nature and the workshop that in this
relation synthesis is more important. The following points
in addition will show that synthetic exercises should gener-
ally come first: (1) We should always commence with what
is easy, and our own efforts are easier to understand than
those of other people. (2) Writers take pains to conceal
the artifices by which their results are obtained, so that at
first the student finds difficulty in understanding what he
sees, or fails to do so altogether. This difficulty would be
removed if he began by practising on his own attempts,
which are void of artifice. (3) The chief thing aimed at
should be given the chief place in practice, and our real
aim is to accustom the student of art to produce original
work, and not merely to copy what is placed before him
(see chapter xviii. Principle 5).

15. For all this, the accurate analysis of the work of
others must not be neglected. It is only by continually
traversing it that we get to know a road, its by-paths, and
its cross-roads. Besides, the variety that exists in nature
is so great that it is impossible for rules to cover it or for
one mind to master it. Many processes require many
rules to express them, and these we can only learn if we
analyse and study, and by imitation and emulation put
ourselves in a position to produce similar results.

16. It is our wish then that in each art complete and
exact models or examples of everything that can be pro-
duced in that art be supplied to the student. Precepts
also and rules should be given him to help him to carry
out the processes, to guide his efforts at imitation, to show
him how to avoid making faults, and to correct them when
made. Then other and different models should be given
him, and these he should learn to classify,and compare

23
354 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

with the models that he has already used, and by copying
a model that is like one previously used to produce work
that resembles the original. After this, the finished works
of other artists (who must be well known) may be examined
and analysed in accordance with the models and rules that
are already familiar. In this way the student will learn to
employ the rules with greater ease, and will acquire the
art of concealing his art. Only after a course of exercises
of this kind will he be in the position to criticise artistic
productions, whether his own or those of others.

17. (xi) These exercises must be continued until artistic
production becomes:second nature.

For it is practice, and nothing else, that produces an
artist.
CHAPTER XXII
THE METHOD OF LANGUAGES

1. LANGUAGES are learned, not as forming in themselves a
part of erudition or wisdom, but as being the means by which
we may acquire knowledge and may impart it to others.

It follows, therefore, (1) that not all languages should
be learned, for this would be impossible ; nor many, for this
would be useless and would waste time that might be
devoted to the acquisition of practical information ; but
only those that are necessary. Now necessary languages
are these: the vernacular, for use at home, and the lan-
guages of the adjoining countries, for the sake of holding
intercourse with neighbours. Thus for the Poles, German
would be necessary ; for others, the Hungarian, Wallachian,
or Turkish languages. For the reading of serious books
Latin is also advisable, as it is the common language of
the learned. For philosophers and physicians, Greek and
Arabic ; and for theologians, Greek and Hebrew.

2. Not all these languages should be learned thoroughly,
but only so far as is necessary.

It is not necessary to speak Greek or Hebrew as
fluently as the mother-tongue, since there are no people
with whom we can converse in those languages. It
suffices to learn them well enough to be able to read and
understand books written in -them.

3. The study of languages, especially in youth, should
be joined to that of objects, that our acquaintance with
356 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

the objective world and with language, that is to say, our
knowledge of facts and our power to express them, may
progress side by side. For it is men that we are forming
and not parrots, as has been said in chap. xix. Principle 6.

4. From this it follows, firstly, that words should not
be learned apart from the objects to which they refer ; since
the objects do not exist separately and cannot be appre-
hended without words, but both exist and perform their
functions together. It was this consideration that led me
to publish the /anua Linguarum ; in which words, arranged
in sentences, explain the nature of objects, and, as it is
said, with no small success.

5. Secondly, that the complete and detailed knowledge
of a language, no matter which it be, is quite unnecessary,
and that it is absurd and useless on the part of any one
to try to attain it. Not even Cicero (who is considered
the greatest master of the Latin language) was acquainted
with all its details, since he confessed that he was ignorant
of the words used by artisans; for he had never mixed
with cobblers and labourers, so as to see their handiwork
and hear the technical terms that they used. Indeed what
object could he have had in learning such terms?

6. Those who have expanded my /azua have paid no
attention to this, but have stuffed it with uncommon
words and with matter quite unsuited to a boy’s com-
prehension. A /Janua should remain a /anua, and
anything further should be reserved for a future time.
This is especially the case with words which either never
occur, or which, if met with, can easily be looked up in sub-
sidiary books (such as vocabularies, lexicons, herbaries, etc.)
It was for this reason that I discontinued my Latinitat’s
Posticum (into which I was introducing obsolete and
unusual words).

7. In the third place it follows that the intelligence as
well as the language of boys should preferably be exercised
on matters which appeal to them, and that what appeals to
adults should be left for a later stage. They waste their
time who place before boys Cicero and other great writers.
THE METHOD OF LANGUAGES 357

 

For, if students do not understand the subject-matter,
how can they master the various devices for expressing it
forcibly? The time is more usefully spent on less
ambitious efforts, so devised that the knowledge of the
language and the general intelligence may advance
together and step by step. Nature makes no leap, and
neither does art, since it imitates nature. We must teach
boys to walk before we give them lessons in dancing; to
ride on a hobby-horse before we set them on a charger ; to
. prattle before they speak, and to speak before they deliver
orations. It was Cicero who said that he could teach no
one to deliver orations who had not first learned how to talk.

8. As regards the plurality of tongues, our method, which
we will reduce to eight rules, will render the acquisition of
the various languages an easy matter.

g. (i) Each language must be learned separately.

First of all the mother-tongue must be learned, and then
the language that may have to be used in its place, I mean
that of the neighbouring nation (for I am of opinion
that modern languages should be commenced before the
learned ones). Then Latin may be learned, and after
Latin, Greek, Hebrew, etc.

One language should always be learned after, and not at
the same time as, another; since otherwise both will be
learned confusedly. It is only when they have been
thoroughly acquired that it is of use to compare them by
means of parallel grammars, dictionaries, etc.

to. (ii) Each language must have a definite space of
time allotted to it.

We should take care not to convert a subsidiary study
into a chief one, or to waste on the acquisition of words
the time in which we might gain a knowledge of things.
The mother-tongue, since it is intimately connected with
the gradual unfolding of the objective world to the senses,
necessarily requires several years (I should say eight or
ten, or the whole of childhood, with a part of boyhood).
We may then proceed to the other modern languages,
each of which can be sufficiently mastered in one year.
358 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

Latin can be learned in two years, Greek in one year, and
Hebrew in six months.

11. (iii) All languages are easier to learn by practice
than from rules.

That is to say, by hearing, reading, re-reading, copying,
imitating with hand and tongue, and doing all these as fre-
quently as is possible. Cf. the preceding chapter, canons
i. and xi.

12. (iv) But rules assist and strengthen the knowledge
derived from practice. ;

This we have treated of in the previous chapter, canon ii.
We speak more especially of the learned languages which
we are compelled to learn from books, though we do not
exclude modern languages. For Italian, French, German,
Bohemian, and Hungarian can be, and indeed have
already been, reduced to rules.

13. (v) The rules to which languages are reduced should
be grammatical and not philosophic.

That is to say, they should not inquire into the causes
and antecedents of words, phrases, and sentences, or seek
to find out why this or that construction is necessary, but
should simply state what is correct and how the construc-
tions should be made. ‘The subtler investigation into the
causes and connecting links, the similarities and dissimi-
larities, the analogies and anomalies that exist in things
and in words, is the business of the philosopher, and does
but delay the philologist.

14. (vi) In writing rules for the new language the one
already known must be continually kept in mind, so that
stress may be laid only on the points in which the
languages differ.

To call attention to points that they possess in common
is not merely useless, but actually harmful, since the mind
is terrified by the semblance of greater prolixity and
irregularity than really exist. For instance, in Greek
grammar there is no need to repeat the definitions of
nouns, verbs, cases, and tenses, or rules of syntax which
convey nothing new, and which may be considered as
THE METHOD OF LANGUAGES 359

 

already familiar. Those only need be included in which
the usage of Greek differs from that of Latin, which is
already known. In this way Greek grammar may be reduced
to a few pages, and will thus be both clearer and easier.

15. (vii) The first exercises in a new language must
deal with subject-matter that is already familiar.

Otherwise the mind will have to pay attention to words
and to things at the same time, and will thus be distracted
and weakened. Its efforts should therefore be confined to
words, that it may master them easily and quickly. Such
subject - matter might very well be the Catechism, or
Biblical history, or in fact anything that is sufficiently
familiar. (Being short, my Vestibulum and /Janua might
be used; though these are more suitable to commit to
memory, while the subjects suggested above are fit for
constant reading on account of the constant recurrence of
the same words, which will thus grow familiar and impress
themselves on the memory.)

16. (viii) All languages, therefore, can be learned by the
method.

That is to say, by practice, combined with rules of a
very simple nature that only refer to points of difference
with the language already known, and by exercises that
refer to some familiar subject.

17. Of the languages that should be learned carefully.

As we said at the commencement of the chapter, all
languages need not be learned with equal accuracy. The
mother-tongue and Latin are the most worthy of attention,
and we should all master them thoroughly. This course
of language-study may be divided into four ages—

The first babbling indistinctly
infancy

The second ripening , 2 correctly
boyhood in which

age is we learn

The third maturer to speak elegantly
youth

The fourth vigorous forcibly

manhood
360 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

18. Gradation of this kind is the only true principle.

On any other system everything falls into confusion and
disorder, as we have most of us experienced. But through
these four grades all who wish to learn languages may pass
with ease if the proper materials for teaching languages
have been provided ; that is to say, suitable school-books
for the pupils and hand-books to assist the teacher, both
of which should be short and methodical.

19. The school-books, suited to the several ages, should
be four in number— ©

(i) The Vestibulum. »

(ii) The /axua.

(iii) The Palatium.

(iv) The Zhesaurus.

20. The Vestibulum should contain the materials for a
child’s conversation—a few hundred words, arranged in
sentences, to which are added the declensions of nouns
and the conjugations of verbs.

21. The Jamua should contain all the common words
in the language, about 8000 in number. These should
be arranged in short sentences embodying descriptions of
natural objects. To this there should be subjoined some
short and clear grammatical rules, giving accurate direc-
tions for writing, pronouncing, forming, and using the
words of the language.

22. The Palatium should contain diverse discourses on
all matters, expressed in a varied and elegant style, with
marginal references to the authors from which the several
phrases are borrowed. At the end there should be given
rules for altering and paraphrasing sentences in a thousand
different ways.

23. The Zhesaurus will be the name given to the
classic writers who have written on any matter with serious
intent and in a good style, with the addition of rules
relating to the observation and collection of noteworthy
passages and to the accurate translation (a most important
matter) of idioms. Of these authors, some should be
chosen to read in school; of others, a catalogue should be
THE METHOD OF LANGUAGES 361

 

formed, so that if any one desire to look up any subject in
the authors who have written on it, he may be able to find
out who they are.

24. By subsidiary books are meant those by whose
help the school-books may be used with greater speed and
with more result.

For the Vestibudum a small vocabulary, both Vernacular-
Latin and Latin-Vernacular, should be provided.

For the /Janua an etymological Latin-Vernacular dic-
tionary, giving the simple words, their derivatives, their
compounds, and the reason for the meanings attached.

For the Falatium a phraseological dictionary in the
Vernacular, in Latin (and if necessary in Greek), forming
a compendium of the various phrases, synonyms, and peri-
phrases that occur in the Pa/atium, with references to the
places where they are to be found.

Finally, for the completion of the Zhesaurus, a compre-
hensive lexicon (Vernacular-Latin and Latin-Greek) which
shall embrace, without exception, every point in each
language. This should be carried out in a scholarly and
accurate manner, care being taken that fine shades of
meaning in the several languages be made to correspond,
and that suitable parallels be found for idioms. For it is
not probable that there exists any language so poor in
words, idioms, and proverbs that it could not furnish an
equivalent for any Latin expression, if judgment were
used. At any rate, accurate renderings could be devised
by any one who possessed sufficient skill in imitating, and
in producing a suitable result from suitable material.

25. No such comprehensive dictionary has hitherto
been produced. A Polish Jesuit, G. Cnapius, has, it is
true, done good service to his countrymen by his work
entitled 4 Thesaurus of Polish, Latin, and Greek; but in
this work there are three defects. Firstly, the collection
of vernacular words and phrases is incomplete. Secondly,
he has not observed the order that we suggested above,
since individual, figurative, and obsolete words are not
arranged under separate headings, though in this way the
362 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

peculiarities, the elegances, and the resources of both
languages equally would be illustrated. For he has given
a number of Latin renderings for each word and phrase of
Polish, while according to my plan only one, but that an
exact equivalent, should be given. In this way, my dic-
tionary would be of great service to those translating
books from Latin into the vernacular, and we versa.
Thirdly, in Cnapius’ Zhesaurus there is a great lack of
method in the arrangement of examples. These should
not be carelessly heaped together. First, simple illustra-
tions, drawn from history, should be given, then more
ambitious ones taken from the orators, then the more
complex and uncommon usages of poets, and finally the
uses that are obsolete.

26. But a detailed account of this comprehensive dic-
tionary must be left for another time, as must also the
further particulars of the Vestibulum, the Janua, the Pala-
tum, and the Thesaurus, by means of which languages can
be acquired with unfailing accuracy. Of these it will
be fitting to speak when we deal with the several classes in
detail.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE METHOD OF MORALS

1. So far we have discussed the problem of teaching and
learning the sciences and the arts with greater readiness.
We should, however, bear in mind the remark of Seneca
(Zpist. 89): ““We.ought not to learn these things, but
rather to have learned them.” They are, indeed, nothing
but a preparation for more important matters, and as he
says, “our beginnings, and not our completed works.”
What then is our true work? It is that study of wisdom
which elevates us and makes us steadfast and noble-minded
—the study to which we have given the name of morality
and of piety, and by means of which we are exalted above
all other creatures, and draw nigh to God Himself.

2. We must therefore see how this art of instilling true’
virtue and piety may be elaborated on a definite system,
and introduced into schools, that we may with justice be
able to call them the “forging-places of humanity.”

3. The art of shaping the morals is based upon the
following sixteen fundamental rules:

(i) All the virtues, without exception, should be im-
planted in the young.

For in morality nothing can be omitted without leaving
a gap.

4. (ii) Those virtues which are called cardinal should
be first instilled ; these are prudence, temperance, fortitude,
and justice.
364 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

In this way we may ensure that the structure shall not
be built up without a foundation, and that the various
parts shall form a harmonious whole.

5. (iii) Prudence must be acquired by receiving good
instruction, and by learning the real differences that exist
between things, and the relative value of those things.

A sound judgment on matters of fact is the true founda-
tion of all virtue. Well does Vives say: “True wisdom
consists in having a sound judgment, and in thus arriving
at the truth. Thus are we prevented from following
worthless things as if they were of value, or from rejecting
what is of value as if it were worthless ; from blaming what
should be praised, and from praising what should be

/ blamed. This is the source from which all error arises in
\ the human mind, and there is nothing in the life of man
_ that is more disastrous than the lack of judgment through
which a false estimate of facts is made. Sound judg-
ment,” he proceeds, ‘“‘should be practised in early youth,
and will thus be developed by the time manhood is reached.
A boy should seek that which is right and avoid that
which is worthless, for thus the practice of judging correctly
will become second nature with him.” °

6. (iv) Boys should be taught to observe temperance in in
eating and in drinking, in sleeping and in waking, in work
and in play, in talking and in keeping silence, oe
the whole period of their instruction.

In this relation the golden rule, “ Nothing in excess,”
should be dinned into their ears, that they may learn on
all occasions to leave off before satiety sets in.

7. (v) Fortitude should be learned by the subduing of
self; that is to say, by repressing the desire to play at the

\( wrong time or beyond the proper time, and by bridling
impatience, discontent, and anger.

The principle which underlies this is, that we should
accustom boys to do everything by na, and nothing
under the guidance of impulse. For man is a rational
animal, and should therefore be led by reason, and, before
action, ought to deliberate how each operation should be
THE METHOD OF MORALS 365

 

performed, so that he may really be master of his own
actions. Now, since boys are not quite capable of such
a deliberate and rational mode of procedure, it will be a
great advance towards teaching them fortitude and self-
control if they be forced to acquire the habit of performing
the will of another in preference to their own, that is
to say, to obey their superiors promptly in everything.
“Those who train horses aright,” says Lactantius, “ first
teach them to obey the reins,” and he who wishes to
instruct boys should commence by accustoming them to
obey his orders. We may indeed cherish a hope that the
turmoil with which the world is overwhelmed will be
replaced by a better condition of affairs, if, in early youth,
men learn to yield to one oe and to be guided by
reason in all that they do.

8. (vi) The young should learn to practise justice by
hurting no man, by giving each his due, by avoiding false-
hood and deceit, and by being obliging and agreeable.<

Boys must be trained to act in this way, as we said
above, by the method prescribed in the following canons.

9. (vii) The kinds of fortitude that are especially
necessary to the young are frankness and endurance of toil. ,

For since life must be spent in intercourse with others
and in action, boys must be taught to look men in the face
and to meet honest toil without flinching. Otherwise they
may become recluses and misanthropes, or idlers and
cumberers of the earth. Virtue is practised by deeds and
not by words.

10. (viii) Frankness is acquired by constant intercourse
with worthy people, and by behaving, while in their presence,
in accordance with the precepts that. have been given.

Aristotle educated Alexander in such a manner that,
when twelve years of age, he could suit himself to every

kind of society, to that of kings, of the ambassadors of
kings and of nations, of learned and (anlearned men, of
townsmen, of countrymen, and of artisans, and could
auk( stab le ) questions or give suitable answers on any
subject that arose in conversation. In order that the
366 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

young who are subjected to our comprehensive scheme of
education may learn to imitate this, rules for conversation
should be written, and the practice of them, by daily inter-
course with tutors, schoolfellows, parents, and servants,
should be insisted upon; masters also should take great
care to correct any tendency to carelessness, forwardness,
boorishness, or coarseness.

t1. (ix) Boys will learn to endure toil if they are con-
tinually occupied, either with work or with play.

It makes no difference what is done, or why it is done,
if only the boy be occupied. Much can be learned in
play that will afterwards be of use when the circumstances
demand it. It is by working, therefore, that we must learn
‘how to work, just as we learn how to act by acting (as we
saw above); and in this way the contintied occupations of
mind and body, in which, at the same time, all over-pressure
must be avoided, will produce an industrious disposition,
and make a man so active that sluggish ease will be
intolerable to him. Then will be seen the truth of Seneca’s
words: “It is toil that nourishes noble minds.”

12. (x) The cognate virtue of justice, or promptness and
willingness te serve,o others, must be diligently cultivated in
the young,

The abominable vice of selfishness is inherent in our
corrupt nature, and through it each man thinks of nothing
but his own welfare, and troubles his head about no one
else. This is a great source of confusion in life, since all
are occupied with their own affairs and neglect the common \
good. ‘The true object of life must therefore be diligently
instilled into the youth, and they must be taught that we
are born not for ourselves alone, but. for God and for our
neighbour, that is to say, for the(human_ race.)

Thus they will become seriously persuaded « of this truth
and will learn from their boyhood to(imitate God, .the
angels, the sun, and the more noble of things created,
that is to say, by desiring and striving to be of service
to as many as possible. Thus will the good fortune of
private and of public life be assured, since all men will be
THE METHOD OF MORALS 367

 

ready to work together for the common good, and to help
one another. And they actually will do so if they have
been properly taught.

13. (xi) Virtue must be inculcated at a very early
stage before vice gets possession of the mind.

For if you do not sow a field with good seed it will
produce nothing but weeds of the worst kind. But if you
wish to subdue it, you will do so more easily and with a
better hope of success if you plough it, sow it, and harrow
it in early spring. Indeed, it is of the greatest importance
that children be well trained in early youth, since a jar
preserves for a long time the odour with which it has been
imbued when new.

14. (xii) The virtues are learned by constantly doing
what is right.

We have seen in chaps. xx. and xxi. that it is by learning
that we find out what we ought to learn, and by acting that
we learn to act as we should. So then, as boys easily learn
to walk by walking, to talk by talking, and to write by
writing, in the same way they will learn obedience by
obeying, abstinence by abstaining, truth by speaking the
truth, and constancy by being constant. But it is necessary
that the child be helped by advice and example at the
same time.

15. (xiii) Examples of well-ordered lives, in the persons
of their parents, nurses, tutors, and school-fellows, must
continually be set before children. oe

For boys are like apes, and love’ ‘to imitate whatever
they see, whether good or bad, even though not bidden
to do so; and on this account they learn to imitate before
they learn to use their minds. By “examples,” I mean
living ones as well as those taken from books; in fact,
living ones are the more important because they make a
stronger impression. And therefore, if parents are worthy
and careful guardians of domestic discipline, and if tutors
are chosen with the greatest possible care, and are men of
exceptional virtue, a great advance will have been made
towards the proper training of the young in morals.
368 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

16. (xiv) But, in addition to examples, precepts and
rules of conduct must be given.

In this way imitation will be supplemented and
strengthened (on this point the reader may refer to our
remarks in chap. xxi. canon ix.) Rules of life should
therefore be collected from Holy Scripture and from the
sayings of wise men, and should deal with questions such
as: “Why should we strive against envy?” “With what
arms should we fortify ourselves against the sorrows and
the chances of life?” ‘How should we observe modera-
tion in joy?” “How should anger be controlled?” “How
should illicit love be driven out?” and similar questions,
according to the age of the pupil.

17. (xv) Children must be very carefully guarded from
bad society, lest they be infected by it.

For, owing to our corrupt nature, evil clings to us
readily. The young must therefore be carefully shielded
from all sources of corruption, such as evil society, evil
conversation, and worthless books (for examples of vice,
whether they make their entrance through the eyes or
through the ears, are poison to the mind). And finally,
sloth should be guarded against, lest through idleness the
young be led to evil deeds or contract a tendency to
indolence. The important thing is that they be kept

continually employed either with work or with play. Idle-
ness should never be permitted.

18. (xvi) Since it is impossible for us to be so watchful
that nothing evil can find an entrance, stern discipline is
necessary to keep evil tendencies in check.

For our enemy Satan is on the watch not only while
we sleep, but also while we wake, and as we sow good seed
in the minds of our pupils he contrives to plant his own
weeds there as well, and sometimes a corrupt nature brings
forth weeds of its own accord, so that these evil dispositions
must be kept in check by force. We must therefore strive
against them by means of discipline, that is to say, by using
blame or punishment, words_or ‘blows, »; aS the occasion
demands. This punishment should always be administered
THE METHOD OF MORALS 369

 

on the spot, that the vice may be choked as soon as it
shows itself, or may be, as far as is possible, torn up by
the roots. Discipline, therefore, should ever be watchful,
not with the view of enforcing application to study (for
learning is always attractive to the mind, if it be treated
by the right method), but to ensure cleanly morals.

But of discipline we will treat more particularly in chap.
XXXi.

24
VY CHAPTER XXIV
THE METHOD OF INSTILLING PIETY

1. Piety is the gift of God, and is given us from on high by
our counsellor and guide, the irit. But, since the
Holy Spirit usually employs natural agencies, and has
chosen parents, teachers, and ministers who should faith-
fully plant and water the grafts of Paradise (1 Cor. iii. 6-8),
it is right that these should appreciate the extent of their
duties.

2. We have already explained what we mean by piety,
namely, that (after we have thoroughly grasped the con-
ceptions of faith and of religion) our hearts should learn to
seek God everywhere (since He has concealed Himself with

’ His works as with a curtain, and, invisibly present in all
visible things, directs all, though unseen), and that when
we have found Him we should follow Him, and when we
have attained Him should enjoy Him. The first we do
through our understanding, the second through our will,
and the third through the joy arising from the conscious-
ness of our union with God.

3. We seek God by noticing the signs of His divinity
in all things created. We follow God by giving ourselves

x up completely to His will, both to do and to suffer whatever
shall have seemed good to Him. We enjoy God by so
acquiescing in His love and favour that nothing in heaven
or on earth appears to us more to be desired than God
Himself, that nothing appears pleasanter to think of, and
THE METHOD OF INSTILLING PIETY 371

 

nothing sweeter than to sing His praises; thus our hearts
are joined to His in love.

4. The sources from which we can draw this exaltation
are three, and the manner in which we can draw from them
is threefold.

5. These sources are Holy Writ, the world, and ourselves.
The first is the Word of God, the second is His handiwork,
and the third is inspired by Him. There is no doubt that
we can derive the knowledge and the love of God from the
Scriptures. The very heathen testify that piety can be
derived from the world and from the wise contemplation of
the marvellous works of God contained in it; for they, by
nothing but the contemplation of the world, were brought
to revere the Godhead. This is shown by the examples
of Socrates, Plato, Epictetus, Seneca, and others. But
still, in the case of these men, to whom no special revela-
tion from on high had been given, this feeling of love was
imperfect, and wrongly directed. That those who seek to
gain a knowledge of God from His word as well as from
His works are filled with the deepest love for Him, is shown
by the instances of Job, Elihu, David, and other pious men.

6. The manner of drawing piety from these sources is
threefold: meditation, prayer, and examination.

“These three,” says Luther, “make a theologian ; but
indeed they are essential to make a true Christian.”

7. Meditation is the constant, attentive, and devoted
consideration of the works, the words, and the goodness
of God; the thoughtful acknowledgment that it is from the
good-will of God alone (either active or permissive) that
all things come, and that all the counsels of the divine
will attain their end in the most marvellous ways.

8. Prayer is the frequent, or rather the continual, yearn-
ing after God, and the supplication that He may sustain us
in His mercy and guide us with His Spirit.

g. Examination is the continual testing of our progress
in piety, and may come from ourselves or from others.
Under this head come human, devilish, and divine tempta-
tions. For men should examine themselves to see if they

at
372 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

are faithful, and do the will of God; and it is necessary

XK that we should be tested by other men, by our friends, and

‘ by our enemies. This is the case when those who are set
over others are vigilant and attentive, and, by open or
by secret scrutiny, try to find out what progress has been
made; or when God places an adversary by our side to
teach us to find our refuge in Him, and to show us how
strong our faith is. Finally, Satan himself is sent by God,
or comes against us of his own accord, that the state of
our hearts may be made evident.

These three modes, therefore, must be instilled into the
Christian youth, that they may learn to raise their hearts
to Him who is the first and the last of all things, and may
seek rest for their souls in Him alone.

1o. The special method is contained in twenty-one
rules,

(i) Care should be taken to instil piety in early child-
hood.

For not to put off such instruction is advantageous, and
to put it off is dangerous, since it is only reasonable to
begin with what naturally comes first, and is the most im-
portant. But what is more important than piety? What
else is profitable for all things, having promise of the life
which now is, and of that which is to come ? (1 Tim. iv. 8).
This is the one thing needful (Luke x. 42), to seek the
Kingdom of God, since all things shall be added to him
who does so (Matt. vi. 33). To postpone this is hazardous,
since, unless the mind be imbued with the love of God
when young, it is easy for a silent contempt of the God-
head and for profanity to make their entrance, and when
once they have done so, it is difficult, if not impossible, to
dislodge them. Thus the prophet, complaining of the
horrible impiety of his people, says that there are none
left whom God can teach, save “them that are weaned
from the milk and drawn from the breasts,” that is to say,
the young (Isaiah xxviii. 9), and another prophet says
that it is impossible to convert to well-doing those that
are accustomed to do evil (Jeremiah xiii. 23).
THE METHOD OF INSTILLING PIETY 373

 

11. (ii) Therefore, as soon as children can use their eyes,
their tongues, their hands, and their feet, let them learn to
look towards heaven, to stretch their hands upwards, to
utter the names of God and of Christ, to bend the knee
before His unseen majesty, and to revere it.

It is not so difficult to teach these things to children
as those imagine, who, not realising how important
it is for us to tear ourselves away from Satan, from the
world, and from ourselves, pay little consideration to a
matter of such gravity. At first the children will not
understand the true nature of what they are doing, since
their intelligence is still weak ; but what is of importance is
that they learn to do that which subsequent experience
will teach them to be right. For, when they have got into
the habit of acting as they should, it will be easier to
explain to them why such conduct is good, and how it is
best carried out. God has commanded to consecrate all
first-fruits to Him; why not, therefore, the first-fruits of
our thoughts, of our utterances, of our movements, and of
our actions?

12. (iii) While it is still possible to influence boys, it is
of great importance to impress upon them that we are not
here for the sake of this life, but are destined for eternity ;
that our life on earth is only transitory, and serves to
prepare us for our eternal home.

This can easily be taught by the examples of infants, boys,
youths, and old men who are daily snatched away by death.
These facts should be diligently impressed on the young, that
they may realise how very transitory our life on earth is.

13. (iv) They should also be taught that our only
business on earth should be to prepare for the next" world.’

For it would be foolish to pay attention to those things
which will be taken from us, and to neglect those things
which will accompany us into eternity.

14. (v) They should then be taught that the life to which
men go when they leave this- earth, is twofold: either a
blessed life with God, or a wretched one in hell, and that
both are everlasting.
374 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

This may be demonstrated by the example of Lazarus
and the rich man; for the soul of the former was carried
away by angels into heaven, while that of the latter was
carried by devils into hell.

15. (vi) And that those are thrice happy, who order
their conduct in such a way that they are found worthy to
stand in God’s presence.

For apart from God, the source of light and of life,
there is nothing but darkness, terror, agony, and everlasting
death that knows no end; so that it were better that they
had never been born, who stray from God and cast them-
selves into the pit of eternal destruction.

16. (vii) But that those who have communed with God
on earth, will go to Him after death.

As did Enoch and Elias, both while living, and others
also (Gen. v. 24).

17. (viii) That those commune with God who keep Him
continually before their eyes, fear Him, and fulfil His word.

And that this is the whole duty of man (Eccles. xi. 13),
to which Christ referred when He said, “‘ There is but one
thing needful ” (Luke x. 42). This is what Christians should
ever have on their lips and in their hearts, lest, like Martha,
they be too much engrossed with the cares of this life.

18. (ix) They should, therefore, acquire the habit of re-
ferring to God all that they see, hear, touch, do, and endure
on earth.

Instances of this should be given. Those, for instance
(it may be pointed out), who devote themselves to letters
and a life of contemplation, should do so with but one
object in view, namely, that they may see in everything the
power, the wisdom, and the goodness of God, that they
may be filled with love for Him, and may unite themselves
so fast to Him in love that they can never be torn away.
Those, again, who are engaged in practical pursuits, such
as agriculture or mechanics, these have to seek bread and
the necessaries of life; but they should do so merely that
they may live in decent comfort, and should strive to live
thus solely that they may be enabled to serve God with a
THE METHOD OF INSTILLING PIETY 375

 

quiet and cheerful spirit, and that, by serving Him and
proving acceptable to Him, they may be united with Him
eternally. Those who have other ends in view deviate
from God’s will and from God Himself. .

1g. (x) From the very outset they should learn to find
their chief occupation in those things that lead directly to
God: in reading the Scriptures, in religious ceremonies,
and in other good works.

For the perusal of the Scriptures renews and fosters our
acquaintance with God, religious ceremonies create a link
between God and man, and good works strengthen this
link, for they show that we really observe the Word of God.
These three should be seriously commended to all who are
destined to lead a Godly life (as are all the Christian
youth, dedicated to God through baptism).

20. (xi) The Holy Scriptures must be the Alpha and
the Omega of Christian schools.

Hyperius *! said that a theologian was born of the Scrip-
tures, and we may find this observation at greater length
in the Apostle Peter, who says that the sons of God are
born of incorruptible seed, through the Word of God that
liveth and abideth (1 Peter i. 23).

In Christian schools, therefore, God’s Book should rank
before all other books ; that, like Timothy, all the Christian
youth may, from boyhood, know the sacred writings which
are able to make them wise unto salvation (2 Tim. iii.
1s), and may be nourished in the words of the faith
(x Tim. iv. 6). On this subject Erasmus has written well
in his Paraclesis, or Exhortation to the Study of Christian
Philosophy. “The Holy Scripture” (he says) “is equally
suitable to all, is within the capacity of little ones,
nourishes them with milk, cherishes them, sustains them,
and does all for them until they grow up in Christ. But,
while it can be comprehended by the lowest intelligences,
it is none the less an object of wonder to the highest.
There is no age, no sex, no rank of life to which it is
unsuitable. The sun is not more the common property of
mankind than is the teaching of Christ. It rejects none
376 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

save those who hold themselves at a distance.” He con-
tinues, ‘Would that it were translated into all languages,
that it might be known by the Turks and the Saracens,
and by the Scotch and the Irish as well. Many would
mock, it is true, but some would be won over. Would
that the ploughman might sing it at his plough, that the
weaver might repeat it at his loom, that the traveller
might beguile the tedium of the journey by its sacred story,
and that the conversations of Christians were taken from
its pages; for our daily conversation represents our true
character. Let each one get and read as much of Holy
Writ as he can. Let him who is behind not envy him
who is in front. Let him who is in front beckon forward
him who is behind, and despise him not. Why do we
confine to a few the book that contains the faith of all?”
And near the end, ‘“ May all whom we have dedicated to
Christ in baptism be imbued with His teaching while in
the arms of their parents and among the caresses of their
nurses. For that which the mind first drinks in, sinks
deepest and remains longest. Let our first babbling be of
Christ, and let our infancy be modelled upon His Evan-
gelists, which should be set before boys in such a way that
they may like them. In these studies they should be
trained, until by a silent increase they develope into men,
whose strength is in Christ. Happy is he whom death
snatches away while engaged on this study. Let us all,
therefore, drink in God’s Word with our whole hearts, let
us embrace it, let us die while occupied with it, let us be
converted into it, since our morals are so intimately con-
nected with our studies.” In his Compendium of Theology
also he says: “In my opinion, it would not be a waste of
time to learn the Holy Book off by heart, even though we
did not understand it, as says St. Augustine.”

Christian schools, therefore, should resound not with
Plautus, not with Terence, not with Ovid, not with Aris-
totle, but with Moses, David, and Christ, and methods
should be devised by which the Bible may be given to
children dedicated to God (for all the children of Christians
THE METHOD OF INSTILLING PIETY 377

 

are holy) (1 Cor. vii. 14) as a means of learning their
A BC; for thus they would grow familiar with it. For as
language is made up of the sounds and the symbols of
letters, thus is the whole structure of religion and piety
formed out of the elements of Holy Scripture.

21. (xii) Whatever is learned from Scripture should
convey a lesson of faith, charity, and hope.

These are the three noblest dispositioXs, and to
these everything that God has seen good to reveal to us in
His Word has reference. For He reveals some things to
us that we may believe them, others He commands us that
we may do them, and others again He promises that we
may expect them from His mercy, both in this and in the
future world. In the whole Bible nothing occurs that
cannot be brought under one of these heads. All, there-
fore, should be taught to understand and to read intelli-
gently what God has revealed.

22. (xiii) Faith, charity, and hope should be taught for
practical use.

From the very beginning it is necessary to form practi-
cal and not theoretical Christians, if we wish to form true
Christians at all. For religion is a real thing and not a
reflection of reality, and should prove its reality by the
practical results that it produces, just as a seed that is
planted in good earth soon germinates. Hence the Scrip-
ture requires a “working faith” (Gal. v. 6), calls faith apart
from works “ barren” (James ii. 20), and asks for a “living
hope” (1 Peter i. 3). Hence the constant injunction, that
things are revealed from on high that we should do them.
Christ also says: “If ye know these things, blessed are ye
if ye do them” (John xiii. 17).

23. (xiv) Faith, charity, and hope will be taught in a
practical manner, if boys and all men are taught to believe
implicitly in all that God reveals, to do all that He com-
mands, and to expect all that He promises.

It should be carefully impressed on the young that, if
they wish the Word of God to supply them with divine
strength, they should bring to it a humble and devoted
378 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

heart, prepared to submit itself to God on all occasions,
and actually doing so at the time. The sunlight reveals
nothing to him who refuses to open his eyes, nor can a ban-
quet satisfy him who refuses to eat; and in the same way
the divine light supplied to our minds, the rules given for
our actions, and the happiness promised to those who fear
God, are all in vain unless they are received with prompt
faith, earnest charity, and firm hope. Thus Abraham, the
father of the faithful, trusted the Word of God and be-
lieved things incredible to the reason; obeyed the com-
mands of God, no matter how hard they were (when
bidden leave his native land and sacrifice his son); and
hoped for things that seemed impossible, trusting in the
promises of God—which living and active faith was counted
to him for righteousness. All, therefore, who devote them-
selves to God, should be taught to fulfil these duties in
their own persons.
24. (xv) Whatever is taught to the young in addition to
the Scriptures (sciences, arts, languages, etc.) should be
\ taught as purely subordinate subjects. In this way it will
be made evident to the pupils that all that docs.not relate
to God and to the future life is nothing but vanity:
Socrates is praised by the ancients because~he turned
philosophy from its barren and thorny speculations and
brought it to bear on the province of morals. The Apostles
professed to recall Christians from the thorny questions
of the law and to lead them to the sweet charity of
Christ (1 Tim. i. 5 seg.), and_in_ the same way many
modern theologians urge us té leave confused controversies,
that destroy the Church_far more than they build it up,
and to attend to cur om. conscience and the practice
of piety. O that God would have pity on us, that we
might find some universal method by which all that occu-
pies the mind of man might be brought into relation with
God, and that we might learn to convert the business
of this life, in which all mankind is immersed, into a pre-
paration for the life to come! This would, indeed, be a
sacred ladder on which our minds might mount to the
THE METHOD OF INSTILLING PIETY 379

 

eternal protector of all things, to the source of true
happiness.

25. (xvi) All should be taught to reverence God both
inwardly and outwardly. For inward without outward
reverence tends to grow /faint, while outward without
inward reverence degenerates into( hypocrisy,

The outward worship of God consists in conversing
about Him, in preaching and hearing His Word, in adoring
Him on bended knee, in singing His praises in hymns, and
in attending to the Sacraments and the other services of the
Church, public a regi, The inward worship of God
consists of continual meditation on the divine presence, of
fearing and loving God, of abnegation and resignation of
self, and of the ready will to do or to suffer all that God
desires. These two forms of worship must be joined
together, and not torn asunder ; not only because it is right
that God should be glorified in our bodies and in our
minds, which belong to Him (1 Cor. vi. 20), but also
because they cannot be separated without danger. Out-
ward ceremonies without inward truth are an abomination
to God, who says: ‘‘Who demands these things from you ?”
(Isaiah i.), “for He is a spirit and must be worshipped in
spirit and in truth” (John iv.) But, since we are not
merely spirits but have bodies and senses as well, it is
necessary for our senses to be outwardly stimulated, that
we may inwardly do what is right in spirit and in truth.
On this account God, though He lays more stress on inward *
worship, ordained outward ceremonies and wishes them to
be observed. Christ freed the worship of the New Testa-
ment from ceremony and taught that God should be
Worshipped in spirit and in truth, yet He Himself bent His
head when He prayed to His Father, and continued His
prayer for nights together; used to attend religious meetings,
heard and questioned the doctors of the law, preached the
Word, and sang hymns. Therefore, when we educate the
young, we should educate them thoroughly, externally and 5
internally, since otherwise we may produce either hypocrites,
that is to say, superficial, fraudulent, and false worshippers
380 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

of God, or fanatics, who delight in their own visions, and
through their contempt of outward form undermine the
Church, or, finally, lukewarm Christians, in whom the
stimulus of external or the reality of internal worship is
wanting. '

26. (xvii) Boys should be carefully habituated to the
outward works which are commanded by God, that they may
know that it is true Christianity to express faith by works.

Such works are the exercise of temperance, justice,
pity, and patience, which should continually occupy our
attention. ‘For, unless our faith brings forth such fruit
it is manifestly dead” (James ii.) But it must be living if
it is to bring us salvation.

24. (xviii) They should also learn to distinguish carefully
the objects of the blessings and of the judgments of God,
that they may make a good use of them.

Fulgentius ®? (Letter II. to Gallas) divides the blessings of
God into three classes. According to him, some are to
last for ever, others are to help us to attain eternity, while
others are only for the use of this present life. Of the first
kind are the knowledge of God, the joy of the Holy Spirit,
and the love of God that fills our hearts. Of the second
kind are faith, hope, and compassion for our neighbours.
Of the third kind are health, riches, friends, and the other
external goods that of themselves make us neither happy
nor unhappy.

In the same way the judgments or chastisements of God
are of three kinds. Some (whom God wishes to spare in
the life everlasting) are seized on earth and are tortured
that they may be purified and whitened (Dan. xi. 35; Rev.
vii. 14), as was the case with Lazarus. Others are spared
here that they may be punished in eternity, as was the Rich
Man. While the punishments of others begin here and
are continued in eternity, as is the case with Saul,
Antiochus, Herod, Judas, etc.

Men, therefore, must be taught to distinguish all these
from one another, that they may not be deceived by the
good things of the flesh and give precedence to what is
THE METHOD OF INSTILLING PIETY 381

 

transitory, that they may realise that present ills are less
to be feared than hell-fire, and “that they should not fear
those who can only kill the body and have no further
power, but Him who can destroy the body and can also
thrust the soul down to hell” (Luke xii.)

28, (xix) They should also be told that the safest path of
life is the path of the Cross; that Christ the King of Life
has trodden it before us, and invites to it and leads along
it those whom He loves best.

The mystery of our salvation was consummated on the
Cross and depends on the Cross; for by it the old Adam
was slain that the new Adam, fashioned after God’s image,
might live. Those, therefore, whom God loves, He chastises
and crucifies with Christ, that when they rise with Christ
He may set them on His right hand in heaven. Now,
though this lesson of the Cross tells the power of God to
save those who believe, to the flesh it is foolishness and an
offence (1 Cor. i. 18). It is therefore very necessary to
teach this lesson to Christians with great care, that they
may understand that they cannot be the disciples of Christ
unless they deny themselves, bear the Cross of Christ on
their shoulders (Luke xiv. 26), and are prepared throughout
their whole lives to follow God wherever He may lead them.

2g. (xx) Care must be taken that, while all this is being
taught, no conflicting examples come in the way.

That is to say, the boys must not hear or see blasphemies,
perjuries, or other acts of impiety, but, whichever way they
turn, should encounter nothing but reverence for the Deity,
observance of religion, and conscientiousness. Evil con-
duct, also, whether at home or at school, should always be
severely punished, and, if the punishment for profanity be
always greater than for offences against Priscian ** or for
other faults, it will be impressed upon them that the former
error is the more important to guard against.

30. (xxi) In this corrupt state of the world and of
human nature we never make as much progress as we ought,
or, if we do advance, are filled with complacency and
spiritual pride, through the depravity of our flesh.
382 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

Now this is a very great danger (for God resists the
proud), and therefore all Christians should be taught in
their youth that our endeavours and our works are of no
avail, unless Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the
sins of the world, help us with His perfection. On Him
we must call and Him we must trust.

We shall thus have finally placed the hope of our salva-
tion in safety, when we have laid the burden on Christ, the
corner-stone. For He is the culminating point of all
perfection in heaven and on earth, and is the one and only
originator and guardian of our faith, our charity, our
hope, and our salvation. For this reason God sent Him
from heaven that He might become Immanuel (or God in
man) and unite all men in God, and that, living with purity
in the life which He had assumed, He might give men the
example of a divine life; that by His innocent death He
might expiate the sins of the world in His person, and
might wash us clean with His blood; that He might show
His victory over death by His resurrection, and ascending
into heaven might send the Holy Ghost, the pledge of our
salvation; and that He might thus rule us and preserve us,
and, finally, take us to Himself, that we may be with Him
and see His glory.

31. Thus to the eternal Saviour of all men, with the
Father and the Holy Ghost, be praise, and honour, and
blessing, and glory, for evermore. Amen.

32. It remains to draw up a detailed method for the
several classes.
CHAPTER XXV
IF WE WISH TO REFORM SCHOOLS IN ACCORDANCE WITH
THE LAWS OF TRUE CHRISTIANITY, WE MUST REMOVE
FROM THEM BOOKS WRITTEN BY PAGANS, OR, AT ANY
RATE, MUST USE THEM WITH MORE CAUTION THAN
HITHERTO. 4

1. RESISTLESS necessity compels us to treat at length a
subject which we have touched on in the previous chapter.
If we wish our schools to be truly Christian schools, the
crowd of Pagan writers must be removed from them.
First, therefore, we will set forth the reasons which underlie
our views, and then the method of treating these ancient
writers so that, in spite of our caution, their beautiful
thoughts, sayings, and deeds may not be lost to us.

2. Our zeal in this matter is caused by our love of God
and of man; for we see that the chief schools profess
Christ in name only, but hold in highest esteem writers
like Terence, Plautus, Cicero, Ovid, Catullus, and Tibullus.
The result of this is that we know the world better than
we know Christ, and that, though in a Christian country,
Christians are hard to find. For with the most learned
men, even with theologians, the upholders of divine
wisdom, the external mask only is supplied by Christ,
while the spirit that pervades them is drawn from Aristotle
and the host of heathen writers. Now this is a terrible
abuse of Christian liberty, a shameless profanation, and a
course replete with danger.
x

384 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

3. Firstly, our children are born for heaven and are
reborn through the Holy Ghost. They must therefore be
educated as citizens of heaven, and their chief instruction
should be ,of heavenly things, of God, of Christ, of the
angels, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. This instruc-

“tion should take place before any other, and all other

knowledge should .be shielded from the pupil; firstly,
because of the uncertainty of life, that no one may be
snatched away unprepared, and secondly, because first
impressions are the strongest, and (if they are religious
impressions) lay a safe foundation for all that follows
in life.

4. Secondly, God, though He made provision of every
kind for His chosen people, gave them no school other
than his‘own Temple, where He Himself was the Master,
we were the pupils, and his oracles were the subject
taught. For thus He speaks by Moses: “ Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God is one God: and thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy might. And these words, which I com-
mand thee this day, shall be upon thine heart ; and thou
shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt
talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when
thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and
when thou risest up” (Deut. vi. 4). And by Isaiah:
“T am the Lord thy God, which teacheth thee to profit,
which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldst go ” (xlviii.
17); and again, “Should not a people seek unto their
God?” Christ also says: “Search ye the Scriptures”
(John v. 39)

5. God has shown by the following words that His
voice is the brightest light for our understanding, the most
perfect law for our actions, and the surest support for our
weakness. ‘‘ Behold, I have taught you statutes and judg-
ments! Keep therefore and do them; for this is your
wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the
peoples, which shall hear all these statutes and say:
Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding
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people” (Deut. iv. 5, 6). To Joshua, also, He speaks
thus: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy
mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.
For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and thou
shalt have good success” (Jos. i. 8). By David also He
says: “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the
heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening
the eyes” (Psalm xix. 8). Finally, the Apostle bears
witness “that every scripture inspired of God is profitable
for teaching, etc., that the man of God may be complete”
(2 Tim. iii. 16, 17). The wisest of men (by this I mean
truly enlightened Christians) have made the same asser-
tion. Chrysostom has said: ‘What it is needful to know,
and what it is not needful to know, ¢#a¢ we can learn
from the Scriptures.” And Cassiodorus® says: “The
Scriptures are a heavenly school, a guide through life, the
only true source of information. To search for the true
meaning of them should occupy the student’s whole time,
and leave him no leisure to be led astray by philology.”

6. God expressly forbade His chosen people to have
anything to do with the learning or the customs of the
heathen: “Learn not the way of the nations” (Jer.
x. 2); and again, “Is it because there is no God in Israel
that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the God of Ekron ?
(2 Kings i. 3); “Should not a people seek unto their
God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the
dead? To the law and to the testimony! if they speak
not according to this word, surely there is no morning for
them” (Isaiah viii. 19, 20). And why? Surely because
“all wisdom cometh from the Lord, and is with him for
ever. To whom else hath the root of wisdom been
revealed?” (Ecclesiasticus i. 1, 6); “Although they
have seen light and dwelt on the earth, the way of know-
ledge have they not known. Nor understood the paths
thereof, etc. It hath not been heard of in Chanaan,
neither hath it been seen in Theman. The Agarenes
that seek wisdom upon earth, the authors of fables and
searchers out of understanding, have not known the way

25
386 © THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

of wisdom. But he that knoweth all things knoweth it
and hath found out all the way of knowledge and hath
given it unto Jacob his servant and Israel his beloved”
(Baruch iii. 20, 21, 22, 23, 32, 36, 37); “He hath not
dealt so with any nation, and as for his judgments, they
have not known them” (Psalm cxlvii. 20).

7. Whenever His people went aside from His laws to
the snares of man’s imagination, God used to blame not
only their folly in forsaking the fountain of wisdom (Baruch
iii. 12), but the twofold evil that they had committed,
in forsaking Him, the fountain of living waters, and hewing
them out broken cisterns that could hold no water (Jer.
ii. 13). Through the agency of Hosea He complained
also that His people held too much intercourse with other
nations, saying: “Though I write for him my law in ten
thousand precepts, they are counted as a strange thing”
(Hos. viii. 12). But, I ask, is not this what those
Christians are doing who hold heathen books in their
hands night and day, while of the sacred Word of God
they take no account, as if it did not concern them?
And yet, as God bears witness, it is no vain thing, but our
very life (Deut. xxxii. 47).

8. Therefore the true Church and the true worshippers
of God have sought for no teaching other than the Word
of God, from which they have drawn the true and heavenly
wisdom that is superior to all earthly knowledge. Thus
David says of himself: “Thy commandments make me
wiser than mine enemies,” and “I have more understand-
ing than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my
meditation” (Psalm cxix. 98, 99). Similarly Solomon,
the wisest of mortals, confesses: “The Lord giveth
wisdom ; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and under-
standing” (Prov. ii. 6). The son of Sirach also testifies
(in the prologue to his book) that his wisdom is drawn
from the law and the prophets. Hence the exultation of
the righteous when they see light in the light of God
(Psalm xxxvi. 9); ‘“O Israel, happy are we: for things that
are pleasing to God are made known unto us” (Baruch
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vi. 4). “‘ Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words
of eternal life” (John vi. 68). ~

9. The examples of all ages show us that it has been
an occasion for stumbling whenever the Church has turned
aside from the fountain of Israel. Of the Jewish Church,
sufficient is known from the lamentations of the Prophets.
As regards the Christian Church, we learn from history
that a pure faith lasted as long as the Gospel, and nothing
else, was preached by the Apostles and their successors.
But as soon as the heathen entered the Church in numbers,
and the ardour that existed at first grew cold, pagan
books were read, at first in private and then in public, and
the result was a great confusion of doctrine. The key of
knowledge was lost by the very men who boasted that
they alone possessed it, and from that time opinions with-
out number were substituted for the articles of faith. Then
did strife arise, whose end is not yet visible; charity grew
cold, and piety disappeared. And thus, under the name
of Christendom, paganism came into existence again, and
still reigns supreme. For the threat of the Lord Jehovah
had to be fulfilled: “If they speak not according to the
Word of God, surely there is no morning for them ” (Isaiah
viii. 20). “Therefore the Lord hath poured out upon
them the spirit of sleep, and hath closed their eyes, that all
- yision might become unto them as the words of a book
that is sealed,” because they worshipped God in accord-
ance with the teaching of man (Isaiah xxix. 10, 11, 13, 14).
O, how truly in their case is fulfilled what the Holy Spirit
says of the heathen philosophers: ‘They became vain in
their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened ”
(Rom. i. 21). In short, if the Church is to be purified
from uncleanness, there is only one way, and that is to put
aside all the seductive teaching of man and return to the
pure springs of Israel, and thus to give over ourselves and
our children to the teaching and guidance of God and of
His word. Thus at last will the prophecy come to pass,
“And all thy children shall be taught of God” (Isaiah
liv. 13).
388 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

to. Indeed our dignity as Christians (who have been
made sons of God and heirs of the kingdom of heaven
through Christ) does not permit us to degrade ourselves
and our children by allowing them to have an intimate
acquaintance with pagan writers, and to read them with
such approval. We do not choose parasites, fools, or
buffoons, but serious, wise, and pious men as tutors for the
sons of our kings and princes. Should we not blush, there-
fore, when we confide the education of the sons of the
King of Kings, of the brothers of Christ and heirs of
eternity, to the jesting Plautus, the lascivious Catullus, the
impure Ovid, that impious mocker at God, Lucian, the
obscene Martial, and the rest of the writers who are
ignorant of the true God? Those who, like them, live
without the hope of a better life, and wallow in the mire
of earthly existence, are certain to drag down to their own
level whoever consorts with them. Christians, we have
carried our folly far enough! Let us pause here. God
calls us to better things, and it is good to obey His call.
Christ, the eternal Wisdom of God, has opened a school
for the sons of God in His own house ; in which the supreme
control is exercised by the Holy Spirit, and the professors
and masters are the Prophets and the Apostles, all endowed
with true wisdom, and all holy men, who, by their teaching
and example, point out the way of truth and of salvation ;
where the pupils are the elect of God, the first-fruits of
men, ransomed by God and by the Lamb; where the in-
spectors and guardians are the angels and archangels, the
principalities and powers in heaven (Eph. iii, 10); and
where true wisdom, which is of use to us in this world and
the next, is taught on all subjects that the mind of man
can grasp. For the mouth of God is the fountain from
which all the streams of wisdom flow; the countenance of
God is the torch from which the rays of true light are
scattered ; the Word of God is the root from which spring
the shoots of true wisdom. Happy are they, therefore,
who look on the face of God, listen to His words, and
receive His sayings in their hearts. For this is the only
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true and infallible way to attain the true and eternal
wisdom.

tz. Nor can we omit all mention of the earnestness
with which God forbade His people to have anything to
do with the works of the heathen, and of the consequences
that followed their disregard of His injunction: “The Lord
will consume those nations from thy sight. But the graven
images of their gods shall ye burn with fire. Thou shalt
not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it
unto thee, lest thou be snared therein, for it is an abomina-
tion to the Lord thy God; and thou shalt not bring an
abomination into thine house, and become a devoted thing
like unto it” (Deut. vii. 22, 25, 26). And again: “When
the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before
thee, take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared to
follow them, after that they be destroyed from before
thee, and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying,
How do these nations serve their gods? But what thing
soever I command you, that shall ye observe to do; thou
shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it” (Deut. xii.
29). After their victory Joshua reminded them of this,
and advised them to remove the idols (Jos. xxiv. 23); but
they did not obey him, and these heathen productions
became a snare for them, so that they continually fell into
idolatry until both kingdoms were overthrown. Should
not we, therefore, take warning by their example, and avoid
their error?

12. “But books are not idols,” some one will say. I
reply: They are the works of the heathen, whom God has
destroyed from before the face of His Christian people, as
He did of old. Nay, they are more dangerous than idols.
For these only led away those who were fools at heart
(Jer. x. 14), while books deceive even the wisest (Col. ii.
8). The former were works of men’s hands (as God used
to say when chiding the folly of the idolaters), the latter
are the works of the human understanding. The former
dazzled the eyes by the brilliancy of their gold and silver,
the latter blind the intelligence by the plausibility of their
390 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

carnal wisdom. Do you still deny that pagan books are
idols? What was it that led the Emperor Julian away
from Christ? What was it that so undermined the under-
standing of Pope Leo X. that he believed the history of
Christ to be a mere fable? Under what influence did
Cardinal Bembo** dissuade Sadoleto from reading the
Bible (saying that such folly was unsuitable for so great a
man)? What is it that in these days leads so many learned
Italians and others towards Atheism? Would that there
were none in the reformed Church of Christ who have
been drawn away from the Scriptures by Cicero, Plautus,
and Ovid, writers that reek of death.

13. But it may be said: The abuse must be attributed
not to the things, but to the persons. There are pious
Christians to whom no harm is done by reading pagan
authors. The Apostle replies: ‘We know that no idol is
anything in the world: howbeit in all men there is not
that knowledge (that is to say, the power of discerning).
Take heed lest this liberty of yours become a stumbling-
block to the weak” (1 Cor. viii. 4, 7, 9)

Now God in His mercy preserves many from destruction,
and there is no excuse for us if, knowingly and willingly,
we have anything to do with such snares (I mean the
divers inventions of the human mind or of Satan’s cun-
ning), since it is certain that some, nay most men, are
unhinged by them and are led into Satan’s net. Let us
rather obey God and not bring idols into our house, nor
set up Dagon by the Ark of the Covenant, nor mingle the
wisdom that is from on high with that which is earthly,
bestial, and devilish, nor give any occasion for stirring up
the anger of God against our sons.

14. Of a precisely similar nature was the event that
Moses uses as an illustration. Nadab and Abihu, the sons
of Aaron, and young priests (in ignorance of their duty),
filled their censers with common, instead of with sacred,
fire. For this they were smitten with fire by God, and
died (Levit. x. 1). Now what are the children of Christians
but a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices to
PAGAN BOOKS REMOVED FROM SCHOOLS 391

 

God? (1 Peter ii. 5). If we fill their censers, their minds,
with strange fire, are we not handing them over to the
anger of God? For to a Christian soul all is strange, and
should be strange, that has any other source than the Holy
Spirit ; and of such a kind are the ravings of the heathen
philosophers and poets, as the Apostle bears witness (Rom.
i, 21, 22; Col. ii. 8, 9). Not without reason did Jerome
call poetry the wine of devils; since it intoxicates the
incautious and sends them to sleep, and, while they sleep,
plies them with monstrous opinions, dangerous temptations,
and the foulest desires. We should therefore be on our
guard against these philtres of Satan.

15. If we do not obey the wise counsels of God, the
Ephesians will stand in judgment against us, for they, as
soon as the light of divine wisdom shone upon them, burnt
all their curious books, since these were henceforth useless
to them as Christians (Acts xix. 19). The modern Greek
Church also, although there exist the most excellent philo-
sophical and poetical works, written by the Greeks of old,
who were reputed the wisest of men, has forbidden its
followers to read them under pain of excommunication.
The result of this is that, although with the invasion of
barbarism they have fallen into great ignorance and super-
stition, God has hitherto preserved them from being carried
away by anti-Christian error. In this matter, therefore,
we ought to imitate them, that (greater stress being laid on
the reading of Scripture) the heathen darkness, which still
remains, may be removed, and that in the light of God we
may see light (Psalm xxxvi. 9). ‘“O house of Jacob, come
ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord” (Isaiah ii. 5).

16. Let us now see by what reasonings the mind of man
rebels against these injunctions, and winds about like a
snake, seeking to avoid the necessity of obeying the Faith
and serving God. The arguments used are as follows :

17. (i) Great wisdom is to be found in the philosophers,
the orators and the poets. I answer: Those are worthy
of darkness who turn away their eyes from the light.
Twilight is as mid-day to the owl, but animals, that are
392 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

accustomed to light, think otherwise. O foolish men who
look for light in the darkness of the human reason! Lift
up your eyes on high. The true light comes from heaven,
from the Father of Light! Any light that is visible in
human efforts arises from a few sparks that seem to shine
because of the darkness that surrounds them; but what
are a few sparks to us, in whose hands a blazing torch has
been placed (the effulgent word of God)? If men investi-
gate natural phenomena, they do but set the glass to their
lips, without touching the wine; while in the Scriptures the
Ruler of the Universe Himself recounts the mysteries of
His works, and explains the nature of things created, visible
and invisible. When the philosophers talk of morals, they
are like birds that have been caught with quicklime, for
they make great efforts to move without making any ad-
vance. But the Scriptures contain true descriptions of the
virtues, with keen exhortations that pierce to the marrow.
When pagan writers wish to teach piety, they merely teach
superstition, since they are not imbued with the true know-
ledge of God or of His will. ‘For, behold, darkness shall
cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples: but the
Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen
upon thee” (Isaiah Ix. 2). Now the sons of light should be
at liberty to journey to the sons of darkness, that, having
seen what a difference there is, they may rejoice the more
in the path of light, and may feel compassion for the dark-
ness of their neighbours ; but to wish to exalt their glimmer
above our own light is intolerable, and an insult to God
and to our souls. ‘Of what advantage is it,” says Isidor,°®”
“to be learned in human doctrine, and know nothing of
divine? to follow perishable inventions, and despise hea-
venly mysteries? If we love the Scriptures we must avoid
those books that outwardly are eloquent and well written,
but inwardly lack wisdom.” What a condemnation of
such books! They are husks without kernels. Such
was also the opinion of Philip Melanchthon: ‘What do the
best philosophers teach but self-confidence and self-love ?
Cicero in his De Fintbus estimates each kind of virtue with
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reference to self-love. How much pride and haughtiness
there is in Plato! It seems to me that a self-sufficient
character must inevitably imbibe faulty instincts from the
ambition that pervades his writings. The teaching of
Aristotle is nothing but one long struggle to prove himself
worthy of a good place among the writers on practical
philosophy ” (System of Theology).

18. (ii) Again it is said: If they do not teach theology
rightly, at any rate they teach philosophy, and this cannot
be learned from the sacred writings, that have been given
us for our salvation. I answer: The Word of God most
high is the fountain of wisdom (Ecclesiasticus i. 5).
True philosophy is nothing but the true knowledge of God
and of His works, and this cannot be learned better than
from the mouth of God Himself. For this reason St.
Augustine, praising the Holy Scripture, says: ‘“ Here is
philosophy, since the cause of everything that exists is in
the Creator. Here are ethics, since a good and honest
life can only be formed if those things are loved which ought
to be loved, that is to say, God and our neighbour. Here
is logic, since truth, the light of the rational soul, is God
Himself. Herein is the salvation of the state; for the
state can never be well guarded, or rest on a foundation
of confidence and peace, unless the common good be loved,
and this, in its highest and truest sense, is God.” Re-
cently, too, it has been pointed out by many that the
foundations of all the sciences and philosophic arts are
contained in Scripture, and more truly than elsewhere, so
that the part played by the Holy Spirit in our education is
indeed wonderful. For, though its first object is to instruct
us in things invisible and eternal, it nevertheless unfolds
the laws of nature and of art at the same time, teach-
ing us how to reason wisely on all subjects and how to
apply our reason in a practical manner. Yet of all this.
there is but a trace in the works of the pagan philo-
‘sophers. A writer on theology has said that the mar-
vellous wisdom of Solomon consisted in bringing the law
of God into the families, the schools, and the public places,
394 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

and there is no reason why the wisdom of Solomon, that
is to say, true and heavenly wisdom, should not once more
be ours, if we give our children the Word of God instead of
pagan books, and thus supply them with counsels for all
the chances of life. Our object, therefore, should be to have
in our homes that which can make us wise, even in that
external or worldly wisdom that we call philosophy. Those
were luckless times when the children of Israel had to go
down to the Philistines to polish each man his plough, his
mattock or his axe, because there was no smith in the
land of the Israelites (1 Sam. xiii. 19, 20). But it is surely
not necessary that the resources of the Israelites should
always be limited in this way ; especially as the arrangement
was a bad one, for the following reason: the Philistines
supplied the Israelites with harrows, but on no account
would they supply them with swords that might be used
against themselves. From the pagan philosophers, in the
same way, you can get the well-known syllogisms and flowers
of speech, but from this source you will find it impossible
to procure swords and spears with which to combat impiety
and superstition. Let us then hope for the times of David
and of Solomon, when the Philistines were laid low but
Israel reigned and rejoiced in its good fortune.

19. (iii) But, for the sake of style, students of Latin
should read Terence, Plautus, and similar writers. I answer:
Are we to bring our children into ale-houses, cook-shops,
taverns, and other dens of iniquity, in order that they
may learn how to speak? For, I ask you, is it not into
such unclean places that Terence, Plautus, Catullus, Ovid,
and the rest of them lead our young? What do they set
before them but jesting, feasting, drunkenness, amours, and
deceits, from which Christians should avert their eyes and
ears, even if they encounter them by chance? Is the
-natural man not depraved enough, that it is necessary to
bring to him and to show to him all manner of wickedness,
and, as it were, to seek out opportunities to hurl him to
destruction? But it will be said: ‘The matter in those
authors is not all bad.” I answer: Evil sticks far more
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readily than good, and it is therefore a very dangerous
practice to send the young to a spot where good and evil
occur in combination. If we wish to poison any one, we
do not give him poison alone, but mix it with some pleasant
drink, the presence of which does not interfere with the
action of the poison. This is precisely the way in which
these men-destroyers of old mixed their hellish poisons
with cunning inventions and with elegance of style; and
are we to remain conscious of their devices and not strike
the potion from their hands?

Some one else may object: “ They are not all lascivious
writers. Cicero, Virgil, Horace, and others are serious
and earnest.” I answer: None the less they are blind
pagans, and turn the minds of their readers from the true
God to other gods and goddesses (Jove, Mars, Neptune,
Venus, Fortune, etc.), though God has said to His people:
“Make no mention of the name of other gods, neither .
let it be heard out of thy mouth” (Exodus xxiii. 13). Then
what a chaos of superstitions, of false opinions, of earthly
desires at variance with one another, is to be found in
these writers! The spirit with which they fill their*
readers must be very different from that of Christ. Christ
calls us from the world, they plunge us into the world.
Christ teaches self-abnegation, they teach self-love. Christ
teaches us to be humble, they to be magnanimous.
Christ demands meekness, they inculcate self-assertion.
Christ bids us be simple as doves, they show us how to
turn an argument in a thousand different ways. Christ
urges us to modesty, they spend their time in mocking
others. Christ loves those who believe easily, they prefer
those who are suspicious, argumentative, and obstinate.
To conclude briefly and in the words of the Apostle:
“What communion hath light with darkness? and
what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion
hath a believer with an unbeliever?” (2 Cor. vi. 15).
Rightly does Erasmus say: “Bees avoid withered flowers ;
and no book, the contents of which are impure, should be
opened.” And again: “It is safest to sleép on clover,
396 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

for it is said that no serpents lurk in it, and on the same
principle we should confine ourselves to those books in
which no poison is to be, feared.”

20. Moreover, what attraction have these pagan
authors that is not to be found in our sacred writers?
Are they the only people who understand the elegances of
style? The most perfect master of language is he who
gave it to us, the Holy Spirit. His words are sweeter
than honey and more piercing than a two-edged sword ;
more active than the fire that liquefies metals, and
weightier than a hammer which grinds rocks to powder,
for they tell us of God. Is it heathen writers alone
who relate marvellous events? Our Scriptures are full
of events that are truer and far more wonderful. Are
they the only authors who can fashion figures of
speech, and riddling sayings, or write passages that are
forcible and pithy? Our Scriptures are full of such
passages. Leprous is his imagination who prefers Abana
and Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, to Jordan and the
waters of Israel (2 Kings v. 12). Blind is the eye to
which Olympus, Helicon, and Parnassus seem more
beautiful than Sinai, Sion, Hermon, Tabor, and Olivet.
Deaf is the ear to which the lyre of Orpheus, of Homer,
or of Virgil sounds sweeter than David’s lute. Corrupt
is the palate to which Nectar, Ambrosia, and the Castalian
springs taste better than celestial Manna and the fountains
of Israel. Perverse is the heart that finds more pleasure
in the names of the gods, the goddesses, the muses, and
the graces than in the adorable names of Jehovah, of
Christ the Saviour, and of the Holy Ghost. Blind is the
hope that wanders through the Elysian fields in preference
to the gardens of Paradise. With them all is romance,
a mere shadow of truth, while with us all is reality and the
very essence of truth.

21. But it will be said: These writers contain elegances
of speech and moral sentiments that are worthy of our
adoption. Is not this a sufficient reason for sending our
children to them? Should we not spoil the Egyptians
PAGAN BOOKS REMOVED FROM SCHOOLS 397

 

and strip them of their raiment? Does not God bid
us do so? (Exodus iii. 22). It is the right of the
Church to usurp all the possessions of the heathen. I
answer: When Manasseh and Ephraim wished to seize
the land of the heathen, the men alone advanced; the
women and children stayed behind in safety (Joshua i. 14).
We should do the same. Men of wisdom and judgment,
steadfast in the faith, should go forward and disarm these
pagan writers; the young should not be exposed to
danger. What if our youths were killed or wounded or
taken prisoner? How many, alas, has pagan philosophy

already drawn away from Christ and given over to

Atheism! The safest plan, therefore, is to send armed
men to deprive those accursed by heaven of their gold,
silver, and precious things, and to distribute them among
the heirs of God. O that God would stir up some
heroic spirit to cull those flowers of elegance from the vast
deserts in which they grow, and plant them in the garden
of Christian philosophy, that nothing be lacking there. \

22. Finally, if any pagan writers are to be coun;
tenanced, let them be Seneca, Epictetus, Plato, and similar
teachers of virtue and honesty; since in these comparatively
little error and superstition are to be found. This was
the opinion of the great Erasmus, who advised that the
Christian youth be brought up on the Holy Scriptures, but
added: “If they have anything to do with profane litera-
ture, let it be with those books that approximate most closely
to the Scriptures” (Compendium of Theology). But even
these books should not be given to the young until their
Christian faith iswell assured; and in any case careful editions
should be issued in which the names of the gods and the
general tone of superstition should be removed. For it is
on the condition that their heads be shaved and their nails
pared, that God allows heathen maidens to be taken to wife
(Deut. xxi. 12). Let there be no misunderstanding. We
do not absolutely prohibit Christians from reading heathen
writings, since to those who believe Christ has given the
power of taking up serpents, and drinking deadly things

x‘
398 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

with impunity (Mark xvi. 18); but the sons of God,
whose faith is yet weak, should not be exposed to these
serpents, and to give them the opportunity of drinking
such poison would indeed be rash. Great caution should
therefore be used, and this is what we urge. The Spirit
of Christ has said that the children of God should be
nourished by the spiritual milk that is without guile (1
Peter ii. 2; 2 Tim. iii. 15).

23. But those who thus incautiously aid the cause
of Satan and oppose that of Christ have yet another
argument. “The Holy Scriptures,” they say, ‘are too
hard for the young, and therefore some other books must
be given them to read until their judgment is mature.”

I answer: This is the language of those who err and
know not the Scriptures nor the power of God, as I will
show in three ways: firstly, there is a well-known story
told of Timotheus the celebrated musician, that whenever
he took a fresh pupil he asked him if he had already
learned the rudiments with another master. If he answered
in the negative he took him at a moderate price; if in the
affirmative he charged twice as much. For he said that
those who had already learned give him twice as much
trouble, as he had first to cure them of their bad habits,
and then to teach them the right way to play. Now, our
master, and that of the human race, is Jesus Christ, and
we are forbidden to go to any other (Matt. xvii. 5, and
xxiii. 8). He it was who said: “Suffer the little children
to come unto me, and forbid them not ” (Mark x. 14), and
shall we, contrary to His will, lead them elsewhere? Are
we afraid that Christ’s task will be too light, and that He
will teach them His ways too easily? And are we therefore
to take them through the cook-shops and taverns, and give
them to Christ to reform when thoroughly corrupt? This
is a terrible proposal for the unhappy and innocent boys ;
for either they will have to spend their whole lives in
laboriously getting rid of the habits they have acquired, or
they will be altogether rejected by Christ, and given over
to the tuition of Satan. Is not that which has been
PAGAN BOOKS REMOVED FROM SCHOOLS — 399

 

consecrated to Moloch an abomination to God? Let the
Christian magistrates and the heads of the Churches—by
God’s mercy I implore it—take steps to prevent Christian
boys, born in Christ and consecrated through baptism,
from being offered up to Moloch.

24. The cry that the Scriptures are too difficult to
be understood by children, is altogether false. Does God
not know how to suit His Word to our understanding ?
(Deut. xxxi. 11, 12, 13). Does not David say that the
law of the Lord gives wisdom to little ones (N.B. to iittle
ones)? Does not Peter say that the Word of God is milk
for the newborn babes of God, given to them that they may
grow thereby unto salvation (1 Peter ii. 2)? The Word of
God, therefore, is the sweetest and best milk for the new-
born children of God. Why oppose God on this point?
Especially since pagan learning needs teeth to masticate
it; yes, and often breaks them. Therefore the Holy Spirit,
through David, invites the little ones into His school:
“Come, ye children, hearken unto me; I will teach you
the fear of the Lord” (Psalm xxxiv. rr).

25. Lastly, that the Scriptures contain passages of great
profundity is perfectly true; but they are of such a kind
that, while elephants sink to the bottom, lambs can swim
with ease in them, to quote the words of St. Augustine
when he wished to lay stress on the difference between
the wise of the world who rush into Scriptural criticism
presumptuously and Christ’s little ones who approach
God’s Word in a humble and meek spirit. Besides, what
need is there to begin with difficult passages? We can
proceed step by step. First, we should embark upon the
Catechism, and then keep in shallow water by teaching
Scripture history, moral sentences, and the like, that can be
easily understood, but which at the same time lead to the
weightier matters that follow. And finally, when our pupils
are fit for it, we can introduce them to the mysteries of the
Faith. Thus, knowing the sacred writings from their
infancy, they will be the more easily preserved from worldly
corruption, and will be made wise unto salvation through
400 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. iii. 15). For, if a
man give himself up to God, sit at the feet of Christ, and
listen to the wisdom that comes from on high, it is im-
possible that the Spirit of Grace should not fill him, kindle
within him the light of true reason, and point out the true
path of salvation.

26. I pass over the fact that those authors who are
placed before Christian boys instead of the Bible (Terence,
Cicero, Virgil, etc.), possess the very defects that are
attributed to the Scriptures, since they are difficult and
not suited to the young. It was not for boys that they
wrote, but for men of mature judgment, accustomed to
the theatre and the law-courts, and it therefore goes with-
out saying that they can be of no advantage to any one
else. One thing at any rate is certain, that he who has
reached man’s estate will derive more profit from reading
Cicero once than if he had learned his entire works off by
heart when a boy, and that such studies should therefore
be deferred to a suitable season, and then only approached
by those to whom they will be of use, if indeed they are of
use to any one.

Of far greater importance is the point that has already
been mentioned, namely, that the task of Christian schools
is to form citizens, not for the world, but for heaven, and
that they should accordingly be supplied with masters who
are better acquainted with heavenly than with earthly things.

27. Let us conclude, therefore, with the angelic words:
“In the place wherein the highest beginneth to show
his city, there can no man’s building be able to stand”
(2 Esdras x. 54). As God wishes us to be trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be
glorified (Isaiah Ixi. 3), we should not allow our children
to be shrubs in the plantation of Aristotle, or of Plato, or
of Plautus, or of Cicero, or of any author whose works they
may chance to read: “Every plant, which my heavenly
Father planted not, shall be rooted up” (Matt. xv. 13);
“Tremble therefore, ye who cease not to murmur, and to
exalt yourselves against the knowledge of God ” (2 Cor. x. 5).
CHAPTER XXVI
OF SCHOOL DISCIPLINE

1. THERE is a proverb in Bohemia, “A school without dis-
cipline is like a mill without water,” and this is very true.
For, if you withdraw the water from a mill, it stops, and,
in the same way, if you deprive a school of discipline, you
take away from it its motive power. A field also, if it be
never ploughed, produces nothing but weeds; and trees,
if not continually pruned, revert to their wild state and
bear no fruit. It must not be thought, however, that we
wish our schools to resound with shrieks and with blows.
What we demand is vigilance and attention on the part of
the master and of the pupils. For discipline is nothing
but an unfailing method by which we may make our
scholars, scholars in reality.

2. As regards discipline, therefore, it is advisable that
the educator of youth know its object, its subject-matter,
and the various forms which it may assume, since he will
then know why, when, and how, systematised severity is
to be used.

3. We may start with the incontestable proposition that
punishment should be employed towards those who err.
But it is not because they have erred that they should be
punished (for what has been done cannot be undone), but
in order that they may not err again in the future. Dis-
cipline should therefore be free from personal elements,
such as anger or dislike, and should be exercised with such

26
402 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

frankness and sincerity of purpose, that even the pupils
may feel that the action taken is for their good, and that
those set over them are but exercising paternal authority.
They will thus regard it in the same light as a bitter
draught prescribed for them by the doctor.

4. Now no discipline of a severe kind should be exer-
cised in connection with studies or literary exercises, but
only where questions of morality are at stake. For, as
we have already shown, studies, if they are properly
organised, form in themselves a sufficient attraction, and
entice all (with the exception of monstrosities) by their
inherent pleasantness. If this be not the case, the fault
lies, not with the pupil, but with the master, and, if our
skill is unable to make an impression on the understanding,
our blows will have no effect. Indeed, by any application
of force we are far more likely to produce a distaste for
letters than a love for them. Whenever, therefore, we see
that a mind is diseased and dislikes study, we should try
to remove its indisposition by gentle remedies, but should
on no account employ violent ones. The very sun in the
heavens gives us a lesson on this point. In early spring,
when plants are young and tender, he does not scorch
them, but warms and invigorates them by slow degrees,
not putting forth his full heat until they are full-grown and
bring forth fruit and seeds. The gardener proceeds on
the same principle, and does not apply the pruning-knife
to plants that are immature. In the same way 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 produces
a discordant sound ; but, setting to work on scientific prin-
ciples, he tunes it and gets it into order. Just such a
skilful and sympathetic treatment is necessary to instil a
love of learning into the minds of our pupils, and any
other procedure will only convert their idleness into anti-
pathy and their lack of interest into downright stupidity.

5. If, however, some stimulus be found necessary, better
means than blows can be found. Sometimes a few severe
words or a reprimand before the whole class is very effica-
OF SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 403

 

“cious, while sometimes a little praise bestowed on the others
has great effect. ‘See how well so-and-so attends! See
how quickly he sees each point! While you sit there like
astone!” It is often of use to laugh at the backward
ones. “You silly fellow, can’t you understand such a
simple matter?” Weekly, or at any rate monthly, contests
for the first place in class may also be introduced, as we
have shown elsewhere. Great care, however, should be
taken that these experiments do not degenerate into a
mere amusement, and thus lose their force ; since, if they
are to act as a stimulus to industry, they must be backed
on the part of the pupil by a love of praise and a dislike
of blame or of losing his place in class. It is therefore
absolutely essential that the master be always in the room,
that he throw a good deal of energy into his work, and
that he scold the idlers and praise the hard-working boys
before the whole class.

6. Only in the case of moral delinquencies may a
severer discipline be used: (1) as, for instance, in the
case of impiety of any kind, such as blasphemy, obscenity,
or any other open offence against God’s law. (2) In the
case of stubbornness and premeditated misbehaviour, such
as disobeying the master’s orders, or the conscious neglect
of duty. (3) In the case of pride and disdain, or even of
envy and idleness; as, for example, if a boy refuse to give
a schoolfellow assistance when asked to do so.

4. For offences of the first kind are an insult to God’s
majesty. Those of the second kind undermine the founda-
tion of all virtue, namely, humility and obedience. While
those of the third kind prevent any rapid progress in
studies. An offence against God is a crime, and should be
expiated by an extremely severe punishment. An offence
against man is iniquitous, and such a tendency should be
promptly and sternly corrected. But an offence against
Priscian is a stain that may be wiped out by the sponge of
blame. Ina word, the object of discipline should be to
stir us up to revere God, to assist our neighbours, and to
perform the labours and duties of life with alacrity. °
404 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

8. The sun in the heavens teaches us the best form of
discipline, since to all things that grow it ministers (1)
light and heat, continuously; (2) rain and wind, fre-
quently ; (3) lightning and thunder, but seldom; although
these latter are not wholly without their use.

g. It is by imitating this that the master should try to
keep his pupils up to their work.

(1) He should give them frequent examples of the con-
duct that they should try to imitate, and should point to
himself as a living example. Unless he does this, all his
work will be in vain.

(2) He may employ advice, exhortation, and sometimes
blame, but should take great care to make his motive clear
and to show unmistakably that his actions are based on
paternal affection, and are destined to build up the charac-
ters of his pupils and not to crush them. Unless the pupil
understands this and is fully persuaded of it, he will despise
all discipline and will deliberately resist it.

(3) Finally, if some characters are unaffected by gentle
methods, recourse must be had to more violent ones, and
every means should be tried before any pupil is pronounced
impossible to teach. Without doubt there are many to
whom the proverb, “Beating is the only thing that
improves a Phrygian,” applies with great force. Andi it is
certain that, even if such measures do not produce any
great effect on the boy who is punished, they act asa
great stimulus to the others by inspiring them with fear.
We should take great care, however, not to use these
extreme measures too readily, or too zealously, as, if we
do, we may exhaust all our resources before the extreme
case of insubordination which they were intended to meet,
arises.

16. In short, the object of discipline should be to con-
firm those who are being trained up for God and for the
Church, in that disposition which God demands in His sons,
the pupils in the school of Christ, so that they may rejoice
with trembling (Psalm ii. 11), and looking to their own
salvation may rejoice always in the Lord (Phil. ii. 4 and ro),
OF SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 405

 

that is to say, that they may love and reverence their
masters, and not merely allow themselves to be led in the
right direction, but actually tend towards it of their own
accord.

This training of the character can only be accomplished
in the above-mentioned ways: by good example, by gentle
words, and by continually taking a sincere and undisguised
interest in the pupil. Sudden bursts of anger should only
be used in exceptional circumstances, and then with the
intention that renewed good feeling shall be the result.

11. For (to give one more example) did any one ever
see a goldsmith produce a work of art by the use of the
hammer alone? Never. It is easier to cast such things
than to beat them out, and, if any excrescence have to be
removed, it is not by violent blows that the artificer gets
rid of it, but by a series of gentle taps, or by means of a
file or a pair of forceps; while he completes the operation
by polishing and smoothing his work. And do we believe
that irrational force will enable us to produce intelligent
beings, images of the living God?

12. A fisherman, too, who catches fish in deep waters
with a drag-net, not only fastens on pieces of lead to
sink it, but also attaches corks to the other end of it, that
it may rise to the surface of the water. In the same way
whoever wishes to ensnare the young in the nets of virtue,
must, on the one hand, humble and abase them by
severity, and, on the other, exalt them by gentleness
and affection. Happy are the masters who can combine
these two extremes! Happy are the boys who find such
masters !

13. Here we may quote the opinion which that great
man, Eilhard Lubinus, doctor of theology, has expressed
on the reform of schools in the preface to his edition of
the New Testament in Greek, Latin, and German—

“The second point is this: the young should never
be compelled to do anything, but their tasks should be of
such a kind and should be set them in such a way that
they will do them of their own accord, and take pleasure
406 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

in them. I am therefore of opinion that rods and blows,
those weapons of slavery, are quite unsuitable to freemen,
and should never be used in schools, but should be
reserved for boys of an abnormal and servile disposition.
Such boys are easily recognised and must be removed
from the school at once, on account both of the sluggish-
ness of their disposition and of the depravity that is
generally found in conjunction with it. Besides, any
knowledge that they may acquire will be employed for
wicked purposes, and will be like a sword in the hands of
amadman. There are, however, other kinds of punish-
ment suitable for boys who are free-born and of normal
disposition, and these we may employ.”
CHAPTER XXVII

OF THE FOURFOLD DIVISION OF SCHOOLS, BASED ON AGE
AND ACQUIREMENTS

1. ARTISANS are accustomed to fix certain limits of time for
the training of an apprentice (two, three, or seven years),
according to the ease or difficulty of the trade. Within
these limits a complete training can be had, and those
apprentices who have completed the course become,
first, journeymen, and then master-workmen. The same
system must be adopted in school organisation, and
distinct periods of time must be mapped out for the
acquirement of arts, sciences, and languages respectively.
In this way we may cover the whole range of human
knowledge within a certain number of years, and may
possess true learning, true morality, and true piety by the
time we leave the forging-places of humanity.

2. In order that this goal may be reached, the whole
period of youth must be devoted to the cultivation of the
intellect (and by this we do not mean that one art only,
but that all the liberal arts and all the sciences should
be acquired). The process should begin in infancy and
should continue until the age of manhood is reached ; and
this space of twenty-four years should be divided into well-
defined periods. In this we must follow the lead of
nature. For experience shows that a man’s body con-
tinues to grow up to his twenty-fifth year, and that after
this it only increases in strength ; and we must conclude
408 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

that this slow rate of increase has been accorded to man

by the forethought of God (for the larger bodies of animals

attain their full growth in a few months, or in a couple of

years at most) that he may have the more time to prepare ,
himself for the duties of life.

3. The whole period, therefore, must be divided into
four distinct grades: infancy, childhood, boyhood, and
youth, and to each grade six years and a special school
should be assigned.

I. For infancy the The mother’s knee.

II. For childhood school The Vernacular-School,
III. For boyhood should The Latin-School or Gymnasium.
IV. For youth be The University and travel.

A Mother-School should exist in every house, a Ver-
nacular-School in every hamlet and village, a Gymnasium
in every city, and a University in every kingdom or in
every province.

4. These different schools are not to deal with different
subjects, but should treat the same subjects in different
ways, giving instruction in all that can produce true men,
true Christians, and true scholars; throughout graduating
the instruction to the age of the pupil and the knowledge
that he already possesses. For, according to the laws of
this natural method, the various branches of study should
not be separated, but should be taught simultaneously,
just as the various parts of a tree increase together at every
period of its growth.

5. The difference between these schools is threefold.
Firstly, in the earlier schools everything is taught in a
general and undefined manner, while in those that follow
the information is particularised and exact; just as a tree
puts forth more branches and shoots each successive year,
and grows stronger and more fruitful.

6. Secondly, in the Mother-School the external senses
should be exercised and taught to distinguish the objects
that surround them. In the Vernacular-School, the internal
senses, the imagination and the memory, in combination
OF THE FOURFOLD DIVISION OF SCHOOLS 409

 

with their cognate organs, should be trained, and this
by reading, writing, painting, singing, counting, measuring,
weighing, and committing various things to memory. In the
Latin-School the pupil should be trained to understand
and pass judgment on the information collected by the
senses, and this by means of dialectic, grammar, rhetoric,
and the other sciences and arts that are based on principles
of causation. Finally, to the University belong those
subjects that have special relation to the will, namely, the
faculties, of which theology teaches us to restore harmony
to the soul; philosophy, to the mind; medicine, to the vital
functions of the body; and jurisprudence, to our external
affairs.

7. Our faculties are best developed in the following
manner. The objects should first be placed before the
organs of sense on which they act. Then the internal
senses should acquire the habit of expressing in their turn
the images that result from the external sensation, both
internally by means of the faculty of recollection, and
externally with the hand and tongue. At this stage the
mind can begin to operate, and, by the processes of exact
thought, can compare and estimate all objects of knowledge.
In this way an acquaintance with nature and a sound
judgment may be obtained. Last of all, the will (which is
the guiding principle in man) makes its power felt in all
directions. To attempt to cultivate the will before the
intellect (or the intellect before the imagination, or the
imagination before the faculty of sense perception) is mere
waste of time. But this is what those do who teach boys
logic, poetry, rhetoric, and ethics before they are thoroughly
acquainted with the objects that surround them. It would
be equally sensible to teach boys of two years old to dance,
though they can scarcely walk. Let our maxim be to
follow the lead of nature in all things, to observe how the
faculties develope one after the other, and to base our
method on this principle of succession.

8. A third difference between the schools is this. The
Mother-School and the Vernacular-School embrace all the
410 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

young of both sexes. The Latin-School gives a more
thorough education to those who aspire higher than the
workshop ; while the University trains up the teachers and
learned men of the future, that our churches, schools, and
states may never lack suitable leaders.

g. These four classes of schools may be compared to
the four seasons of the year. The Mother-School recalls
the gentle spring, filled with the varied scent of flowers.
The Vernacular-School represents the summer that spreads
before our eyes its full ears and early fruit. The Latin-
School corresponds to autumn, for here the fruit in the
fields and vineyards is collected and stored away in the
granaries of our mind. And last of all, the University may
be compared to the winter, when we prepare for various
uses the fruit already collected, that we may have sufficient
to sustain us for the rest of our lives.

ro. Our method of education may also be compared to
the various stages in the growth of a tree. The boys who
are six years of age and are tenderly cared for by their
parents are like shoots that have been carefully planted,
have taken root, and are beginning to put forth buds. At
twelve years of age they are like a young tree that is
covered with branches and buds, though it is as yet
uncertain how these will develope. At eighteen years of
age, youths well instructed in languages and arts are like
trees covered with blossoms that are pleasant to see and
to smell, and at the same time give promise of fruit. And
finally, at twenty-four or twenty-five years of age, young
men, who have been thoroughly educated at a university,
resemble a tree covered with fruit that can be plucked and
used when it is required.

But we must now examine the several stages in detail.
CHAPTER XXVIII
SKETCH OF THE MOTHER-SCHOOL

1. Ir is when it first comes into being that a tree puts
forth the shoots that are later on to be its principal
branches, and it is in this first school that we must plant
in a man the seeds of all the knowledge with which we
wish him to be equipped in his journey through life. A
brief survey of the whole of knowledge will show the
possibility of this, and this survey can easily be made if
we bring everything under twenty headings.

2. (i) Metaphysic (as it is called) should certainly be
our starting-point, since the first conceptions that children
have are general and confused. They see, hear, taste,
and touch, but are ignorant of the exact object of their
sensations. They commence, therefore, by learning the
general concepts: something, nothing, it is, it is not,
thus, otherwise, where, when, like, unlike, etc., and these
are nothing but the prime concepts of metaphysic.

3. (ii) In physics, a boy, during the first six years of
his life, can be brought to know what are water, earth, air,
fire, rain, snow, frost, stone, iron, trees, grass, birds, fishes,
oxen, etc. He may also learn the names and uses of the
members of his body, or at any rate of the external ones.
At this age these things are easily learned, and pave the
way for natural science.

4. (ili) A boy learns the elements of optics when he
begins to distinguish and to call by their names light, dark-
412 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

ness, and shade, and to know the difference between the
principal colours, white, black, red, etc.

5. (iv) The rudiments of astronomy will consist in
knowing what is meant by the heavens, the sun, the moon,
and the stars, and in watching their rising and their
setting daily.

6. (v) We know the elements of geography when we
learn the nature of mountains, valleys, plains, rivers,
villages, citadels, or states, according to the situation of
the place in which we are brought up.

7. (vi) The basis of chronology is laid, if the boy under-
stand what is meant by an hour, a day, a week, or a year;
or what summer and winter are; or the signification of
the terms “yesterday,” “the day before yesterday,” “ to-
morrow,” “the day after to-morrow,” etc.

8. (vii) The commencement of history consists in re-
collecting and reporting what has recently happened, or
how this or that person has carried out this or that matter ;
though this exercise should only relate to some incident
in the child’s life.

g. (viii) The seeds of arithmetic will be planted if the
child understand what is meant by “much” and “little,”
can count up to ten, can see that three are more than
two, and that one added to three makes four.

10. (ix) He will possess the elements of geometry if he
know what we mean by “large” and “small,” “long”
and “short,” “broad” and ‘narrow,” “thick” and
“thin”; what we signify by a line, a cross, or a circle,
and how we measure objects in feet and yards.

11. (x) The elements of statics will have been learned
if the children see objects weighed in scales, or acquire the
power of telling the approximate weight of objects by
weighing them in their hands.

12. (xi) They will receive a training in mechanics if
they are permitted or are actually taught to employ their
hands continually ; for instance, to move something from one
place to another, to arrange something else in one way or
another, to construct something, or to pull something to
SKETCH OF THE MOTHER-SCHOOL 413

 

pieces, to make knots or to undo them, and so forth; the
very things that children of this age love to do. As these
actions are nothing but the efforts of an active mind to
realise itself in mechanical production, they should not be
hindered, but rather encouraged and skilfully guided.

13. (xii) The elements of the process of reasoning,
namely dialectic, are learned when the child observes that
conversations are carried on by means of question and
answer, and himself acquires the habit of asking and
‘answering questions. He should, however, be taught to
ask sensible questions and to give direct answers, and also
not to wander from the point at issue.

14. (xiii) The grammar of childhood consists in learn-
ing to speak the mother-tongue correctly, that is to say,
in pronouncing with distinctness the letters, syllables, and
words.

15. (xiv) The beginnings of rhetoric consist in imitating
the figures of speech that occur in family conversation, but
more especially in the appropriate use of gesture, and in
inflecting the voice so as to suit the words; that is to
say, the voice should be raised on the last syllables of
words, in asking questions, and lowered in answering
them. This and similar points are acquired naturally, but
a little instruction is of great assistance if any mistakes
are made.

16. (xv) Children may get some notion of poetry by
learning a number of verses off by heart, for preference
those that contain some moral sentiment.

17. (xvi) They will take their first steps in music by
learning easy hymns and psalms. This exercise should
form part of their daily devotions.

18. (xvii) The rudiments of economics are acquired
when the child learns the names of the various members of
a family, that is to say, what is meant by the terms father,
mother, maid-servant, man-servant, etc.; or the various
parts of a house, as hall, kitchen, bedroom, stable; or
the names of domestic utensils, as table, plate, knife,
broom, etc.
414 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

tg. (xvili) It is not so easy to give a foretaste of
politics, as at this age the understanding is only sufficiently
developed to take in household affairs. Some attempt,
however, may be made. It may be pointed out, for
instance, that, in a state, some men meet together in a
council-chamber and are called councillors, and that of
these some are called members, others ministers, others
lawyers, and so forth.

20. (xix) But it is of morals (ethics), in particular, that
the foundations should be solidly laid, for to a well-educated
youth we wish the practice of virtue to be second nature.
For instance,

(1) Temperance should be practised by never over-
filling the stomach, and by never taking more food than is
necessary to appease hunger and thirst.

(2) Cleanliness should be practised at meals, and in
the treatment of clothes, dolls, and toys.

(3) Reverence should be shown by the child to his
superiors.

(4) Obedience to both commands and prohibitions
should always be willing and prompt.

(5) Truth should always be religiously observed. False-
hood and deceit should never be permitted, whether in
jest or in earnest (for jests of this kind may degenerate
into a serious evil).

(6) They will learn justice if they never touch, take,
keep, or hide anything that belongs to any one else, if they
annoy no one, and envy no one.

(7) It is of greater importance that they learn to
practise charity, so that they may be ready to give alms to
those whom need compels to ask for them. For love is the
especial virtue of Christians. Christ bids us practise it;
and, now that the world is growing aged and cold, it is
greatly to the interest of the Church to kindle in men’s
hearts the flame of love.

(8) Children should also be taught to occupy themselves
continually, either with work or with play, so that idleness
may become intolerable to them.
SKETCH OF THE MOTHER-SCHOOL 415

 

(9) They should be taught to speak but little and to
refrain from saying all that rises to their lips, nay, even to
maintain absolute silence when the occasion demands it ;
that is to say, when others are speaking, when any dis-
tinguished person is present, and when the circumstances
demand silence.

(ro) It is also important that they learn patience in
infancy, since this will be of use to them throughout their
whole lives. In this way the passions may be subdued
before they acquire strength, while reason, and not impulse,
will gain the upper hand.

(11) Politeness and readiness to help others is a great
ornament of youth, and, indeed, of every age. This also
should be learned in the first six years, that our youths may
lose no opportunity of rendering services to those whom
they meet.

(12) Nor must we omit to train them in good manners,
that they may do nothing stupidly or boorishly. To this
end they should learn the manners of polite society ; such
as how to shake hands, how to make a modest request
when they want anything, and how to bend the knee and
kiss the hand gracefully when returning thanks for a
kindness.

21. (xx) Finally, by the time they are six years old,
boys should have made considerable progress in religion and
piety; that is to say, they should have learned the heads
of the Catechism and the principles of Christianity, and
should understand these and live up to them as far as their
age permits. Thus, by realising that the Deity is ever

"present, by seeing God around them, and by fearing Him
as the just avenger of the wicked, they will be prevented
from committing any sinful act; while by loving, reverencing,
and praising in Him the just recompenser of the righteous,
and by seeking for His compassion in life and in death,
they will be led to omit no righteous act that they think
may please Him, will acquire the habit of living as if they
were in God’s presence, and (as the Scripture saith) will
walk with God.
416 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

22. We shall thus be able to apply to Christian children
the words that the Evangelist uses of Christ Himself:
“He advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favour with
God and men” (Luke ii. 52).

23. We have now described the limits and the tasks of
the Mother-School.*8 It is impossible to give a more detailed
account, or a time-table stating how much work should be
done in each year, month, and day (as is both possible and
desirable in the Vernacular-School and in the Latin-School),
for two reasons: firstly, because it is not possible for
parents, who have their household duties to occupy them,
to proceed as methodically as a schoolmaster can, whose
sole occupation is to instruct youth; secondly, because,
in respect of intellect and teachableness, some children
develope much sooner than others. Some children of two
years old can speak with ease, and display great intelligence,
while others are scarcely equal to them when five years old.
With this early education, therefore, all detail must be left
to the prudence of the parent.

24. Assistance, however, may be given in two ways.
In the first place, a hand-book should be written for
parents and nurses, that they may have their duties in
black and white before their eyes. This hand-book should
contain a brief description of the various subjects in which
the children should be educated, and should state the
occasions that are most suitable for each, and with what
words and what gestures it is best to instil them. Such a
book with the title, “Informatory of the Mother-School,”
has still to be written by me.

25. The other aid to study in the Mother-School is a
picture-book which should be put straight into the child’s
hands. At this age instruction should mainly be carried
on through the medium of sense-perception, and, as sight
is the chiefest of the senses, our object will be attained if we
give the children pictures of the most important objects in
physics, optics, astronomy, geometry, etc., and these may
be arranged in the order of the subjects of knowledge that
we have just sketched. In this book should be depicted
SKETCH OF THE MOTHER-SCHOOL 417

 

mountains, valleys, trees, birds, fishes, horses, oxen, sheep,
and men of varied age and height. Light and darkness
also should be represented, as well as the heavens with the
sun, moon, stars, and clouds, while to these the principal
colours should be added. Articles connected with the
house and the workshop, such as pots, plates, hammers,
pincers, etc., should not be omitted. State functionaries
should be represented; the king with his sceptre and crown,
the soldier with his arms, the husbandman with his plough,
the waggoner with his waggon, and the post-cart going at
full speed; while over each picture should be written the
name of the object that it represents, as “house,” “ox,”
“dog,” “tree,” ete.

26. This picture-book will be of use in. three ways: (1)
It will assist objects to make an impression on the mind, as
we have already pointed out. (2) It will accustom the little
ones to the idea that pleasure is to be derived from books.
(3) It will aid them in learning to read. For, since the
name of each object is written above the picture that
represents it, the first steps in reading may thus be made.

27
CHAPTER XxXIxXx
\ SKETCH OF THE VERNACULAR-SCHOOL

1. In chap. ix. I demonstrated that all the young of both
sexes should be sent to the public schools, I now add that
they should first be sent to the Vernacular-School. Some
writers hold the contrary opinion. Zepper% (Pol. bk. i.
ch. 7) and Alsted * (Scholastic, ch. 6) would persuade us
that only those boys and girls who are destined for manual
labour should be sent to the Vernacular-School, while boys
whose parents wish them to receive a higher education
should be sent straight to the Latin-School. Moreover,
Alsted adds: “Some will doubtless disagree with me, but
the system that I propose is the one which I would wish
adopted by those whose educational interests I have most
at heart.” From this view my whole didactic system forces
me to dissent.

2. (i) 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
is possible, should be educated together, that they may
stimulate and urge on one another.

(ii) 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 opportunity of con-
sidering their own lot with satisfaction and that of others
with scorn.
SKETCH OF THE VERNACULAR-SCHOOL 419

 

(iti) 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 sufficiently
developed, while, later on, it will be easy to form a sound
opinion on both. In the same way, while plants are quite
small, a gardener cannot tell which to hoe up and which to
leave, but has to wait until they are more advanced. Nor
should admission 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.

3. (iv) The next reason is that my universal method has
not as its sole object the Latin language, that nymph on
whom such unbounded admiration is generally wasted,
but seeks a way by which each modern language may be
taught as well (that every spirit may praise the Lord more
and more). This design should not be frustrated by
the complete and arbitrary omission of the Vernacular-

, School.

4. (v) To attempt to teach a foreign language before the
mother-tongue has been learned is as irrational as to teach
a boy to ride before he can walk. To proceed step by
step is of great importance, as. we have seen in chap. xvi.
Principle 4. Cicero declared that he could not teach
elocution to those who were unable to speak, and, in the
same way, 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.

5. (vi) Finally, what I have in view is an education in the
objects that surround us, and a brief survey of this educa-
tion can be best 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 new nomenclature to objects that are
already known ; while to the knowledge of actual facts may
420 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

be added by degrees that of the causes which underlie those
facts.

6. Proceeding, therefore, on the basis of my fourfold
division of schools, we may define the Vernacular-School
as follows. The aim and object of the Vernacular-School
should be to teach to all the young, between the ages of
six and twelve, such things as will be of use to them
throughout their whole lives. That is to say:

(i) To read with ease both print and writing in their
mother-tongue.

(ii) To write, first with accuracy, then with speed, and
finally with confidence, in accordance with the gramma-
tical rules of the mother-tongue. These rules should be
written in a popular form, and the boys should be exercised
in them.

(iii) To count, with ciphers and with counters, as far as
is necessary for practical purposes.

(iv) To measure spaces, such as length, breadth, and
distance, with skill.

(v) To sing well-known melodies, and, in the case of
those who display especial aptitude, to learn the elements
of advanced music.

(vi) To learn by heart the greater number of the psalms
and hymns that are used in the country. For, if brought
up in the praise of God, they will be able (as the Apostle
says) to exhort one another with psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing to God from their hearts.

(vii) Besides the Catechism they should know the most
important stories and verses in the Bible, and should be
able to repeat them word for word.

(viii) They should learn the principles of morality, which
should be drawn up in the shape of rules and accom-
panied by illustrations suitable to the age and understand-
ing of the pupils. They should also begin to put these
principles into practice.

(ix) They should learn as much economics and politics
as is necessary to enable them to understand what they
see daily at home and in the state.
SKETCH OF THE VERNACULAR-SCHOOL 421

 

(x) They should also learn the general history of the
world ; its creation, its fall, its redemption, and its pre-
servation by God up to the present day.

(x1) In addition, they should learn the most important
facts of cosmography, such as the spherical shape of the
heavens, the globular shape of the earth suspended in
their midst, the tides of the ocean, the shapes of seas,
the courses of rivers, the principal divisions of the earth,
and the chief kingdoms of Europe; but, in particular, the
cities, mountains, rivers, and other remarkable features of
their own country.

(xii) Finally, they should learn the most important
principles of the mechanical arts, both that they may not
be too ignorant of what goes on in the world around them,
and that any special inclination towards things of this kind
may assert itself with greater ease later on.

7. If all these subjects have been skilfully handled in
the Vernacular-School, the result will be that those youths
who begin the study of Latin or who enter on agriculture,
trade, or professional life will encounter nothing which is
absolutely new to them; while the details of their trades,
the words that they hear in church, and the information
that they acquire from books, will be to them nothing but
the more detailed exposition or the more particular appli-
cation of facts with which they are already acquainted.
They will thus find themselves all the fitter to use their
understanding, their powers of action, and their judgment.

8. To attain this result we employ the following
means :—

(i) All the children in the Vernacular-School, who are
destined to spend six years there, should be divided into
six classes, each of which, if possible, should have a class-
room to itself, that it may not hinder the others.

(ii) Specially prepared books should be supplied to
each class, and these should contain the whole subject-
matter of the literary, moral, and religious instruction
prescribed for the class. Within these limits no other
books should be needed, and, by their aid, the desired
422 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

result should infallibly be obtained. They should embody
a complete grammar of the mother-tongue, in which should
be comprised the names of all the objects that children of
this age can understand, as well as a selection of the most
common phrases in use.

9. These class-books should be six in number, corre-
sponding to the number of the classes, and should differ, not
in their subject-matter, but in their way of presenting it.
Each should embrace all the above-mentioned subjects ;
but the earlier ones should treat of them in a general
manner, choosing their better known and easier features ;
while those which come later should draw attention to the
less known and more complex details, or should point
out some fresh way of treating the subject, and thus excite
interest and attention. The truth of this will soon be
evident.

to. Care must be taken to suit all these books to the
children for whom they are intended; for children like
whimsicality and humour, and detest pedantry and severity.
Instruction, therefore, should ever be combined with
amusement, that they may take pleasure in learning seri-
ous things which will be of genuine use to them later on,
and that their dispositions may be, as it were, perpetually
enticed to develope in the manner desired.

11. The titles of these books should be of sucha kind
as to please and.attract the young, and should at the same
time express the nature of their contents. Suitable names
might be borrowed from the nomenclature of a garden,
that sweetest possession of youth. Thus, if the whole
school be compared to a garden, the book of the lowest
class might be called the violet-bed, that of the second
class the rose-bed, that of the third the grass-plot, and
so on.

12. Of the matter and form of these books I will speak
in greater detail elsewhere. I will only add that, as they
are written in the mother-tongue, the technical terms of
the arts should also be expressed in the vernacular, and
not in Latin or Greek. For (1) we wish the young to
SKETCH OF THE VERNACULAR-SCHOOL 423

 

make progress with as little delay as possible. Now foreign
terms must necessarily be explained before they are under-
stood, and, even when explained, are not properly under-
stood, but are thought to have no meaning apart from
their technical signification. In addition, they are difficult
to remember. On the other hand, if the vernacular terms
are used, it is only necessary to point out the object desig-
nated by each term. In this way we wish to remove all delays
and difficulties from the path of this elementary instruc-
tion. (2) Besides this, we wish to cultivate and improve
the vernacular languages, and this is to be done, not by
imitating the French, who incorporate Greek and Latin
words that the people cannot understand (for which prac-
tice Stevin blames them), but by expressing our meaning
in terms which can be understood by everybody. Stevin *
gave the same advice to the Belgians (Geog. bk. i.), and
carried it into effect in his work on’ mathematics.

13. But it may be objected that all languages are not
rich enough to supply suitable equivalents for Greek and
Latin terms; that even if this were done, the learned
would not relinquish their use; and, lastly, that those
boys who are going to learn Latin had better begin at
this stage, and so avoid the necessity of learning fresh
technical terms later on.

14. Ireply: If any language be obscure, or insufficient
to express necessary ideas, this is the fault, not of the
language, but of those who use it. The Romans and
Greeks had originally to form the words that are now
in use, and these words seemed so obscure and so rude
that their authors were uncertain if they could ever serve
as a vehicle for thought. But now that they are uni-
versally accepted they prove sufficiently expressive. As
an illustration of what I mean, take the terms “essence,”
“substance,” “accident,” “ quality,” “quantity,” etc. No
language, therefore, need lack words unless men lack
industry.

15. As for the second objection ; let the learned retain
their own terms. We are now seeking a way by which the
424 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

common people may be led to understand and take an
interest in the liberal arts and sciences; and with this end
in view we must not speak in a language that is foreign to
them, and that is in itself artificial.

16. And lastly, those boys who have to learn Latin
later on will find it no disadvantage to know the technical
terms in their mother-tongue, nor will it prove any hin-
drance to them that they praised God in their own language
.. before doing so in Latin.

17. The third requisite is an easy method of introduc-
ing these books to the young, and of this we will give a
brief sketch in the following rules:

(i) The class lessons should not exceed four daily, of
which two should be before mid-day, and two after. The
remaining hours of the day may profitably be spent in
domestic work (especially among the poor), or in some
form of recreation.

(ii) The morning should be devoted to the exercise of
the intellect and the memory, the afternoon to that of the
hand and the voice.

(iii) In the morning the master shall read over the
lesson for the hour several times, while the whole class
attends, and shall explain anything that needs explanation
in simple language, and in such a way that it cannot but
be understood. He shall then bid the boys read it in turn,
and while one reads it in a clear voice the rest should
attend and follow in their books. If this be continued for
half an hour, or longer, the clever boys and at last even
the stupid ones will try to repeat by heart what they have
just read. For the tasks that are set must be short; not
too long for an hour’s lesson, or too hard for the boys to
understand.

(iv) No fresh work should be done in the afternoon,
but the lessons done in the morning should be repeated.
The pupils should transcribe portions of their printed books,
and should compete with one another to see who can best
remember the morning’s lesson, or who is most proficient
in writing, in singing, or in counting.
SKETCH OF THE VERNACULAR-SCHOOL 425

 

18. Not without reason do we recommend that all
the pupils copy their printed books as neatly as they
can. (1) The manual exercise of copying will help to
impress on their minds the matter copied. (2) If the
practice be made a daily one, it will teach them to write
well, quickly, and accurately, and this will be of the greatest
use in the further prosecution of their studies, and in con-
ducting the affairs of life. (3) This will be the surest
proof to parents that their children are not wasting their
time at school, and will enable them to judge how much
progress they are making.

19. We have no space to go into further particulars
at present, and will only touch on one more point. If any
boys are to learn foreign languages, they should learn them
now, at about the age of ten, eleven, or twelve, that is to
say, Jetween the Vernacular-School and the Latin-School.
The best way is to send them to the place where the
language that they wish to learn is spoken, and in the new
language to make them read, write, and learn the class-books
of the Vernacular-School (the subject-matter of which is
already familiar to them).
CHAPTER XXX
SKETCH OF THE LATIN-SCHOOL

1. In this school the pupils should learn four languages and
acquire an encyclopedic knowledge of the arts. Those
youths who have completed its whole curriculum should
have had a training as: :

(i) Grammarians, who are well versed in Latin and in
their mother-tongue, and have a sufficient acquaintance
with Greek and Hebrew.

(ii) Dialecticians, who are well skilled in making defini-
tions, in drawing distinctions, in arguing a point, and in
solving hard questions.

(iii) Rhetoricians or orators, who can talk well on any
given subject.

(iv) Arithmeticians, and (v) geometricians; both on
account of the use of these sciences in daily life, and because
they sharpen the intellect more than anything else.

(vi) Musicians, both practical and theoretical.

(vii) Astronomers, who have, at any rate, mastered the
rudiments, such as the knowledge of the heavenly bodies,
and the calculation of their mevements, since without this
science it is impossible to understand not only physics but
also geography and a great part of history.

2. The above are commonly known as the seven liberal
arts, a knowledge of which is demanded from a doctor of
philosophy. But our pupils must aim higher than this, and
in addition must be:
SKETCH OF THE LATIN-SCHOOL 427

 

(viii) Physicists, who know the composition of the earth,
the force of the elements, the different species of animals,
the powers of plants and of minerals, and the structure of
the human body, and who, besides knowing these things,
can apply them to the various uses of life. Under this
head is thus comprised a part of medicine, of agriculture,
and of other mechanical arts.

(ix) Geographers, who are well acquainted with the
external features of the earth, and know the seas, the
islands that are in them, the rivers, and the various kingdoms.

(x) Chronologers, who can fix periods of time, and trace
the course of the centuries from the beginning of the world.

(xi) Historians, who possess a fair knowledge of the
history of the human race, of the chief empires, and of the
Church, and who know the various customs and fortunes
of races and of men.

(xii) Moralists, who can draw fine distinctions between
the various kinds of virtue and of vice, and who can follow
the one and avoid the other. This knowledge they should
possess both in its general form and in its special applica-
tion to the life of the family, of the state, and of the Church.

(xiii) Finally, we wish them to be theologians, who, besides
understanding the principles of their faith, can also prove
them from the Scriptures.

3. When this course is finished, the youths, even if they
have not a perfect knowledge of all these subjects (indeed
at their age perfection is impossible, since experience is
necessary to complete the theoretical knowledge that they
have acquired, and the sea of learning cannot be exhausted
in six years), should, at any rate, have laid a solid founda-
tion for any more advanced instruction that they may
receive in the future.

4. For the curriculum of six years, six distinct classes
will be necessary, the names of which, starting from the
lowest, might be as follows :—

(i) The Grammar class.

(ii) The Natural Philosophy class.

(iii) The Mathematical class.
428 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

(iv) The Ethics class.

(v) The Dialectic class.

(vi) The Rhetoric class.

5. I presume that no one can raise any objection to my

placing grammar first, since it is the key of all knowledge ;
but to those who are always guided by custom it may seem
strange that I have placed real studies before dialectic
and ethics. No other arrangement, however, is possible.
It has already been shown that the study of facts must
precede that of their combinations, that matter logically
‘precedes its form, that this is the only method by which
sure and rapid progress can be made, and that we must
therefore learn our facts by observation before we can
either pass a sound judgment on them, or enunciate them in
well-turned phrases. A man may have the whole apparatus
of logic and of eloquence at his fingers’ ends, but of what
value can his investigation or his proof be, if he be ignorant
of the objects with which he is dealing? It is as impossible
to talk sensibly about matters with which we are not
acquainted as it is for a virgin to bring forth a child.
Things exist in themselves, and are quite independent of
their relation to thought and to speech. But thought and
speech have no meaning apart from things, and depend
entirely upon them. Unless it refers to definite objects,
speech is nothing but sound without sense, and it is there-
fore absolutely necessary to give our pupils a thorough
preliminary training in real studies.

6. Though many have held the contrary opinion, it has
been conclusively shown by learned writers that the study
of natural philosophy should precede that of ethics.

Lipsius,*# in his Physiology, bk. i. chap. i, writes as
follows :—

“T am distinctly in agreement with the distinguished
authorities who hold that natural philosophy should come
first. Its study is productive of great pleasure, stimulates
and retains the attention, and forms a suitable introduc-
tion to ethics.”

7. It is open to argument whether the Mathematical
SKETCH OF THE LATIN-SCHOOL 429

 

class should or should not precede the Natural Philosophy
class. It was with the study of mathematics that the
ancients commenced the investigation of nature, for which
reason they gave them the name of “The Sciences” ; while
Plato forbade those who were ignorant of geometry to
enter his Academy. ‘Their reasons for holding this view
are easy to understand, since the sciences that deal with
number and quantity make a special appeal to the senses,
and are therefore easy to grasp; besides, they make a
powerful impression on the imagination, and thus prepare
the mind for studies of a more abstract nature.

8. All this is very true, but we have some other con-
siderations to take into account: (1) In the Vernacular-
School we advised the education of the senses, and the
development of the mind through their means, and as our
pupils have by this time been through a course of arith-
metic they can scarcely be considered quite ignorant of
mathematics. (2) Our method advances step by step.
Before proceeding to complex problems of magnitude, we
should deal with bodies in the concrete, and thus prepare
our minds to grasp more abstract notions. (3) The curricu-
lum of the Mathematical class, as drawn up by us, embodies
most of the arts, and these cannot be thoroughly mastered
without some knowledge of natural philosophy. But
indeed, if others suggest a different order, and justify their
preference by theoretical or practical reasons, I have no
wish to gainsay them. My own view is opposed to theirs,
and I have given my reasons for it.

‘9. As soon as a fair knowledge of Latin has been
acquired (by the aid of the Vestibulum and the /anua,
which are to be used in the first class), the pupils should
be instructed in the science of first principles, commonly
called metaphysics (though in my opinion it should be
called prophysics or hypophysics, that is to say, ante-
natural or sub-natural). For this science embraces the
primary and the most important principles of existence,
dealing with the essential hypotheses on which all things
depend, their attributes, and their logical differences ; and
430 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

includes the most general definitions, axioms, and laws of
nature. When these are known (and by my method the
task is an easy one), it will be possible to learn particulars
and details with little effort, since, in a way, they will
already be familiar, and nothing will be necessary but the
application of general. principles to particular instances.
Immediately after this grounding in first principles, which
should not occupy more than three months (for they will
be speedily learned, being principles of pure reason and
easily grasped by the mind), we may proceed to deal with
the visible universe, that the marvels of nature (already set
forth in the prophysic) may be demonstrated more and
more clearly by particular examples. This will be sup-
plied by the Natural Philosophy class.

to. From the essential nature of things we proceed to
the more exact investigation of their accidental properties,
and this we call the Mathematical class.

11. The pupils must next investigate man himself,
viewed as a free agent and as the lord of creation.
They must learn to notice what things are in our power,
what are not, and how everything must submit to the in-
flexible laws of the universe.

This they will learn in the fourth year, in the Ethics
class. But this must not consist of an historical course or
of a mere statement of facts, as in the Vernacular-School.
The reasons which underlie each fact must be given, that
the pupils may acquire the habit of concentrating their
attention on cause and effect. All controversial matter,
however, must be carefully excluded from these first four
classes, since we wish this to be reserved for the fifth class
that follows.

12. In the Dialectic class, after a brief training in the
laws of reasoning, the pupils should go over the whole
field of natural philosophy, mathematics, and ethics, and
carefully investigate any weighty points that are usually
discussed by learned men. This gives an opportunity for
explaining the cause and the nature of the controversy,
for distinguishing between the thesis and the antithesis,
SKETCH OF THE LATIN-SCHOOL 431

and for showing by what arguments, real or plausible,
either may be controverted. The mistakes of the opposite
side should then be exposed, and the cause of error and
the fallacy of the arguments employed should be clearly
shown; while, if there be an element of truth. on both
sides, the conflicting arguments may be reconciled. The
utility of this process will be great, as it will not only com-
prise the recapitulation of facts already known, and illus-
trate those that are less familiar, but will at the same time
teach the art of reasoning, of investigating what is un-
known, and explaining what is obscure, of simplifying
ambiguity, limiting statements that are too general, defend-
ing the truth with the weapons of truth, unmasking false-
hood, and setting in order facts that are confused.

13. Last of all comes the Rhetoric class. In this the
pupils should be taught to make an easy and profitable
use of all that they have hitherto learned, and here it will
be seen that they have learned something and have not
spent their time in vain. For, in accordance with the
saying of Socrates, “Speak, that I may see your character,”
we must train them to speak well, now that we have
taught them to think accurately.

14. Therefore, after a preliminary training in the
shortest and simplest rules of oratory, they should proceed
to put these into practice by imitating the best masters.
They should, however, not confine themselves to the sub-
jects that they have already studied, but should traverse
the whole field of truth, of existence, of human life, and of
divine wisdom ; that if they know anything which is true,
good, pleasant, or useful they may be able to express it in
suitable language, or, if necessary, to hold a brief for it.
For this purpose they will at this stage be supplied with
a mental furniture that is by no means to be despised,
namely, a varied acquaintance with the facts of nature,
and a good stock of words, of phrases, and of historical
knowledge.

15. But of this we can speak more fully elsewhere ;
that is to say, if it be necessary, since the details will work
432 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

themselves out in practice. We will only touch on one
point further. An acquaintance with history is the most
important element in a man’s education, and is, as it were,
the eye of his whole life. This subject, therefore, should
be taught in each of the six classes, that our pupils may
be ignorant of no event which has happened from ancient
times to the present day; but its study must be arranged
in such a way that it lighten their work instead of in-
creasing it, and serve as a relaxation after their severer
labours.

16. Our idea is that each class should have its own
hand-book, dealing with some special branch of history ;
for example:

In class i. An epitome of Biblical history.

ii. Natural history.

iii. The history of art and of inventions.

iv. The history of morals.

vy. The history of customs, treating of the habits
of different nations.

vi. The general history of the world and of the
principal nations ; but especially of the boys’
native Jand, dealing with the whole sub-
ject tersely and comprehensively.

17. As regards the special method to be employed, I
will make only one remark. The four hours of daily class
instruction should be arranged as follows: the two
morning hours should be devoted (as soon as morning
prayer has been held) to the science or the art that forms
the special subject of the class. Of the afternoon hours
the first should be given to history, and, in the second, the
pupils should be made to exercise style, declamation, and
the use of their hands, in accordance with the require-
ments of the class.
CHAPTER XXXI
, OF THE UNIVERSITY

- Our method does not really concern itself with Univer-
ity studies, but there is no reason why we should not
state our views and our wishes with regard to them. We
have already expressed our opinion that the complete
training in any of the sciences or faculties should be
reserved for the University.

2. Our ideal scheme is as follows:

(i) The curriculum should be really universal, and pro-
vision should be made for the study of every branch of
human knowledge.

(ii) The methods adopted should be easy and thorough,
that all may receive a sound education.

(iii) Positions of honour should be given only to those
who have completed their University course with success,
and have shown themselves fit to be entrusted with the
management of affairs.

We will briefly give some details on each of these points.

3. If its curriculum is to be universal, the University
must possess (1) learned and able professors of all the
sciences, arts, faculties, and languages, who can thus im-
part information to all the students on any subject; (2) a
library of well-selected books for the common use of all.

4. The studies will progress with ease and success if,
firstly, only select intellects, the flower of mankind, attempt
them. The rest had better turn their attention to more

28
434 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

suitable occupations, such as agriculture, mechanics, or
trade.

5. Secondly, if each student devote his undivided
energies to that subject for which he is evidently suited by
nature. For some men are more suited than others to be
theologians, doctors, or lawyers, just as others have a natural
aptitude for and excel in music, poetry, or oratory. This
is a matter in which we are apt to make frequent mistakes,
trying to carve statues out of every piece of wood, and
disregarding the intention of nature. The result is that ff
many enter on branches of study for which they Haye, no
vocation, produce no good results in them, and attain to
greater success in their subsidiary pursuits than in thosd
that they have chosen.

A public examination, therefore, should be held for the
students who leave the Latin-School, and from its results
the masters may decide which: of them should be sent to
the University, and which should enter on the other occu-
pations of life. Those who are selected will pursue their
studies, some choosing theology, some politics, and some
medicine, in accordance with their natural inclination and
with the needs of the Church and of the state.

6. Thirdly, those of quite exceptional talent should be
urged to pursue all the branches of study, that there may
always be some men whose knowledge is encyclopedic.

7. Care should be taken to admit to the University
only those who are diligent and of good moral character.
False students, who waste their patrimony and their time
in ease and luxury, and thus set a bad example to others,
should not be tolerated. Thus, if there is no disease,
there can be no infection, and all will be intent upon their
work.

8. We said that every class of author should be read in
the University. Now this would be a laborious task, but
its use is great, and it is therefore to be hoped that men
of learning, philologers, philosophers, theologians, physi-
cians, etc., will render the same service to students as
has been rendered to those who study geography by geo-
OF THE UNIVERSITY 435

 

graphers, For these latter make maps of the provinces,
kingdoms, and divisions of the world, and thus present to
the eye huge tracts of sea and land on a small scale,
so that they can be taken in at a glance. Painters, also,
produce accurate and life-like representations of countries,
cities, houses, and men, no matter of what size the originals
may be. Why, therefore, should not Cicero, Livy, Plato,
Aristotle, Plutarch, Tacitus, Gellius, Hippocrates, Galen,
Celsus, Augustine, Jerome, etc., be treated in the same
way and epitomised? By this we do not allude to the
collections of extracts and flowers of rhetoric, that are often
met with. These epitomes should contain the whole author,
only somewhat reduced in bulk.

g. Epitomes of this kind will be of great use. In the
first place it will be possible to obtain a general notion of
an author when there is no time to read his works at length.
Secondly, those who (following Seneca’s advice) wish to
confine themselves to the works of one writer (for different
writers suit different dispositions), will be able to take a
rapid survey of all and to make their choice in accordance
with their tastes. Thirdly, those who are going to read
the authors in their entirety will find that these epitomes
enable them to read with greater profit, just as a traveller
is able to take in the details of his journey with greater
ease, if he have first studied them on a map. Finally,
these abstracts will be of great use to those who wish to
make a rapid revision of the authors that they have read,
as it will help them to remember the chief points, and to
master them thoroughly.

to. Summaries of this kind may be issued both sepa-
rately (for the use of poor students and those who are not
in the position to read the complete works) and bound up
with the complete works, that those who wish to read them
may get an idea of the subject-matter before they begin.

tr. As regards academic exercises, I imagine that
public debates, on the model of a Gellian society, should
be of great assistance. Whenever a professor delivers
lectures on any subject, works which treat of that subject,
436 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

and these the best that exist, should be given to the
students for their private reading. Then the morning
lecture of the professor should serve as the subject for an
afternoon debate, in which the whole class may join. One
student may ask a question about some point that he does
not understand, and may point out that in the author which
he has been studying he has found an opinion, backed by
reasonable arguments and opposed to that of the pro-
fessor. Any other student may then rise (some forms of
order being observed), and may answer the question
raised ; while others may then decide if the point has been
properly argued. Finally the professor, as president, may
terminate the discussion. In this way, the private reading
of each student will be of use to the whole class, and the
subject will be so impressed on their minds that they will
make real progress in the theory and practice of the
sciences.

12. This practice of dissertation may be the means of
fulfilling my third wish, that public posts of honour be
given to none but the worthy. This result will be obtained
if the appointment to these posts depend not on the deci-
sion of one man, but on the unanimous opinion of all.
Once a year, therefore, the University should be visited
by commissioners appointed by the king or by the state,
just as the Latin-School is examined by its masters. The
industry of the professors and students can thus be tested,
and the most diligent of the latter should receive a public
recognition of merit by having the degree of doctor or of
master conferred upon them.

13. It is most important that everything be conducted
with perfect fairness, and therefore, instead of allowing the
academic degree to be won by a disputation, the following
plan should be adopted. The candidate (or several at
once) should be placed in the midst. Then men of the
greatest knowledge and experience should question him
and do all they can to find out what progress he has made,
both in theory and in practice. For example, they may
examine him on the text of the Scriptures, of Hippocrates,
OF THE UNIVERSITY 437

 

of the Corpus Juris, etc.; asking him where such and
such a passage occurs, and how it agrees with some other
passage? if he knows of any writer who holds a different
opinion, and who that writer is? What arguments he
brings to bear, and how the contradictory views may be
reconciled? with other similar questions. A practical
examination should then follow. Various cases of con-
science, of disease, and of law should be submitted to the
candidate, and he should be asked what course of action
he would pursue, and why? He should thus be examined
with regard to a number of cases, until it is evident that he
has an intelligent and thorough grasp of his subject. Surely,
students who knew that they were to be publicly examined
with such severity, would be stimulated to great industry.

14. There is no need to say anything about travel (to
which we assigned a place in this last period of six years,
or at its conclusion), except to remark that we are at one
with Plato, who forbade the young to travel until the hot-
headedness of youth had passed away, and they- were
sufficiently versed in the ways of the world to do so with
advantage.

15. It is scarcely necessary to point out how useful a
School of Schools or Didactic College would be, in what-
ever part of the world it were founded. Even if it be vain
to hope for the actual foundation of such a college, the
desired result might still be brought about, existing institu-
tions being left as they are, if learned men would work
together, and in this way seek to promote the glory of
God. These men should make it the object of their asso-
ciated labours to thoroughly establish the foundations of
the sciences, to spread the light of wisdom throughout the
human race with greater success than has hitherto been
attained, and to benefit humanity by new and useful inven-
tions ; for, unless we wish to remain stationary or to lose
ground, we must take care that our successful beginnings
lead to further advances. For this no single man and no
single generation is sufficient, and it is therefore essential
that the work be carried on by many, working together
438 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

and employing the researches of their predecessors as a
starting-point. This Universal College, therefore, will bear
the same relation to other schools that the belly bears to
the other members of the body; since it will be a kind of
workshop, supplying blood, life, and strength to all.

16. But we must return to our subject and say what
remains to be said about our schools.
CHAPTER XXXII
OF THE UNIVERSAL AND PERFECT ORDER OF INSTRUCTION

1. WE have now spoken at length on the necessity of
reforming schools and on the methods by which this
reformation can be effected. It will not be amiss if .we
give a brief summary of our ideals and of the means we
have proposed for their realisation.

2. Our desire is that the art of teaching be brought to
such perfection that there will be as much difference
between the old system and the new, as there is between
the old method of multiplying books by the pen and
the new method introduced by the printing-press; that
is to say, the art of printing, though difficult, costly, and
complicated, can reproduce books with greater speed,
accuracy, and artistic effect, than was formerly possible ;
and, in the same way, my new method, though its diffi-
culties may be somewhat alarming at first, will produce a
greater number of scholars and will give them a better
education as well as more pleasure in the process of
acquiring it, than did the old lack of method.

3. It is easy to imagine how impracticable the first
attempts of the inventor of printing must have appeared,
in comparison with the simple use of the pen; but the
event showed of what great use the invention was. For,
firstly, by means of a printing-machine two youths can
now produce more copies of a book than could have been
written by two hundred in the same time.
440 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

Secondly, manuscript copies differ in the number and
size of their pages, and the individual lines do not
correspond to one another; while printed copies are as
like to their original as one egg is like to another, and this
is a great advantage.

Thirdly, it is impossible to tell if manuscripts are
correct without revising them and comparing them
accurately with the original, and this is a laborious and
wearisome task. But in the case of printed books the
correction of one proof ensures the accuracy of thousands
of copies. This would seem incredible to any one un-
acquainted with printing, but is nevertheless true.

Fourthly, only firm and stiff paper is suitable to write
on, but printing is possible on thin and flimsy paper, or on
linen.

Finally, it is possible for men who are unable to write
to be the most excellent printers ; since it is not with their
fingers that they carry out the operation, but by means of
skilfully arranged type that cannot err.

4. Similar results might be obtained if this new and
comprehensive method of teaching were properly organised
(for as yet the universal method exists only in expectation
and not in reality), since (1) a smaller number of masters
would be able to teach a greater number of pupils than
under the present system. (2) These pupils would be
more thoroughly taught; (3) and the process would be
refined and pleasant. (4) The system is equally efficacious
with stupid and backward boys. (5) Even masters who
have no natural aptitude for teaching will be able to use
it with advantage ; since they will not have to select their
own subject-matter and work out their own method, but
will only have to take knowledge that has already been
suitably arranged and for the teaching of which suitable
appliances have been provided, and to pour it into their
pupils. An organist can read any piece of music from his
notes, though he might not be able to compose it or to
sing or play it from memory; and a school-master, in the
same way, should be able to teach anything, if he have
OF THE ORDER OF INSTRUCTION 441

 

before his eyes the subject-matter’ and the method by
which it should be taught.

5. Pursuing this analogy to the art of printing, we will
show, by a more detailed comparison, the true nature of
this new method of ours, since it will thus be made
evident that knowledge can be impressed on the mind,
in the same way that its concrete form can be printed on
paper. In fact, we might adapt the term “typography ”
and call the new method of teaching “ didachography.”
But this conception we will analyse at length.

6. The art of printing involves certain materials and
processes. ‘The materials consist of the paper, the type,
the ink, and the press. The processes consist of the
preparation of the paper, the setting up and inking of the
type, the correction of the proof, and the impression and
drying of the copies. All this must be carried out in
accordance with certain definite rules, the observance of
which will ensure a successful result.

7. In didachography (to retain this term) the same
elements are present. Instead of paper, we have pupils
whose minds have to be impressed with the symbols of
knowledge. Instead of type, we have the class-books and
the rest of the apparatus devised to facilitate the operation
of teaching. The ink is replaced by the voice of the
master, since this it is that conveys information from the
books to the minds of the listener; while the press is
school-discipline, which keeps the pupils up to their work
and compels them to learn.

8. Any kind of paper can be used, but the cleaner it
is, the better it will receive the impress of the type. In
the same way, our method can deal with any class of
intelligence, but succeeds best with talented pupils.

g. There is a great analogy between the type and the
class-books (that our method requires). Firstly, the type
have to be cast and polished, before books can be printed ;
and in the same way the necessary apparatus must be
provided before we can begin to use the new method.

ro. A considerable quantity of type is required to
442 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

print a whole work, and the same thing holds good of
class-books and teaching apparatus; since it is irritating,
tedious, and fatal to good teaching to begin and then to
be compelled to leave off through lack of the proper
appliances.

11. A well-managed printing-press is supplied with all
kinds of type, and is thus equal to every demand that can
be made upon it; and, similarly, our class-books must
contain everything necessary for a thorough education,
that there may be no one who by their aid cannot learn
whatever should be learned.

12. The type are not left in confusion, but are neatly
arranged in boxes that they may be ready to hand when
needed. Similarly, our class-books do not present their
subject-matter to the pupil in a confused mass, but split
it up into sections, allotting so much to a year, a month,
a day, and an hour.

13. Only those type which are needed at the minute are
taken from the type-cases; the rest remain undisturbed.
Similarly, no books but those intended for his class should
be given to a boy; others would only confuse and dis-
tract him.

14. Finally, type-setters use a straight edge which helps
them to arrange the words in lines, and the lines in
columns, and prevents any part from getting out of place.
In the same way the instructors of the, young should have
some standard or model to aid them in their work; that
is to say, guide-books should be written for their use, and
these should tell them what to do on each occasion, and
should preclude the possibility of error.

15. There will, therefore, be two kinds of class-books,
those that contain the subject-matter and are intended for
the pupils, and guide-books to assist the teacher to handle
his subject properly.

16. As we have already remarked, it is the voice of the
teacher that corresponds to the ink used in printing. If it
be attempted to use type when they are dry, nothing but
a faint and evanescent mark is made on the paper, in
OF THE ORDER OF INSTRUCTION 443

 

contrast to the firm and almost indelible impression that
results when they have been inked. Similarly, the in-
struction that boys receive from books, those dumb teachers,
is obscure and imperfect, but when it is supplemented by
the voice of the teacher (who explains everything in a
manner suitable to his hearers), it becomes vivid and
makes a deep impression on their minds, so that they
really understand what they learn and are conscious that
they understand it. Again, printing-ink differs from writing-
ink, since it is made, not with water, but with oil (indeed,
those who want a very superior ink, use the finest oil and
the best charcoal); and, similarly, the voice of a teacher
who can teach persuasively and clearly should sink like oil
into the pupils’ minds and carry information with it.

17. Finally, the function of the press in printing is per-
formed in schools by discipline, which is in itself sufficiently
powerful to ensure that no pupil shirk his studies. Every
sheet of paper that is to form part of a book must pass
through the press (hard paper needing more, and soft
paper less pressure) ; and, similarly, whoever wishes to learn
at a school must be subjected to its discipline. There are
three grades of discipline: firstly, perpetual watchfulness ;
for since we can never put implicit faith in the diligence
or innocence of boys (are they not Adam’s brood ?) we must
keep them continually under our eyes. Secondly, blame,
by which those who leave the beaten path must be recalled
to the way of reason and obedience. Finally, punishment,
which must be employed if exhortation have no effect. All
discipline, however, must be used with prudence and with
no other object than to induce the pupils to do all their
work well.

18. I said that certain processes were necessary, and
that these had to be carried out in a certain definite
manner. This point deserves a brief investigation.

1g. If a certain number of copies of a book is to be
printed, that number of sheets is taken at once and printed
from the same block, and from ‘each successive block, from
the beginning to the end of the book, the same number of
444 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

sheets, and neither more nor less, is printed; since other-
wise some copies of the book would be imperfect. In the
same way, our didactic method lays it down as an essential
condition that the whole school be given over at one and
the same time to the teaching of one master, that from
beginning to end all the scholars be subjected to a graduated
course of instruction, and that none be allowed to enter
after the session has once begun, or to leave before it is
finished. In this way it will be possible for one master to
teach a large number of pupils, and for all the pupils to
learn every branch of knowledge thoroughly. It will
therefore be necessary for all the public schools to open
and to close at the same time (it suits our method best if
the schools open in autumn rather than in spring), in order
that the task allotted to each class may be completed each
year, and that all (except those wanting in intellect) may
be brought up to a certain standard at the same time,
and may enter the next class together. This is an exact
analogy of the method used in printing when all the copies
of the first page are printed first, then those of the second
page, and so on.

20. The better class of books are divided into chapters,
columns, and paragraphs, and have spaces on their margins
and -between their lines. Similarly, our didactic method
must have its periods of toil and of rest, with definite
spaces of time set apart for honest recreation. The tasks
are mapped out for each year, month, day, and hour, and
if these divisions are duly observed no class can fail to
reach the necessary standard at the end of the session.
There are excellent reasons why the hours of public
instruction should not exceed four daily, of which two
should be before, and two after mid-day. On Saturday the
two afternoon hours may be remitted, and the whole of
Sunday should be devoted to divine service, so that we have
thus twenty-two hours weekly and (making allowance for
the holidays) about a thousand hours yearly. How much
might be taught and learned in this time, were it only
methodically employed !
OF THE ORDER OF INSTRUCTION 445

 

21. As soon as the type has been set up, the paper is
flattened out and laid ready to hand, that nothing may
impede the process of printing. Similarly, a teacher should
place his pupils in front of him that he may see them and
be seen by all. This we have already shown in chap. xix.
Problem 1.

22. The paper is damped and softened, that it may
be better fitted to receive the impression of the type.
Similarly the pupils in a school must continually be urged
to attend, as we have already explained.

23. When this has been done, the type are inked, that
a distinct impression may be taken from them. Similarly,
the teacher makes the lesson vivid by means of his voice,
reading it over and explaining it, that all may understand.

24. The paper is then put into the press, one piece after
the other, that the metal type may impress their form on
each and every sheet. Similarly, the teacher, after he has
explained a construction, and has shown by examples how
easily it can be imitated, asks individual pupils to repro-
duce what he has said, and thus show that they are not
merely learners, but actually possessors of knowledge.

25. The printed sheets are then exposed to the wind
and are dried. Similarly, in school, the intellects of the
pupils are exposed to the bracing influences of repetition,
examination, and emulation, until it is certain that the
lesson has been thoroughly learned.

26. When they have passed through the press, the
printed sheets are all taken and arranged in order, that it
may be seen if the copies are complete and without defects,
and are therefore fit to be bound, sold, and used. The
same function is performed in schools by the examination
at the end of the year, when the progress of the pupils,
and the thoroughness and comprehensiveness of their
training, are investigated by the inspectors; the object
being that these latter may certify that the subjects
appointed have been properly learned.

27. So far we have confined ourselves to generalities,
reserving our detailed investigation for a more suitable
446 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

occasion. For the present it is sufficient to have shown
that our discovery of didachography, or our universal
method, facilitates the multiplication of learned men in
precisely the same way that the discovery of printing has
facilitated the multiplication of books, those vehicles of
learning, and that this is greatly to the advantage of man-
kind, since “ the multitude of the wise is the wisdom of the
world” (Wisdom vi. 24). And, since our desire is to
increase the sum of Christian wisdom, and to sow the
seeds of piety, of learning, and of morality in the hearts of
all who are dedicated to God, we may hope for the fulfil-
ment of the divine prophecy: ‘The earth shall be full
of the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea”
(Isaiah xi. 9).
CHAPTER XXXIII

OF THE THINGS REQUISITE BEFORE THIS UNIVERSAL
METHOD CAN BE PUT INTO PRACTICE

1. THERE is no one, I imagine, who, after a careful examina-
tion of the question, will not perceive how blessed would
be the condition of Christian kingdoms and states if they
were supplied with schools of the kind that we desire. We
must therefore see what is necessary in order that these
speculations may not remain speculations, but may be
realised in some definite form. Not without reason does
John Ceecilius Frey express his surprise and indignation
that throughout so many centuries no one has ventured
to reform the barbarous customs of our schools and uni-
versities.

2. For more than a hundred years much complaint has
been made of the unmethodical way in which schools are
conducted, but it is only within the last thirty that any
serious attempt has been made to find a remedy for this state
of things. And with what result? Schools remain exactly
as they were. If any scholar, either privately or in school,
embarked on a course of study, he found himself a butt
for the mockery of the ignorant or the malevolence of the
ill-disposed, or finally, being unable to obtain any assist-
ance, found his endeavour too laborious, and gave it up.
Thus all efforts have hitherto been in vain.

3. We must therefore seek and find some way by which,
with God’s assistance, motive power may be supplied to
ee ae)

448 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

the machine that is already sufficiently well constructed,
or at any rate can be constructed on the foundations which
exist, if the obstacles and hindrances that have hitherto
been present be wisely and firmly removed.

4. Let us isolate and examine these obstacles.

(i) There is a great lack of methodical teachers who
could take charge of public schools and produce the results
that we have in view (indeed, with regard to my /azwa which
is already used in schools, a man of great judgment has
written to me complaining that in most places one thing
is lacking, namely, suitable men to use it).

5. (ii) But even if teachers of this kind existed, or if they
could all perform their task with ease by using time-tables
and forms all ready prepared for them, how would it be
possible to support them in each village and town, and in
every place where men are born and brought up in Christ ?

6. (iii) Again, how can it be arranged that the children
of the poor shall have time to go to school?

7. (iv) The opposition of pedants, who cling to old ways
and despise everything that is new, is greatly to be dreaded,
but for this some remedy can easily be found.

8. (v) There is one factor which by its absence or its pre-
sence can render the whole organisation of a school of no
avail or can aid it in the highest degree, and that is a proper
supply of comprehensive and methodical class-books. Since
the invention of printing, it has been an easy matter to
find men who are able and willing to make use of it, who
will supply the funds necessary for the printing of good and
useful books, and who will purchase books of this kind.
Similarly, if the subsidiary apparatus necessary for compre-
hensive teaching were provided, it would be easy to find
men to employ it.

g. It is evident, therefore, that the success of my scheme
depends entirely upon a suitable supply of encyclopedic
class-books, and these can be provided only by the colla-
boration of several original-minded, energetic, and learned
men. For such a task transcends the strength of one man,
and especially of one who is unable to devote his whole
OF THE THINGS REQUISITE 449

 

time to it, or who may be imperfectly acquainted with
some of the subjects that must be included in the com-
prehensive scheme. Moreover, if absolute perfection be
desired, one lifetime is not sufficient for the completion of
the work, which must therefore be entrusted to a collegiate
body of learned men.

10. But it is impossible to call such a body into exist-
ence unless it be supported and financed by some king or
state, while to ensure success a quiet and secluded spot
and a library are necessary. In addition, it is essential
that no one offer any opposition to such a goodly plan for
glorifying the Creator and benefiting the human race,
but rather that all prepare to work in harmony with the
grace of God, which will be communicated to us more
liberally through these new channels.

11. Therefore let your zeal blaze forth when ye hear
this wholesome counsel. O dearest parents of children,
into whose charge God has entrusted His most precious
treasures, those made in His own image, may ye never
cease to entreat the God of Gods that these efforts may
have a successful issue, and by your prayers and solicita-
tions to work upon the minds of powerful and learned men.
In the meantime, bring up your children piously in the fear
of God, and thus prepare the way for that more universal
education of which we have spoken.

12. Do you also, O instructors of the young, whose
task it is to plant and water the tender grafts of paradise,
pray with all earnestness that these aids to your labours
may be perfected and brought into daily use as soon as
possible. For since ye have been called that “ye may
plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth”
(Isaiah li. 16), what can be more pleasing to you than to
reap as rich a harvest as possible from your labour ? There-
fore, let your heavenly calling, and the confidence of the
parents who entrust their offspring to you, be as a fire
within you, and give you and those who come under your
influence no rest until the whole of your native land is lit
up by this flaming torch.

29
450 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

13. Ye men of learning, to whom God has given wisdom
and keen judgment that ye may be able to criticise such
matters as these and improve them by your counsels, see
that ye delay not to assist the sacred fire with your sparks,
nay, rather with your torches and with your fans. Let
all consider that saying of our Christ: “I came to cast fire
upon the earth ; and what will I if it is already kindled?”
(Luke xii. 49). If He wish His fire to burn, woe unto him
who, when he has the opportunity of bringing fuel to the
flames, contributes nothing but the smoke of envy, male-
volence, and opposition. Remember the reward that He
promises to His good and faithful servants who employ the
talents entrusted to them in such a way that they gain
others, and the threats that He utters against the slothful
who bury their talents in the earth (Matt. xxv. 25). There-
fore, let not your own knowledge suffice you, but use all
your strength to further the instruction of others. Be
guided by the example of Seneca, who says: “I wish to
communicate all that I know to others”; and again: “If
knowledge were given me on the condition that I should
keep it to myself and not share it with others, I should
refuse it” (Zfzst. 27). Do not, therefore, withhold instruc-
tion and wisdom from the Christian people, but rather say
with Moses: ‘“ Would God that all the Lord’s peoples were
prophets!” (Num. xi. 29). The reformation of the Church
and of the state is comprised in the proper instruction of
the young; and shall we, who know this, stand idle, while
others put their hand to the work?

14. May we all, with one accord, be moved to promote
such a worthy object in every possible manner by advising,
warning, exhorting, reforming, and in every way furthering
the work for God and for posterity. And let no one think
that he is not called upon to act in the-matter. For though
a man may be naturally unsuited to be a schoolmaster,
or may be fully engaged by his duties as a clergyman, a
politician, ora physician, he makes a great mistake if he
think that he is on that account exempt from the common
task of school-reform. If he wish to prove his devotion to
OF THE THINGS REQUISITE 451

 

his calling, to him who calls him, and to those to whom
he is sent, he is bound not only to serve his God, his
Church, and his country, but also to train up others to
do so after him. Socrates has been praised because he
employed his time in educating the young instead of hold-
ing some public office. “It is of more use,” said he, “‘to
train men who can govern, than to govern oneself.”

15. O learned scholars, I beseech you not to despise
these suggestions because they originate with one less
learned than yourselves. Remember the saying of Chry-
sippus: ‘“ Many a market-gardener has spoken to the point.
Perchance an ass may know what you do not.” And of
Christ: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and ye: hear
its voice, but know not whence it comes or whither it
goes.” In the sight of God I protest that it is not by any
overweening confidence in myself, or by a desire for fame
or for personal advantage, that I am impelled to advertise
these ideas of mine. It is the love of God and the wish to
improve the condition of humanity that goad me on, and
will not suffer me to keep silence when my instinct tells
me what should be done. Therefore, if any oppose my
efforts, and hinder the realisation of my ideas instead of
aiding it, let him be assured that he is waging war, not
against me, but against God, against his own conscience,
and against nature, whose will it is that what is for the
common good be given over for the use of all men.

16. To you also I appeal, Theologians, since it is in
your power to be the greatest assistance or the greatest
obstacle to my designs. If you choose the latter course,
the saying of Bernhard will be fulfilled: “That Christ has
no bitterer enemies than His followers, and especially those
who hold the first place among them.” But let us hope
that your actions will be worthier, and more suited to your
calling. Remember that our Lord charged Peter to feed
not only His sheep but also His lambs, enjoining him to
take especial care of the latter (John xxi. 15). This is a
reasonable injunction, since shepherds find it easier to feed
sheep than to feed lambs, which have still to be moulded
Nita outicpaees Smeets

452 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

by the discipline of the flock and the staff of the herdsman.
Surely a man betrays his ignorance if he prefer unlettered
hearers! What goldsmith does not try to procure the very
purest gold? What shoemaker does not try to obtain the
finest leather? Let us likewise be children of light and
wise in our generation, and let us pray that schools may
supply us with as many educated hearers as possible.

17. And suffer not envy to enter into your hearts, O
servants of the living God, but rather lead others to that
charity that envies not, seeks not its own advantage, and
thinks no evil. Let no envious thoughts arise if others
originate schemes that have never entered into your minds,
but be content to learn from others; in order that (as
Gregory says) all, being full of faith, may praise God, and
may be instrumental in spreading the truth.

18. But to you, in particular, do I direct my prayers,
ye rulers and magistrates, who, in God’s name, preside over
human affairs. To you, as to Noah, it has been entrusted
from on high to build an ark for the preservation of the
Word of God in this terrible deluge of disasters (Gen. vi.)
It is your duty, as it was that of the princes of old, to aid
in the building of the sanctuary, and to see that no obstacle
be placed in the way of the artificers whom the Lord has
filled with His Spirit and has taught to devise ingenious
plans (Exod. xxxvi.) You, like David and Solomon, should
summon architects to build the temple of the Lord, and
should supply them with the necessary materials (1 Kings
vi. ; 1 Chron. xxix.) You are those centurions whom Christ
will love if you have loved His little ones, and erected
schools for them (Luke vii. 5).

1g. For Christ’s sake, for the sake of our children’s
salvation, I beseech you to listen to me. This is a weighty
question, and concerns the glory of God and the salvation
of mankind. Well do I know how much you love your
country. If aman came to you and promised to tell you
how all your towns might be fortified at a slight cost, how
all your youths might be instructed in the art of warfare,
how your rivers might be made navigable and be filled
OF THE THINGS REQUISITE 453

 

with merchant-vessels, in short, how your state might be
brought to a higher pitch of prosperity and security, you
would give, not only your careful attention, but your
heartiest thanks as well, to him who showed such solicitude
for your welfare. And now, what is far more important
than any of these things has been shown you, namely, the
real and never-failing method by which a supply of such
men may be secured, men who, by discoveries such as I
have indicated, can be of immense service to their country.
With truth did the sainted Luther write, when exhorting
the cities of Germany to found schools: “ Where one
ducat is expended in building cities, fortresses, monuments,
and arsenals, one hundred should be spent in educating
one youth aright, since, when he reaches manhood, he
may induce his fellows to carry out useful works. For a
good and wise man is the most precious treasure of a state,
and is of far more value than palaces, than heaps of gold
and of silver, than gates of bronze and bars of iron.” Solo-
mon also is of the same opinion (Eccles. ix. 13). If then
we acknowledge that no expense should be spared in order
to give one youth a thorough education, what can we say
when the gate is opened to the universal education of all,
and to an unfailing method by which the understanding
may be developed? when God promises to shower His
gifts upon us? when our salvation seems so near at hand
that His glory dwells with us on earth?

zo. Open wide your gates, O princes, that the King of
glory may come in (Psalm xxiv.) Give to the Lord glory
and honour, ye sons of the mighty. May each one of you be
like David, who sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the
mighty one of Jacob: “Surely I will not come unto the
tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not
give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids ; until
I find out a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the Mighty
One of Jacob” (Psalm cxxxii.) Stay not to consider
the expense. Give to the Lord, and He will repay you
a thousandfold. He who says, “The silver is mine and
the gold is mine” (Haggai ii. 9), can demand this as a
454 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

right, yet of His mercy He adds (when exhorting the people
to build His temple): “Prove me now forthwith if I will
not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out
a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive
it” (Mal. iii. 10).

21. Do Thou, therefore, O Lord our God, give each one
of us a joyful heart to serve Thy glory as best he may.
For Thine is the grandeur, the power, the glory, and the
victory. All that is in heaven and in earth is Thine.
Thine, O Lord, is the kingdom ; Thou art over all princes.
Thine are the riches, and Thine is the glory, the might,
and the power; Thou canst glorify and magnify whatso-
ever Thou pleasest. For what are we, who have but
received Thy gifts from Thy hands? We are but strangers
in Thy sight as were our fathers. Our life on earth is but
a shadow and passes away. O Lord our God, all that we
do to the honour of Thy name, comes from Thee. Give
to Thy Solomons a perfect heart that they may do all that
tends to Thy glory (1 Chron. xxix.) Strengthen, O God,
that which Thou hast wrought for us (Psalm Ixviii. 28).
Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory
upon their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our
God be upon us; and establish Thou the works of our
hands upon us (Psalm xc. 16). In Thee, O Lord, have I
trusted, let me never be confounded. Amen.
NOTES

I. GREGORY NaziIaANzEN.—A Father of the Church in the fourth
century. He was renowned for his eloquence, which he employed in
combating the Arian heresy.

2. WOLFGANG RaTIcH or RATKE (born at Wilster in 1571, died
at Erfurt in 1635).—One of the immediate forerunners of Comenius in
school reform. He enjoyed the patronage of Count Ludwig of Anhalt-
Kothen, through whose liberality he was enabled to found a six-class
school at Kothen, in accordance with his didactic principles. He also
undertook the reorganisation of the schools at Augsburg, Weimar,
Magdeburg, and Rudolfstadt. The lack of success that attended his
efforts was due to his quarrelsome disposition and to his utter inability
to establish a modus vivendi with his colleagues and assistants. For his
Principles, see Intr. II. p. 136.

3. EILHARD LuBIN (born in 1565, in the Duchy of Oldenburg ;
died in 1621).—Professor of Poetry and Theology at the University of
Rostock. His Dzdactic, quoted by Comenius in sec. 17 of his introduc-
tion, has not been preserved.

4. CHRISTOPHER HELWIG (1581-1617).—Professor of Theology, of
Greek, and of Oriental Languages in the University of Giessen. He
was one of the Commissioners who examined Ratke’s didactic method
in 1612.

5. FRANCIscUS RITTER.—This may possibly have been a clergyman
and mathematician of some repute in the Palatinate in the early seven-
teenth century. Morhof mentions him under the name Franciscus
Ridderus (Polyhistor, i. 1. 16).

6. JOHANNES BoDINUS (1530-1596).—A lawyer at Toulouse, author
of a treatise, Methodus ad facilem historiarum cognitionem,

7, VoGEL.—Probably Ezechiel Vogel, a schoolmaster at Gottingen,
and author of a work, Zphemerides lingue Latina, in which he shows
how a boy, by working two hours daily, may learn Latin in one year.
456 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

8. GLauM; WOLFSTIRN.—Of the owners of these names I have been
unable to obtain any information.

9. JOHN VALENTINE ANDRE#&.—Court-preacher at Stuttgart, where
he died in 1654. He was a considerable power in the Church and in
the school-room.

10. Janus C&cILIus Frey.—A German physician residing at Paris,
where he died of the plague in 1631. On educational questions he
wrote several books, remarkable for their sound common-sense.

11. This section is signed with Andrez’s name, but cannot have been
written by him, as in the original Bohemian version of the Great Didactic
it appears in a considerably altered form. Possibly the last sentence is
quoted from one of Andrez’s works.

12. STOB#uS.—A native of Stobi in Macedonia, where he lived
about 500 A.D., and composed an Anthology of extracts from as many
as 500 Greek authors.

13. PiTTacus oF MITYLENE.—One of the seven wise men of Greece.
Lived about 600 B.c.

14. SExTUS PoMPEIUS FEsTUs.—A Roman grammarian who lived
towards the end of the fourth century A.D.

15. Joun Lupovic Vives.—One of the great pedagogues of the
sixteenth century. Was born at Valencia in 1492; professed the
“‘ Humanities” at Louvain and was afterwards invited by Henry VIII.
to England, where he became the tutor of the Princess Mary. His best
known works on education are: De ratione studii puerilis epistole due ;
De tradendis disciplinis sive de institutione Christiana ; De institutione

Jemine Christiane ; Introductio ad Sapientiam.

16, BERNHARD.—Abbot of Clairvaux in 1115. A man of great
ecclesiastical and political influence, and one of the instigators of the
Third Crusade.

17. LACTANTIUS.—For some years tutor to a son of the Emperor
Constantine. Converted to Christianity in middle life, he wrote a
voluminous treatise, Dévznarum institutionum libri vit. ; a plea for
Christianity, intended for pagans who had received a philosophic educa-
tion. He died about 330 A.D.

18. MATTHEW DRESSER (1536-1607).—Was successively Professor
of Greek at Erfurt, Professor of Rhetoric at Jena, Rector of the school
at Meissen, and Professor of Greek and Latin at Leipzig.

19. LIEBHARD CAMERARIUS.—A renowned sixteenth century scholar
and editor of the classics. Sympathised with the Reformation and was
a friend of Melanchthon’s, Died in 1574.

20. GULARTIUS.—Nothing appears to be known of this scholar or
his works.
NOTES 457

 

21. GEORGE AGRICOLA (born in Saxony, 1490).—The founder of
the modern school of mineralogy and metallurgy. Mining in Germany
owed much to his researches, which were considered authoritative as late
as the eighteenth century. é

22. CHRISTOPHER LONGOLIUs (1488-1522).—Born at Mecheln and
resident in Paris. A renowned classic of his day. Died at Padua.

23. Hippotirus GUARINO.—Lived in the first half of the seven-
teenth century. Was town physician at Speyer.

24. JOHN Pico MIRANDOLO (1463-1494).—In early youth gave
evidence of remarkable ability. When fourteen years old went to
Bologna, where he studied canon law and philosophy. His memory
was so retentive that if 20,000 words were repeated to him once, he
could reproduce them in the same order. He published 900 theses
and challenged the learned men of the whole world to dispute with
him on any one of them. Accused of heresy, he was acquitted by
Pope Innocent VIII. He died at Florence,

25. JosEPH Justus SCALIGER.—Flourished in France at the end of
the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries. Possessed a
marvellous knowledge of the classics and of oriental languages. His
learning was more than equalled by his vanity and quarrelsomeness.

26. PIERRE DE LA RAMEE. —Professor of Mathematics and Humanity
at the University of Paris in the middle of the sixteenth century. Was
killed in the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, August 24th, 1572.

27. GREGORY CNAPIUS (1574-1638).—A Polish Jesuit, Professor of
Oratory, Mathematics, and Theology. Was author of a 7) hesaurumt
Polono-Latino-Gracum.

28. Not conjunctus but convinctus is now the generally accepted
derivation of czzctus.

29. JoacHIM Fortius or RINGELBERG (died in 1 536).—Born at
Antwerp and brought up at the court of Maximilian I. A man of
varied talent, and a voluminous author, he attained success as a mathe-
matician, a philologist, a painter, and an etcher.

30. RoBERT FLuTT (1 574-1637).—Born at Milgate in Kent.
Travelled in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany, and finally settled in
London, where he practised medicine. On physics he had the most
fantastic notions, and imagined that the root principles of chemistry
were to be found in the Bible. Was author of a Meteorologica Cosmica.

31. “ANDREAS HYPERIUS (1§11-1564).—A member of the Reformed
Church, born at Ypres. He studied at Paris and lectured there on
Dialectic and Rhetoric, afterwards becoming Professor of Theology at
Marburg.

32. FuLGENTius.—A Catholic Bishop who lived about 500 A.D.
458 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

He defended the views of the Orthodox Church against the Arian and
Pelagian heresies. :

33. Priscian.—A grammarian who lived and taught at Constan-
tinople in the sixth century. His Latin Grammar was the basis for
much of the grammatical instruction of the middle ages.

34. Expulsion of pagan books,—It is difficult to reconcile Comenius’
denunciation of the classics in this chapter with his introduction of
them into his scheme elsewhere. In this phase of mind he does but
return to the distrust displayed by the Church for the new learning
introduced by the Renaissance. It is curious to note that no stress is
laid on the Utilitarian and ‘‘ pressure-of-other-subjects” argument now
so frequently made use of. Comparatively recently (1850 and 1851)
two French writers, the Abbé Gaume and Bastiat, have condemned the
use of the classics in schools from a point of view very similar to that of
Comenius. Gaume in a pamphlet, Le ver rongeur, maintained that all
literature prior to Christ’s coming was devoid of morality, and that the
Fathers should be read in preference to Latin writers of the golden age.
Bastiat, in a curious book entitled Baccalauréat et Soctalisme, objects to
any study that will introduce school-boys to a people who, like the
Romans, lived by robbery and oppression. ‘‘Cette nation,” he de-
clares, ‘‘s’est fait une politique, une morale, une religion, une opinion
publique conforme au principe brutal qui la conserve et la développe.
La France ayant donné au clergé le monopole de l’éducation, celui-ci
ne trouve rien de mieux a faire que d’envoyer toute la jeunesse francaise
chez ce peuple, vivre de sa vie, s‘inspirer de ses sentiments, s’enthousi-
asmer de ses enthousiasmes, et respirer ses idées comme I’air.”

35. CassIoporus (died 562 a.p.)—Held high office under Theo-
doric and his successor. After the fall of the Goths he retired into
seclusion and employed himself in writing works of a philosophic
nature on grammar and orthography.

36. PreETRO Bemzo.—A renowned Italian Cardinal in the sixteenth
century. Was secretary to Pope Leo X., and wrote with elegance in
both Latin and Italian.

37. IsiDoRUus (died 635 A.D.)—Bishop of Seville. Was a student
of the classics in an age when they were generally neglected. Com-
piled a kind of encyclopeedia entitled Orzgénum seve Etymologiarum
libri xx.

38. Sketch of the Mother-School.—It is interesting to observe the
development or rather the application at the present day of Comenius’
ideas on infant education. The following extracts from the French
code of 1887 reflect the Comenian spirit very markedly :—

‘*Lécole maternelle n’est pas une école au sens ordinaire du mot ;
NOTES 459

 

elle forme le passage de la famille 4 l’école, elle garde la douceur affec-
tueuse et indulgente de la famille, en méme temps qu'elle initie au
travail et a la régularité de I’école.” . . . ‘“ Une bonne santé; Vouie,
la vue, le toucher déja exercés par une suite graduée de ses petits jeux
et de ses petites expériences propres 4 l’éducation des sens ; des idées
enfantines, mais nettes et claires, sur les *premiers éléments de ce qui
sera plus tard l’instruction primaire ; un commencement d’habitudes et
de dispositions sur lesquelles l’école puisse s’appuyer pour donner plus
tard un enseignement régulier ; le gofit de la gymnastique, du chant, du
dessin, des images, des récits; l’empressement & écouter, 4 voir, 4 ob-
server, a imiter, 4 questionner, 4 répondre ; une certaine faculté d’atten-
tion entretenue par la docilité, la confiance et la bonne humeur ;
Vintelligence éveillée enfin et ’Ame ouverte a toutes les bonnes impres-
sions morales ; tels doivent étre les résultats de ces premitres années
passées a l’école maternelle, et, si l'enfant qui en sort arrive 4 l’école
primaire avec une telle préparation, il importe peu quwil y joigne
quelques pages de plus ou de moins du syllabaire.”

39. WILLIAM ZEPPER.—A preacher at Herborn at the close of the
sixteenth and beginning of seventeenth centuries.

40. JOHN Henry ALsTED.—See Intr. I. p. 4, and Intr. IT. p. 137.

41. SIMON STEVIN (died 1633).—The author of numerous mathe-
matical works and an inspector of dams in Holland.

42. Justus Liesius (born 1574).—Resided at Louvain, where he
wrote works of a philosophical nature. His learning and his literary
style are greatly praised by Morhof.
APPENDIX

THE WORKS OF COMENIUS, ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL
ORDER OF COMPOSITION

[C.] signifies that the work was written in Czech

1. 1612. Linguz Bohemicz Thesaurus, hoc est Lexicon plenis-
simum, Grammatica accurata, idiotismorum elegantiz emphases ada-
giaque.

2, 1612. Amphitheatrum Universitatis.

3. 1613. Sylloge questionum controversarum, philosophic viridario
depromptarum. Herborne, 1613.

4, 1615. De angelis.

5. 1616. Grammatice facilioris preecepta. Pragze, 1616.

6. 1617. Pauperum oppressorum clamores in ccelum. Olmutii,
1617.

7. 1620. The spiritual salvation of faithful Christians, worn out by
countless temptations. [C.]

8. 1620-2. De Antiquitatibus Moraviz.

9. 1620-30. De origine Baronum a Zerotin.

10. 1621. Moravize nova et post omnes priores accuratissima
Delineatio, auctore J. A. Comenio. Ist ed. 1627; last, 1695.

11. 1622. Meditations on the Christian perfection, which God, in
His Word, shows to His chosen ones; which He implants in them
through His Spirit ; and which, to their unspeakable blessedness, He
kindles and brings to full completion. Prague, 1622. [C.]

12, 1622. The impregnable fortress of God’s name, where all find
safety who fly thither in trials and in danger. [C.]

13. 1622. Lamentation of a Christian over the oppression of his

Church and of his country. [C.]
462 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

14, 1623. The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the
Heart. Amsterdam, 1663. [C.]

15. 1623. The orphan’s plight. That is to say, abandonment by
all friends, protectors, and helpers. Lissa, 1634. [C.]

16. 1625. Centrum securitatis. Lissa, 1633. [C.]

17. 1625. The Revelations and Visions of Christopher Kotter. [C.]

18. 1626. The Psalms of David. A version in Czech. Vienna,
1661.

19. 1628-32. The Didactic of John Amos Comenius. Prague,
1849. [C.] ‘

The Latin version, under the title Dzdactica Magna, was published
at Amsterdam in 1657.

20. 1628. Informatorium of the Mother-School. Prague, 1858. [C.]

The Latin version, under the title: Schola Infantiz, sive de provida
Juventutis primo sexennio Educatione. Amsterodami, 1657.

German version by Comenius. Lissa, 1633.

21. 1628. Vernaculze Scholze Classis sex Libelli.

22. 1628. J. A. Comenii Janua Linguarum Reserata.  Sive
Seminarium Linguarum et Scientiarum Omnium. Hoc est Compen-
diosa Latinam (et quamlibet aliam) Linguam, una cum Scientiarum,
Artiumque omnium fundamentis, perdiscendi Methodus; sub Titulis
centum, Periodis autem mille, comprehensa. st edition pub. by
Comenius in 1633. Published in Greek and Latin at Oxford as late as
1800, And in Latin, German, and Czech at Prague in 1874.

23. 1629. De veris et falsis prophetis. Written in Czech and
translated into Latin for inclusion in Lux in Tenebris.

24. 1630. Praxis Pietatis; The practice of true Piety. [C.] Lissa,
1631.

25. 1630. Funeral oration over Esther Sadowska (written in
German).

26. 1631. Grammatica latina legibus vernacule concinnata.

27. 1631. Concordance of the Holy Scriptures. (Burnt at Lissa.)

28. 1631. Evangelistarum Harmonia.

29. 1632. Historia fratrum Bohemorum.

30. 1632. Manual of the Holy Scriptures. Written for the
Bohemian Church. [C.]

31. 1632. History of the sufferings, the death, the burial, and the
resurrection of Jesus Christ ; compiled from the four Evangelists. [C.]

32. 1632. Historia Persecutionum Ecclesiz Bohemice. Jam inde
a primordiis conversionis sue ad Christianismum, hoc est, Anno 894
ad Annum usque 1632. Ferdinando secundo Austriaco regnante, In
qua Inaudita hactenus Arcana Politica consilia, artes, presentium
APPENDIX 463

 

bellorum verze causze et judicia horrenda exhibentur. Nunc primum
edita cum duplici Indice. a.p. 1648. Translated into Czech and
published at Lissa in 1655.

33. 1632. Haggeus Redivivus. Sorrowful exhortation, in God’s
name, of Christian rulers, of God’s ministers, and of all nations. [C.]

34. 1632. Short sketch of the reorganisation of schools in the
Kingdom of Bohemia. [C.]

35. 1632. The Basis and Duration of the two Churches, the true
and the false ; of which the true Church, founded in Paradise through
the name of Jesus Christ, will endure to the end of the World. [C.]

36. 1632. Some questions that concern the Unity of Bohemian
Brethren. First printed in 1878. [C.]

87. 1632-3. Physicze ad lumen divinum reformatz synopsis philo-
didactorum et theodidactorum censure exposita. Lipsiz, 1633.

38. 1632. Astronomia ad lumen Physicum reformanda.

39. 1632-3. The wisdom of the Forefathers set forth as a mirror
for their Descendants. First printed in 1849. [C.]

40. 1633. Januz Linguarum Reserate Vestibulum, Quo Primus ad
Latinam Linguam aditus Tirunculis paratur. Many editions. Latest
in 1867.

41. 1634. Suggestions for a new edition of the Chant-Book. [C.]

42. 1634. Conatuum Comenianorum Preludia. Oxoniz, 1637.

43. 1635. Leges Illustris Gymnasii Lesnensis.

44, 1635. Account of a tractate hostile to the Unity, by Samuel
Martin, and refutation of the same. Lissa, 1636. [C.]

45. 1636. XXI. Sermons. Of the mysteries of Death and of Resur-
rection. Lissa, 1636. [C.]

46. 1636. The Mirror of Good Government. Funeral oration over
Count Raphael of Lissa. Lissa, 1636. (Composed in German.)

47. 1637. J. A. Comenii Faber Fortune sive Ars consulendi
ipsi sibi, Amsterodami, 1657.

48. 1637. The Way of Peace; that is to say, the only true and
unfailing means by which God’s Church can be preserved in Harmony,
Concord, and Love. Lissa, 1637. [C.] ised:

49. 1637. De Questione Utrum Dominus Jesus Propria Virtute a
mortuis Resurrexit. Ad Melchiorem Schefferum Socinistam, breve ac
solidum Joh. A. Comenii Responsum. Amstelodami apud Joannem
ero? Sermonis Latini Studio, Per Vestibulum, Januam,
Palatium, et Thesauros Latinitatis, quadripartito gradu plene absol-
Didactica Dissertatio. Lissa, 1637.

vendo : oan ; : j
: Diogenes Cynicus Redivivus, sive De compendiose Philo-

61. 1638.
464 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

sophando. Ad Scholz ludentis exercitia olim accommodatus, nunc
autem luci datus. Authore J. A. Comenio. Amstelodami, 1658.

52. 1638. Abrahamus Patriarcha. Scena representatus anno
1641 in Januario, sub examen Scholze publicum. Amstelodami.
Anno 1661.

53. 1638. Conatuum Pansophicorum Dilucidatio. In gratiam
censorum facta. Londini, 1639.

54. 1639. A Dextris et Sinistris, hoc est pro fide in Christum,
Deum-Hominem cum Marcioniticis deliriis (Humanitatem Christi
abnegantibus) Lucta. Amsterodami, 1662.

55. 1640. De Christianorum Uno Deo, Patre, Filio, Spiritu.
Fides antiqua, Contra Novatores. Amstelodami, 1659.

56. 1640 (?). Janua Rerum reserata, hoc est Sapientia prima
(quam vulgo Metaphysicam vocant) ita Mentibus hominum adaptata ut
per eam in totam Rerum Ambitum Omnemque interiorem Rerum
Ordinem Et in omnes intimas rebus Cozternas Veritates Prospectus
pateat Catholicus Simulque ut eadem omnium humanorum Cogitationum,
Sermonum, Operum, Fons et Scaturigo, Formaque ac Norma esse
appareat. Authore J. A. Comenio. Lugduni Batavorum. Apud
Heeredes Jacobi Heeneman. Anno 1681.

57. 1641. Via Lucis. Hoc est, Rationabilis disquisitio, quomodo
Intellectualis animorum Lux, Sapientia, tandem sub Mundi vesperam
per omnes mentes et gentes feliciter spargi possit. Amstelodami,
1688. ‘

58. 1641-3. J. A. Comenii Pansophiz Diatyposis Ichnographica et
Orthographica delineatione. Totius futuri operis amplitudinem, dimen-
sionem, usus adumbrans. Amsterodami, 1645.

59. 1643. Irenica queedam scripta Pro pace Ecclesiz.

60. 1643. Calendarium Ecclesiasticum.

61. 1644. Judicium de Judicio Valeriani Magni Mediolanensis,
Super Catholicorum et Acatholicorum Credendi Regula, sive Absurdi-
tatum Echo. Amstelodami, 1644.

62. 1644-6. Linguarum Methodus Novissima Fundamentis Didac-
ticis solide superstructa. 1648.

63. 1645. Jo. Amos Comenii Eccl. Boh. Episcopi, De Rerum
Humanarum Emendatione Consultatio Catholica. 2nd ed. Halle,
1702. ;

64. 1645. Judicium Ulrici Neufeldii de Fidei Catholicee Regula
Catholica, Ejusque Catholico Usu ad Valerianum Magnum Omnesque
Catholicos. 1645.

65. 1645. Regulze Vitze Sapientis, harmonicee, tranquille, actuose,
negotiis obrutz, liberaliter otiosee, peregrinantis denique. 1645.
APPENDIX 465

66. 1645. Pansophie dogmaticz, Latinis olim decretoriz, nunc
systematicz vulgo dicte delineatio juxta diatyposin J. A. Comenii.

67. 1646. ; Christianismus reconciliabilis reconciliatore Christo. Hoc
est quam facile Christiani si vere ac serio Christiani esse velint, non
discordare possint, tam clara ut Sol meridie est demonstratio.

68. 1648. Independentia eternarum Confusionum Origo Specta-
mini Venerabilis Nationalis Synodi in Nomine Christi Londini in
Anglia congregate subjecta Anno 1648.

69. 1649. Of the casting out of the dumb and other devils. A
sermon delivered at Lissa. 1649. [C.]

70. 1649. Index plenus vocum Germanicarum.

71. 1649. Johannis Lasitii, nobilis Poloni Historize de Origine Et
Rebus gestis Fratram Bohemicorum Liber Octavus, qui est De Moribus
et Institutis eorum. Ob presentem rerum statum seorsim editus.
Anno 1649.

72. 1649. Manuductio in viam pacis ecclesiasticze.

73. 1649. Funeral Oration over Paul Fabrik. [C.]

74, 1650. Syntagma rerum, conceptuum, et verborum.

75. 1650, The Will of the Dying Mother; in which she divides
among her sons and heirs the treasures entrusted to her by God.
Lissa, 1650. [C.]

76. 1650. Schola Pansophica. Hoc est, Universalis Sapientize
Officina, ab annis aliquot ubi ubi gentium erigi optateé: Nunc autem
Auspiciis Ilustrissimi Domini D. Sigismundi Racocis de Felseovadas
Saros-Pataki Hungarorum feliciter erigenda. 1651.

77. 1651. De reperta ad Authores Latinos prompte legendos et
clare intellegendos Facili Brevique Via, Schola Latina, Tribus Classibus
divisa. Amsterodami, 1657.

78. 1651-2. Eruditionis Scholasticze Pars Tertia. Atrium Rerum
et Linguarum Ornamenta exhibens. In usum Scholz Patakinz editum.
Anno 1652.

79. 1651. J. A. Komensky’s The Art of Preaching. Prague,
1823. [C.]

80. 1651. Primitize laborum Scholasticorum. 1651.

81. 1651-2. Laborum Scholasticorum in Ilustri Patakino Gymnasio
continuatis.

g2, 1652. Joachimi Fortii Ringelbergii De Ratione Studii Liber
Vere Aureus. Des. Erasmi Roterodami. De Ratione Studii. Edited
by Comenius, with an Introduction. . .

83. 1653. Fortius Redivivus, sive de pellenda Scholis ignavia.

84. 1653. Preecepta Morum. Inusum Juventutis collecta. Anno 1653,

85. 1653. Leges Schole bene ordinate.

30
466 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

86. 1653. Orbis sensualium pictus. Hoc est, Omnium funda-
mentalium in Mundo rerum et in Vita actionum, Pictura et Nomen-
clatura. Nuremberg, 1658.

87. 1653. Animee sancte Alterna Regna cum Triumpho ingredientis
Beatum Satellitium. Anno 1653. Addressed to Laurence de Geer on
the death of his father.

88. 1654. Schola Ludus seu Encyclopedia viva,.h. e. Janue
Linguarum praxis comica. Patak, 1656.

89. 1654. J. A. Comenii Lexicon Atriale Latino-Latinum Simplices
et nativas rerum nomenclationes e Janua Lingue Latinz jam notas, in
elegantes varie commutare docens. Amstelodami, 1658.

90. 1654. Laborum Scholasticorum Patakini obitorum Coronis,
Sermone valedictorio, ad Scholam Patakinam, ejusque solertes D. D.
Scholarchas et Visitatores, Generosorumque Reverendorum magnam
panegyrin, habito imposita. Anno 1654.

91. 1654. Gentis felicitas Speculo exhibita iis, qui num felices sint
et quomodo fieri possint, cognoscere velint. 1659.

92. 1654-7. Lux in Tenebris. Hoc est Prophetize Donum quo
Deus Ecclesiam Evangelicam (in Regno Bohemize et incorporatis Pro-
vinciis) sub tempus horrende ejus pro Evangelio persequutionis ex-
tremzeque dissipationis ornare, ac paterne solari dignatus est. Sub-
missis de statu Ecclesize in Terris, preesenti et mox futuro, per Christo-
phorum Cotterum Silesium, Christinam Poniatovam Bohemam, et
Nicolaum Drabicium Moravum, Revelationibus vere divinis, ab anno
1616 usque ad annum 1656 continuatis. Quze nunc e Vernaculo in
Latinum fideliter translate in Dei gloriam, afflictorum solatia, alior-
umque salutarem informationem ipsius Oraculi jussu in lucem dantur.
Anno 1657.

93. 1655. The struggle with God in prayer, followed by Resigna-
tion to His Will in death as in life. A sermon preached at Lissa on
Sept. 24th; at the close of a day of great danger. 2nd ed. Halle,
1765. [C.]

94. 1655. Panegyricus Carolo Gustavo Magno Svecorum, Gothorum,
Vandalorumque Regi, incruento Sarmatiz Victori, et quaqua venit
Liberatori, Pio, Felici, Augusto. Heroi afflictis in solatia, Regibus in
exemplum, nato. Lugduni Batavorum, 1656.

95. 1655-6. Evigila Polonia.

96. 1656. Enoch; or, Of the continual intercourse of believers with
God. 1656. [C.]

97. 1656. The Gift of Long Life. A sermon preached at the burial
of Wacslaw Lochar, Consenior of the Moravian Church at Lissa. [C.]

98. 1656. Materiarum Pansophicarum Sylva, Definitionum scil.
APPENDIX 467

 

omnium rerum et Axiomatum (supra 20 annos magna diligentid Con-
gestatus) thesaurus. Burnt at Lissa.

99. 1656. Sapientia Bis et Ter Oculata, Aliud in alio acute videns,
aliudque per aliud potenter demonstrans. Burnt at Lissa.

100. 1656. Lesnz Excidium, Anno 1656 in Aprili factum, fide
historica narratum.

101. 1657. Parvulis parvulus, Omnibus Omnia. Hoc est Vesti-
buli Lat. Linguee Auctarium. Voces Latinas primitivas construi,
ae et in Sententiolas breves redactas, exhibens. Amsterdami,
1657.

102. 1657. J. A. Comenii pro Latinitate Janue Linguarum suze,
illiusque praxeos Comic, Apologia. Amstelodami, 1657.

103. 1657. J. A. Comenii Opera Didactica Omnia, ab anno 1627
ad 1657 continuata. Amsterodami, Anno 1657.

104. 1658. Janua sive Introductorium in Biblia Sacra. Norim-
bergze, 1658.

105. 1658. Novi Testamenti Epitome, Typorum Diversitate Res,
Verba, Phrases, Atque Sententias Exhibens. Norimbergz, 1658.

106. 1659. Disquisitiones de Caloris et Frigoris natura, in prodro-
mum nove editionis Physicee ad lumen divinum restituende. Amstelo-
dami, 1659.

107. 1659. Book of Chants for the Bohemian Church. Amster-
dam, 1659. [C.]

108. 1659. Vindicatio Fame et conscientise Johannis Comenii a
Calumniis Nicolai Arnoldi. Lugduni Batavorum, 1659.

109. 1659. Historia Revelationum Christophori Kotteri, Christinze
Poniatovize, Nicolai Drabicii et que circa illas varie acciderunt, usque
ad earundem Anno 1657 publicationem, et post publicationem. 1659.

110. 1659. Cartesius cum sua naturali Philosophia a Mechanicis
eversus. Amsterodami, 1659.

111. 1660. The mournful cry -of the Shepherds, terror-struck by
God’s anger, to their perishing and scattered flocks, Amsterdam,
1660. [C.]

112. 1660. De bono Unitatis et ordinis disciplinzeque et obedi-
entice. Amst. 1660.

113. 1660. De Irenico Irenicorum. Hoc est: Conditionibus
Pacis a Socini Secta reliquo Christiano Orbi oblatis, ad omnes Chris-
tianos facta Admonitio A. Johan. Amos Comenio. Amsterodami,
Anno 1660.

114. 1661. Theologia Naturalis. A Raymundo de Sabunde ante
duo secula conscriptus, nunc autem Latiniore stylo in compendium
redactus. Amst. 1661.
468 THE GREAT DIDACTIC

 

115. 1661. Catechism for young Bohemians. Amst. 1661. [C.]

116. 1661. J. A. Comenio de Iterato Sociniano Irenico Iterata ad
Christianos Admonitio. Amst. 1661.

117. 1661. Socinismi Speculum uno intuitu quidquid ibi creditur
aut non creditur, exhibens. Amst. 1661.

118. 1662. Johan. Amos Comenii Admonitio Tertia. I. Ad D.
Zwickerum ut impios suos adversus Christum et Christianam fidem
impetus temperet; II. ad Christianos ut tandem evigilent. Amst.
1662.

119. 1662. Confession of the Beliefs, Teaching, and Religion of the
Unity of the Bohemian Brethren. Amst. 1662. [C.]

120. 1662. De rerum humanarum Emendatione Consultationis
Catholicee Pars Secunda Panaugia. Ubi de accendenda Mentibus ante
omnia Luce quadam universali, in qua omnes, Omnia, Omnino videri
possint, consultatur.

121, 1662. The Moral Teaching of Cato the Wise, translated into
Bohemian. Amst. 1662. [C.]

122. 1663. Renuntiatio Mundi. Amst. 1663.

123. 1663. Revelationum Divinarum, in usum Seculi nostri quibus-
dam nuper factarum, Epitome. 1663.

124, 1664-7. Lux e Tenebris. Tenebris, humanarum abomina-
tionum, Divinarumque plagarum. Lux, Divinarum Consolationum,
glorioseque reflorescentis Ecclesiz.

125. 1667. Petrus Serarius: Responsio ad Exercitationem Para-
doxam Anonymi cujusdam Cartesianze Sectze Discipuli qua Philosophiam
pro infallibili S., Literas interpretandi norma Orbi Christiano obtrudit.
Amst. 1667.

126. 1669. Unum Necessarium, Scire Quid Sibi sit Necessarium ;
in Vita et Morte, et post Mortem. Quod non Necessariis Mundi
Fatigatus et ad Unum Necessarium Sese Recipiens, Senex J. A.
Comenius, Anno etatis suze 77, Mundo expendendum offert. Amst.
1668.

127. 1669. De Zelo sine scientia et charitate, Admonitio Fraterna
J. A. Comenii ad D. Samuelem Maresium: Pro minuendis odiis et
ampliandis favoribus. Amst. 1669.

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