History of Education

CHAPTER II

CHINA

Literature.—Martin, The Chinese; Clarke, Ten Great Religions; Houghton, Women of the Orient; Doolittle, Social Life of the Chinese; Johonnot, Geographical Reader; Lord, Beacon Lights of History; Ballou, Due West and Footprints of Travel; Ploetz, Epitome of Universal History; Barnes, Studies in Education; Stoddard's Lectures; Pierre Leroy-Beaulieu, The Awakening of the East; McClure's Magazine, December, 1900, A Character Study of the Chinaman.

The civilization of the "Celestial Empire" is, with the possible exception of that of Egypt, the oldest in the world. And yet, it has contributed but little to the advancement of mankind. Their system of education has failed to stimulate national and individual progress, has fostered narrow egotism, and has excluded external suggestion. It is studied rather for its negative lessons, and therefore suggests practices which the student of education will do well to avoid. The result in China furnishes the best argument against a method of instruction that appeals solely to the memory. This alone is sufficient reason for a study of Chinese education, aside from its strange and unique characteristics which never fail to interest the reader.

Geography and History.—The Chinese Empire occupies a position on the eastern side of the Asiatic continent within about the same parallels of latitude as the United States, extending from twenty degrees latitude on the south to fifty-three degrees on the north. Its area is about four and a quarter million square miles, being somewhat larger than that of the United States. Its population is estimated at about six times that of our country. It has an abundance of rivers, intersected by numerous canals, which greatly facilitate internal commerce. Many parts of the country are densely populated. The people are largely engaged in agriculture. Tea and silk are the chief articles of export, while rice and millet form the principal food.

The Chinese belong to the Mongolian or yellow race. They are an industrious, frugal, and temperate people, though the opium habit is very general and is disastrous in its effects. Doubtless the overcrowded population, which has driven many to live in boats and in crowded apartments, has had much to do in molding the Chinese character. Until recently they have been slow to admit modern improvements and are conservative in the maintenance of their customs, religion, education, and social practices. Consequently they have for many centuries made but little progress. Their authentic history covers, according to extant records, a period of nearly four thousand years. The government is an absolute monarchy; the emperor is regarded as the father of all his people and has complete power over the lives of his subjects.

The Chinese language contains no alphabet; each symbol represents a different word; the substantives are indeclinable, and the verbs are without inflection. It thus becomes necessary in mastering the language to learn by rote a vast number of signs and characters,—a prodigious feat for the memory.

The religion most widespread among the Chinese is Buddhism (which was imported from India), though ancestor worship is still universal. Women are the principal worshipers, yet the Chinese believe that women have no souls. The belief in transmigration of souls is implicit, and this is used to keep woman in a most degraded condition. If a woman is obedient to her husband and his relatives, and is the mother of sons, she may hope to return to this world, in the future, as a man, and thus have a chance ultimately to reach Buddha's heaven. The belief in the transmigration of souls explains the vegetarian diet of the Buddhist. No zealous Buddhist will touch meat or even eggs, neither will he kill the smallest insect, lest he should thus inadvertently murder a relative.[2] The men care but little for any religion beyond a veneration for their ancestors.

Polygamy is very generally practiced, the limit to the number of wives being determined by the ability to support them. Women usually become more religious as they advance in years, and they spend much time in worshiping in the temples. It is they who preserve the national religion and make most difficult the work of missionaries.[3]

The Home.—The wife exists only for the comfort of her husband. It is her duty to serve and obey him. If she abuses her husband, she receives one hundred stripes; but abuse from him is not a punishable offense. Instruction, at home as well as at school, is confined to boys. The birth of a boy is indicated by hanging a bow and arrow over the door; that of a girl, by a spindle and yarn. In naming the number of his children, the father counts only the boys. Boys are clothed in the finest material the family can afford; girls, in rags. Parents may destroy their children, but only girls are ever sacrificed. The mother can seldom read and write, her chief duty being to instill into her children the two cardinal Chinese virtues—politeness and obedience. The relation of parents and children is the highest and purest representation of the relation between the Creator and the creature, and to venerate the parents is the first and holiest of all duties, higher than the love of wife to husband, higher than the reverence for the emperor; therefore the emperor's father cannot be his subject.

To the Chinaman all other duties are included in filial duties. The bringing up of the children is left almost entirely to the mother. The training begins very early, and greatest stress from the first is laid upon obedience. Disobedience is a crime punishable by the father with death.

There are no illustrated children's books, no nursery rhymes to inspire the imagination, none of the bright and useful things so necessary to a happy childhood. The child grows up with but few playthings calculated to stimulate the powers of the mind.

The Elementary School.—At about six or seven years of age the child enters school. Sometimes a few parents unite to employ a teacher for their children. The government has no concern for the qualifications of the teacher; no license to teach is required, there is no governmental inspection or control, nor does the State assume any part of the expense of the school. Attendance is not compulsory, and yet male education is so universal that scarcely a boy can be found who does not enjoy opportunities for education. Charity schools are furnished by the wealthy for those who cannot afford to contribute toward the maintenance of a school.

There are no public schoolhouses. The school is sometimes held in the temple, sometimes in the home of the schoolmaster, and sometimes in the home of a wealthy patron. The furniture of the schoolroom consists of an altar consecrated to Confucius and the god of knowledge, a desk and a chair for the teacher, and the pupils' desks and stools, provided by the children themselves. No effort is made to render the room attractive.

The child is admitted the first time with much ceremony in order that the day may be one of pleasant memories. He also receives a new name, the name of his babyhood being dropped. Indeed, a change of name accompanies each new epoch of his life, as the time he takes a new degree, the day of his marriage, etc. Thus the boy enters upon his new work. The first years of study are devoted to reading, writing, and the elements of arithmetic, which studies complete the education of the majority of the pupils. No effort is made to interest the child; he is simply required to memorize and write as many as possible of the fifty thousand characters. Not until after the names of the characters have been learned by rote is there any effort to teach the meaning of the words which they represent. The child's writing, too, is mechanical, for the expression of thought is but a secondary consideration. Thought awakening is not encouraged in the Chinese course of education. Fear, not interest, is the motive which drives the child to study. Memory is the chief faculty to be cultivated, and each child vies with the others to make the most noise in study.

The teacher is greatly revered, only less so than the father. His discipline is rigid, the rod not being spared. There are no new methods to learn; the practice to-day is the same as that of hundreds of years ago; it consists simply in hearing what the children have learned by heart.

The second stage of study consists of translations from text-books and lessons in composition. This work brings some pleasure to the child, as it is a little less mechanical. The third stage consists of belles-lettres and essay writing. Only a few ever reach this stage, and the purpose of this advanced work is not intellectual development, or even the accumulation of knowledge, but to prepare for a position under the government, which can be reached by no other means. Even in these last two stages of study memory is the principal faculty brought into play. Without great exercise of this power the vast amount of material can never be mastered.

Higher Education.—There are no high schools, but men who have taken degrees gather about them young students, who are to devote themselves to study, and give them instruction in the Chinese classics and prepare them for the State examinations for degrees. Great attention is paid to style, and in order to cultivate a good style, students are required to commit to memory many of the productions of their classical authors. They write a great many essays and verses, which are criticised by their teachers. The attention is confined solely to the Chinese classics. The educated Chinaman is usually ignorant of any field of knowledge not embraced in his own literature.

There is in the royal library at Pekin a catalogue consisting of one hundred and twelve octavo volumes of three hundred pages each, containing the titles of twelve thousand works, with short extracts of their contents. These works treat of science, medicine, astronomy, and philosophy, while history has an especially rich literature. The Chinese knew how to observe the heavens four thousand years ago, and yet were unable to construct a calendar without the help of the Europeans. They invented gunpowder, the mariner's compass, porcelain, bells, playing cards, and the art of printing long before they were used in Europe, yet they lacked the ability to use these inventions as instruments to their advancement.

China is divided into provinces which are subdivided into districts. Candidates must pass three examinations in their own district and those who are successful receive the lowest degree, that of "Budding Intellect." Many thousands enter for this degree, but only about one per cent succeed in attaining it. The possession of this degree does not yet entitle the holder to a public office, but most of those who have secured it become teachers, physicians, lawyers, etc. Once in three years there is another examination for the second degree, called "Deserving of Promotion," conducted by an examiner sent from Pekin. A third examination is also held once every three years, in Pekin, and success in this is rewarded by the title "Fit for Office." Holders of the last two degrees are entitled to an appointment to some office, the highest aim of a Chinaman. All of these examinations are conducted with great strictness and fairness, no one being excluded. Thus every Chinese child of ability has the opportunity to reach the highest positions in the country.

There is a still higher degree called the "Forest of Pencils," which is open only to members of the Royal Academy, the Hanlin. The acquirement of this degree is the greatest honor to be attained; its possessor is highly esteemed, and may hold the highest offices in the country.

In 1905 an edict was promulgated abolishing the old system of examinations. This marks an epoch in Chinese educational history and will tend to place China in the line of modern political and industrial development.

Criticism of Chinese Education.—1. It is not under government control.

2. It has no interest beyond the boundaries of China, and regards no literature save the Chinese classics.

3. It is non-progressive, having made practically no improvement for many centuries.

4. It cultivates memory to the neglect of the other powers of the mind, and places more emphasis on the acquirement of knowledge than on the development of the human faculties.

5. It obtains its results through fear, not by awakening interest in or love for study.

6. Women are not embraced in the scheme of education.

7. It produces a conservative, untruthful, cunning, and non-progressive people.

8. It reaches practically all of the male sex, and there is opportunity for all to rise to the highest positions of honor, but its methods are so unnatural as to awaken little desire for education on the part of the young.

9. Its motive is debasing to the character.

CONFUCIUS (B.C. 550-478)

The name of Confucius is the one most revered among the Chinese. To him and his disciples are due not only the native religion, now supplanted by Buddhism, but also the language and literature. He began to teach in a private school at the age of twenty-two. He rejected no pupil of ability and ambition, but accepted none without these qualities. He said, "When I have presented one corner of a subject, and the pupil cannot make out the other three, I do not repeat the lesson." The following are extracts from the analects of Confucius:—

1. What you do not like when done to yourself, do not to others.

2. Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.

3. To see what is right and not do it is want of courage.

4. Worship as if the Deity were present.

5. Three friendships are advantageous: friendship with the upright, friendship with the sincere, and friendship with the man of observation. Three are injurious: friendship with a man of spurious airs, friendship with the insinuatingly soft, and friendship with the glib-tongued.

6. Shall I tell you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to confess your ignorance.

FOOTNOTES:

CHAPTER III

INDIA

Literature.—Marshman, History of India; Ragozin, Vedic India; Spofford, Library of Historical Characters; Butler, Land of the Veda; Houghton, Women of the Orient; Clarke, Ten Great Religions; Johonnot, Geographical Reader; Macaulay, Essays; Ballou, Footprints of Travel; Stoddard's Lectures; Encyclopaedia Britannica; Arnold, Light of Asia; Chamberlain, Education in India.

Geography and History.—India lies between the sixth and thirty-sixth parallels of north latitude. It is bordered on the north by the Himalayas and on the south by the Indian ocean. The climate in general is hot, which makes the natives indolent and accounts for their lack of enterprise. The country is very rich, the chief products being wheat, cotton, rice, opium, and tea. The area is about one and a half million square miles, and the population two hundred millions.

The early history of India is obscure, as the Brahmans, from religious scruples, have ever been opposed to historical records. It is certain that there was an aboriginal race which occupied the country from an unknown period, and that a branch of the Aryan[4] or Indo-Germanic race came to India and struggled for supremacy. The Aryans succeeded in reducing the natives to subjection or in driving them into the mountains. The comparatively pure descendants of these races are about equal in number in India, their mixed progeny composing the great mass of the Hindu population. The Sanskrit was their classic language, and the Veda their Bible.

The Caste System.—There are four great castes in India:—

1. The Brahmans, or highest caste, who are the priests, scholars, lawyers, physicians, teachers, etc. This order is highly reverenced by the lower castes, and its members are dignified, abstemious, and sedate. Their highest ideal is to bring their desires and appetites under complete control. They exercise great influence in the land.[5]

2. The warriors, who comprise the army and the office holders.

3. The merchants, mechanics, and farmers, who constitute the bone and sinew of India.

4. The servants, who receive no education excepting in matters of politeness and other things connected with their station in life.

Each caste must pay respect to the higher castes, and association with persons of a lower caste is considered a degradation. The English government of India does not interfere with the caste system, but it is gradually breaking down.

Besides the above-mentioned castes, there are tradesmen's castes which have grown up as new occupations have been introduced. Thus there is a potters' caste, a weavers' caste, a carpenters' caste, etc., each son following his father's trade. This accounts for the marvelous skill of the craftsmen of India in weaving carpets and fine muslins, in metal work, and other arts,—workmanship not equaled anywhere else in the world.

Brahmanism and Mohammedanism are the chief religions. Buddhism overran the country in the fifth and sixth centuries B.C., but it did not seem to be suited to the Hindus, and now it is found in its purity only in Ceylon. Unlike the Chinese, the Hindus are a very religious people. The Shastas[6] declare that "when in the presence of her husband, a woman must keep her eyes upon her master, and be ready to receive his commands. When he speaks, she must be quiet and listen to nothing besides. When he calls, she must leave everything else and attend upon him alone. A woman's husband is her god, her priest, and her religion. The most excellent work that she can perform is to gratify him with the strictest obedience."[7] The system of sale of girls at birth, for wives, of early betrothal and marriage, of perpetual widowhood under most degrading circumstances,[8] and the practice of polygamy make the condition of woman in India still worse than in China.

The English now rule the country with such wisdom and justice that the people are generally contented and loyal. Reforms have been introduced, commerce has been established, improvements have been made, and new life has been awakened. They have also established schools and universities; but as the purpose here is to give a picture of the caste education, the English system will not be described.

The Home.—Woman has no educational advantages in India, and she is regarded more as the servant than as the equal of her husband. She may never appear uninvited in the presence of any man except her husband. This has worked great hardships for her, especially in cases of sickness, as she can have no medical attendance unless a female medical missionary can be reached. This fact has opened a fertile field for missionary enterprise which has been a great blessing to Hindu women.

A member of a caste may marry in his own or in a lower caste; thus the Brahman may have four wives, the warrior three, the farmer two, and the servant one.

Parents love their children, and expect of them unquestioning obedience. Children are taught to love and honor their teachers even more than their parents. They are taught to reverence and respect older persons under all circumstances. Contrary to the Chinese idea of education, which is to prepare for this life, the Hindu idea is to prepare for the future life, and children in the home, from their earliest years, are trained with reference to this idea.

The Elementary School.—All teachers belong to the Brahman caste. They receive no salary, depending upon gifts for their support. They are mild in discipline, and generally humane in their treatment of their pupils. The instruction is given under trees in the open air on pleasant days, and in a tent or shed when the weather is bad. Instruction is given in reading, writing, and arithmetic, though religion constitutes the principal theme. Memorizing the holy sayings of Brahma occupies a large portion of the time. While the Chinaman worships nature and his ancestors, the Hindu worships Brahma. The cultivation of the memory is considered important, but by no means so essential as in the Chinese system.

The reading lessons are from the Veda. In writing, the child begins by forming characters in sand with his finger or a stick, then he writes upon leaves, and finally upon paper, with ink. The work in arithmetic is very elementary, being only such as will fit the learners for practical life. Servants and girls are excluded from even this limited education.

M. Ida Dean says: "How amused you would be if you could take a peep at a school in India taught by a native teacher. The school is often held in an open shed, and no pains whatever is taken to keep it clean. Often the rafters are festooned with cobwebs and dirt. Of furniture, save the teacher's low desk, there is none. The teacher uses a grass mat, while the boys sit cross-legged on the earthen floor. The teacher, in a singsong voice, reads a sentence which the boys shout after him. Then another sentence is read, which the pupils likewise shout in a singsong voice, while their bodies sway to and fro. This goes on until sentence after sentence is memorized. No one knows nor cares what he is saying. The teacher never explains. Neither teacher nor pupil is ever bothered by that troublesome and inquisitive little word why."

The castes are taught separately, and especial attention is given to such instruction as will fit them for their station in life. The highest virtues to be cultivated are politeness, patience, modesty, and truthfulness. Morning, noon, and evening there are impressive religious ceremonies in the school, and the pupils must throw themselves at the feet of their teacher with reverential respect. There is no theory of education among the Hindus, each teacher instructing as he pleases, according to historic custom. This precludes any considerable improvement in method or advance in the art of education. There is no authority to decide upon qualifications of teachers, the only essential requisite being that they shall belong to the Brahman caste.

Higher Education.—The Brahmans are the only educated class, although warriors attend their schools for the purpose of such study as is necessary in connection with their calling. The farmer caste, too, may attend the Brahman schools to learn the studies pertaining to their caste. They pursue in their schools the study of grammar, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, medicine, law, literature, and religion. Many of them still speak their classic language, the Sanskrit. As their religion is based on philosophy, this study takes precedence over all others.

"The Hindus are believed to have originated the decimal system of arithmetical notation which has been transmitted to us through Arabian channels."[9]

The end of Hindu wisdom is to rise above all human suffering through knowledge. Wuttke says, "Christians pray, 'Thy Kingdom come'; the Chinese, 'Thy Kingdom remain'; the Hindus, 'Let whatever thou hast created pass away.'"

Criticism of Hindu Education.—1. It is not universal, a large part of the people being excluded from its benefits.

2. It is based on castes and the promulgation of the caste system, which is baneful.

3. It depends too much upon the cultivation of the memory.

4. It has no philosophy of education, and, therefore, is non-progressive.

5. It does not properly honor woman, and excludes her from its advantages.

6. It produces a dreamy, self-satisfied, indolent, selfish, and non-progressive people.

7. It makes the people self-reflective, which doubtless accounts for their profound philosophical and mathematical discoveries.

BUDDHA[10]

Buddha lived in the first half of the sixth century B.C. He sought to overthrow Brahmanism and taught that all men are brothers, that they should show friendship, kindness, pity, and love toward their fellow-men. His religion and his spirit approach nearer to Christianity than any other oriental faith, and doubtless his influence was great for the uplifting of the race, though it cannot be classed as technically educational. "Self-denial, virtuous life, suppression of all self-seeking, love for fellow-men," said he, "are cardinal virtues which bring blessedness to mankind." T. W. Rhys Davids says, "Buddha did not abolish castes, as no castes existed at his time." Had the spirit of his teaching prevailed, India would never have been cursed by this baneful system. Buddhism is a religion based on moral acts. In a corrupted form it has many millions of adherents in China, Tibet, Japan, and other countries; but it is found in its purity only in Ceylon.

FOOTNOTES:

CHAPTER IV

PERSIA

Literature.—Benjamin, Story of Persia; Ragozin, The Story of Media, Babylon, and Persia; Rawlinson, The Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy; Myers, Ancient History; Clarke, Ten Great Religions; Lord, Beacon Lights of History; Fergusson, History of Architecture.

Geography and History.—Persia lies in the pathway of the great caravans which formerly carried on trade between Europe and India. It consists largely of a high plateau, surrounded by mountains. Large parts of the country are sandy and dry from lack of sufficient rain, and therefore are unproductive. The people are a branch of the Aryan race. They doubtless lived a nomadic life, and were obliged to be ever ready to defend themselves. Success in defense against the frequent assaults of their surrounding enemies stimulated them to become a nation of warriors. This fact had much to do in shaping their education. Cyrus the Great conquered Media and brought Persia to the summit of her greatness. The Persians boasted that they had become great by the sword, hence they cared but little for agriculture or manufactures. They levied tribute upon the nations they had subdued. Home production was therefore unnecessary, and they could devote all of their time to the art of war. About one fourth of the population are still classed as wandering tribes, and the nation is an aggregation rather than a unity of peoples.

The early Persians worshiped fire, and holy fires which only the Magi, or priests, were allowed to approach, were kept perpetually burning upon the mountain tops. The sun also was worshiped, the Persian kneeling with his face toward the east at sunrise in beatific joy. This worship may have been borrowed from the Egyptians, who were conquered by the Persians, and with whom they stood in close relations. In later times the religion of Zoroaster became the religion of the people.

The Home.—Wife and children were required to show the father great respect. Each morning the wife was expected to ask her husband nine times, "What do you wish me to do?" The teacher stood next to the father in the child's esteem. The child was kept at home under the care of the mother until seven years of age. An astrologer gave him a name and outlined his future destiny by reference to the stars. It was forbidden to tell him the difference between right and wrong before his fifth year. No corporal punishment was administered before his seventh year. The mother was greatly beloved by her children, though women were excluded from education. The position of woman was much higher than in either China or India. The chief training of children in the home was physical. Throwing, running, archery, riding, etc., were the principal employments of children. Absolute truthfulness and justice were early inculcated. A quick eye, a steady hand, accurate power of observation, and unwavering courage were qualities sought for in every child, and all of the training in the home, as well as in the later education, had for its aim the acquirement of these powers. Thus children were early taught to be self-reliant and fearless.

The State Education.—1. Persian education was national in character. After the seventh year the boy was taken from home and educated entirely by and for the State.

His training in the use of arms, in riding, and in other athletic exercises was continued. There were large public institutions in which the boys were quartered, and simplest food and clothing were given them. Besides the training for war, they were taught religious proverbs and prayers, and were led to practice truth and justice. This education continued until their fifteenth year. The teachers were men who had passed their fiftieth year, and who were chosen for virtue as well as knowledge, that they might serve as models to their pupils.

2. The second period of education consisted of a military training, which occupied the ten years between the age of fifteen and twenty-five.

3. The final period was that of the soldier, which continued till the fiftieth year, when the Persian could retire from the army with honor. The most competent were retained as teachers.

Reading and writing were taught to a limited degree, but the chief end of education was to prepare the citizen for war. The Magi were educated in astronomy, astrology, and alchemy, and many of the dervishes have ever been renowned for their acuteness, sense of justice, great powers of observation, and good judgment.

Criticism of the Persian Education.—1. The State robs the family of its inherent right to educate the children.

2. It neglects intellectual education, giving undue prominence to the physical and moral; and demands too great a part of the active life of man.

3. It makes the highest aim of education to prepare for war, and therefore does not cultivate the arts of peace.

4. It excludes woman from the benefits of education.

ZOROASTER[11]

Zoroaster, the founder of the Persian religion, was a great teacher. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but it is generally placed at about B.C. 600. The testimony of ancient classic literature confirms the belief that he was an historical person. A tablet unearthed in Greece contains an account of his life and his doctrines. Pliny says that he laughed on the day of his birth and that for thirty years he lived in the wilderness on cheese. He was the founder of the Magi priesthood, but did not teach the worship of fire.

His philosophy is dualistic. There are two spirits or principles that rule the universe. These are Ormuzd, the principle of light, and Ahriman, the principle of darkness. These two opposing principles are in constant conflict, each striving for the mastery. Man is the center of the conflict, but Ormuzd as his creator has the greater power over him. All influences are summoned to bring about the success of the good, and in the end it will surely prevail. No remission of sin is taught, but judgment is represented as a bridge over which those whose good deeds outweigh their evil deeds are allowed to pass to paradise: in case the evil deeds outweigh the good, the person is cast off forever; in case of a balance of good and evil deeds, there is another period of probation.

This dualism shows itself in nature as well as in the spiritual world. Order is opposed to lawlessness, truth to falsehood, life to death, good to evil. It is a religion in which the ideas of guilt and merit are carried out to the extreme. Zoroaster believed that he was the prophet chosen to promulgate these doctrines, and his influence as a teacher upon the Persian nation was unquestionably great. Persia is now a Mohammedan country.

FOOTNOTES:

CHAPTER V

THE JEWS

Literature.—Hosmer, Story of the Jews; Clarke, Ten Great Religions; Durrell, New Life in Education; Myers, Ancient History; Stoddard's Lectures; Lord, Beacon Lights of History; Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews; Morrison, The Jews under Roman Rule; Larned, History for Ready Reference; Hegel, Philosophy of History; Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, 1895; Peters, Justice to the Jew.

Geography and History.—The Jews were the ancient people of God, the "chosen people," whose history is recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures. They reached their greatest power and glory during the reigns of David and Solomon, and they occupied Palestine, with Jerusalem as their capital city. Within this small territory, some six thousand square miles in extent, have occurred some of the most important events of history, and the Jewish race has been the representative of God's purposes toward man. The Almighty communicated directly with his people, who were thus made acquainted with the divine will. The early Jews were nomadic in their habits, living in tents, and tending their flocks. The patriarch, who was at the head of a family or tribe, made laws for the people under him and governed them according to the command of God, whose representative he was. Because God directly or through the patriarch led and instructed the people, their education, like their government, is called theocratic.

The Jews lost their independence B.C. 63 in becoming subject to the Romans, and in A.D. 70 Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews were dispersed. Since that time they have been wanderers on the face of the earth, and there is no part of the world where they are not to be found. They have maintained their racial characteristics with remarkable purity. They were an agricultural people until the Babylonian captivity, after which they became a commercial people. Persecutions, which have universally followed them, making the acquirement of fixed property unsafe, had much to do with this change.

The Home.—The Jewish family was the purest of antiquity. In general, monogamy was practiced, and the wife was regarded as the companion and equal of the husband. Children being accepted as the gift of God, the father stood in the same relation to his children as Jehovah stood to man. Therefore the father's highest aim was to bring up his children in the knowledge and service of the Lord. We have here the highest and best type of family training to be found in history, a characteristic that still holds in Jewish families wherever they exist, and that has contributed largely to the maintenance of the strong racial peculiarities of the Jews. The father taught his boys reading and writing, and the mother taught the girls household duties; but the latter were not entirely excluded from intellectual training.

Great attention was given to the rites and ceremonies of the tabernacle and the Jewish law. History was also taught as a means of stimulating patriotism. The Jewish child was early made acquainted with the Scriptures, and history, law, and prophecy became familiar to every Jew. As there were no schools, this was all done in the home by the parents. Religion was the central thought of all education, and preparation for the service of the tabernacle and the worship of God was early given to every child. Thus in an atmosphere of love and piety the Jew discharged his sacred duty with care and faithfulness. Obedience to the commands of parents, veneration for the aged, wholesome respect for their ancestors, and familiarity with the Jewish law were instilled into the minds of all children. Music and dancing were taught in every household, not for pleasure, but as a means of religious expression. By prayer and holy living, by precept and example, by word and deed, the father discharged the duty committed to him by God, leading his children by careful watchfulness toward the ideal manhood which was revealed to him by the teachings of Holy Writ.

There were no castes among the Hebrews, and the same kind of training was given to the children of rich and poor, high and low, alike. No other race of people has given such careful home training to its children, from earliest times to the present.

The Jewish School.—There were no elementary Jewish schools until after the destruction of the nation and the loss of their civil liberty. After the defeat at Jena the Prussians turned to education as the sole means of retrieving their national greatness; the same was true of the Austrians after the defeat of Sadowa, and of the French after the fall of the empire at Sedan. But the Jewish people had set this example eighteen centuries before. Dittes says, "If ever a people has demonstrated the power of education, it is the people of Israel."

The rabbis required, A.D. 64, that every community should support a school, and that attendance should be compulsory. This is the first instance of compulsory education on record. If a town was divided by a stream without a connecting bridge, a school was supported in each part. Not more than twenty-five pupils could be assigned to one teacher, and where the number was greater an assistant was employed. If there were forty pupils, there were two teachers. It will thus be seen that the Jews put into practice eighteen centuries ago a condition of things which, owing to the complexity of our civilization, is with us to-day largely an unrealized ideal.

Teachers were respected even more than parents, for it was held that parents prepared their children for the present, but teachers for the future. None but mature married men were employed as teachers. It was said that "he who learns of a young master is like a man who eats green grapes, and drinks wine fresh from the press; but he who has a master of mature years is like a man who eats ripe and delicious grapes, and drinks old wine."

The child entered school at six. Previous to that age physical exercise and bodily growth were to be the ends sought. "When he enters school," says the Talmud, "load him like an ox." Other authorities, however, encouraged giving him tasks according to his strength. The subjects taught were reading, writing, natural history, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. The Scriptures were taught to all the children, and all were versed in religious rites.

The methods were good and attractive, great effort being made to lead the children to understand, even though it might be necessary to repeat four hundred times. The discipline was humane. According to the Talmud, "children should be punished with one hand and caressed with two." Corporal punishment was administered only to children over eleven years of age.

The Schools of the Rabbis.—Karl Schmidt says: "Culture in a people begins with the creation of a literature and the use of writing." The oldest monument of writing among the Israelites is found in the tables of stone containing the Ten Commandments. Moses, David, Solomon, and Isaiah, and the other prophets were the founders of the Hebrew literature.

Among the instrumentalities of higher education were the Schools of the Prophets, which taught philosophy, medicine, poetry, history, and law to the sons of prophets and priests, and of leading families. These schools were influential in stimulating the production of the historical, poetical, and prophetic books of the Old Testament.

But more important as direct means of higher education were the Schools of the Rabbis. These sprang up in Alexandria, Babylon, and Jerusalem in the early centuries of the Christian era. They were private institutions founded by celebrated teachers. Doubtless it was in such a school as this that St. Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. The principal subjects studied were theology and law,—politics, history, mathematics and science being excluded. The collection of the sayings and discussions was begun in the second century A.D. and afterward took form in the Talmud.

Criticism of Jewish Education.—1. It exalted the home and insisted on the control of children by their parents.

2. It gave to woman an honored place in the home.

3. It gave an intelligent interpretation of the school and its functions. In regard to school attendance, the number of pupils under one teacher, the respect due to teachers, the course of study, and many other matters, it showed practical wisdom.

4. It taught obedience, patriotism, and religion.

5. It provided only for Jewish children.

6. It was mild and generally wise in discipline, though mistaken in forbidding corporal punishment before the eleventh year, while admitting its use after that.

7. It developed an honest, intelligent, progressive, God-fearing people.

8. It produced some of the greatest poets and historians of the world.