CHAPTER XXXIV

AUGUST HERMANN FRANCKE AND THE PIETISTS (1663-1727)

Literature.—Rein, Encyklopädisches Handbuch; Strack, Geschichte des Volkschulwesens; Dyer, Modern Europe; Rein, Am Ende der Schulreform? Russell, German Higher Schools.

PIETISM

Pietism is the name of a movement in Germany which sought to revive spiritual life in the Lutheran Church. In that church, religion had become purely a matter of intellect, instead of heart. Cold formality and adherence to the letter, rather than the spirit, had taken possession of the Protestant Church. Like the Jansenists in France, who had a similar purpose with reference to the Catholic Church, and later the Methodists in England, who sought to awaken religious zeal in the Church of England, the Pietists of Germany endeavored to vitalize religious life, and to lead men away from creeds promulgated by human agency, to the pure word of God. The Pietists differed from the orthodox Lutherans not in doctrine, but in insisting on the necessity of a change of heart and a pious life, instead of mere adherence to formal doctrine.

The Pietists founded the university of Halle, and this remained the center of the movement until it had run its course. Pietism had its inception during the latter part of the seventeenth century, and it extended through the first half of the eighteenth century. Its originator was Philipp Jakob Spener, a man of remarkable zeal and godly life. Though it met with bitter opposition on the part of the orthodox Lutherans, it certainly did great good, not only to its adherents, but to the Church at large, by awakening deeper spiritual life. Its influence was also great in reviving Biblical study in Germany, in improving the character of teachers, and in giving a spiritual direction to the studies of the schools. It has left an enduring monument in the great Institutions that it founded at Halle. The greatest of the Pietists was August Hermann Francke, who is celebrated, not only as a theologian, but as a philanthropist and teacher.

FRANCKE[116] (1663-1727)

Francke's early education was conducted by private teachers, though his parents, who were intelligent and God-fearing people, exerted a strong influence upon him. At thirteen he entered the highest class of the Gymnasium at Gotha, where he remained for one year. Here he was introduced to the reform teachings of Ratke and Comenius. Two years later he entered the university of Erfurt as a student of theology. He studied also at Kiel and Leipsic. While he gave particular attention to Hebrew and Greek, he also learned French, English, and Italian. He seemed to be gifted with a talent for learning languages, for during a short residence in Holland in later life he learned the Dutch language so well that he was able to preach in it. Under the instruction of a Jewish rabbi, he read the Hebrew Bible through seven times in one year. After spending some time as teacher in a private school, he returned to Leipsic as Privat Docent[117] in the university.

Having become acquainted with Spener and his teachings, Francke became an earnest Pietist. His success in lecturing and his zeal in religious work drew around him a large number of students. This awakened the envy of the old professors of the university, and they began a persecution which caused his dismissal. He then went to Erfurt and preached with remarkable success, drawing great crowds by his earnestness and eloquence. Persecution again followed him, and he was banished from the city.

About this time the new university of Halle called Francke to the chair of Greek and oriental languages and afterward to that of theology. He began his work in 1692, and remained in that position for nearly thirty-six years, until his death. As this position did not furnish enough to live upon, he became pastor of the church in the neighboring village of Glaucha. In his pastoral work he came in contact with poverty, drunkenness, and every form of immorality. Moved with pity, he collected small sums of money, which he distributed among the poor after catechising the children.

At Easter, 1695, he found seven guldens ($2.80) in the collection boxes, which he declared to be "A splendid capital with which something of importance can be founded; I will begin a school for the poor with it." This was the beginning of the great orphan asylum at Halle,—an enterprise the magnitude of which we shall describe later. Without visible income, with no means at command, but with a sublime faith in God and humanity, and an overwhelming sense of the ignorance and misery of the children about him, Francke began at once the great work; nor was his faith misplaced, as the result shows. He gathered together a few children and placed a student over them as a teacher. Soon the better class of citizens took an interest, and desired him to provide a school for their children. Two rooms were rented, one for those who could not pay and the other for those who could. This was the foundation of the free school and the citizens' school still connected with the Institutions. In the fall of 1695, Francke founded the orphan asylum. Money flowed in from all parts of the country as people began to understand the great work. Francke was thus able to branch out in many directions. He established a Pedagogium to prepare teachers for his and other schools; free meals were furnished to students who devoted a part of their time to teaching in the institutions; separate schools for boys and girls, a Gymnasium, a Real-school, a bookbindery and printing establishment, and many other institutions were founded.

The Institutions at Halle.—In a few years Francke had in successful operation a marvelous system, a work founded upon love of humanity and dependent upon philanthropy for its support. The results attracted attention from all Europe, and students came from many lands. "At the death of Francke in the year 1727, the following report of the Institutions was sent to King Frederick William I.: (1) In the Pedagogium, 82 scholars, 70 teachers and other persons; (2) in the Latin school, 3 inspectors, 32 teachers, 400 pupils, and 10 servants; (3) in the common school, 4 inspectors, 98 male teachers, 8 female teachers, 1725 boys and girls; (4) orphans, 100 boys, 34 girls, 10 overseers; (5) at the free table, 225 students, 360 poor children; (6) employed in the drug store, bookstore, etc., and other persons in the establishment, 82."[118] This makes a total of over 3200 persons instructed, sheltered, employed, or otherwise connected with these great Institutions. The foundations were so firmly laid that the progress has been steady from that time to this. At present there are no less than twenty-five different enterprises connected with the Institutions, among which may be mentioned a free school for boys, and one for girls; a common school for boys, and one for girls; a royal Pedagogium; a Latin school; a higher girls' school; a Real-gymnasium; a preparatory school for the high school; a Real-school; an orphan asylum for boys, and one for girls; a boarding house for students; a Bible house, which has distributed about 6,500,000 Bibles and religious works; a teachers' seminary (normal school) for each sex; a bookstore, a printing house, and a drug store.[119] About 3000 children receive instruction in the various schools, and about 118,000 have been recipients of the benefits since the Institutions were founded two hundred years ago. The cost is about one million marks a year, which is covered by endowments, by tuition fees, by profits from the productive departments (bookstores, printing establishment, etc.), and by moneys received from the State. Francke's idea of depending upon voluntary gifts has been abandoned.

All this work is the result of the energy of a man who began with a capital of less than three dollars, and a vast amount of faith to found "something of importance."

The Training of Teachers.—While Francke's greatest work for mankind was the Institutions mentioned above, we must notice one field of his activity that is of especial importance to us,—that of the training of teachers. We have seen that, on account of the scarcity of funds, he was obliged to rely upon students to do the work of instructing the children committed to his care. The young theologians made use of this opportunity as a stepping-stone to their future calling, the ministry, and Francke, perceiving this, sought to secure the most pious and gifted among his theological students for this work. He also established a pedagogical class (Pedagogium). After two years' membership therein, the student was allowed to teach provided he pledged himself to devote three years to teaching in the schools. This class met once a week for criticism and discussion under the leadership of the inspector of the school, and the various inspectors met Francke every evening for further instruction. The results soon attracted widespread notice, and created a great demand for Francke's teachers. Although this was very crude pedagogical training, it may be regarded as the inception of the normal school, which has now come to be an essential part of every educational system.

The Real-school.—A third service is credited by many to Francke, namely, the founding of the Real-school[120] of Germany. The best authorities give that credit to Professor Erhard Weigel of Jena. Whether or not the idea originated with Francke, he was ready to accept the necessity of such a change, and founded schools for higher learning in which Greek and Latin were not required, and in which more attention was given to modern languages and science.

FOOTNOTES:

CHAPTER XXXV

GENERAL VIEW OF THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES

Literature.—Dyer, Modern Europe; Duruy, The French Revolution; Yonge, Three Centuries of Modern History; Andrews, Institutes of General History; Lord, Beacon Lights; Taylor, History of Germany; Guizot, History of Civilization; Draper, Conflict between Religion and Science; Schwickerath, Jesuit Education.

The history of the world since the seventeenth century has been crowded with events, and characterized by movements of greatest moment to mankind. It is not the purpose of this work to discuss political movements, to chronicle wars, or to study the great upheavals of society except in so far as they have a direct bearing upon educational questions.[121]

The political chains that fettered the nations of the world have gradually been broken until greater liberty has been secured, a more perfect acknowledgment of the rights of the individual brought about, and a more tolerant religious spirit fostered in every civilized land. These things have exerted a tremendous force in the intellectual emancipation of man. At last the long struggle of the centuries begins to bear legitimate fruit, and the supreme educational purpose of Christianity, that of asserting and maintaining the importance of the individual, seems destined to complete realization. The noble truths of brotherly love, equality before God, and human rights were obscured during the long centuries,—obscured sometimes by the very institution whose chief aim is to scatter light and give gladness to men. It has remained for modern education to rediscover the educational principles which the Great Teacher promulgated, and which through the struggle of centuries failed of recognition, and bore indifferent fruit.

Among the many social and political changes that have taken place during the last two centuries, we may mention a few that have a direct influence upon education. Preceding centuries had prepared the way,—had broken the ground and sown the seed, and now the world was ready to reap an abundant harvest.

The great political events of this period may be briefly summarized as follows:—

1. The abolition of human slavery.—Great Britain, Spain, France, Russia, and finally our own country have forever removed the shackles of the slave within their borders. Perhaps the greatest of all emancipation acts was that of Russia, which, in 1861, without bloodshed and without serious disturbance, by royal decree, set free forty million serfs. The abolition of slavery in nearly all civilized countries is the greatest political triumph of Christian civilization. Without this there could never have come that higher intellectual emancipation which is the aim sought in all education.

2. The extension of political rights.—This is another victory that must be credited to the period under discussion. At the beginning of the eighteenth century there was scarcely a nation that acknowledged the right of the individual to a part in government, or to personal freedom. Men were in vassalage to their immediate lord, who, in turn, was obliged to acknowledge the "divine right" of the king over him. With the exception of Switzerland, who for centuries had maintained her freedom, and of England, who had secured the rights of man only by much bloodshed, there was scarcely a people in the world that possessed the right of self-government. Even England had secured that right only in the latter half of the seventeenth century under the leadership of Cromwell. This right she did not concede to her colonies, however, until the American Revolution wrested her richest dependency from her, and forever established the principle of self-government for a sovereign people.

Immediately following the American Revolution came the French Revolution, which taught the Old World the ideas so heroically conceived, so bravely supported, and so successfully realized in the New World. Nor is this all. The same principle has compelled the rulers of most of the European nations to divide the responsibility of government with their subjects, and to grant their people enlarged powers but little short of absolute sovereignty.

3. Science has been recognized as a powerful instrument of civilization.—Through scientific discoveries there has been a wonderful accession to material wealth, invention has been stimulated, and progress has been made in all directions. The spirit of investigation has been fostered, old theories and superstitions have been abandoned, and truth has been established upon their ruins. In this direction more has been done by science during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries than during the whole previous history of the world. Man has now become master of heretofore unknown forces which he may utilize as a blessing for the human race. We shall see in later pages that scientific investigation has become the greatest educational principle of modern times.

4. Religious freedom has been attained.—The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed many struggles for religious liberty, which resulted in no decided victory. It was not until the last two centuries that complete religious freedom was gained. Men are no longer bound to accept ecclesiastical decrees without question, but every one may weigh and consider, and freely decide for himself. Civil law protects, civil society sustains, and public opinion justifies men in the exercise of personal liberty in religious matters.

By the realization of these great principles educational progress has been encouraged. The greatest obstacles have been removed, and the future opens with possibilities of universal brotherhood, universal peace, and universal education.

It remains for us to study some of the men who have contributed to the educational progress of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, to trace the chief movements in the intellectual development of the race, and to examine the school systems of the representative nations of the world at the present time.

FOOTNOTES:

CHAPTER XXXVI

MODERN EDUCATORS

Literature.—Davidson, Rousseau; Graham, Rousseau; Morley, Life of Rousseau; Rousseau, Émile; Munroe, Educational Ideal; Vogel, Geschichte der Pädagogik; Quick, Educational Reformers; Weir, The Key to Rousseau's Émile (article in Educational Review, Vol. XVI, p. 61); Compayré, History of Pedagogy.

ROUSSEAU (1712-1778)

Jean Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva, Switzerland. His father was a watchmaker, and upon him devolved the education of the boy, as the mother died in childbirth. Rousseau's father was a man of dissipated habits, careless of responsibility, and of very violent temper. He interested himself in his son far enough to teach him to read, and supplied him with the worthless novels which he himself was fond of reading. This unwise course doubtless had much to do in shaping the character of the boy. Probably it was the evil effects of this early literature that led Rousseau later in life to oppose teaching young children to read. Quick says, "Rousseau professed a hatred of books, which he said kept the student so long engaged upon the thoughts of other people as to have no time to make a store of his own."

Abandoned by his father at the age of ten, he was taken into the family of his uncle, who apprenticed him, first to a notary, and afterward to an engraver. At the age of sixteen he ran away, and began a life of vagabondage. While yet a young man, he became involved in intrigues, which, according to his own account in his "Confessions," were no credit to him. Madame de Warens, a young widow with whom he lived for some years, sent him to school at St. Lazare, where he studied the classics and music; but he soon lapsed again into vagabondage. He picked up a little music, and attempted to give lessons in it, but with small success. He also took a position as private tutor, but he had no talent for teaching. Later in life he married Thérèse le Vasseur, a woman from the common ranks of life. She bore him five children, all of whom he committed to foundling hospitals without means of identification. He did this because he was not willing that his own comfort or plans should be disturbed by the presence of children. Rousseau had reason to regret this heartless and unnatural course when, in later years, he sought in vain to find some trace of his children. Compayré says, "If he loved to observe children, he observed, alas, only the children of others. There is nothing sadder than that page of the 'Confessions,' in which he relates how he often placed himself at the window to observe the dismission of a school, in order to listen to the conversations of children as a furtive and unseen observer!"[122]

In 1749 Rousseau successfully competed for a prize offered by the Academy of Dijon on the subject, "Has the restoration of the sciences contributed to purify or to corrupt manners?" Rousseau entered this contest quite accidentally. He saw the notice of the contest in a newspaper, and decided at once to compete. Of this event he says, "If ever anything resembled a sudden inspiration, it was the movement which began in me as I read this. All at once I felt myself dazzled by a thousand sparkling lights; crowds of vivid ideas thronged into my mind with a force and confusion which threw me into unspeakable agitation; I felt my head whirling in a giddiness like that of intoxication. A violent palpitation oppressed me; unable to walk for difficulty of breathing, I sank under one of the trees of the avenue, and passed half an hour there in such a condition of excitement that when I rose I saw that the front of my waistcoat was all wet with tears, though I was wholly unconscious of shedding them. Ah, if I could have written the quarter of what I saw and felt under that tree, with what clearness should I have brought out all the contradictions of our social system; with what simplicity should I have demonstrated that man is good naturally, and that by institution only is he made bad."

This essay made him famous, and its publication was the beginning of a remarkable literary career. His principal literary works are his "Confessions," in which he declares that he conceals nothing concerning himself; the "Social Contract," an anti-monarchic work, which many believe incited the French Revolution; "Héloïse," a novel over-strained in sentiment and immoral in its teachings, but "full of pathos and knowledge of the human heart"; and "Émile," his greatest work, which contains his educational theories. The "Émile"[123] was an epoch-making book, which excited great interest throughout Europe. It is said that the philosopher Emanuel Kant became so absorbed in reading it that he forgot to take his daily walk.

Pedagogy.—(a) Rousseau's first principle is, "Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the Author of nature; everything degenerates in the hands of man." It follows, then, that education has only to prevent the entrance of evil, and let nature continue the work begun. It is to be a negative, as well as a natural, process. The fallacy of this principle is very forcibly shown by Vogel[124] as follows: "The very first sentence of 'Émile,' that man by nature is good, is a fundamental error; for by nature, that is, from birth, man is neither good nor bad, but morally indifferent. Only when the individual possesses mature self-consciousness does he have a correct idea of good and evil. If man by nature is good, it is inexplicable how evil can originate within him. External things may, indeed, furnish motives to evil, but are never in themselves evil; the evil arises rather from the conduct of the individual toward outside objects. If, then, evil does not come from without, and is not by nature already within the heart, it is impossible that there shall be such a thing as evil."

(b) The first education is physical and it begins at birth. As the physical wants of the child are natural they should be satisfied, but the clothing should be of such character as not to interfere with the perfect freedom of the body. Great care must be taken to distinguish between the real wants of the child and its passing whims. To gratify the latter because of the crying of the child will tend to form bad habits. In this connection may be taught the first moral lessons. It thus becomes important that the speech, gestures, and expressions of the young child shall be carefully studied. This is the first suggestion of the necessity for child study. The idea was later developed by Pestalozzi and Froebel, and is one of the most important features of recent pedagogical activity.

(c) The child's second period begins with his ability to speak and continues till the twelfth year. No attempt must be made to educate the child for his future, but he must be allowed to get the full enjoyment of childhood by freedom to play as he will. Let him run, jump, and test his strength, thereby acquiring judgment of the material forces about him, and learning how to take care of himself. Leave him free to do what he will, let him have what he wishes, but, as far as possible, he should be led to depend upon himself to satisfy his wants. Give him perfect freedom, for freedom is the fundamental law of education. If he disobeys, do not punish him,—disobedience works its own punishment; therefore, do not command him. The training of the senses is the important work of this period; therefore, there should be as little moral training as possible, and absolutely no religious training. The only moral idea for the child to learn is that of ownership. He is to be prevented from vice in a negative manner, that is, by never being allowed to meet it. "The only habit that a child should be allowed to form is to contract no habit."

He is to have a preceptor devoted entirely to him, not to instruct or control him, but to lead him to discover and experience for himself. In regard to his intellectual instruction, Rousseau says of Émile at twelve years of age, "that he has not learned to distinguish his right hand from his left." Books are entirely proscribed, and, indeed, they are useless to him as he cannot read; the only intellectual knowledge the child receives is that which comes from things through his own experience.

This is a brief outline of the erratic, impossible, and inconsistent training that Rousseau provides for Émile during this period when the foundation of character in the child must be laid. Gréard says, "Rousseau goes beyond progressive education to recommend an education in fragments, so to speak, which isolates the faculties in order to develop them one after another, which establishes an absolute line of demarkation between the different ages, and which ends in distinguishing three stages of progress in the soul. Rousseau's error on this point is in forgetting that the education of the child ought to prepare for the education of the young man."

(d) The third period extends from the twelfth to the fifteenth year. It is the period of intellectual development. With no habits of thought or study, being little else than a robust animal, in three years Émile is to obtain all needed intellectual training. True, Rousseau excludes everything that is not useful, and places limitations even on that. For example, he naturally lays great stress upon the physical sciences which are to be taught in connection with things themselves,—out of doors, by travel, and in actual life; but he allows no history, or grammar, or ancient languages. No books are permitted save "Robinson Crusoe," which Rousseau finds entirely suitable for Émile. A trade is to be learned during this period.

While in general we condemn Rousseau's scheme of education, there is much in his methods that is most excellent. On this point Compayré comments as follows: "At least in the general method which he commends, Rousseau makes amends for the errors in his plan of study: 'Do not treat the child to discourses which he cannot understand. No descriptions, no eloquence, no figures of speech. Be content to present to him appropriate objects. Let us transform our sensations into ideas. But let us not jump at once from sensible to intellectual objects. Let us always proceed slowly from one sensible notion to another. In general, let us never substitute the sign for the thing, except when it is impossible for us to show the thing.'"[125]

(e) The fourth period of education begins at fifteen, the period of adolescence. At this time, "Émile will know nothing of history, nothing of humanity, nothing of art and literature, nothing of God; but he will know a manual trade." Rousseau himself says, "Émile has but little knowledge, but that which he has is really his own; he knows nothing by halves." He has a mind which, "if not instructed, is at least capable of being instructed." The remaining work to be done in the education of Émile consists in training the sentiments of affection, the moral and the religious sentiments. The feeling of love for his fellow-beings is now to be cultivated. The error of this is shown by Compayré, who says, "For fifteen years Rousseau leaves the heart of Émile unoccupied.... Rousseau made the mistake of thinking that a child can be taught to love as he is taught to read and write, and that lessons could be given to Émile in feeling just as lessons are given to him in geometry."

In morals Rousseau taught that the first duty of every one is to take care of himself; we must love ourselves first of all, and find our greatest interest in those things that best serve us. We must seek that which is useful to us and avoid what harms us, instead of loving our enemies and doing good to those that hate us, as taught by Christ. We must love those who love us, while we must avoid and hate those who hate us.

As to religion, Émile does not yet know at fifteen that he has a soul, and Rousseau thinks that perhaps the eighteenth year is still too early for him to learn that fact; for, if he tries to learn it before the proper time, he runs the risk of never really knowing that he possesses an immortal soul. But as religion furnishes a check upon the passions, it should be taught to the boy when eighteen years of age. He is not to be instructed in the doctrines of any particular sect, but should be allowed to select that religious belief which most strongly appeals to his reason. Modern investigation has proven the utter fallacy of Rousseau's teachings in this respect. Indeed, it seems to be established that the most orthodox period of the child's life occurs before the fifteenth year, the time when Rousseau would begin his religious training. Conformable to this truth, many sects confirm children and receive them into the church at or before the fifteenth year.[126]

(f) Having brought Émile to the period of life at which he is to marry, Rousseau proceeds to create in Sophie the ideal wife. It is not the education of women as such that Rousseau discusses, but their education with reference to man. He says, "The whole education of women should be relative to men; to please them, to be useful to them, to make themselves honored and loved by them, to educate the young, to care for the older, to advise them, to console them, to make life agreeable and sweet to them,—these are the duties of women in every age." Consequently the sole instruction woman needs is in household duties, in care of children, in ways to add to the happiness of her husband. Her own happiness or development does not enter into Rousseau's scheme. This is the weakest part of his educational theory. The world is gradually awakening to the fact that woman's intellectual capacity is not inferior to that of man, and the prejudices of ages are slowly disappearing.

Rousseau's pedagogical theories made a profound impression throughout Europe, and though often inconsistent, extravagant, and visionary, they set the world to thinking of the child and his psychological development. A new direction was thus given to educational theory and practice, and upon this basis Pestalozzi, Froebel, and other modern educators have built. Rousseau must, therefore, be reckoned among the greatest pedagogical writers of modern times. Karl Schmidt pronounces the "Émile" "a Platonic republic of education,—nevertheless, Rousseau's work is a great universal achievement, the importance of which Goethe recognizes when he calls the book the nature-gospel of education."[127]

FOOTNOTES: