[301. Analytical Summary.—1. This study exhibits the zeal of the Catholic Church in the education of the children of the poor. The motive was not the spirit of domination, as in the case of the Jesuits, but a sincere desire to engage in a humane work.
2. A proof of the multiplication of schools, and so of the diffusion of the new educational spirit, is the wretched quality of those who were allowed to teach. There must be schools even if they are poor ones.
3. The need of competent teachers led to the establishment of the Teachers’ Seminary, the parent of the modern normal school. The two elements in this professional instruction seem to have been a knowledge of the subjects to be taught and of methods of organization and discipline.
4. The severe discipline and enforced silence of La Salle’s schools permit the inference that the school of the period was the scene of lawlessness and disorder. The reaction went to an extreme; but considering the times, this excess was a virtue.
5. The scarcity of teachers and the abundance of pupils led to the expedient of mutual and simultaneous instruction. While this method is absolutely bad, it was relatively good.
6. To the benevolent and inventive spirit of La Salle is due the organization of industrial schools.]
[157] Petites écoles. This is the term commonly applied to primary schools at this period. By the Jansenists this term was used in a more distinctive sense, and for this reason I have translated it “Little Schools” in Chap. VII. (P.)
[158] See the Lectures pédagogiques. Hachette, 1883, p. 420.
[159] We have before us the edition of 1722.
[160] Histoire d’une école gratuite, par V. Plessier, p. 15.
[161] We have before us a copy of this Avignon edition: J. Charles Chastanier, printer and bookseller, near the College of the Jesuits.
[162] Two volumes, Paris, 1876.
[163] The use of the round script was in fashion. La Salle introduced the bastard hand.
[164] See Chap. II. of the Second Part.
[165] We have before us the sixth edition of this work: Rouen, 1729. La Salle had written it towards the year 1703.
[166] See, for example, the following chapters: upon the nose and the manner of using the handkerchief and of sneezing (chap. vii.); upon the back, the shoulders, the arms, and the elbow (chap. viii.); on the manner in which one ought to behave with respect to the bones, the sauce, and the fruit (chap. vi., of the second part); on the manner of behaving while walking in the streets, on journeys, in carriages, and on horseback (chap. x.).
[167] See the edition of 1720, from page 140 to page 180.
[168] The influence of the teaching congregations in general, and of this one in particular, on public education as administered by the State, is very strikingly exhibited by Meunier in his Lutte du Principe Clérical et du Principe Laïque dans l’Enseignement (Paris: 1861). There is also interesting information concerning La Salle. See particularly the introductory Letter and Chaps. I. and II. (P.)