images of God, or, rather, fill up the outlines of goodness, power, and wisdom impressed upon them by divine power. The art of teaching is no shallow affair, but one of the deepest mysteries of nature and salvation.

CHAPTER IX

INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS ON MODERN EDUCATORS

Francke - Early educational undertakings — The institution at Halle - Character of the pædagogium - Impulse given to modern learning. Rousseau-The child the centre of educational schemes - Sense training fundamental - Order and method of nature to be followed. Basedow- Protests against traditional methods - Influenced by the Émile- His educational writingsThe Philanthropinum. Pestalozzi-Love the key-note of his system - Domestic education · Education for all classes and sexes -The study of nature-Impulse given to the study of geography. Fröbel - His relations to Comenius and Pestalozzi – Educational value of play and principle of self-activity - Women as factors in education. Herbart Assimilation of senseexperience-Training of character-Doctrine of interest.

It is less easy to trace the influence of Comenius on modern educational reformers than to indicate the traces of his pedagogic development, since he read widely and credited cheerfully the paternity of his educational ideals. He says in this connection: "I gave my mind to the perusal of divers authors, and lighted upon many which at this age have made a beginning in reforming the method of studies, as Ratke, Helwig, Rheinus, Ritter, Glaum, Cæcil, and, who indeed should have the first place, John Valentine Andreæ, a man of noble and clear brain; as also Campanella and the Lord Verulam, those famous restorers of philosophy; by reading of whom I was raised in good hope, that at last those so many various sparks would conspire into a flame; yet observing here and

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there some defects and gaps, I could not contain myself from attempting something that might rest upon an immovable foundation, and which, if it could be once found out, should not be subject to any ruin. Therefore, after many workings and tossings of my thoughts, by reducing everything to the immovable laws of nature, I lighted upon my Great didactic, which shows the art of teaching all things to all men."

Such commendable frankness is not always found in the reformers that follow Comenius; but in their writ ings it is not difficult to discern community of ideas first definitely formulated by Comenius. This holds. true in a degree of all reformers since Comenius' day, but in a measure sufficiently large to require passing note in Francke, Rousseau, Basedow Pestalozzi, Fröbel, and Herbart.

Francke1

Of a profoundly religious nature like Comenius, Francke applied himself to the study of theology at the Universities of Kiel and Leipzig, after having studied at Erfurt. The listless and heartless character of the teaching and study at these institutions impressed him profoundly, and directed his attention to the need of educational reform. Four years after taking his degree at Leipzig (1688), he established an infant school at Hamburg, which, though brief, was, as he tells us, the richest and happiest experience of his long and varied career. It taught him the lesson which he thought was needed alike by himself and his contemporaries—

1 For a full account of Francke's life and work see A. H. Francke's Pädagogische Schriften. Nebst einer Darstellung seines Lebens und seiner Stiftungen. Herausgeg. von G. Kramer. Langensalza, 1876.

that teachers of little children entered upon their work with altogether too little preparation. He says, "Upon the establishment of this school, I learned how destructive is the usual school management, and how exceedingly difficult is the discipline of children; and this reflection made me desire that God would make me worthy to do something for the improvement of schools and instruction."

He received an ecclesiastical call to Erfurt, which he accepted, but his orthodoxy was questioned and he was not permitted to fill the office to which he had been appointed. The foundation of the University of Halle, in 1691, made an opening for him in the chair of Greek and Oriental languages. While serving in this capacity, he organized the philanthropic institution which has made Halle famous. It began as a charity work among the poor, and grew to such proportions that at his death, in 1727, - thirty-three years after its inception, it included (1) the pædagogium with eighty-two students and seventy teachers and pupilteachers; (2) the Latin school of the orphanage with three inspectors, thirty-two teachers, four hundred pupils, and ten servants; (3) elementary schools in Halle for the children of citizens, employing four inspectors, ninety-eight male and eight female teachers, and having an enrollment of one thousand and twenty-five children; (4) apothecary shops and bookstores. As a charity school, Francke's institution became the model of hundreds organized in Europe during the next century.

The pædagogium, which was a part of the great philanthropic institution, was opened in 1696, as a select school for the sons of noblemen. It was one

of the earliest training schools for teachers, and the forerunner of university pedagogical seminaries, which, in Germany at least, serve as training schools for teachers in secondary schools. Francke aimed to fit young men, and particularly university students,/ in the faculties of philosophy and theology, for greater usefulness as teachers. Indeed, much of the teaching in the pædagogium was done by the university students who contemplated teaching careers. Besides the practice work, instruction was given in the history and theory of education, methods of teaching, and school organization and government. Francke's pædagogium was a worthy progenitor of the long line of renowned university seminaries which are now integral factors of the German universities, such, for example, as the deservedly noted pedagogical seminary at Jena under the direction of Professor Wilhelm Rein, and the not less noted pedagogical seminaries at Leipzig under Professors Volkelt, Schiller, and Richter.

Like Comenius, Francke valued less the classical Aculture, but more the modern learning which fitted for the duties of life. "It is a common evil," he says,

that we do not teach what we use in our occupations every day." This led him to give large consideration to the study of the mother-tongue. "I find few university students," he says, "who can write a German letter correctly spelled. They violate orthography in almost every line. I know of many examples where, after they have entered upon the ministry and have had occasion to have something printed, it has been necessary to have their manuscripts first corrected in almost every line. The reason for this defect is usually in the schools, where only the Latin translation

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