"I shall never forget the impression that my words produced, when in speaking of a certain disturbance that had taken place amongst them, I said, 'My children, it is the same with us as with every other household; when the children are numerous, and each gives way to his bad habits, such disorder follows that even the weakest mother is obliged to be reasonable, and make them submit to what is just and right. And that is what I must do now. If you do not willingly assist in the maintenance of order, our establishment cannot go on, you will fall back into your former condition, and your misery-now that you have been accustomed to a good home, clean clothes, and regular food—will be greater than ever."

But Pestalozzi was not less clear and definite in the conviction that to do without corporal punishment is the better way, and the end for which to strive. In his letter about Stanz he says: "The pedagogical principle which says we must win the hearts and minds of our children by words alone without having recourse to corporal punishment, is undoubtedly good, and to be applied under favourable conditions and circumstances. But with children with such widely different ages as mine; children for the most part beggars; and all full of deeply rooted faults; a certain amount of corporal punishment was inevitable, especially as I was anxious to arrive surely, quickly, and by the simplest means, at obtaining an influence over them all, to the end that I might put them all on the right road.

"I was compelled to punish them, but it would be a mistake to suppose that I thereby, in any way, lost the confidence of my pupils. It is not the rare and isolated actions that form the opinions and feelings of children,

but the impressions of every day and every hour. From such impressions they judge whether we are kindly disposed to them or not, and this decides their general attitude towards us."

Again he writes: "I have urged the supreme character of the motive of sympathy as the one that should early, and indeed principally, be employed in the management of children" (On Infants' Education).

CHAPTER XIV.

PESTALOZZI AS A PRACTICAL TEACHER.

To know something about the manner in which Pestalozzi himself taught is, to say the least of it, a very interesting matter to those who understand and believe in his great educational principles. But we must not expect to find in him the perfect pedagogue any more than the perfect pedagogist. M. Fischer, who knew him well, and loved him, said: "Pestalozzi understands that he is lacking in much positive knowledge and in practical skill in using his machinery".

First let us note Pestalozzi's own accounts of his actual work as a practical teacher. Writing of his work in the orphan-school at Stanz, he says: "I had Gedicke's reading-book, but it was of no more use to me than any other school-book; for I felt that, with all these children of such different ages, I had an admirable opportunity for carrying out my own views on early education. I was well aware, too, how impossible it would be to organise my teaching according to the ordinary system in use in the best schools. As a general rule I attached little importance to the study of words, even when explanations of the ideas they represented were given. I tried to connect study with manual labour, the school with the workshop, and make one thing of them. But I was the less able to do this as staff, material and

tools were all wanting. A short time only before the close of the establishment, a few children had begun to spin; and I saw clearly that, before any fusion could be effected, the two parts must be firmly established separately-study, that is, on the one hand, and labour on the other. . . .

"I made them spell by heart before teaching them their A B C, and the whole class could thus spell the hardest words without knowing their letters. It will be evident to everybody how great a call this made on their attention. I followed at first the order of words in Gedicke's book, but I soon found it more useful to join the five vowels successively to the different consonants, and so form a well-graduated series of syllables leading from the simple to the compound. I had gone rapidly through the scraps of geography and natural history in Gedicke's book. Before knowing their letters even, they could say properly the names of the different countries. In natural history they were very quick in corroborating what I taught them by their own personal observations on plants and animals."

In describing his experiences at Burgdorf, he gives us a still farther insight into his practical methods. He writes: "I once more began crying my ABC from morning till night, following without any plan the empirical method interrupted at Stanz. I was indefatigable in putting syllables together and arranging them in a graduated series; I did the same for numbers; I filled whole note-books with them; I sought by every means to simplify the elements of reading and arithmetic, and by grouping them psychologically, enable the child to pass easily and surely from the first step to the second, from the second to the third, and so on. The pupils no

longer drew letters on their slates, but lines, curves, angles and squares."

In How Gertrude Teaches Pestalozzi again refers to his experiences, and says: "Being obliged to instruct the children by myself, without any assistance, I learned the art of teaching a great number together; and as I had no other means of bringing the instruction before them, than that of pronouncing everything to them loudly and distinctly, I was naturally led to the idea of making them draw, write, or work, at the same time. The confusion of so many voices repeating my words suggested the necessity of keeping time in our exercises, and I soon found that this contributed materially to make their impressions stronger and more distinct."

So far we have had Pestalozzi speaking about himself, now we will see what others say about him, on the same points. Baron de Guimps, in his biography of Pestalozzi, when giving an account of the work at Stanz-an account which, he asserts, is wholly based on official documents-says: "Visitors to the establishment often saw nothing but disorder and confusion, with an entire absence, as it seemed, of all serious instruction". M. Zschokke, the Government Agent at Stanz during Pestalozzi's time there, in his History of the Memorable Facts of the Swiss Revolution-published in 1804-says of the school, after Pestalozzi left it: "The orphans, however, were still carefully taught, and such matters as order and cleanliness, which had previously been neglected, received particular attention ". M. Buss, one of Pestalozzi's first assistants, speaking of his first meeting with Pestalozzi, says: "The following morning I entered his school: and, at first, I confess I saw in it