UNITED STATES BUREAU-OF EDUCATION. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV FROM REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION 
 
 FOK 18'J5-9i. 
 
 THE LETTERS OF RABBI AKIBA, 
 
 OR 
 
 Till: JEWISH PRIMER AS IT WAS USED IN THE PUBLIC 
 SCHOOLS TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
 1897.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE LETTERS OF RABBI AKIBAH, OE THE JEWISH PRIMER 
 AS IT WAS USED IK THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS TWO THOU- 
 SAND YEARS AGO. 1 
 
 PREFACE BY THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION. 
 
 This article is interesting and valuable in the history of education as showing the 
 pains taken in Hebrew education to find a spiritual sense to all natural and artificial 
 objects. Europeans and Americans are content to require their children to study 
 the alphabet and master it as a mechanical affair. The Hebrew is of all peoples the 
 one chosen by Divine Providence to ponder most carefully the spiritual sense of 
 nature and human life. It would be expected, therefore, that an account of Hebrew 
 education would show some of the devices by which the directive power of that 
 wonderful people should manifest its sleepless care over the culture of the spiritual 
 sense. 
 
 The lesson of the history of education of all peoples is this demonstration of the 
 constant alertness, so to speak, of the national spirit in looking to its own preser- 
 vation. The Chinese lay immense stress upon the mere verbal memory, teaching 
 the etiquette laid down in the books of Confucius and Mencius. The child has all 
 of his habits of thought trained in the direction of the observance of family eti- 
 quette. He learns to respect and obey his elder brother, his father and mother, and 
 the officers of the State. He learns to protect those who depend, in like manner 
 upon him. This comes out in every phase of Chinese education. The culture peoples 
 that have contributed to our civilization, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Jews, 
 furnished still stronger illustrations of this principle. The Greeks contributed 
 science and aesthetic art to modern civilization. The entire culture of the Greek 
 people, at least of the Athenian people, has this significance. So, too, the Romans, 
 who contributed to the world its sense of legal right, the protection of life and prop- 
 erty. All that we learn about the Romans goes to give us an insight into the care 
 which the spirit of the Roman people took to preserve in its education this insight 
 into the human will, both the individual and the social will. 
 
 The student of the philosophy of history and the philosophy of education will 
 read with interest this excerpt from the history of the Jewish education, as showing 
 the neglect of what is mechanical and prosaic; what, in other words, is the letter 
 for the spirit of it the spiritual sense which the Hebrew mind finds underlying 
 all objects in time and space. 
 
 HISTORY AND NATURE OF THE PRIMER. 
 
 When I was engaged in writing the first part of my treatise on Hebrew education 
 I discovered an ancient Jewish text-book, which was written for the public schools 
 by the great educator Rabbi Akibah, who lived at the time of the second destruc- 
 tion. When I mentioned my discovery to the well-known scholar Hon. Judge Mayer 
 
 1 Discovered and translated for the first time by Prof. Kaphtali Herz Imber, 1896. 
 
 701 
 
 2070807
 
 702 EDUCATION REPORT, 1893-96. 
 
 Sulzberger, of Philadelphia, be encouraged mo to cxamiuo the booklet more carefully. 
 A careful investigation followed, and I found it to bo an ancient Jewish primer. The 
 booklet contains about sixty small printed pages, written in fine classic Hebrew. 
 Its antiquity is soon recognized by its spiritual tendency. The composition is made 
 on the same principle as that of the Alpha Bethical picture book of the ancient 
 Jewish primary school, namely : It is built on the letters of the Hebrew Alpha 15eth. 
 While the letters of the Alpha Beth were explained to the children, the meanings of 
 their figures, shapes, and positions, this Jewish primer endeavors to explain the let- 
 ters and meanings of the terms. 
 
 The tablets in the primary school correspond more to our modern picture books, 
 while tho Jewish primer has the character and poetical touch of modern readers. 
 The booklet is divided into three parts ; the first is of a lighter matter than tho second, 
 and the second than the third. It is probable that the first part was made for the 
 first school standard, while the second and third portions were -alculated for the 
 higher classes. The third part assumes the character of theological commentaries. In 
 general, it breathes a deep religious, poetical, spiritual tone, and wo can now undcr- 
 derstand tho psychological problem how tho Hebrews, whose religion was void of 
 tho idealistic charm which characterized tho religion of tho Pagans, yet proved 
 to bo better devotees to their faith in spite of its dryuess and lack of inspiring 
 motives. Tho answer to that problem is the Jewish primer, and tho idealistic 
 spiritual education which was implanted in the heart of tho child by it, and has 
 inspired later the grown Hebrew to endure temptations, as well as persecution. 
 From a historical and educational point, of view the Jewish primer is of great value, 
 bearing testimonies to the great power of education. 
 
 THE TRANSLATION. 
 FIKST PAUT. 
 
 Said Rabbi Akibah, those are the twenty-two letters, by and through which the 
 "Torah" (the law) was given to all the tribes of Israel. They are engraved by a 
 fairy pen upon the most exalted crown of tho Holy One; praise to Him. When the 
 will of the Holy Ono was to create tho universe, those letters arrayed themselves 
 before tho Lord, each desiring to bo made tho medium of the creative force. First 
 appeared the Taw, the last of the letters in the Alpha Beth, and begged that the 
 Lord wonld create the world with it, pleading "O Lord, create through me the, 
 world as I am the first letter of theTorah (tho law)." The Lord then replied. NO." 
 Then the Taw asked why, and the Lord answered. ' Because I will put thee as a sign 
 of destruction upon the foreheads of tho wicked.'' Taw means a sign in Hebrew as 
 it is written in Ezekiel (xvi), and the Lord said unto me, "Pass through Jerusalem, 
 and put a sign upon the foreheads of the groaning and moaning people for tho 
 iniquities they did." What is the meaning of the sign? When the Almighty 
 resolved to destroy Jerusalem He called to the Angel of ]>eath, saying unto him, 
 "Go through Jerusalem and divide the wicked and the good ones. T'pon the former 
 make a Taw of blood, a sign of death, while upon the latter sign a Taw of ink, tho 
 symbol of life." Why is the shape of the Taw peculiar from all the letters T 
 Because the Torah saves man from all troubles. At that time the Spirit of Jn 
 appeared before tho Lord, urging tho destruction of tho good ones too. Tho Lord 
 asked why, and the Spirit of Justice replied, "Because they did not warn the 
 wicked." The Lord replied, "It is known to me that those wicked would not heed 
 their warnings." Then the Spirit of Justice said that it was their duty to warn 
 regardless of the consequences. The Lord then declared that they should share the 
 same fate as the wicked. 
 
 At that time six destructive angels were sent npon Jerusalem to destroy her people, 
 as it is written (K/ekiel i\\ < lichold. six men were coming from the upper 
 facing tho north side, each armed, and the man dressed in linen stood among them,
 
 AN ANCIENT JEWISH PRIMER. 703 
 
 and tlio pen of a writer on his loins, and he went near the copper altar." Why the 
 north side? Because all ill winds are blowing only from the north side, as it is 
 written (Jeremiah i) "And he said unto me, from the north the ill fate will come 
 upon the dwellers of the land." As soon as the Taw heard it from the mouth of the 
 Most High the latter left tho place sorrowful. 
 
 Then appeared before the Lord the letter Shin, the next to the last of the letters, 
 praying the Lord to create with it the world, under the plea that the letter Shin is 
 the first letter in the Holy Name of Shadi (the Almighty). Then the Lord refused 
 to accept on the ground that Shin is the first letter of falsehood, "Sheker." "And 
 how," said the Lord, "can I create the world with a letter which has no foot? and 
 falsehood has no footing." The Shin, went out sorrowful, and the letter Eeish 
 appeared before the Lord with the same wish, saying, "I am the first letter of Thy 
 name, the Merciful and the Healer." But tho Lord said "No, as Eeish is tho first 
 letter of Rashn, which means wicked." .So the Reish left sorrowful, and tho K 
 appeared before the Lord, asking that the world may be created with it, as the 
 people will praise the Lord with that letter ia saying thrice Holy, Holy, Holy, is 
 the Lord Zebaath (Kadosh means holy). The Lord refused on the ground that 
 curse is prepared to come over tho generations of the flood, and in Hebrew curse is 
 "Kellala. " The K went out sorrowful, and the Zadic or Z appeared before the Lord 
 with the same wish as tho former letters, saying, " Create with me the world, as Thou 
 art called Zadie" (Righteous One). The Lord refused and said "No, as many 
 troubles are to come with thee upon Israel" (Zara is trouble in Hebrew). The Z 
 went out sorrowful, and the P came before the Lord, saying, "Create with me the 
 world, as tho laws will bo called Pikiddim, and I am the first letter in Thy name 
 as Redeemer" (Pode is redeemer in Hebrew). Tho Lord replied "No, as they will 
 serve the idols with theo" (Peor is the famous name of a famous idol). The P went 
 out sorrowful, and the E or Ain came before tho Lord, saying, "Create with me the 
 world, as it is written (Zachazje) tho eyes of the Lord are upon the whole universe" 
 (Ain is eye in Hebrew). The Lord replied "No, as with thee tho people watch tho 
 night, to commit crime and sin, as it is written (Job xxiv) <th6 eye of the adulterer 
 watches tho night, and I will punish the wicked by thee,' as it is written (Job xi) 
 ' the eyes of the wicked will go out.'" Tho E went out sorrowful, and the S or Samech 
 came before the Lord, saying, "Create with mo the world, as through me Thou art 
 called the leaner of the fallen ones" (Samech is leaning). The Lord said "No, as 
 with theo the pagans will destroy my city, as it is written (Psalms) 'they made 
 Jerusalem the ruins of piles.'" The S went out, and the N or Nun came before the 
 Lord, saying, "Create with me the world, as with me Thou willst resurrect the dead, 
 and I am called the candle of the Lord, which is the soul iu man" (Proverbs xx). 
 ("Ner" is candle.) Tho Lord answered "No, as I will blow out the light of the 
 wicked in the latter days to come." The N went out sorrowful, and the M or Miin 
 came before the Lord saying, "Create with me the world, as with me the genera- 
 tions to come will crown Thee proclaiming Thy Heavenly, Eternal Kingdom, and 
 with mo Thou art called King (Melech)." The Lord said "No, as with thee will 
 come a day of compassion." The M went out sorrowful, and the L or Lamed came 
 before the Lord, saying, " Create with mo the world, as with me Thou wilt once give 
 to Israel the two tablestonea, and Israel wiinearn Thy laws." (Lamed means 
 study.) Tho Lord said "No, as the tablestones will be broken." The L went out 
 sorrowful, and the Caf camo before the Lord. At that hour, when the Caf went 
 down from tho Crown divine (Keter is crown), a storm arose in the celestial realm. 
 When the Caf appeared before the glorious throne, the throne began to be shaken, 
 and the wheels of the glorious chariot began to tremble. The Lord inquired for 
 their uneasiness, and they said, "For the Caf went down from the exalted glorious 
 crown of our heads and stays before Thee, and all our glory is only called by the 
 Caf, as it is written (Jeremiah xvii). 'Exalted glorious throne, the glory of God is 
 forever."' ^o the Lord called to the Caf, saying, "What is thy wish?" The Caf
 
 704 EDUCATION REPORT, 1895-96. 
 
 said, " O Lord of the universe, create with me the world, as with me is named Thy 
 Throne, Thy Glory, and Thy Crown." He answered "No, as by thee I will once 
 clutch with my hands for grief, as it is written (Ezekiel xxi) ' I will too clutch my 
 hands (Caf is hand); with thee will also go out the tears of my people and I shall 
 create with thee the world.'" The C went out sorrowful, and the Jod came before 
 the Lord, saying, "O Lord, create with me the world, as with me Thou art named 
 Jathe Creatorof the Worlds" (Isaiah xxvi). The Lord said, "Xo, as with thee I Avill 
 create the wicked thought in man to lure him away from the good path.'' The Jod 
 went out sorrowful, and the T or Teth came before the Lord, saying, "O Lord, create 
 with me the world, as with me Thou willst send the Holy Ghost to those who fear 
 Thee, and in me is hidden the good one" (Tob is good). The Lord said "Xo, as with 
 thee I will once call my people ' unclean,' ' Tame,' and every leper will be so called." 
 The T went out sorrowful, and the Ch or Cheth came before the Lord, saying, "O 
 Lord, create with me the world, as with me they feel Thy mercy feeling the whole uni- 
 verse, and with me Thou art called merciful." The Lord said " Xo, as with thee I once 
 will engrave with an iron pen the sin of Judah." The Ch went out sorrowful, and the 
 S or Sain came before the Lord, saying, "OLord, create with mo the world, as Thy 
 reverence from generation to generation exists with me." The Lord said "Xo, as adul- 
 tery will come upon the world through thee, and as a consequence Israel will lose 
 twenty-four thousand people, and how can I create the world with thee?'' The 8 
 went out sorrowful, and the W or Waw came before the Lord, savin-;, "OLord, 
 create with me the world, as with me they praise Thee, Thou Holy One in Israel." The 
 Lord said, "No, as I once will inflict upon Israel for their passions." The W went 
 out sorrowful, and the H or He came before the Lord, saying, " O Lord, create 
 with me the world, as with me they acknowledge Thy majesty and glory. " The 
 Lord answered, "No, as with thee I will once in the later days of judgment make the 
 day that of penance, burning all the wicked and evil doers." The II went out sor- 
 rowful, and the D or Dalith came before the Lord, saying, "O Lord, create with 
 me the world, as with me the generations will exalt Thee, as it is written (Psalms 
 cxlviii) 'Generation to generation will praise Thy work.' " The Lord answered. " Xo, 
 as with thee Israel will experience judgment among themselves, as it is written in 
 the Scripture." The D went out sorrowful, and the G or Gimel came before the 
 Lord, saying, "O Lord, create with me the world, as with me the people praise 
 Thy greatness." The Lord answered "No, as with thee I will pay t<> the enemies, 
 as it is written (Isaiah lix) 'as to the reward He will pay.'" The G went out sor- 
 rowful, and the B or Beth came before the Lord, saying, "O Lord, create with me 
 the world, as with me all the creation praises Thy glorious name, as it is written 
 (Psalms Ixxxix), ' Blessed be the Lord forever; Amen. Praise the Lord all His hosts. 
 All the coming generations will say, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel and Blessed be 
 the glorious name forever'" (Psalms Ixxvi). The B is the first letter in Hebrew for 
 blessed. As soon as the Lord heard the plea of the B ho accepted, and created the 
 world with the letter B as it is written in Genesis. " Breishith Bara Elohim," which 
 means with B created the Lord heaven and earth. As the A or the Aleph heard and 
 saw how the Lord had accepted the letter B it went aside meditating in silence. 
 Then the Lord said unto the A, " Why artthou silent ?" and the A replied, " Because 
 I do not count for mnch, as I represent only number one, while the other letters 
 represent much, as B, number two, C, three, D, four, and so on." Then the Lord said, 
 " Be not afraid, as thou art the king over all the letters ; thou art one, and I am one, 
 and the law is one, and with thee I will give it to Israel, my people, who are called 
 one (nation), as the first letter of the Ten Commandments is the A or Aleph in the 
 word ' Anochi' ' I am thy Lord.'" > 
 
 1 The pleadings of the letters in every sentence they mention is that each letter begins the respective 
 Biblical passage. The way of its composition shows the childish spirit, yet in that most fantastic 
 tale is hidden one thought of the most prevalent philosophy of. that age the Logos idea.
 
 AN ANCIENT JEWISH PRIMER. 705 
 
 SECOND PART. 
 
 Why is the head of the A or Aleph upright standing on two legs as inenf Because 
 it is second in Truth (A is the first letter of Eineth, truth) and falsehood has no legs 
 to stand upon, since all the letters of falsehood have no foothold. Why is his hand 
 stretched out from his side? Because he shows to the Almighty, who is Truth Him- 
 self, as it is written (Psalm cxvi) "and the Truth of the Lord forever." 
 
 Why is the B or Beth with its open face toward the G? Because the B resembles 
 a house (Beth is house in Hebrew) open to all, and the G resembles a man who 
 sees ,1 poor one at the door, and goes into the house to bring out so'me food. 
 
 Why is the foot of the G or Gimel toward the Df Because all mercy must be 
 extended to the poor. (Dal is poor in Hebrew.) 
 
 Why is the D or Dalith resembling a stick and facing the H? Because the poor 
 man is striving only for the bliss of the material world. 
 
 Why is the H or Hei resembling an open hut? Because he who wants to get 
 out of it can do so. Why has it two doors, one small and one large! Because he who 
 wants to get out goes out through the larger, and he who wants to get in must come 
 in through the smaller. (Allegory for birth and death.) 
 
 Why is the W or Waw upright like a stick facing the S? Because God has hinted 
 through the symbols of the letters that He will once punish the wicked by messen- 
 gers with fire sticks of the purgatory, from where their woe cry will be hoard, as it 
 is written (Isaiah iii) "Woe to the wicked." 
 
 Why has the S or Sain two points on its head, one toward the Waw and the other 
 the Cheth? Because if one goes to sin, he looks twice, once to be hidden from men, 
 the other look is directed toward the crime. 
 
 Why has the Ch or Chet no crown? Because the wicked have only shame, and 
 they are void of good name. (Chet means sin.) 
 
 Why is the hand of the T or Teth hidden inside and its head upright with a crown 
 on ? Because he who does good and helps the poor that nobody sees will calm 
 the wrath even that of the Angel of Death, as it is written (Proverbs xxi) "A hidden 
 gift calms the wrath." 
 
 Why is the Jod smaller than all the letters? Because he who humbles himself 
 here will inherit the life hereafter, which was created with that letter. Why is the 
 point of it toward its face? Because each one gets rewarded according to his merit, 
 and his good deeds are before him. 
 
 Why resembles the Caf a throne and facing the L ? Because a throne is fit only 
 for the kings to sit on. (Kese is throne, and Melech is king.) 
 
 Why is the L or Lamed taller than all the letters ? Because it stands in the center 
 of the twenty-two letters, and resembles a king, a throne behind and kingdom 
 before him. 
 
 Why is there an open M and a close M? (The former is used in the middle of 
 the word as well as at the beginning, while the latter only at the end.) Because 
 there is an open king and there is a close king. Why is the head of the open M 
 toward the ground with the hand stretched on high? Because it points out to Him, 
 to whom all kingdom belongs, as it is written (Psalm xxii) "To Thee, O Lord, is the 
 Kingdom," and at the same time looks to the ground to show, as King David said, 
 "From Thee is all." The closed M points out that all is closed to us. 
 
 Why is the N or Nun facing the S or Samech? Because it looks as one who falls 
 and prays to bo leaned. 
 
 Why is the S or Samech closed around? Because it is a symbol to Israel, who ia 
 closed round on all the corners with divine glory, and that He will not exchange him 
 for another nation, and his seed will not be mixed with the seed of others, as it is 
 written "The Lord belongs to His people." Also it is written (Zechariah) "I, the 
 Lord, wil! surround thee with a fire wall." 
 
 The E or Ain is the initial of Esau the wicked, from whom Persians and Tarsians 
 ED 96 23
 
 706 EDUCATION EEPORT, 1895-96. 
 
 forth. Why is tbo E in a sitting position? Because they will fall before the 
 !' Israel, as it is written (Obadja i) "The house of Jacob will l>e fire and Edom 
 will bo his inheritance." 
 
 Why is there a sitting ami a standing 1' ? (The standing 1' is only used a; the end 
 
 vord.) Because the month which opens thosanie seals. (P means mouth.) The 
 
 idol worshipers have no open month in the laws and in the oral law or in prayers; 
 
 oiily Israel alone, as it is Avritten (Psalms cxlvii) " He told His words to Jacob. Ho 
 
 did not so to any nation." 
 
 Why has the Z or Zadic two heads? Because there arc two kinds of righ 
 people; the one plain and the other with humility. 
 
 Why is the K or Kaf tall and homed? Because all the horns of the wicked will be 
 cut off, for they -walk proudly in this life. As it is written (Psalm Ixxviii) "And all 
 the horns of the wicked I Avill cut off." He will again exalt those of I- 
 is written (Psalm Ixxv) "Exalted will bo the horns of the pious 
 
 Why is the face of the R or Eeish turned away from the K ? Becaii-e k N t ': 
 tial of the wicked, and K the initial of the holy, and the wicked is always turning 
 away from the holy. 
 
 Why has the Sch or Shin three branches above and no foot or root below ? P.eranso 
 the Shin is the initial of falsehood, and falsehood has no foothold and the, Aim' 
 will stop the mouth of falsehood. It resembles a tree whose brand:' ::tifnl 
 
 and the roots little; the wind can easily turn it over. 
 
 Why is the foot of the Taw a little broken up .' Because Taw is the inilia! of the 
 Torah, the law, and ho tvho wants to study the lawmrrst humble and lower hi- 
 
 AXOTIir.U KXI'LAXATION" FOR THE ALI'IiA HKTII. 
 
 Alcph Beth means, learn wisdom. (Aleph means learn: lieth is like Bina 
 dom, and on that line the whole Alpha Beth is explained according to the- meanings 
 of their terms.) 
 
 (Umincl Dalith means, bo merciful to the poor. Why is the leg of the Oimel 
 stretched forward? Because the good ones are apt after the poor to help them. 
 Why is the back of the Dalith turned toward the dime! .' I'-.-eanse the- poor looks 
 behind him expecting somebody to help him. 
 
 Why is the II after D? Because he who helps the poor will become great. 
 
 Why is the W ait -r II .' Because of him who does not help the poor, they 
 to that man who can but will not do good with his wealth." and it is written 
 xi) "Ho who keeps away his Avealth from charity, will lose it." 
 
 Why come after W>S and SCh? They show that if one have coni|iiered his tem- 
 per and done good, then he will find mercy at the throne of the Almighty. 
 
 Why are the letters of truth scattered and the letters of falsehood together, 
 is the initial of Emeth, truth; M is the second letter, and Taw is the last ; 
 while Sheker, falsehood, formed from the letters Sh. k. r, are following each < 
 Because truth is very rare to find, while falsehood is behind the ear. As they taught 
 in the Coii '>!; Ismael, ho who wan; ,ie impure. 
 
 bur ho -who tries to be pure, they help him. 
 
 Why are the Jive special letters of double There are n ia 
 
 the Hebrew Alpha Beth which have double ones, and they are used at the end of the. 
 words; they are M. X. 7, P. Ch.) 
 
 The simple Caf and the closed Caf nhow the simple hand of Moses and tin- c 
 hand of < lod. 
 
 The open M and the closed M show that there is an opes sentence- (or word; and 
 a hidden word, and from it must bo learned (lie good manner: that the teacher shall 
 speak and the-pupil silent and listening. 
 
 The bowed Z and the simple Z; the former represents the bowed pious on--, the 
 latter the simple one. Each sage must study and seek the truth of the law with
 
 AN ANCIENT JEWISH PRIMER. 707 
 
 the utmost sincerity, as it is written (Psalm cxv) '' Hail to those who keep His law ; 
 with all their henrts they seek Him.' 
 
 THIRD PAP.T. 
 
 'At" "Bash." Aleph is Adam, who was the first creature of the world, as the 
 creation was created by the word (logos), but ho was created by the hand of the 
 Almighty. How do I know that the world was created by the word? Then it is 
 written i Psalm xxxiii). "He said, and it was; " in another line he says, "By the word 
 of God the Heavens were made.'' 
 
 How do I know that Adam was made by His hand * As it is written (Genesis) " And 
 the Lord created the man." What is the meaning- of the passsage (Psalm cxxxix) 
 And Thon pnitest Thy hand upon me?" The Lord made first Adam so tall that 
 his height was from the ground to the sky. "When the angels saw him they began 
 to tremble and appeared before the Lord saying, "Are there two Lords; one in 
 Heaven and the other on earth?" "What did God? He simply pnt his hand on him 
 and shortened his height 2,000 cubits. 
 
 I';i.-h, 13, is the initial of animals. Shin is the initial of reptiles, which were 
 created with Adam. Why have they been created with him? Because the Lord 
 . -'If he gets proud, then we say to him, Behold, animals and reptiles were 
 created as yon, too." 
 
 Gar Pack (a combination of the letter G with R, and the letter D with K, and so 
 goes on through the whole order of the Alpha, Beth). Gar, Gimel ; ihis represents 
 the Garden, of Eden, placing there twelve canopies of precious stones and of pearls 
 for Adam, as it is written (Ezechiel XXT) "In Eden the Garden of the Lord thou 
 wast: all the precious stones were thy shelter." R means that he, Adam, went the 
 first into Eden l>eforo all the pious ones. 
 
 D, K. D mejins the doors of Eden, which angels opened to him, Trbom the Lord 
 appointed as his servants. K means holy: these angels called him Adam, "holy." 
 
 IF. Z. II as tho Almighty lulled Adam into sleep. Z means the rib Trhieh Ho took 
 from him to form from it his counterpart, his wife. 
 
 W, F. W means that He brought Evo to Adam, accompanied by tens of thousands 
 of angels, who were singing and cheering. F means that the w hole celestial family 
 went down into Eden ; some of them were playing on harps and the others play 
 instruments, playing like virgins: while snn, moon, and stars were dancing before 
 them as girls. 
 
 S. E. S means that the Lord invited them both to a banquet in Eden. E means 
 that tho Lord prepared for them tables of pearl ; each pearl was 2 cubits long and 60 
 cubits broad, and ail sorts of food were thereon, as it is written (Psalm xxiii) "Thon 
 preparest a table for me." 
 
 Ch. S. Ch means that the angels did servant dnty, roasting his meat and cooling 
 his wine, and the serpent saw their honor and envied them. S means that the Lord 
 told him not to eat from the tree of knowledge. 
 
 >Tho second part v.-as. judging from its character, probably taught in tho nest school standard 
 
 :tfd for pupils from 8 to 10 years old. Tho secoud part doea not contain the childish fantasy 
 
 heated by tho steam of oriental imagination. It simply explains tho letters of tho Alpha Beth in 
 
 tlio lino of their words and terms, while at the saino tinio it tries to implant in tho heart of the child 
 
 :;.*, moral, .".ml national patriotic sentiments. The thhtl part is in quantity as well as quality 
 
 f.'.r :;npiTH>r to tho other tiro, for it has a lioniili tic character, and Tries to make the child acquainted 
 
 . i'the most truly national and religious traditions and legends. A new node of explaining 
 
 .the letters is, that it takes the first letter of the Alpha 1Mb, combines with the last Taw and forms 
 
 a iii-\v v.-ord "At." v.-hich is explained by some folklore. 
 
 Then it takes the next letter B combining wivh tho next last letter Sh or Shin and a word "Bash" 
 is formed and explained. That way was for training the chilli's brain to the scholastic way of argu- 
 ment among the sages of the Rabbis of the Talmud. Tho gradual rising of the thought in the primer 
 indicates the great educational principle which the author had before his eyes. The third part of the 
 primer was for pupils of the age of 10 and upward; it was calculated to prepare them for the study 
 of the Talmud and oral law.
 
 708 EDUCATION REPORT, 1895-96. 
 
 F, N. F means that Eve mistook the words of the serpent, and ate from the for- 
 bidden fruit. N means that their eyes were opened to see that they were naked, 
 and they covered their nakedness with fig leaves. 
 
 Jod, M. Yod means that the Almighty was aware of it, and he went down to call 
 Adam Jbr it. M means that the Lord questioned him, " Who told you that you 
 naked!" 
 
 C, L. C' means that the Lord invited them all for judgment. First, Ife called 
 aside Adam, asking him why he ate from the fruit. Adam defended himself, saying 
 that Eve gave him to eat. The woman was questioned, and she pleaded that she < i id 
 it under the temptation of the serpent. The serpent was called and cursed. When 
 the Lord said to the serpent " On thy belly thou shalt go," the serpent begged, "O 
 Lord, make me as the fish in water, which have no feet," and tho Lord said, " Dust 
 shall be thy food." Then the serpent said, " If tho fish eat dust, I will eat it 
 
 At that moment the Lord tore his tongue in two parts, saying. " Wicked oue, thou 
 hast sinned in gossip, since I make known to the world that it is on account of thy 
 unruly tongue." 
 
 A, Ch, S, means that God said unto the angels, I, myself, will be more merciful 
 to Israel than to the idol worshipers, for the former crown mo twice a day and pro- 
 claim my kingdom morning and evening by their declarations, "Hear, O Israel, the 
 Lord our God is one.'' If Israel would not exist, neither glory nor exaltation would 
 exist. 
 
 B, T, E (Data). My spirit is only calmed by Israel, for the heathen make mis- 
 takes to take sun, moon, and stars as deities. And when they bow before them and 
 before the hosts of Heaven, then the Holy One is wrath, as it is written (Psalm vii), 
 "God is wrath every day." The Almighty says unto the angels, "Behold, I irave 
 unto those pagans spirit, mind, glory, and ruling power, and they bow to sun, moon, 
 and stars, which I have created from the. aureole of my face." At that saying they 
 tremble, those wheels in the orbits of the sun, moon, and stars, arid two destructive 
 angels go out to destroy the world on account of their wicked doings, but they give 
 up their intention for the sake of the sages who study the law, and the public-school 
 children who read the scripture, and for the sake of the whole of Israel who pro- 
 claim morning and evening the Heavenly Kingdom. 
 
 G, I, F. (Gif), do not read Gif only Guf, body, that is the body of the Torah, that 
 the teachers of the colleges are trying to explain to Israel as it is written, " They 
 will teach thy laws to Jacob." 
 
 D, Ch, Z. (Dachaz), do not read Dachaz only " Dach Kulu Chefez," meaning the 
 humble one is the whole longing. The pious ones are the " land of desire " of (.;<>d. 
 Why are the pious ones called " desire f" Because they fulfill tho desire of the 
 Almighty. 
 
 Ch. L. K. (Cheleck), meaning part that is Jacob, who is the property of the Lord, 
 as the glorious name was sanctified through him and his children, and tho Lord has 
 engraved his image on his glorious throne. When the children of Jacob say thrice 
 a day praise to God, then the Lord kisses his head, which is engraved upon His 
 glorious throne. 
 
 How do I know that Jacob is the property of God? Then it is written tho property 
 of God is his people, Jacob tho. property of his inheritance. 
 
 N. M. R. (Nmar), meaning " he said;" those are the seraphim and fairy angels who 
 can not say praise to tho glory of the Lord, until Israel has first sanctified his holy 
 name, as it is written (Job xxxviii) "The morning stars sing together and the sons 
 of God shout for joy." The morning stars are the children of Israel, as Moses said, 
 and ye arc a-< the stars of the sk v. As the stars are shining, so tho children of I.-r.u 1 
 are shining through the light of the law, as it is written (Proverbs vi), "The good 
 ' and the law is light." 
 
 8, N. (SoiD Sli, T, (Shot) are the initials of the words, "He bears the Pabbath." 
 When <;<><1 promised Israel the pleasures of life hereafter in : ->r keeping the 
 
 laws, Israel demanded a sample of that pleasure, and the Lord gave him the Sabbath.
 
 AN ANCIENT JEWISH PRIMER. 709 
 
 When Nagrasniel, the manager of the Purgatory, asked the Lord, "Why didst thou 
 not give rue that nation of Israel as food for my flames as others?" the Lord replied, 
 "All the pagans are written in thy books, with the exception of Israel, as they study 
 the law, and I am with them." He then asked, "Where will they live in life here- 
 after?" And the Lord answered, "In the garden of Eden, full of myrrh and spices, 
 whose fragrant air penetrates from one corner of the world to the other.." Then he 
 wanted to know how they would enjoy their glorious time, and the Almighty will 
 say, "With me does not dwell the wicked. Israel will once, in the later days, be 
 void of tho tempting wicked thought, and neither Satan nor the Angel of Death will 
 approach their dwellings." 
 
 Then Nagrasniel will ask, "O Lord, Thou givest everyone his daily bread, give 
 me also," and the Lord will say, "I have given you all the wicked of the land, liars, 
 and the gossipers and worshipers and the evil doers." 
 
 IN PRAISE OF MUSIC. 
 
 Said Rabbi Akibah, Aleph is the initial of, Truth, learn thy mouth. Tell truth in 
 order to have a share in life hereafter. God is truth; His throne is truth, and He 
 receives the truth. His words are truth, His ways are truth, and His laws arc truth. 
 As it is written in the Scriptures, Jehovah Elohim is truth. (Jeremiah x.) 
 
 Aleph is the initial of tho words, I will open mouth and tongue. Said the Holy, 
 praise Him! I will open the mouths of the children of flesh and blood that they 
 shall praise me every day, and proclaim my kingdom into all the corners of the 
 universe. If it had not been for the sake of song and music, which they exercise 
 for lue every day, I would not have created my universe. 1 
 
 How do we know that God created the world only for the sake of music andsongf 
 Then it is written (Psalm xcvi), "Majesty and beauty before Him, might and glory in 
 His temple, and of His praise is the earth full." That God has made the heavens 
 only for the sake of music, as it is written (Psalm xix), "The heavens declare the 
 glory of God." That we know, that the earth sings since she was created, for it is 
 written (Isaiah, xxiv), "From the corner (or border) of the earth we hear a soug to the 
 righteous, and only God is righteous," as it is written (Psalm cxlv), "God is righteous 
 in all hi.s ways." How do we know that even seas and streams sing to the Almighty f 
 For it is written (Psalm cxlviii), "Praise the Lord, all the heavens, and the water." 
 Even all the creation praises the Lord with music and song. Even Adam opened 
 hi.s mouth with song. (It is a Talinudical legend that Adam was the author of the 
 ninety-second chapter of the Psalms.) I will open mouth and tongue, as among the 
 two hundred and forty-eight parts of the human body (pretty near to our modern 
 teaching of anatomy) with none of them is it so fit to praise the Lord as with mouth 
 and tongue. 
 
 Mouth and tongue can be compared only to the ocean and its waves. As the ocean 
 opens ajar, so the mouth. As the ocean is full of pearls, so the month (alluding to 
 the teeth). As the ocean brings forth the water, so the mouth. As the wave is lift- 
 ing itself high, so the tongue. As the ocean destroys a ship, so tho tongue destroys 
 with a word. As the ocean roars, so the mouth. As the waves kill the people, so 
 the tongue kills people. As the ocean has borders, so tho mouth has borders. As 
 the ocean is sometimes calm and sometimes stormy, so the mouth. Aa all fear the 
 waves, so all fear tho human tongue. As the outlet of the waters of the ocean turns 
 to filth, so the words of the month turn into nothingness. God said (so runs another 
 version), "I will open tho mouth of Israel to praise my name every day, for nothing 
 is pure in tho world without Israel and music, as for their sakes the world exists, and 
 I created Israel only for the sake of song, as it is written (Isaiah xliv), 'My nation I 
 created my praise to tell.'" 
 
 1 Here -we sec plainly how the primer or its author tried to implant into tho hearts of the children 
 tho love of music The translator.
 
 710 EDUCATION REPORT, 1893-96. 
 
 If there is no Aleph, then there is no Beth, meaning if there is no learning there 
 is no house. If there is no G there is no 1), meaning it' there is no charity there is no 
 poor, anil if there is no poor there is no charity, i .ilied poor, as it is written 
 
 (Psalm xviii), "Thou helpest the poor nation, and the eyes of the proud ones, those 
 of the heathen, thou makest down." 
 
 Another version of the initial of the Aleph is that God says, "My truth I have 
 deposited, by Israel." When God. gave the law to Israel, he promised them the 
 pleasure of future life in exchange for Iceeping the law. Israel demanded :\ sample 
 of that pleasure and the Lord gave them the Sabbath. How do we know th:. 
 Sabbath is a prototype of future life? For it is written (Psalm xcii), " A song to the 
 day of Sabbath/' meaning the life hereafter which is an everlasting Sabbath. 
 
 When Adam saw the Sabbath he began to sing the praise of the Jloly One. At 
 that moment the augcls went down in parties, some played instruments and < 
 different kinds of musical works, praising, singing and saying ' ' Cod," as it is w . 
 (Psalm), "To sing to the name of the Moat High, to tell at the mornings Thy im-rcy, 
 and at nights Thy truth.'' 
 
 The mornings means future life, and nights this life, as it is writt> 
 "Thou makest darkness and there is night, there the beasts of ; 
 ing." Do the beasts only roam at night, and not at day too? 
 
 But it is alluding to this life which is as dark as night, and the idol wor>hij>ers 
 which n-semble the beasts who roam in the forest at night. When the mornin 
 dawn* the beasts turn into their dens, so when the morning of the M --ing- 
 
 dom will dawn the heathen will turn back, never to come into life In : 
 written, " God will be the King of the unive 
 
 Aleph means thousand; five thousand gates of wisdom has the Lord open 
 
 . corresponding to his five books. Eight thousand gates of know!' 
 responding to the eight prophets, and eleren thousand gates of higher wi 
 corresponding to the eleven books of Scripture (those of Ruth and the like). As it 
 is written (Proverbs xxi), "A desirable treasure and oil is the dwelling of 
 A treasure is the law, oil is the books of tho scripture, calming man like balmy oil. 
 
 Another version of the Aleph is representing the Holy One. As the Alepli is the 
 first of all tho letters so is God tho first of all th ml He is al-o the, 1. 
 
 :.'bles, as it is written (Isaiah 11) "I the Lord am first, and with the his; 
 lam.'' Why is it written with tho last ones, and not with the la.-t one ! Vrr.< 
 learn that when God renews His world He himself arranges the order of the last 
 ones, the order of the pious, the order of the right ; Vii T of the lr.\: 
 
 tho order of the prophets, the order of kings, of princes, of nobility, of genera; 
 the order of even- being, the order of e and bird, aud that of every soul. 
 
 Those arranged in order, He brings down Enoch, the eon. of .Jcred, who-e proper 
 name is Mrttatron." and the four holy beasts from under the wheel , oi' His glorious 
 throne, and places His throne on one side. Then lie brings iip Korah and his gang 
 from the depth of the purgatory. Then He brings i'orth all tho living visit. 
 life, placing them on their legs. Then He asks them, "l>id a God lik 
 
 cither in heaven above or c.n earth beneath, or in any of the four cormTsof the world? 
 Bo witness unto me. and say tho truth," as it is written v Isaiah 41 >) '' Ye are my witness 
 that I am Cod!'' Then Mettatron and the holy beasts with Korah and his gang will 
 a one voice, "We never saw a Cod like Thee, neither in Heaven a.lxr, e nor on 
 earth Kflov. : Thou art the iii>t and la>t, and no other ! Thee, our Lord and 
 
 King,"asit is written (Psalm 86) "There is no God like Thee and 
 
 A i that hour the Lord will reply, "Verily. T, I am and no Cod with me. 1 was bc- 
 ,c world and I am with the creation, and 1 will bo a God in life here- 
 after. I kill and I will resurrect, I wounded them in this life and will heal them in 
 future life. With the same fault with which ho parts from this life, with the same 
 il appear at the resurrection the blind, tho lame, the deaf, and the kindred 
 led beings. And the Lord will sit as a healer and heal them.''
 
 AX ANCIENT JEWISH PRIMER. 711 
 
 "Why is Aleph written ar; ono letter anil read as a syllabic of three letters. Because 
 ir represents the Holy Ono who is oiie, and the reading of his name is a threefold, as 
 it is written ' Hear Israel, (1) God our, (2) Lord, (3) God. is oiie." His praise and 
 s:inctitication is also a threefold, as it is written "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord 
 Zehaath.'' Even the song is a threefold as the song of songs of Solomon. Song is 
 U:K\ sougs are two, here is a threefold .song. 1 
 
 names has the Holy One, those of the known ones, -while the unknown 
 are numberless. 
 
 Aleph is the initial of ""have chosen/' "'have taken," "have appointed. '' Said the 
 Lord, all those are applied to Mettatrou my servant, who is sublimcr than all the 
 :al>. Have chosen him in Adam's generation, when the generation of the Hood 
 got v.'icked, and took away my glory from them (in the text is " my Shechina," 
 meaning the divine womanhood), and \renfc to the heavens amid the blowing of the 
 horns, as it is written (Psalm -17). ''God went on high by the voice of the horns.'' 
 Then I selected Enoch, the son of Jered, from them, to bo with mo a living witness 
 with the four holy beasts in my chariot. I appointed him on all my treasures in my 
 celestial realm, and the keys of them. I handed over to him. I made him a prince of 
 princes to the glorious throne, a manager to four holy beasts, and to put crowns on 
 their heads. 
 
 I mado his height higher than all .the celestial beings, 7,000 miles taller. I exalted 
 his throne from mine. I turned his body iuto a flame and his bones into glitter- 
 ing light. I made his appearance as the appearance of lightning, his eyes as the 
 eternal light, and the reflection of his face as the reflection of the sun, the rays of 
 his eyes as the rays of the glorious throne, his garment of majesty and boauty. I 
 crowned him with a crown 500 miles on 500 miles measure, and gave from my majesty 
 to him. 
 
 I called him in my name " Jedud the Little," who knows all the secrets and nn 
 it-; which I revealed unto him in. love. I placed, his throne at the entrance of my 
 palace, to do judgment among the celestial family. Seventy names I named him in 
 order to increase his glory. Seventy princes I placed under him in order to execute 
 through them the fates of existence, to uplift the lowly and to make IOTT the proud 
 ones, to smite the kings with his word and to humiliate the nobles, to alter the run 
 of time and to reveal wisdom to the earthly kings, delivering the secrets to those 
 who strive fcr knowledge. That Mettatron sits in Heaven three hours each day, 
 gathering round him all those souls of infants, sucklings, and of school children who 
 died before their times. He gathers them under the glorious throne, dividing them 
 in divisions and sections, and teaches them the law, wisdom and knowledge, and all 
 the secrets of the Torah, as it is -written (Isaiah 28), " To whom will he teach 
 wisdom, to whom will he explain the tidings? To those who were deprived from 
 milk, taken from off the breasts." 
 
 THE rniNCK OF WISDOM. 
 
 nasel is the Prince of Wisdom. Why is his name Sagnasalf Because the 
 treasures of -wisdom are given into his hand. All those treasures were opened to 
 Moses while on Mount Sinai, where Sagnasel taught him the law in seventy Inn- 
 gauges and in seventy ways. The prophets, the oral laws, and all knowledge per- 
 taining to religion he taught him in seventy ways. At the expiration of his forty 
 days Moses forgot all in one hour, and the Holy One called npon Jofeiiia, the prince 
 of the law, and presented! him as a gift to Moses, and then his memory was strength- 
 ened. Those ninety-two names of the Holy One, names of the outspoken name, 
 
 1 The following chapter must have been for the last standard of th grammai school. Its n.; 
 environment, its more completed narratives, indicated tho character and purpose of that portion of 
 the "reader.' 1 Tho so oft-cited sentences of tho Scripture -were probably calculated to impress the 
 pupil with the idea that tho Bible is tho source of all knowledge, training him to study and to know 
 it bv heart.
 
 712 EDUCATION REPORT, 1895-96. 
 
 which are engraved upon the glorious throne, which the Holy One gave from His 
 name to Mettatron, and the twenty-two seals by which all the celestial ordei 
 sealed, also the books of kings and of angels, of the Grim Messenger, and the books 
 of fate of every nation. 
 
 Said Mettatron, the prince of the interior, the prince of the law, the prince of 
 wisdom, the prince of glory, the prince of the palace, the prince of the angels, the 
 prince of princes above and below, that the Lord, the God of Israel is my witness, 
 that when I revealed that secret to Moses there arose an uproar among the cel.-sfial 
 hosts, and they protested. They said to me, " Why do you reveal that secret to the 
 sons of man, born from a woman, who are full of faults, unclean, full of blood and 
 disease! Why do you reveal that secret by which the creation was called into 
 existence, why do you reveal to man of flesh and blood?" I replied to them, 
 "Because I took a permit from the Holy One. Therefore I revealed to him the 
 meanings of the names going out from light and fire." They were not satisfied with 
 my explanations, and the Lord said, "I want so, and I appointed Mettatron alone, 
 and he can give it to Moses." Moses delivered that to Jehoshua, and Jehoshua to 
 the elders, and the elders to the prophets, the prophets to the men of the ._ 
 synod, and the great synod to Ezra the scribe, and Ezra to Ilillel the Great, and 
 Hillel to Rab Ahlnhu, and Rab Ahluhu to the men of faith (the Esscues), and the 
 men of faith to the people of religious to take care of it, and to heal by it all the dis- 
 eases, as it is written, if thou hear and keep the words of the Lord I will not bring 
 upon thee the plagues I brought down upon Egypt, as I, thy God, am thy healer. 
 
 B reads as Beth, which means a house (the initials of Beth). Said the Lord, I 
 builded, I formed, I prepared, I buildcd my two palaces, one in Heaven and the 
 other on earth. I formed all the orders of creation. I prepared the future life. 
 
 Why has God created the world with the letter BT Because the Lord knew that 
 the world would be twice destroyed, once by the generation of the flood and once at 
 the end of 6093 years since the creation. (The letter B is in Hebrew No. 2.) 
 
 Another reason, as the temple will be destroyed twice. For he created two worlds, 
 life here and life to come. For God said, I created two palaces, one for me and the 
 other for the sons of man, as it is written (Psalms), "Heaven belongs to the Lord, 
 the earth he gave to the sons of man." 
 
 Said the Holy One, for the people will have two kinds of worship, Israel will wor- 
 ship me, the pagans, idols. Another reason, because the people have a dual thought, 
 one good and the other evil. 
 
 Three are called "first,'' the Torah, Israel, and the fear of the Lord, and for their 
 sake the world was created. By the Torah is written (Proverbs 14), "The Lord 
 bought me, the first of His way." "Israel," as it is written (Jeremiah), "holy is 
 Israel to the Lord, the first of his fruit." Fear of the Lord is also called "first," as 
 it is written (Proverbs 1), "The first of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.'' 
 
 B is Binda, knowledge or understanding. Without understanding the world could 
 not exist even one hour, as it is written (Deuteronomy), "Select from you men of 
 wisdom and understanding." When God requested Moses to select men of under- 
 standing to make them tribal leaders, Moses went throughout all the camps of Israel 
 to seek for men of understanding, and ho could not find them. 
 
 Understanding is dearer to the Almighty than the Torah; if a man knows all the 
 laws of the Torah, all the scripture, all the knowledge, and has not the understand- 
 ing, ho has nothing acquired. 
 
 <; is tho initial of Charity. If there was no charity tho world could not exist. The 
 Lord said, If it had not been for my charity tho world could not exist. What is the 
 charity that God does to this world daily? It consists in giving the people spirit, 
 wisdom, understanding, thought, power, light of the eyes, hearing of the ears, 
 motion of the feet, feeling of the hands, the opening of the mouths, and tho talk of 
 the to \s it is written (Ts.'m 33), "The charity of the Lord is full on the 
 
 earth." Spirit and soul, as it is written that the Lord blew into his nostrils a living
 
 AN ANCIENT JEWISH PRIMER. 713 
 
 br:;tli. Wisdom, as it is written, "The Lord gives from this mouth wisdom and 
 knowledge." The sense of hearing, as it is written, "And the ears of the deaf will 
 lie opened." Walk of the legs, as it says, "Then the legs of the lame will jump as 
 a deer." Feeling of the hand, as it is said, "Lift ye j r our hands in holiness." Open- 
 iug of the mouth, as it says, "Who made a mouth to man?" Talk of the tongue, as 
 it is written (Proverbs), "To man is the array of heart's feelings, but from the Lord 
 is the reply of the tongue. 7 ' 
 
 D, II. Said the Lord, "My word stands forever in Heaven." The word represents 
 the angel of healing, as it is written (Psalms), "He sends his word, and ho heals 
 them.'' Word is the power of prophecy, as it says, "And He put His word in the 
 mouth of Balaam." 
 
 Dalit is the initial of the Lord's promise. 1 say to uplift the poor, as the people are 
 not favorable to the poor, as it says, "The wisdom of the poor is disregarded." But 
 when a poor man prays to me, I do not turn him empty, as it is written (Psalms), 
 "God comforts the ashamed poor." The Holy One looks every moment to the poor, 
 and his words are sweeter to Him than the utterances of others, as it is written 
 (Psalms), "Then the Lord listens to the poor, and makes not ashamed his prisoners," 
 those afflicted people, who are imprisoned by their ailments and disease. 
 
 Why does the D face the H? Because he who is poor in this life will be rich in life 
 hereafter, like Israel who is poor here, but will be rich in future life. Again, the 
 heathen who are rich hero will bo poor yonder in the future life. 
 
 Why are the wicked prospering? Because God gives them their reward here for 
 the few good deeds they do. For instance, some wicked do charitable works, not for 
 charity's sake, but for the sake of their name being praised, and so they are rewarded 
 here with wealth. 
 
 If a man in Israel, who is born under a favorable planet to live a good, happy life, 
 and acknowledge the Lord with all his heart, is humble in his ways and manners, 
 and does not treat the poor in a haughty way, and does not curse, and gives from his 
 wealth to the poor, and to the rich in the shape of a loan, such a man will eat the 
 fruit in this life while the main stock will remain for him in future life and he will 
 become one of the saints on high. 
 
 1 1, or Hei, is the sacred name of the Holy One, by which he created the world, as 
 it is written (Genesis), " Those are the histories of heaven and earth, when they 
 were created." (The initials of the words " they were created" is H.) 
 
 From it you learn that the Almighty had no trouble in creating the universe, as 
 the medium he used was- the H, the lightest of all the letters (in pronunciation). 
 All the letters, if they are pronounced, he feels through the various organs, as 
 tongue, lips, teeth, and the letters are accompanied by the unclean saliva, but the 
 H, or "Ilei" is pure, as when pronounced, no organ is required to help, and no saliva 
 accompanies it. 
 
 All the pronounced names of the Holy One are written with H, and with it 
 heaven, earth, this life and life hereafter, and the messianic time, were sealed by it. 
 The letters by which heaven and earth were sealed are twelve, corresponding to 
 the twelve hours of the day and those of the night, to the twelve months of the 
 year, corresponding to the twelve planets in the Zodiac. To the twelve tribes cor- 
 responding to the twelve continents, bearing the twelve names of the twelve tribes, 
 as it is written, "Ho placed the borders of the nations to the numbers of Israel's 
 tribes." All those letters are as fire, and they glitter as lightning, and each letter 
 measures 21,000 miles, and on each are chained crowns of glory as they are engraved 
 by the finger of the Holy One. 
 
 They are also the seals of the Lord, with which he seals all the souls on the 
 glorious chariot. Each name has a special seal. The Lord sits on a throne of fire, 
 surrounded by lire pillars with the sacred names thereon. By each pillar numberless 
 angels of fire are standing. When a man knows those names, and makes use of 
 them, all the heavens are filled with fire, and they go down to burn the earth, but 
 ED 90 23*
 
 714 EDUCATION REPORT, 1895-96. 
 
 the heavens are linked and chained to the borders of tli earth, and seeing tl: 
 
 of tho Holy One, they are filled with the spirit of mercy and do not destroy tho 
 
 earth. 
 
 .S, or Sain, is the name of the Holy One, :;s Sai; ::iaintainT. v as tho Lord 
 
 is the inaintuiuer of all. 
 
 The Almighty has the key of woman, as it is written, "Hi 1 opened, her v, o 
 the key of rain, as it is written, "He will open you his best treasure: " the key of 
 maintenance, as it is written, "Thon openestThy hand to satisfy all with good 
 tho key of human structure; the key of manna, as it is written, "lie ( tn-ii.-d tho 
 luavens above;" the key of kingdoms; tho key of eyes, as it is written, "'Then tho 
 
 "f tho blind will ho opened; " tho key of tho deaf, as it is written, ' Th< 
 of the deaf will bo opened; " th.- key of the lips, as it is written, "Tho Lord will 
 open my lips;" tho key of tho mouth, as it is written, " And tho Lord < 
 mouth of the ass;" tho key of the tongue; tho key of the earth, as it is written, 
 "Tho earth shall open and nourish salvation;" the key of tho prisoners, as it is 
 written, "Tho Lord makes loose the hound ones;" Ho has tho key of Eden, a.-; it is 
 written, "Opened to mo tho gates of righteousness;" Ho has the key of the ]> 
 tory, as it is written, "Opened, the gates and let enter the pious nations keeping tho 
 truth." 
 
 Do not read Amonim (Truth) only "Amanim, " as for the sake of "Amen, " whieh 
 tho wicked say in tho purgatory, they are redeemed from it. In the later days tho 
 Lord will sit in Eden and explain the laws while all the good ones will sit ai 
 celestial family will l:e on hia right, and sun and moon with all the planets to tho 
 left, and tho Lord will explain the laws of tho -now Torah, Avhieh will ho j 
 through tho Messiah. At the end, Zeinbabcl will stand up and say, "Exalted a:id 
 sanctified shall ho tho Holy great name.'' His voico will bo heard from one corner 
 of the universe to tbe other, and all existence will H ;. " The wiel, 
 
 Israel and those of tho heathen in the purgatory will also say "Amen," and their 
 voice; will reach before the Lord. The Lord will inquire for them, and the :.: 
 of tho service will say that they are tho voices of the wicked condemned in the pur- 
 gatory. At that moment tho Lord will show His mercy and hand over to Michael 
 and Gabriel tho keys of the purgatory to bring them forth f 
 
 At that time tho two archangels will go and open tho forty thousand gates of hell. 
 Tho hell is 300 miles long, 300 miles hroud, 1,000 miles thick, 1,000 deep, and when a 
 wicked man falls into it, ho never can get out. 
 
 The two archangels at that time will bring those condemned forth, they will bo 
 washed and cleansed, their wounds healed, and they will be dressed in pure r.. 
 garment and brought before the glorious throne. When they will be befnr 
 Lord, they will fall on their faces, bowing, praising the Holy name. At th 
 all will join in tho eternal praise of tho Lord! 
 
 Ch, or Che t, i When the wicked arc punished in the. purgatoi 
 
 sins, they repent and they are forgiven and share the future life with all the pious and 
 good ones, and they hit near tho "Schcchina" (divine womanhood), as they 
 their broken hearts with repentance, as it is written (I'salm 34), "God is nigh to 
 the broken hearts," and they aro dearer to the Lord than tho angels. 
 
 The angels aro distant from the ' ; Seheehina" 3fi,W) miles, as it is writt< 
 pliim stand above him.' 7 
 
 'Above" in gcomctric.il calculation is "thirty-six thousand." ThoSchechi: 
 measured twice thirty-six times ten thousand miles, and tho celestial mile is thousands 
 of cubits; a cubit is four span and a fist, and jvspan measures from one. corner of tho 
 world to tho other. Tho earth is only or.e foot long, ono foot broad, and one font 
 high up to tho first heaven, and yet, those broken-hearted through i 
 nigh to t!i> Seheehina. 
 
 But those who are proud, the Lord is far from them. Those who are proud aro 
 'ol worshipers, and if a man i-t lik< ;>eaee with him. and baa 
 
 pride, he will not escape the punishment of the hell.
 
 AN ANCIENT JEWISH PRIMER, 715 
 
 F, or Feth. Feth means ''lime;" that is, tho liiuo from \vhicli all was created, and 
 to which all returns, as it is "written, "All was from dust and all returns to dust," 
 and dust is lime. Limo is the linio of tho future, from which all the good ones will 
 flourish in parties, as tho grass of the field with many garments, whoso perfume will 
 fill the whole of tlio universe, as the perfume of "Eden," as it is written (Psalms 
 xli i , " They will flourish from the city as the grass of tho field." The city is Jerusa- 
 lem, as tho Lord will start tho resurrection only from Jerusalem, as it is written 
 (Ezechifl), "I will give an ornament in the land of the living." Is there a dead 
 land ? It means Palestine, which is called " The land of the living," as her dead will 
 -urrected first. 
 
 What will become of those pions ones who are dead in other lands? But at the 
 day of resurrection tho Lord will say to the angels, "Go forth and lift np the surface 
 of the ground, and make tunnels through which to hring the good ones from foreign 
 lands to Jerusalem.'' The angels will take up tho four corners of the globe, and 
 shake tho wicked from it, and the good ones will bo brought to Jerusalem through 
 tunnels; there tho Lord himself will resurrect them. 
 
 How will the resurrection take place? Tho Lord will take a trumpet measuring 
 a thousand cubits, the cubits of tho Lord, and will blow so that it will be heard from 
 one corner of the world to the other. 
 
 At the first blow the world will be shaken up. At the second blow tho ground 
 will be divided. At the third blow the bones will be gathered. At the fourth blow 
 the portions of the bodies will be warmed up. At the fifth blow their skins will be 
 shaped. At tho sixth blow the sonl will be returned into their respective bodies. 
 At the seventh blow they will stand np alive with their garments on. 
 
 J, or Jod, means hand and might. We learn from it that the Lord will give in the 
 later days a might, a foothold to the pious ones, as it is written, "I will give unto 
 them a hand and a good name in my house and my walls." 
 
 House means the temple, as it is written, "And my house will bo called the worship 
 house of all nations." 
 
 Wall means Jerusalem, as it is written, "Upon thy walls, Jerusalem, I appointed 
 watches! " 
 
 Jod means also gifts, as the Lord will present gifts to all the pions ones, each one 
 with a, cup of life's elixir in order to live forever. 
 
 Name means that the Lord will reveal to them the pronounced name by which he 
 has created tho heavens and earth, in order that they shall be able to create worlds 
 too. Each pious ouo will get three hundred aud forty worlds as a reward for his 
 good deeds. They will have an everlasting name means the pronounced sacred name, 
 with which future life was created. Praise and exaltation that will be the light of 
 their eyes where at one glance they will be able to sec from one part of the world to 
 tho other. 
 
 Kaf, or K, means tho hand of swearing (as by swearing we lift up the hand). It 
 
 will bo a hand clutching of joy at the banquet which God will tender to tho right- 
 
 at the later days when with each one the "Schechina" will walk, accompanied 
 
 by tens of thousands of angels, around them pillars of lightning, and the elements 
 
 will dance before them. 
 
 Upon that time the prophet said, "O Lord, uplifted is Thy hand." At that 
 banquet, Isaiah will say "O Lord, uplift Thy hand, let not tho wicked see the 
 pleasures of the good ones." Tho Lord will reply, "No; contrary, let them come, and 
 be ashamed ;" then tho prophet will say, "No; let them not come, and not see." 
 
 Tho Jewish nationality will be called upon to settle that dispute. Mettatron will 
 bring the Jewish nationality before tho Lord. Then she will say, "For what am I 
 called here ?'' Then tho Lord will say, "My dear daughter, I like that the wicked 
 shall come and seo the pleasures of the good ones." "Let them come," she will say, 
 and bo ashamed." 
 
 At that time tho wicked will come at tho doors of Eden to look and behold the
 
 716 EDUCATION REPORT, 1895-96. 
 
 pleasures of the pious cues. They will see h-w everyone is clad in garment accord- 
 ingly, and before each i.s a table of pearl, and before everyone there is a golden 
 cup mounted with precious stones, while the <-np is filled with life elixir, and on the 
 table are arrayed many dishes of delicious food, and before everyone the angels are 
 waiting. 
 
 Their face;- seem to reiieet rays of light as that of the sun, penetrating from one 
 end of the world to tho other, while the heavens will open their doors, showering 
 upon them a shower of perfumed dew, and its aroma will fill all the spaces in the 
 universe, and millions of angels, harps in hand, will play and sing, while the sun, 
 moon, and the planets will dance. 
 
 When the wicked see those glorious things they will ask why is such an honor 
 and pleasure given to those? And the angels will answer, because they kept the 
 laws. Then the wicked will fall upon their faces praising the Lord, saying, " Hail 
 to the nation, that such is to him; hail to the nation, that the Lord is his God." 
 (Psalms cxliv.) 
 
 L, or Lamed, is the initial of " Heart understands knowledge." The heart is a 
 reproduction of man; since man has eyes, so has tho heart; man has ears, so has the 
 heart; man has a mouth, so has the heart; man has utterances, so the heart; man 
 roars, so the heart; man cries, so the heart; man walks, so the heart. The In-art 
 sees, as it is written (Preacher i), "My heart saw wisdom." The heart hears, as it 
 is written (Kings iii), "A heart to hear to judge." The heart talks, us it is written 
 (Preacher iv), "I spoke with my heart." The heart cries, as it is said (Lamentations), 
 "Their hearts cried unto the Lord." Man is consoled, so the heart; as it is said, 
 "And He consoled them, and spoke with their heart." Man legislates, so the hea; 
 it is said (Judges viii), " My heart to legislate to Israel." Man roams, so t h 
 it says (Psalms xlv), "My heart roams a good thin;-:." Man rejoices, so the he;;; 
 it is written (Samuel ii), "My heart rejoices in the Lord." Man is clean, so tho 
 heart; as it says (Psalms li), "A clean heart, create in me, O Lord." Man mourns, 
 BO the heart ; as it says (Genesis), "And he mourned in his heart." Man is awakened, 
 so the heart; as it is written (Song of Songs), "I slept, but my heart was awakened.'' 
 Man inquires, so the heart; as it says (Preacher i), "I turned my heart to inq 
 Man is wise, and so tho heart; as it is written (Proverbs). "The wise heart la, 
 good deeds." Man is good, and the heart; as it is written (Proverbs), "A good 
 heart is always jolly." 
 
 All that is in man is contained in the heart, and tho heart is equal to the two hun- 
 dred and forty-eight portions of the body. There are twelve actions and qu.-i 
 distributed to the various instruments of the body. 
 
 The brain acts through thought and is tho thinking machine. The month divides 
 the food, the tongue smooths the ground food, tho pipes of the lungs do the bre.i th- 
 ing, and so on. 
 
 But hate, love, envy, dwell only in tho heart; therefore it is said, "Do not hate 
 thy brother in thy heart; love thy God with all thy heart. 1 ' God thereto: e looks only 
 into the heart; as it is written, " Man sees with the eyes, while God looks into tho 
 heart." 
 
 M, or Mini. Why pronounced with both letters T Because both are on the height of 
 the ulorious throne, where they chain the crowns of light. When the time for sancti- 
 licat ion comes, and God does not step down from His height, they approach each 
 other saying, " When will I come to see the face of tho Lord?" (Psalms.) When 
 the Lord comes down then all the letters open their mouths with song of praise, 
 the open M says, " Thy kingdom is forever," while the closed M says. " And Thy realm 
 i> in all the generations." 
 
 At that time the Lord takes all the letters and kisses them, placing two crowns 
 
 upon each the one the crown of glory, tho other a crown of glory. To the, open M 
 
 ves two crowns, and totheelosod M one of ruling and other of majesty, and places 
 
 one to His right and the other letter to 1 1 is left, saying, " My letters, which 1 engraved 
 
 with pen of lire, my kingdom is only proclaimed through you.''
 
 AN ANCIENT JEWISH PRIMER. 717 
 
 With the open M the Lord is called ''King of Kings," while with the closed M Ho 
 is called "Ruler of Rulers." When the two M's hear it, they open their mouths in 
 song of praise, and all the celestials come, fall, and bow before the Holy One, sing- 
 ing and praising the Almighty. 
 
 X, or Xun. Why is the one N straight and the other in a resting attitude ? Because 
 with them was the soul of man created, as every soul. Sometimes it rests and some- 
 times it stands. When she (the soul) is in the body she is resting, and when she is 
 out of the body she is standing. 
 
 A king wanted once to enter his palace, which was an unclean place, and he says 
 to his servant, Bring the candle in. So the Lord created man from dust, blood, and 
 gull; therefore Ho placed in him the soul in order to see what goes on in that dark, 
 unclean place, and the soul is the candle of the Lord (Proverbs xxvi). The soul of 
 man is the candle of the Lord, not that of the animal, as the sonl of the latter has 
 rest, while that of the former has no rest. 
 
 When man dies, his sonl is brought before the celestial bench, and there all the 
 deeds are arrayed, and the judges tell all he did on that day or on that hour and 
 place; even the private conversation between husband and wife is recorded. If he 
 lost his children when he was alive, they ask him, "Why did you lose your children f " 
 If he was blinded, or became deaf in life, they ask him to account for it, as the ways 
 of the Lord arc even and only sinners are stumbling on them. They ask him why 
 he stumbled on his sin. If he can give a reasonable answer, they accept it; if not, he 
 is whipped with a whip of fire and he turns into ashes. The ashes are scattered to 
 all four corners of the world, then they are collected by four angels, an angel to each 
 corner, and they put the ashes in the grave, to be there till judgment drty. 
 
 S, or Saniech, means the leaner, and it represents the Lord, who leans the fallen 
 OIK'S, as it is written (Psalnis cxlv), "The Lord leans the fallen ones." He leans the 
 heavens as well as the globes of the planets below them. Samech means also 
 the Torah, which is leaned on the prophet, books-of the scribes, and on the oral 
 L'w, as it is witten, "The well which was dug by the princes, by the nobles of 
 the nations." Well means the Torah, as it says, "The well of living wa^er." And the 
 law is always compared to Avater, as it say?, "Ho who is thirsty, go to the water. 1 ' 
 
 Why are the words of the Torah compared to water? Because as water leaves 
 the highest and comes down, so the Torah likes only him who is humble. "Dug by 
 princes," they are Moses and the seventy elders who explained the laws in seventy 
 languages. "The nobles of the nation," they are the scribes, as David, Solomon, 
 Ezra, who have explained the law to Israel. 
 
 E, or Ain, means the eye of the law, which is the eye of all eyes and the wisdom 
 of all wisdom, as it is written (Psalms xix), "The law of the Lord enlightens the 
 eyes." Wisdom is only the wisdom of the law, as it is written, "Ye shall keep my 
 laws, as they are your wisdom and understanding." 
 
 P, or Pe, means mouth, and mouth means Moses, as it is written (Exodus), "I am 
 a hard mouth, and a stutterer of tongue." Moses said to the Lord, "I know Thou 
 art the only God, and Thou hast created the world only for Thy own honor, and 
 created man only to do Thee honor, and every portion of the body Thou hast 
 created for some purpose to serve Thee. The head to bow before Thee, the eyes to 
 see Thy glory, the ears to hear Thy honor, the nose to smell, the teeth to grind the 
 food, the pipe to give in and to give out. The veins as blood vessels, the skin for 
 complexion, hands to fight and to work, feet to walk, tongue to talk. Xow give me 
 talkative power." The Lord replied, "Who made the mouth and tongue to Adam? 
 Of course I did it." 
 
 7., or Xadic, means the righteous of the world, God Himself, as He does right to 
 every creature in the universe. If God had not given to man mouth and touguo the 
 world could not exist for a moment. When Moses refused to accept the mission on 
 account of being a stutterer the creatures of the \vorld began to tremble, saying, 
 " Behold Moses who once will speak with t::e Sehechina one hundred and sevcnty- 
 five times face to face and will explain every letter and law in seventy languages,
 
 718 EDUCATION REPORT, 1895-96. 
 
 yi t lie s:iy-. I a:n a stutterer;' what shall we .-ay ?" For that, that Moses madehim- 
 
 sclf incapable on iiecouut of his mouth, the Lord uplifted him, as it is written, "and 
 
 I was standing between you and the Lord." a position which even Mettatron can not 
 
 ; the plea that he pleaded. "I ;;m ' .s of him, 
 
 "Moses, fare to face! speak with him." appoln'.ci: over 
 
 all the creation, as it is said, "Moses, my servant, the faithful in my household." 
 
 When Moses reached the department of the future and saw ih-- pai ; BS, <>f 
 
 insechrin, of the Ral>l>is, explaining tho law in forty-nine ways, and 11: 
 ho college of Rabbi Akibah, who explains three hundred and sixty 1: 
 for the laws, ho said, "I do not want to be tho me-senger of the Lord.' 
 Lord knew tho reason of his refusal, BO Ho Bent Sagnasel, tho Prince of Wisd>> 
 
 , and ho brought him into tho colleges where tho laws are taught. 
 There Moses heard the Rabbis saying "That law, as well as this law. is delivered 
 by Moses from Sinai." As Moses heard this he was calm, and with fati-factim 
 accepted tho mission as a redeemer. 
 
 K, or Kof, means M. >-* who surrounded Pharaoh with all words of wi-<'. 
 enty tongues. When Moses and Aaron appeared before tho king they found there 
 seventy writers writing the correspondence in seventy laugna.- 
 
 As soon as they beheld the two messengers, how their faces were shining like the 
 sun, and each word they uttered was of fire, and seeing the stick upon which was 
 en-raved the pronounced name, they began to tremble, throwing away their pens 
 and letters, bowing in fear before Moses and Aaron. 
 
 Then the king asked them, "Who has sent you to me?" They replied, "The God of 
 th Hebrews." He asked again, "What is His Dame, what of His sti< 
 many countries has Ho conquered, how many are the numbers of Hi ; :, 
 They answered him. "His strength is full the universe, Heaven is 1 1 is throne, His word 
 is lire and shakes up mountains, His bow is fire, His arrows are of fire. Ho is tl: 
 ator of all and the peacemaker between lire and water. With His word He c: 
 the world, by utterance formed tho mountains, and by wisdom Ho creates tho child 
 iu the womb of his mother. He clothes tho skies with clouds, and lets rain fall upon 
 the earth to maintain tho life of all.'' Said tho king to them, "I do not need Him. as 
 'd myself/' as it is written (Ezechiel xxviii) "Mine is the Xile and I created, 
 ni.-. What you say," the king continued, "that He makes rain and dew; my Xile 
 
 n my land to bring forth tho sweetest fruit. But wait: I will bring the 
 oranda- of yore, containing tho letters of ancient kings; perhaps I will lind ; 
 them some letters of your God, for, so far as I know, lie never has sent to nn 
 writings or greetings.'' Ho opened his museum and called upon the seventy writers 
 TV languages at tho same time. Xot finding His name, he said to 
 Mo (:- and Aaron, "I know neither of Him nor of His might." HI- then sent word to 
 all tho wise men in Egypt to inquire, and they said, "Yes; we heard about the name 
 of their<iod; wo heard that He is the son of wise, the son of anci. At that 
 
 tinn- the Lord said, " Fools, yo call yourselves 'wise ones' and 
 
 the sou of kings,'' as it is written (Isaiah xiv), "Only fools are tho princes of 
 : the wi:-e counselors of Pharaoh have foolish advice; for how coul-l you say to 
 Pharaoh that I am the son of wise, the son of ki: 
 
 1,'. i.r I.'eish, is the Almighty, who is the head of the world and its end. R is tho 
 word of tho Lord by which lie has created the. seven heavens. R is the meaning of 
 . which n. ], whom the Lord has made the head i>:' the heathen, 
 
 or Slieiu, means teeth ; those are th-- ti cth of the wicked, which will ' 
 times one time her.- in this life, second in life hereafter, third in the ' 
 . As the Shein has three heads. M> the Almighty will break the teeth of tho 
 wicked three times. 
 
 The teeth of tin- wieki-d will grow out of their mouths L'2 cubits long at the time 
 of the Messiah. The people will wonder upon, and they will be informed, that is 
 .,te up tho wealth of the pious in life.
 
 AN ANCIENT JEWISH PRIMER. 719 ' 
 
 Tho Shein Las three branches, symbolizing tlio tlirec worlds in which man lives 
 this life, life hereafter, and the life of the Messianic era. The Shein symbolizes the 
 three snnctifications of this world the sauctification of the Lord, the sanctification 
 of the Sabbath, and the tanctification of Israel. 
 
 T, or Taw, means longing; man longs for everything in this life. Man is born 
 naked, without dress, without shoes, without knowledge, without understanding, 
 without thought, without word, without tongue, without law, without strength, 
 without power, without riches, without wife and children, without walk and deeds; 
 - soon as he goes out from his mother's womb he longs only to talk of t!:o tong;:-. , 
 and when he gets it he longs to the walk of the feet, and when ho gets it he u. 
 knowledge, and his desire extends gradually to all things ho sees. But when ho 
 parts from this, ho goes out empty, as it is written (Kings ii), "The days of David 
 approached to their cud." The day of the king is not written, only of David, as 
 there is no kingdom at the day of death. 
 
 Eabbi Alia used to say, "The end of the best is to be killed, the end of man to die, 
 and all are ready for death. Hail to him whose labor was in the law and did tho 
 will of his Creator, grew with a good name, and parted from tho world with a good 
 name. Ou such a man is writteu. A good name is better thau good oil, and tho day 
 of death better than the birthdav."
 
 UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 
 
 CHAPTERS FROM THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION 
 
 FOK 1894-95. 
 
 PROTECTION OF ITALIAN EMIGRANTS 
 IN AMERICA. 
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 
 
 PUBLICATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC TEMPERANCE INSTRUCTION. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
 189C.
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 THE PROTECTION OF ITALIAN EMIGRANTS IN AMERICA. 
 
 By LUIGI BODIO. 
 
 One of the most important questions treated at the Geographic Congress in Rome, 
 in September last, was that of the care and protection of emigrants. The resolutions 
 adopted at tho Geneva Congress of 1892 wero (in substance) that colonization laws 
 should include a small plot of land f, >r the emigrant so that ho might, as cultivator, 
 bo assigned to proprietorship. The Italian Government should have an office of 
 information so as to keep in touch with the colonization going on in foreign coun- 
 tries, as well as with the actual conditions of the colonists; that, in addition to pri- 
 vate associations inte:ested in emigration, a public association should act in 
 concurrence with emigration agents, so as to give aid to the emigrant and help him 
 to acquire laud; that tho emigration laws of 1888 should be modified as regards 
 agents, snbagcnts, guaranties, etc. 
 
 The Congress (of Rome?) recommended that the military laws be made less strin- 
 gent for Italians living in foreign countries, without, however, interfering with the 
 principle of obligatory military service. 
 
 Now, it may be stated that, in the last few years, emigration has been diminishing 
 in intensity, not alone from Italy but from all Europe. The Italian emigrants to 
 tho United States numbered about 70,000 in 1893 and only 39,000 in 1894. Emigra- 
 tion to Brazil oscillates, too, from year to year, namely, 40,000 Italians in 1887, 104,000 
 in 18S8; 36,000 in tho succeeding years; in 1891, 183,000; with a drop to 43,000 in 
 1891. In the Argentine Republic tho Italian immigration was 75,000 in 1888, and 
 88,000 in 1889; then in successive years 39,000 and 15,511 in 1891, with a later increase 
 to 37,OCO. 
 
 As tho social and economic conditions of tho countries furnishing the emigrants 
 can not suffer such mutations from year to year, it is evident that these variations 
 depend upon the prosperity and crises in the countries \\ here colonies are established, 
 hence efforts should bo made to protect the emigrants from the obstacles which they 
 encounter. Emigration is a necessity for our country [Italy], and we ought to wish 
 that iu tho preseut agricultural and industrial conditions, with so little capital to 
 dispose of, thousands more may go forth where they may find work. 
 
 The density of population is 107 to the square kilometer in Italy, the average in 
 Germany is 97, in Austria 80, in France 72. Franco has abundance of capital, laud 
 cultivated to the highest degree, conditions of ease and competency in rural dis- 
 tricts, and a third less population than iu Italy, where the conditions are so different, 
 the poor peasantry and workingmen having become a peril to the social equilibrium. 
 So tliat emigration becomes an aid to those who are left, as, with the capital hi hand, 
 they can more advantageously < arry on manufactures and develop agriculture. 
 
 Discussions of tho < olonization of Eritrea (Italian possession in Africa) are very 
 earnest, and the Hon. Franchetti, who has studied the subject on tho spot, states 
 that at least 4, 000 lire ($772) capital, to be provided by tho Government, is requisite 
 
 1789
 
 1790 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 for a family of seveu persons, in order to construct cabins, to obtain proper imple- 
 ments, to develop their lands, to survey the land, to prepare waterworks, etc. 
 
 There is also discussion iu regard to colonizing Sardinia and of populating the 
 Campagna (dt popolaro 1'Agro roinano), but this, too, requires capital, and there are 
 various obstacles, which, especially on the island of Sardinia, complicate matters. 
 [Hero follow laws governing taxation, etc., in Sardinia; objections to home coloni- 
 zation, want of capital for waterworks, and proper sanitation.] But in America our 
 emigrants do not require subsidies from the mother country ; they are, to bo sun-, at 
 a disadvantage the first year, owing in part, to want of organization; but they 
 carry with them a little money, a few tools of trade, and do not leave debts behind. 
 
 Onr duty is to protect and patronize voluntary emigration tho only form of it 
 which bears with it latent energy, the force of initiative, and the resistencc to what- 
 ever bars the emigrant's road to success iu a new country, or in his native country. 
 Onr duty is to aid tho masses in procuring employment suited to their condition, to 
 prevent interested agents taking advantage of their good faith, to overcome tho 
 obstacles, to seek openings for them, to bring the emigrants into the neighborhood of 
 agricultural and mining sections, dockyards, etc., as may be suited to their previous 
 training or condition in life. 
 
 The agents for emigration nnmber 31 in Italy; warranty, 2,690,000 lire (.*519,170); 
 subagents, 5,172 in 1892, increased to 7,169 to date. They have more than doubled 
 in some provinces within a few years. 
 
 In Switzerland tho l:\ws restrict the number of snbngents; once there wcro about 
 400, paid according to the nnmber of emigrants received, so that then- developed a kind 
 of propaganda. A law of 1888, modifying that of 1S80, imposed a bond of 3,000 lire 
 ($660) and a tax of 30 lire ($5.79). As a result, the snbagents decreased to 170. 
 Swiss laws now prevent propagandn, or enforced emigration, s (lie consent of the 
 federal council is required before closing a contract with any person having to <lo with 
 thoemigrant, to which person money may bo paid for the journey by societies, foreign 
 governments, or private corporations of other countries. Our [Italian] laws do not 
 forbid the emigrants going away if tho money has bo;-n paid down by government or 
 a colonization society, bnt if the amonnt has been exacted from the emigrant the 
 agent is to see that tho emigrant receives double that amount. In any case, the reg- 
 ulations are nil which require tho emigrant to work hi-* passage either on ship or 
 other means of transport. Some of our emigrants arc given free passage by tho 
 authorities of Brazil, who desire peasants with families in good, healthy condition 
 and capable of taking hold of some class of work. The governmental arrangements 
 are made with banking firms, who take tho responsibility of forwarding the emi- 
 grant from a European port to a Brazilian port. 
 
 [Signer Bodio then goes on to state the methods employed in Switzerland and in 
 Italy to prevent tho taking advantage, of emigrants, and the punishment awarded to 
 agents, snbngents, etc.] 
 
 New laws are being made restricting subngo-nts, getting a better class of educated 
 persons in such positions; forbidding innkeepers, liquor dealers, railroad agents, etc., 
 to bo subagents. Experience has taught that interested persons are not proper sub- 
 agents, if the emigrant is to be dealt justly with. In place of closing the con 
 just as the emigrant embarks, this is to be done (when the laws go into force) at tho 
 point of starting out, so that there may be time to see that all regulations are 
 adhered to. No minors are to be allowed to go as emigrants unless an older person 
 is responsible for them at tho beginning and close of the journey. If tho committee 
 stationed at a place of embarkation refuse to take the emigrant, the agent is to see 
 that he be returned to his homo and his goods with him, and that ho receive what- 
 ever sum he [the emigrant] may have paid out. To date, the public charities have 
 taken such matter in hand. If the emigrant has readied the foreign land, the 
 agent is responsible for his return, if refused admittance by tho authorities, because 
 the laws governing emigration are known to him. If the emigrant finds that he is
 
 PROTECTION OF ITALIAN EMIGRANTS. 1791 
 
 not being properly treated, lie may reclaim his rights from the consul, or from the 
 director of the Italian Aid Society, who is to present such claim to the nearest con- 
 sular agent. Verbal statements are permi&sible to consuls, immigrant agents, etc., 
 in the foreign countries, and as a last resort, in case of punishment, tho minister 
 of the interior may be appealed to. [These and other regulations arc described to 
 prevent the agent tyrannizing over the emigrant.] 
 
 As for military regulations : Tho recruit living in a foreign country submits to the 
 physical examination by a physician before the Italian consul. If received ho is 
 sent to Italy, free of expense, on a ship of the Italian Navigation Company. If, for 
 family reasons, health, or study, he desires to go to his country for a three months' 
 period, he can do it with the permission of the consul and of his commandant. The 
 old controversy relative to double nationality should bo eliminated in future. 
 The best solution seems to be that whieh holds between Spain and Argentina. 
 When the person claims to be of one or the other nationality, the matter is to bo 
 decided in accordance with the laws where resident. If this seems hardly to agree 
 with the principle jure sauguinis, established by the Italian and other European 
 codes based on Roman law, it is tho principle of tho nationality jure loci, which we 
 can not fail to recognize it is an outcome of the political conditions in the young 
 American States. Thus, if he be born in Argentina of an Italian father, he would 
 be considered an Argentinian as long as he remains in America; should he come to 
 live in Italy he would be considered an Italian. 
 
 Now let us see what protection is given to our emigrants arriving in American 
 ports. Tho minister of foreign affairs, Baron Blanc, has succeeded in obtaining an 
 important concession from the Government of the United States, and has created an 
 office of inspection and protection of Italians at Ellis Island, where emigrants dis- 
 embark for New York. It is a noticeable fact that even prior to the industrial and 
 commercial crises, a feeling prejudicial to immigration was found among the people, 
 on account of cheap labor, for European workingmen were willing to receive sala- 
 ries inferior to those of American laborers. Hence American legislation endeavored 
 to limit immigration. The limitation included sick people, paupers, those engaged 
 for contract labor. The majority of those sent back by the Federal immigration 
 agents at Ellis Island are Italians who, poorer than other nationalities, have made 
 contracts to go to work, and state that at once, as they suppose they will be quickly 
 received in America if they are not liable to become objects of charity. Yet they 
 are inexorably repulsed because of the very laws of limitation (contract laws). The 
 American officials frequently turn back our emigrants who have left wife and family 
 in Italy, under the clause of "undesirable immigration," because they [the Italians] 
 make declaration that they have been in America before without naturalizing them- 
 selves, and that they do not intend to become citizens; or else it resolves itself into 
 the fact that they have made their money in America and returned to their home, 
 then they come back to the United States again to repeat their former success. The 
 United States welcomes emigrants who may become a permanency and assimilate 
 themselves with the American people, who desire to take part in its political life, 
 learn the language of the country, settle down and have families, the children of 
 which (by aspiration and character) become Americans. Bat "birds of passage" 
 they do not welcome. It is not so much the quantity as the quality of the immi- 
 grant which the United States authorities desire to control, for the nonassimilating 
 elements among emigrants arc not in harmony with the social and political con- 
 ditions of the Republic. In 1894-95 there were 731 Italian emigrants sent back out 
 of 33,902 who reached Ellis Island. The economic condition of onr emigrants to the 
 United States is demonstrated by the inquiries made by tho American authorities, 
 for the newly arrived individual is asked to show how much money he has. The 
 33,902 who disembarked at Ellis Island had :?:5>2.000, or$10.23 each; included among 
 them were those sent back as paupers and undesirable immigrants. In 1893-94 
 similar statements hold good. Our minister of foreign affairs interested himself to
 
 1792 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 protect the emigrants in America and to disarm that prejudice toward our com- 
 patriots. And this is in fact the basis of the most loyal cooperation, the effort to 
 suppress enforced emigration, either from within or without. In June, 1894, an 
 American office was opened at Ellis Island in connection with the Federal office of 
 immigration, in which office such information could be obtained as is furnished by 
 State hoards of immigration, by railroad lines, by corporations and individuals, 
 inducements for work, etc. The Secretary of the Treasury permitted our ambas- 
 sador to suggest one or more Italian agents for that office who could give the neces- 
 sary information and make the needed suggestions to our emigrants. Prof. Alex. 
 Ohlrini, a young cultured Italian familiar with the United States from a residence 
 there of ten years, was made the first agent, and Chevalier Egisto Rossi, who wrote 
 a work on the United States of America, was made the second agent. 
 
 It is to be hoped that the Italian Government will now do its part by furnishing 
 these agents with whatever is requisite, so that they may be able to aid the emi- 
 grants in finding occupations, obtaining lands, etc. The Italian Government has, 
 to date, the expenditure of $500 a month for the two commissioners and their office, 
 but the work of these agents ought not to limit itself to assisting the Italian emi- 
 grants in connection with the American office, if that office believes it necessary to 
 send them back on account of one or another law, but the Italian agents should be 
 situated to aid the emigrant in obtaining another hearing so that he may disembark 
 and continue his trip to some other State. 
 
 It is not enough that our agents aid the emigrants against unfair treatment, on 
 shipboard or shore, but they should be ablo to give them information concerning the 
 States where they are best able to obtain work, to settle as agriculturists or in min- 
 ing districts rather than to remain in New York, where their condition is <!epl. ruble. 
 Means are lacking so far to bring the Italian agency jn New York to this point of 
 efficiency. For it is necessary that the agents bo so situated that they can travel to 
 other parts of the States, so as to determine for the:: M-lvcs as regards climatic con- 
 ditions, the agrarian conditions, violability of contra; ts, etc. Of the 31,000 Italian 
 emigrants who arrived in the United States in 1894-95 about 20,000 passed the office 
 of our commissioner (Oldrini) direct for New York and its environs, and about 14,000 
 were forwarded to other States, where they had families, or to mining districts, etc. 
 It in deemed advisable to aid them to go to the Central States, to the mines of Colo- 
 rado, to Michigan, Minnesota, to Texas ranches, or to the fruit-growing regions of 
 California. A sum of $10,000 is required to place the Italian emigration ollice in New- 
 York upon a suitable footing, to institute a labor bureau, such as is found at the 
 barge office for Germans and Irish, so that the emigrants will not have to deal \\ ith 
 the bosses (or padroni), as is now the case, but vi! 1 fitid that they can obtain all infor- 
 mation at this bureau, or colonization office. With such a sum at disposal, there 
 might be a savings bank, or bank of deposit, arranged with such securities that the 
 emigrants would not again see the bankers disappear with about $150,000 of their 
 savings, as was done one year. Where are we to find the $10,000 requisite, for such 
 purpose! In the green book (libro verde) published by the minister of foreign 
 affairs, in which are found the regulations which led to the establishment of the 
 Italian emigration office at Ellis Island, there is a suggestion which seems opportune. 
 It is suggested that 20 lire ($3.86) be required by the Government, from tin 1 agenry, 
 for each emigrant. As there were in these last years between 33,000 and 65,000 such 
 persons, this amount would be soon acquired. The minister who foresaw the need 
 of protection for the Italian emigrants in the United States also saw the need of 
 such protection in other countries. In Argentina tho Italian is as in his own home. 
 In Brazil there is need of such an office of control, for of the Italians goin.^ to 15rax.il 
 it is necessary to distinguish between the State, colonies and those of private enter- 
 prise. Many Italians are well placed in Hra/.il, others have to undergo many hard- 
 ships ere they obtain tolerable positions. The organi/atiou of these colonization 
 enterprises needs modifying, for oftentimes the promises held out are not lived up to.
 
 PROTECTION OF ITALIAN EMIGRANTS. 1793 
 
 Monopolies, depreciation of money, exorbitau fc prices, are among the obstacles to cou- 
 teud with. If a few commissioners, or regularly established governmental agents, 
 were connected possibly with the legations in the different countries, they would be 
 useful to the colonists in many cases, and would render abuses impossible, etc. Ifc 
 will be a fortunate day for Italians going to Brazil when authorized agents are there- 
 to aid them at embarkation and on their farther trips inland. It is to be hoped that 
 public opinion in Italy will become more favorable to emigration. The outcome of 
 this will bo that the proprietor, in order to obtain help, will pay better wages, and. 
 emigration will not be synonymous with untold misery at home. 
 
 Wo may look upon emigration as a step in advance toward the bettering and equal- 
 izing of conditions. Rather than solicit the return of the emigrant to his native 
 laud, r;ither than regret that emigration transforms itself from temporary to perma- 
 nent, we should rejoice that the quality of emigration is improved, the arrangements- 
 become more stable, the families are reunited, the mother country influence i 
 strengthened. 
 
 Emigration is a good thing for the mother country we utter this sentiment earn- 
 estly. It is the safety valve, or security, against envy and class odium, an efficacious 
 instrument in the equalization of human forces. And for Italy, as for all peoples 
 who are late iu entering upon new conditions, emigration is a school forthe civilizing 
 processes along scientific lines and iu adopting new methods. Thus it is the duty of 
 those who have already entered upon the new phases of civilization to assure vigor- 
 ous protection to the advance guard, composed in part of youthful blood. Protec- 
 tion, material aid, and guidance should bo offered to the emigrant. And I salute 
 with great pleasure that part of our emigration which is going to settle in the midst 
 of a people, superior through their methods, perseverance, and economic power, in 
 the very heart of the dominant people of to-day the Anglo-Saxon race. 
 
 This race is the dominating one to-day, because it is educated to a spirit of reform, 
 which opposes the resigning of one's rights, the frittering away of individual energy, 
 opposes apathy toward work, etc. 
 
 It is necessary to take the world as it is, and it should be repeated in the chief 
 towns of communes that the emigrant is the best exponent of his country's nceda 
 (the best drummer for his own country), and that after him como the experts sent 
 out from the manufactory, the authors, the diplomatists, and lastly the defense by 
 means of the army. 
 
 ED 95 57
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1 
 
 By NAPHTALI HERZ IMBER. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 Primitive education among the various nations. 
 
 Tbo Chaldeans. 
 
 The Hebrews. 
 
 The Egyptians. 
 
 The Greeks. 
 
 The Romans 
 
 The Xorsemeii. 
 Mosaic educational laws. 
 
 Moses in the land of the Chaldeans. 
 
 Moses and the Bible. 
 
 Moses breaking patriarchal systems and 
 traditions. 
 
 Moses hoisted the Chaldean emblem in place 
 of that of Elohim. 
 
 Selecting teachers. 
 
 Laws to teach. 
 
 The school of the prophets. 
 
 From the building of the Temple to the exile. 
 
 In the school of the captors. 
 Educational reform by the Great Synod. 
 The Talaind. 
 
 The two Talmnds. 
 
 Disfranchisement of the ignorant. 
 Rabbinical educational laws. 
 
 The teacher. 
 
 The public schools. 
 
 Punishment. 
 
 Vacations. 
 
 Educational duties of parents. 
 Religious education. 
 Babylonian education. 
 Methods employed in the public schools. 
 Titles and terms. 
 
 From the Great Synod up to the time of Jehoshna 
 ben Gamla. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 When the battle of Koenigrjitz was fought, ending with a decisive victory for fhe 
 Prns.-iaus over the Austrians, Prince Bismarck spoke those winged words: "The 
 schoolmaster has conqnered." Indeed, that famous battle was an excellent illus- 
 tration of the great power of education, and the Prussian schoolmaster has shown 
 that his pen could penetrate deeper than the shot and shell of the Austrians. Even 
 the ancients knew of the great influence of education, and. Jewish history has 
 recorded a fact which is equal to that of Koenigriitz. "Jerusalem," says the Tal- 
 mud, "was besieged by the Romans, and the once powerful Hebrew nation was 
 crushed to death by the legions of the pagans. While Vespasian besieged the City 
 of the Lord, wherein civil war and starvation killed more people than the arrows of 
 the Roman archers, an humble Rabbi, Johannes ben Saki by name, knelt before the 
 groat victorious Emperor, praying for mercy for his people. 'What shall I grant 
 you ." asked the proud victor. 'Grant me,' replied the sage in a low voice, 'the 
 school of Jabno and its schoolmasters.'" The victor granted the request. He 
 probably never dreamed that from that little school the national spirit of the 
 Hebrews would rise with more vigor. How could he, when it looked as though 
 the whole nation were wiped from the face of the earth. Jerusalem was a pile 
 of debris; her people had been slaughtered by thousands or made cripples. Those 
 
 1 An historical sketch of educational evolution among the ancient Hebrews and other primitive 
 nations. 
 
 1795
 
 1796 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 who escaped death were carried into captivity to be made a show of, serving as living 
 trophies for the home-coming victor in his triumphal march. Under such cirrum- 
 stauces and conditions the remnant of the Jewish race was found at the time of the 
 destruction, so that even the best patriots could not dream of an attempt at resto- 
 ration. Yet fifty-five years after the destruction the national spirit which was kept 
 alive in the little school of Jabne arose with vigor, and the 25,000 pupils of Rabbi 
 Akiba, those penmen drilled by the schoolmaster, restored the national pride to its 
 olden glory. The -heroic straggle of Bar Kochba (the Son of the Star), who was 
 proclaimed king of the Hebrews, is known to fame, and the coin he used is still pre- 
 served in museums as a silent witness of the successful attempt and the vital power 
 of the nation. Now, who performed this marvel, which seemed an impossibility T 
 The schoolmaster from Jabne. The educator blew into the dry, dead bones of Judah 
 the breath of life, aud they were resurrected to activity. 
 
 Education is not only a power in a struggle, it is also a preserver of life, and the 
 reason for the preservation of the Hebrew race is its wonderful, early developed 
 education. Every Jew, no matter of what standing or reputation even those from 
 darkest Hussia, where 99 per cent of the natives can scarcely sign their names, even 
 those Jews is able to read and write in his own language. In America we have 
 a vivid picture of the great power of education, for what has made this country so 
 great in every respect, if not the schoolmaster f Instead of being in the rear guard, 
 it is marching onward a pioneer of culture, leading the advancing march of prog- 
 ress. All this is due to education. The educational system of the United States 
 is its best bond for its continued greatness. The American schoolmaster may reflect, 
 while sitting at the foot of the Washington Monument, upon the educational system 
 of the ancient Hebrews, two thousand years ago, and bo interested in the discovery 
 that there is a wonderful parallel between that and his own, of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury. To those who observe the march of civilization it will be of great historieal 
 value to know the educational system of the Hebrews, whom Mohammed styled 
 " Rigel el Kitab," i. e., " the people of writing." 
 
 PRIMITIVE EDUCATION AMONG VARIOUS NATIONS. 
 I. THE CHALDEANS. 
 
 Among the cultured nations of the ancients the first in rank are the Chaldeans, 
 whom we may style the educators of the world. There was hardly a branch of 
 Bcience wherein they did not prove themselves the masters. In the divine arts music 
 and painting they were far ahead of the cultured sons of Hellas. The first sym- 
 phony was sung by the Chaldeans. The Greeks learned from them when they invaded 
 the country under Alexander the Great. The ancient Jewish notations of music, 
 used by the singers of Zion in the Temple, are all called by their Chaldean names. 
 As a proof of this, it may be stated that the Hebrews learned and adopted the Chal- 
 dean musical Alpha Beth, as they adopted from them other useful things pertaining 
 to culture and civilization. 
 
 In making or in reproducing pictures they reached the highest standard of per- 
 fection at that time. Two prophets give evidence of their skill in that fine and 
 divine art. One described their painted pictures on the walls, engraved with an oily 
 color; the other calls their country "the land of sculptured images, of which they 
 are proud." 
 
 In architecture and engineering they surpassed the Egyptians, and the fabulous 
 Tower of Babel was built before the corner stone was laid for any of the pyramids. 
 Jewish legends tell us that they built that tower in order to produce rain by beating 
 tin roof with hammers, thus causing the air to vibrate. That is another evidence 
 of their far-advanced Kcience and culture. Their canals and other artificial water- 
 ways have long been the admiration of historians. 
 
 In ast roiKimy, their fame in that truthful science, which requires a knowledge of 
 mathematics, is still renowned. They were the first to look on high and draw a map
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1797 
 
 of our solar system, dividing the planets in tlie zodiac. The art of calendaring, for 
 which the ancient Hebrews were renowned so that in a dispute with Roman astron- 
 omers the former claimed that the sun is stationary, whilo the planets revolve round 
 the fireball (the sun), which argument the latter refused to accept was learned 
 and adopted from the Chaldeans, as the Jewish names for the months and planets 
 are Chaldean terms, thus telling us plainly in what school the Hebrews had been 
 taught. 
 
 In religion they showed themselves far superior to even the Hebrews, as their 
 religion was pure and simple and could not conflict with common sense and feelings. 
 They approached the altars in their houses of worship with silent salutation, and 
 venerating bows, prayers, and music were the offerings, not animal or other kindred 
 sacrifices, as is plainly indicated at the dedication of the great image made by King 
 Nebuchadnezzar on 1he plain of Dura. Those who understand how to read the 
 Bible between the lines will discover that Jehovah was known to the Chaldeans and 
 worshiped before Ho revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush, and Niinrod 
 was a mighty hunter before Jehovah; and Jehovah calls the King, Nebuchadnezzar, 
 through the mouthpiece of His prophets, "iny servant." It is probable that Abra- 
 ham, who left Ur of the Chaldees for Palestine, was forced to flee, being persecuted 
 by the Jehovists. (The name Elohim, which means two in one, is mentioned by all 
 the patriarchs until Moses, who restored the ancient Jehovistic cult of the Chal- 
 deans.) The name "Chaldean "means a wise man, and in the Scripture it has the same 
 meaning, where the Chaldeans are termed "the wise men of the East." 
 
 Such achievements are impossible without the regular working system of educa- 
 tion. Indeed, legend, which is the best informer where history is silent, points in 
 that direction. There is a written Jewish folk story which says that Abraham 
 was when a boy a pupil in the schools of Sheni and Eber. Of course there is no 
 historical proof to confirm that legendary statement; still there is a clear passage 
 in the Scripture which indicates some educational progress, when King Nebuchad- 
 nezzar orders that children of Hebrews shall be selected, being without physical 
 defect, good-looking, and bright, and taught to write (in the text-book) the language 
 of the Chaldeans. Aside from that record, how is it that the Hebrews, who were in 
 Egypt four hundred years, did not carry away with them a single thought of the land? 
 Not even an Egyptian word, with one exception, is to be found in the whole Scrip- 
 ture, while whole sentences of Chaldean are found. During the stay of seventy years 
 among the Chaldeans the Hebrews seem to have been perfectly nationalized, and the 
 big volumes of the Talmud are treasuries of Chaldean science and literature under 
 the guise of the Hebrew religion. To explain this phenomenon wo .must think one 
 of two things, either there was a law compelling everybody to read and to write, or 
 the government indirectly offered opportunities even to strangers to be educated, as 
 the enlightened Government of the United States offers educational advantages to 
 all. At all events, there was an educational suffrage, and to it is due the wonderful 
 civilization of the Chaldeans. 
 
 The reaso'is for the early development of education can bo given as follows: 
 
 1. The nation was not divided into classes and castes (except in the branches of 
 science, as Chartuiniin, readers of hieroglyphs; Ashotim, secret readers; Measphim, 
 magicians; Chasdim, astrologers). The absence of castes prevented education from 
 being monopolized, as in other nations, by a certain class. 
 
 2. Their Jehovistic cult with its fatalistic view that the fate of man is written in 
 the stars ; hence, if the horoscope told that the child of a beggar would be one day 
 a prophet or a sage, he was brought up accordingly. 
 
 3. The simplicity of their quadrat letters with perfected punctuation and vowels 
 enabled everyone to learn writing easily, and it became a common method of ex- 
 changing thought. The Hebrews, after their exile, adopted the Alpha Beth of the 
 Chaldeans, with all its grammar and rules. It is a pity that wo have no record; 
 but underlying the whole liabbinieal religion the Chaldean cult exists. The only 
 direct proof of the educational power of the Chaldeans is found in their offspring,
 
 1798 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 tho Nestorians. Those Christians, the few living descendants of the Chaldeans, 
 arc superior even to the Armenians, not to speak of tho wild Kurds among v. horn 
 they live. 
 
 II. THE HKBREWS. 
 
 By the Hebrews I do not mean those Jews who claim to be the children of Abra- 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob, for there were Hebrews in tho land of Canaan long before 
 Abraham was born. Joseph tells in prison his tale of woe that he was stolen from 
 tho land of the Hebrews. As Joseph was the third generation from tho first patri- 
 arch, who, unlike his son, was not blessed with many offspring, ho could not have 
 alluded to the farm where Jacob lived with the few souls of his household, when ho 
 spoke of the land of the Hebrews. Even the prophet mentions twice to the Hebrews 
 that their father was an Amorite and their mother a Hittite (while Abraham and 
 Sarah were both Chaldeans). Those Hebrews had another language from Abraham 
 and other customs and religious views from those prevailing in the motherland, of 
 the patriarch. When Abraham mingled with those Hebrews he was somewhat 
 undecided, jumping, so to say, from tho pure Chaldean monotheistic religion of 
 Jehovah to the dual cult of Elohim which was the original religion of the Hebrews. 
 Tho confusion of views became in time a matter of grave facts when Abraham became 
 their leader and patriarch. That confusion of views runs like a thread through tho 
 whole of Jewish history. The Hebrews, like most of tho Semites, had no clas 
 castes, which is very favorable to educational suffrage; but as they lacked the ability 
 to centralize their national power, like the Chaldeans, they were divided and ruled 
 over by family patriarchs or tribal sheiks. Tho father of the house was the ruler, 
 endowed with the power of life and death in his home, as the patriarch over tho 
 family and as tho sheik over tho whole tribe. Tho father was tho educator of li's 
 son ; consequently when tho father was an ignorant man tho son was obliged to live 
 according to his father's standard, there being no one to educate him. Another 
 stumbling block to education was the birthright and tho privilege enjoyed by the 
 firstborn son among the Hebrews. Thus the able-minded children would be neglected 
 for tho sake of the weaker minded firstborn son, to whom education might be of no 
 use. In the history of the patriarchs may bo found such educational methods with 
 their sad consequences. Often the mother, when she felt a love to one of her children 
 who was of able mind, undertook to educate him, as wo read in the history of tho 
 early patriarchs. In such a case moral and domestic education were better implant e>l 
 in tho heart of tho child, as women are, as a rule, better educators than men. 1'our 
 as their methods were, still poorer were the subjects in which they were reared and 
 educated. A fabulous, narrow view of the ruling forces, some duties toward parcels, 
 some folklore and talcs, formed tho whole programme of primitive Hebraic education. 
 In addition, there were tho now religious views and customs imported by Abraham 
 from the Chaldeans. Ho also brought with him tho letters of his native land, tho 
 plain quadrat Alpha Beth. Tho patriarch soon acquired the simple language of tho 
 Hebrews (tho language of tho Scripture), but ho could not find their writings, 1 
 which are half hieroglyph and half a xigzag outline. So it came to pass that the 
 minority, who were tho offspring of tho Chaldean patriarch, were brought up in tho 
 easygoing Chaldean writing, while tho Hebrews were taught in their old imperfect 
 native Alpha Beth. "\Vhenthopatriarchsmigratcd to Egypt, taking with them those 
 Hebrews whom they governed, owing to their isolated position in the hermit king- 
 dom tho confusion still remained, and education was continued on tho same lines 
 
 nntil the time of Moses. 
 
 III. THE EGYPTIANS. 
 
 Tho Egyptians had no inborn, natural culture. Hence education was monopoli/ed 
 by tho priests, and its blessings, like all other importations, could not bo enjoyed by 
 tho poorer class. In spite of the 10,000 mummified cats which are claimed by 
 
 1 The ancient letters of tho Hebrews arc still used by the Samaritan* and on old Jewish coins.
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1799 
 
 learned men as evidence of their high civilization, I declare that they were ouly 
 amateurs in culture. There is a land bordering on Egypt known as Ethiopia, \vhich 
 includes also a part of the famous Soudan. In that land once waved the standard of 
 civilization, and, according to the records preserved in the Talmud as well as from 
 Bihlical sources, wo can see what a highly cultured people onco lived in Darkest 
 Africa. The art of hieroglyphs was imported into the land of the Nile from 
 Chnrtum. Hence the hieroglyphs were called Chartumim. That sounds better 
 than the mew of those 10,000 mummified cats and kings, which was a strange cul- 
 ture, not sprung from the people, hut only enjoyed by the higher castes of the 
 priests. The variety of classes and castea prevented the education from penetrating 
 into the heart of the people, and prevented the nation at large from cultivating a 
 national unity, which is the only security for a people's strength and prosperity. 
 The son of a priest was destined to ho a priest, no matter whether his mind could 
 comprehend the mystery symbols of the hieroglyphs or not. The child of the soldier 
 was forced to do the fighting all his life from generation to generation. The 
 offspring of the workingnien were by law required to live their time in the lino of 
 work, each according to his guild and union, following in the footsteps of their 
 departed sires. Even the thieves formed a class, a registered caste, and their chil- 
 dren had no choice but to live up to the profession of their fathers. Under such a 
 caste system true education was unknown, and the few hieroglyphisfs had their 
 little knowledge inherited with their cats and rites, it being a handing down from 
 father to son. Again, geniuses, if they happened to be born of parents who were 
 not priests, were condemned to liA r o as ignorant and undeveloped beings. No 
 wonder the Egyptians were in their time the target of jesters and mockers. 
 No wonder that the Hebrews, in spite of their staying there for four centuries, 
 could not absorb a single habit or thought from them. No wonder that there was 
 not a national union, as each caste was a stranger to every other, as black is to 
 white. No wonder that we dig out so many mummified cats, the only inheritance 
 left to the world of an uneducated people. 
 
 IV. THE GREEKS. 
 
 The Greeks possessed a national culture with an original civilization framed with 
 the progressive thoughts of other nations. Their religion was that of a smiling, 
 idealistic beauty, answering the sensual emotions, and rousing the sentimental feel- 
 ings to the highest pitch of inspiration. But, with all the advantages of good gov- 
 ernment and an inspiring literature, they lacked the best medium which would have 
 made them everlasting, and that was education. 
 
 Thej- had an Aristotle, but not a schoolboy. They had philosophical schools, but 
 not a system of education. Plato, in making the plan for his idealistic republic, had 
 it in his mind to place the education in the hands of the government. He was the 
 only philosopher who felt the real need of his people, and that was the want of an 
 education. 
 
 Sparta tried to establish an educational system under the care of its republic, but 
 it did not amount to anything, as the sole aim was to train and drill up a republic of 
 soldiers. The consequences of the lack of education were fatal for Hellas. Besides 
 the everlasting fighting among themselves, which has passed into a proverb, '''When 
 Greeks joined Greeks, then was the tug of war," they could not maintain their inde- 
 pendence, and fell a prey to mighty Homo, then the mistress of the world. What has 
 the Greek culture, so much talked of, left behind it? Nothing except a few busts 
 of shapeless Vcnuses and the fame of only seven wise men, who bear witness that 
 the whole nation, with its multitudes, remained in darkness so many centuries. 
 
 The speculative philosophy of Aristotle is not worth anything, compared to the 
 scientific facts brought to light by the Chaldeans. The sons of Hellas, whose religion, 
 for the sake of its charm, was adopted by other nations, exchanged the gaiety of that 
 old religion for the more meditative one of Christianity, whoso worship consists in
 
 1800 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 prayer and fasting, not in the enjoyment of the wine cnp and sensual satisfaction a 
 religion which even the reasoning Romans resisted so long. How can we explain 
 those phenomena f Paul took them by surprise. They were taken in, not hy the 
 grand Apostle, the miracle worker, hut by the Jewish boy who, as a child, was com- 
 pelled to visit the public school, then as a youth sat in the college at the feet of the 
 Rabbi Gamaliel, and the Olympian gods and goddesses fell before Paul, the educated. 
 
 V THE ROMANS. 
 
 The reasoning Romans Lad no talent whatever for producing anything original. 
 Their reliirion, cult, customs, and manners were all borrowed, adopted, or absorbed 
 from other nations. They were born prize fighters, yet they had one good quality, 
 a love of system and order, a quality which makes the educator. Indeed, there were 
 more Greek mentors in Rome than teachers in Athens. There were fewer ignorant 
 soldiers in Crcsar's legion than in Alexander's famous phalanx. To be a Roman and 
 free was sufficient to gain the privilege of expanding all one's aspirations and ambi- 
 tions, no matter who he might be. But as Rome was always busy in maintaining 
 her possessions in all the four corners of the world, she cared more about bringing 
 up her children in the arena than in the school, and the educational department was 
 a private undertaking. Still, there was some sort of an education, and under Chris- 
 tianity Rome became the real educator of the A\ orld. Italy's schools and colleges in 
 the beginning of the Middle Ages were renowned all over the world. 
 
 VI. THE NORSEMEN. 
 
 Along both sides of the straits of the Baltic there once lived a people known as 
 the Norsemen. That great Teutonic race was the only one which became the tutor 
 of Europe, demonstrating the power of education. In character they were kuighta 
 of chivalry; in valor they had no equals; their tribes routed the Romans by land 
 under the leadership of Hermann, while their kinsmenn, the Danes, raided the isles of 
 the Britons, the mighty fortress of the Romans. The Danes were a seafaring people 
 nd ruled the waves from ocean to ocean, and long before Columbus discovered 
 this blessed country the Norsemen had been here t > place their advance posts. 
 
 Their religion was in some respect the same as that of the Greeks, but had a more 
 serious aspect. Their Odin (the same as in Hebrew and Chaldean A don, which 
 means the Lord) was not of the brutal character of a Jupiter, who killed his own 
 children. Odin was, as Carlyle sajs, a man, a leader, a teacher, who invented the 
 Runes, the Scandinavian Alpha Beth. Their Valkyrs were not demoralized demi- 
 goddesses, like Venus, but were brave maidens with a spear in one hand and the 
 shield of morality in the other. Their Gambrinus was not a riotous character like 
 the Bacchus of the Greek; ho was a social and amiable person a trait still visible 
 in the offspring of the Norsemen when they gather round the cup. Runes were not, 
 like the writings of other nations, imitations or a modified Alpha Beth, after the 
 model of the Phoenicians, but were the letters of their Alpha Beth bearing the stamp 
 of native self-culture. Odin, the teacher and inventor of those- Runes appeared in 
 his role among the Norsemen 70 B. C. The simplicity of the Runes, in form, and 
 the ethics of the Norse lore as embodied in the Edda, the Scandinavian Scripture, 
 leads one to suspect that the great Odin was a Chaldean, cast away on the shores 
 of Scandinavia to become the educator of that noble race. 
 
 No written records have been preserved to tell of their educational work, but there 
 are left living samples, and by the deeds of the offspring from the Norsemen we can 
 see the consequences of their educative ability. 
 
 As Odin was the inventor of the Runes, which were the best medium of education, 
 so, according to the Norse lore, he also invented poetry. Indeed the legend only 
 foreshadows who were the people following in ' >ilin s footsteps as educators. These 
 were, among the Scandinavians, the Scalds: among the Germans, the Bards, the 
 Minnesingers, whose sweet melodies reechoed throughout the great German Empire.
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1801 
 
 Those poet-singers have with their songs educated in -a delightful manner the children-* 
 of the mighty in their castles as well as those of the peasants. Through such 
 mediums poetry and those singers the knowledge required was distributed to all 
 alike. That was the way of education among the noble Norsemen whom some his- 
 torians delight to style ignorant barbarians. Fortunately, divine Providence has- 
 preserved their deeds, through which we may come to know them better. 
 
 MOSAIC EDUCATIONAL LAWS. 
 
 I. MOSES IN THE LAND OF THE CHALDEANS. 
 
 The Bible may describe the Hegira of Moses and make him shelter himself uiider- 
 the roof of a noble priest of Midian, a short distance from Egypt ; a legend of the 
 Jewish folklore may place him in the land of Cush, in Abyssinia, as a king ruling 
 there forty years, marked by a peculiar love affair with a dark-brown princess; still, 
 we, by virtue of his deeds, his knowledge, and assisted by some hints of Rabbinical, 
 tradition, are of the opinion that his forty years of exile were spent among the Chal- 
 deans, and a man is better known by his deeds than by his fame or name. We will 
 group and array our witnesses. They are: 
 
 1. His religious views. 
 
 2. His geographical knowledge. 
 
 3. His educational laws. 
 
 4. His peculiar laws concerning women. 
 
 First, then, in regard to his religious views: Mosaic Jehovah v. Hebraic Elohim. 
 
 When Moses appeared as a redeemer among the Hebrews, in Egypt, the Elohistie- 
 party was mostly composed of those native Hebrews who followed the patriarch, 
 into bondage from their native land of Canaan. The other was the .lehovistic party ^ 
 who clung to the Chaldean religious opinions, as imported by the Chaldean patri 
 arch, Abraham. It was not exactly that the direct descendants of the patriarch* 
 were Jehovistic or the descendants of the others Elohistic, the confusion of their 
 religious views made a party issue not dependent upon the lineage by genealogy.. 
 The Elohists were in the majority, hence the great opposition which Moses met 
 with when he first made his appearance among them. When he first proclaimed the 
 name of Jehovah they were so ignorant of it as to doubt his mission, for they had a. 
 tradition that Elohim would remember them. 
 
 Moses's geographical knowledge, which could accurately outline every hill, moun- 
 tain, and stream extending from the border of that country where he intended to- 
 establish his great Hebrew Empire to the Euphrates, could not have been acquired 
 by studying a map, which was not at that time in existence, but ouly by traveling 
 through the places he described. His hostility to the patriarchal institutions, and 
 breaking np of the family and tribal sovereignty, placing the power in a central 
 concentrated force, goes to show that he must have known the Chaldeans' ways and 
 their belief in a centralized government. 
 
 His disfranchising of women and excluding them from public as well as from 
 domestic rights was another blow to the Elohists, who looked upon the weaker sex 
 as superior beings, the patriarch having been told by Elohim himself to do anything 
 which Sara should say. 
 
 The attitude of Moses toward women was the same as the attitude of the Chal- 
 deans toward them. Moreover, the Rabbinical traditions hint plainly that Moses 
 knew or was in the land of the Chaldeans. The book of Job is accredited to 
 Moses as the author, and that he wrote it purposely in Egypt to show the great con- 
 fidence of the afflicted man in God and how by faith he was rewarded. The simple, 
 yet poetical style and expression of the book, the manifestation of foreign, scien- 
 tific views, combined with a local knowledge of Egypt, reveal the author and show 
 it to be one of the scriptures of Moses. Looking upon the book, we must say that 
 it is only a propaganda, advocating the Jehovistic religion and praise of the 
 ED
 
 1802 EDUCATION REPORT, 18W-93. 
 
 astronomical knowledge for which the Chaldeans were famous. His idea was to 
 demonstrate and illustrate tho faith iu Jehovah, not in Elohirn. For that reason 
 the author created a dramatic person, Job by name, whose wealth was plundered by 
 the Chaldeans (tho mention of the Chaldeans is suspicious). The scene in heaven, 
 where Elohlm gives a reception to the sons of Elohim, and entertains with them 
 Satan (a person never mentioned in Jchovistic prophets), looks somewhat like a 
 satire on the Elohistic cult. The chapters from the first to the thirty-eighth deal with 
 Job's terrible affliction, and the more terrible consolations, by dispute and argu- 
 ment, of his friends, and during the whole controversy, of a speculative philosophical 
 character, tho names of Elohim or Shadai are not mentioned. Failing by their waste 
 of words to help to console or to convince that poor afflicted Job, they seem to retire 
 to where they came from, and from the thirty-eighth chapter to tho end Jehovah has 
 the floor and from the midst of a storm he argues with Job, not with poetical words 
 and a speculative "perhaps," but with plain words and plainer facts, Imsed on the 
 phenomena of the solar system and its planetary wonders (such astronomy as was 
 taught by tho Chaldeans). Job was, through such facts and array of natural phe- 
 nomena, converted, convinced of the power of Jehovah and he became a Jehovist, 
 and, through his conversion Jehovah again restored to him his health and wealth. 
 This is an outline of the drama of poor Job, and it seems to have been written in a 
 missionary stylo for tho purpose of converting tho readers to the Jrhovisiir cult, 
 and its author could not have been any other than Moses. 
 
 Having established in a general outline the relation of Moses to the Chaldeans, 
 wo shall give a detailed account of his educational works, which will make that 
 relation more distinct. 
 
 II. MOSES AS I) THE BlBLK. 
 
 Those who think of Moses as a founder of religion, and his Bible as a religions 
 book, do not fully comprehend the matter. Moses is still railed by the Jews " Moshe 
 Rabbina," a term which means, Moses, our teacher. The Bible has no claim to being 
 a religious book, so far as we understand religion to be that religious touch which 
 links us to Infinity, as by prayer, and the belief in the immortality of the soul is 
 not to be found in the whole Scriptures. Nay, more; among the 613 laws there is not 
 one regarding prayer, that foundation of religion. On the contrary, Moses, differing 
 from others, forbade them to build any place of worship except the one place which 
 Jehovah should select. (As among the Chaldeans, whoso policy of centrali/ation 
 led them to have only the temple at Babel.) The Bible is an educational code, and 
 its history is the history of education. In order to understand the Scriptures better 
 let the actions of Moses's educational work serve as a commentator. 
 
 III. MOSES 15HKAKIXG PATRIARCHAL SYSTEMS AND THADITIOKS. 
 
 Moses found tho patriarchal traditions relating to the creation and to the deluge 
 in the Elohistic style, ascribing all the events to Elohim. Not being able to root 
 those legends out of the minds of tho Hebrews, which seemed to be in their blood, he 
 made additions of other versions with a Chaldean color. 
 
 To the first chapter of Genesis, where it mentions how Elohim created a couple, 
 he added another chapter of creation how Jehovah created man from dust and his 
 wife from his rib. In the patriarchal Elohistic version woman's equality with man 
 is plainly indicated, while in the monotheistic Jehovistic narrative the degradation 
 of woman is shown. 
 
 In tho first chapter of the deluge Elohim requests Noah to bring into the Ark of 
 every creature a pair, without distinction of clean and unclean, while in the Mosaio 
 version Jehovah tells him to bring in from the clean animals 7 pairs, and from tho 
 unclean 1 pair. In legislating that man shall forsake his father and mother to cling 
 to his wife he broke and removed the power of parents and patriarchal government, 
 by that law placing tho sacred personal liberty above obedience. The only conces- 
 sion he made to the Hebrews was in respect to the firstborn, whom, however, he soon 
 deprived of their rights.
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1803 
 
 IV. MOSES HOISTED THE CHALDEAN EMBLEM IXSTJCAD OF THAT OF ELOHIM, AND REMOVED THK 
 HEBREW ALPHA BETH, EEPLACING IT BY THAT OF THE CHALDEANS. 
 
 When the prophet speaks of Elohim, mentioning his angels, he describes the latter 
 with calf s legs (see Ezek., chap. 1). The Apocrypha tells of Bel in Babel, that ho 
 was a monster serpent. The calf was the emblem of Elohim, the serpent was the 
 emblem of Jehovah. When the Hebrews made a golden calf, they simply hoisted 
 the Elohistic emblem, their request to Aaron being, " Make us an Elohim." When 
 Moses came down he destroyed the calf, killed the rebels, and hoisted Jehovah's 
 emblem, the serpent, on high, requiring the Hebrews to look upon that. As the 
 body of the firstborn ones played a great rOle in the Elohistic plot he broke their 
 power entirely, placing it in the hands of a selected body of teachers, the priests 
 and the Levites. Another step in educational reform was taken when he removed 
 the old Hebraic Phoenician Alpha Beth, with its zigzag letters, and replaced it by 
 the simple, readable Chaldean Alpha Beth, with its plain quadrat letters. 
 
 Tho Talmud says Moses gave the ten commandments with an Egyptian word 
 (Anohi, I am) with Chaldean letters, and in the Hebrew tongue. That Chaldean 
 style of writing was a great educational medium for diffusing the knowledge to all. 
 
 V. SELECTING TEACHERS. 
 
 In appointing judges Moses did away with the patriarchal power, centralizing it 
 in the hands of the law. He employed the same method in education, selecting a 
 special body of teachers, the priests and the Levitee, whose aim should be to teach. 
 As he says, ''They, those of the tribe of Levi, shall teach thy laws to Jacob and the 
 knowledge to Israel." In order that they might be devoted to their profession, he 
 did not allow them by the law to have any earthly possessions, such as houses and 
 lands. As they were the teachers of the people their income was from the people 
 in the shape of the tithe from the land and from the flocks. Moses, like the Chal- 
 deans, thought that women were emotional and unfit for teaching serious subjects 
 of a scientific character. They were good for telling tales and stories, but not for 
 higher practical teachings, hence he prohibited a woman from even practicing 
 witchcraft under penalty of death. (Such was also the Chaldean law.) As the 
 primitive science was based upon observation and practice, and as there was a 
 demand for teachers more than for pupils, he gave them such a law to study 
 science. He gave them laws concerning what to eat and what not, in order to have 
 an opportunity to study natural history. Tho laws of clean and unclean leprosy 
 and other diseases forced them to study medicine and anatomy. The laws concern- 
 ing the mixed plantation brought them to learn botany. But the most practical 
 subject of study was the laws governing the calendar and the regulation of the festi- 
 vals, which were regulated on the astronomical plan of the Chaldeans, even to the 
 division of the weeks, days, aud months. By such laws the teachers were educated 
 in the branches of science, and were bouud to teach the knowledge thus obtained to 
 their pupils at large. From this standpoint the Bible is the educational code of 
 teachers, outlining the subjects to be taught. 
 
 
 VI. LAWS TO TEACH. 
 
 One of the 613 laws is a special law to teach the children. The law in question is 
 as follows : 
 
 " Ye shall teach these laws to yonr children, they shall speak of them always." 
 Mainonides declares that in that law is included the law to teach in the sacred 
 tongue. Another law in that line says : "That once in seven years to gather all the 
 people, even women and children, in order that they shall hear and learn." That 
 law is rather to indicate the necessity for religious instruction. "Tell and teach 
 your children,'' is an obligatory law. It was told to the individual, the father as 
 well as to the nation at large, so that in case there were no parents, the nation took 
 the parental responsibility of educating the children. Instead of the old patriarchal
 
 1804 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 folklore and tales, Moses legislated on subjects to bo taught, om- history, the other 
 geography, as is to be seen plainly in his request to "Remember the days of yore, to 
 murk the years of generation (history), to ask thy lather to tell you; thy elders to 
 explain how the Most High has settled the nations, dividing the sons of man in lix- 
 iug the borders of nations (geography)." That was the corner stone which the great 
 educator, Moses, laid to his educational structure. How it has grown by other edu- 
 cational architects we will see in the run of history. 
 
 THE SCHOOL OF THK PROPHKT-. 
 
 As soon as the Hebrews invaded Canaan, after the death of Moses, the Elohists l>y 
 virtue of their majority assimilated themselves with the native Hebrews, who-e 
 language they understood and spoke. The consequence of that assimilation w;ts the 
 establishment of the old patriarchal government and the rule of tribal sheiks, as 
 in the days of yore. From an educational standpoint it was the worst period in 
 Jewish history. The adoption of the native Phoenician Alpha Beth made it dillicnlt 
 to study, and the establishment of the Elohistic cult brought in its train the old 
 patriarchal system of government with its endless feuds and tribal wars. The 
 women again came to the front and the educational office was again in their hands, 
 rearing their children on the old system in the oral traditional songs and folklore. 
 No wonder that during the time of the Judges women, as Deborah, Jael, and others, 
 were better educated than the sons of Israel. 
 
 The history of education since the invasion of Canaan begins with the seer Samuel, 
 who was the founder of the famous School of the Prophets and the restorer of the 
 Mosaic Jehovistic religion. Samuel made a step of great reform in placing the edu- 
 cation in the hands of good, trained teachers not belonging to the Elohistic ignorant 
 sect qf priests, as the children of Eli were. The consequence of the restoration of 
 the Jehovistic religion was the centralization in the hands of an absolute king. As 
 the first king, Saul proved unsatisfactory, he was replaced by David. The School 
 of the Prophets was in existence during the four hundred years till the first destruc- 
 tiou. The pupils were called "Bcni Hanbijm" (Children of the Prophets). The 
 prominent masters of that school were: Samuel, Gad, Nathan, Edow, Achyohu from 
 Siiilo, Elijah, Elisha, Jehu ben Chanani, Ebadjah, Michah ben Jimla. 
 
 That class of prophets was not the same as the authors of Scripture. The former 
 were prophets by virtue of their training and study, while the latter were geniuses 
 inspired by those hidden forces of nature the marks of the genius of every age. 
 The former distinguished themselves by deeds, the latter by words and orations. 
 The former were strict, stern Jehovists, while among the latter some had an Elohistic 
 leauing (as Ezekiel and others). The School of the Prophets was not stationary. It 
 was always on the move from place to place as this was the only way of distributing 
 knowledge among the classes. It reminds one of the methods of the Scalds, the dis- 
 ciples of Odin. It is curious to note that the first founder of that school, Samuel, 
 was called " Roe," a term which means the seer in the clouds, while Gad and Edow 
 were called "Chosim," which means stargazers. It seems that in progress of time 
 some of the masters had established colleges, as the name of Edow's College, " .Mid- 
 rash Edow," in whoso archives were chronicled the events and history of the reign- 
 ing kings. The result of that educational department could best bo seen in the fa -t 
 that when King David reorganized the caste of the priests and Levites ho appointed, 
 under the direction of Heiman, 288 teachers of music. In spite of that, tlie ^ales 
 of education were still blocked to the people by the heiroglyphic Phoenician Al,>!ia 
 Bi-tli, which was without vowels and punctuation. The Talmud tells us that when 
 .loal). the commander in chief to David, was ordered to make war on Amalek with 
 the instruction to kill and to wipe out all the remembrance (Seicher) of Amalek as 
 tho law gays, lie wmt :'nd killed only the males. When questioned altout it he 
 replied that his teacher taught him to wipe out tho males (Sachon. Sneh amis- 
 reading and misunderstanding was due to the Phu-nician Alpha Beth, which had
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1805 
 
 neither vowels nor punctuation. This shows what an important role the simple 
 quadrat Alpha Beth of the Chaldeans played in the education of the Hebrews. 
 
 I. FROM THE BUILDINU OF THE TEMPLE TO THE EXILE. 
 
 The building of the Temple and the reorganization of the priesthood as teachers, 
 which promised to develop education, was also only a promise and of short dura- 
 tion. For no sooner had King Solomon closed his eyes than the unruly party of the 
 Elohists rose as one man, and the ten tribes under the leadership of Jeroboam hoisted 
 Elohhu's emblem that of the Golden Calf. That the separation was from a purely 
 Elohistic point of view we can see by the party issue of its platform, as proclaimed 
 by Jeroboam : " To thy tents, O Israel," which means a restoration of home rule, plac- 
 ing the right over life and death in the hands of parents and tribal sheiks. In 
 spite of the fact that the Elohistic government tolerated to a certain extent the 
 Jehovistic School of the Prophets, the outlook for education was a gloomy one, as 
 it was tempered indirectly by the prophets and priests of Baal. The educational 
 development among the other two tribes who still maintained a Jehovistic sham 
 religion was at a standstill, and during the four hundred years of the Temple's exist- 
 ence the priests were renowned for their blessed ignorance. During that long, sad 
 period of four dark centuries we find only one Jehovistic king, Jehosaphat, who 
 tried to reorganize the priests and Levites, as teachers, as Moses founded them. He, 
 that king, says the Chronicle, sent out the priests and Levites among the people, and 
 with them the book of the written laws of Jehovah, to visit all the cities in Judah 
 to teach among the people. A deplorable case of ignorance can be illustrated : 
 When the High Priest Chilkijah found an old book of Moses in the Temple ho could 
 not read it, and gave it to Shapan, the scribe, who. by advice of the King Joshijahn, 
 brought it to the Prophetess Childa for interpretation. It is probable that it was one 
 of the ancient early books of the law, which was written in simple, plain letters 
 with regular vowels and punctuation in the Chaldean Alpha Beth, hence neither the 
 high priest nor the scribe could read it. 
 
 To sum up the history of the Jews daring the first four hundred years from the 
 building of the Temple to its destruction, we will find that education was better 
 developed under the Jehovistic religion than under the patriarchal system of the 
 Elohistic cult. No wonder that the great Jehovistic prophet, Jeremiah, advocated 
 the invasion of the Chaldeans, who were Jehovists, and he called their King Nebu- 
 chadnezzar the servant of Jehovah. The reason for this was that even the last two 
 tribes had come to be worshipers of Elohim. (It is now understood why Nebuchad- 
 nexzar favored the author of the Lamentation.) Even the Talmud says "The 
 Almighty did a charitable work in exiling the Hebrews into the land of the enlight- 
 ened Chaldeans." 
 
 H IN THE SCHOOL OF THE CAPTORS. 
 
 Dr. Karpeles, the present famous Jewish historian, is surprised that the Jews, who 
 were ignorant heathens when they were led into captivity, came out as learned sages 
 after a short stay there. This need not be surprising, as it is probable that they 
 were compelled to be educated by their captors, or were so impressed with the edu- 
 cational institutions of the country that they were indirectly forced to adopt them, 
 as the square Aramic Chaldean Alpha Beth was the best medium for reaching them. 
 
 From tablets preserved at the British Museum, to which my attention was culled 
 by Dr. Cyrus Adler, of the Smithsonian Institution, we gather that the Chaldeans 
 had, to a .certain extent, a regular system of education, assuming the form of educa- 
 tional suffrage. There is a tablet which may be called the exercise or lesson of some 
 Babylonian lad in the age of Nebuchadnezzar. It consists of a list of the kings 
 belonging to the early dynasties, which he had to learn by heart. The fragment of 
 an old primitive folkstory which once formed a part of the First Reader of a lesson 
 book for the nursery shows that the teaching of the child began at the age of 6. The
 
 1806 EDUCATION REPORT, 1994-95. 
 
 Btory therein is this : A foundling was picked tip ill the streets ami taken from tho 
 mouths of the dogs and ravens, to be adopted by the king as his ovru son. 
 
 The vast libraries for which Babylon was famous were open to the public, and 
 were placed in the temples by order of the king, which shows that the Chaldeans 
 were educated under the control of the government. As a proof of educational 
 suffrage might be mentioned the fact that one of the librarians was the son of "an 
 irrigator," a child of an unskilled laborer. This is a proof of how and to what 
 extent education was spread among tho Chaldeans. No wonder that the Hebrews 
 became enlightened in the land of their captors, Avhich was their school. The Tal- 
 mud says that the Jews brought from Babylon the names of the angels, as well as 
 the names of the months. By the former we understand the religious views, while 
 by tho latter they meant the astronomical science of the calendar. In addition, they 
 adopted tho Aramic Chaldean Alpha Beth, with its square letters, and probably had 
 nationalized tho educational system of the Chaldeans with many modifications 
 according to the demands of the times and circumstances. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL REFORM BY THE GREAT SYNOD, VNDER KXRA TTIK SORIBK. 
 
 Ezra the Scribe, or, as he is called by the Persian King Artaxcrxes, "the Scribe of 
 the Law," at the return from the exile, called a congress of restoration. kno\vn us 
 "The Great Synod." This body was composed, of 120 members, among them promi- 
 nent prophets, such as Malachi, Chagi, and Zecharje. The object was to show to tho 
 people at large how tho chain of tradition was unbroken from Moses to the elders, 
 from the elders to the prophets, and from the prophets to the great synod. Ezra's 
 aim in calling that famous congress was to promote a universal education, a.s the 
 book says of him, "Ezra has prepared his heart to explain the law of Jehovah and 
 to teach in Israel law and justice." 
 
 The first thing that body did was to revise the Bible in accordance with the Jeho- 
 vistic tradition, and many a book has experienced alteration, while some were 
 excluded from the canon entirely. 
 
 The next step was of great educational importance, namely, the adoption of tho 
 Chaldean Alpha Beth, and the addition of the five letters, m, 11, z, p, ch, which were 
 written at the end of words. The restoration of the Chaldeans' well-regulated and 
 easily read Alpha Beth was of far-reaching benefit to educational development 
 among the people, so that the Talmud glorifies Ezra, making him equal with Moses, 
 being worthy that tho law should have been given through him. The grateful Tal- 
 mud also acknowledges the merit of the great synod, in tayiug that they restored 
 the crown to its ancient glory. It weaves a sacred garland of tradition around the 
 art of writing, declaring that the art of writing and that of engraving were created 
 on the last day of creation, on the Friday at twilight, thus giving an air of divinity 
 to these sciences, uplifting them to the highest standard of spirituality, and making 
 them the distinguishing mark between the divine man aud the lower human being. 
 
 By declaring human authority superior to the law they have removed tho dead 
 letter, which was a stumbling-block to progress, and enabled the living authorities 
 to act according to the requirements of time and circumstances. 
 
 By revising the Bible, declaring only twenty -four books of early inspiration, and 
 shutting out the rest from tho canon as "outside books" (apocrypha), they opcne 1 
 the gates of knowledge to everyone, since only scientific skill was required, and 
 not prophetic miracles. 
 
 By breaking the power of the priestly caste, in taking out of their bands the judi- 
 cial as well as the educational offices, they gave an opportunity to every citizen to 
 strive for these places. 
 
 Tho proclamation of the oral law as tho real esoteric meaning of the written law 
 as they said that " eye for eye, tooth for tooth," of the Mosaic law means money 
 fines has made man more divine and God more humane. 
 
 The appointment of a supreme court of 71 members, qualified for that exalted
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1807 
 
 position, only by knowledge, regardless of birth or family disgrace, did away with 
 the patriarchal system of government and the right of might. Nay, more, the 
 members of tho supreme court, who had jurisdiction over the whole nation, who were 
 known as the "Sanhedrim," were required to have as qualification the iiuiversal 
 knowledge, not only of the Jewish jurisprudence, but also the most living languages 
 and their literatures, so that tho whole body, as one man, should know the seventy 
 tongues spoken at that time by tho human race. Even an understanding of the 
 black art, or magic, was required of the member of the Sanhedrin. The declaration 
 that n sage is mightier than a prophet, and that by the power of wisdom the Almighty 
 created the world, gave a value to universal knowledge superior to that of the writ- 
 ten law of Moses. 
 
 With the exception of the Samaritans, whom they fought to the knife, all nations, 
 without distinction of creed or religion, were invited to eat from the tree of knowl- 
 edge to be as the gods. 
 
 They declared, in the Talmud, that even a heathen, if he studies the law, is higher 
 than a high priest who goes into tho Holy of Holies. In another place they say that 
 a bastard a sage is superior to tho high priest. Such declarations show that the 
 charitable desire was to extend the blessings of knowledge and education even to 
 non-Israelites. Indeed, the various disputes about religious and scientific topics 
 recorded in the Talmud between learned Jews and Romans, Penriaus, Chaldeans, and 
 Greeks, where the latter displayed a knowledge of Jewish literature equal to the 
 rabbis, show that they must have accumulated that knowledge through the hospi- 
 tality of tho Jews, by whom it was regarded as a law that they should extend edu- 
 cation to everyone. Through such a broad view of education an avenue was opened 
 by which even the pagans could enter the sanctuary, regardless of lineage. 
 
 Tho following may be cited as an illustration, taken from the Talmud: "It was a 
 custom, when the high priest on Atonement Day left the sanctuary unhurt, for tho 
 people to give him an ovation as a congratulation upon his coming out safely. Once, 
 while tho people were cheering the high priest, the two noted Shmaye and Abtalyon, 
 who were in direct succession to the great synod in. the eighth generation, happened 
 to pass by. Tho former was the Nasi (spiritual prince), the latter Ab Beth Din (pres- 
 ident of the Sanhedrim). The crowd, beholding them, left tho high priest and fol- 
 lowed the sages, cheering them, who were the children of converted heathens. The 
 high priest felt humiliated, and when he met the sages ho saluted them, saying, 'Let 
 tho sons of heathens come to peace,' alluding to their lineage. They replied satiric- 
 ally, 'Let tho sons of heathens come to peace who do the work of Aaron, and let 
 not the sons of Aaron come to peace who do not do his deeds.' " This is the best 
 illustration of what an exalted position education had given them, regardless of their 
 lineage. 
 
 The great reform work of that famous congress, which lasted in continuous session 
 for many years, was solely devoted to education, and every work, no matter of what 
 character, had an educational bearing. 
 
 The municipal government was taken from the hands of the Elders and placed in 
 tho hands of the "Seven Best Men of the Town," elected by the people. These men 
 were under the control of the Ab Beth Din, the head of the city court, whose special 
 duty, besides executing justice, was to care for the educational department of the 
 town. (Such a court in an ordinary town consisted of three members, while in tho 
 capitals of tho provinces the body consisted of twenty-three members with the power 
 of passing the death sentence.) 
 
 The Temple, which, at the time of the exile, had had the appearance of a huge 
 animal slaughterhouse, was rebuilt and made the center of the federal government 
 with various departments, of which one was a department of education, caring for 
 tho maintenance of tho higher colleges as well as the public schools for the children 
 in Jerusalem. Tho Temple was placed under the control of a nonpriest, who had 
 the title of "Ish Habaith" (the lord of the mansion "major-domo"), who, in turn,
 
 1808 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 was under the control of the Sanhedrim. The high priest, seven days before the 
 Atonement Day, was handed over to two sages, uonpriests, pupils of Moses (which 
 means Jehovists), selected by the Sanhedrim to be trained and drilled for the reli- 
 gious performance. The priests who were instituted by Moses as healers, by t'.ie 
 decree of the great synod, ceased to be such. The reason for this was that the 
 priests were not allowed by the law to come into contact with a corpse, and as the 
 science of healing is based upon the knowledge of anatomy, which the priest could 
 not study, that science was cultivated in the colleges by nonpriests, and when 
 graduated, they were recognized as Rofini (healers). From these Roil in one was 
 selected as the "Healer of the Temple," whose duties were the same as those of the 
 modern board of health. The lepers, or other people suffering from skin diseases, 
 who, in former days were cast off from the camp, and were not allowed to join in 
 the Easter feast, being declared by the priests unclean, after the progress of science, 
 s ivs the Talmud, went a day before Easter to the surgeon, who made an operation on 
 them, removing certain worms from under the discoloration, and they were then 
 declared clean and allowed to join in the Easter celebration. By ordering certain 
 prayers aud benedictions, the great synod denounced, indirectly, the mode of wor- 
 ship by sacrifice. The famous Lord's Prayer, is to be found in the Talmud, with a 
 slight alteration, bearing the air of antiquity By means of prayers, the gre;it 
 synod gave the Je4rs that which Moses lacked a religious education. The decree 
 to build in every habitable place a Beth Hadneseth (a house of worship) and a Beth 
 H:imidrash (college and public library) was of great educational importance. The 
 former gave an icle.iof Him who is everywhere present, and not only in the Temple; 
 the latter increased the desire for reading. The Talmud says that the great synod 
 fnsted twenty-four days, praying that school-teachers and book writers and authors 
 should never accumulate wealth from their profession so that they would be bound 
 by circumstances to live up to a high standard. National congresses for educational 
 purposes were convened ten times in ten different places after the great synod, 
 adding reforms according to time and place. After the great synod there follows an 
 unbroken line of couples or pairs, as registered in the book, The Sayings of the 
 Sires. The bearer of the first name was always the Nasi (the Prince) while his com- 
 panion was Ab Beth Din (president of the court or Sanhedrim). Rabbi Gamaliel, at 
 whose feet the great Apostle Paul eat as a pupil, was one of the last couples. 
 
 The work of the great synod is preserved in the gnomic sayings which they left, 
 in the "Sayings of the Sires," "Be patient in judgment," "Bring forth many pupils 
 and make a fence to the law." Upon that saying, the grand, towering structure of 
 the Talmud was built. 
 
 THE TALMUD. 
 
 The Talmud, that great written museum containing untold treasures of a civili/cd 
 world of six bygone centuries, that wonderful and universal encyclopedia, which, 
 with the Mishna and Midrash, which follow in its train, presents twice as many vol- 
 umes as the Encyclopaedia Britannica, that wonderful book, which Orthodox Juda- 
 ism considers so sacred, written by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, is not the 
 work of a few individuals, but a work of great scientific importance. It is a work 
 by the whole Jewish nation, as well as by others who indirectly contributed to that 
 remarkable gazette of the world. 
 
 The great synod laid the first corner stone to that unparalleled structure, and it 
 was finished a short- time before the Hegira of Mohammed. Its various editors in 
 chief, as Rabbi Johannes (who was the first editor of the Jerusalem Talmud), Rabbi 
 Akiba, Rabbi Jehuda, Hanasi (the Prince), who was the editor of the Mishna, were 
 great historians as well as famous scientists. Its contributors were recruited from 
 all the rank and file of society. You will find a contribution from a plain, modest, 
 unskilled laborer, who made his livelihood as a burden carrier, next to an essay of 
 the great Rabon Gamaliel, a homiletic explanation from a rabbi next to a story of a 
 mermaid by an old, experienced tar; a sketch of plant life by a simple farmer
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1809 
 
 arrayed iii line with aii essay about medicinal anatomy by a famous medical sago. 
 Not only Jews and early Jewish Christians are amoug its numberless contributor*, 
 but even pagans have acqiiired some place in its vast volumes. There are contribu- 
 tions from Sadducees. Epicureans, Romans, Persians, and Chaldeans, whose opinions 
 are published even though they are not in harmony with the Talmudical faith or 
 creed. The Talmud is a free trader in thought, its motto being "To know." It 
 wants to know what the Almighty has done since he created the world, and is al?o 
 eager to know what Eabbi Akiba did when he shut himself up privately with a noble 
 Roman matron. It displays a fair method of criticism, free from any prejudice or 
 favoritism, and there is not a saint on earth or an angel in heaven who is not made 
 the target of the sharp arrows of true criticism. Even Moses is arraigned before the 
 Talrandical bar, which criticises his conduct. Honor is given to whom honor is due, 
 even though he be an opponent. Balaam, who was hired to curse the Jews, is, 
 according to the Talmud, greater in prophecy than Moses. 
 
 The Rabbis, in dispute with Gentile sages, frankly admit the truth of the state- 
 ments of the latter, if their arguments on the subject discussed were logical. 
 
 In poetry, the Talmud surpasses the Illiad of Homer, its vast volumes being one 
 grand, long epic song, describing the heroic struggle of the giants of brain who 
 fought the mighty gods of the mountains, as well as the gods of the valleys; the 
 dreadful Drnids, as well as the fearful demons. It is a tale of the struggle between 
 light and darkness; between education and ignorance, with the final victory of the 
 schoolmaster. 
 
 From an historical point of view, the Talmud may be taken as the record of his- 
 torical deeds. We can get more information about the Hermit Kingdom of the Nile 
 from it than from 10,000 mummified cats recently dug out from its shores at an enor- 
 mous expense. 
 
 It is a pity that the Talmud has never been made accessible to the scientific world 
 
 I. THE Two TALMUDS. 
 
 Like the Hebrew religion, which is divided into two parts, the Elohistic and the 
 Jehovistic cults, so the Talmud is divided into two parts, the Jerusalem Talm;:d 
 and the Babylonian Talmud. In spite of the distinctive names there were many 
 Babylonian contributors to the Jerusalem Talmud and many Jerusalem contributors 
 to the Babylonian Talmud. From an educational standpoint, the Jerusalem Talmud 
 is superior to that of Babylon, not only in age, but also in educational principles. 
 The Jerusulem writers endeavored to train the tongue, while the Babylonians aimed 
 to exercise the brain ami mental faculties. Both Talmuds are prototypes of the two 
 kinds of Jews, corresponding to the two kinds of religion. The Talmnd of Jerusa- 
 lem has a Jehovistic caste, with liberal toleration toward the Elohists, especially 
 toward the early Jewish Christians, of whom many were in the ranks of its contribu- 
 tors. It is liberal, yet its liberality does not extend over the national border. It 
 reminds one of Peterism of the early Christian period. The Babylonian Talmud has 
 a broader view and has a cosmopolitan tendency, more like St. Paul. Like Paul, 
 the Babylonian Talmud proclaims a heavenly Jerusalem, and, curiously enough, we 
 there find the "missing link" between their views about non-Israelites. To the 
 Babylonian Talmudist, as mentioned in former chapters, the pagan sage who studies 
 the law is superior to the high priest who does not. Paul uttered the words: "If 
 God wants children from Abraham, he can bring them forth from stones." Those 
 who are acquainted with the methods of argument used in the Babylonian Talmud 
 will find a striking resemblance between it and the arguments of Paul. Since Panl 
 came from Tarshish, he must have had a Babylonian education ; and also in the school 
 of ( lamaliel the Babylonian system was adopted, he (Gamaliel) having been one of the 
 disciples of the great Babylonian, Hillel, whose deeds and teachings resemble those 
 of Christ, who lived one hundred years later.
 
 1810 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 Tho Epistles of Peter arc written iii the style of the Jerusalem Talmud ; he was 
 probably trained after the Jerusalem method. 
 
 The Talmud of Jerusalem is like the Oriental Jew, while the Babylonian Talmud 
 is the model of a Russian Jew iu all his ways and manm -r>. 
 
 The Jerusalem Talmud is written iu a very plain style, leaving the impression 
 that it was written by people of a high education, people who laid stress upon sys- 
 tem and order the indications of education. Its laws are paragraphed like a 
 modern law book and its sentences are brief and to the point. More care is given 
 to the rhetoric and drilling of the tongue than to the exercise of the brain. It lacks 
 any speculation, and a dim gloom is cast upon it. The same can be said of the 
 Oriental Jew, who is the outcome of his native Palestinian Talmud. To him, 
 "words, words, and words" are more important than reason, and, like his Talmud, 
 he moves in a narrow traditional circle of nationality. Like his Talmud, which 
 condemns every speculation in physical research, he lacks that vigor of brain which 
 has made the Occidental Hebrew, especially the Russian and Polish Jews, famous. 
 
 The Babylonian Talmud is the Eidolon of the Russian and the Polish Jew, with 
 whom it grew near the Euphrates and the Tigris. The Russian and Polish Jews are 
 descendants of the Babylonian Jews who entered Europe through Persia and tin- 
 Caspian Sea. The Russian Jew is of an erratic nature, always of speculative turn, 
 whether in matters of religion or matters of business. He is broad minded and 
 sharp, yet his life is generally in a chaotic state, without order or system. If a Rus- 
 sian Jew is asked a question, instead of replying ho will ask you another quest ion. and 
 in conversation ho will take a long journey of talk until he at last wanders to tin- 
 point. He will eat pork, yet, in spite of the fact that he is a lawbreaker, he will fast 
 on the Atonement Day. He is a materialist in the full sense of the word, yet he pos- 
 sesses the mystic inclinations of aMahatma. His Talmud (the Babylonian) is of the 
 same character. In appearance, theRussian Jew is chaos itself. For him, every sub- 
 ject, no matter of how small importance, must be reasoned about, argued, and analyzed 
 down to the last atomic substance until it is acknowledged as a law. In that 
 respect he differs from Herbert Spencer, who says there is no chemistry for thought. 
 When the Talmud begins to treat of a law for instance, whether a ship is liable to 
 house leprosy it never comes to the point, but will wander through the Seven 
 Heavens on high and the Seven Chambers of the Inferno until it comes bark a^ain to 
 the starting point, and will then decide, after having employed all the resonn-es of 
 knowledge, that a ship is not a hou-e. 
 
 The Babylonian Talmud might bo likened to Faust, who wanted to be a saint iu 
 the heavenly Jerusalem and at the same time an Epicurean on the earth. It calls 
 the Nazir, who vows to abstain from wine, a "sinner." Life, according to it, is a 
 nuptial celebration, and is looked at from its brightest side. Even Satan appears 
 therein as a gentleman. It approves of slang, which is expressive, though it often 
 rises to the highest point in poetry. A sublime thought will be immediately followed 
 by a vulgar expression, which fact once caused a refined millionaire, Beu Elashn, to 
 leave the house of Jehuda at a nuptial feast. The Babylonian Talmud regards the 
 exercise of the brain a& superior to anything else, and he who can produce 150 rea- 
 sons for purifying the rat, which Moses declared "unclean," is called a sage. Ho 
 who would be a rabbi had to pass through snch a brain examination before receiving 
 his diploma. To speak in the words of the Talmud, they studied 300 kinds of laws 
 upon the subject of "flying lower in the air" (could they have known of balloons?). 
 
 No matter how much the two Talmuds disagree, upon one point they agree that 
 education is the highest attainment of man; and both have mercilessly disfranchised 
 the ignorant from many social rights to which any human being would naturally bo 
 entitled. 
 
 II. DlSFRAXCIHSESlEXT OW THE ICiXORAXT. 
 
 The ignorant wore, by the laws of the Talmud, expelled from the earthly social 
 sphere, as well as from the heavenly, where a merciful (iol grant* a shelter to any 
 erring soul. Not only was ho considered ignorant who could not himself read and
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1811 
 
 -write, but he who had children and brought them up without education was also 
 called ignorant. They -were deprived of the following privileges: 
 
 1. No witness should be delivered to them, nor 
 
 2. Should they be accepted as such. 
 
 3. No secret should bo told them. 
 
 4. They could not be appointed as apotropies (guardians) for orphans or managers 
 of the charitable institutions. 
 
 5. They could not be taken as traveling companions. 
 
 6. What they lost could not be advertised (it was the custom to advertise "lost 
 and found'' articles through a herald). 
 
 A man. says the Talmud, who gives his daughter to an ignorant person does the 
 same as though he bound her and gave her to a lion. Every calamity which comes 
 upon a country is due only to the ignorant, according to Rabbinical ideas. A good 
 illustration is found in the records of the Talmud, which shows to what a degree 
 hatred against ignorance was carried: "Once," so says the Rabbinical history, 
 "there was a famine in the land, and the benevolent, spiritual prince, Rabbi Jehuda, 
 called the Saint, the editor of the Michna, opened his granaries with the notice that 
 those who were versed either in the Scripture, or in the oral law, or in the folklore, 
 or in any educational branch were invited to come and be fed. Rabbi Jonathan ben 
 Amram forced his way in, and when he was asked by Rabbi Jehuda, ' Do you know 
 the Scripture?' 'No,' was the reply. 'Do you know the oral law?' 'No/ he 
 answered. He was given food, but when he went out the Rabbi groaned, saying, 
 'Woe to me, that I gave from my bread to one who was ignorant! '" 
 
 The ignorant person, says the Talmud, will not be resurrected. A man shall always 
 sell all his belongings to marry the daughter of a sago. If not, let him marry the 
 daughter of the president of a library or of a synagogue. If ho can not find such, 
 he shall try to marry the daughter of the president of the United Charity. Jf he 
 can not find such, he shall marry the daughter of the schoolmaster, and not the 
 daughter of an ignorant man. On the same page the Talmud declares that an 
 ignorant person is not allowed by the law to eat any kind of meat. In auotber 
 place it declares that the ignorant are out of place in society and unfit for witnesses. 
 
 One rabbi went so far as to proclaim that if it were not for the sake of commerce 
 the ignorant people ought to be killed. (This reminds one of Plato, who wanted in 
 his Ideal State to have only able-bodied and able-minded citizens, while the rest were 
 to bo mercilessly shut out.) 
 
 In the same degree as the ignorant are despised, the wise are exalted. A sage who 
 falls, says the oral law, should not have his shame made public. He who teaches the 
 son of his friend knowledge, says the Talmud, will sometime be seated in the heavenly 
 college of wisdom, and he who teaches the son of an ignorant person will have power 
 to nullify even the decrees, of the Almighty. A sage is, according to the Talmud, 
 superior to the King of Israel, for if the sage dies we can hardly find one like him, 
 but if the King dies every Israelite is fit for the position. The Talmud called the 
 Persian Empire an "unworthy" one, because they had no national Alpha Beth and 
 no grammar. (They adopted both of these from the cultured Medes.) 
 
 Everyone is requested by the oral law to salute a sage, even from the heathens, 
 when passing by, by standing up. Rab. Dimi, from Nahardai in Babylon, brought 
 figs once in a boat to the market. The Exilearch (Reish Gola, the prince of the 
 Exile) said to Raba, "Go and inquire if he is a learned man; then give the permit 
 for the market." That illustrates what privileges the learned men enjoyed in the 
 estimation of the editors of the Talmud. The Talmud even says that it would bo 
 better to neglect the service of the Lord than to give up the knowledge of the law. 
 
 RABBINICAL EDUCATIONAL LAWS. 
 
 In spite of the fact that the educational system of Palestine was different from 
 that of Babylon, still, in the general outline of the laws concerning it, both had a 
 nniform code, with slight alterations.
 
 1812 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 Every community was compelled by the law to maintain a kindergarten " Makri 
 Dardeki" (teacher of children). Besides these, the community was compelled by 
 the law to maintain a penman, "Sofer" (scribe), whose duty it was to teach the 
 children the art of writing. 
 
 A community was compelled to maintain: 
 
 1. A synagogue. 
 
 2. A beth hamidrash (a public library). 
 
 3. A bath house. 
 
 4. A kindergarten. 
 
 5. A public school. 
 
 6. A city penman. 
 
 7. A city physician. 
 
 8. A public toilet house. 
 
 9. A charitable institution. 
 
 In the community which had not the above institutions a learned man was not 
 allowed to live. 
 
 The teachers of the kindergarten and of the public schools were paid by the city 
 treasurer, who was under the control of the seven best men of the city (Shiwat 
 Tobei Hair), corresponding to our modern city fathers. The colleges were main- 
 tained by donations from rich private professors and by college fees. 
 
 I. THE TEACHER. 
 
 The teacher must be of good, moral reputation, and married. Bachelors and 
 women were disqualified by the law from being teachers in public schools or in kin- 
 dergartens. In regard to his pedagogic knowledge, the Palestinians laid more stress 
 upon educational ability and in possessing a good method of pronunciation, while 
 the Babylonians cared more for their learning. A Galilean was not qualified for the 
 position of teacher in a public school, nor as a reader in the synagogue by the Pales- 
 tinians, while in Babylon he could get such a position, provided he possessed the 
 quality of learned speculation. Women were excluded from the pupil's bench as 
 -well as from the schoolmaster's chair. They could neither teach nor be taught, 
 according to the Talmud ic.nl law. 
 
 II. THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
 
 These were under the direct control of the city court in all. matters pertaining to 
 education, while the financial fairs were managed by the best seven elected men of 
 the city. The schoolhouse, if it were not public property, was rented. The Rab- 
 binical court never recognized the complaints of persons living near the school 
 against the noise of the children which prevented them from sleeping. (It seems 
 that they had night schools also.) The same complaint against the otlice of the city 
 writer and the city physician was not recognized. 
 
 If a city was divided by a river or a stream, the parents were not compelled by the 
 law to bring their children to the school "over the water," unless the bridge was 
 broad and safe. 
 
 Makri Dardflci (The School of the Little Ones). A* general law of the Talmud says 
 that when a child begins to talk its father is compelled to teach it. But then i- i, 
 special Rabbinical educational standard which runs as follows : "At the age of 5, 
 the child is to be taught reading ; at the age of 10, Mishna (outlines of the oral law) ; 
 at the age of 15, Talmud and universal knowledge. If the child was a healthy one, 
 it was brought to the kindergarten at the age of 5. The class in that sort of school 
 consisted of 25 pupils, and if there were 50 the city appointed another teacher. a::d 
 if the class had only 40 pupils a helper was added. In that class the children were 
 taught in a playing way to read the letters of the Alpha Beth in Babylonian on 
 tablets of clay like those of the Chaldeans, and in Palestine even from rolls of 
 parchment. The writing was required to be plain. Minnie, and readable, so that the
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1813 
 
 child should know how to distinguish a daleth (1) fr>i a rfsch ("1) which have a 
 resemblance in the Hebrew letters. 
 
 At the age of 6 the child was brought into the public school under the care of the 
 "Molamed Tinoketh" (teacher of children). In the Babylonian Talmud we have a 
 record that Raw said to Rabbi Samuel bar Shiloth, who was a teacher in the public 
 school, "At less than 6 years of age do not receive pupils; from 6 and upward feed 
 him with reading matter like an ox." This is the most characteristic educational 
 system of the Babylonians, who cared more for the accumulation of learning, regard- 
 less of a systematic order of education, than the Palestinians. The school childrt n 
 were allowed to read the weekly portions of the Bible by the light of the lamp on 
 Sabbath night (which was prohibited to older people). 
 
 III. PUNISHMENT. 
 
 Bodily punishment was prohibited in Palestine by an act of the fourth synod 
 assembled on Awsha, and neither the parents nor the teachers were allowed to punish 
 a, child until the age of 12. The Babylonians had a light bodily punishment with 
 shoestrings. It is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud that Raw said to Rabbi 
 Shiloth, who was a teacher in a public school, "When thou shalt punish a child, 
 punish him with shoestrings." 
 
 IV. VACATIONS. 
 
 A regular vacation for children was unknown to the Talmud rabbis. For them to 
 learn to study was above all else. "Even for the sake of building the Temple, we 
 do not allow the children to have a vacation," says the Talmud; "and Jerusalem," 
 claims the same book, "was destroyed because they often permitted the schoolmas- 
 ters to be idle." "The world only exists for the sake of the little ones," says the 
 Talmud. With the exception of the hours for prayer and the festivals, which 
 required the presence of the children, their study went on without pause or rest. 
 Often in times of calamity, as in times of pestilence and cholera, the schools were 
 closed. It was a custom, when the country suffered from drought, to order a fast 
 day, when the children were brought to the market place, where open prayer meet- 
 ings were held, and the people implored the Most High in sackcloth and ashes, 
 pointing to the little ones, praying, "O Lord, hear us and give us grace for the sake 
 of these school children, who are pure from sin." 
 
 On Sabbaths and other feast days the subjects of study were of light matters for 
 little children, reading exercises ; for college boys, homiletics. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL DUTIES OF PARENTS. 
 
 The educational duties of the parents were four in number: 
 
 (a) The father's duty is, by the law, to bring up and rear his children (the male 
 ones) on all the branches of knowledge, even in national folklore. 
 (&) The father's duty is to teach his son a trade. 
 
 (c) The father is even compelled to teach his son how to swim. 
 
 (d) The father is to care for his son's religious training and education. 
 These are the duties of a grandfather to be fulfilled to his grandchild. 
 
 The mother's duty was only one, namely, to bring her children into the school- 
 house and to the prayer meeting. 
 
 RELIGIOUS KDUCATION. 
 
 "Religious training" is not to be found on the calendar of education, yet it is the 
 most important item in it, and the Talmud has separated that part, placing it in 
 the hands of the parents that they may educate that part of the child which is out 
 of the reach of the schoolmaster, ennobling the inner feelings and the emotions of 
 the soul. That portion of the education was in the hands of the parents, princi- 
 pally the father. The Talmud says that we shall accustom the child to the duties of
 
 1814 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 the laws, even to accustom it to fast. The religious training was conducted at home, 
 not ill the school. The child, by virtue of his childish not ions, like all children, 
 was eager to know about any strange ceremony which took place iu the religious 
 domestic life. For instance, the child asked the meaning of the "Mezuza" (a sort 
 of talisman which Moses requested them to put on the doorposts). The father then 
 explained to the child its meaning as well as its historical advent. Every feast day 
 was an opportunity for the father to give a religious instruction to his sou on that 
 subject. For instance, at the Feast of the Tabernacles, when the family removed 
 from the house to live for a week in a tent, the child, of course, was eager to know 
 why, and so the father explained the reason from a religious point of view. On (he 
 night of the Passover, before the proceedings of the feast, the child asked four 
 tions of his father in regard to the curious customs in that peculiar feast. Th::t 
 custom still prevails among the Polish and Orthodox Jews. The Talmud says that 
 on the night of the Passover nuts and fruits were given to the children in order that 
 they should be awake and listening to the history of the exodus from Egypt. 
 
 The child, according to the Jewish view, is not responsible for the religious law 
 until tho ago of 13, when ho is no longer a minor in religious matters. But there is 
 one duty resting upon the shoulders of the child regardless of his age, to which he 
 is subjected, and that is the kadish (sanctification). The kadish is a short prayer, 
 like tho Lord's Prayer, and is distiugished from other prayers, as it is said in the 
 very ancient Aramaic language. Its antiquity is beyond any doubt. The kadish is 
 to the Jews what tho mass is to the Catholics. If one of the parents dies the child 
 is brought morning and evening into the synagogue to recite the kadish during tho 
 first twelve months, in loving remembrance of his departed father or mother. After 
 the elapse of tho first year, tho kadish is recited by the child or by the grown son 
 each year on the day of the death of the father or the mother. Tho kadish can only 
 be recited in the presence of 10 malo worshipers. Even a- female child is subjected 
 to the duty of the kadish. The kadish is calculated to implant into tho heart of the 
 child the noblest seeds of gratitude, and it is a very old custom, a transfiguration of 
 tho primitive "ancestor worship." What an impression must the Rabbinical lore 
 make upon tho sensitive heart of the child, by declaring that when tho child recites 
 the kadish, and the worshipers say "Amen," tho soul of tho departed father or 
 mother, to whose memory tho kadish was said, is released from purgatory. The 
 kadish is tho only custom still common among all the Jews, no matter whether 
 Reform or Orthodox. You can even find Jews who have thrown overboard the whole 
 Mosaic religion, yet, on the day of death of their parents they will search for 10 
 male worshipers, and pay them for their time, in order to bo able to recite in their 
 presence the kadish. Here wo see the powerful effect of that religious training. 
 Why? Because the kadish touches the most delicate threads of the human heart, 
 and it is not merely a religious, but a humane instinct of mankind. 
 
 On the same principle of gratitude, tho child was compelled by the law, to be 
 enforced by tho father, to say tho benediction after each meal and to invoke a 
 blessing before tasting any kind of fruit. 
 
 BABYLONIAN EDUCATION. 
 
 The Babylonians, although in many respects superior to the Palestinians, as they 
 lived in a country which had been a seat of culture from immemorial times, were 
 inferior in regard to education in its full sense and meaning. 
 
 The Babylonians were great thinkers, but very poor philosophers. They had an 
 education, but not a pedagogic one. They had a system, but no order. They knew 
 all the languages spoken in tho celestial realm, but were very poor linguists in the 
 tongues spokeu on the terrestrial sphere. They had school laws, but no regulations, 
 and those which they had were methods and systems adopted from the Palestinians. 
 Tho Babylonians adopted the kindergarten after the Palestinian model many < entu- 
 ries later than its use began in Palestine. Nevertheless, we will sketch their method,
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1815 
 
 although the execution of the regulations were different from those of Palestine. In 
 Palestine, for instance, corporal punishment was prohibited, and even a parent 
 could not make Use of the strap until after the age of 12. Now, there is a peculiar case 
 recorded in the Babylonian Talmud where a teacher violated that regulation and 
 was left unpunished, as it seems that in Babylon the shoestring was the regulator. 
 The case in question is as follows : The father of the later famous Samuel found him 
 weeping. He asked him, "My child, why do you cry?'' He replied, "My school- 
 master kicked me." "For what? 1 ' asked his father. "Because I did not wash the 
 hands of his son when I gave him something to eat." "Why did you notf " The 
 child answered, " He eats and I shall wash my hands ? '' The father simply remarked 
 that it was not enough that the teacher was ignorant of the law (which requires 
 hand washing only if he eats), and he also slapped him. From that case it seems 
 that the Babylonians tolerated the injustice of the teachers. In regard to the 
 methods and application of teaching it was in the "Makri Dardeky" (the reading of 
 the little ones) of the simplest manner. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION OF METHODS EMPLOYED. 
 
 The child at the age of 5 went to the " Makri Dardeky," which corresponds to our 
 modern kindergarten. The term was one year and the class only 25 children. If 
 more came, helpers were appointed. As in our modern kindergartens, where the 
 children acquire the quantities of words in a playing manner without any mental 
 strain, so in the Hebrew "Makri Dardeki" the child accumulated many words and 
 ideas of domestic use in a pleasant way, without any mental effort. The character 
 of the letters of the Hebrew Alpha Beth is that of an unpainted picture book, and 
 the Alpha Beth was used for that purpose. The child was shown the two-horned 
 letter Aleph J$, which means "the Bull," the leader, the teacher. The next letter, 
 Beth 3, means a house, as its figure resembles the primitive houses. The third let- 
 ter, Girnel /( , means a camel, while the letter D or Dalit ~~], means a door, because 
 its shape resembles a door ; and the letter S or Sain y> resembles a sword, with the 
 collective meaning of " weapons," "arms," etc. 
 
 Besides words and their various meanings and applications acquired by the letters 
 of the whole Alpha Beth during the period of one year, the child also learned to 
 number, as the letters of the Alpha Beth, like those of the Latin, are also signs for 
 numerals. 
 
 Mi; I HODS EMPLOYED BY THE MELAMED TINOKETH, OB IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
 
 In the public school, under the direction of the "Melamed Tinoketh" (children's 
 teacher), the Alpha Beth was also used in the first standard, its letters serving as 
 poetical reading matter, the purpose being to awaken the desire of knowledge ill 
 the child, and to rouse his feelings for all that is good and noble. 
 
 The methods employed bear the stamp of simplicity, yet had great effective force. 
 The child was taught that Aleph Beth means " Learn wisdom" (Aleph means learn; 
 Beth is the first initial of Bina, wisdom). Gimel (/), Dalit (d), it was explained, as 
 to help the poor. (Gimel means to reward, to extend grace and mercy; Dalit means 
 those in poverty.) The teacher would explain that the reason the face of the Giincl 
 was toward the back of the Dalith (in the Alpha Beth, reading from right to left, 
 as~J (d) j\ (</), was that the good man must always hunt up the poor in order to 
 help them. Why is the face of the Dalith turned away from the Gimel? In order 
 to receive the alms secretly, so as not to be ashamed. The next letters were explained 
 as how God would reward the good, and is always willing to receive the wicked if 
 he repents. The R (^) is the initial of Racha (meaning the wicked). The K ( p) 
 is the initial of Kadosh, the Holy One. Why is the face of the K toward the R? 
 Because the Holy One looks after the wicked that he may repent. The Alpha Beth 
 in the rank and file of its letters was explained to the child in its esoteric meaning.
 
 1816 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 The teacher also often combined them. For instance, the first letter, Aleph, with 
 the last letter, Taw, and explained the combination. 
 
 The Alpha Beth served as a first reader, and the explanations were calculated to 
 educate first the man in the child, and then the Jewish religious spirit. The Shin 
 (ty) and the Taw (J"l), for instance, were explained to the child thus: Why is the 
 Shin, the initial of Sheka (falsehood), resting only on one stem, Avhile the Taw rests 
 on twof Because falsehood can not stand long, while truth stands forever. 
 
 Foreseeing the difficulties which grown students would have to encounter in later 
 years, in facing the various contradictions, controversies, and explanations which 
 are always the source of doubt, leading the student astray, the education was 
 arranged to make such impressions upon the child as to form a guide in the religions 
 labyrinth, by the aid of the Alpha Beth, which served as the first reader. The M, 
 for instance, has a double letter, one called the " open" M ('0), and it is written at 
 the beginning and in the middle of words. The other is termed the "closed " M (f))> 
 and is written only at the end of words. Now, the teacher explained that t ! 
 which is the initial for Mamar (word, logos) that there is an open word and a hidden 
 word, meaning that each sentence has an open meaning according to the plain words, 
 and another hidden meaning, requiring a deeper study and understanding independ- 
 ent of the language and grammar. By such an educational method the child grew 
 up with that impression, and, as a grown man was prevented from stumbling over 
 the contradictions and unexplainable sentences. 
 
 In the public school the child spent from the age of 5 to the age of 10, during 
 which time he acquired the perfect reading with the vowels and punctuations, com- 
 position, the art of writing (which was taugtt by the Lawler, or city penman), gram- 
 mar, and homiletic explanations of the Scripture. 
 
 At the age of 10 the boy was well versed in the Bible from the first chapter of 
 Genesis to the last of Malachi, until he knew the whole by heart and was able to 
 construct sensible compositions without faults, when ho was ripe to enter the first 
 standard of the college where the Mishua, a brief outline of the oral law, was 
 taught. 
 
 It was not customary to have a vacation in the public school, and the Talmud tells 
 us that Rab Samuel bar Shiloth, who was a public school teacher, had not seen las 
 own orchard for thirteen years, as he could not get leave of absence. 
 
 TITLES AND TERMS. 
 
 The word "teacher" has three terms in the Hebrew language, corresponding to the 
 three different positions they occupied in the Hebrew world. 
 
 The first is Melamed, a term which means a goad, and is translated as the oxgoad. 
 This was applied to the teacher of the public schools, Melamed Tinoketh, teacher of 
 children, as they were goaded by the rigid will of discipline of the teacher. 
 
 The second term is More, which denotes the guide, the pointer, and the word often 
 comes in connection with road, path. The same term was applied to the college 
 professor and to the judge, who had only to point out the way or road which should 
 be trod. 
 
 The third term was Aluf, a word meaning a bull, or steer, who goes before the 
 flock. It means the leader, the prince, the king (in Arabic, the Clialiph). It means 
 also the unit of thousand (elef), and in the Chaldean jargon, to learn. This term 
 was applied to the director of a college or to a distinguished public man who led 
 the people in any way. The penman who taught the art of writing, from the point 
 of the pen, was called in the Talmudic, Chaldaic jargon, Lawler, meaning plain, 
 penman, while the poet, or teacher of writing of a higher degree, was called Sofer, 
 a term which means the teller, the counter, the scribe. E7ra had the title of Sofer. 
 
 Books were called the Megiloth, rolls, and Sefarim, the singular number being 
 Sofer. It is curious that the term of Sofer, book, is mentioned in the live books of 
 Moses, while in the prophets the term Megiloth, rolls, is to be" found.
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1817 
 
 The pen was called "et,'' a term which means hidden, veiled. It has the same 
 meaning as cheret (the instrument used by the hieroglyphists in Egypt for engraving 
 their mysterious writings). 
 
 My friend, Judge Sulzberger, called my attention to the similarity in sound 
 between the familiar English word, "etching," and ''et," in Hebrew, and clirat, 
 engraving, and the English "cut." The term "et" (pen) was used in the primitive 
 times, when writing was not common, and the Levite poet who dedicated a psalm 
 (Fs. 15) to King Solomon on his nuptial day prefaces his poem with the explanation 
 that his tongue is of the ct, or pen, is that of a diligent Sofer, writer-poet. 
 
 Later, about the time of the prophets, when the art of writing was more common 
 and had spread among the people, they called the pen, in a poetical way, kosoth, 
 which means bow, like kesheth. They then began to understand the power of 
 the pen, which was compared to the bow, and its letters to shooting arrows. The 
 prophet Ezekiel describes the angel who was sent to mark the foreheads of the 
 wicked dedicated to destruction as being armed with the bow of the writer on his 
 loin (Ezekiel, ix, 4). 
 
 It was, and is still among the Orientals, the custom to wear the pen girdled on the 
 loins like a weapon. 
 
 The pupil was called Talmid, or the disciplined one. The wandering scholars, 
 who, according to the statements of the Talmud, wandered from place to place to 
 teach, were called Talmide chachamin (disciples of sages). It reminds one of the 
 wandering scalds and minnesingers of the Odin school, whom the poet Von Schoffel 
 has immortalized as the "fahrende Schiller," wandering scholars. 
 
 A learned man who was not connected with any college had the title of Chaber, 
 which means fellow, and the relation of fellowship to the college was of the same 
 character as the English fellowship to Oxford and Cambridge. 
 
 The title of Chaber was also applied to the magician of the Persian type, or a snake 
 tamer. 
 
 The graduate of a college received the title of Rabbi, a title which was applied 
 to any leader of any union of workmen ; even to the leader of the hangmen, who had 
 a union among themselves. The title of Rabbi did not entitle its possessor to preach 
 or teach. 
 
 The judge or the student who devoted his time to the study of law, civil or religious, 
 was given the title of Dajon, judge. 
 
 An astronomer, or any learned man in a special branch of knowledge, was called 
 a Chaldean sage, while the special medical man had the title of Chakim (the same 
 as in Arabic to-day). The Talmud often calls him "Asje" (healer), probably after 
 th< name of the Essicians, that famous sect whose main object was to heal, and of 
 whom Christ was a member (Essenes). 
 
 The title of Rabon (our master) was applied to the hereditary spiritual prince, 
 who was elective also, and often the power was taken from him and placed in the 
 hands of another. 
 
 Tho title of Rabon was also applied to various others beside the hereditary princes. 
 Gamaliel, the teacher of St. Paul, had the title of Rabon Gamliel. Tho higher grade 
 of Rabon was the mention of the simplo name, as Hillel, who was the spiritual 
 prince Nasi is always mentioned by his simple name, Hillel, as the highest title; 
 hence, Moses and the prophets are mentioned only by their proper simple names. 
 The ranks of the doubles or pairs who succeeded the Groat Synod are mentioned by 
 tin ir names as Tvell as the names of their fathers, as Simon ben Sotath (the BOH of 
 Sotath). The name of the father was added to that of any distinguished person 
 who merited his fame by any great public .reform, such as the great educator and 
 high priest Jehoshua ben Gamla. If a sage was unmarried (which was an obstacle 
 in the way of holding office) or some faults were found in him, he was mentioned 
 simply as the son of this or that, as ben Asi, ben Soma i. e., the son of Asi, the son 
 of Soma. Both their names were Simon, but were omitted on account of their being 
 bachelors and philosophers.
 
 1818 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 Synonyms are often used in the Talmud, as well as nicknames. The titles were 
 bestowed by the professors of the colleges, and the document was written and testi- 
 fied to by the college seal. 
 
 The early authors of the Talmud are called Tanaim (legislators), the later con- 
 tributors Amoraim (a term which means sea captains, who knew how to swim in the 
 vast ocean of the Talmud). The term also means explainer, as they explained the 
 laws of the Tanaim, or legislators. Those contributors who lived before the linal 
 close of the Talmud had the titles of Rabanon Saburai (rabbis of explanations). 
 In Babylon the title of the spiritual prince was Reish Gola, the head of the exile, 
 who got his title through hereditary election and indorsement by the Persian King. 
 The Keish Golas, or the Exilearchs, were far inferior to the spiritual princes of Pales- 
 tine, although the former executed a more forcible power. The professor of the 
 college in Babylon had the title of Rosh Jeshiba, head of the sitting, as in previous 
 times the students had listened standing to the lectures, and when this custom was 
 abolished they called the college the " sitting." 
 
 When the Exilarchy was abolished, a new title was instituted, Gaon, or exalted, a 
 title which was not appended to any office, except as the mark of great learning. 
 One of the most noted of the exalted ones was Rabbi Saadjo Gaon, the thousandth 
 anniversary of whose death was celebrated recently in the Jewish world. 
 
 The title of Gaon was conferred upon every Jew on the Asiatic and African con- 
 tinents, and on a few of the Spanish Jews who were rabbis during the Moorish reign. 
 Among the European rabbis, only one, Rabbi Elijah Gaon, from Vilua, in Russia, 
 who lived in the eighteenth century, enjoyed the title, and is still mentioned as 
 "the Gaon." 
 
 FROM THE CHEAT SYNOD UP TO THE TIME OF JEHOSHUA HEX GAMLA, TIIK HIGH 
 PRIEST, OR EDUCATIOXAL HISTORY OF PALESTINE. 
 
 When the Great Synod assembled at the call of Ezra the Scribe, the session la.-ted 
 nearly a century, one of its members being the high priest, Simon the Righteous, 
 who lived at the time when Alexander the Great invaded Palestine. 
 
 The work of reorganization was a tremendous one, and tho synod had to battle 
 with difficulties of numberless obstacles. The condition of Palestine after the return 
 was not very favorable. Most of tho villages wero mere piles of ruins; the hus- 
 bandry was in a state of perfect neglect; the country was overrun with tramps and 
 robbers and other kindred vagabonds; the bulk of tho 50,000 who returned from the 
 exile were very poor and ignorant. But tho most dangerous foe they had to battle 
 with was the Samaritans, who showed an ugly attitude of hostility toward the 
 Great Synod, and tho delay of tho building of the Temple was due only to the 
 Samaritans who wrote slanderous letters to the kings of Persia, who had a protect- 
 orate over Palestine. In spite of all these difficulties the synod proceeded from the 
 beginning to enact educational laws, as only through them did they hope to revive 
 tho ancient national spirit, and improve the material condition of the country. The 
 first law on the educational code was to make the father responsible for the educa- 
 tion of his male children; the second law was to establish schools in Jerusalem, 
 maintained by the public treasury of the Temple. As tho people for safety (locked 
 to Jerusalem, and the building of the Temple drew a multitude of laborers, the city 
 soon became very populous and strengthened. As soon as tho building of tho Temple 
 was finished, people flocked to Palestine from the neighboring States and countries, 
 from Egypt, Arabia, and Asia Minor. These people brought with them not only 
 material wealth, but also the culture and civilization of the countries from which 
 they came. Jerusalem was restored and made a national center, from which as a 
 basis operations were extended throughout Palestine to root out those tramps and 
 highwaymen. Order began to prevail, villages sprang up, and husbandry nourished 
 again around tho beautiful plains of En Gedi. Hand in hand with the natioi.al 
 material progress went marching onward the educational spirit, and the educator
 
 EDUCATION AND THE TALMUD. 1819 
 
 did the same pioneer work a8 the soldier. By breaking up the priestly hierarchy 
 and by creating new offices, as the supreme court, the sanhedrim, consisting of 71 
 members, and the creation of the little sanhedrim for the provinces, consisting of 23 
 members, and the justice of the peace (beth din), of 3 members for every town, the 
 Synod opened new avenues for the laity, spurred on by the educational spirit. 
 (The Sanhedrim sat in the marble chamber in the Temple, having the jurisdiction 
 over the whole nation and controlling all the educational departments and the 
 public treasury of the Temple. No war could bo declared without the sanction of 
 thnt body. Trials of national importance, as that of a king or of the priest or the 
 trial of an individual, which was of national importance, were held before the san- 
 hedrim. The famous trial of Christ was before that body). 
 
 Outside of the Temple gate was the seat of the little sanhedrim, as in the capitals 
 of each respective province that body was empowered to pass the death sentence in 
 murder cases. The beth din, or the court of justice, in each town tried only civil 
 cases. 
 
 The great knowledge, sacred as well as profane, required by the law of every 
 office seeker, indirectly compelled them to A'isit schools and obtain the diploma of 
 professor of well-reputed colleges. After the dissolution of the Great Synod, its 
 legislative power was invested in the Sanhedrim, and from time to time synods were 
 called to assemble when some great reform was iu view. 
 
 At the time of Simon ben Sotach, who lived in the year 105 B. C., and was the presi- 
 dent of the Great Sanhedrim and the brother-in-law of King Janai, was made the 
 rigid law that every child must attend the school. The Babylonian Talmud gives 
 the credit of that law to the high priest Jehoshua ben Gamla, Avho lived in the year 
 65 ]>. C., and was executed later by the Zealots. In history the Babylonian Talmud 
 is unreliable, as the Babylonians had a prejudice against the Palestinians and the 
 Alexandrians, so the attitude of the Bablyonian Talmud toward Christ is different 
 from that of the Jerusalem Talmud. No wonder that the name of Simon ben Sotach 
 is not mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud, which has a great prejudice against his 
 brother iii-law, the king, who, according to its narrative, was killing the sages, 
 facts not mentioned in the Talmud of Jerusalem. The Babylonian Text concerning 
 education runs as follows: 
 
 "For good shall be remembered the name of that man Jehoshua ben Gamla, for 
 only for his sake the law has been preserved thus far; he who was able brought 
 his child to Jerusalem to attend school, or ho whose father was a learned man was 
 taught the law too. So they legislated to establish schools in every capital of the 
 respective provinces. But as this was still insufficient Jehoshua ben Gamla legis- 
 lated that the children from 6 years of age must attend school in each city, town, 
 or village." 
 
 The fact that Simon ben Sotach is not mentioned is rather surprising, and many 
 have tried to make it appear that Simon ben Sotach legislated ouly for the provin- 
 cial capitals while Jehoshua ben Gamla extended the law to all communities. From 
 both Talmnds it would seem that they were not the lawmakers, but ouly enforced 
 the laws already existing in regard to education in a rigid manner as is often the 
 case with many laws at various times in different ages and iu almost every country. 
 Why the Babylonian Talmud does not mention Simon ben Sotach and the Talmud of 
 Jerusalem does not mention the martyr Jehoshua ben Gamla have both an inner 
 historical reason. 
 
 At the near approach of the close of the Great Synod, Jerusalem was peopled l>y 
 nearly a million inhabitants, more than the whole population of the rest of the 
 country at that time, hence the first educational laws legislated by the synod were 
 tho.-o relating to suffrage for the whole country, for at that time it could be said that 
 all Palestine was in Jerusalem, as in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was 
 said that all Franco was in Paris. 
 
 The historical evidences of the great educational power are: The six divisions of 
 the Mishna, the two great encyclopedias of the two Talmuds, with the numberless
 
 1820 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 tractats of the Medrashira (college periodicals). Besides that vast literature, which 
 deals with every imaginable branch of science, there were bocks and booklets, writ- 
 ten at the time of the second Temple, of which all have been lost and only their 
 authors are mentioned in the Talmuds, as " Megilath Chasidim " (book of the pious), 
 probably the Talmud of the Esseues. 
 
 The book of Tiglath ben Lana, which the Talmud places among the Apocrypha (I 
 believe the name of the author was only a pseudonym for one of the Apostles), 
 "Megilath Setarim" (the Roll of the Mysteries), probably a cabalistic code, " Mt-gi- 
 loth Jachsin" (the Roll of Genealogy), a book which was written in the style of the 
 Biblical Chronicle, and from which the Palestinians refused to teach the Babylonians. 
 The Apocrypha is another classical work of the time of the second Temple, whose 
 authors tried to imitate the atyle and method of writing of the primitive authors of 
 the Bible.
 
 CHAPTER XLVIL 
 
 PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 [From 1867 to 1895.] 
 
 1. Annual Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1867-68. Barnard. 8. pp. xl+856. 
 
 2. Special Report of the Commissi' >ner of Education on the condition and improvement of public 
 
 schools in the District of Columbia. Barnard. 8. pp.912. Washington, 1871. (Reprinted 
 as Barnard's Am. Jour, of Education, vol. 19.) 
 
 3. Annual Report of the Commissioner of Education for the year 1870. Eaton. 8. pp. 579. 
 
 Washington, 1870. 
 
 4. 1871. Eaton. 8. pp.715. Washington, 1872. 
 
 5. 1872. Eaton. 8. pp. lxxxviii+1018. Washington, 1873. 
 
 6. 1873. Eaton. 8. pp. clxxviii+870. Washington, 1874. 
 
 7. 1874. Eaton. 8. pp. clii-f 935. Washington, 1875. 
 
 8. 1875. Eaton. 8. pp. clxxiii + 1016. Washington, 1876. 
 
 9. 1876. Eaton. 8. pp. ccxiii+942. Washington, 1878. 
 
 10. 1877. Eaton. 8. pp. ccvi+641. Washington, 1879. 
 
 11. 1878. Eaton. 8. ppcci+730. Washington. 1880. 
 
 12. 1879. Eaton. 8. pp. ccxxx+757. Washington, 1881. 
 
 13. 1880. Eaton. 8. pp. cclxii+914. Washington, 1882. 
 14. 1881. Eaton. 8. pp. cclxxvii+840. Washington, 1883. 
 15. - 1882-83. Eaton. 8. pp. ccxciii+872. Washington, 1884. 
 16. 1883-84. Eaton. 8. pp. cclxxi+943. AVashington, 1885. 
 
 17. 1884-85. Eaton-Dawson. 8. pp. cccxvii + 848. Washington, 1886. 
 
 18. 1885-86. Dawson. 8. pp. xxl-t-792. Washington, 1887. 
 
 19. 18S6-87. Dawson. 8. pp. 1170. Washington, 1888. 
 
 20. 1887-88. Dawson. 8. pp. 1209. Washington, 1888. 
 
 21. Illiteracy, derived from census tables of I860; Educational statistics, translation of article by 
 
 Dr. A. Ficker; Virchow on schoolroom diseases; Education of French and Prussian conscripts ; 
 School organization, etc. pp. 70. (Circ. inf. August, 1870.) 
 
 22. Public instruction in Sweden and Norway ; The ' ' folkehoiskoler " of Denmark. By C. C. Andrews. 
 
 pp. 48. (Circ. inf. July, 1871.) 
 
 23. Methods of school discipline. By Hiram Orcntt. pp.14. (Circ. inf. November, 1871. 
 
 24. Compulsory education. By L. Van Bokkeleu. pp. 17. (Circ. inf. December, 1871.) 
 
 25. German and other foreign universities. By Herman Jacobson. pp.43. (Circ. inf. January, 1872.) 
 
 26. Public instruction in Greece, the Argentine Republic, Chile, and Ecuador; Statistics respecting 
 
 Portugal and Japan ; Technical education in Italy. By John M. Francis, George John Ryan, 
 F. M. Tanaka. pp. 77. (Circ. inf. February, 1882.) 
 
 27. Vital statistics of college graduates; Distribution of college students in 1870-71; Vital statistics 
 
 in the United States, with diagrams. By Charles Warren, pp. 93. (Circ. inf. March, 1872.) 
 
 28. Relation of education to labor. By Richard J. Hinton. pp. 125. (Circ. inf. April, 1872.) 
 
 29. Education in the British West Indies. By Thomas H. Pearne. pp. 22. (Circ. inf. June, 1872.) 
 
 30. The Kindergarten. By Baroness Marenholtz-Biilow, tr. by Elizabeth P. Peabody. pp.62. (Circ. 
 
 inf. July, 1872.) 
 
 31. American education at the Vienna Exposition of 1873. pp. 79. (Circ. inf. November, 1872.) 
 
 32. Historical summary and reports on the systems of public instruction in Spain, Bolivia, Uruguay, 
 
 and Portugal, pp. 66. (Circ. inf. 1, 1873.) 
 
 33. Schools in British India. By Joseph Warren, pp.30. (Circ. inf. 2, 1873.) 
 
 34. College commencements for the summer of 1873, in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu- 
 
 setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, pp. 118. (Circ. inf. 
 3, 1873.) 
 
 1821
 
 1822 EDUCATION REPOKT, 1894-95. 
 
 35. List of publications by members of certain college faculties and learned societies in the United 
 
 States, 1867-1872. pp. 72. (Circ. inf. 4, 1873.) 
 
 36. College commencements during 1873 in the Western and Southern States, pp. 155. (Circ. inf. 5, 
 
 1873.) 
 
 37. Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, 
 
 "Washington, D.C. (1874). pp.77. (Circ. inf. 1, 1874.) 
 
 Partial content* : Uniform plan and form for publishing the principal statistical tables 011 <-.lu 
 cation, by George J. Lucky; Scientific and industrial education and the true policy of the 
 National aud State Government in regard \o it, by Hon. A. 1). "White ; The International Cen- 
 tennial Exposition as a world-wide educator, by W. D. Kelley ; Report by the commit! 
 the relations of the General Government to education iu the District of Columbia. 
 
 38. Drawing in public schools; present relation of art to education iu the United States, Bv I-...n- 
 
 Edwards Clarke, pp. 56. (Circ. inf. 2, 1874.) 
 
 39. History of secondary instruction in Germany. By Herman Jacobson. pp. 87. fCirc. inf. 3, 1874.) 
 
 40. 1'roceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, 
 
 Washington, D. C. (1875). pp.114. (Circ. inf. 1, 1875.) 
 
 Partial contents : The legal prevention of illiteracy, by B. G. Northrop; Brain culture in rela- 
 tion to the schoolroom, by A. N. Bell; The origin of the alphabet, by Prof. J. Entholler; 
 American education at the Centennial Exposition, by J. P. Wickersham; Can the elements 
 of industrial education be introduced into our common schools.' by John D. Fhilbriek . 
 Industrial drawing in public schools, by Prof. Walter Smith. 
 
 41. Education in Japan. By William E. Griffis. pp.64. (Circ. inf. 2. 1875.) 
 
 42. Public instruction in Belgium, Russia, Turkey, Servia, and Egypt. By Emilo de Laveleye, M. de 
 
 Salve, V. E. Dor. pp. 108. (Circ. inf. 3, 1875. ) 
 
 43. Waste of labor in the work of education. By Paul A. Chadbume. pp. 10. (Circ. inf. 4, 1875 
 
 44. Educational exhibit at the International Centennial Exhibition, 1876. pp. 26. (Circ. inf. ."., 
 1875.) 
 
 45. Reformatory, charitable, and industrial schools for the young. By Julia A. Holmes and S. A. Mar- 
 
 tha Canfield. pp. 208. (Circ. inf. 6, 1875.) 
 
 46. Constitutional provisions in regard to education in the several States. By Franklin Hough, pp. 
 
 130. (Circ. inf. 7, 1875.) 
 
 47. Schedule for the preparation of students' work for the Centennial Exhibition. By A. -I . Kirkotf, 
 
 J. L. Pickard, James H. Smart (committee), pp. 15. (Circ. inf. 8, 1875.) 
 
 48. Education in China. By William A. P. Martin, pp. 28. (Circ. inf. 1, 1877.) 
 
 49. Public instruction in Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Wiirtemberg, and Portugal; the I'ni- 
 
 versity of Leipzig. By Felix Heikel, C. H. Plugge, and J. L. Corning, pp. 77. (Cire. inf. -', 
 1877.) 
 
 50. Training of teachers in Germany, pp.36. (Circ. inf. 1, 1878.) 
 
 51. Elementary education in London, with address of Sir Charles Reed. pp. 24. (Circ. inf. 2, 1878.) 
 
 52. Training schools for nurses. By S. A. Martha Canfield. pp.21. (Circ. inf. 1, 1879.) 
 
 53. Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, 1877 
 
 and 1879, Washington, D. C. ; Proceedings of the conference of college presidents and delegates, 
 Columbus, Ohio, December, 1877. pp. 192. (Cir. inf. 2, 1879.) 
 
 Partial contents: Proceedings of 1877: The school organization of a State; National aid to <M!U. 
 cation. What has been done by the General Government in aid of education, by John 
 Eaton; General appropriation of public lands; Proceeds of sales of public lands; Disposi- 
 tion of surplus revenue by States; American education, by George B. Loving; The hi^h 
 school question, by James H. Smart. 
 
 Partial contents: Proceedings of 1879: Popular education in Switzerland, by John Hit/ : I'.ij - 
 nlar education in France, by E. C. Wines ; Technical education, by E. A. Apgar ; Kindergar- 
 ten training, by Louise Pollock ; Education in the South, by G. J. Orr ; The needs of the United 
 States Bureau of Education; Instruction in governmental ideas, by Wm. Strong; Technical 
 education and industrial drawing, by Walter Smith; Education at the Paris Exposition, 
 by John D. Philbrick; What has been done by the National Government in aid of educa- 
 tion, by J ohn Eaton ; American education, by George B. Loving ; The high school question, 
 by James H. Smart; Collegiate degrees, by John M. Gregory. 
 
 Partial content*: Proceedings of the conference of the presidents and other delegates of the 
 State universities and State colleges of Ohio for 1877 : Collegiate degrees, by J. M. Gregory ; 
 Scientific studies and courses of study; Report on the military system in State coile-trs. liy 
 Edward Orton. 
 
 54. Value of common school education to common labor. (Reprinted from Annual Report, 1872.) pp. 
 
 37. (Circ. inf. 3, 1879.) 
 
 55. Training schools for cookery. By S. A. Martha Canfield. pp.49. (Circ. inf. 4, 1879.) 
 
 56. American education as described by the French commission to the International Exhibition of 
 
 1876. By Ferdinand Buisson and others, pp. 37. (Circ. inf. 5, 1879.)
 
 PUBLICATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 1823 
 
 57. College libraries as aids to instruction. By Joatiu Winsor and Otis H. Robinson, pp.27. (Cire. 
 
 inf. 1.1880.) 
 
 58. Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, 
 
 Washington, D. C., 1880. pp.112. (Circ. inf. 2, 1880.) 
 
 Partial contents : Bell's system of visible speech, by L. A. Butterfield ; Education of dependent 
 children, by C. D. Randall ; Best system of schools for a State, by J. H. Smart ; University 
 education, by David C. Oilman; Technical education in its relations to elementary schools, 
 by J. D. Philbrick; Technological museums, by J. D. Philbrick ; The Tenth Census from an 
 educational point of view, by W. T. Harris; Discussion of the high school question, by J. 
 W. Dickinson, W. T. Harris, J. P. Wickersham ; Congress and the education of the people, 
 by W. H. Runner; Laws relating to the State public school for dependent children at Cold- 
 water, Michigan. Outline of the school systems of the various States. 
 
 59. L3gal rights of children. By S. M. Wilcox. pp. 96, (Circ. inf. 3, 1880.) 
 
 60. Rural school architecture. By T. M. Clark, pp. 106. (Circ. inf. 4, 1880.) 
 
 61. English rural schools. By Henry W. Hulbert. pp. 26. (Circ. inf. 5, 1880.) 
 
 62. Instruction in chemistry and physics in the United States. By F. W. Clarke, pp.219. (Circ. 
 
 inf. 6, 1880.) 
 
 63. The spelling reform. By Francis A. March, pp.36. (Circ. inf. 7,1880.) 
 
 64. Construction of library buildings. By William F. Poole. pp. 26. (Circ. inf. 1, 1881.) 
 
 65. Relation of education to industry and technical training in American schools. By E. E. \Vhite. 
 
 pp. 22. (Circ. inf. 2, 1881.) 
 
 66. Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, 
 
 New York, 1881, pp. 79. (Circ. inf. 3, 1881.) 
 
 Partial contents: Uniformity of school statistics, by Andrew McMillan; The conservation of 
 pedagogic energy, by C. O. Thompson; Our schools and our forests, by Franklin B. Hough; 
 Museums illustrative of education, by John Eaton; Education and the State, by J. W. 
 Patterson. 
 
 67. Education in France, pp. 144. (Che. inf. 4, 1881.) 
 
 68. Causes of deafness among school children, and the instruction of children with impaired hearing. 
 
 By Samuel Sexton, pp. 47. (Circ. inf. 5, 1881 ) 
 
 69. Ettects of student life on the eyesight. By A. W. Calhoun. pp.29. (Circ. inf. 6. 1881.) 
 
 70. Inception, organization, and management of training .schools for nurses. By S. A. Martha Canfield. 
 
 pp.28. (Circ. inf. 1.1882.) 
 
 71. Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, 
 
 Washington, 1882. pp. 112. (Circ. inf. 2, 1882.) 
 
 Partial contents: Information necessary to determine the merits of the heating and vent ilntion 
 of a school building, by John S. Billings, U. S. A.; The chemical examination of air as 
 applied to questions of ventilation, by Dr. Charles Smart, U. S. A. ; Obstacles in the way of 
 better primary education, by H. Jones; Chairs of pedagogy in our higher institutions of 
 learning, by G. Stanley Hall; National aid to education, from a Northern standpoint, by 
 Dexter H.Hawkins; Education in Alaska, by Sheldon Jackson; Resolution respecting a 
 national appropriation for education in Alaska; Some fundamental inquiries concerning the 
 common-school studies, by John M. Gregory ; How to improve the qualifications of teachers, 
 by W. T. Harris. 
 
 72. University of Bonn. By Edmond Dreyfus-Brisac. pp.67. (Circ. inf. 3, 1882.) 
 
 73. Industrial art in schools. By Charles G. Leland. pp. 37. (Circ. inf. 4, 1882.) 
 
 74. Maternal schools in France, pp. 14. (Circ. inf. 5, 1882.) 
 
 75. Technical instruction in France, pp. 63. (Circ. inf. 6, 1882.) 
 
 76. Legal provisions respecting the examination and licensing of teachers, pp. 40. (Circ. inf. 1, J883.) 
 
 77. Coeducation of the sexes in the public schools of the United States, pp. 30. (Circ. inf. 2, 1883.) 
 
 78. Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of .the National Educational Association, 
 
 Washington, D. C., 1883. pp.81. (Circ. inf. 3, 1883.) 
 
 Partial contents : Natural history in public schools, its utility ami practicability as illustrated by 
 the methods adopted in New York City, by Albert S. Bickmore; Communication respecting 
 industrial education, by Chas. G. Leland ; The educational lessons of the census, by Win. T. 
 Harris: If universal suffrage, then universal education, by Atticus G. Haygood; Constitu- 
 tionality of national aid to education, by Win. Lawrence ; Indian education, by B. G. North- 
 rop, S. C. Armstrong, Alice C. Fletcher; School supervision: How and by whom the fltuese 
 of pupils for promotion is determined, by C. G. Edwards and others. 
 
 79. Recent school-law decisions. By Lyndon A. Smith, pp. 82. (Circ. inf. 4, 1883.) 
 
 80. Meeting of the International Prison Congress at Rome, pp.11. (Circ. inf. 1, 1884.) 
 
 81. The teaching, practice, and literature of shorthand. (Second and enlarged edition.) By Julius 
 
 E. Rockwell, pp.184. (Circ. inf. 2, 1884.) 
 
 82. Illiteracy in the United States. With appendix on uational aid to education. By Charles Warren 
 
 and J.L.M. Curry, pp.99. (Circ. inf. 3, 1884.)
 
 1824 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 83. Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, 
 
 Washington, D. C., 1884. pp.176. (Circ. inf. 4, 1884.) 
 
 Partial contents : Sujiervision of public schools, by John W. Holcombe; Indian education, by 
 J. M. Haworth ; Indian education, by R. n. Pratt; Indian education, by S. C. Armstrong; 
 Arbor day in the public schools, by J. B. Peaslee; Arbor day iu the public schools, by B. G. 
 Northrop; Recess, by W. T. Harris; No recess, by S. A. Ellis; How a State superintendent 
 can best advance popular education, by E. E. Higbee; National aid for the support of public 
 schools, by J. \V. Dickinson ; The educational status and needs of the South, by Robert 
 Bingham ; Legislation respecting national aid to education, proposed by the interstate 
 educational convention, with remarks and tables; The new bill for national aid to public 
 schools, by B. G. Northrop ; Industrial education, by John M. Ordway; Public instruction 
 iu industrial pursuit*, by A. P. Marble; Education at the World's Industrial and Cotton 
 Centennial Exposition ; The new order of Mercy, or Crime and ita prevention, by George T. 
 Angell ; Education of the normal color sense, by B. Joy Jeffries ; Supplementary reading, by 
 George J. Luckey ; Reading, by Chas. G. Edwards ; Reading, by J. 0. Wilson. 
 
 84. Suggestions respecting the educational exhibit at the New Orleans Exposition. 1884-85. pp. 28. 
 
 (Circ. inf. 5, 1884.) 
 
 85. Rural schools. Progress in the past; means of improvement In the future. By Annie Tolmau 
 
 Smith, pp.90. (Circ. inf. 6, 1884.) 
 
 86. Aims and methods of the teaching of physics. By Charles K. Wead. pp. 158. (Giro. inf. 7, 1884.) 
 
 87. City school systems in the United States. By John D. Philbrick. pp. 207. (Circ. inf. 1, 1885.) 
 
 88. Teachers' institutes. By James H. Smart, pp. 206. (Circ. inf. 2, 1885.) 
 
 89. Review of the reports of the British royal commissioner on technical instruction, with notes. By 
 
 Chas O. Thompson, pp. 55. (Circ. inf. 3, 1885.) 
 
 90. Education in Japan, pp.56. (Circ. inf. 4, 1885.) 
 
 91. Physical training in American colleges and universities. By Edward Mnssey Hartwell. pp.183. 
 
 (Circ. inf. 5, 1885.) 
 
 92. Study of music in public schools. By Charles Warren, pp. 78. (Circ. inf. 1, 1886.) 
 
 93. Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, 
 
 Washington. D. C., 1886. pp. 91. (Circ. inf. 2, 1880 ) 
 
 Partial content*: School superintendence a profession, by M. A. Newell; Duties of county super- 
 intendents, by D. L. K irlilr : Reading circles for teachers, by Jerome Allen ; The coeducation 
 of the races, by Chas. S. Young; National aid to education, by J. A. Lovett; Tbo ('duration 
 and religious interests of the colored people in the South, by S.M.Finsrer; Forestry in Kdu- 
 cation, by Warren Higley; Language work, by N. C. Dougherty; Growth and benefits of 
 reading circles, by Herbert M. Skinner; City superintendence, by J. W. Akers; On the 
 substitution of "Intermediate" for "Grammar" as a designation in the nomenclature of 
 graded schools. 
 
 94. The college of William and Mary. By Herbert B. Adams, pp. 89. (Circ. inf. 1, 1887.) 
 
 95. Study of history iu American colleges and universities. By Herbert B. Adams, pp. 299. (Circ. 
 
 inf. 2, 1887.) 
 
 96. Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, 
 
 Washington, D. C., 1887. pp. 200. (Circ. inf. 3, 1887.) 
 
 Partial contend: Public education on the Pacific coast, by F. M. Campbell; The examination 
 and certification of teachers, by Andrew J. Rickoff, and report of committee on; Civil 
 service and public schools : I, by Le Roy D. Brown. II, by Thomas P. Ballard ; Powers and 
 duties of school officers and teachers: I, by A. P. Marble, II, by J. M. Green; The best 
 system of county and city supervision, by E. E. Higbee; Industrial education in our public 
 schools: I, by F.W.Parker, II, by W.B.Powell; The province of the public school, by J. W. 
 Dickinson; What a small city is doing in industrial education, by H. W. Compton; A sys- 
 tem of grading for country sohools, by J. W. Holcombe; The best system of State school 
 supervision, by Warren Easton; State text-books, by F. M. Campbell; The nation and the 
 public schools, by H. W. Blair; Education in Alaska, by Sheldon Jackson. 
 
 97. Thomas Jefferson and the University of Virginia. By Herbert B. Adams, pp. 308. (Circ. inf. 1, 
 
 1888) 
 
 98. History of education in North Carolina. By Charles Leo Smith, pp. 180. (Circ. inf. 2, 1888.) 
 
 99. History of higher education in South Carolina. I'.y ('. Mrrhvctlicr. pp.247. (Circ. inf. 3, 1888.) 
 
 100. I '.duration in Georgia. By Cbas. Edgeworth Jones, pp. 154. (Circ. inf. 4, 1888.) 
 
 101. Industrial education in the South. ByA.D.Mayo. pp.66. (Circ. inf. 5, 1888.) 
 
 102. Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association, 
 
 Washington, D. C., 1888. pp.165. (Circ. inf. 6, 1888.) 
 
 Partial content*.- How and to what extent can manual training be ingrafted on our system of 
 public schools 1 by ('has. H. Ham. Discussed by A. P. Marble, Nicholas Murray Butler, 
 H. H. I'.i-l !ii-lil. M. A. Newell, Chas. H. Ham ; What is the purpose of county institutes, and 
 how is it best secured? by Jessie B. Thavcr: Elocution : Its place in education, by Martha 
 Fleming; How ahull the qualifications of teachers be determined? by A. S. Draper; Are the
 
 PUBLICATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 1825 
 
 normal schools as they exist in our several States adequate to accomp'ish the work for which 
 they were established ? by J. P. Wickersham. Discussed by J. W. Dickinson, Jerome Allen, 
 Edward Brooks, and A. G. Boyden; Moral education in the common schools, by William T. 
 Harris ; Can school programmes be shortened and enriched ? by Charles W. Eliot ; Alaska, by 
 N. H. R. Dawson ; The relation of the superintendent and the teacher to the school, by A. E. 
 Winship ; National aid to education. 
 
 103. History of education in Florida. By George Gary Bush, pp.54. (Circ. inf. 7, 1888.) 
 
 104. Report on school architecture and plans for graded schools, pp. 136. (Reprinted from Annual 
 
 Report, 1868.) 
 
 105. Suggestions for a free-school policy for United States land grantees, pp. 6. 1872. 
 
 106. Statement of the theory of education in the United States, approved by many leading educators. 
 
 pp. 22. 1874. 
 
 107. National Bureau of Education ; its history, work, and limitations. By Alexander Shiras. pp. 18. 
 
 1875. 
 
 108. Educational conventions and anniversaries, 1876. pp. 187. 
 
 109. International conference on education, held in Philadelphia in connection with the International 
 
 Exhibition of 1876. pp. 92. 1879. 
 
 110. List of public-school officials in the States and Territories of the United States, 1875. pp. 62. 
 
 1875. 
 
 111. Manual of common native trees of the Northern United States, pp.23. 1877. 
 
 112. Are the Indians dying out? By S. N.Clark, pp.36. 1877. 
 
 113. International educational congress to be held at Brussels, Belgium, August, 1880. pp.10. 1880. 
 
 114. Indian school at Carlisle barracks, pp. 5. 1880. 
 
 115. Industrial education in Europe, pp. 9. 1880. 
 
 116. Vacation colonies for sickly schoolchildren, pp.4. 1880. 
 
 117. Progress of western education in China and Siam. pp.13. 1880. 
 
 118. Educational tours in France, pp. 4. 1880. 
 
 119. Medical colleges in the United States, pp.3. 1881. 
 
 120. Comparative statistics of elementary education in 50 principal countries. (Folding sheet.) 188L 
 
 121. Fifty years of freedom in Belgium; Education in Malta; Third international geographical con- 
 
 gress at Venice, 1881; Illiteracy and crime in France; School savings banks; Education ia 
 Sheffield, pp. 8. 1881. 
 
 122. Organization and management of public libraries. By William F. Poole. (Reprint from Pub, 
 
 Libra, in the U. S. A., 1876.) 
 
 123. Library aids. By Samuel Green, pp.10. 1881. 
 
 124. Recognized medical colleges in the United States, pp.4. 1881. 
 
 125. Discipline of the school. By Hiram Orcutt. pp.15. 1881. (Reprint of Circ. of information, 
 
 November, 1871.) 
 
 126. Education and crime. By J. P. Wickersham. pp.10. 1881. 
 
 127. Instruction in morals and civil government. By A. Vessiot. pp. 4. 1882. 
 
 128. Comparative statistics of elementary, secondary, and superior education in 60 principal countries. 
 
 1880. (Folding sheet.) 
 
 129. National pedagogic congress of Spain, pp. 4. 1882. 
 
 130. Natural science in secondary schools. By F. Muhlberg. pp. 9. 1882. 
 
 131. High schools for girls in Sweden, pp.6. 1882. 
 
 132. Buffalini prize, pp.5. 1883. 
 
 133. Education in Italy and Greece, pp.8. 1883. 
 
 134. Answers to inquiries about the United States Bureau of Education. By Charles Warren, pp. 29. 
 
 1883. 
 
 135. Planting trees in school grounds. By Franklin B. Hough, pp. 8. 1883. 
 
 136. Southern Exposition of 1883-84, Louisville, Ky. (Two pamphlets relating to the exhibit of tha 
 
 United States Bureau of Education.) pp.17. 1883. pp.7. 1884. 
 
 137. Preliminary circular respecting the exhibition of education at the World's Industrial and Cottom 
 
 Centennial Exposition, pp. 11. 1884. 
 
 138. Report of the director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens for the year 1382-83. 
 
 By Win. W. Goodwin, pp. 13. 1884. 
 
 139. Building for the children of the South. By A. D. Mayo. pp. 16. 1884. 
 
 140. Statistics regarding the national aid to education, pp.3. 1885. 
 
 141. riant ing trees in school grounds, and celebration of Arbor Day. By Franklin B. Hough, and 
 
 John B. Peaslee. pp. 8 + 64. 1885. 
 
 142. International educational congress at Havre, pp. 6. 1885. 
 
 143. Statistics of public libraries in the United States, pp.98. 1886. (Reprinted from Annual Report 
 
 1884-85.) 
 
 144. Technical instruction. Special report, 1869. pp. 33 + 784. 8. Washington (1870). 
 
 Note. First edition incomplete, printed pursuanttoa call of House of Representatives, January 
 19, 1870. Second edition published as Volume XXI, of Barnard's Journal of Education- 
 pp. 807. 
 
 ED 95 58
 
 1826 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-93. 
 
 145. Contributions to tlto annals of med: i.n.l i;:edic.il education in tin- United 
 
 before and during the War of Independence. By Joseph M. Toner, pp. US. 8 3 . Washing- 
 ton, 1874. 
 
 1<6. Historical sketch of Mount Holyokc Seminary. By Mary (). Nutting. Edited by !'. B. Hough. 
 1>1>. 24. 12 3 . {Washington, 1876. 
 
 147. Historical sketch of Union College. By F. B. Hough, pp. PI. S\ Washington, 187G. 
 
 148. Public libraries in tho United States of America, tbeir history. ooaditi< n, and uiana^ 
 
 Tart I. Edited by K. 11. "Warren andS. N.Clark, pp. xxxv + 1187. Rules for a printed diction- 
 r,ry catalogue; Part II. By C. A. Cutter, pp.80. 8 3 . Washington, 1870. 
 
 149. Contributions to the history of medical education and medic:.! institutions in the United 
 
 of America, 177G-137G. By S. X. Davis, pp. 00. 8-. Washington, 1877. 
 
 150. Sketch of tho riiiladclphia Normal School for Girls, pp. 31. 8-. Washington, 1882. 
 
 151. Historical sketches of t ho universities and collegesof tho United States. i-Mlttxl by F. B. Hough. 
 
 (History of the University of Missouri.) pp. 72. 8">. Washington, 1833. 
 
 152. Industrial education in tho United States, pp.319. 8. V 1 S83. 
 
 153. Art and industry. Industrial and high art education in tho Uiutid State;. By I. Kdwards 
 
 Clarke. Parti. Drawing in t lie public schools, pp. cclix + 842. Washington. 1883. 
 -Vole. There arc two other editions, with slightly varying titles; one < nien-d by the Senate, 
 tho other by Congress. 
 
 154. Outlines ft>r a museum of anatomy. By R. W Shufeld!. pp. Co. S 3 . Washington, 1885. 
 165. Educational exhibits and conventions at the World's Indus! rial nitd Cotton Centennial 1 
 
 tion, New Orleans, 1884-83. pp. 9C2. Foot pagination. 8 ? . Washington, 1S80. 
 
 Contents: ft. I. Catalogue of exhib-'ts. pp.240. Pt. II. Proceedings of the International 
 Congress of Educators, pp.575. Pt. III. Proceedings of tho Department oi 
 enco of the National Educational Association, and addiesse:} delivered on Education Days, 
 pp. 148. New Orleans, 1885. 
 
 15C. Indian education and civilization. Prepared in answer to Senate resolution of F< bri'ary 23, 18S5. 
 By Alice C. Fletcher, under direct ion of the Commissioner of Education. ij>. 693. (Sen; 
 Doc. No. fo. Forty- eighth Congress, second session.) 
 
 157. Higher education in Wisconsin. By Wm. F. Allen and David E. Spencer, pp. 1G8. (Circ. inf. 1, 
 
 1889.) 
 
 158. Rules for a dictionary catalogue. By C..A. Cutter, pp. 33. 1st ed.. Pt. JI of public li' 
 
 in the United States, with corrections and additions. (Spec, rep., 1870.) 
 
 159. Indian education. By T. J. Morgan, pp.28. (Bulletin 1, 1.889.) 
 
 160. Proceedings of Department of Superintendence of tho National Educational Associatii n. 
 
 ington, March, 1889. pp.SOO. (Circ. inf. 2. 1883.) 
 
 Partial contents: Training of teachers: Psychology in its relation to pedagogy, by Nicholas 
 Murray Butler; City training and practice schools, by W. S. Jackmau; Purpose aii'l 
 of city training schools, by S. S. Parr; County institutes, by A'. 1 
 
 crs' institutes, by John W. Dickinson; Manual training, its relation to body and mind, by 
 C. M. Woodward; The psychology of manual training, by W. T. Harris; Edi: 
 value of manual training, by Geo. P. Brown; The work of tho city superintendent, by 
 T. M. Balliet ; Tho school principal, by George Holland ; Tenclicrs' examinations ' 
 Newell; Tho State and higher education, by Fred. M. Campln 11, Herbert !'. 
 cation in the South, by "W. R. Garre.tt; National aid to education, by H. W. Blair. 
 
 161. History of Federal and State aid to higher education in the United States. By Frank W. Black- 
 
 pp. 343. (Circ. inf. 1, 1890.) 
 
 162. Rules for a dictionary catalog. By C. A. Cutter. 2d ed. of Pt. II of pub. libs, in theU. S., with 
 
 corrections, pp. 133. 2d cd. (Spec, rep., 1889.) 
 
 163. History of education in Alabama, 1702-1S89. By Willis G. Clark, pp.281. (Circ. inf. 3, 1889.) 
 1C4. Honorary degree-s as conferred in American colleges. By Charles Foster Smith. No.]. 
 
 pp.12. (Misc. pub. or bulletin.) 
 
 165. Etiglish-Eflkimo, and Eskimo- English vocabularies. Compiled by Tle^er W.-1K jr.. and .Tolin W. 
 
 Kelly, pp.72. (Circ. inf. 2, 189J.) 
 
 166. R:ihs and regulations for tho conductor schools and education in the !: i. i I' A 
 
 (Misc. pub. 1800.) 
 
 167. Teaching nnd history of mathematics in the United States. By Florian Cajori. pp. 
 
 inf. 3, 1890.) 
 
 ICO. Annual statement of tho Commissioner of Education to tho Seen t -:ry of tin- Interior. 
 pp. 17. (Misc. ptib. 1890.) 
 
 169. Preliminary report of tho general agent of education for Alaska to the ('i.iiiiiii>sion< r of Educa- 
 
 tion. Intrr.durtionof Reindeer into Alaska. By Sheldon Jackson, pp. 1!>. (Misc. pur 
 
 170. Higher education in Indiana. By Janu s Albert . Woodburn. pp.203. (Circ. inf. 1, 1 .-!'! ) 
 
 171. Fourth International Prison Congress, St. Pot< rslm: ^ !.' I'. Uamhill. ]>]>. 2."3. 
 
 (Circ.2, 18D1.) 
 
 172. Rules for a diet ionarj- catalog. By C. A. Cntter. 3d. ed.. Pt. II of pub. 1 bs. in the Unlti <1 B 
 
 \\ ith corrections and additions, ::iid an alphabet ic.-.l index, pp. 140. (Spec. rep.. 1891.) 
 
 173. Sanitary conditions of schoolhouscs. By Albert I
 
 PUBLICATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 1827 
 
 174. n istory of higher education in Michigan. By Andrew C. McLauglilin. pp. 179. (Circ. inf. 4, 1891.) 
 
 175. History of higher education in Ohio. By Geo. \V. Knight and John 11. Commons. pp.258. (Circ. 
 
 inf. 5, 1801.) 
 1T6. History of higher education in Massachusetts. By Goo. Gary Bush, pp.445. (Circ. iuf. C, 1891.) 
 
 177. Promotions and examinations in graded schools. By Emerson E. White, pp. 64. (Circ. inf. 7, 
 
 1801.) 
 
 178. Rise and growth of the normal school idea in the United States. ByJ. P. Gordy. pp.145. (Circ. 
 
 inf. 8, 1?91.) 
 
 179. Biological teaching in the colleges of the United States. By John P. Campbell, pp. 183. (Giro. 
 
 inf. 9, 1891.) 
 
 180. Annual statement of the Commissioner of Education to the Secretary of the Interior, 1891. pp, 
 
 21. (Misc. puh. 1891.) 
 
 181. Annual Ileport of the Commissioner of Education, 1888-89. Vol. I. pp. lix+GG9. 
 
 182. fame. Vol. II. pp. vi [-671-16G9. 
 
 183. Part I of tho Report of the Commissioner of Education for the year 1888-89, with the Commis- 
 
 sioner's introduction, and the contents of Parts I, II, and III. Special editions, pp.274. (Spec, 
 rep. 1891.) 
 
 184. Ileport of the general agent of education in Alaska for the year 1883-89. (Reprinted from Report 
 
 of Comnir. of Ed. for 1888-89. pp. 1245-13CO.) (Misc. puh. 1891.) 
 
 185. Publications of tho U. S. Bureau of Education from 1807-1890, with subject index. (Reprinted 
 
 from An. Rep. of Commr. of Ed. for 1883-89. pp. 1453-1551.) (Misc. pub. 1801. 
 
 186. Southern women in the recent educational movement in the South. By A. I). Mayo. pp. 300. 
 
 (Circ. inf. 1,1892.) 
 
 187. Analytical index to Barnard's American Journal of Education. 31 vols. 1855-1881. (Spec. rep. 
 
 1832.) 
 
 188. Benjamin Franklin and tho University of Pennsylvania. By Franklin Xewton Thorpe, pp. 450 
 
 (Circ. inf. 2, 18G2.) 
 
 189. Annual statement of the Commissioner of Education to tho Secretary of the Interior, 1892. pp. 
 
 21. (Misc. pub. 1892.) 
 
 190. Report on legal education. Prepared by committee of the American Bar Association, and the 
 
 U.S. Bureau of Education, pp.207. (Spec. rep. 1893.) 
 
 191. Education in Alaska, 1889-90. By Sheldon Jackson. (Reprint of chapter xvii of the report of 
 
 the Commissioner of Education for 1889-90. pp. 45-1300.) (Misc. pub. 1893.) 
 
 192. Shorthand instruction and practice. By Julius E. Rockwell, pp.200. (Circ. inf. 1, 1893.) 
 
 193. History of education in Connecticut. By Bernard C. Stciner. Contributions to American edu- 
 
 cational history, "So. 14. pp. 300. (Circ. inf. 2, 1893.) 
 
 194. History of education in Delaware. By Lyman P. Powell, pp. 186. (Circ. iuf. 3, 1893.) 
 
 195. Abnormal man; being essays on education and crime and related subjects, with digests of 
 
 literature and a bibliography. By Arthur MacDonald. pp.445. (Circ. inf. 4, 1S93.) 
 
 156. Higher education in Tennessee. By Lucius Salisbury Merriam. Contributions to American 
 
 educational history, Xo. 1C. pp. 287. (Circ. inf. 5, 1893.) 
 
 157. Higher education in Iowa. By Leonard F. Parker. Contributions to American educational his- 
 
 tory, Xo. 17. pp. 130. (Circ. inf. 6,1893.) 
 
 198. Annual Report of Commissioner of Education, 1889-90. Vol.1. xxvii + COl. 
 
 199. Scnn.>. Vol. II. pp. vii + 003-1724. 
 
 200. Catalog, of A. L. A. Library; 5,000 volumes for a popular library, pp.592. (Spec. rep. 1893.) 
 
 201. Statistics of public libraries in tho United States and Canada, By Weatou Flint, pp. 2:3. 
 
 (Circ. inf. 7, 1893.) 
 
 202. Spelling reform. By Francis A. March. A revision and enlargement of tho author's pamphlet, 
 
 published by tho U. S. Bureau of Education, in 1881. pp. 80. (Circ. inf. 8, 1893.) 
 
 203. Education in Alaska, 1890-91. By Sheldon Jackson, pp. 923-960. (From An. Rept. Conirnr. of 
 
 Education, 1890-91.) (Misc. pub. 1883.) 
 
 2C4. Annual statement of Commissioner of Education to Secretary of the Interior, 1893. By W. T. 
 Harris, pp. 25. 
 
 205. Ileport of the committee on secondary school studies, appointed at tho meeting of Nat. Ed. Ass., 
 
 July 9, 13B2, with the reports of tho conferences, arranged by this committee, and held Dec. 
 28-30, 1892. pp. 249. (Spec. rep. 1893.) 
 
 206. Education in southwestern Virginia. By A. D. Mayo. (Reprint of chapter xxiv An. Rept. of Coin- 
 
 i oner, 1890-91. pp. 881-921.) 
 
 207. Annual Roport of Commissioner of Education, 1830-91. Vol.1, pp. xxx+654. 
 
 208. Same. Vol.11, pp. v+005-1519. 
 
 209. History of education in Rhode Island. By William Howo Tolmau. pp. 210. Contributions 
 
 Aiu. ed'l hist. No. 18. (Circ. inf. 1, 1894.) 
 
 210. History of higher education in Maryland. By Bernard C. Steiner. pp.331. Contributions to 
 
 Am. od'l hist. No. 19. (Circ. of inf. 2, 1894.) 
 
 211. Annual Report of Commissioner of Education, 1891-92. Vol. I. pp. xxviii + 030. 
 
 212. Same. Vol.11, pp. v-j-G;>7-1294.
 
 1828 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 213. Annual statement of tbe Commissioner of Education to the Secretary of the Interior, 1894. By 
 
 W. T. Harris, pp. 29. (Misc. pub. 1894.) 
 
 214. Education in Alaska. By Sheldon Jackson, pp. 873-892. (Reprinted from An. Kept, of Commr. 
 
 of Edu., 1891-92.) (Misc. pub. 1894.) 
 
 215. Introduction of domesticated reindeer into Alaska, with maps and illustrations. By Sheldon 
 
 Jackson, pp. 187. (Reprint of Senate Executive Document No. 70, 53d Congress, second ses- 
 sion.) (Misc. pub. 1894.) 
 
 216 Art and industry. Education in the industrial and fine arts in the United States. By Isaac 
 Edwards Clarke. Part II. Industrial and manual training in public schools, pp. cxlviii +1338. 
 8. Washington, 1892. 
 
 217. Annual Report of Commissioner of Education, 1892-93. Vol. I. pp. ix+1224. 
 
 218. Same. Vol. II. pp. v + 1225-2153. 
 
 219. A initial statement of the Commissioner of Education to the Secretary of the Interior, 1895. pp. 27. 
 
 220. Education in Alaska, 1892-93. By Sheldon Jackson. (From. An. Rept. of Commissioner of I'.du 
 
 cation, 1892-93. pp. 705-1795.) 
 
 221. Annual Report of Commissioner of Education, 1893-94. Vol. I. 
 
 222. Hame. Vol. II. 
 
 223. Education at the World's Columbian Exposition (1893), including report* and comments by 
 
 American and foreign educators and delegates. (Reprinted from An. Rep. 1892-93. pp. 423-690.) 
 1896. 
 
 224. Papers prepared for the "World's Library Congress held at the Columbian Exposition. Ed. by 
 
 Melvil Dewey. pp. 691-1014. (Reprinted from An. Rep. 1892-93. Chap. IX.) 
 
 300. Our schools and our forests. By Franklin H. Hough. Address before Dept. of Superintendence 
 
 Nat. Ed. Assoc., 1881. pp.18. (Reprint from Circ. inf. 3, 1881.) (Miss. pub. 1881.) 
 
 301. Manual training. By C. M. Woodward. (Circ. inf. 2, 1889.) 
 
 302. Class intervals in city public schools. By James C. Boykin. pp. 3. (Misc. pub. 1893.) 
 
 303. What is education / Opinions of eminent men. pp.16. (Misc. pub. 1870.) 
 
 304. Proceedings of the Dept of Superintendence of the National Educational Association respecting 
 
 State and city school reports, pp.26. (Misc. pub. 1874.) 
 
 305. Industrial status and needs of the New South. By Robert Bingham. pp.21. Delivered before 
 
 the Dept. of Superintendence of the Nat. Ed. Assoc., February, 1884. (Misc. pub. 1884.) 
 
 306. Needs of education in the South. By Gustavus G. Orr. pp.13. Delivered before the Dept. of 
 
 Superintendence of the Xat'l Ed. Assoc., 1879. (Misc. pub. 1879.) 
 
 307. \ationalaidtoeducation. ByJohnEaton. Delivered before the Department of Superintendence 
 
 of the Nat. Ed. Assoc., 1877. pp.37. (Misc. pub. 1879.) 
 
 308. Needs of the Bureau of Education. ByJohnEaton. Delivered before Dept. of Superintendence 
 
 of Nafl Ed. Assoc., 1881. pp. 12. (Misc. pub. 1881.) 
 
 309. Museums illustrative of education. ByJohnEaton. Delivered before Dept. of Superintend nn- 
 
 of Nat. Ed. Assoc., 1881. pp.12. (Misc. pub. 1881.) 
 
 310. The World's Columbian Exposition, department of liberal arts. Circular No. 2. The educational 
 
 exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition, pp.10. (Misc. pub. .) 
 
 311. World's Columbian Exposition, department of liberal arts. Circ. No. 4. The educational exhibit 
 
 No. 2. Statistics by graphic methods. Wing frames: Statemaps. Display of school st a t 
 pp. 17. (Misc. pub. .) 
 
 312. United States Bureau of Education, an office in the Interior Department, 1867-1888. Comtnis- 
 
 sioners: Henry Barnard, 1867-1870; John Eaton, 1870-1886; Nathaniel H. R. Dawson, 1886-1889. 
 (Misc. pub. .) 
 
 313. Technical education and industrial drawing. By Prof. Walter Smith. Delivered before the 
 
 Dept. of Superintendence of Nat. Ed. Assoc., 1879. pp. 24. (Misc. pub. 1879.) 
 
 314. National schools of science, report on, by D. C. Gilman. pp. 20. (Reprinted from An. Rep. of 
 
 U. S. Commissioner of Education for 1871. pp. 427-444.) (Misc. pub. 1872.) 
 
 315. Colleges and collegiate institutions in the United States. Statistics, pp.11. (1871.) 
 
 316. International Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876. Collections to illustrate the history of collc^--. 
 
 universities, professional schools, and schools of science. (1875.) 
 317 Prospectus of report of the Commissioner of Education for 1875. p. 1. 1875. 
 
 318. Chilean International Exposition of 1875, to be held at Santiago (educational programme). i>]>. '.>. 
 
 1875. 
 
 319. Synopsis of proposed centennial; history of American education, 1776 to 1876. pp. 18. 1875. 
 
 320. Study of Anglo-Saxon. By F. A. March, pp.10. (From An. Rep. 1876.) 
 
 321. Latin pronunciation. By W. G. Richardson, pp. 484-497. (From An. Rep. 1876.) 
 
 322. Pronunciation of Greek in this country. By James R. Boise, pp. 430-483. (From An. Rep. 1876.) 
 
 323. Education at the Paris Exposition, 1879. pp. 9. (From Circ. inf. 2. 1879.) 
 
 324. Sale of diplomas, pp. 4. 1880. 
 
 325. Report on education in Alaska, with maps and illustrations. By Sheldon Jackson, pp. 89. 1K86. 
 
 326. Bureau of Education. Ohio Valley and Central States Centennial Exposition. July 4 to ()ct<iln>r 
 
 28. 18R8. Exhibitof the Bureau. Compiled by John W. Holcombf. (Folding sheet.) pp. 8. 16. 
 
 327. Annual statement of the Commissioner of Education to the Secr.-tary of the Interior; being 
 
 Introductory chapter of the An. Rep. 1888-89. By N. II. K. Dawuo-i. pp. 28. 
 329. Report of the Commissioner of Education to tbe Secretary of the Interior, 1887. pp. 26. 1887.
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC TEMPEBANCE INSTEUCTION IK THE PUBLIC 
 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 [Communicated by ALBERT H. PLUMB to the Boston Transcript, May 2, 1896.] 
 
 The spring meeting of the New England Conference of Educational Workers in 
 Boston on the 25th instant drew together quite a number of prominent teachers and 
 experts in the science of pedagogy. Superintendent Seaver gave fitting introduction 
 to the speakers. His honor the mayor made an interesting and encouraging address 
 on the way to secure improved sanitation in our schools. Much useful information 
 was imparted by Dr. Durgin, of the board of health, and Dr. Hartwell, who has 
 charge of physical culture in the city schools, and by other speakers. One of these, 
 however, laid down a principle which is violently at war with the enlightened policy 
 and efficient practice of our honored school authorities in this State and through the 
 country. It was a principle which, if carried out according to the obvious intention 
 of the speaker, would sweep away at once the greater part of the scientific temper- 
 ance instruction now required by law in forty-one States, and in all schools under 
 national control, as at Annapolis and at West Point. The falsity of this principle 
 was at once exposed by a few words from Mrs. Mary H. Hunt, herself an educational 
 authority, and, more than any other person living, personally in touch with educa- 
 tional and legislative authorities on this subject. 
 
 As there was no time, however, for any adequate discussion of the topic, it seems 
 desirable that so vicious a principle be held up more definitely to the public view. 
 
 It was indeed well said, by the speaker referred to, that the moral attitude of the 
 scholar in regard to conduct is the strong factor in securing right living; that the 
 effort should be to raise the child to the plane where he chooses what is right; 
 though it would have been more accurate to say, the moral attitude is the chief con- 
 stituent of right living, for the moral attitude includes the choice of the right which 
 is the effect, and not the cause concerning which we are inquiring. And to induce 
 ;i pupil to take the right moral attitude, to choose the right, is a matter of exceeding 
 difficulty and of indefinite progress a progress which it is hard to mark. It 
 depends largely on the personal character and influence of the teacher. It is not a 
 matter which can be definitely ordered and supervised by the school authorities, and 
 how far in each case the moral attitude of the pupil has yielded to the teacher's 
 moral exhortation is uncertain. This is not the case in the work of imparting 
 information'. The school authorities can order that the teacher impart to the scholar 
 certain definite scientific knowledge truths and facts and the teacher can so obey 
 this order as to be sure that the pupil has a clear and thorough apprehension of them. 
 They are his permanent possession thenceforth, and an active force necessarily and 
 always in influencing his life. He may resist that influence. As the speaker inti- 
 mated, information concerning the evil effects of intoxicants may lead boys to try the 
 experiment of using liquor, to see the effects, and therefore he would draw the foolish 
 inference that such information should be withheld. "Where ignorance is bliss it 
 is folly to be wise" is a good motto indeed as to the experimental knowledge of vice, 
 but not at all as to the scientific and theoretic knowledge of it. 
 
 1829
 
 1830 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 So that -when the speaker inquires: "Does information guard against wrong con- 
 duct? 1 ' and iu reply lays down the proposition that information is not a strong fac- 
 tor in promoting right living, he plants himself squarely in opposition to the great 
 principles on which tho educators and moralists of the land have established what is 
 known and lauded the world over as the "American educational system of prevention 
 of intemperance," viz, the early instruction liy law of all pupils in the public schools 
 npon the nature and effects of alcoholic drinks. 
 
 There are three manifest reasons why his position is untenable: 
 
 (1) It is opposed to tho eternal law that truth has an inherent, impelling force. 
 The moral nature of man has been so constituted by the God of truth that i t is impos- 
 sible to lodge in the human apprehension any proposition, any truth or fact, having 
 any bearing on conduct and nearly all truth, even philosophical and mathematical 
 truth, has such a bearing, direct or indirect, near or remote without more or less 
 awakening of tho sensibilities in regard to that moral bearing, more or less impulse 
 upon tho will toward tho choice of the right. 
 
 (2) Authority as well as reason is against tho position that information is not a 
 strong factor in promoting right conduct. Indeed, the Great Teacher himself is 
 explicitly against this position. "Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word is 
 truth." And this affirmation is not limited to religious truth. There are a thousand 
 declarations iu God's word which are of tho nature of philosophical propositions, or 
 statements of historic fact, or of prudential maxims for worldly success, yet they 
 may have an elevating power, e. g. : " The entrance of Thy words giveth light.'' "My 
 people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." "He that ruleth his spirit is better 
 than he that takcth a city." "Tho truth shall make you free." And upon tho spe- 
 cific matter under consideration multitudes of educational experts have united in 
 securing the legally enforced instruction precisely because of its moral preventive 
 force. Who is higher authority than Dr. William T. Karris, United States Commis- 
 sioner of Education? And his opinion was not long ago given in the 1'all Mall 
 Gazette, London, in these words: 
 
 "Instruction in what is called scientific temperance, conducted as it is under the 
 laws of nearly all the States in the public elementary schools, furnishes a permanent 
 and active means for tho dissemination of correct views regarding the effect of intoxi- 
 cating drinks upon tho human body. All pupils will have their attention called to 
 the subject every year, and intelligent pupils will understand with some degree of 
 clearness tho results of scientific investigation in this matter. Even the dull pupils 
 who fail to sei/c tho scientific points will carry away an impression in their minds 
 that intoxicating drinks are very dangerous and should not bo used even in moder- 
 ate quantities. * * * Snch instruction, too, is sure to furnish the greater portion 
 of tho intelligent pupils iu schools with a correct scientific notion with regard to 
 the investigations which have furuishe 1 tho evidence for these conclusions. 
 
 "The utter destruction to the body and mind which come-; from habitual intem- 
 perance, and tho danger of moderate drinking in arousing an abnormal appeti 
 intoxicating liquors, will certainly be seen and understood by the great mass of 
 pupils that attend the public schools. For this reason I do not sec how anyone can 
 question tho great general usefulness of this scientific temperance instruction, < 
 li.-hcd bylaw in most of the States of this nation. It may be said that.this move- 
 ment is tho most effective one ever devised by the friends of temperance to abate a 
 great evil, perhaps the greatest evil abroad in the land."' 
 
 (3) Experience joins with reason and authority in condemning this depreciation 
 of tho moral efi'ect of early acquaintance with scientific truth. In a number of 
 States the laws requiring this instruction have been in force ten or fifteen years, and 
 there is already a marked superiority in the morality of pupils coming from such 
 teaching to enter collegiate and professional schools, according to the testimony of 
 the faculties of such in^itutions. Young men have learned why every indulgence 
 in dissipation is calculated to block their path to success, and they are less convivial
 
 TEMPERANCE INSTRUCTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 1831 
 
 in their habits than those coining in former years. Eveu children now know too 
 much to he caught by the cheap fallacies of tipplers. Take one instance from many. 
 A millionaire brewer, a senator in another State, said to Mrs. Hunt, <- I shall vote 
 for your bill. I have sold out my brewery and am clean from the whole business. 
 Let me tell you what occurred at my table. A guest was taken dangerously ill at 
 dinner insensible and there was a- call for brandy to restore him. My little boy 
 at once exclaimed, 'No, that is just what he don't need. It will paralyze the nerves 
 and r.m.scles of the blood vessels so they will not send back the blood to the heart.' 
 When the liquor was poured out to give the man, the lad insisted on pushing it 
 back. 'You will kill him; he has too much blood in his head already.'" "How did 
 you know all that .' '' his father afterwards asked. "Why, it is iu my physiology at 
 school.'' It seems the text-books, prepared by such men as Prof. II. Newell Martin, 
 F. R. S., of Johns Hopkins University, had succeeded in giving the lad some definite 
 information which was proving useful. "Senator," said Mrs. Hunt, "are yon sorry 
 your boy learned that at school?" "Madam," the man replied, raiding his hand, "I 
 would not take $5,000 for the assurance this gives me that my boy will never be a 
 drunkard.'' 
 
 Information not a strong factor in controlling conduct? This kind of information 
 is proving so strong a factor that the liquor dealers are alarmed and are combining 
 in efforts to stop our schools from thus injuring their trade an injury of which Eng- 
 lish owners of American brewery stock are complaining; and there are certain 
 punctilious doctrinaires in science who appear more strenuous to preserve a certain 
 theoretical precision in the oruer of succession of topics in the processes of instruc- 
 tion who seem more solicitous to sparo the feelings and protect the selt-indnlgent 
 tippling habits of the luxurious classes than to save the youth of the country from 
 ruin by drink, who are combining with the brewers in endeavors, in different States 
 ju>f now, to repeal or embarrass and neutralize the enforcement of the temperance 
 instruction laws. 
 
 The agents of the brewers in various States are repeating over and over these same 
 hostile arguments which were heard here at the meeting on Saturday last, alleging 
 the incfficacy of such instruction, as if they desired itsefficacy, and claiming that it 
 is impossible for the young before they reach college or certainly previous to enter- 
 ing tho high school to attain auy scientific knowledge on these subjects, a rule 
 which would deny to 95 per cent of our school children, who never reach the high 
 school, all definite scientific instruction on these topics, limiting them to occasional 
 moral exhortations by their teachers. 
 
 It is contended that it is out of the due order to touch on these subjects until a 
 pupil has thoroughly mastered the science of chemistry and the philosophy of nutri- 
 tion. What if it is? What valuable interests will suffer if, on account of a great 
 and appalling moral exigency, these all-important practical themes are taken up in 
 advance, since they must bo taken up then in 95 per cent of tho cases, if attended 
 to at all? At any rate, the people of this country, the parents of our school children, 
 have decided that they shall bo thus taken up, because they are determined to use 
 every possible endeavor to protect their children from the awful dangers of intoxi- 
 cating drinks. And how utterly wronghcaded, and cold-hearted, too, it is for 
 tea- liers, who are the servants of tho people, or for anyone else, to interfere with 
 this great philanthropic movement, which has cost untold sacrifices of time and toil 
 to establish, and on which tho future welfare of tho nation largely depends! 
 
 Doubtless tho bulk of our school teachers are not yet equal to our most learned 
 physicians iu their physiological attainments, but to despise, therefore, and to decry 
 as unsound, misleading, and morally worthless such instruction as they are able to 
 give on these subjects, is to show recklessness in regard to facts, and indifference iu 
 regard to the evils which correct teaching is calculated to prevent, for those evils 
 are so dire and threatening that nil wise minds must rcsolvok> use, instantly and 
 incessantly, such preventive means as we have, rather than to postpone all effort to
 
 1832 EDUCATION REPORT, 1894-95. 
 
 that indefinite future when means sufficiently perfect to satisfy these extremists 
 shall be provided. Meanwhile it is encouraging to know that the trustees of tho 
 new American University at Washington have already taken measures, in response, 
 to tho request of friends of this instruction, to establish there a College of Sciem ilk- 
 Temperance, not as a propaganda, but for original research, and for the training of 
 the "teachers of teachers" on these themes, which the perils of national lift- in 
 Europe and America are pressing to the front. 
 
 The unworthy methods which nearly everywhere mark the opposition to this tem- 
 perance instruction deserve strong rebuke. Have the distinguished authors of t in- 
 temperance text-books some of them known and honored as scientific authorities 
 on two hemispheres told lies in their books? If so, why does not someone point 
 out the liesf If not, then reputable men should have done with the continual and 
 contemptible insinuation that our children are learning in school what they will 
 have to unlearn in life. 
 
 The misrepresentations made in the progress of the recent great contest in \. w 
 Yorkhave been shameful, hut all in vain, for by overwhelming majorities last wr-k 
 the house and senate passed the improved law, demanded by the representatn rs 
 of over 1,000,000 members of churches and other philanthropic bodies in the State. 
 Certainly the victories which are continually attending this hard-pressed conflict 
 are so remarkable as to warrant a reverent conviction that the especial favor of 
 Providence is attending a movement which, in its inception and prosecution, has 
 been largely imbued with a spirit of prayer, which is purely philanthropic, which i- 
 accordant with true wisdom and scientific truth, and which, in its wide extent and 
 con fessed potency for good, is by far the most promising of all present measures for 
 the prevention of vice.
 
 TEMPERANCE INSTRUCTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 1833 
 
 TEMPERANCE EDUCATION MAP OF THE UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES. 
 
 [Furnished to the .Bureau by the Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction of the W. C. T. U., 
 Mrs. Mary H. Hunt, superintendent. Utah was under the national temperance law until it became 
 a State ; since then no advice has been received regarding the enactment of a temperance education 
 law.] 
 
 States in white have a temperance education law. Those in black have none. 
 
 /NEVADA /*Jllir i ] X 
 
 C V X / UTAH (COLORADO , KANSAS 
 
 \ \ u :3 xiL*.-l- t J-.4t.. T .j 
 
 EXPLANATION OF MARKS. 
 
 X The cross signifies that scientific temperance is a mandatory study in ^public schools. 
 
 * The star signifies that this is a mandatory study, and that a penalty is attached to the enforcing 
 d:i;iso of this statute in the State or Territory to which it is affixed. 
 
 t The dagger signifies that the study is not only mandatory, but is required of all pupils m all 
 
 '+ The double dagger signifies that the study is required of all pupils in all schools, and is to be pur- 
 sued with text-books in the hands of pupils able to read. 
 
 || The parallel indicates that the study is to be taught in tho same manner and as thoroughly as 
 other required branches. 
 
 Tin; section mark indicates that text-books on this topic used m primary and intermediate schools 
 must givi- one-fourth or one-fifth their space to temperance matter, and those used m high schools not 
 less than twenty pages. 
 
 IT The paragraph indicates that no teacher who has not passed a satisfactory examination m thu 
 subject is granted a certificate or authorized to teach. 
 
 - Throe lines indicate that text-books on this topic shall give full and adequate space to the 
 
 temperance matter. 
 ED 95 
 
 -58*
 
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