THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES PESTALOZZI: HIS AIM AND WORK. BY BARON ROGER DE GUIMPS. TRANSLATED FROM THE EDITION OF 1874, BV MARGARET CUTHBERTSON CROMBIE. Abridged and Adapted for Students. He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again." HAMLET. SYRACUSE, N. Y. : C. W. BARDEEN, PUBLISHER. 1889. Copjrritht, 1889, by C. W. BARDEEN. German Books on Pedagogy. I. Cmneniut. Grosse Unterrichtxli-lm. MiteinerEinleitung, "J. Comenius, Mf in Leben und Werken," von LINDNER. Price $1.50. -,'. /hire/in*. Von Menxchen, aeinen Geistexkriiftm und seiner Erz'ttlunnj. Mit einer Einleitung, "Cl. Adr. Helvetius, 1715-1771. Ein Zeit- und Lebens- blld," von LINDNER. 12mo, pp. 339. Price $1.50. 3. Pestalozzi. 1VU Gertrud iluv Kimlir lunl < I'nttrriclttix. Mit einer Einleitunjr "Aug. Herm. Niemeyer, scia Li-ben und Werken,'' von I.INDNKK. .' vols. Price $3.00. ."'. DiMterweg. Rheniscke BIS tin: Mit einer Rinleitunp;, " K. A. NV. Diesterweg," von JESSBN. Price SI-'-'-"'- 6. Jacotot. Universal Unterricht. Mit einer " Darstollunff des Lebens und der Lehre Jacotot's," von GOERING. 12mo, pp. 304. Price $3.75. 7. Frdbd. Pftdagoffische Schriften. Ilerausgegeben von SEIDEL. 3. vote. Price $7.00. 8. Fichte. PftdaRogisch Schriften und Ideen. Mit " biographischer Einleitung und gedrSngter Darstellung von Fichte's Padagogik," von KKF- EBSTEIN. Price $2.00. 9. Martin Luther. P&dagogisehe Schrifte. Mit Einleitung von SCHU- MANN. Price $1.50. 10. Herder al* Padagog. Von MORRES. Price 75 cts. II. Oeschichte der Padayogik, in Biographen, Uebersichten, und Proben aus padagogischen Ilauptwerken. Von NIEDEROESAESS. Price $2.50. 11. Lexikon der Padagogik. Von SANDEH. Price $3.50. For sale by C. W. BABDEEN, Publisher, Syracuse, N. Y. Ed. - Psych. Library TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE. Preface. ... ... ... i. Translator's Preface.... ... ... ... vii. I. Pestalozzi's Childhood. ... ... ... i II. Pestalozzi's Student Days. ... ... ... 4 III. Pestalozzi's Agricultural Scheme. ... ' ... 12 IV. How Pestalozzi Educated His Child. ... 19 V. The Refuge at Neuhof. 26 VI. Pestalozzi as an Author. ... ... ... 38 VII. Pestalozzi's Doctrine before 1798. ... ... 65 VIII. Pestalozzi, the Father of the Orphans at Stans. ... ... ... ... ... 72 IX. Pestalozzi, a Schoolmaster at Berthoud. ... 27 X. Krusi, Pestalozzi's First Fellow Labourer, in XI. Pestalozzi Head of the Instituteat Berthoud. 121 XII. Pestalozzi's Books and Method at Berthoud 142 XIII. The First Years at Yverdon. 161 XIX. Decline of the Institute. ... ... .... 176 XV. Agony of the Institute. ... ... ... 210 XVI. The Last Years of Pestalozzi. ... ... 236 XVII. Pestalozzi's Latest Writings 245 I H70 1 T7 VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE. XVIII. Personal Recollections of the Author ... 261 XIX. Pestalozzi's Religion... ... ... ... 270 XX. The Philosophy of Pestalozzi. ... ... 277 XXI. The Elementary Method of Pestalozzi. ... 282 List of Pestalozzi's Works. ... ... ... 295 Appendix A. Observation of Children. ... 299 Appendix B. Pestalozzi's Letters to Greaves 300 Notes 303 Index 313 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. " IN half a century the foundations of society shall be shaken." So, seventy years ago, said Pestalozzi : a man, who, wishing to save the poor, " lived as a beggar among beggars," in order to teach beggars how to become men ; and after probing the intellectual and moral misery which underlies our brilliant civilisation drew thence the dreaded anticipation for the future of humanity ; but at the same time prescribed the , remedy. During his long life of eighty years he was absorbed by one idea, namely, the regeneration and elevation of the people by Elementary Education : this idea was his ruling passion and dominated all other feelings ; he loved the poor, the weak, and the ignorant in spite of their vices which shocked him, and he strove to instruct and make moral the masses before people had learned to fear them. In his passionate love of humanity he used all the means in his power to serve his fellow- creatures. For their sake he tried to be a minister of Tii Vlii AUTHOR'S PREFACE. the gospel, a lawyer, a farmer, a manufacturer ; and he became an author, a journalist, and a schoolmaster. He never allowed the neglect, ingratitude, or bad treat- ment he received from others, nor considerations of personal interest, to influence him in regard to his aim. He was the boldest, the most original, and the simplest of men. Such was Pestalozzi. At another period of the world's history he would have been canonized ; and the Catholic Church has few saints who were purer or greater. His life was full of contrasts, eccentricities, awkward- ness, and errors of judgment arising from his childlike confidence in everybody ; and as his want of knowledge of affairs led to the ruin of his undertakings the world condemned Pestalozzi. But posterity will justify him ; his memory is venerated, his devotion admired, and to him is due the reform of Elementary Education ; a reform begun but far from being accomplished in spite of all the progress already made. Meanwhile Pestalozzi is little understood; people have but a vague idea of the principles which actuated him, and the aim he pursued so perseveringly during his long career in spite of mistakes which many times threatened to crush his indefatigable activity for ever. His aim was always the same, but his idea developed as he advanced in age and experience, and to the last he was striving to complete and perfect it. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. ix The character of Pestalozzi is unique. It has been said to resemble that of the eagle and the dove, the lion and the lamb, the woman and the child, rather than the man. ****** Germany adopted the principles of Pestalozzi after the battle of Jena and organized her public instruction to which she owes her present greatness. This education not only makes people learned but strengthens the capacity to appreciate and apply all instruction. Gradually, however, the schools of Prussia have come to neglect the doctrine of Pestalozzi, especially from the moral point of view ; and it is said that they will not develop men of such strong moral fibre as those of the present age who are the result of the true Pestalozzian training. During the Easter holidays of 1872 there was a Congress at Berlin of delegates from Teachers' Societies of Brandenburg, oaxony, Hanover, and Hesse-Nassau ; and it decided upon the formation of a National Society of German Teachers whose centre was fixed at Berlin. On April 4th the deputies of the assembly were received by the Minister of Worship and Public Instruction, and they submitted three requests to him. This was the third : " Extension of the programme of teachers, and organization of schools according to the pedagogic principles of Pestalozzi which had formerly enjoyed X TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. much favour in Prussia, under the protection of Queen Louise, Stein, William von Humboldt, Fichte, &c., and had contributed so evidently to the regeneration of the country." Up to the present time France has profited only in an indirect manner and in a feeble measure from the works of Pestalozzi, the reformer of education. Nevertheless their merit had been recognised by a great number of the most distinguished persons of all shades of opinion ; such as Mme. de Stael, George Cuvier, &c. But France has not organised her] elementary education upon rational principles ; she has not yet adopted the Natural Method.* Every superior mind admits and deplores this, feeling that it would be the true means of the regeneration she needs now more than ever, and tries to lead her into this way of safety. Would that the book we are now publishing might contribute to the success of these efforts. TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. XI TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. IN presenting this book to the public the Translator begs to state that it is intended for junior students. The material contained in the work has been used by her for several years in the training of young teachers in the History of Education. Unlike the author of Levana, who was too busy writing upon Education to be able to educate his own son, the Translator is too actively engaged in the work of teaching to find sufficient time to write. She has always hoped to be able to expand and render the translation more worthy of the original ; but, foreseeing no greater leisure, and learning that there is need for such a work at this time, she ventures to offer it in its present form. She would call attention to the Notes, at the same time stating that their brevity will show that they are merely suggestive ; and she would advise .those who are studying the life of Pestalozzi to make themselves acquainted with the I&ore important features of his time the government and geography of Switzerland, the French Revolution, the career of Napoleon, the Xli TRANSLATOR S PREFACE social and political state of England and its attitude towards these events, the aspirations of France and America, the condition of Prussia before and since its adoption of a rational system of education ; also the greatest names in German and Swiss literature. Something of all this is required to understand the relation of the master to his age ; for Pestalozzi was first a philanthropist in the widest and best sense of the word, and then an educator. The great reformer of elementary education has been too long taken at his own estimate a very humble one ; whilst others, perhaps, have been unduly lauded. Baron Roger de Guimps, one of Pestalozzi's most illustrious disciples, has best interpreted the master's Life, Aim, and Method. Much of the beauty of a work is lost in translation, and the Life of Pestalozzi by Baron Roger de Guimps cannot fail to suffer. But if the reader of these pages is led by them to study the original, this book will have attained its end. MARGT. C. CROMBIE. LONDON, SEPT., 1888. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PESTALOZZL SAEMMTLICHE WERKE, hrsg. L. "W. Seyffarth. 16 vols, 8vo. Brandenburg, 1869-73 $6.40 WIE GERTRUD IHRE KINDER LEHRT. Hit einer Einleitung, " J. H. Pestalozzi's Leben, Werke, und Grundsatze." Ein- leitung vom Seminar-Director Schulrath Karl Riedel. 12mo, pp. 199. Wien, 1877 1.00 LEENHAUD UNO GERTRUD. Ein Buck fur das Volk. 24mo, pp. 422. Leipzig 1.00 LEONARD AND GERTRUDE. Translated and abridged by Eva Channing. 12mo, pp. 181. Boston, 1885 80 LEONARD ET GERTRUDE, ou les Moeurs Villageoises telles q 'on les retrouve a la Ville et a la Cour. Histoire Morale tra- duite de rallemande. Avec 12 estampes. 16mo, pp. 416. Berlin, 1783 LETTERS ON EARLY EDUCATION. Addressed to J. P. Greaves, Esq., by Peslalozzi. Translated from the German manu- script. With a Memoir of Pestalozzi. Originally printed in 1827. 16mo, pp. 217. London, 1850 2.50 LETTERS ON THE EDUCATION OP INFANCY, addressed to Moth- ers. 12mo, pp. 51. Boston, 1830 BARNARD, Henry. Pestalozzi and Pestalozzianism, Life, Edu- cational Principles, and Methods of John Henry Pestalozzi; with Biographical Sketches of several of his Assistants and Disciples. 8vo, pp. 468. Kew York, 1859 5.00 BIBER, E. Memoir of Pestalozzi, and his Plan of Education: being an Account of his Life and Writings. 8vo. Lon- don, 1831 ... COCHIN, A. Pestalozzi: sa vie, ses oeuvres, et ses methodes. 12mo, pp. 146. Paris, 1880 50 DE GUIMPS, Roger. Pestalozzi, his Aim and Work. Trans- lated from the Edition of 1874 by Margaret Cuthbertson Crumbic. 12mo, pp. 320. Syracuse, 1889 1.50 (xiii) XIV BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PESTALOZZI. The same, "The Student's Pestalozzi," translated and abridged by Russell. London, 1888 75 DIESTERWEG, Dr. Pestalozzi and the schools of Germany. 8vo, pp. 16 (From Barnard's Journal) Hartford 50 HOOSE, J. H. The Pestalozzian Series of Arithmetics. First- Year Arithmetic. Teachers' Manual and First- Year Tcxt- Book, for pupils in the first grade, first year, of public schools. Based upon Pestalozzi's system of teaching Ele- mentary Numbers. 16mo, pp. 217. Syracuse, ,1882 50 KAISER, Josef. Pestalozzi, oder der 12 Janner gefeiert von der Lehrer-Gesellschaft in Wien. 8vo, pp. 32. Wien, 1863... 1.00 KRUESI, H. Pestalozzi: his life, work, and influence. 8vo, pp. 248. Cincinnatti, 1875 1.40 NEEF, Joseph (formerly a Coadjutor of Pestalozzi, at his school near Berne, in Switzerland). Sketch of a Plan and Method of Education, founded on an Analysis of the Human Fac- ulties and Natural Reason, suitable for the Offspring of a Free People and for all Rational Beings. 16mo, pp. 168, and folding plate. Philadelphia, 1808 3.00 ORPIIEN, Chas. Pestalozzi's System of Domestic Education, etc. 16mo, pp. 192. Dublin, 1829 PHELPS, Wm. F. Pestalozzi (Chautauqua Text-Book, No. 12). .10 , VON RATJMER, Carl. The Life and Educational System of Pes talozzi. 8vo, pp. 16, (incomplete). (From Barnard's Jour- nal.) Hartford 50 REINER, C. Lessons on Number, as given in a Pestalozzian School, Cheam, Surrey. The Master's Manual. 12mo, pp.224. London, 1857 2.00 Lessons on Form; or an Introduction to Geometry. As given in a Pestalozzian School, Cheam, Surrey. 12mo, pp. 215. London, 1837 2.00 SCHNEIDER, C. Rousseau and Pestalozzi. 8vo, pp. 86. Brom- berg, 1867 50 VOGEL, A. Die Padagogik Peslalozzi's. Wortgetreue Auszu- gen aus seinem Werken. 12mo, pp 138. Bemburg, 1882. All of the above that are priced may be had of the publisher of this volume. PESTALOZZI. ERRATA. PAGE. LINE. 10 6 read " Nibelungen " for " Niebehmgen." 56 34 insert (after " shepherd ") who was blind of one eye and deaf of one ear." 88 5 read " cord " for " string." 106 2 " protege "fa " protcgl." CHAPTER I. PESTALOZZI S CHILDHOOD. 1. Influence of home. I 3. Influenceof visitstothecountry. 2. Influence of School. I 4. Pestaloz/i wishes to be a village pastor. i. In 1567, Antoine Pestalozzi and his wife, an Italian couple from Chiavenna, settled in Zurich, having been exiled from their country for having adopted the Reformed faith. Zurich had been the scene of Zwingli's labours and the Reformation had been firmly established there in 1522. From these refugees was descended Andre Pestalozzi, pastor of Hongg, near Zurich. The son of Andre was called Jean-Baptiste. He was a good surgeon and oculist in Zurich. His wife's name was Suzanne Hotz, sister of a clever doctor at Richtersweil, and niece of General Hotz. Henry Pestalozzi, the son of Jean-Baptiste, and the subject of our study, was born on January i2th, 1746, at the sign of the Black Horn (every nouse had a sign). When he was five years old his father died, leaving little provision for the family, which consisted of the widow and three little children. The elder boy soon died, and t'le daughter was married in course of time to a merchant in Leipsic, and continued throughout her life to correspond with her brother. Madame Pestalozzi was an admirable mother, devoting her whole thoughts and energies to the education of her children. Her limited means required the strictest economy to be observed in the hoiise. 2 PESTALOZZI'S but her efforts were aided by the devotion of a faithful servant named Babeli or Barbara, in whom " did well appear the constant service of the antique world." This faithful creature, a simple peasant girl, had promised her master when he was dying that she would never forsake her mistress ; she kept her word, and throughout her whole life her conduct was marked by the greatest patience, devotion, and good sense. She had a share in the up- bringing of the little Henry, who speaks of her in the most affectionate and grateful terms. He attributes her fidelity and the dignity of her character to her piety and simple elevated faith. Her economy made the most of their slender means. For example, she deferred going to market till late when the prices were lower as the market-people were tired and wanting to go home ; and she was most careful in regard to the dresses of the children, encouraging them to stay indoors as much as possible in order to save their best clothes, as the family maintained a good position in spite of poverty. Henry tells us that they had 'fine clothes which they wore on Sunday and changed when they returned home ; and, when visitors were expected, their only room was arranged by tasteful hands as a little drawing room. They found a way to help the needy, and the gifts they gave at the New Year and at other times were out of all proportion to their means. This could only be done at the cost of great self-denial on the part of all members of the family, and the spirit of unselfishness thus fostered became second nature to them. An incident is related of Henry at this time. One day having a -little pocket money given him he went to spend it upon sweets that tempted him in the shop of a rich bon-bon merchant named Schulthess, who lived at the sign of the Plough. The merchant's daughter, Anna, who was present, told Henry that he might do something better with his money, and he took her advice. This story is interesting and characteristic. The same little girl, years after, became his wife and best friend through life. Henry was a mother's child ; the atmosphere of his home was peaceful and affectionate and in it were practised CHILDHOOD. 3 unostentatiously many acts of self-sacrifice. The curbing of the desire for play outside with other boys must alone have cost the boy many a struggle between inclination and duty. In the midst of his sedentary life his imagination had full play. He listened eagerly to stories and reading, never forgetting a word and thinking over ah 1 he heard ; imagining himself in the place of his heroes, and altering and re-arranging the circumstances. But the good in- fluences under which he lived were not sufficient to develop all sides of a manly character. The close confinement to the house, the want of opportunities of roughing it with boys of his own age encouraged his natural weakness and left him timid, clumsy, restless and impressionable ; and his -coliaborateur Niederer has well said that " In Pestalozzi there was as much of the woman as the man." 2. Pestalozzi was deeply conscious of these defects which he never was able to correct. He says he was deficient in sustained attention, reflection, circumspection and forethought, as well as in vigour and skill in muscular exercises. His views of life and the world, taken from his mother's parlour were necessarily limited. The want of practice in boyish sports made him awkward and helpless when he went to school. But although his schoolfellows took advantage of and laughed at him, calling him Harry Oddity of Foolstown, they liked him for his good nature and obliging disposition. He gave some signs of ability at school, but his work was usually so bad his writing and spelling especially that his master took him for a dunce. The influence of his home was never forgotten by Pestalozzi ; and to him the mother ever was the ideal educator. Surrounded as he was by good influences he took home as his standard, and believing that all people were like-minded with his family, he trusted everybody ; when he went out into the world he was often mistaken and deceived. 3. From the time that he was nine years old he spent his holidays with his grandfather, the minister at Hongg, a beautiful country place near Zurich. Here he visited the sick and the poor, and came to learn something of the 4 PESTALOZZI S locality, which is diversified with fields, and vineyards and fine orchards. The manse which adjoins the church was surrounded by gardens which rose in terraces, and from the dining room window there was a charming view of the valley of the Limmat. Here Henry passed many happy days and his love of nature was aroused. 4. Here, too, he saw much in the state of the people that touched him with compassion ; and from this time he looked forward to becoming a village pastor like his grand- father. CHAPTER II. PESTALOZZl's STUDENT DAYS 5. The Academy of Zurich in the eighteenth century. 6. Its spirit and influence upon Pestalozzi. 7. Pestalozzi gives up the ministry for law. 8. He gives up the law and burns his MSS. 9. Sole remnant of his early writings : Agis. 5. Zurich in the middle of the last century was famous for its schools. The higher education there was remark- able for its elevation, and originality. The philosophy of Wolff, who preached a return to nature, had given the students a three-fold enthusiasm, for simplicity of manners, revival of literature, and public liberty. Pestalozzi shared in this enthusiasm which led him, unfortunately, into many youthful enterprises which retarded his finding his vocation. Theology, medicine and law were taught at the College of the Humanities. STUDENT DAYS. 5 Students entered at the age of fifteen. Amongst the many eminent men of Zurich were three famous professors : Zimmermann, who was professor of Theology ; Breitinger, of Greek and Hebrew ; and Bodmer, of History and Political Economy. Zimmermann had introduced a milder discipline into the College than had prevailed before ; Breitinger treated his students like his children ; and Zurich owes to Bodmer, who was professor there for nearly fifty years, the men of talent who were so numerous. His teaching had reference chiefly to History and the institu- tions of Switzerland ; and he inspired in his hearers' minds a strong love of justice and liberty. He criticised the manners and social organization of the time and urged his listeners to struggle against them and seek to restore the ancient virtues. He preached the reducing of our needs, "plain living and high thinking," and that true happiness was only to be found in simple home-life. His views can be gleaned from the following passage from the Dialogues of the Dead : ' What did you do when on earth ? " ' I sought for happiness." ' Did you find it I' " ' Alas, too late." ' Where did you seek it ? " 'In Persia, India, Japan and the uttermost parts of the earth." NVhere did you find it ? " ' In my own village, it was in my father's house, whilst I had gone to search for it thousands of miles away. I found it on my return after countless dangers. My father had it in his heart, without stirring a step to seek it. I only saw it and I died." Bodmer also taught his students modern literature, making them acquainted with the chief works of English authors especially. He and Breitinger shared in making Zurich with Leipsic the starting point of the movement which gave Germany her fine literature. Klopstock was the guest of Bodmer who had been the first to appreciate the merit of his Messiah. He was followed by Wieland and Kleist. The laoc wrote to Gleim, " Zurich is indeed a wonderful place, not only on account of O PESTALOZZI S its magnificent position but also for the men who are here. Whilst in the city of Berlin there are hardly three or four men of genius and taste, in little Zurich there are twenty or thirty." 6. The influence of such men led the students to have a contempt for riches and luxury, and to exalt intellectual and spiritual pleasure, simplicity of life and manners, and the constant pursuit of justice and truth. For a long time Pestalozzi and his friends wished to lie on the ground in their clothes, and to live on vegetarian diet. This was the spirit of the Academy which Pestalozzi entered at the age of fifteen. His elementary education had prepared him for it badly, yet he distinguished himself and made rapid progress. While yet very young, he translated a harangue of Demosthenes which was much admired by good judges and was put into print. This is what he says himself later on about his academical studies : " The spirit of the public teaching in my native town, admirable as it was from a scientific point of view, led us to lose sight of the realities of life. The flower of our youth, not excepting Lavater, indulged in dreams. " Our only wish was to live for freedom, beneficence, sacrifice and patriotism ; but the means of developing the practical power to attain these were lacking. We despised all external appearances such as riches, honour, and consideration ; and we were taught to believe that by economising and reducing our wants we could dispense with all the advantages of citizen life. " We cherished but one aim namely, the possibility of enjoying independence and domestic happiness, without having the strength to acquire and maintain them. These visions dominated us the more as they appealed to the best feelings of our nature, urging us to re-act against the weakening of the old Swiss spirit of simplicity, dignity, and fidelity which had been the glory of our Fatherland but which was gradually disappearing from our manners." No one was more under the spell of this Utopian dream than Pestalozzi ; but it was while pursuing this ideal that STUDENT DAYS. J he made the discoveries that have immortalised his memory. 7. Wishing to become a minister of the Gospel, he studied theology and got the length of preaching his trial sermon ; but it was not a success. He therefore gave up the idea of entering the Church and determined to study law. He thought that as a lawyer he would be able to deal with the condition of the poor. From a child he had a horror of injustice and oppression and a strong desire to help the people in the country districts. One da}' when at school, he took to task an unworthy assistant master who had been guilty of injustice, and by his energy gained the day, to the great astonishment of the whole class. At another time, in the anonymous letter addressed to the scholastic authorities he unmasked the faults that undermined an establishment of public instruction. The authorship being discovered roused violent hatred against him ; and although investigation confirmed the facts as stated, he was obliged to flee to his grand- father's home at Hongg. There he heard the complaints of the country people against the burghers of Zurich who ruled them and kept the monopoly of trade in the town, refusing to sell the right of citizenship to those inhabitants of the neighbouring villages who sought to acquire it. He had often heard the same complaints made by the people of Richtersweil when he went to visit his uncle Hotz& The doctor spoke with great bitterness of the gracious lords of Zurich ; and one day, when his nephew was boasting of the free Swiss peasantry, he answered warmly " Don't speak of their 'liberty ; they are no more free here than in Livonia." Such were the impressions that the young Pestalozzi had gained from his visits to the country ; they were the deeper as they were connected with the happy days spent with people whom he loved, for he was always welcomed among them and he enjoyed more freedom and a more varied and active life there than in the city of Zurich. There was a saying frequently used at this time by the PESTALOZZl's country clergy that Omnc inalnin ex nrbe, (All the evil comes from the town). So, too, thought little Henry. And," said he, " when I am grown up I shall support the country people ; they ought to have the same rights as those of the city." So, when he was at the academy and the teaching of Bodmer called his attention to the political state of the Fatherland he was one of the most ardent would-be- reformers of Zurich whose zeal for justice and liberty caused their families much anxiety and inconvenience. At Zurich, as in most of the other cantons, the town ruled the country, and the town was governed by a number of privileged families. Thirteen abbeys or corporations had the monopoly of commerce and industry. The government was generally mild and paternal but the people had no share in it. The awakening to liberty mani- fested itself first among the students who were animated by the example of the Genevese. For a long time the citizens of Geneva had complained of the domination of the patrician families who had gradually stripped the people of their ancient rights. In 1738 the government of Geneva appealed to Berne, Zurich, and France, and their mediation was accepted by the magistrates and citizens. It confirmed for the citizens the right of representation, petition, and veto upon constitutional measures. In 1762 the government of Geneva, like the parliament of Paris, condemned the author of Emile and the Social Compact. The citizens warmly supported Rousseau and addressed a memorial to the magistrates demanding that their sentence should be reversed as unjust and unwarrant- able. But the petitioners were shown out without obtaining a hearing. This caused great indignation at Zurich and much agitation amongst the patriotic students whose sympathies were entirely with the people of Geneva. Henceforth they gave themselves up to Rousseau and his philosophy ; for they found in his writings eloquent pleas for their favourite sentiments, love of nature, simplicity of manners, and country life. STUDENT DAYS. 9 These young liberals undertook to attack abuses and injustice. In 1763-4-5 they made formal complaints against three important officers. The facts were proved and the accused put out of office. But the government regarded with uneasiness the spirit that actuated these young people ; they blamed their actions and punished them by detaining them a day or two at the Hotel de Ville. In 1765, Bodmer founded the Helvetic Society, which met every week to discuss the essays of members upon questions of history, pedagogy, - politics, and morality. Pestalozzi was one of its most zealous members. The same year the students started a weekly journal called The Memorial. It was not political but moral and local. Lavater and Fussli were the principal editors, Pestalozzi, who was now nineteen years of age, was also a contributor. In 1766 an appeal was again made to the mediation of Berne, Zurich, and France by Geneva. An arrangement was proposed which suited the magis- trates but not the citizens, it was therefore rejected. A rumour spread that troops were to be sent to Geneva to compel the inhabitants to accept the mediation of the deputies. The most of the people approved, but the young patriots protested boldly against it. One, a young theologian named Muller, wrote a paper called the " Peasants' Proposal " which he read to a private circle of friends ; here is an extract from it. " The citizens of Geneva have the right of adopting whatever course pleases them ; for the liberty of a people consists in their being able to organize their government as it suits them. Besides, it was formally stipulated that the citizens could adopt or reject constitutional measures. Now, they have rejected the mediation by a large majority. And meanwhile we are going to compel them by arms to adopt it. But this would be treason, a shame, and a dis- grace. We could have no confidence in a government that would give such an order. As for me, come what may, I shall not stir a foot." Muller said that this paper given by a friend, had been shut up in his desk and that he afterwards allowed a copy to be taken by a student, who spread it among IO PESTALOZZI S the youth of the town. The government took alarm ; it publicly denounced the pamphlet as dangerous to the state, and commanded Muller to be delivered up to justice. Banished from Switzerland he went to Berlin where he became a professor, and distinguished himself by making known the Niebelungen to the literary world. In this matter the people played an unworthy part for they sided with those who condemned Muller. The young patriots, his colleagues, were submitted to an examination, the result of which was to prove that the Peasants' Proposal was written without any evil intention and that it had been circulated without the knowledge of the author. Mean- while Muller had fled and it was the general, but mistaken belief that Pestalozzi had aided his flight, which roused the anger of " the gracious lords and their faithful subjects." This feeling was extended to the students who were threatened by crowds in the streets. Meanwhile Pestalozzi was to his fellow-citizens only a dangerous revolutionary, and for a long time he suffered from the judgment that had been pronounced upon him. He could no longer hope to improve the condition of the people by his legal knowledge as this event debarred him from entering upon any public appointment. 8. Then he gave up his study of law and burned his MSS. Thus all his earliest works are lost except one which was printed in a review at Lindau and Leipzic in 1766 under the title of "News of the most Remarkable Writings of Our Time" &c. This article, called Agis, bears the date 1765, with the following remark : " This paper is the work of a young man of great merit who is not yet twenty years old and who did not intend it for printing." This review is not now to be had ; but Agis has recently been printed in the complete collection of Pestalozzi' s works, published at Brandenburg by S. W. Seyffarth. 9. Agis, the first surviving production of Pestalozzi we have, is too remarkable to be passed over without a resume. It will be remembered that our author, when a student STUDENT DAYS. II and a poor Hellenist, had translated a fragment of the third harangue of Demosthenes to the Athenians, in such a manner as to meet with general approval. This translation used as a preface to the history of Agis, is intended to shew how, in the time preceding the Mace- donian invasion, the Greeks had fallen away from the ancient virtues and simplicity of manners which of old had been their strength and happiness. The description of this decadence so strikingly resembles the state of Switzer- land in the last century that the translator, in a note, somewhat mischievously reminds the readers that the circumstances refer to the Athenians and that it is Demos- thenes who is speaking. Then follows the history of Agis, King of Sparta, who, at a time when the laws of Lycurgus had fallen into neglect, undertook to restore them. Although brought up in the midst of luxury and ease he resisted their temptations; and lived in a severe and frugal manner. He sought to compel the rich to follow his example : demanding a new distribution of the land so as to establish equality of conditions. The experiment failed, and it cost Agis his life. In this work Pestalozzi eloquently advocated the reform undertaken by Agis, and we cannot help thinking that he sought to prepare his country for the dawning of a new era in which Utopia would be realised. Some of his biographers record that at that time he said " I want to be a schoolmaster" This is a mistake. He did not find his true vocation till later on after he had been engaged in the education of his little son. After giving up the study of law, Pestalozzi became a farmer. At this time agriculture made great progress in different countries. The teaching of Bodmer and the writings of Rousseau led the young to the perfecting of this first of the arts, as the salvation of the poor and the panacea for all evils. Pestalozzi became a farmer in order to give to his fellow- citizens the example of perfect culture which was to enable all men, women, and children to live by their work in greater 12 PESTALOZZI'S comfort, and at the same time to give the children the moral and intellectual development necessary for good citizens. CHAPTER III. PESTALOZZI S AGRICULTURAL SCHEME. 10. Pestalozzi betrothed to Anna Schullhess. 11. Pestalozzi studies agriculture with Ischctfeli. 1 2. Pestalozzi buys land near Birr. 13. Marriage. Building. Life at Atuligen. 14. Birth of his son. Eemovalto Neuhof. 15. Failure of his scheme. 10. At the period at which we have arrived Pestalozzi was engaged to Anna Schulthess, the little girl who had advised him to save his pocket money. She was seven years older than her betrothed and had become a beautiful, accomplished, and charming woman. Her father was a rich bon-bon manufacturer. Although engaged in business, he was much interested in art and literature, and his house was frequented by intellectual friends. He received Klopstock when the poet was visiting Zurich. He had travelled and seen a great deal, and mingled much with well-informed people. His daughter, Anna, shared his taste for literature and culture. Like her father, she kept a journal which she continued through her whole life, and it gives evidence of an elevated and cultivated mind. She was a musician and a poetess, and preserved her freshness of imagination even in her old age. She wrote a poem at the age of seventy three, the leading AGRICULTURAL SCHEME. 13 thought of which resembles Wordsworth's "We are Seven." Amongst the men of taste, wit, and learning who visited Mr. Schulthess's house there was one named Bluntschli. He was the intimate friend of Pestalozzi and four years his senior. Bluntschli was distinguished for his talents and high character. He was in the last stage of consumption and was quite aware of it. This gave a particularly serious and melancholy character to the intellectual friendship that existed between him and Anna ; who says of him after his death " I could never forget him, nor the charm and energy of his speech. I did nothing without consulting him ; he was cheerful, gentle, and kind ; and we used to try together to help the poor. One day I asked his advice upon a selection of ribbons. ' They are beautiful ' he said, ' but your poor neighbour has more need of a crown than you of these ribbons.' So I gave up ribbons." Pestalozzi and Bluntschli had thoughts in common, the same feelings and aspirations, but Bluntschli knew more of men and the world ; he had more prudence, and thoroughly understood his friend's incapacity for business as his dying advice testified. He said to his friend at the last : "I am dying and when you are left to yourself do not launch into any career in which you might from your good nature and confiding disposition be exposed to danger. Seek a quiet, tranquil life ; and, unless you have at your side a tried friend who will faithfully assist you with a calm, cool knowledge of men and the world, do not embark in any extensive enterprise which might end in shipwreck of your happiness." Bluntschli died in May, 1767. Pestalozzi and Anna felt his loss keenly, the former wrote an elegy upon their friend and gave it to Anna. Affection grew out of their common sympathy. So, it is in a measure, to Bluntschli that the reformer of education owes the excellent and devoted companion who was his support for forty-six years. Pestalozzi was plain looking and delicate. He had been ordered to take a long rest in the country to restore his health which was worn out with work and study. His 14 PESTALOZZI'S general appearance was untidy : absent-minded, and careless of externals and etiquette, he never knew how to dress himself. But Anna who was clever and amiable comprehended the nobility of his character and esteemed him for his worth ; and the sincere affection that existed between them remained unclouded throughout life. They were not married for two years, and in the inter- vening time a long correspondence was maintained between them. Pestalozzi wrote three hundred letters, and Anna two hundred. Here is the most striking and authentic part of the celebrated love letter that is so frequently mentioned in the biographies : " I will not speak to you of my excessive carelessness in my appearance and manners ; it is too apparent. They accuse me of moving about hither and thither ; it is true I have friends and subjects of distraction everywhere ; but I have sought them in the hope of being useful. I can also understand and appreciate the pleasures of solitude and the peace of home ; it will be my happiness to enjoy them more in the future ; the time for making many connections is past for me, and notwithstanding, I do not regret the years I have given to them ; I have learned to know my fellow- countrymen and this knowledge will be useful in the end. My health is not very good ; but my doctor assures me that there is no reason to be uneasy about it, I think it is more than probable that you will survive me ; but I do not think that my life will pass without important and dangerous undertakings." To which Anna replied : " Believe me you might have said that nature had not favoured you highly if it had not given you large black eyes which mirror forth the goodness of your heart and the depth of your mind." And indeed Pestalozzi' s look expressed ineffable tender- ness with flashes of intelligence and energy and moments of profound, melancholy meditation. These letters reveal the candid, open character of Pestalozzi in all its phases. He tells all his plans and hopes of being able by devoting himself to agriculture to benefit his fellow countrymen. AGRICULTURAL SCHEME. 15 The parents of Anna did not approve of her engagement, especially her mother, who feared that her daughter's happiness would be imperilled by her marriage with one at once so bold and adventurous and so wanting in prudence and worldly wisdom. ii. Meanwhile, Pestalozzi sought to fit himself for the work he had determined to adopt. With an introduction from Lavater he went to Kirchberg near Berne to Tscheffeli who had introduced novelties in the way of cultivation, especially of madder. As soon as Pestalozzi arrived he wrote to Anna : " Here I am settled and my happiness surpasses my greatest expectations. This is the happiest household that you could imagine. TschefTeli, the great agriculturist is the best of fathers. I shall learn agriculture in its widest sense and all its branches. I shall certainly become inde- pendent of all the world." And later on he writes again in the same sanguine manner. Anna had four brothers ; and Gaspard the second, was the friend of Pestalozzi. About this time he was called as German pastor to Neuchatel, and his sister accompanied him when he went to be inducted. On their way they went to see Pestalozzi, who accom- panied them to Neuchatel. On their journey they introduced him to their friends, but he made rather an unfavourable impression upon the strangers on account of his eccentric manners. Pestalozzi spent a whole year at Kirchberg very happily, doing all the work of the farm. When visitors came he was proud to show them his horny hands. He arranged his plans for the cultivating of his land, deciding to devote his attention solely to madder and vegetables ; (market gardening) and, in a letter to Anna he draws an Alnaschar picture of the return that his acres will yield within a certain time. Anna had confidence and hope, but not so her mother. The effect of his stay was to awaken afresh gigantic views in relation to his exertions by his agricultural plans. Though difficult of execution and in part impossible, they were bold and extensive, but l6 PESTALOZZl's they produced in him a thoughtlessness as to the means of carrying them out, the consequence of which contributed in a decisive manner to the pecuniary embarrassments into which he was plunged in the very first years of his rural life. The success of Tscheffeli's madder plantation induced him to make a similar experi- ment. 12. In 1768 he returned to Zurich to put his plans into execution, He learned that near the village of Birr (in Aargau) there was a large tract of barren, chalky heath- land to be sold. It was then used only as a sheep-walk. He began by buying fifteen acres of the land at the foot of the hill (at Letten) and gradually added to this until he had a hundred acres. This was not done entirely with his own means, for he joined a rich mercantile firm of Zurich. It being necessary to build on the estate he resided temporarily at Muligen on the right bank of the Reuss. Here he rented a lordly mansion with a garden, for forty florins. His mother helped him. She now divided her cares between her son and her father-in-law at Hongg, who was aged and infirm. Babeli stayed at Zurich. Between this faithful servant and Anna there was a sincere regard. Anna wrote thus of her to Pestalozzi : " I do not esteem the worthy Barbara as a servant but a friend. Our first care must be to ensure her a peaceful old age." Again, " I have been chatting an hour with Barbara ; it is really wonderful how wisely and sensibly she acts. We paid a visit together to Grandpapa." Whilst Pestalozzi was at Muligen he saw Anna, who was visiting friends at Brugg. He also had several visi- tors, but he suffered, nevertheless, from his solitary life there, and wished his marriage to take place. But the parents of Anna did not relent, although Lavater, Fiissli, Dr. Hotz, and Anna's uncle did all they could to induce them to consent. It is said that Lavater had an affection for Anna, but he sacrificed his own feelings for the happi- ness of his friend. 13. Anna's parents said that they would never make use of constraint to prevent their daughter doing what she AGRICULTURAL SCHEME. I 7 wished. So very sadly she left her parents' house. Her mother said to her in parting : " You will be obliged to content yourself with bread and water." She was married, without a dowry, by her brother, in the presence of a few friends. Anna was then aged thirty and her husband twenty three years. Her parents were not long in being reconciled, and soon after, Pestalozzi and his wife visited the Plough, entering into the spirit of the work there, and helping his father-in-law to make bon-bons for the New Year. It was thus a pleasant time for all. They also visited their friends and Pestalozzi's mother, who now lived at the Red Trellis. These facts are taken from Anna's Journal. Then they left Zurich for their own home near Birr, where a house was yet to be built. The ground was sown with sain-foin. On a holiday they baked half an oven full of bread for the poor. Mr. and Mrs. Schulthess often visited them, sometimes bringing money to help them, and the young people paid visits to their friends. But Pesta- lozzi worked very hard with his own hands, exposing himself to all kinds of weather and undergoing excessive labour. The plan of the house was in the Italian style, Pestalozzi approving of everything ; but his foreman was badly chosen, nobody in the neighbourhood trusted him, which was a serious matter for his master's interest. Pestalozzi urged on the building whilst some people fore- saw his ruin. There are several entries in Anna's Journal at this time which shew traces of uneasiness on account of money matters. Some of the entries are by Pestalozzi himself. The Zurich firm which had advanced the money grew impatient for some return for their investment and, hearing the unfavourable rumours, sent two judges who reported unfavourably ; and after some delay withdrew their capital with loss, rather than trust him any longer. 14. Before this, in 1770, Pestalozzi's son was born. Next year the family removed to the new house at Letten which he called Neuhof. But the work did not succeed. The land was not fertile, too much money had been devoted to the building, and the assistant had deceived him. This hastened the truin of the scheme. Anna obtained from her 1 8 PESTALOZZI. brothers some sums of money in anticipation of her inheritance, and the mother of Pestalozzi helped. Then he began to manufacture cotton stuffs to spin and weave the material furnished by his brother-in-law. 15. In spite of all their efforts matters became worse and debts increased, until Pestalozzi himself saw that his undertaking was a failure. This was in 1775. He says with his usual frankness : " The dream of my life, the hope of a sphere of wide and useful activity radiating around me from my own quiet fireside everything had vanished." His failure does not surprise us. Yet there were ideas in his undertaking which have since been realised the advantages of cultivating marshy land on a large scale near towns, the value of pasture, and the possibility of enormously increasing the products of the earth by skilful culture. What Pestalozzi could not then do others have done since in the same place. Muligen and Neuhof in 1869 were covered with luxuriant beds of carrots, beetroot, &c., 3'ielding several crops a year. So the intensive culture which Pestalozzi attempted a hundred years ago has become a fact. It will be remarked that the agricultural experience of Neuhof was not in accordance with the plan prepared at Kirchberg. Pestalozzi could not command the conditions upon which he counted ; but his confidence and impatient zeal would not brook delay and he began the work without the means necessary to succeed. This is not the only occasion upon which he had to suffer for this tendency of Jiis character. When the proprietor of Neuhof saw that his agricultural undertaking had failed and his little fortune was lost he determined to do the most unheard of act in such circum- stances : to make his house a refuge for poor children. It has been said that this would have been sublime devotion if it had not been insane folly, but it was only the effect of a natural reaction that had been working in his conscience ever since his son was born. We shall now describe this new moral evolution through which he found his true vocation, and became the benefactor of humanity. HOW PESTALOZZI EDUCATED HIS CHILD. CHAPTER IV. HOW PESTALOZZI EDUCATED HIS CHILD. 16. Self reproach for worldliness. 17. Education of Jacobli on the principles of Emile. 18. Pestaloz/i obliged to correct Rousseau at every step. 19. Pestalozzi discovers the essen- tial principles of his method. Advantage of this experience to humanity. 20. Sad fcitfi of the subject of the experiment. 1 6. Pestalozzi's farming scheme could not succeed as the qualities with which he was endowed were not favourable to speculation. It was not his vocation. At the first he had adopted it in the hope of benefiting his fellow-countrymen as part of the Utopian dream indulged in by the youth of the Academy of Zurich. Then he pursued it for the sake of his betrothed in order to please her parents and establish Anna in a good position and a fine house. This last ambition is not quite in keeping with the motive that hitherto had influenced him, his disin- terested, if sometimes over impulsive philanthropy. It is more consistent with his character to find him preparing for the ministry, impatient to rid his country of the old abuses, than a calculating speculator bent on anticipating the produce of his acres. So, on the failure of his scheme although his next step was the last that would have suggested itself to anyone else, it was more in accordance with his character than the material and worldly interests that lately had occupied his mind and powers. Caring for the poor and helping them was far more con- genial work than endeavouring to enrich his family, There came a time, long before the failure of his enterprise, when 20 PESTALOZZI. he was dissatisfied with himself and was full of self-ques- tioning and examination. The journal bears witness of this. His wife too, shared his feelings in thinking that they had been too much taken up with the cares and pleasures of the world, and in desiring a more spiritual and religious life. They felt this especially in reference to their son whom they earnestly desired to bring up in a truly religious and admirable way. 17. Pestalozzi made a study of his child and several of his observations are recorded in his wife's journal. He had read Emile. and he sought to apply the ideas of Rousseau in the education of his little son, but at every step he was stopped by the facts of his own experience and the remembrance of the education he had received from his own Christian mother. There is no wonder that he was often at a loss when we contrast the influences under which he and Rousseau gained their experience. We learn from the entries in the Journal some of the principles of the method of Pestalozzi, and the manner in which they were evolved from his own experience and meditations. The son of Pestalozzi was named Jacques or Jacobli. Here is an entry made when he was three and a half years old while they were at Neuhof. Jan. 27, 1774. " I showed him the water which ran rapidly down the slope of the hill. He was delighted with this. As we went down the hill he said "Look papa, the water comes too, it comes from above, and it always goes lower." We followed the course of the water and I repeated to him several times ' ' the water flows from.the top to the bottom of the mountain." I showed him some animals and said the dog, the cat, &c., are animals, your uncle John and Nicholas are men Then I asked him " \Yhat is the cow, the sheep, the minister, the goat, your cousin ? He answered nearly always correctly. When one of his answers was not right it was accompanied by a certain smile which meant that he was not going to answer properly, as though he were trying how far he could exercise his will and independence. Jan. 29. I succeeded in keeping him long enough at his lesson after paving made him play, and run exposed to keen air. I find that one must be robust to be able to carry on educational work in the midst of hlay in the open air. HOW PESTALOZZI EDUCATED HIS CHILD. 21 " Jan. 30th. He seemed wearied with spelling, but as I had determined to teach him it every day even against his will, I wished to make him feel severely from the first the necessity for it. So I gave him no alternative between this work and my displeasure, which was his punishment. I had him shut up. It was only after the third time that he became patient. After that he said his lesson cheerfully. ' ' I showed him that wood swam in water, whilst iron sank down to the bottom of the mud. l-Vli. ;>t. I taught him the Latin names for the external parts of the head. By figure* and examples, I made him understand the meaning of the words tcit/tin, without, above, below, in the middle, beside. " I showed him the snow melting into water in the room. " I find that teaching is made easier by varying the sound of the voice ., now high, now low, speaking sometimes in one tone and sometimes in another. But to what would this oddity lead us ? "Feb. 2nd. The other day I tried to teach him the meaning of the numbers whose names he knows without attaching any exact sense to them. It is an immense obstacle in the way of reaching the truth when words are known unattached to things. The densest person would have *" been interested in our lesson. The child has been used to attach no difference of meaning between the names of numerals, and this habit had given rise to a spirit of inattention, that I have not been able to overcome to-day. " Why have I allowed him to pronounce important words without tak- ing care at the same time to give a clear idea of their meaning ? "Would ^ it not have been more natural not to give the name "three" until he could recognise the number in all po.^sible examples ? " Let yourself be guided by his love of imitation. Have you a grate or stove in the room ? Design it for him, though your child should in a year be unable to draw the four corners, yet it will be sitting work for him. The comparison of mathematical figure and magnitude, is a subject of play and teaching to youth. In the care of his garden, and the gathering there of all kinds of plants, the collecting of chrysales, and insects, and keeping them in order, what a preparation is there for sociul life ! What a check to idleness and ignorance. Yet how far is all this removed from our education ! Hi- has taken his reading lesson against his will. He tried everv opportunity to do anything else. I felt to-day with the same force as yesterday how very defective is our way of teaching counting. Feb. 4th. Jacobli has not been well since yesterday. To-day a slight attack of fever frightened us and we sent for the doctor. We had much difficulty in getting him to take his medicine. M. Koller, the doctor, advises us to accustom him to it by giving him something disagreeable to swallow from time to time. "Feb. 13th. The care we have taken with Jacobli during his illness, which has lasted a week, has made him moie tractable. I took one of his nuts to crack it ; he thought I was going to eat it and he cried out in a passion. I looked at him coldly, without saying a word I took a second 22 PESTALOZZI. nut and ate both before his eyes. He continued to cry. I showed him. himself in the looking glass and he hid his face. " I admire very much the simple rectitude of mind of our servant Nicholas. It is my habit to seek in the study of education the ideas of persons who have been brought up quite naturally and freely, and who have been taught by life, and not by books. ''Nicholas, 1 ' said I," has not Jacobli a good memory?" 'Yes,' said he, 'but you overload it. That is what I have thought many a time.' ' But,' said I, ' if the child were crammed I think we would notice it ; he would lose courage, become timid, nervous and uneasy." " Ah !' said Nicholas ; 'you do trouble yourself about the strength' and happiness of your child. That is what I thought you were forgetting.* Oh, Nicholas, all instruction is not worth a penny if it it gained at the cost of courage and cheerfulness." " Feb. 14th. To day I am satisfied. He learned willingly. I played with him. I was a rider, a butcher, anything he liked. I traced some straight lines to make him draw. Fiisli (the painter of Zurich) said, If you want complete work do not attempt to pass over the a b c. " Nature gives us our first language, why cannot it give us ten others. I see that I am not following the course of nature in teaching Latin. I must accustom myself to speak Latin. Notwithstanding, 1 am pleased with Jacobli's progress. " Feb. 15th. I noticed to day a habit of my child's which shows his wit, but which will require great vigilance on our part. When he asks for anything he begins by anticipating the motives which may lead us to refuse it, or by explaining his reasons for wanting it. " Mamma, I shall not break it, I shall only look at it. I only want to learn by it, I only want one.' " Lead your child by the hand into the great theatre of nature, instruct. him in the mountains and the valleys ! His ear will be more open thru, to your teaching ; liberty will give him more strength to overcome difficulties. But at these times let nature itself teach rather than you. " The child should obey a wise guide, a father who leads him aright ; but he should not be ordered unless there is need for it. Never let your commands be the result of caprice, or vanity, or to fill him with knowledge which is indispensable. In order to ensure obedience it is necessary that the children rightly understand what is required of them. "Jacobli shows himself si'lf- willed and violent, to-day I have been obliged to punish him several times. " Feb. 16th and 17th. In order to guard against obstinacy and prevent the daily recurrence of the same reprimands which are becoming common, I must take care to have alternations of lessons and play, so as not to deprive him of liberty unnece>sarily ! and to determine the time when he should be positively employed in study, so that all tha,t he does at other times mty have no appearance of work. "I taught him how to use chalk. Although it is a small matter, I shall not allow him to hold it the wrong way. HOW PESTALOZZI EDUCATED HIS CHILD. 23 " Feb. 18th. To-day I had a long walk with him. How stupid I am not to have profited by the circumstance to gain some useful end. " My wife met the carpenter and asked him for the payment of a debt. 'Mamma,' said Jacobli, 'do not trouble the carpenter.' " Feb. 19th. I am sometimes troubled at having given up the tone of . / authority of a master. Where shall I draw the limit between liberty and obedience to which social life requires us early to accustom ourselves. MOTIVES FOR LIBERTY. 18. " One cannot interfere with the liberty of the child without incurring dislike. "Experience proves that children who have been submitted to too much constraint are spoilt later on by unruliness. " Constraint excites several passions. "Liberty guided by wisdom leads the child to have a more attentive eye and willing ear, it favours tranquility, joy and equability. ' ' But this liberty supposes early education which renders the child entirely subject to tie nature of things and not to the will of man. MOTIVES FOR OBEDIENCE. " Without it, education is impossible. There are extreme cases where the child's liberty would be its ruin, and even in the most favourable circumstances it is impossible not to cross his will sometimes. " Liberty does not stifle the passions, it only delays their development. It is vanity which makes Emile tremble in his desire to surpass the juggler. And Jo"s not Rousseau himself, recognise the condition of dependence the State places us in when he speaks of men of fiery character whom it is necessary to restrain in their youth, if their childhood has been entirely free. " Social life requires talents and habits which it is impossible to form without injuring liberty. 19. " Where is the fault ? Where is the truth ? Liberty is good ; so, also, is obedience. We must unite what Rousseau has put asunder; impressed with the vices arising from an unnatural restraint which lowered humanity, he has not found the limits to liberty. " Let us try and apply practically the wisdom of his principles. " Master ! be persuaded of the excellence of liberty ! Do not let vanity cause you to try to produce fruits prematurely (do not seek to put the old J/ head on young shoulders) ; let your child be as free as he can be, encourage liberty, calm, and good humour. " Whatever you can teach him from the nature of things themselves, do not teach him by words. Leave him to himself to see, hear, find, stumble, rise again, and be mistaken. Give no words when action, or deed is possible. What he can do for himself let him do. Let him be always occupied, ever active, and let the time when you do not worry him be by far the greatest part of his childhood. You will come to learn that nature teaches him better than men. " But when you see the need for accustoming him to obey, then prepare yourself most carefully to perform this difficult duty in his free education. Think that if constraint deprives you of the confidence of the 24 PESTALOZZI. child, all your care has been in vain. Win his affections Be necessary to him. Lei him have no companion, more cheerful and pleasant than yourself ; and let thwe be no one whom he prefers to you when he is inclined for fun. " He must trust you. Whenever he wishes anything of which you do not approve, tell him the consequences and leave him free : but do it in such a way that the consequences may impress him seriously. Show him the right way ; if he strays from it, and falls into the mud, pick him up. Let him suffer for not having taken your warnings and for having enjoyed perfect liberty. In this way, his confidence in you will be so gu-at that it will not seem hard to him to be bidden to do certain things. He must obey a wise master, a father who gives just warnings ; but only in cases of necessity should such orders be given. A great importance attaches to these extracts as they have affected the reform of education, which is partly according to Rousseau's views and partly opposed to them. Pestalozzi discovered by personal experience some of the faults of Rousseau's system and gained ideas of his own which he developed later for the good of mankind. 20. Meanwhile poor little Jacobli was made a philosophic experiment, and the system of Rousseau predominated in his up-bringing. For five years he had no companions but little beggars, and at the age of eleven he could neither read nor write. His father writes in 1782, " My son is more than eleven years old and he cannot read nor write, but that does not trouble me." He composed a poem for his father's birthday, his mother writing it to his dictation. He was of a most affectionate disposition in spite of the teaching of Rousseau, but he was badly prepared for work in life. He was sent to school when he was fourteen years of age. His father writes thus to him in 1784 : " For the love of God, Jacobli, pray and work. Be calm, industrious, neat, and obedient." " Avoid everything that is rude in the manners of the peasants, and learn how to behave yourself on all occasions with propriety. You now have the opportunity, and if you do not take advantage of it, you will never have it again. But I trust you will not grieve me by disobeying people to whom you owe as much gratitude as to me." HOW PESTALLOZI EDUCATED HIS CHILD. 25 " My child ! you are all I have ; it is for your sake I care to live ; for you I have suffered more than I otherwise could bear. It depends upon you whether I shall be rewarded for all by the sweetest joy or made utterly miserable. For that would certainly be the result if you do not exert yourself to prepare for a suitable career, and if you do not profit by the happy effects of kindness and indulgence that I have shewn you in your childhood you will be no better than the young people who have been brought up under constraint and with severity." Later on, Jacob was apprenticed to a house of business at Bale the chief of which was a friend of his father. But the lad succeeded neither here nor in his studies. At Bale, he seemed delicate and in 1790, he returned to Neuhof. In 1791, Jacobli married Anna-Madeline Froelich of Brugg, daughter of the proprietor of Muligen. They had several children who all died early except the youngest son, Gottlieb, who lived till 1863, and was the father of Colonel Pestalozzi, at present (1874) a professor at the Polytechnic College at Zurich. From the time of his return to Neuhof, Jacob suffered from an illness called violent rheumatism. In 1797, his condition became so serious that it was thought he would die ; but he survived and lived for several years, a sufferer. He was paralysed on one side. He was tenderly nursed, not only by his wife and parents, but also by the faithful Elizabeth. At last, in 1800, apoplexy put an end to his sufferings, during a short absence from his mother, who wrote in her Journal : "It pleased God to take him gently at last. May the peace of God be with him in the grave ; may the divine mercy welcome his soul that his left us ! May it jrive thee. good and dear child, a rich and beautiful reward for all the suffering thou hast borne ! Grant that it may not keep u> who loved thee, long separated from thee But God has meanwhile let me see thee resting like an angel on thy deathbed. His xjin ssion, his mouth, shewed the goodness of God who had welcomed him as an angel in heaven. To God be eternal gratitude." In the happy days of his childhood, Jacobli had planted with his own hands a lime tree near the south-west angle 26 PESTALOZ21. * of the house, by the wayside ; for many years his parents tended it affectionately. For a long time neglected, it is now surrounded by an undergrowth of deferred shoots which have not affected its beauty. It is a large and vigorous tree which the visitor feels interssted in looking at,- in memory of the poor child at whose expense an ex- perience was gained from which all humanity should profit. CHAPTER V. THE REFUGE AT NEUHOP. 21. Pestalozzi receives twenty-five ! 24. Pestalozzi, with help raises little beggars. his numbers to eighty. 22. Great success of the first experiment. 23. Iselin announces and recom- mends it. 25. Difficulties. Parents. Losses. 26. Ruin puts an end to the under- taking. 27. Pestalozzi' s family eaved by Elizabeth Naef. 21. We have seen that Pestalozzi and his wife, a long time before the failure of his agricultural enterprise, had become uneasy and dissatisfied with their mode of life. They felt they were becoming too self-centred and that they had begun to lose sight of the patriotic and philanthropic ideas which before had inspired them. For in all her husband's views Madame Pestalozzi warmly sympathised. In the educating of his son, Pestalozzi gained much valuable experience and many new ideas. He made a study of his child and noted down many particulars which are THE REFUGE OF NEUHOF. 2J very interesting to us. He also reflected much upon the facts that he observed, and he found frequently that it was necessary to modify his plan of action. Being a keen observer and having a real child to deal with, he found it impossible to get on by adhering to tradition and theory alone ; even the newest and what he considered the best. Starting with the most loyal faith in Rousseau's method of education, he felt himself compelled from time to time to differ from it. The reason for this is not far to seek. Emile, the child of Rousseau's imagination was suggested by the circumstances of the times, when all the world seemed out of gear. The first educational notions of Pestalozzi were suggested by the actual needs of his child, and the poor around him. The experience gained in the first years of his son's life were of great practical use to him in his deal- ing with the poor children in whom he interested himself. He was struck with the great need of activity which is natural to a child, and he thought that it might be turned to good account by providing children with a variety of exercises, never continued to weariness, which would teach them to earn their living whilst at the same time they could be receiving moral, and a little intellectual instruction. He thought that in leading a country life, tilling the land, and practising some industrial occupation, the poor would be in the best condition to secure their own self respect, independence and happiness, and contribute to the welfare and prosperity of the country. He says " it is not enough to raise the poor above the ox that labours, but above the man clothed in purple and fine linen, who does not live in a manner worthy of his destiny, for man was created in the image of God." Pestalozzi very strongly disapproved of pauperising the poor. He believed, and justly, that institutions which encourage the poor to look to others instead of trusting to themselves to earn their own bread only increase the evil. With these ideas he determined to make Neuhof the centre and model of his work of regeneration. This was in 1774. He had failed in his attempts to grow madder. Then he had endeavoured to carry on a cheese-making 28 PESTALOZZI. establishment and for this purpose had sown several meadows. He had reduced his expenses, but there was still a debt upon the estate, besides sums yet to be met for building and the cultivating of the land. The paid work- men whom he had employed had proved unsatisfactory. Now, he thought, he would try to get on with children whom he would train and bring up himself, and who would owe everything and be accountable to him alone. 22. From 1774-5 he gathered little beggars from the neighbouring villages and roads. He dressed them, fed them and treated them like a father. He had them always with him, in the garden, the field, and the house. In bad weather he employed them in spinning cotton in a great room in the farm. A very short time was occupied in lesson-giving, and this was done whilst they were working with their hands. He did not urge their learning to read and write as he knew that such employment could only be useful to those who knew how to speak. Soon there were about twenty children at Neuhof and Pestalozzi's success with them surpassed his expectations. After a few months the poor little waifs were scarcely recognisable. Although they lived on very frugal fare, they were healthy and strong, and their expression was cheerful, frank, and intelligent, very unlike what it was on their first entrance into the house. They took a pleasure in their hand work and succeeded well in it as well as in the simple instruction which they received at the same time ; and by their zeal and good feeling they seemed to return the affection that was showered upon them. This was in 1775. But Pestalozzi's limited resources could not support this experiment, and rhe tilling of the ground required the work of a great many of these young people. INI any other children wished to join, and Pestalozzi would fain have taken them in, but it was necessary to make still further retrenchment. The fame of Neuhof however, had spread and excited the interest and admiration of those who were able to appreciate the noble idea that the scheme had inspired. Pestalozzi was offered advances of money to help him and was advised to appeal to the friends of THE REFUGE OF NEUHOF. 29 humanity to obtain the means to enable him to extend his enterprise, and he was persuaded to do it. 23. The appeal appeared in the beginning of 1776 in a weekly journal published at Bale under the name of the Ephemerides of Humanity. It is entitled, An Appeal to the friends and benefactors of humanity wishing to support an establishment intended to give education and work to poor country children. " I address myself to some of the friends and benefactors to beg them to support an establishment which can no longer be maintained by my own resources. " For a long time I have believed that little children can, in favourable circumstances, gain their own living by , moderate work, when an advance of funds permits the organization of an economical system of board and lodging and a limited time devoted to instruction. I consider the attempt to realise this idea by careful practical experi- ment as exceedingly important for humanity. " I have seen in a poor country the misery of children placed by the commune with the peasantry. I have seen the crushing harshness and selfishness with which these children were treated, depriving them of strength of body and mind. I have seen them growing up without any feelings or force necessary to themselves and their country. My land near Koenigsfelden was favourable for making the attempt that my heart prompted, and I believed myself supported by means which have since failed me. Mean- while, the experience of more than a year, during which the first difficulties have- been overcome, proves the feasibility of my plans and hopes. " I have proved by experience that a diet composed of the simplest dishes, such as potatoes, and indeed almost entirely of vegetables but suitably varied, with very little bread, is sufficient food for good health and growth." " I find by experience that poor children are not stunted in their growth and development by morning or evening work but by irregularity of life, by want of necessaries succeeded by excesses in times of plenty ; and more still by passions which are excited rather than restrained, b)- 30 PESTALOZZI. wild rudeness, habitual unrest, mischievous mutiny and great discouragement. " It has been proved by experience that children who have lost health, strength, and heart by a life of idleness and beggary, when once introduced to regular work which they have not been accustomed to, rapidly regain their gaiety, spirit, appearance, and growth by simply removing them from the conditions that had excited their passions. " I have found they soon rise from a position of abject misery, to feelings of humanity, confidence and goodwill ; that the affection shown to them raises their soul ; and that the eyes of the child, accustomed to misery, gladden with surprise full of feeling, when, after years of hardship, it sees helping hand held out to it. It is my belief that such feeling experienced by the heart of a poor miserable child is fraught with the most important consequences in regard to its development and morality. " I find that the meeting of these children under the same roof, when order directs, favours their development, diminishes the cost of their living, and encourages their love for work. " I do not doubt but that I would have succeeded in gaining a great and useful end, if my strength had been equal to the task : namely, complete instruction as far as the limited needs of the workers required ; and the salva- tion of children abandoned to the lowest conditions of humanity. I wish to save these from becoming vagabonds and criivinals and to give them an education that will make them active and useful. " The situation of my estate seems to me to be favour- able for this place from economic and other reasons. " But with this simple and practicable plan of agricul- tural education I have unfortunately connected a large industrial and commercial enterprise. I have with culpable thoughtlessness engaged in work with which I am unac- quainted and my confidence has been betrayed. I have been deprived all at once of resources which I trusted to, my ruin is inevitable. I must give up trade and industry THE REFUGE OF NEUHOF. 3! to return, not too late I hope, to my first, my simple idea of the education of children without mingling business matters with it. But I cannot do this unaided. " I beg the friends of humanity to entrust me for six years with a few florins yearly. I shall return them in annuities, beginning from the tenth year, which will be easy for me to do from the gains of the workmen whom I shall have trained. ." If I succeed in obtaining this help I promise to devote all my time and strength to the education of poor forsaken children. I promise to proportion the number of admissions to the amount that is allowed me, I promise to teach all the children to read, write, and count ; and the boys the chief occupations of farming and tillage as far as I can, the care of meadows and pasture ; the different kinds of grasses, care of fruit and forest trees, &c. The care of the house also will teach the girls gardening, domestic work and sewing. "The occupation for winter will chiefly be the spinning of cotton. " I promise to provide all the children with suitable living, food, clothing, shelter, and beds. I have already supplied a number of these. " I promise to give them religious instruction considered as an affair of conscience and to do my utmost to train and develop in them pure and tender feelings. I have only to add that I have twenty children in excellent health who live and work with me. "Their cheerfulness in spite of hard work has surpassed my expectations ; their spirit, and the tenderness and affection which many of them show towards me make me very hopeful for the future ; for I take upon myself the whole charge of them." Pestalozzi promised to give a detailed account of the progress of the work year by year and invited inspection. Then he quoted several people of consideration who had approved of his plan, and finished by asking the friends of humanity to trust him and help him in spite of all his faults and errors. 3- PESTALOZZI. Amongst the men of talent and influence who approved of the enterprise, none supported him more zealously than the editor of the paper, Iselin, who was an honour to his country by the elevation of his ideas and sentiments. This is what he inserted in his journal. " We are happy to announce that the appeal of M. Pestalozzi has not been without effect, and not only worthy individuals but also the Council of Commerce of the Republic of Berne support the institution ; so that we hope it will be continued. In one of our early numbers we shall give to our readers some letters of M. Pestalozzi which explain his views in a most complete manner and contain excellent ideas upon the education of country children. In the letters Pestalozzi points out that in the institutions then existing for the poor they did not learn to content themselves with little. The children's work should, he thinks, be sufficient to keep them. He supposes an establishment which receives children at the age of eight or nine years and which keeps them for six years, but the sixth year he considers that the establishment should have paid all its expenses. He observes that in his country the tilling of the soil is not sufficient in itself to keep all the inhabitants, so he would add some industrial occupation. And as to the kind of agriculture he would teach, it would be of the simplest only what they would hope to pursue on the little plot of ground they would occupy growing a few vegetables for their own use, or for market. That is why he would scarcely have them attempt more than the cultivating of marshy land, but it would be a pleasure to them. Speaking from the religious point of view he says, "What an awful responsibility it is for the director, of whom the souls of a hundred children will be required, if he has let them forget their God, their Father, their Saviour ; if he has not kept in them a strong and living faith in the Divine revelation, our only consolation in trial, and the hope of eternal life to which we are called ! The director should be the father of the house ; the progress of the children in application and goodness, in mind and THE REFUGE OF NEUHOF. 33 heart, the daily perfecting of their aptitudes should be his reward. In the Third letter, written in March igth, 1777 he points out some unforeseen difficulties that have presented them- selves. First, confirmed beggars amongst these who will not conform to the new mode of life. Second!}', parents who come to trouble his peace by taking the children away for the sake of their clothes. Thirdly, Madame Pestalozzi had been seriously ill for a long time. Fourthly, In spite of all the care they took, measles broke out ; and the crops were injured by hail. But Pestalozzi is not discouraged, he and his wife devote themselves to the work in the same spirit. But he thinks that the prosperity and success of the Home cannot be assured without regular meetings with the parents, support of the authorities, and the pupils obliged to remain in the establishment for the necessary time fixed. Fragment of an account of the most degraded portion of Humanity. Appeal to Charity to relieve it. Neuhoj. Sept. i8th. 1877. In this writing Pestalozzi describes a dozen children in his asylum. They entered it in a state of such wretched- ness that they seemed only fit to do harm to society, their families, and themselves. Nevertheless some of them had good abilities ; nearly all have already improved and they are beginning to work for their bread. Pestalozzi believes from his experience, that it is possible to save those who are weakest in body and even almost imbecile. But the head of the house must be a true father to them, for on this relationship depends the real saving efficacy of such education. It is necessary, however, to keep the children five or six years in the house, and protect them from the influence of their natural parents, when it is decidedly hurtful. There are thirty-six children ; the number is to be increased in spring, when the economical conditions of the establishment are more favourable. D 34 PESTALOZZI. Educational Establishment for Poor Children at Neuhof, in Aargau. (Without a date). In this paper Pestalozzi addresses the supporters of his enterprises ; explains the difficulties to be overcome and insists upon inspection by competent persons. The household numbers fifty persons, of whom twelve are paid : such as teachers, skilled workmen and work- women, and servants, whose help has become necessary for the progress of the children in their various occupations. The experience gained at Neuhof proves clearly that it is necessary to attach certain conditions to the admission of pupils. He announces that in future he will receive none without a regular agreement with the parents. He will admit no more from towns unless they are very young for it is the City Arabs who are the cause of the difficulties. He then repeats that he will not cease to devote himself entirely to the work. This paper is followed by a testimonial from the Econo- mic Society of Berne who had had the establishment exam- ined by competent men who were well known and highly esteemed: magistrates, doctors etc., and it declares that it has perfect confidence in the possibility of success under such direction, and recommends the scheme to the public. Authentic news of M. Pestalozzi' s Educational Institute for Poor Children, at Neuhof near Birr, in the year 1778. This is the title of a pamphlet published by the Economic Society of Berne. This is in great part but a repetition of what has been already stated. Pestalozzi announces that he has received in donations to his establishment the sum of sixty loins d'or (a louis d'or is worth about twenty shillings English.) He thanks his benefactors and begs the public to continue to give him its support. But the special interest of this paper consists in a detailed account of the inmates of the refuge. We give here the literal translation : " The children now in my establishment are : (1). " Barbara Brunnery from Esch (Zurich), 17 years of age ; entered three years ago in a state of complete ignorance and savagery, but with THE REFUGE OF XEUHOF. 35 good abilities. Now she spins, reads, and writes pretty well ; she has a great taste for singing ; her principal occupation is in the kitchen. 21' u5^ - rt / V^ yearS ' \ two sisters from Windisch (Vindonissu) (3). "Maria Hirt, 11 years, ) " Fr6na has a weak chest, she spins well, and is beginning to sew and write nicely ; I am satisfied with her disposition and morals. Maria, the younger, in good health, full of talent, especially clever in arithmetic, spins particularly well : she is strong enough for any work suited to her g- [two sisters from Mandach, " Lisbeth Vogt, 11 years, } " They entered three years ago, terribly neglected both in body and mind ; they had spent their life in beggary. It was extremely difficult to give them any idea of order, fidelity, or activity. The ignorance and stupidity of the elder surpas.ved anything one could imagine, and her idlem/ss is still uncured ; but her disposition seems a little improved. She still is suffering for the neglect of her past lifp, she has swollen feet and other ailments, and is quite unfit for work in the fields. "The younger sister has good ability and health; but she makes such an obstinate stand against all that is good that it makes me afraid. How- ever, I think I see a sign of improvement. She spins pretty well, and is fit for any kind of work in the house or the fields. (6). "Henry Vogt, of Mandach, 11 years, three years in the house, can weave well, is beginning to write and also to learn French (German is the language of the country), and arithmetic, exact and careful ; but his disposition seems to be cunning, dissimulating, bold and greedy, he is in good health. (7). " Anneli Vogt, of Mandach, sister of Jacob Vogt, 11 years, industrious, spins well, sings prettily, has a taste for arithmetic, health good, as useful in the fields as in the house ; here three years. (8). "Jacob Vogt, her brother, 9 years, here three years. The misery of his early childhood has left him subject to a kind of colic from -which he suffers from time to time. He is self-willed and idle. (9). " Jacob Eichemberger, from Brunegg, 13 years. After running away from here six months ngo, he came back having been a long time away. He appeal's to have a good heart ; he is intelligent, healthy, and makes himself useful in the fields. He is attentive, knows how to spin well, and is beginning to write fairly well. (10). " Lisbeth Renold, from Brunegg, 10 years, here a year and a half, .BO weakened at first by misery that she could not walk ; she has made incredible progress ; is now well, has good abilities, but there is little "hope of her ever being strong enough to work in the fields. She spins well and industriously. (11). " David Rudolf, from Zurzach, 15 years ; here a year and a half, succeeds in weaving, sensitive disposition, writes well, has begun the elements of arithmetic and French. (12). " Leonzi Hed iger , from Endingen, near Baden ( Aargau) , 1 4 years ; here three years. A stiong, healthy boy accustomed to field work, the D 2 36 PESTALOZZI. cleverest weaver in the establishment, is beginning to write a little and learn a little French ; he is very capable but rude and unconth. (13). Francisca Hediger, his sister, here three years, she sews, spins, and cooks carefully. She will make an attentive, obedient, intelligent and honest servant. (15)'. ''Marie n Hed?g e e d rf er ' } two sister8 > in S ood health > e ^ uall >' active, and suited to work both in the fields and in the house." ***# (Time forbids the completion of the list). Translator. " In the direction of the establishment and the interest of the children, I have the very valuable aid of Miss Madelon Spindler, of Strasbourg, who has wonderi'ul talent and energy. I have, besides, a weaving master and two trained weavers ; a spinning mistress, and two good spinners ; a man winds skeins and teaches reading ; two men and two women servants, who are almost entirely occupied in agricultural work." 24. These quotations give a just idea of the establish- ment of Neuhof in the spring of 1778, when Pestalozzi added to the numbers. He hoped by increasing the number of workers to improve his resources. But this step had the contrary result to what he expected. The evils which Pestalozzi sought to correct were very common among the people. This is evident from the large number of children who wished to enter his house, (he had received eighty) and the demoralization of most of them. 25. The little beggars detested sitting steadily at work, and even the fare they received, being unrelieved by dainty morsels, did not please them. They became mutinous and ran away. The parents, who had been counting on the profit they hoped to gain, threatened Pestalozzi, who had dressed and fed their children, giving them the best potatoes and leaving the worst for himself. Many of the children ran away at night carrying their Sunday clothes. All this was most discouraging and there is evidence that these events had an influence upon the supporters of the work, for the contributions diminished and so did the consideration in which the establishment was held. Still Pestalozzi did not lose heart but worked on bravely beyond his strength, becoming daily more self-sacrificing, whilst his noble wife helped him, giving up all her means for the cause, and losing her health. THE REFUGE OF NEUHOF. 37 26. But not all their efforts could make it rally : they had found it necessary to get experienced assistance in the work, but the remedy came too late, and in 1780 all their resources were exhausted. The noble struggle had lasted two years and nothing was left. So they were obliged to give up an enterprise upon which husband and wife had expended their whole strength and their last crown. Pestalozzi's undertaking failed, but the principles which inspired it have borne fruit. After the failure of this work Pestalozzi was as poor as the beggars he had helped. He had absolutely nothing. His wife was ill and unable to look to the affairs of the house, and he was too awkward, disheartened, and worn out to do the work necessary for the family. They had neither bread, wood, nor money, and they suffered from cold and hunger. 27. In this extremity the family was helped and supported by an excellent woman a servant who volun- tarily came and devoted herself to a work of self-sacrifice and love. Elizabeth Naef, this noble-hearted woman, belonged to a family that had distinguished itself in the wars of religion and had obtained the citizenship of Zurich. She had known Pestalozzi before, being in the service of one of his friends. When she heard of the disaster and want at Neuhof, being free by the recent death of her master, she hastened to the rescue of the afflicted, sick, and ruined family. Pestalozzi at first refused to accept her offer. He did not wish this excellent woman to be associated with their misery. But she was firm, and he at last consented to receive her proffered aid. Neuhof was in a state of dreadful disorder but Elizabeth set to work at once and soon restored comfort to the house. It was she who served as the type for the character of the brave, active, clever, sweet, and devoted woman, drawn by the author of Leonard and Gertrude. Ramsauer also speaks most gratefully of her. Elizabeth nursed poor Jacobli in his last illness and in 1801 she married Krusi, brother of Pestalozzi's excellent collabora- 3 PESTALOZZI. teur.* From 1805 she was at Yverdon and known to the pupils as Frau Krusi. The material misery from which Elizabeth extricated Pestalozzi was not the saddest part of his trouble. Hope had left him ; he had lost the confidence of the citizens ; and even his friends had lost faith in him. But what added most to his sorrow was the miserable position into which he had led his good and uncomplaining wife. Elizabeth's help brought bread to the family. It was Iselin who brought back hope to Pestalozzi, enabling him to pursue his work which the world thought was done but which had hardly begun. CHAPTER VI. PESTALOZZI AS AN AUTHOR. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. Iselin encourages Pestalozzi to write. The 'Evening Hour of a Hermit. Leonard and Gertrude, Vol 1. Correspondence with Count Zinzendorf. Instruction of Children in the Home. Upon Sumptuary Laws. Christopher and Alice. 34. The Swiss Gazette. Pestalozzi obliged to till his land for a living. 35. Unpublished M.S. : " The Causes of the French Revo- lution." 36. Correspondents. Nicolovius. Fellenberg. Fichte. 37. His Fables, (Figures for my A. B. C.) 38. Researches into the Course of Nature, &c. 39. His character as an Author. 28. The ruin of the work undertaken at Neuhof did not snake the faith of Pestalozzi in his views regarding the elevating of the people by education. But it had deprived him to all appearance of all the means and support * Rpfi Chapter X PESTALOZZI AS AN AUTHOR. 39 necessary to realize them. His despondency was so great that it affected his health and even his life. Meanwhile, in spite of the failure of the practical experiment, Iselin still believed in the excellence of the idea that had inspired it, and offered him his support in making known his ideas to the public. After Iselin's death, Pestalozzi expressed his admiration for his friend. He says of him " He was a man to the last. All that was human attracted him, and he had a marvellous power of discovering it in whatever corner or under whatever form it was hid. It was thus that at the end of his life he found me and received me with open arms, a warm heart, and cheerful smile ; at a time when people shrugged their shoulders when I passed, and those who cared for me could only groan when they heard me spoken of. Then Iselin came to me, bringing consolation and joy. He was my father, my master, my support and comfort." During the five years that Pestalozzi had been devoting himself to his children he had learned many things. Coming in such close contact with the poor and neglected, the degraded and wretched, he knew them thoroughly. By his determined work and various and persevering efforts he had reached the bottom of the problem which he wished to solve. His very errors, by throwing new lights upon it had only strengthened his convictions. He says " Whilst I was the laughing stock of men who despised me, the powerful inspiration of my heart never for a moment swerved from my single aim to fathom the cause of the misery in which I saw the people sunk around me, and my misfortune only made me acquainted with more useful truths, and my strength increased. ... I knew the people as no one else in the country knew them. What deceives nobody deceives me, but what others cannot understand is clear to me. " I can say to-day with gratitude to God, that it is by my own misery that I learned to understand the people's misery and its causes, as those more happily placed could not do. Well, I was never more deeply convinced of the funda- mental truth upon which I built my enterprise, than when I saw it crumble aronnd me." 40 PESTALOZZI. The destruction of the work at Neuhof, though a sad grief to Pestalozzi, was in fact a fortunate event, both for him and the world. It was the cloud with the silver lining. For, had his scheme as father of the beggars of the district succeeded, his powers would have been employed in a sphere of activity which was not his vocation, and the reformer of education would, perhaps, be yet to seek. 29. Being unable to undertake any practical schemes he wished to make known his ideas to the public. For this cause he wrote " The Evening Hour of a Hermit," which was his first educational work. It is little known, but it is important. The work came out first in Iselin's paper the " Ephemerides,'' May, 1780, but was afterwards reprinted by Pestalozzi in his Journal of Education. The Evening Hour of a Hermit consists of a series of aphorisms (one hundred and eighty in all), briefly and forcibly expressed. They follow in consecutive order, and contain an exposition of the author's views relative to the raising of the people by education. Here is the substance of a few : (1). " Man, whether seated on a throne or under a thatched roof is by nature always the same. But what is he? Why do not the wise tell us? Why do not the intelligent study their own race? Does the peasant make use of his oxen without knowing something about them? Does not the shepherd trouble himself about the naturo of his sheep '-. 2. " And you who employ men, you who say that j r ou govern them, that you le:td them, take you the same trouble that the peasant does with his cattle and the shepherd with his flock. Docs your wisdom consist of a knowledge of your race ? Is your worth the goodness of enlightened pastors of the people ? (3). " What man is, what he needs, what will raise or delnse him, what will strengthen or enfeeble him, tltt is the question which shuld occupy the thought of all, of the ruler and the inmate of the poorest hut. 8. " All the pure and beneficent powers of humanity are neither the product of art, nor the effects of chance. They exist virtually in the inmost nature of all men. Their development is a great need of humanity. (10). " The infant when it has been fed learns thus what his m-iiliei- is to him ; love and gratitude awaken in his heart before the words love ;iu ntiment of truth and wisdom is trained in the narrow rin-l<- of tin- i-'.nii>-rti ,ns close to us by circumstances which :ud skill whii.-h we require. Tlii- prarti ! of a< t> contrary to our innate sense of right, from us the pnwer of iv ionising truth and deprives us of the arity, ami simplicity of our principles and impressions 1 1 nee all human wi>d>m rests upon the powers of a heart which follows truth ; and all human happiness, upon this sentiment of simplicity anil iiiiloe.'iii-e. (60). "The domestic relations of mau are the first and most ait of his nature. (61). Man works at his profession, and bears the public burdens in i be able to enjoy the calm of domestic happiness. the education of man for his profession and place in the State should be subordinated to the requirements of a happy home. (63). " Thus the home is the basis of the education of humanity. (64). " Home ! Thou art the school of manners, private and public. (70). " The most important need of man is his relation with God. ^2 PESTALOZZI. (71). " Oh man ! Thy home and its best joys do not always calm thee. (72). " Thy soft and impressionable nature has not strength, without God, to bear constraint, suffering, and death. (94). "God is the father of humanity, the children of God are immortal. (135). " Sin is the source and consequence of want of faith ; it is an act of man against the promptings of the still small voice within. (168). "It is because humanity believes in God that I am calm in my cottage. (175). "I found all liberty on justice; but I do not see any true justice if humanity lacks uprightness, piety, and love. (178). " The source of justice and every blessing in the world, the source of brotherly love among men, is in the grand idea of religion that we are the children of God. (180). " The man of God, who, by his sufferings, and death, brought to men this filial feeling, towards God, is the Saviour of the world, the S-iest and the victim of the sacrifice of the Lord, the Mediator between od and Man who had forgotten his Creator. His doctrine is pure justice, popular educational philosophy ; it is the revelation of God the Father to his fallen race of children." The Evening Hour of a Hermit did not attract much attention. Its merit could not be appreciated by all. It was too didactic for the general taste. Had Pestalozzi written in a lighter and more popular style he would have more readily reached the public. About this time the Council of Zurich made a regulation for the reform of the service of police who protected the town. The regulation dealt especially with uniform, and external appearance. Pestalozzi, who was always attached to the simplicity of the ancient manners, thought the reform ridiculous, and he wrote a satire upon the plan of changing the "dirty, crooked and unkempt guards into the upright, spruce and well-combed guards." He sent it to his friend the bookseller Fussli, brother of the painter, who saw it on the table, read and re-read it and said " Whoever can write in this way has no need of anything but his pen to gain a living " and others confirmed this judgment. Fussli hastened to Neuhof to persuade Pestal- ozzi to become an author. But he was reluctant to do so, believing he could not succeed. " It is ten years ago," he said " since I have read anything and I have only been amongst illiterate people. I am not PESTALOZZI AS AN AUTHOR. 43 fit to write a page without a fault." However he allowed himself to be persuaded at last. I would be a wig-maker he said later to be able to earn bread for my wife and child. Then he began to read the moral tales of Marmontel and endeavoured over and over again to imitate that kind of composition, he never however was satisfied with his work. 30. Suddenly the idea occurred to him to describe the peasants whom he knew so well, with their vices and misery and also the elements of regeneration, strength, and virtue blended, in spite of their degradation. This would be a means of pursuing his favourite thought. This happy idea saved his work. From that time he wrote, without any trouble and without stopping or even making a plan beforehand, his Leonard and Gertrude. He was so poor that he could not buy paper, so he wrote between the lines of an old account book, and finished the book in a few weeks. He read it to a friend who pronounced it interesting but dreadfully incorrect and wanting in literary form, he offered, however, to correct it. Pestalozzi accepted this offer gratefully, but when his MS. was returned he found it absurdly changed. The peasantry spoke like pedants, it was full of pretentious phrases and so transformed that all the truth and nature had disappeared from it. Pestalozzi could not consent to have his work published in this form and his first impulse was to give it up altogether. But Iselin again came to his aid. He understood from the first the idea of the work and saw its merit, he corrected it for the printer and found a publisher at Berlin who gave Pestalozzi six dollars a page for it. Leonard and Gertrude appeared in 1781. It was the first of four volumes which later on formed a complete work. The most of the journals praised it, and fragments from it were inserted in several almanacs. The Economic Society of Berne addressed a letter of congratulation to Pestalozzi with a gift of fifty florins and a gold medal of the same value with the lagend Civi optimo (To the best of citizens) over an oak wreath. Then Pestalozzi was visited by a crowd of important people. Being invited to dine with a gentleman, who sent 44 PESTALOZI. his carriage for him, Pestalozzi forced the footman to ride inside the carriage beside him. Charles de Bonstetten pressed him to go to his country house near Vaud, and several other magnates tried to induce him to visit them, but he stayed at Neuhof. Leonard and Gertrude is a simple, animated and touching story of village life which Pestalozzi knew so well. Leonard is an honest man, full of good intentions, but weak and addicted to drink ; sometimes his love for his wife and children whom he makes miserable causes him to make good resolutions ; sometimes the influence of the worthless people of the village leads him into evil. Gertrude, his wife, is an excellent house-mother, amiable, industrious, and full of good sense. By virtue of patience, work, and perseverance she saves her family, by saving her husband. The bailiff Hummel is at this time the village inn keeper ; he is a cunning, wicked man, abusing his position by enticing weak men to drink at his house, getting them into debt there, and, thus enriching himself by their ruin. Arner, the new lord of the manor, has elevated ideas and a generous heart, he loves the peasants like a father ; he it is who supports Gertrude in her distress and baffles the bailiff. In Leonard and Gertrude the characters are traced so admirably, that after having read the book, one seems to know the people as if one had lived among them. This, however, is not its principal merit ; this novel was a new means by which Pestalozzi popularised his ideas, by shewing how education could relieve the people and . contribute to their happiness. It is Gertrude who illustrates his views upon the manner of instructing children and making them work at home ; it is Arner who is entrusted to prove all that a benevolent and enlightened administration can do to rescue and raise the poor. But in this volume the action is so perfect that the intention of teaching never appears. The public therefore took it only as a good and interesting novel, and Pestalozzi, from the praises he received, found that he had not quite gained his end. PESTALOZZI AS AN AUTHOR. 45 31. He then wrote a new book with the intention of showing how Leonard and Gertrude should be used for the education of children and put into practice. Its title was " The Instruction of Children in the Houseplace."* This work has not been printed ; whether he was not pleased with it, or whether he thought it would not be much read we cannot say. Niederer got possession of the manuscript and he published a part of it in his Pestalozzian Pamphlets, The following is a translation of the first chapter: CHAPTER I. A man whose heart is good but who, notwithstanding, makes his wife and children very unhappy. There is in Bonal a woman who brings up her children better than anyone else ; she is called (1) Gertrude, and her husband (2) Leonard. The latter is a mason, (3) with a good trade ; he has (4) seven children who work (o) late and early, are obedient, good-tempered, tidy, careful, and love each other very much. The^ather, however, (6) is easily led and often is tempted into the public house, and there (7) he acts like a madman. (8) The village where this family live has been so demoralised for more than thirty years that (9) the most of the peasants live there like people without either faith or law, and such is really the case. The chief cause of this is (10) that the old lord who died a few weeks ago (11) interested himself less in his people than in his dogs and game. Thus it is that his villages have become miserable and are filled with men who are the leeches or blood suckers of the poor. The most notorious of these (14) is Hummel, the b-iiliff of Bonal. His house is filled (15) every day with rogues whose only occupation is to ensnare simple and honest men, and to rob them of their money. They know the good Leonard, (16) they take him often away to drink and play, and also carry off nearly every day the fruits of his labours. (17) Leonard bitterly regrets this next morning, and (18) his heart bleeds when he sees Gertrude and her children in want of bread. (19) Sometimes he weeps apart, he feels ashamed before Gertrude and his eyes moisten when he takes one of his children in his arms. Gertrude is the best woman in the village; but (20) she and her rosy children run the risk of losing their father and their cottage home, of being sent away, separated, and falling into the deepest misery (21) because Leonard cannot resist the temptation of the public-house. (22). "Gertrude foresees the danger and her heart is almost breaking. When she gathers grass in the meadow, when she takes the hay from the barn, when she fills up her clean pails with milk, she is ever pained by the thought (23) that her meadow, her barn, her cow, Hnd even her cottage may soon be taken from her; and (24) when her children are around her and put their arms round her neck her grief is greater : often (25) when A north country term for the living room. The home is meant. 46 PESTALOZZI. these dear little ones clasp their hands to pray to their Father in Heaven, the same thought strikes her heart. 26). " So far, however, she has succeeded in hiding from her children the tears she sheds in silence ; but (27) on the Wednesday before Easter as her husband was later than usual she could not control her grief. The children saw her tears and they all wept together. (28). Oh, mamma, you are crying ! (29) They clung to her, pain was seen in every face, there were stifled sobs ; and all were in fear around their mother. " The baby even, for the first time looked fixedly with eyes that only expressed grief. (30) This broke Gertrude's heart, her sobs became loud, and the children cried with her. (3!). At that moment of desolation, the mason opened the door. (32). Gertrude had thrown herself upon her bed ; she heard nothing, she did not see Leonard. (33). "The children did not notice him either; they saw only their mother's grief, and they hung on to her arms, her neck, and her clothes. Thus the father found them. (34). " God above sees the tears of those who are unhappy, and he puts a limit to the grief of man. Gertrude, in the midst of her tears, experienced the goodness of God, which led Leonard to witness this scene, and it pierced him to the soul. (36). His lips trembled, he turned pale, he could hardly say: 'Lord Jesus! What is the matter? Then only the mother saw him and the children observed him too. (37). " They ceased crying, and called out all at once: '"*, mamma, father is here. ' ' Thus, when the overflowing torrents or the devouring flames cease their ravages, the first terror of the people is calmed, and gives place to a quiet and reflective grief. QtTESTlOKS.* (1). " What is the name of the woman who brings up her children better than all others ? (2). What is the name of her husband? (3). What is he? (4). How many children has he ? (5). How do the children behave every day ? (6). What is the father's fault ? (7). How does he often act when he goes to the inn ? (8) . What is the state of the village ? (9) . What is the result of this demoralisation ? (10). Whose fault is it ? (11). What does he think more of than his peasants ? TRUTHS AND INSTRUCTIONS. 1. Children who are well brought up are obedient, good-tempered, neat, careful, and they love one anolher. 2. The public house leads men sometime to act like madmen. 3. It is with cities and villages as with individual man : demoralisation makes them wretched. 4. People who are demoralised live as though they had neither faith nor law. * We are indebted to Pestalozzi for this kind of questioning at the end of reading books. PESTALOZZI AS AN AUTHOR. 47 5. The more demoralised a country is the more cunning rogues will be in it. whose occupations and resources < onsist in taking money from the pockets of simple and honest men. 6. He who thinks less of the people on his estates than of his dogs and game causes great evil in the world and loads himself with a heavy responsihility. . 7. He is a sorrow who is only a shadow and who has no influence over the actions of men. 8. A bad conscience takes away from men the power to help them- selves. 9. A bad father causes a thousand sorrows to his wife and children. 10. When children are good, when they are pious and show their love for God and men, then their troubles doubly afflict the heart of their parents. * 1 1 . God who is in heaven puts un end to the griefs of men. By these additions Pestalozzi wished to show that Leonard and Gertrude, wasn ot only a novel but a work on popular education. But this was not published and we think the author was right. He wished however to continue the story, which had begun with such success. So in 1783 a second volume of Leonard and Gertrude appeared, in 1785 a third, and in 1787 a fourth. Pestalozzi dedicated this fourth Volume to Felix Battier, a merchant of Bale who by helping him to remit the value of his estate of Neuhof, had greatly mitigated his misery. This is how the author expresses himself in his dedication of Jan. ist, 1787 : " Friend ! you found me like a plant trodden down in the way and you saved me from the feet of men. My most important views would not have ripened but for your help. The weight of my experience is yet very heavy to me. I live yet as in a dreum with the image of my work. So long as I live I shall not cease to wish to pursue my aim, and I shall have peace only when I can work efficiently to realise the views which have urged me to my first undertakings." The work in four volumes is the complete account of the regeneration of the village of Bonal, by the meeting of the legislation, administration, the church, and the school. The title Pestalozzi gave it was " Leonard and Gertrude, a book for the people." 48 PESTALOZZI. But the people hardly read it. The numerous readers of the first volume had enjoyed it as a novel without stopping to consider the instruction it contained ; not wisely but too well. The three other volumes were far less successful. Pestalozzi carefully guarded himself against the same mis- apprehension occurring in regard to the purpose of the book. There would be no gilding of the pill this time. So the thoughts and lessons, intended for the good of his fellow-country-men, were stated so clearly that they out- weighed the narrative which consequently had less interest for general readers. Even the more serious and thoughtful readers who could enjoy the less dramatic and attractive style of the work did not quite understand its scope, as the author's views were far ahead of his times, and they could not imagine the reforms effected in the village of Bonal to be the represen- tation of a possible state of things. They looked upon it as a Utopian dream. Notwithstanding this the picture Pestalozzi has dra T vn represents the most of the economical and moral progress of which Switzerland may be proud to day, and which it has taken thirty, sixty, and eighty years to accomplish. Mme. De Stael praises the work Leonard and Gertrude very warmly. "There is no parallel in literature to a character with a local habitation and a name to compare with Gertrude." In it is found the abolition of commonage the division of the unproductive common land which only required the eye and hand of a proprietor to become a source of wealth, the recovery of tithes, the institution of savings banks, the organisation of a reformatory system of education, the suppression of capital punishment, and the establishment of good, elementary schools in which education aims at once at supplying the moral needs of the soul and the material wants of life, In 1^74, Count Zinzendorf, financial minister of Austria wrote to Pestalozzi holding out tempting proposals if he would go to Vienna.* Extract. * But Pestalozzi could not be induced to go. PESTALOZZI AS AN AUTHOR. 49 "Your plans and trials of elementary education, the improvement of vicious children, and particularly all that you desire for the instruction of the people, in a word all that should be the object of legislative measures is of great importance to me, and I shall receive with great pleasure all that you write to me upon the subject." Then, on Dec. 19th, 1787. I have twice read the fourth volume ; it is exceedingly interesting from page 164, and it deals with some very important ideas relative to the popular classes. In order to put your ideas into practice the first thing to be done is to spread the ideas of Arner among the nobility, the sole proprietors of all wealth ; they would require the inclination and the courage to bring up their sons in this spirit beside country children, and be content to reside upon their estates." In his answer on Jan. i8th, 1788, Pestalozzi says: " Some statesmen and magistrates have praised the fourth volume, but the mass of readers find it extremely dull from page 164. "Education is the pivot upon which everything turns; the State should consider this object its most essential aim and subordinate every- thing else to it. If the first interest of the state is properly cared for, the individual interests of sovereigns will be easily preserved. The bond between the local authorities and the superior authority will be easily linked in a satisfactory manner. " Let us hope, my Lord, that those who are the leaders of humanity will grasp the conviction that the improvement of mankind is their most important and sole interest, and I am certain that sooner or later what I desire for the people will be understood and accepted, and princes themselves will be the first to favour it and hold out a helping hand to those who can best direct it." Although it is a hundred years old "Leonard and Gertrude " strikes the reader by the richness, variety and / aptness of view, its boundless sympathy with suffering, and its simple eloquence. The secret of this is the intense love of Pestalozzi and his knowledge of the human heart which leads him to identify himself with the child, the poor, and even the criminal. Whilst writing Leonard and Gertrude, he wrote four other works which were published from 1781 to 1783. 32. In 1779 a Society at Bale put this question to an assembly " How far is it advisable to limit the expenses of citizens in small free states ? " 50 PESTALOZZI. Twenty eight essays were presented and the jury divided the first prize between Professor Meister and Pestalozzi who had been old colleagues. In 1781 Pestalozzi's book was published in pamphlet form. In this writing Pestalozzi strongly condemns sumptuary laws. At the same time he advocates free trade. But he deplores the progress of luxury and suggests education as the only means to meet it, for restraint, he says, only does harm. He inveighs against ostentatious and useless display amongst the governors of the people. 33. Christopher and Alice, " my second book for the people" appeared in 1782. It is a commentary upon Leonard and Gertrude. It is in the form of a dialogue between a husband and wife who read a chapter of Leonard and Gertrude every evening before their son Fritz and their old servant Joost. The work needs sustained attention and is beyond the comprehension of all. Pestalozzi fell into an error in thinking that the truths he was enunciating should he patent to all. He stated his views with great boldness and said that the corruption existing among the governed was largely due to the corruption of the governors. This displeased the educated and richer classes of society. Pestalozzi wrote upon other matters affecting the state, and his study of the law was of value to him. In 1780 he wrote a pamphlet upon Legislation and Infanticide. 34 Iselin recommended him to give his views in a Journal which was started in January 3rd, 1782, under the name of " A Swiss Gazette." It appeared weekly in sixteen pages. The whole forms two volumes, which are very rare and little known. The subjects are very varied, they are stories, dialogues, fables, poetry, &c., but all dwelling on his plan of reform. The interest never flags throughout the whole two volumes. The Emperor Joseph II. and the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany sought to apply the views of Pestalozzi to the PESTALOZZI AS AN AUTHOR. 5! improvement of their subjects and especially to the reform of penal legislation and the management of prisons, and for this end they instructed their ministers Count Zinzendorf and Count Hohenheim to correspond with the author of Leonard and Gertrude. Unfortunately for the Grand Duchy, Leopold was soon called to succeed Joseph on the throne of Austria, but the latter had already done very much good, and the influence of Pestalozzi's ideas doubtless had a share in the establishment of institutions which gave to Tuscany a foremost place in civilization, whereby the plains of the Arno are now cultivated by the best population of Italy. Education is the leading subject in the paper. Pestalozzi is still the disciple of Rousseau, but he differs from him in the prominence he gives to moral and religious development and in his popular and practical spirit. There is a passage in The Gazette in which we find the first indication of a thought which became the fundamental principle of Pestalozzi's method of education, namely, the analogy between the intellectual and moral development of man and the physical development of the plant, that is the organism of education : Summer evening! Who can describe thee? when thou succeedest a day of overwhelming heat. Everything that breathes enjoys thy freshness ; all that breathes has need of thee. The goat hidden in the forest leaves its retreat and comes to breathe and feed in the plain. The flocks, too, rejoice, gambolling amongst the fresh pasture. And man worn out by the heat of the day gives himself up to repose till sunrise. Summer day ! teach this worm which crawls on the earth that the fruits of life are formed in the midst of the fire and storms of our globe ; but to ripen they also have need of the gentle rain, the glittering dew, and the refreshing rest of night. Teach me, summer day, that man, formed of the dust of the earth, grows and ripens like the plant which is rooted to the soil. Politics seem to occupy a large share of the paper, but the author's conception of education was of the broadest ; it was the general education of mankind, which includes E 2 52 PESTALOZZI. the organization of political institutions and all that affects the government and well-being of mankind. Pestalozzi demands reforms. After the fourth volume of Leonard and Gertrude in 1787, there was an interval of ten years, during which Pestalozzi did not publish anything. The French Revolu- tion took place during this period, and it marks the end of the first part of Pestalozzi' s literary career. The starting point of his work had been pity for the poor. He saw that the evil could not be cured by charity, legislation, or by sermons. Education appeared to him to be the only true remedy, but it must be an education suited to the work of life, which sets in motion all the healthy powers which are found in the germ in human nature, an education in which the child is always active. That is why he wished to join the work of the fields or the workshop to the school, to make them one, a living thing, attractive, a means of bread winning, and at the same time a strengthening and healthy exercise for the heart, the mind, and the body. The obstacles to progress which he saw were routine in school and church ; also the manners, the prejudices, and fetters which bind the social and political organisation of our time. At school, words alone were taught. It was necessary to have some new and more rational way of teaching. Pestalozzi had reached this fact that the true starting point is from personal impressions, words and explanations should follow these. Thus exercises in language should come before reading. Religious impres- sions, prayers and reading of Bible, but no catechism or dogmatic teaching should be given to children. Already we see his tendency to liken the education of the child to that of the plant, and this comparison, the fitness of which is unquestionable implies the idea of the organic develop- ment of man, not only irom the physical but also the intellectual and moral point of view. After 1787, Pestalozzi published nothing for ten years. The first reason for this was the need of winning bread for his family, for in spite of the success of his first novel PESTALOZZI AS AN AUTHOR. 53 his books could not keep him. He wrote for an idea and not to please the public taste. Besides, even to succeed as a writer, a certain business spirit is needed and in this Pestalozzi was wofully lacking. Lavater was right when he said to Madame Pestalozzi, " If I were a prince, I v/ould consult your husband upon , everything that concerns the elevation and happiness of v the people, but I would not trust him with a penny to spend upon it." After having published all the books already mentioned he was as poor as ever, but he had regained his strength and power. For the sake of his wife and child, he devoted himself to the cultivation of the land which remained to him, this he did with his usual earnestness. Soon the French Revolution engaged his attention. When it broke out, he thought, at first, that it was a fortunate circumstance for the realisation of his plans ; it would break down the obstacles to the reforms of which he was thinking. 35. At this time he wrote a little work upon the Causes of the French Revolution which was not published till the year 1872, when Seyffarth printed it at the end of the sixteenth and last volume of his collection. This manu- script had been given by Pestalozzi to Mrs. Rossetta Xiederer, who on the death of her husband gave it to Krusi whose son Dr. Krusi, waswilling to give it to Mr. Sey- ffarth. Mrs. Niederer, intending to publish it had written an .introduction in 1816, of which the following is an extract: " This is what Pestalozzi, that old prophet whose hard life was entirely consecrated to education, said to me : " One day when our time shall have passed away, when, after half a century, another generation shall have taken our place, when Europe shall be so threatened by the repetition of the same faults by the increasing of the people and its dire consequences, that all the supports of society shall be shaken, then, ah ! then, perhaps, they will welcome the lesson of my experience, and the most enlightened amongst them will come to understand that it is only by ennobling men that a limit can bo put to the misery .und disturbances of the people and the abuse of power, whether it be the tism of princes or mobs." 54 PESTALOZZI. ' ' Twenty years have elapsed since this extraordinary man died ; and more than half a century since he poured out his soul in this writing. " The reason why he did not publish it during his lifetime was, doubtless, that there was some danger in saying all he felt, and he did not want to risk compromising the educational work to which he was devoting himself." But soon Pestalozzi was horrified at the violence, the follies, and crimes in France which permitted the principles of 1789. In his earty youth he had sought the reform of the institutions of Zurich with all the zeal of a revolutionary i now he had a dread of violent revolutions, whilst he warmly desired human progress. He thus occupied a middle position between the advocates and adversaries of revolu- tion. He looked on therefore and kept silence, meanwhile tilling his lands with all his might. 36. During this period he paid several visits and made the acquaintance of several remarkable men Klopstock, Goethe, Wieland, Herder, and Jacobi. It was then that the correspondence between Pestalozzi and Fellenberg commenced. Fellenberg, the celebrated founder of the institutes at Hofwyl was a man with somewhat similar aims to those of Pestalozzi. But they differed much in character. He had those qualities which Pestalozzi lacked , practical sense, prudence, firmness, and the power of managing. One would have thought that the joint action of these two men would have assured the success of the philanthropic undertakings in which that they both were engaged, but their long friendship was powerless to keep together two such different characters ; the warm impulsiveness of Pestalozzi' s heart offended the cool reason of Fellenberg, and the rustic simplicity of the Zurich democrat accorded badly with the dignity of the Bernese patrician. Several times in the troubles of Pestalozzi, Fellenberg offered him help, but the sympathy needed to carry on a common work never existed between them. The letters between 1792 and 1794 are very interesting, for in them Pestalozzi pours out all his thoughts, and as yet no cloud had risen between them. In this correspondence Pestalozzi no longer speaks of his favourite idea of a school for the poor, because his PESTALOZZI AS AN AUTHOR. 55 recent failure leaves him no hope of ever realising it. His thoughts turn to politics. He sometimes hopes to make himself heard in France. This hope seems presumptuous if we did not know that it was in a measure authorised by a decree of the National Assembly. In a solemn meeting, Sunday, August 26, 1792, it had granted citizenship to contemporaries declared worthy of being French citizens who had made themselves famous by their works for the good of humanity. Pestalozzi was one of the number, with Bentham, Thomas Paine, Wilberforce, Clarkson, Washington, Madison, Klopstock, Kosciusko and several other celebrated men. Pestalozzi was very intimate with Fichte, the great German thinker. Fichte had married a friend of Mme. Pestalozzi. The German philosopher kne\v the Swiss philanthropist very well and we shall see later on that this connection contributed powerfully to the appreciation of the principles and method of the great teacher in Germany. Pestalozzi, in his letters to Fellenberg often alludes to the works upon which he was engaged. They were printed in 1797, they are his Fables and his Researches into the Course of Nature in the Development of the Human Race. The first appeared under the title of Figures for my A B C. Leonard and Gertrude is meant by his ABC because it contains the beginning of the wisdom of the people. The Fables are striking, short, and original. SPECIMENS or THE FABLES " PIGUKES OF MY A B C." 8. The Mushroom and the Herb. The mushroom said to the herb : "I sprang up in a night, whilst you take a whole season to grow." " True," answered the herb ; " whilst I am increasing in value, you appear and re- appear a hundred times in your perpetual uselessness." 18. The Spring and the Mountain. When people were praising the mountain spring, the mountain cried : o " Ah, if they knew how much I have within me, they wonld not make 56 PESTALOZZI. such a fuss of that miserable puddle that flows at my feet." The spring replied : "They honour me because I leave you and go to water and fertilise their land." 26. The Two Colts. Two colts, as like as two peas, fell into different hands. One was bought by a peasant who could not soon enough yoke him to the plough ; he became a sorry horse. The other fell to a groom who took great rare of him and trained him until he became a fine courser full of strength and spirit. Fathers and mothers, if the faculties of your children are not cared for, exercised and directed, they will become not only useless to them, but positively harmful : and the greater the natural abilities the more danger- ous and mischievous will they become. 53. StoffeF s Fountain. When the fountain of poor vain Stoflel was nearly drained, he said to his servant : "When nobody is near turn off the pipe; and as soon as anyone appears turn it on." " But," said the man " the fountain will get worse and worse, and the water will fail us when, we need to draw it." His master replied: "I would rather that we all suffered in this way than that people should see my fountain empty." 72. The Oak and the Grass. The grass said to the oak that overshadowed him : "I would prosper better in the open country than under cover of your branches." " Un- grateful creature," replied the oak, " you forget that every winter I clothe you with my leaves." " But," the grass replied, " Your crown deprives me of my right to the sun, dew, and rain ! Your roots only supply me with the food of the soil to which I am fixed, and yet you want me to be grateful for the forced alms of your withered leaves which, when turned into mould increase your growth, and do not save me from perishing." 7. The Hock in Ruins. A rock, under which for many generations, herds used to come and -shelter from the sun and rain, had boc6me decomposed by the weather. Every day a stone broke away and fell upon the cows ; so that they now flei from the shelter where they used to rest. But the old shepherd could not comprehend this and he thought that his herd had been bewitched by an enemy. It is sad to see the ancient bulwarks crumbling into dangerous ruins ; but sadder still when the leaders of the people do not see the danger. 86. The Interior of the Hill. A stupid man, seeing a hill covered with beautiful verdure thought that there must be excellent soil to the bottom. A man who knew the place PESTALOZZI AS AX AUTHOR. 57 took him to a part where the inside was to be seen, the outer covering having been removed ; within there was nothing but rock and gravel. The hills of the earth, green and fertile though they be, have nearly always a hard and sterile subsoil. And human nature, to whatever height the heart and mind may raise it, has in it the flesh and blood strata which resemble the rock and the gravel. Even the fairest external appearances of power, honour, and human dignity contain beneath the vices of our nature. Hence, to whatever height we may have risen we must follow the precept : " Watch and pray that ye fall not into temptation ; for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." 92, The Lime Tree and the King. A King was standing alone under a lime-tree admiring its foliage : " Ah '. " said he, " if my subjects would only cling to me as these leaves do to the blanches." The lime replied. "I continually convey the sap from my roots to vei y one of my leaves." 9". A Foolish Inference. t By the banks of a stream there grew some splendid poplars and some l>uny oaks ; whence John Peter concluded that the poplar was a very fine kind of wood and the oak very inferior. I know masters who judge their pupils, clergy who judge their hearers, magistrates who judge those brought before them, as to their capabilities with as much reason as John- Peter judged the merits of the oak and the poplar. 101 . Baneful Effect of Proverbs. " It is very sad when one has a team of horses to have to be hard upon them, against one's will and inclination." So said a good natured carter when he was obliged to urge on his over- burdened horses ; and gradually he accustomed himself to repeat these words without thinking of them, as he would say " Good Morning," or " Good Evening.'' These words were fatal to the poor beasts of burden, they became a proverb among the carters of the country. So now, when any rogue ill treats his horses or oxen, he excuses him- self saying ; "It can't be helped ; a carter is obliged to be hard, against his will and inclination." 116. The Feeling of Equality. A shepherd used to feed his flock on scanty herbage, but all alike : and generally they were content. But, after a time he chose a dozen upon whom he lavished the best that he had ; from that time discontent broke out amongst the flock and several sheep died of grief. 117. The Limit- of Equality. A dwarf said to a giant : " I have the same rights as you." "True, > my friend," replied the giant, " but you cannot walk in my shoes." 58 PESTALOZZI. 160. The Lord mud ku "I do 'a great deal to make you contented and happy/' said a loid : his vassals. True, true ! " said all with oiie Toice; " and we have much to thank you for." One peasant only did rot speak. At last he said : My Lord will you allow me to ask you a question : " Why not ? " said the lord. Peasant : "I have two fields of wheat, one has been richly manured but badly cultivated, it is full of weeds ; the other has been scantily manured but well tilled, it is as it should be. Which of the two will produce more ? " Lord. "The second certainly; for you have given the corn the opportunity of developing freely." Peasant. ' Well, my Lord. If, instead of loading us with gifts, you would leave us free to manage our own affairs, I think we would prosper better." 176. Why Jupiter made the Lion King. The animals were all ranged before his throne awaiting his decision. The most of them thought and hoped that the elephant would be chosen. The lion was there with his lordly air, as if he were already elected King. The elephant was walking about calmly, playing with his trunk as if nothing was going on. Then resounded the voice of the thunderer : ' The lion is king.'" The assembly received this with astonishment and their jaws fell. " My choice surprises yon," said Jupiter : ' but be it known that the elephant has no need of you ; he has everything he requires, even intelli- gence, therefore I give him freedom. But the lion can make himself respected, and he hat need of yon ; therefore I make him King." 214. What the Attimait eontukr to be Liberty. The Lion-King one day asked the animals what they meant when they spoke of liberty. The ox replied : " If I was never tied to the yoke but always to the manger that would be the most enviable liberty for me." The monkey. " I can't consider myself free as long as I have a tail and my body covered with hair. If I were rid of these inconveniences 1 would be a finished man, and so entirely free." The draught hone. When the stable-man takes off my harness, and I have nothing on me, I feel perfectly free " The chary er. " When I am magnificently harnessed and attached to a fine carriage for a short drive, I feel freer than the noble lord who site behind me.' 1 The tut. " My idea of a free life is, never to have a bag or basket on my back." The tloth. "' If, when I have devoured all the leaves off my branch. ffre~> one would carry me to another where I could easily obtain the leaves I like best, then I would be free." PESTALOZZI AS AN AUTHOR. 59 The fox. ' I would be free, if I could get my prey without so much canning, patience, and fear." A man who heard these explanations cried : " Only animals can aspire to such liberty." He was right : every desire for that freedom which suits animals, kills in the human soul the pure sentiment of true freedom. 38. In the same year in which the Fables appeared, 1797, Pestalozzi published his Researches into the Course of Nature in the Development of the Human Race. In this work the author seeks to study the natural law of development by which man may become all he should be ; this law would enlighten all moral and political science and furnish a basis for education. It is a philosophical exposition of the truths he sought to enunciate which he had hitherto illustrated in an unconnected and concrete form. This new step was not to Pestalozzi's taste, but it was suggested to him by Fichte, who, accustomed to generali- sation of ideas, urged his friend to formulate the philosophical principle which was the basis of his doctrine and of all his plans. He even gave him directions for the work to which Pestalozzi gave himself up for three years. The Researches is the most important of all the author's works, but it is the least successful. It lacks the most essential quality of a work of the kind, order. Pestalozzi indulges too much in digressions ; the book is diffuse and obscure, it therefore met with no success. The author tells us this himself in the following lines at the beginning of the work which he published in 1801. (How Gertrude teaches her children.) : " For three years I was writing my Researches with incredible trouble. My essential aim was to co-ordinate my favourite ideas and to harmonise my natural sentiments with my views of civil and moral right. But this work was only another proof of my incapacity. I reaped no more than I had sown. The influence of my book around me was the same as the influence of all that I had done. Nobody understood me and I did not meet two men who did not let me know that they considered the whole work as nonsense. Even now, a man of merit who loves me has just said to me : '' Is it not true, Pestalozzi, and do you not now admit that in writing that book you did not know what you meant ? " 60 PESTALOZZI. Doctor Niederer, however, who afterwards became a collaborateur of Pestalozzi, judged it differently. This is what he wrote to the author in the beginning of 1801 : " Your Researches seem to me to be crude, it is true, but they are a substantial product of the psychological intuition which is your own ; and, so far from being nonsense I consider the work a most fertile discovery, the germ in a measure of your whole method of education. Would that you could find time and calm enough to describe these profound views in an order more easy to grasp ; but do not attempt this until you have founded your educational work.* You will then, probably, present your thoughts in a more general, complete, and intelligible manner to men who are yet ignorant of the original point of view which is a conquest of your individuality." After having attentively studied this book, we are led to think almost as Niederer did. The Researches contain fruitful ideas, still new, which explain many seeming contradictions in individual life and humanity at large ; they can help to solve the political and social problems which agitate our time, and lay a broad and solid foundation to Pestalozzi's method of education. But, to do this the book must be re-written ; and, as the author has not followed Niederer's advice, some capable man, after being imbued with the ideas contained in the book, should re-cast it, and convert what was called nonsense into a clear, methodical work leading to precise conclusions. From what has been said, the reader will understand why no complete analysis of the " ReL arches " will be attempted ; we only glance at the matters treated of in this work and the ideas that are brought most prominently forward. This is how the author announces his aim : "The contradiction* which appear to exist in human nature impress few people more than myself, for I have maintained to th verge of old age, a pressing need of free and useful activity, whilst my activity has ever been thwarted, sterile, and unsatisfactory." * At the date of this letter Pestalozzi was beginning his institution at Berthoud or Burgdorf (the first is the French ; the second, the German name for the town.) PESTALOZZI AS AN AUTHOR 6l ' Xow, at last, I sit down worn out ; although broken down and cut to the heart, I still rejoice that I can ask myself like a child, " What am I, and what is human nature I' " What have I been doing ': and what does human nature do ? " I want to know what the course of my life such as it has been, has done with me : I wish to know what the course of life such a* it is does with human kind. " I wish to know what are the real foundations of my activity, what are the points whence my opinions arise, and whence they should naturally arise in the midst of the circumstances of my life. " I wish to know what are the real foundations of the activity of my race, what are the points of view whence its opinions arise, and whence- they should naturally arise in the midst of the circumstances of its life." After having stated the philosophical problem the author recognises three tendencies three natures in himself, in a measure three different men : the animal man, the social man, and the moral man. The animal man is the work of nature, subject to the pleasures of sense, careless of to-morrow, living only for the present ; but kindly disposed towards others, simple^ and right in his ways. It rules in the infancy of individual life, as in the infancy of the life of humanity. The weakness of the animal man leads him to industry ; industry leads to property, and property to conflicts.. Next, inequality of strength and faculty produces in- equality of position. Then the unfortunate must say to the powerful : Defend me ! to the clever ; Lead me ! to the rich ; Feed me ! and these services are paid with other services. Thus the social state begins. The social man is not only the work of nature, but especially "the work of society. Society fashions him, limiting his liberty and submitting him to rule, custom and opinion. If childhood presents us with the type of the animal man, youth represents that of the social man ; for then teachers and professors, schools and universities act upon the young man with the intention of fashioning him to their liking. But the animal man struggles against the social man ; each seeks to gain for himself the liberty he denies to- others, and pleasures which cannot be shared by all. 62 PESTALOZZI. This is how society which had for its aim the repression of war has only maintained and generalised it under another form. Open attack being forbidden a hundred other means of attack have been devised ; antagonism has become a fact so general that each man in our civilised states is on his guard against all the rest. The benevolence and uprightness of the animal man are replaced in the social man by ill-will and cunning. Society needs laws and government, and it is obliged to yield to those who govern it the power of restraining by force, a power denied to the individual. Thus the social state leads on the one hand to dominion and on the other to subjection, and it indefinitely increases the natural inequalities as well as pride and ambition. The dull war which agitates the members of society is not caused only by a desire for the satisfaction of real wants, but by the pursuit of a host of refined and artificial pleasures which are as limitless as the dreams of a sickly imagination. So, the social state in spite of its immense advantages to external order, security, science and arts is power- less to improve the heart of man ; religion itself, in so far as it concerns social organisation, is like a mould that only fashions the surface : society does not make man moral. The animal man is the work of nature, the social man is the work of society, but the moral man is the work of man himself, that is to say the result of the development and exercise of the principles of pity and justice, love and gratitude, faith and charity which the Greater has implanted in the human soul. The individual must desire to rise, to be ennobled, and perfected, and he must do it by his own inner action ; the product of this work is the moral man. Society is only really and completely beneficent when it is influenced by moral men. True religion exists only in the moral man : for man finds God only with his own heart, and he finds him only in so far as he bears his own image : failing this, man makes a god in his own image. The religion of the animal man is idolatry. The religion of the social man is imposture. PESTALOZZI AS AN AUTHOR. 63 The religion of the moral man is truth ; it is at once the principle and support of morality ; it produces the feeling of the need for perfection ; and provides the basis and strength. Man is only in the way of progress, his activity is only salutary to himself, his family, and society when he is the work of himself, when he fully possesses his personality ; his mind and heart are no longer the slaves of animal instincts or of the prejudices of society. These pages give but a very imperfect idea of the Researches ; they represent the frame rather than the picture ; the author sometimes expresses his most remarkable ideas in his digressions. Led often, by his heart and imagination, sometimes to satirise the institu- tions of our times, at others to describe enthusiasticalty the intellectual and moral progress to which he aspires, he then writes more as a poet than a philosopher pages of the highest eloquence. He finishes with a sad and touching return to himself which we translate literally : " Thousands of men (who are the work of nature) live for the pleasures of sense, and wish nothing better. Myriads yield to the necessity of their needle, their hammer, their measuring tape, or their crown, and wish nothing better. " I know a man who wanted more. Innocence was his delight ; he had such faith in man as few mortals understand ; his heart was made for friendship, his nature was love and fidelity itself. ' ' But he was not the work of the world, and the world had no place for him. " And the world which found him thus did not as!i if it was his fault or the fault of another, but smote him with its iron hammer as a mason breaks a useless stone for rubbish. " Broken thus, he still thought more of humanity than of himself ; he undertook a task, and in the midst of bitter grief he learned what few mortals know. Then he expected justice from those who loved him in his quiet retreat. He did not obtain it. Those who were his judges, without having heard him, persisted in declaring that he was absolutely fit for nothing. " This was the grain of sand that turned the scale of his destiny; it was his ruin. " He is no more ; you do not know him ; and only confused traces of his broken existence remain. " He is fallen ! 80 falls a green fruit from the tree, when the north wind nips it in flower, or a worm within devours it. t>4 PESTALOZZI " Passer by, shed a tear for him ! When falling he inclined his head against the trunk on whose branches he had passed his unhappy summer and murmured, " ' I wish, nevertheless, still to nourish thy roots with the dust Heave after me.' " Passer-by ! Spare this fallen fruit which is decaying and let its ashes strengthen the roots of the trees on whose branches it spent its sickly 39. The Researches is the last book of the series of works published by Pestalozzi during the time when he was only a writer, that is before the pedagogic undertakings in which he applied and developed his method of teaching, which attracted numerous collaborateurs who carried afar the renown of Pestalozzi's method. The publications of this series have a special importance because the ideas of the author have no foreign mixture, and the manuscripts were printed as they left his hand. Later, at Berthond and Yverdon it was not so : Pestalozzi, being unable to write all himself, entrusted in a large measure, the compilation of his elementary books to his fellow-workers, particularly to Krusi and Schmid. In works of a higher order he borrowed help from Niederer who revised all that Pestalozzi intended for the press, seeking to give a philosophical form to the writings of the master. To those who have read and re-read Pestalozzi there is no mistaking him. They recognise in the style of the master the stamp of original genius. He sees far and deeply. His ready genius has no system ; he flashes lightning rather than diffuses light : and disregard of the logical unity of thought causes him to abandon himself to every emotion of his heart, and to all the truths that his genius reveals to him. This is at once his greatest merit and his greatest fault. PESTALOZZl's DOCTRINE BEFORE I7Q8. 65 CHAPTER VII. PESTALOZZI S DOCTRINE BEFORE 1798. 39A. The Helvetic Revolution of 1798 divides Pestalozzi's life into two very different parts. In the first, he worked by himself, relying on his own strength, and little understood ; his undertakings failed, and he was left in his obscure retreat poor and despised by the multitude. But, on the other hand, nothing interfered to check the flight of his thought, affect the originality of his genius or to mingle the ideas of others with his own. In the second part of his life, Pestalozzi, raised by the Revolution, and supported by the Helvetic government was enabled to put his ideas of popular education into practice. Then his rare devotion and the success of his first efforts excited general admiration. Collaborateurs and pupils presented themselves from all parts, then he founded his educational institutions. But after the first burst of admiration, envy and criticism arose, the New Method met with formidable resistance from teachers, attacks became more frequent, and it was necessary to answer the detractors. Henceforth, he had to consider the magistrates who protected him, his fellow- workers, and the parents of his pupils ; he no longer therefore enjoyed entire independence. This is why it is important to understand what was the doctrine of the first part of his life, before the undertakings which gave him glory, sometimes at the cost of the freedom and originality of his genius, especially as regards the external manifestions by which the world has chiefly judged him. 66 PESTALOZZI. In 1797, Pestalozzi was fifty-one years of age; he was old and worn out, and he thought his course was run, as the end of his last work testifies. But his most important works had not yet begun ; those works which were the continuation and development of his thought and past activity, but which were more or less influenced by foreign elements. After gaining an understanding of Pestalozzi's method at the period at which we have arrived, it will be easier, when describing the second part of his life, to distinguish the natural and logical development of this doctrine from the deviations to which it was subject by circumstances. The starting point of Pestalozzi was the search for means to save the people from the misery in which they were sunk. Soon he saw that the poor cannot be effec- tively helped unless they wish to help themselves ; that is to say, material misery cannot disappear so long as intellectual and moral misery exist. In other words, the true remedy is education. Then, while studying human nature from infancy, even in families that have been the most degraded by misery, he finds therein, in the germ, a store of faculties, sentiments, aptitudes, and powers, the natural development of which would suffice for all the material, intellectual, and moral needs of society. But he sees that ordinary education, instead of seeking these elements of power in the child in order to put them in the most favourable conditions to grow and develop naturally, limits itself to presenting to the child the knowledge, ideas, and sentiments of others, by attempting to fix them in his habits and engrave them on his memory. Thus the most precious powers of the child grow weaker by inaction, and his individuality is stunted under the weight of foreign knowledge and sentiments imposed upon him by education. Education is made to act from without, within ; Pestalozzi would have it from within, without. The ideas which we have just summed up, are so often and so clearly quoted from the writings of Pestalozzi that it seems unnecessary to repeat the numerous passages which enounce them. PESTALOZZl'S DOCTRINE BEFORE 1798. 67 But it still remained to find the means of developing these powers which exist only in the germ in the little child, to strengthen and improve these growing faculties whose harmonious union forms the complete man. In his first work upon education : The Evening Hour of a Hermit, published in 1780, he says, No. 22 : " Nature develops all the powers of hunuinity by exercise and their growth depends upon their use." Again, No. 25: "Man, Father! Do not force the minds of your children before they have acquired strength by exercise suited to their powers." So, to develop the faculties they must be employed upon exercises suited to their capacity. Hence, the importance of the starting point which Pestalozzi sought with such care, for the series of exercises in first teaching ; it must be found in the natural tastes of the child, in the needs of his age, and the circumstances of his family life : we read in No. 40 of the Evening Hour of a a Hermit : " The pure sentiment of truth and wisdom is trained in the narrow circle of the connections close to us, by circumstances which engross us, nd skill which we require.'' Having sought for the starting point in the needs and circumstances of real life, Pestalozzi was naturally led to associate bodily work with intellectual ; to make industry and study advance side by side, and to blend in a measure the workshop with the school. His views upon this point are most fully described in Leonard and Gertrude. Thus economic questions arise with educational ones. Not only must the intellectual faculties and moral senti- ments of the child be developed, but his bodily powers must be exercised and he must learn to win his bread in the society in which he lives, and where no one can keep his place without exerting himself. This is how Pestalozzi was led to study the organisation of our social state, to point out the obstacles which it F 2 6S PRSTALOZZI. presents to the elevating of the people, an,d to seek for the necessary reforms to improve it. These social and political questions are dealt with at first in the form of a novel in Leonard and Gertrude, in which he describes the regeneration of the village of Bonal ; then again by apologues in two volumes of Fables ; and lastly in a philosophic work, his Researches into the Course of Nature in the Development of the Human Race. The last work took three years to write. In his views of social organisation, Pestalozzi was before his time ; the questions he discusses are those that interest us to-day ; nevertheless, his views seem vague and timid to modern socialists, who do not always respect religion, the family, and property which he regarded as the essential conditions of civilisation and progress. He condemns the luxury, pomp, and pride of the fortunate ones of this world, and wishes that every individual could raise himself by his work to a condition of ease ; but to attain this aim, which is the ardent and constant wish of his heart, he trusts to education rather than to laws. In politics he is radical, but he has a horror of violent revolutions. He desires freedom for all ; he wishes every- thing to be done for the people and the poor ; but he does not ask that it shall be done by the people ; it is true that the poor whom he had before him and whom he knew better than anyone else could not then be trusted with the direction of public affairs. So his democracy is not the democracy of to-day, Pestalozzi was influenced by strong and deep religious feeling which is seen in all his writings. But it may be well asked what was his religion ? Indeed, nowhere does he make a full confession of faith ; it can only be sought in isolated passages, and these do not always agree. The reason for this is that there was no system in his religion, he had at first breathed it as the atmosphere of his home, it had been compromised rather than strengthened by his theological studies, unsettled by the reading of Rousseau and the philosophers of the i8th century, it awakened at the birth of his son ; but it was free from all dogmatism and never expressed in a doctrine. PESTALOZZl's DOCTRINE BEFORE 1798. 69 He had often seen dead orthodoxy, barren dogmas, and religious instruction which neither warmed the heart nor influenced the life. He rejected all formularies as well as all formalism. He proscribed the use of the catechism in school, and desired that religion there should be limited to the reading of the Gospel and the practice of the Christian virtues. Holding the view that a form of doctrine savours of the things of men and is of use only to the learned, he did not think it suited to children (see Leonard and Gertrude). He rejected theology as being liable to take the place of the religion of the heart and the life ; and we think that this opinion can be explained by the state of religion that prevailed among the literary class at the end of last century. In this condition of mind he allowed himself on all occasions to be guided by the inspirations of his heart and imagination, and the fancies in which he indulged exag- gerated his thoughts and sometimes caused him to contradict himself. We shall quote one example out of a thousand. Pestalozzi has often been accused of not believing in original sin ; that is the innate existence of evil in the heart of man, and this view has been supported by numerous passages in which the author exalts the innocence of the child, expecting everything to be done for him by education which nourishes, exercises, and develops the germs of virtue and good feelings slumber- ing in his heart. Notwithstanding, in other places, he points out with the same power of conviction the existence of evil in human nature. For example one of his Fables is composed solely for the purpose of illustrating this truth in a striking manner. See Fable 86. The Interior of the Hill. Orthodox Christians will find in Pestalozzi many hard sayings, but never an attack upon revealed truth. If he did not believe he would have said so, for he was not the man to temporise. He was eminently a free thinker in the proper sense ot the word, and, at the same time, a free speaker ; but his freedom of thought never led him to doubt Christian truth. 7O PESTALOZZI, It is true that at this period of his life his religious manifestations betray a serious want which, afterwards, he strove to correct ; even then however he did not dwell upon the essential doctrine of the redemption. This, doubtless, is the reason why it has been said that Pestalozzi was not a Christian, forgetting a life of entire abnegation, ardent charity, and the most absolute Christian devotion ; for Jesus said : " By their fruits shall ye know them." Meanwhile in answer to the question : what was the essential work of Pestalozzi in this first part of his life ? we would answer : That of a philosopher, the discover)' of a principle which is the law of man's development and the fundamental principle of education. It is perhaps difficult to regard as a philosopher a man who seemed engaged only in practical experiments, who as a writer excelled especially in delineating character and describing facts of observation with great variety of detail ; who only once attempted philosophical language, in his Researches and then only in a diffuse and obscure manner. Nevertheless he was a philosopher without wishing to be one. One general idea was ever present in all the facts he observed, in all his plans of reform, and in all the under- takings in which he engaged. All that man can acquire in the way of real knowledge, power, and noble feelings, is but growth ot his individuality by the development of the force and faculties with which God has endowed him, and the work of assimilation which they exercise over the elements furnished by the external world. A natural and necessary order exists for this development and work of assimilation, but it is generally misunderstood by the schools. This is the idea that appears under diverse forms in all Pestalozzi' s plans and writings. See the following passages in the Evening Hour of a Hermit in which it can be clearly recognised : Nos. 8, 12, 21, 23, 26, 28. We have chosen this work as the aphorisms express the thought briefly, whilst in other works the quotations would require to be much longer. In his discourses, explanations, and especially in the PESTALOZZl's DOCTRINE BEFORE 1798. JI Fables, he compares the education of man to the growth of the plant ; he states the analogy plainly in the Swiss Gazette : " Man, formed from the dust of the earth grows and ripens like the plant rooted to the soil." By virtue of this analogy he always speaks of education as a development, a product of the child's own work, a chain of progress graduated according to a natural order, and each link of which becomes the instrument of further progress. The foundation is a germ given by God who has made the human soul capable of intellectual and moral conquests ; this shoot should grow, blossom, and bear fruit ; and the duty of education is to favour and direct organic development. It is true that the word organism is not found in the writings preceding this time, but the idea is there. The author first made use of the word in the work entitled : How Gertrude teaches her children. The organism of education has been described by the author of this history, in a volume called : The Philosophy and Practice of Education, Paris, 1860. Durand and Meyrueis. In his writings which follow Pestalozzi frequently uses the word organic. But he has never given to his method the name of organic method which appears to us the most fitting term to characterise it. PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF CHAPTER VIII. PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF THE ORPHANS AT STANS. 40. The Helvetic Eevolution. Disaster at Stans. 41. Pcstalozzi's hopes : his Politi- cal Pamphlets 42. Pestalozzi Editor of the Swiss Gazette. 43. The Directorate appoint an educational institution under the direction of Pestalozzi. 44. Revolt of the little cantons. 45. The Orphanage taken as a hospital. Pestalozzi retires to Gurnigel. 46. His letter to Gessner upon his 47. Pedagogic result of this expe- rience. 40. ONE can see < c rom his correspondence with Fellen- berg how much P(* talozzi feared the intervention of France in the internal affairs of his country. At the commencement of 1798, it was brought to pass. The young Republic had hardly struggled into life before it wished to remodel old Switzerland upon its own image. The principles of 1789 had penetrated the most of the cantons ; Switzerland was divided, and resistance was overcome. Then the ancient structure, which for four centuries had shielded the independence of the confederation crumbled ; but with it also fell the aristocratic governments, the privileges of family and place with a multitude of rights, customs, and prejudices which were a serious obstacle to the liberty and equality of the citizens. The Helvetic Republic one and united was proclaimed under the government of a Directory of five members. 41. Meanwhile, Pestalozzi reconciled himself in a measure to this French intervention which he had dreaded so much. The hope of immense progress and a magnifi- THE ORPHANS AT STANS. 73 cent moral regeneration of his father-land, made him forget all the evils that were caused to Switzerland by the presence of foreign troops and the irritation produced by the friction of so many ideas, sentiments, and interests. He believed in the approaching realisation of all the reforms so often sought by large minds and noble hearts, in the possibility of sowing with fruit his ideas in ground, now freed from all obstacles ; he believed in the success of the efforts of the new government which only desired the elevation and happiness of the people. Then in the illusion of his enthusiasm, he already saw the simplicity, purity and loyalty of the ancient manners revive under the new breath of liberty. This is why Pestalozzi was at first one of the most staunch and zealous adherents of the new order of things which he supported by his pen, publishing, one after another, between the spring and autumn of 1798, a number of political pamphlets entitled : (a) A word to the Legislative Councils of Helvetia. (b) Upon Tithes. (c ) Awaken O People ! (d) To my Father-land. (e) To the People of Helvetia. (/) Call to the Inhabitants of the Ancient Demo- cratic Cantons. (g) The Present and Future of Humanity. The first of these writings was tendered to justice, upon the order of the councils, because the author had warmly opposed the project (which was adopted by the great council,) of indemnifying, at the cost of the members of the oligarchical governments, the patriots prosecuted on account of their attacks upon the old state of things. Besides, in all his pamphlets, Pestalozzi preached union, peace, and forgetfulness of the past ; he sought to reconcile those who were still hostile to the new constitution ; he exhorted the governments to encourage everywhere justice, activity, morality, industry, and especially to provide well for the education of the people. These publications had little influence ; they were hardly read by those to whom they were addressed ; then 74 PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF the author did not show much practical sense, the Germans say of him that " he understood man, but not men." Soon, however, another incident occurred to compromise again Pestalozzi's influence as a political writer. 42. In the month of June, 1798, the Great Council asked the Directory to publish a paper to meet the opposition shown to the new state of things, in order to enlighten the minds of the people and to cause the popula- tion to rally around the unitary government. On July the 23rd, the Directory told Stapfer, Minister of Arts and Sciences, to provide for the publication, and he applied to Pestalozzi, who accepted (Aug. aoth) the post of chief editor. The new paper was called " The Popular Swiss Gazette," it was to appear weekly and to be sent free to ministers of religion, teachers, and all the employes of the administration, who were told to read and explain it to their hearers. Pestalozzi was assisted in the Swiss Popular Gazette by Hess, Lavater, L. Meister, Bremi, Fiissli, and several others ; but he wrote the chief part of the paper himself. One day he asked Zschokke to take part in it, but the latter refused saying : " A true popular journal should not be the government paper, but a completely independent publication, written in the spirit and language of the illiterate people to whom it is addressed." Zschokke was right ; this paper met with great opposition from the enemies of the unitary Republic, it was not read by the common people, and after the first nineteen numbers the Government suppressed its publication, " as it was not gaining its end." But, for some months before, Pestalozzi had ceased to be the editor, serious events had called him to a work more worthy of him. In the month of May, in the absence of Stapfer, minister of Arts and Sciences, who was then in Paris, Pestalozzi had addressed the following letter to Meyer, Minister of Justice and Police : " CITIZEN MINISTER, Persuaded that our Father -land has urgent need of an improve- ment in the education of the poor, and assured that a trial of three or THE ORPHANS AT STAN'S. 75 four months would suffice to make evident the most important results, in the absence of Citizen Stapfer, I apply to Citizen Meyer, to offer through his help my services to our country, and to beg him to take the necessary steps with the Directory for the accomplishment of my patriotic intentions. " With the Republican Salute, "Aarau, May 21st, 1798." " PESTALOZZI. 43. The offer of Pestalozzi was accepted, and Stapfer, on his return to Aarau, immediately entered into com- munication with him. The minister wished to establish first a normal school to train good country teachers, and entrust its direction to Pestalozzi ; but the latter declared that he desired above all to try his method in a school for children, and he sent Stapfer his plan of a school for the poor according to the ideas he had sought to realize at Neuhof, and which he had described in Leonard and Gertrude. The minister proposed the carrying out of this plan to the Directory in a lengthy report, from which we can only give some extracts. It begins by describing the need for public regeneration and instruction ; then it continues thus : " A worthy patriot shows the way to your minister. Citizen Pestalozzi has communicated to me upon the plan of an educational establishment suited to our times, needs, and resources, as well as to the nature of man, and of the citizen in gen eral. " We should be satisfied with the name of the author of the scheme, who has given the greatest proofs of his knowledge in his excellent popular writings whose disinterestedness and activity for the good of our country have been shown before and since the revolution, whose views have won the unanimous assent of all enlightened men, and even of the noblest princes of our time, who are anxious to give true dignity to our political reform, as well as a pledge of its continuance and strength by popular education, rightly understood. " From this we may entertain favourable anticipation but I shall limit myself to a single observation. This indefatigable patriot is praised on all sides, he has seen his views partially applied in several districts of Germany, for example at Wurtzburg and at Bemberg, in Brandenburg. Hanover, and Saxony, and even in Bohemia ; but not at all in his najv country, where he should have worked for the perfect success of each establishment, gained active fellow-workers, and given to the world an example of the realisation of his views. He is already growing old, but the hope that, with the help of the enlightened magistrates, he will be able to do what bis heart desires for his country gives him the spirit and the strength of youth. Your minister hopes, citizen director;:, that you will reward him by realising his plans for the happiness of the Father- land. 76 PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF The report, after a thorough examination then declares : 1st. That Pestalozzi's proposal satisfies all the requirements of education in general, and of public education in particular. 2nd. That it in no wise compromises the unity and uniformity of the educational establishments of the Republic, and constitutes no privilege. 3rd. That it satisfies the needs of strict economy. It ends with the following proposition. 1st. The executive directory gives Citizen Pestalozzi a distinguished recognition of its approbation of all the proofs of his disinterestedness and the activity which he has always shown for the good of his country and his fellow-citizens. 2nd. The Minister of Arts and Sciences is authorised to allow Citizen Pestalozzi 3,000 fr., payable by terms which will be amicably agreed upon. 3rd. The Minister will communicate with Pestalozzi as to the place where an educational establishment shall be founded, upon the number of the pupils, masters, help, &c. 4th. From a report of the Minister, the executive directory will furnish Pestalozzi with a sufficient number of beds and other furniture from the convents and national buildings. 5th. At stated times, Citizen Pestalozzi will make a report to the minister upon the growth and progress of the Institute ; these reports will give the public the means of information about the establishment and enable them to extend its advantages. The Directory adopted the plan and immediately set about its execution. But the choice of the place for the establishment, as well as questions of detail, required time ; and, before this preliminary study had ended, a frightful catastrophe directed Pestalozzi's devotion into a new sphere of activity. 44. The primitive cantons, the cradle of Swiss liberty, Schwytz, Uri, and Unterwald, attached to their ancient laws and customs, to their priests and Roman Catholic worship which their fathers had practised, proud of their ancient right of only depending upon themselves and governing themselves as they understood it by the assemblies of the people, (landsgemeinde) had a horror of the revolution which had just finished, and of the military government which it had given to Switzerland. They would not accept the new constitution. THE ORPHANS AT STANS. 77 The little district of Bas-Unterwald, bathed by the Lake of the Four Cantons, rises gradually on the fertile hills to the chain of the Alps which crowns the glaciers of Titlis, and which to the south, overlooks the valley of the Aar (Oberhassli) in the canton of Berne. This retired country, almost separated from the world, sunny and well-watered, with a mild climate, planted and tended like a garden, was inhabited by a fine population, who in their isolation in the midst of civilisation, had preserved some of the good qualities and defects of childlike peoples. Their occupation consisted in tending their flocks, a little tillage, and in the care of fruit trees which they cultivated intelligently. Their manners were simple and frugal ; they had no trade and little learning, and they lived in comfortable ease, without the need of working very hard. According to the laws and customs of the country, the poor were assisted by their friends, even those very distantly related to them, by the commune, or the state ; and gradually this system had encouraged idle and even begging habits amongst the population. Otherwise the people of Bas-Unterwald were well endowed, lively, intelligent, noble-hearted, and especially noted for aesthetic sentiment which was very general and which produced a number of good artists. Their love of the beautiful and their delicate and refined tastes are seen now in all that pertains to the inhabitants of this corner of the country, in their dress, houses, and chapels, and especially in the fine paintings which take the place of crosses at the turnings in the pretty, well made roads through their orchards on the hills. Such were the people who were obliged to swear to the unitary constitution of Switzerland. They refused, and to compel them to submit the Directory sent a detachment of French soldiers under the command of General Schauenbourg. The few troops of the people of Unterwald were augmented by women and children. All, determined to sell their lives dearly, fought like lions, but they yielded to the number, tactics, and good arms of their formidable enemies. The French soldiery were exasperated at this 78 PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF unexpected and furious resistance of a whole population which had caused them considerable losses. They, therefore, showed them no quarter, spared neither age nor sex, and ended their work of destruction by setting the town on fire. Meanwhile the helpless population of the district had gathered together to pray with the Cur6, Luci, a worthy man of sixty years, in the church at Stans, the chief town of the country. This vast building which contained the faithful of the whole neighbourhood, is in the chief square of the town, four or five yards above the pavement. It is reached by a large stone staircase which extends along the whole breadth of the building. When the victors arrived at this place, they thought that the church would be a new point of resistance. General Corbineau climbed the staircase on horseback, entered the church with his men, when a shot from a gun killed the priest as he was raising the host. This was the signal for a scene of indescribable terror and desolation. We shall not speak of the atrocities which, in spite of the efforts of several worthy officers, lasted two whole days, until the arrival of General Schanenbourg. The disasters of Stans happened on the gth of September, 1728 ; the day after, the first number of the Popular Swiss Gazette appeared, of which Pestalozzi was chief editor. Truttmann, sub-prefect of Arth and a Commissioner of the Government in the Bas Unterwald made a minute enquiry in order to learn the losses caused by that dreadful day. We find them noted as follows in the report of Rengger, minister of the interior. "Dead: 259 men, 102 women, 25 children.* " Buildings burnt : 340 dwelling houses, 228 barns, 144 small buildings. " The buildings burnt are valued at 885,365 L S.t " The furniture burnt or pillaged is valued at 1,112,776 L S. Total 1,998,141 L.S. * This list was doubtless incomplete for the monument at Stans in 1807 stated the dead at 414 persons, t The Swiss shilling is about a franc and a half, i.e. 1/3 English. THE ORPHANS AT STANS. 79 " Of the 350 proprietors who were burnt out only 57 are able to rebuild vrith their own means, 27 require to be assisted with more or less money ; and lastly there are 203 who have no means at all with which to rebuild. " Perhaps the most unfortunate are the many who did not possess houses, but who havelost all that they could call their own. Amongst these are 111 infirm old men ; 169 orphans, not counting those, numbering 77, who have just been taken in charity by other cantons, lastly, 237 other children who, though not orphans, are nevertheless in a manner abandoned on account of the utter poverty of their families. The Directory immediately undertook to send help to these unhappy people. On Nov. i8th, it decided upon the founding of an Orphanage at Stans, and the ministers, Stapfer and Rengger, were charged to prepare a plan and procure a director for this establishment. The place chosen was the buildings belonging to the Convent, with the use of a part of the adjoining large meadow. But neither the administration of the convent, nor the council of the canton of Waldstetten was told of this decision, which gave rise to strong objections. Upon the complaints of the convent, the Council represented to Stapfer the serious inconvenience an orphanage would be to buildings already devoted to the education of girls under nuns, also to the disposing of the offices which were necessary, the dwelling places of the domestic servants who had charge of the cattle and the land. At the same time, Rengger had ordered the sub-prefect and minister of Justice and Police to find a man and his wife who could direct and manage the proposed establish- ment. But, in spite of all their efforts they could find none to take it ; in their report they state that the director must be a Catholic. Meanwhile Pestalozzi eagerly desired to become the father and teacher of the orphans at Unterwald ; and at the same time he regarded this as a providential occasion to put his ideas into practice. He therefore explained this to the Directors, Stapfer and Legrand. He had already described his ideas and plans at length to the latter who heartily sympathised with them. A new plan presented by Pestalozzi was warmly supported by Stapfer, Rengger, and Legrand, and on Dec. 80 PESTALOZZI THE FATHER OF 5th, 1798, the Directory issued a decree, the chief clauses of which are as follows : " The immediate direction of the house -for the poor at Stans is entrusted to Citizen Pestalozzi. " Children of both sexes will be therein received, taken from the poorest, and especially orphans from the district of Stans. "Children under five years of age will not be received; the inmates will remain till they enter service or go to learn an occupation that is not taught in the house. " The house for the poor will be managed with the economy suited to the needs of the establishment. One of the rules will be that the children gradually take part in the necessary work of the house. The pupils' time will be divided among field work, house work, and study. As much knowledge and skill will be given to the pupils as the economy of the establishment will permit ; and, as far as can be done without detriment to the industrial aims which must be pursued, lessons will be given during the manual occupations. "The whole building of the dependences of the convent of Stans is assigned to the establishment as well as a portion of the adjoining meadow. " The building will immediately be repaired for the reception of eighty- pupils, according to the plans prepared by Citizen Schmid. For the foundation of the orphanage the minister of the interior will remit a sum of 6,000 francs to the committee of the poor." Pestalozzi was immediately replaced by another as editor of the Popular Swiss Gazette, and in December he arrived at Stans to superintend the work of repair. Some days after Mdme. Pestalozzi wrote the following lines in her journal : " In Dec., 1798, Pestalozzi went to Stans as Director of the numerous children who have lost their parents in an unfortunate battle, because they were unwilling to accept the new Constitution. My children and I were very sad, and so also was the faithful Lisbeth and our friends to see him undertake such a task at the age of fifty-two years. He saw my anxiety and said : " The question of our fate will not long be doubtful. If I have not been misunderstood, and I deserve the contempt and neglect I have received, then there is no help for us. But if I have been judged unjustly, and I am worth my own value, then you will soon find counsel und comfort in me. Do not speak, your words break my heart ! I cannot bear your questionings. Write to me full of hope. You have waited thirty years, wait now for thirty months. I have no longer THE ORPHANS AT STANS. 8l children here but many \vorkmen. The government supports the under- taking, and gives me evidence of its good wishes." The work of repair, undertaken in the bad weather, required much time ; the winter was early and severe, and the first pupils could not be admitted until the middle of January. Meanwhile there was much misery and suffering in the country. One can judge of it from a fragment of an official report from the sub-prefect, Tfuttmann : " The misery of the inhabitants of the district of Stans is indescribable, it gets worse every day, and affects everyone more or less. The poor whose former benefactors have lost all means of helping them, have no help but what they receive from government and charity sent by the other cantons. Their sufferings are inexpressible on account of the extreme and prolonged cold; their little store of potatoes has been frost-bitten and they have no other food ; there are already many sick amongst them." At last, Dec. i4th, 1799, Truttmann, wrote to the Minister Rengger : "The first pupils were received into the house for the poor to-day. God bless our good government for this benevolent work ; I anticipate enormous good from it; and it touched me greatly to see these poor creatures, covered with rags, rescued from their sad fate and at last admitted into an establishment, where their education and future independence will be provided for." Some days later, the children numbered fifty ; and never did an educational establishment open in such wretched condition. Pestalozzi was so urgently pressed to receive these unfortunate children that he took them in before the building was finished. Only one room was habitable, the rest of the building was incumbered with plaster, and the kitchen could not yet be used ; the children brought with them illness, sores, vermin, deplorable habits and vice. And to manage this household and for all the cares of cleanliness, health, and education, Pestalozzi was alone with one servant. 2 PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF We have the list of names of the pupils prepared by Pestalozzi and sent to the Director. We transcribe some examples of these names with the observations that accompany them : BOYS. (1). Jacob Baggenstoss, aged 15 years, from Stansstaad, father dead, mother living, good health, little ahility, can only spin cotton, accustomed to begging. (2). Francois- Joseph Businger, 14 years, from Stans; father alive, mother dead, good health, fair abilities and habits, does not know a, b, c, can spin cotton, very poor. (3). Gaspard- Joseph Vaser, 11 years, from Stansstaad ; his father alive, mother dead, good health, ability, but rude and shocking habits, does not know a, b, c, nor how to spin, accustomed to beg. (4). Charles, brother of the preceding, 10 years, same habits and antecedents as his brother. (26). Mathias Oder-matt, 8 years, from Stans; father killed, mother alive, deceitful and sickly, weak and idle, knows nothing, poor. (27). Joseph Kneffer, 9 years, from Stans, not a townsman; his parents alive, good health, fair ability, beginning to spell, cannot spin, poor. (28) . Gaspard Stieer, 8 years, from Stans ; father killed, mother alive, very weak, splendid ability, beginning the alphabet, can spin, exceedingly poor. (29) . Jacob Adacher, 7 years, from Kirsiten ; father killed, mother .alive, good health, timid, knows nothing, very poor. (1). Anna- Jos- Amstad, 15 years, of Stans; father dead, mother alive, good health, ordinary ability, beginning to read and spin, extremely poor. (2). Clara Waser, 12 years, of Stansstaad; father alive, mother dead, good health, ability, industrious at study, does not know a, b, c, can spin, accustomed to beg. (3). Josephine Rieter, 13 years, from Stans, father and mother dead, good health, ordinary ability, beginning to read, can spin, exceedingly poor. (4). Anna-Maria Beutschgi, 11 years, of Stans; father banished, mother dead, good health, excessively neglected, knows nothing, shocking habits, excessively poor. (15). Barbarn Spillmater, 10 years, of Stans; father dead, mother alive, good health, ability, knows nothing, habits good, poor. (16). Catherine Acier, 5 years, from Stans; father killed, mother alive, good health, good ability, knows nothing, poor. THE ORPHANS AT STANS. 83 In spite of all these obstacles, in spite of the Director's want of practical skill, success was immediate, almost miraculous. "The house for the poor is going on well. Father Pestalozzi works indefatigably day and night. There are now sixty-two pupils who are fed and occupied all the morning in the establishment ; only fifty stay the night, as there are not enough beds for all. It fairly bewilders one to see all that this excellent man does, and the improvement that he has made in such a short time upon his pupils who are full of zeal to learn. It is certain the state will in a few years receive with interest all that it sacrificed for this benevolent institution. I hope that soon, our dear nuns will have won heaven, or gone to another convent. This testimony is confirmed by the report which, the same week, the Cure Businger addressed to the Directory. In it we read : " The house for the poor has also commenced, and continues its good work. More than seventy children are cared for there already, and every day others present themselves to be received. Citizen Pestalozzi works without rest for the improvement of this establishment, and one can scarcely believe ones eyes and ears, when one sees and hears what he has been able to do in so short a time." Thus Pestalozzi had overcome internal obstacles, which ne could attack directly; but there were others from without which compromised the definite success of his work. These were, on the one side distrust, ill will, and even open opposition from the place which he had come to rescue ; on the other, false judgments held by those who were esteemed competent men, but who, accustomed to the old scholastic errors and not understanding Pestalozzi's idea, condemned everything that did not conform to what they considered the established type. Bas-Unterwald hated the unitary government, the cause of all its misfortunes ; and it was persuaded that the children were only cared for in order to win them over to the constitution which they abhorred. Then it was particularly and exclusively Catholic ; no Protestant had ever held any office, least of all one of an educational kind ; c; 2 4 PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF and in the minds of a great many, the poor children were in danger of losing their souls from taking help from the heretic Pestalozzi. At the same time, the work of the latter was not like that of any other ; as it consisted in putting in practice a new idea, which often required educational action quite contrary to that in use till then. Thus, Pestalozzi went on without following a plan decided upon beforehand, without seeming order, or the divisions of children into classes. He was constantly with them, showing a warm affection for them in everything, watching the manifestation of their faculties, powers and good feelings so as to set them in action like a good gardener who in taking care of a young tree waits for the buds to appear so as to know how to direct them. This is why he wanted no help, and indeed, no one could have really helped him, an experienced teacher least of all. At first, he had neither books nor school material, but he did not ask for them, only wishing these children to come in contact with his fatherly spirit, with that of nature, and the necessities of their common life. The system of which we have given a slight sketch is clearly and fully described in the letter which Pestalozzi addressed to his friend Gessner upon his stay at Stans. We did not wish to interrupt our account which rests upon official documents ; but what we have said of the method pursued by Pestalozzi was necessary to explain the opinions held regarding him whilst he was engaged in the work. It often happened that visitors to the establishment saw only disorder and confusion there ; and the teaching seemed to them to be completely wrong. At the same time the Committee of the Poor, esteeming it of first importance to prepare the children to earn some- thing, complained of the time lost, and calculated the profit they might make by silkwork for which meanwhile the tools were lacking. Truttmann, the sub-prefect, although a good and well- meaning man, did not understand the best side of Pestalozzi's idea, and was misled by appearances. This is how he wrote to the Minister in his report of 1799 : THE ORPHANS AT STANS. 85 " I mast frankly tell you that the economical management of the house, the classification of the children for teaching and manual work, the appointing of inspectors and masters cannot he longer deferred without serious injury to this philanthropic establishment. I would go to Lucerne to-morrow to discuss this important matter with you fully were I not -confined to my room with a swollen leg. I admire the zeal of Citizen Pestalozzi and the untiring energy which he devotes to the establishment : he deserves honour and gratitude ; but I foresee that he cannot realise his ideas. . . I have remonstrated with him repeatedly. I begged him to go to ZuriiJi to study in detail the organisation of the school for the poor of that city, in order to imitate it as much as possible at Stans. He went there, but I do not expect a favourable result, because he has taken it into his head to do everything himself, without a plan, or other help than of the children themselves. I pray you, Citizen Ministers, for the honour of the government and the public good, to take this affair to heart, and apply a remedy before the evil becomes more grave." Nevertheless, the Directory did not allow Pestalozzi to be hindered ; it left him liberty of action. But he suffered cruelly both from the hostile attitude of the district from which he had expected some gratitude and those whom he counted upon for support. In spite of his faith and courage, at times he feared he would see this new undertaking from which he hoped so much fall like the others, bringing ruin upon himself, his family, father- land, humanity, and the idea which had been his life for thirty years. This anguish of mind is seen in the first report which he addressed to the Minister Rengger, April, 1799: " CITIZBN MINISTER, I feel it is my duty to inform you of the progrest of the institution, but I am overwhelmed with the weight of all that is to be done, and which I only can do. The trouble which absorbs me is not the essential work of the establishment but many accessor}' details. In spite of great success my economical and moral aim has suffered for want of some wretched cooking utensils for which I have been kept waiting for a fortnight. At the same time, the political obstinacy which is displayed here, exercises a fatal influence over the children, and those who ought to resist it do not think that this is the time to trouble the people about an orphan asylum. I have gained much experience and I long for the time when you will come and see for yourself the happy results obtained in the growing establishment in the midst of nameless 86 PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF difficulties. I shall try to make a clear account of the sums received and shall send it to you. Workers are only to be had for exorbitant wages, and prejudice prevents my using the best means of economy ; but I shall work unceasingly to attain the aim of this institution without great, expense. The hours of work and study are now fixed as follows : From 6 to 8 a.m. lessons; then till 4 p.m. manual work; after that until 8 p.m. lessons again. The health of the children is flourishing. The difficult}' of combining at once teaching and work diminishes every day ; and the children are gradually becoming accustomed to order and application. You can imagine it has taken some trouble to manage these badly brought up little mountaineers. Several of the children have had a kind of bilious fever ; they are now getting better. I am anxiously expecting letters from Zurich upon the subject of assistants of both sexes whom T require and I should be glad to learn from you if your views are calculated to set me at rest. ' ' Permit me ta commend the Institution and myself to your benevolence. With respect and gratitude, Pestalozzi." In spite of all, the enterprise prospered. The children who had come with sad and care-worn faces, eyes dull and timid or defiant and bold, and dispositions apathetic or rebellious had undergone the same metamorphosis as nature when it awakens at the breath of spring ; they were full of joy and freedom, zeal -and activity, mildness and goodwill. May 24th, 1799, was a grand holiday to the Institution and its director. That day Pestalozzi took the whole household to Lucerne. They were received by the Executive Director, the first authority in Helvetia, who gave each pupil a new 10 batz piece (worth about 1/5^ in English money). One can see from this that Director Legrand was not deceived by the detractors of Pestalozzi. Unhappily the Institution was almost at an end. It numbered eighty children ; it was in full prosperity, when a fortnight after the trip to Lucerne, unforeseen events occurred which rendered its continuance impossible. The fortune of war brought the French army into Bas-Unterwald with a large number of sick. Zschokke, Commissary of the Government, could find no house to lodge them but the Orphanage. On June 8th, 1799, he THE OR MIAN'S AT STANS. 8/ sent away sixty of the children for whom suitable accommodation was found in families ; twenty remaining in the establishment. Under these circumstances, Pestalozzi did not wish to remain. He gave to each child sent away, two complete suits of clothes and some money, stored the furniture safely in Lucerne, returned 3,000 frs. which remained to Zschokke, and retired very ill to the baths at ( j urnigel ; he had laboured beyond his strength and he was spitting blood. The Directory only learned these facts after their occurrence. It granted Pestalozzi a sum of 400 livres, for his trouble in directing the Asylum. The closing of the Orphanage which took place later, gave rise to a discussion which time forbids the trans- lator to insert although it is full of interest. Suffice it to say that the children left at first in the Asylum (which was converted into a Hospital) were under the direction of a benevolent citizen named Von Matt, a blacksmith. He undertook the task gratuitously and visited the children several times a day, whilst they were taught by the Capuchin friars in turn. After the departure of the French, some of the poorest children were again received until there were about forty in the establishment. Meanwhile the rest and the w r aters of Gurnigel had restored the health of Pestalozzi who longed to return to his interrupted task at Stans. But in spite of the earnest desire, and the efforts of Stapfer, the Directory did not send Pestalozzi back to Stans, and it allowed the Orphanage to fall. We think this decision was a benefit to Pestalozzi and to education. The work had already brought him to the brink of the grave ; he could not certainly have gone on much longer. The opposition in the country was invincible. The most of the inhabitants regarded him merely as an agent of the unitary system of government and heresy. It received all the calumnies afloat regarding him (as for example that he treated the children badly, that he was sent into Bas-Unterwald to destroy the Catholic religion, that he was afraid of the Austrians and had fled by night at the news of their approach, &c., &c). 88 PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF With regard to the question of religion .which was said to be too much neglected, the only instance recorded is that once he said to the children : " Crucifixes will not give you bread, you must learn to work." Sometimes he corrected the children by striking them with a string. It seems to us that the sending of Pestalozzi to Stans was a mistake ; it wounded the religious sentiments of the people he went to help, for this opposition was natural, and even legitimate, and to be respected, from the stand point of the belief of the people of Unterwald. For five months Pestalozzi struggled against the difficulties of an untenable position. It is well that he was not allowed to recommence this heroic struggle. The folly of the unitary system of government, did much harm to Switzerland ; nevertheless true progress arose from it ; for God brings good out of evil. In like manner, from the mistake of Stans arose the Primary School of the XlXth century, which has already given so much prosperity and power to those who have known how to profit by it. The experience which Pestalozzi gained at Stans and the principles which his penetrating mind thence drew for the natural and logical advancement of elementary educa- tion, the birth of a great, fruitful, and salutary saving reform, is fully described in a letter, written at Gurnigel to his friend Gessner the bookseller, and son of the author of the Idylls. Its great importance leads us to translate it : LETTER FKOM PESTALOZZI TO A FRIEND, DESCRIBING HIS STAY AT STANS. 46. "Friend, again lam awakening from a dream; again I see my work annihilated and my failing strength spent for nothing. But, feeble and unfortunate as my effort has been, a friend of humanity will not regret pausing some moments to examine the motives which persuade me that a happier posterity will surely take up the thread of my hopes where it is broken. I have regarded the whole revolution from its beginning as a simple consequence of the corruption of human nature, and the misfortunes it haa produced as a necessary means of leading men to the sentiment of the essential conditions of their happiness. THE ORPHANS AT STANS. 89 Whilst not trusting completely to the political forms that men have ed, I recognise some principles of their constitutions and some interests j rotected by these principles as advantageous measures, and i ts to the true progress of humanity. I gave, as well as I could, my former views upon education : :bin;r them in full to the heart of Legrand (then one of the Directors). Not only did he then take an interest in them, but he agreed with me in thinking that the republic had urgent need of public instruction, and that the best results for regeneration of the people could be obtained by some children chosen from amongst the poorest a complete t iion which, however, so far from taking them out of their sphere, would unite them more closely to the condition oi their family in society. I limited myself to this single point, and Legrand encouraged it in -ible way ; saying to me one day, " I shall not willingly leave my post until you have begun your work." As I have described my plan for the public education of the poor in the third and fourth part of Leonard and Gertrude, I shall not repeat it here. I submitted it to Director Stapfer and he supported it warmly, as also did the Minister Rengger. My intention was to seek in Zurich, or Aargau a place which combined industry and agriculture with other means of instruction in such a way as to give the means of snccess to my establishment and further the develop- ment of my aim. But the misfortune of Unterwald decided the locality for me. The government thought it urgent to help that distressed ict, and begged me to make there trial of my schemes in a place where I lacked everything that could assure it success. I went there willingly. I counted upon the primitiveness of the country to supply what was wanting, and upon its misery to excite some gratitude. My xeal to realise at last the aim of my life would have led me to work on the highest peaks of the Alps. The government assigned me the new building of the residence at Stans ; but when I arrived it was not finished, and not at all suited for receiving children. The government gave orders for the necessary work and did not let me want for money. But time was needed and that was what could least be spared. When 1he children arrived in a crowd the kitchen, rooms, and beds were not for them. This was the cause of incredible trouble. For the first week I was confined to one little room ; the weather was bad, and the air unhealthy on account of the dust from the demolitions, whose plaster filled all the corridors. The want of beds necessitated me to send the poor children to their homes at night whence they returned next day covered with vermin. The most of them on their arrival presented an appearance of extreme degeneracy. Many of them suffered from itch and sores in the head ; many were as thin as skeletons, sallow anxious eyed, with foreheads wrinkled with mistrust and care; some bold, accustomed to begging, 9O PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF hypocrisy, and all kinds of deceit, others broken by misery, patient but suspicious, fearful and without affection. Amongst them there were some spoilt children who had been used to ease ; these assumed airs and held aloof from their little beggar Mends whom they despised, and they could not accommodate themselves to the rules of the house. But the most general characteristic among them was persistent idleness resulting from want of exercise of their bodily powers, and intellectual faculties. Hardly one in ten of them knew a b c, and any- thing further was out of the question. But the want of scholastic instruction troubles me the least. Trusting in the powers of human nature with which God has endowed even the poorest and most neglected children, I had long ago learned by experience that the best abilities are often found under the most unfavourable exterior ; and I soon experienced the same at Stans. I was not mistaken ; before the spring had melted the snow from our mountains you would not have recognised my children. I opened the establishment with one woman servant, and no other help. I wished to be alone. No one on earth would have cared to share my views, and I knew none able to do so. The more learned men were, the less could they enter into my ideas. All their views upon the organisa- tion and needs of the undertaking differed totally from mine. \Vhut tht-y especially rejected was the idea that it was possible to carry it out without artificial aid, trusting only to the influences of nature which surrounded the children and the activity which give rise to the needs of their daily life, whilst this was the very thought upon which I founded all my hope of success. Trained teachers could not help me, still less could and ignorant people. I had no clue to put into the hands of a fellow-worker nor sufficient facts to make my meaning clear to them. Thus whether I wished it or not I had at first to gain my experience alone. Nobody could help me. I had to help myself I wished to prove that public educa- tion should imitate the means of most value in domestic education, and upon this imitation alone does its worth depend. . . . All good education needs the mother's eye to read day by day and hour by hour every change in the soul of the child. ... It requires the power of the educator to be none other than that of a father. Such was the foundation upon which I built. The children mu- from dawn till sunset that their happiness was mine. . . . But their goodwill is not awakened by words. ... I wished above all to win the confidence and affection of the children. I felt sure if I gained this all the rest would follow. My Friend, just think what my position was in the face of the prejudices of the people and the children, and yon will understand the difficulties 1 had to overcome. This unhappy country had suffered by fire and sword all the horrors of war. The greater part of the people abhorred the new constitution and regards its help with suspicion. Their naturally melancholy character being averse to change, they clung obstinately to what remained of their THE ORPHANS AT STANS. 93 former condition. To them T was but a creature of the new order of things ; an instrument working not for them but for the men who were the cause of their misfortunes ; a heretic, who, whilst doing some good to the children, put their soul in danger. Think then of my weakness and poor external appearance and judge what I had to bear in carrying on my work. Meanwhile, however trying this was, it favoured my undertaking. I was obliged to be always with the children. I was alone with them from morning till night, and from me they received all that could be done for thier body and mind, help, consolation, and instruction. My tears mingled with theirs, and I smiled with them. My soup waa their soup. My drink, their drink. I had neither family, nor friends, nor servants around. I had only them. With them when they were well and ill; I slept in the midst of them, the last to lie down and the first to rise. When we lay down I pniyed with them and taught them till they fell asleep ; they themselves asked me to do so. I myself took care of their clothes and persons, although their condition was almost unbearable. This is how the children gradually became attached to me, and some with such affection that they corrected their parents and friends when they spoke badly of me. But what avails it for the little birds in their nest to love their mother when the bird of prey hovers constantly above them. The first effect of these principles however was not always satis- factory. The children did not easily believe in my love ; and accustomed to idleness and the disorderly pleasure of half-savage life, they had come to the convent thinking to be well fed and to do nothing. Some soon found that they had been there long enough and wished to go away ; they spoke of a school fever which attacks children kept occupied all day. This discontent arose when several of my children were ill either in consequence of a sudden change of diet and habits or from the severity of the season and the dampness of the building. We all coughed and several of the children were attacked by a putrid fever which waa very general in the country, But none of my children succumbed. From the spring the children prospered ; some magistrates and clergymen who saw them soon after scarcely knew them. But the sickly state of some of the children continued and the influence of the parents did not improve it. " Poor child how ill you look '. I could take care of you as well as you are cared for here ; Come with me." This is what some mothers said who were used to begging from door to door. On Sundays especially the parents come, pitying their children, making them weep, inciting them to leave. Thus many went away, and were replaced by others. Several thought they were doing me a personal favour in leaving men- children with me ; they asked the Capuchins if I had no other means of livelihood, seeing that I took so many pupils. . . . Some asked me for money to replace the profit they should get by their children's begging;" others, with their hat on their head, informed me thut they would give me few days' more trial ; others, again dictated their condition* to me. In this way months passed before a father or mother rejoiced me by shaking me by the hand gratefully. 92 PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF The children were won much sooner. They even wept when their parents went away without wishing me good day. . . . When I spoke alone to them they told me how they had been ill-treated, and sometimes these very children went away next day with their mothers. But there were a good many others who soon saw that with me they could learn something and get on ; their zeal was not disappointed. Their conduct was soon imitated by others who had not quite the same ieeling. Those who ran away were the worst and most incapable. But at last there was an end to the opposition they had shewn on entrance. In 1799 I had eighty children, most of them well endowed, and some most remarkably so. As soon as they saw they could succeed their zeal was indefatigable. Children who had never opened a book and could scarcely recite Paternoster and Ave Maria came in a few weeks to study nearly from morning to night with the greatest interest. Even after supper when I used to say to them : " Children will you go to sleep or learn?" they generally answered "Learn." .... I desired, above all, to awaken in them pure, moral, and elevated feeling in order to gain willingly their attention, activity, and obedience to external things. I sought but to follow the command of Jesus " Cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also." Matt, xxiii. 26. And if ever the truth of this precept was manifested it was so in my experience. My first aim was to produce among them sentiments of true family-life affection, justice, and morality. I succeeded very happily. There soon reigned among these little waifs a peace, friendship, and cordiality which are rare even among true brothers and sisters. Here is the principle upon which I acted : Seek first to open the heart of the children, and, by satisfying their daily needs min-rle love and benevolence with all their impressions, experience, and activity, so as to develop these sentiments in their heart ; then to accustom them to knowledge in order that they may know how to apply their benevolence usefully and surely in the circle around them. Lastly, approach the signs of good and evil, supply the words that express them, but connect them with the daily experience of the house, and see that they recall the child's own sentiments. But when you pass nights in trying to put into two words what others say in twenty do not regret your broken sleep. I gave my children few explanations, and I taught them neither morality nor religion. But when they were quiet I said, "Is it not much more reasonable to be as you are than when making a noise ? " When they put their arms round my neck and called me their father I used to say, " Children, is it right to deceive your father after kissing him and to do behind his back what grieves him ! " When they spoke of the misery of the country and the happiness of their lot I said, " How good God is to make men compassionate ! " Sometimes I asked them if there was not a great difference between the government that raises the poor and teaches them to earn their living, and that which abandons them to idleness and vice, with beggary and the hospital as their only resource. THE ORPHANS AT STANS. - 93 I often pictured to them the happiness of a modest and peaceful home, which by economy and work provides bread for its inmates and is able to help the unfortunate What encouraged them most, was the prospect of not always being poor, but of some daj* taking a useful and respected place amongst their equals. When I gathered them round me after the fire of Altorf, I said : ' ' Altorf is burnt, perhaps at this moment there are children homeless, hungry, and ill clad. Would you like our good government to receive twenty of them into our house ? " " Oh, yes ! " they cried ! "But, children," said I, think meanwhile what you are asking. Our house has not as much money as we would like, and it is not likely that more will be given on account of these poor children. Don't say you want them to come unless you are willing to bear all the consequences." After having thus spoken with all my power, I made them repeat all I had said in order to see whether they understood it. But they remained firm in _their decision, and all repeated : " Yes, yes, we will work harder, eat less, share our clothes with the children, and be glad for them to come." Some emigrants from Grisons having slipped some crowns into my hands for my poor children, I immediately called them and said : " These men are obliged to leave their country, they do not know where they will find shelter to-morrow. See, in their misfortune, what they have given me for you. Come and thank them." And the emotion of the children caused the refugees to weep. This is how I sought to awaken the feeling of each virtue befon; speaking of it ; for I consider it wrong to talk with children about subjects which require them to say what they do not understand by experience. . . . One can understand how it was not possible to organise a discipline for the establishment ; it could only be done gradually by the development of the work itself. Silence, as a means of obtaining activity is, perhaps the first secret of such an establishment. I had succeeded so far as to be able to teach in a very low voice and nothing could be heard but my words, and when the children repeated them I could detect every fault of pronunciation. But it was not always like this. Sometimes, in fun, I told them to repeat my words, looking the whole time at their middle finger. One can hardly believe how much such trifles contribute to the success of a high aim. One young girl who seemed to belong to a horde of savages, but accustomed herself to hold herself erect and her head steady without letting her eyes wander, from this made such progress in her moral education as would be thought to be impossible Thanks to the application of these principles, the character of my children was more calm, and better disposed to what is good and noble, than one could have anticipated upon their arrival. . . . But when the children showed evidence of hardness and rudeness, I was severe, and employed corporal punishment. . . . My punishments never produced obstinacy ; the children were satisfied when, a moment later, I shook 94 PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF hands with them and kissed them. Here is the most serious case I ever experienced : one "f the children whom I loved best, taking advantage of my affection, unjustly threatened another; I was furious when I learned it, and my hand made him smart for my indignation. The child seemed overwhelmed with grief, he wept for a quarter of an hour without interruption , then, as soon as I had passed the door to go out, he rose, went to his offended comrade, begged his pardon, and thanked him for having told of his bad conduct. My Friend, this is not a comedy ; the child till then had never seen the like done before. Elementary moral education comprehends three distinct parts : it must give the children a moral conscience by awakening pure sentiments within them ; it must then by exercise, accustom them to control them- selves in order to apply themselves to all that is good ; lastly, it must lead them by reflection and comparison to have a just idea of right and the moral duties which result from their position and surroundings. So, on hearing in the village that I punished them too much, I said to them : " Children ! You know how I love you ; tell me would you have me cease to punish you ? Do 3 ou think I can rid you of your bad habits without blows? Will you think of all I tell you without them ?" You were there my friend and you saw with what sincere emotion they cried : " We do not complain of the whippings. God keep us from deserving them ; but we want you to punish us when we do wrong." . . . The large number of children gave me opportunity every day to point out what was right and what was wrong ; what just and unjust. . . . Truth and justice are not a matter of words, but innate sentiment, elevated views, and noble aspirations, even without the external signs by which their power can be manifested. And what is not less true is, that this sentiment of truth and justice, when it is developed simply, and without phrases, in the depth of the human heart, is the best preventive against the chief and most pernicious consequences of prejudice ; it will not allow error, ignorance, and even superstition to become there what they are, and what they ever will be to those who babble about religion and right, without love and justice in their heart. . . . The man who knows much has more need to work than any other in order to bring his knowledge in harmony with his disposition and the circumstances in which he lives. . I wished to combine study with work, the school with the workshop and in a measure to blend them. But I could not realise my plan for want of the means, materials, and tools. . . . Meanwhile, in the work of the children I attached less importance to the actual gain than to the bodily exercise, which, while developing their strength and skill, would one day enable them to win their bread. . . . I sought less in the beginning to teach my children to spell, read, and write, than to profit by these exercises to develop the powers of their mind as much as possible and in all directions. I made them spell by heart before having learnt their ABC, and the whole class could spell the most difficult words without knowing the letters. ... I went rapidly over the fragments of geography and natural history in Gedilke's reading book. . . . They showed much intelligence in quoting the THE ORPHANS AT STANS. 95 personal experiences they had with plants and animals. ... 1 learned, myself, with the children. Our way was so simple and wanting in art, that I could not have scorned to learn and teauh as I did. My aim was so to simplify the means of teaching that the most ordinary man coild easily grasp them and educate his children himself. As the mother gives to her child its first bodily nourishment, so is she - ordained by God to give it its first intellectual food ; and I consider it an* evil that the little child should be taken prematurely from the house to be submitted to the artificial process of the school. . . . Then I am more than ever convinced that, as soon as we have institutions in which under powerful and truly psychological direction instruction will be combined with handicraft, a generation will be trained" which on one side will not require one tenth part of the time and trouble now devoted to modem studies ; and on the other, the powers .and resources of this teaching will harmonise with the needs of domestic life so well that every parent will be able to provide it. I have gained two very important experiences for the realisation of this desirable progress. The first i., that it is possible and easy to teach simultaneously. Second, that the children can be taught many things whilst engaged in manual woi'k. . . . My Friend can you believe it ? the warmest sympathy I have received is from the Capuchins and the nuns of the convent. Few people, except Truttmann, took any active interest in it. Those upon whom I had depended were too much, occupied with their political interests, for, in the midst of their important occupations, our little institution seemed a most insignificant affair. These were my dreams. I had to leave Stans at the moment when I thought they were about to be realised." 47. This is how the results of the experience at Stans are summed up by M. Morf, author of the most complete biography that has been published of this educational philosopher : (I). The knowledge of man must be based upon intuition. Without this foundation it is only empty verbiage, more dangerous than ignorance to the future, and the happiness of men. (2). Each branch of teaching should be brought to a starting point within the reach of the growing powers of the child. To this point a series of graduated notions should be linked in such a manner that each step can be crossed by the child's own powers. (3). The method and means should be simplified and determined or fixed to such a point that they can be employed by each mother and teacher furnished with even the smallest amount of instruction and talent ; for only thus can we hope for a spread of enlightenment among the people. (4). In every branch, the first elements must be practised until the pupil has mastered them, and the same must be done at each new step of 96 PESTALOZZI, THE FATHER OF knowledge which adds another clement to what is already known. When this precept is not followed, teaching does not- produce true intellectual culture, but merely confused and barren knowledge. (5). The teaching should be addressed to the whole class, and not only to every individual child ; the chief means consist in making all repeat in a loud voice the words of the master. Then all are occupied at once, none are inactive, and each is led te follow the common work. (6). Rhythm which is so useful to man at work or play, is also necessary to be observed in this exercise. It prevents the confusion which arises from a large number of voices ; and it increases and strengthens the impression produced bp this teaching. (7). With this mode of teaching the children can, whilst learning, practise writing or drawing, and thus train their hand, their eye, and their taste. Pestalozzi used slates upon which the pupils wrote with pencils of softer stone. The advantages of this innovation of Pestalozzi's are : great economy, and care in rubbing out and correcting ; this has rendered good service in the elementary schools. Thus this simple letter gives us the essential principles which, in our century have influenced the reform of elementary education, and especially of good primary schools. We shall see how Pestalozzi applied and developed his principles in the new spheres which his indefatigable activity opened to him. PESTALOZZI A SCHOOLMASTER AT BERTHOUU. CHAPTER IX. PESTALOZZI A SCHOOLMASTER AT BERTHOUD, (BURGDORF). 48. Pestalozzi permitted to teach gratuitously in the non Burghers' School. 49. Made master of the prepara- tory class in the Burghers' School. 60. His method judged by the School Commission. 51. Appointment to the second 52. Account of his doctrine addressed to the Society of the Friends of Education. 53. His health seriously affected by overwork. 48. Pestalozzi did not stay long at Gurnigel. As soon as he felt an improvement in his health he became impatient to resume his work his work without which he could not live the raising of the people. He impatiently waited for the evacuation of Underwalden by the French troops, for he hoped to be able to resume his work at Stans. But, as has been said, the decision of the government willed otherwise. Again he saw all his hopes vanish ; unable to found the institution which he had always thought necessary to realise his views, obliged to give up the plan he had indulged in so long, he sought another way of attaining his aim and he cried " I wih 1 be a schoolmaster. He went and offered his services at the little town of Berthoud, germ. Burgdorf, in the canton of Berne. He asked no salary but only permission to give lessons to children in one of the primary schools. This modest request was at first refused, and one can hardly wonder at it. Until then Pestalozzi had gained only one real success by the publication of Leonard and Gertrude. His practical efforts had lasted too short a time and they left behind them no result that could give the public a favourable idea of his talents. People said when he left Stans "He may work well enough H 98 PESTALO/ZI A SCHOOLMASTER for five months, but by the sixth all is over. We could foresee that : he knows nothing thoroughly, and he can put nothing in practice. Because he wrote a novel at the age of thirty, it does not follow that he can teach at fifty." This is how Charles Monnard describes Pestalozzi at the period of his life at which we have arrived : "The authorities of Berthond dared not entrust Pestalozzi with a primary school ; this immortal man could not actually compete with the most common-place candidates. He had everything against him : hard and indistinct pronunciation, bad writing, ignorance of drawing, scorn of book learning." He had studied several branches of natural history, but with carelessness of classification and terminology learned in the principal operations of numbers, he could hardly work a multiplication or division Bum with several figures, and, probably, he had never tried to demonstrate a theorem of geometry. For years this dreamer had read no books. He did not even know how to sing ; at times when his heart was moved he hummed without art, and each time to a different air, " Sweet, holy nature Let me follow thy ways." Especially this verse. " If weariness o'ercomes me, I rest upon thy breast." But in place of the ordinary knowledge which a young man of talent can acquire in two years, he understood that which the most of masters were ignorant of : the mind of man, the laws of his development, human affections and the art of animating and ennobling them ; he was contin- ually pondering over the course of nature and the history of humanity." Meanwhile two influential men in the town recognised the merit of Pestalozzi : these were Schnell, prefet of Berthoud, and Dr. Grimm ; they interposed in his favour and obtained for him, with some difficulty, permission to teach in a little school in the lower town, that was intended for those inhabitants who were not burgesses. Berthoud is situated some leagues to the north-east of Berne upon the Emme, where the rich valley \vhich is called from the name of the river opens upon the plain of the Aar. The ancient castle, the abode of the Governor, occupies the summit of a hill ; around it are grouped in terraces the little streets of the high town, which is inhabited by people in easy circumstances, the burgesses AT BERTHOUD, "(BURGDORP). 99 (who have a right or share in commonwealth) ; at the foot of the hill is the low town which then was chiefly inhabited by the poor, who were not burgesses. These who were only tolerated as foreigners had not the right to put their children to the burgesses' schools ; but only to the one provided for them in the low town. This school contained seventy-three children ; it was held in the rooms of the master, Samuel Dvsli, a shoe- maker, who worked at his trade in the hours when he was not occupied in teaching. Siegfried's Elements of Instruction, the Catechism of Heidelberg and the Psalms were the only objects and means of instruction. Nevertheless, Berthoud could be considered at this time amongst the small places not only in Switzerland but of Europe where the greatest attention was given to popular instruction. One can judge from this of the necessity and extent of the reform brought about by the work of Pestalozzi. Such, then, was the school in which this old man was admitted to teach towards the end of 1799. He was entrusted with one half of the scholars. His lessons had no connection with those which they had been accustomed to before ; no reading books nor copy books were used ; nothing was said about catechism or psalms ; the children had nothing to learn by heart, no tasks nor lessons were given to them ; they were not even questioned. They repeated all together the instructions of Pestalozzi, whilst drawing on their slates, not letters as at Stans, but what- ever forms they liked. Meanwhile, Samuel Dysli the schoolmaster, regarded this stranger as an intruder, and feared that in time he might supplant him. Besides understanding nothing of the new method, he detested it, and was especially shocked at Pestalozzi for neglecting the Catechism of Heidelberg. He told his opinions freely to the parents and succeeded in alarming them. The latter united and declared that they did not want this intruder in their school. " If the burgesses like this method," they said "let them employ it for their own H 2 100 PESTALOZZI A SCHOOLMASTER children." The authorities were obliged to yield ; and again Pestalozzi found himself condemned to inaction. 49. Schnell and Grimm however, had understood the ideas of their protege ; they were not discouraged but spoke more strongly in his favour and obtained his admission into one of the burgesses' schools. There were at this time three classes for boys and three for girls at Berthoud. The girls' classes were under one mistress, the eldest Miss Stahli, and they shared some of the lessons given to the boys, the pupils entered the schools at the age of eight years. The youngest children had a kind of preparatory class which they called the spelling and reading school ; this was Under the direction of the youngest Miss Stahli. It was in this last school that Pestalozzi was allowed to teach ; there were from twenty to twenty-five children in it of both sexes, aged from five to eight years. This is how he describes his new position in his first letter to Gessner, (in " How Gertrude teaches her Children.") "I thought myself happy. But at the heginning I was in constant dread of being turned away, which made me more awkward than I usually am. When I recall the fire and the life with which I made my school at Stans an enchanted temple, and then the anguish with which I bore the yoke at the schoolat Berthoud, I cannot understand how the same man could have played two such different parts. Here, the school was submitted to rules, which though somewhat pedantic and pretentious, were fair enough. All this was new to me ; I had never experienced anything of the kind in my life before. 1 began again to say my a.b.c. from morning to night, following without plan the empirical course interrupted at Stans. I was indefatigable in combining syllables, in disposing them in graduated series ; I did the same in numbers ; I filled whole copy books in this way ; I sought in evary way to simplify the elements of reading and counting and to reduce them to a psychological connection ; so that the child could pass et sily from the first step to the second, from the second to the third, &c. But inbtead of letters it was lines, arcs, angles, and squares, that the pupils had to draw upon their slates." At the same time Pestalozzi placed before the children large drawings representing various objects which he AT BERTHOUD, (BURGDORFJ. IOI wished them to observe and describe. One day, he made them study in this way a drawing of a window : the children had to count the number of panes, sashes, &c. During this exercise, one of them kept his eye constantly fixed on the window of the room and ended by saying : " Could we not learn as well from the window itself as from the picture ? " To Pestalozzi this was a ray of light. " The child is right," he cried, " he wants nothing to intervene between himself and nature." Immediately he put his drawings aside and made the pupils observe the objects which were in the room. 50. Pestalozzi had taught eight months thus in this school when the time for the examinations arrived in March, 1800. The result of this test are found in the following letter addressed to Pestalozzi, by the Commission of the school of Berthoud. It is the first public testimony to the method which was soon to gain such a great reputation. "The Commission of the Schools of Berthoud to Citizen Pestalozzi. " Citizen, You have given us great pleasure by submitting the children, whom you have been teaching for eight months, to our examination ; we fulfil a duty, not to you alone, worthy citizen, but to the work itself to let you know in writing the opinion that we have of it. " As far as we are able to judge, all that you promised yourself by your method is realised. You have shown what powers are already in the weakest child ; by what way these powers ran be developed ; how one should seek each talent and so exercise it as to lead it to maturity. The astonishing progress of all your young pupils with such different dispositions, shows clearly that each child is fit for something when the master recognises his talents and cultivates them with true psychologic art. Your teaching has clearly shown the foundations upon which instruction should rest so that it can afterwards be continued with real usefulness ; it has also shewn that, from the earliest years and in a very short time, the development of the child can gain an inconceivable universality whose influence extends not only over all the years of study, but over the whole life. " Whilst by the laborious method hitherto pursued children from five to eight years of age only learn the letters, to spell and read, your pupils have not only accomplished this task with such a degree of perfection as we have not met with before, but the cleverest among them distinguished ihemselves by their beautiful writing, their talent for drawing ani IO2 PESTALOZZI A SCHOOLMASTER counting. You have succeeded with all in arousing and cultivating the taste for history, natural history, measuring, geography, &c., in such a way that their future masters will see their work incredibly simplified if they are able to take advantage of this preparation. " In the future the higher classes will receive from you or from a master who follows your method, no longer children whom it takes years of work to teach the first elements, but pupils who lack nothing in this respect, and who, besides, have their heads already furnished with useful knowledge. " What advantage has not your manner of teaching over those which have been in use until the present time ? Besides that of rapidity of progress and variety of knowledge given to early years, it is especially adapted for family use, to be followed by each mother or older child, even by each sensible servant. What an advantage this would be for the comm unes, the parents, and the children ! " We do not think, worthy man, that we exceed the praise suited to- our official testimony by adding that you have rendered lasting services to our youth and to our schools, and that we are honoured that you have chosen us to serve to realise the noble plans which do so much honour to- your heart and which will lighten so much the labour ef future teachers May your ardent zeal to put in practice a theory so good and w?ll suited to the needs of humanity not be fettered by the critical position of our country, by jealousy or other passions, nor by the want of public support. May you never be turned from your favourite work the- educating and ennobling of childhood. " May we not be too insignificent to help in a measure this great aim. With the republican salute and true consideration. " In the name of the commission of the schools, "The President, EM. KUI-FEHSCHMID." "Berthoud, March 31st, 1800. " Convinced of the truth of this testimony, and as a proof of my esteem, I have stamped this act with my seal of office. " The prefect of the district of Burthoud, (L.S) J. SCHNELL. This testimonial does the greatest honour to the commission of Berthoud. Amidst all .the clumsiness, irregularities and oddities with which this new teaching was hampered, in spite of the defects of form which amused the vulgar eye and caused so much prejudice, it unravelled the true merit of the work which neither Businger nor Zschokke could do ; nevertheless, Pestalozzi was not less awkward at Berthoud, than at Stans. This document also proves that the old man was not so incapable of teaching as he is said to have been, for it points to real, rapid and astonishing progress which had been made by AT BERTHOUD, (BURGDORF). 103 the children. Pestalozzi was not so unpractical as he believed himself to be ; the proof of this is the number of practical inventions by which he made teaching easy. We have already spoken of his employing slates for writing and drawing ; he also introduced large movable letters arranged on a frame ; they are found mentioned in his book, already alluded to, upon the teaching of reading : it was by their means that he taught the little children of Berthoud to read ; movable letters have since come into very general use, but every one does not make use of them as Pestalozzi did, and they often are no more than useless playthings. We should also mention his frames for intuitive arithmetic ; they were not finished till later on ; but already at Berthoud, he made use of pictures upon which the units were represented by points. Such was the first success of the Method, the first, at least that was recognised and publicly acknowledged. But the joy which it brought to Pestalozzi was soon and sadly troubled by the news of the dangerous illness of nis beloved son Jacobli. The old man hastened to Neuhof ; after some days all immediate danger disappeared, but the young man was paralysed. After spending the Easter holidays at the sick bed of his only son, the father returned sadly to Berthoud. 51. Then, and doubtless as a result of the favourable examination which his little school had undergone, Pestalozzi was appointed master of the second school of Berthoud which numbered about sixty pupils of both texes, aged from eight to fifteen years. Here he taught bible -history, geography, the history of Switzerland, arithmetic and writing. Several pupils received elementary lessons in Latin, from the master of the first class. In this second class Pestalozzi renewed his experiences with fresh zeal, at the opening of the schools in May, 1800. The energy which he displayed in this new field is described in a very curious way, by one of the children of his school, then aged ten years, and who, thirty-eight years later published his autobiography under the title of a " Short Sketch of my Pedagogic Life." . IO4 PESTALOZZI A SCHOOLMASTER He was called John Ramsauer. He was a poor orphan of Appenzell driven from his country by the misfortunes of f the war, and received in charity by Madame de Werth at Schleumen near Berthoud ; trained by Pestalozzi he became a remarkable teacher, and ended by being the tutor of the Princes and Princesses of Oldenburg. This is how Ramsauer describes Pestalozzi and his school at Berthoud in the summer of 1800 : " As for school learning, properly so called, I gained nothing, nor did the other pupils. But his holy zeal, his love, causing him to forget himself always, his painful and serious position which did not escape the eyes of the children made a most profound impression upon me, and my childish heart was drawn to him. So, when Mme. de Werth before going to pass the winter at Berne gave me and my companion the choice of accompanying her or remaining at Berthoud, I decided to stay whilst my comrade preferred the rich and beautiful capital. "It is impossible to give a clear and complete picture of this school. According to Pestalozzi' s views all the teaching was based upon three elements: language, number &&& form. "There was no regular school plan nor order of lessons ; and Pestalo//i did not limit himself to any fixed time, but often went on with the same subject for two or throe hours. Wo numbered about sixty boys and girls from eight to fifteen years of age ; our lessons lasted from eight o'clock in the morning till eleven ; and in the afternoon from two o'clock till four, and the teaching was limited to drawing, arithmetic and exercises in language. " There was neither reading nor writing ; the pupils had no text-books nor copy books and they learned nothing by heart. We had neither drawing models nor directions but slates only and red chalk, and whilst Pestaloz/i made us repeat sentences about natural history as language xercises, we could draw whatever u~e liked : some drew little men and women; others houses; others ag;dn traced lines and arabesques according to their fancy. Pestalozzi never looked at what we drew or rather scribbled ; but by the cuffs and elbows of our coats one could see that the scholars had made use of the red chalk. As for arithmetic we had between every two scholars a little frame divided into squares in which were points that we could count, add, multiply, subtract, and divide. " It was from this that Krusi and Buss (fellow-workers with Pestalozzi) took the idea of the Table of Units and later on the Table of fractions. But as Pestalozzi confined himself to making us say or repeat these -exercises in a row, without questioning, this plan, excellent as it was, was not of much use. " Our master had not patience to go back, and in his excessive zeal he troubled himself little with the individual pupil. The exercises in language were the best, those especially upon the paper of the school- AT BERTHOUD, (BURGDORF). 105 room, which were true exercises in intuition. We spent hours before that old and torn paper, occupied in examining the pattern, holes and tears, in reference to number, form, position, and colour, also in formulating our observations into sentences more and more dereloped. Then he said to us : Boys ! What do you see ? (He never mentioned the girls.) Answer : A hole in the paper. A tenr in the paper. Pest : Well ! Repeat after me : I see a hole in the paper, I see a long hole in the paper, Behind the hole I see the wall, I see figures on the paper, I see black figures on the paper, I see round and black figures on the paper, I see a square yellow figure on the paper. ' Beside the square yellow figure I see a round black one. The square figure is joined to the round figure by a wide black stripe, &c. The exercises on natural history were not so well undei stood. As Pestalozzi, in his zeal, did not notice the time he often went on from 8 o'clock till 11 with the same subject." After reading this grotesque description one can hardly wonder that at this time Pestalozzi's work was sometimes looked upon as nonsense. But we must not forget that Ramasuer was then a child of ten years and that the eccentricites would chiefly strike him at that age and leave him the memories which he has entered in his book. It is also true that in his school at Berthoud, Pestalozzi was occupied in making experiments and getting experience more than in the immediate instruction of his scholars. Then, he was not yet clear as to what was his method ; he was unable to explain it, he was seeking it. It was in same summer of 1800 that a word of a member of the executive commission, M.Gleyre, of the Canton of Vaud, put him on the way. This is how he relates this incident (first letter to Gesseur, How Gertrude -teaches her Children.) This letter is dated January ist, 1801 : " Whilst engaged amidst the dust of school, I was seeking to fulfil my duty, not in a superficial way, but by working night and day, I continually faced facts which brought to light the mechanico-physico laws by which our mind gains and retains impressions with more or less ease. Every day I was organising my teaching in a manner more conformable to its IO6 PESTALOZZI A SCHOOLMASTER rules, and yet I could not explain clearly their principle until counsellor Gleyre, to whom I tried last summer to explain the spirit of my method, said to me aflast- "You wish to mechanise education." He furnished me with the word which expressed at once my aim and the means that I was using .... For thirty years I had not read a book, I could no longer read. I had no language for abstract ideas, and I lived only in convictions which were the result of lively intuitions, and great experiences mostly forgotten. Let us hasten to say that in the second edition of the work (1821) just mentioned Pestalozzi thought otherwise. He saw that the word ' mechanise ' expresses a contrary idea to his views and if he at first adopted it, it was because his ignorance of the French language prevented his understanding its true sense. Meanwhile he had commenced by accepting and employing it; and one can understand what idea of his method would be conveyed to strangers to whom he said he wished to " mechanise" education. His error was soon corrected. This is the first sentence of an exposition of his doctrine which he wrote a short time after. " I ivish to psychologize education." Thus already he coins a new word to replace the one he sees is inappropriate." 52. Nobody rejoiced more in Pestalozzi's success than Stapfer. But the statesman saw his protege still poor and his ideas little known. In order to help the old man to make his views known, he founded in June, 1800, a Society of the Friends of Education which undertook a commission to study the method of Pestalozzi and to make a report on it. This commission which included some distinguished men, such as Paul Usteri of Zurich and Liithi of Soleure begged Pestalozzi to give a short account of his doctrine and practice. The latter immediately sat down to write and began with the phrase quoted above. This is the first systematic description, made by the author of the method, who wrote it after having always worked alone just before he was associated with others. This will suffice to give it great importance, but it is not less valuable on its own account, for it presents the doctrine of Pestalozzi with a clearness and fairness which have hardly been surpassed in anything the author wrote later. This memoir, unfortunately left unpublished, remained almost unknown. It was at last printed by Niederer in his Pestalozzian Pamphlets, Aix-la- Chapelle, 1828, but this book is not now to be had. The author commences by developing the meaning of AT BERTHOUD, (BURGDORF). 107 his first sentence. " I seek to psychologise human teach- ing." He explains that he wants to submit the forms of teaching to the eternal laws which preside at the developing of the human spirit ; that he has sought whilst conforming to these laws, to simplify the elements of human knowledge and to reduce them to a series of notions whose psychologi- cal connection should result in assuring to the lowest classes of society a true physical, intellectual, and moral development. He then shows that intuition joined to exercises of language intended to express the different impressions gained should be the basis of instruction, and he points out language, drawing, writing, counting and the art of measuring, as the general elements of the culture of man ; elements transmitted and consecrated by the experience of generations. Then he shows the series of elementary notions which he has already elaborated and points out the branches of study to which this work is yet to be applied. In this memoir there often occurs the wrong word which he seemed to have given up : he speaks of imitating the mechanism of nature, as if he forgot the spiritual essence of the mind and soul of man. But the depth of his thought is shown clearly in the page which we are about to quote. " The mechanism of nature takes everywhere a simple but ascending- course. Man, imitate it. Imitate nature which, from the seed of the largest tree, at first only sends forth an imperceptible germ; but by insensible growth from day to day, from hour to hour, adds something to it, develops first the rudiments of the trunk, then those of the principal branches, at last those of the secondary branches and the smallest twigs to which the leaves are attached. " Observe well how nature cares for, preserves and strengthens each part which it has formed to link to its life that of a new part of its work. " Observe how the glowing flower only develops after being slowly formed in the bud ; how it soon loses the beauty of its first bloom and leaves only a weak but completely formed fruit ; how this fruit gains something real every day and grows thus suspended to the branch that nourishes it, until when completely ripe, it falls from the tree. " Observe well how nature, as soon as she forms the first bud which rises, forms also the first germ of the root and buries deep in the earth the noblest part of the tree ; how by an intimate connection it developo thft immovable trunk from the root, the branches from the trunk, and the shoots from the branches, how it gives to all the parts, even the weakest and most external, sap enough, but nothing useless nor superfluous." IO8 PESTALOZZI A SCHOOLMASTER Under the name of Mechanism of nature, it is very evident that Pestalozzi describes here the vegetable organism and that he suggests it as a model for the educator. One may conclude from this that it is the word organism that should be read wherever he used the term mechanism to education. The mind and heart of man, as well as his body develop according to the laws of the organism. Such is the fundamental principle of the doctrine of Pestalozzi ; the continuation of this work .will show with what evidence. During this summer of 1800, Pestalozzi did not obtain in his large class the success which his efforts had met with in the junior school. One could foresee by the admission of Ramsauer, that " the most of his scholars made his life bitter." Stapfer also says that the appear- ance and manners of the old man often compromised his authority in his class to such a degree that Schnell was obliged to interpose to restore it. It could not be other- wise. The method of Pestalozzi was then exclusively and excessively elementary ; it dealt with human knowledge in its first and simplest principles. It addressed itself only to little beginners. One can understand that it was" almost impossible to apply it to scholars, who, for several years had been receiving instruction in a totally different way. The latter thought themselves clever and well instructed already, and the simple, childish exercises that were given to them, instead of interesting them only offended their self-conceit. The same thing occurred again, and the work which had succeeded so well at the institute of Berthoud, succeeded far less satisfactorily at Yverdon. The Helvetic Directory which had given such generous attention to the educational plans of Pestalozzi had been replaced on Jan. yth, 1800, by an Executive Commission of seven members. From the i8th of Feb., Stapfer had addressed a memorial in French to this Commission in which, after having again explained the views of Pestalozzi and the success gained by his teaching at Berthoud, he said : It would be unpardonable, if the Helvetic Govern- AT BERTHOUD, (BURGDORp). log ment did not take advantage for the country's sake, of the talents of this unique man, and if it did not utilise the virtues of an old man whose frozen blood cannot extinguish his ardour for the amelioration of the fate of his fellow men ; and whose heart in the depth of the winter of life is consumed with the desire to be useful, and burns with the holy love of humanity. He concluded by asking, in the name of Pestalozzi, a privilege for the publication of his writings, a contribution of i, 600 Swiss livres, payable in ten terms of 100 livres a quarter, partly for the printing of the elementary books which he was making, partly for the foundation of a special educational establishment ; and lastly, to facilitate the erection of necessary buildings, he asked for the gift of two hundred trees to be taken from the national forests in the neighbourhood of Neuhof. Pestalozzi offered as a guarantee the deposit of his manuscripts which were valued at i, 600 livres by impartial booksellers, and engaged to apply to the new establishment the proceeds of the sale of his works, as well as to receive the poor into his institute according as his means would allow. The executive commission, by the decision of February 25th, had granted the 1600 livres, on condition that Pestal- ozzi re-imbursed them when his institute should have yielded the means of doing so. It had asked the legislative council to corroborate its decision. But it refused the trees for building, on the ground of the bad state of the forests of Aargau and offered Pestalozzi authority to supply himself with wood from another part of Switzerland. Pestalozzi thanked the executive commission by the following letter : " Citizen Councillors of State ! " Until now, I feared I would have died without my Fatherland having lent me a helping hand to forward the sole aim of my life. You may judge Citizen Councillors of State, how the decision hy which you have dispelled this fear has raised my spirit and made my heart gratetuL " Respect and patriotic fidelity, " Berthoud, March 6th, 1880. PBSTALOZZI." IIO PESTALOZZI A SCHOOLMASTER AT BERTHOUD. 53. Meanwhile the extreme embarrassment of the finances of the Republic, hardly allowed the execution of the decision. Even later, when Pestalozzi had actually founded and set in action his institute at Berthoud, he received for the first year only 177^ livres from the state funds, which also paid about 358 livres for the expense of printing his first elementary book, his Instruction in the teaching of spelling and reading. Besides, the refusal of the timber being taken from the neighbourhood of Neuhof had upset Pestalozzi's plans and obliged him to defer his projects. This is why he was obliged to continue in the class the excessive work which exhausted his strength. His chest could not stand the violent exercise which he gave it from morning to evening, and he became as ill as he had been when he was at Stans. ' ' For thirty years my life has been a desperate struggle with the most dreadful poverty. Do you know that for thirty years I have wanted absolute necessaries ? Do you know that until now I have not mixed in society or attended church because I had no clothes nor money to bny them ? Oh Zschokke, do you know I have been obliged a thousand times to go dinnerless, and at midday when the poorest were seated round a table, I was eating in bitterness a piece of bread upon the road. Yes, Zschokke, and even to day I am struggling against the most frightful poverty ; and all to be able to help the poorest by the realisation of my principles." Once again deceived in his hopes he saw his life and strength consumed in vain, and the work of his choice lost for ever, when Providence saved him for the happiness of humanity by sending him a fellow labourer worthy of him, a man such as he did not think could be found in the world. This was Hermann Krusi. KRUSI, PESTALOZZI'S FIRST FELLOW- LABOURER. Ill CHAPTER X. KRUSI, PESTALOZZI'S FIRST FELLOW-LABOURER. 4. A glimpse of Appenzell and its people. 55. How the errand-boy Krusi became a schoolmaster. 56. Eastern Switzerland ruined by the war. 67. Krusi conducts twenty -eight poor children to Burgdorf. 58 Fischer employs Krusi in the school. Death of Fischer. 59. Krusi joins Pestalozzi. 54. Hermann Krusi was born in the village of Gai'ss in Appenzell in 1775. Gai'ss is situated in a high valley of the canton which is one of the most remarkable places in Switzerland, both on account of its fine scenery, and still more for the manners, industry, and natural wit of its inhabitants. It has produced many distinguished men and it furnished Pestalozzi with several excellent collaborateurs. This mountainous and broken country has little corn- land ; there are woods in the ravines and on the heights ; and everywhere else, beautiful, well-watered meadows covered with bright verdure when the snows disappear. Fruit trees are plentiful, but they are stunted and suited to a severe climate. Hence the chief agricultural products are those of the dairy, fruit, and cider, and they do not suffice to support the inhabitants. Trade, however, has helped with the work of the soil and the flocks spread comfort and prosperity in the country-side. The people are employed in embroidery, in weaving different stuffs, especially muslin, and nearly every house has a cowhouse and workshop. The father of Krusi, a small tradesman of Gai'ss, needed the help of his son, so he could not keep him long at school. Besides, the school at Gai'ss like the most of 112 KRUSI, PESTALOZZI S those of the time had very limited resources. The children who gathered there were called up in turn to say their lesson which consisted of the elements of reading and the repetition of the catechism ; only the most advanced scholars began writing. If the little Hermann learned anything there it was soon forgotten, and at the age of twelve months he went on commission from village to village for his father without knowing what was taught at the school. But the child had a lively intelligence, a remarkable spirit of observation, and a passionate desire to learn and instruct himself, whilst working hard for his bread. His father entrusted him to go and buy and sell in the various small towns of the country. Often entrusted with con- siderable sums of money, he had to count it, and in this way he learned arithmetic ; at the same time he accustomed himself to distinguish the various qualities of the diverse kinds of goods ; then he gathered flowers by the wayside which familiarised him with the characters and names of the most useful plants. The young Hermann had thus a lively sense of the beauties of nature, a rare quality amongst those whose daily toil leaves them little leisure ; associated with his admiration for the beautiful places of his country was sincere and lively piety which he had inherited from infancy and which in the midst of his business occupations developed more and more in his simple, pure, and loving heart. Hermann Krusi was eighteen years old when a fortunate occurrence led him to the work of teaching, which he never would have thought of, but for which he was eminently fitted. Here we shall let him speak, for it is from his own mouth that we learned the following episode : " One very hot summer day, I was returning from Trogen, crossing the mountain of the Gaebris with a heavy load of thread from the firm of Zellwegger, and it was just at the place where the road parts that the current of my thoughts and life turned. Having arrived at the top of the road, I put down my load to wipe the perspiration from my brow, when I met one of my acquaintances, Mr. Gruber, then treasurer of the State. FIRST FELLOW-LABOURER. 113 " It is a warm day, Hermann." said he to me, " Yes, very warm." " The schoolmaster, Haerlen is leaving Ga'iss, and you might, perhaps, earn your bread with less trouble. Would you not like to apply for the appointment ? " " It is not a question of liking : a schoolmaster should have some knowledge, and I have none." " All that a schoolmaster here can and should know, you could learn easily." " But where and how? I cannot see any chance of doing so." " If you are willing the means will not be wanting. Make up your mind and lose no time." After this he left me. I might well seek and reflect, the light was not made for me. Nevertheless I rapidly descended the mountain, scarcely feeling my load. My friend Sonderegger obtained for me a single writing copy, made by a clever calligraphist of Altstatten and I copied it more than a hundred times, this was my only preparation. Notwithstanding which I applied, but with little hope of success. There were two candidates. The principal test was the writing of the Lord's Prayer and I did my very best. I had observed that here and there capital letters were employed, but I did not know their use and I took them for an ornament. I therefore distributed mine in symme- trical order so that they were to be seen even in the middle of words. In fact, neither of us knew anything. When the result of the examination was to be given, I was called and Captain Schoepfer announced to me that the examiners had found both of us very weak, the other candidate's reading was better than mine, but that my writing excelled his, that as I was 'eighteen years of age, and my rival forty, I could better acquire what knowledge was required ; besides my room being larger than my rival's, suited better for school purposes ; and, in short that I was appointed to fill the vacancy." Then some old furniture which encumbered the room was taken away, and the hundred children of the parish I 114 KRUSI, PESTALOZZI S came here in 1793. Here was Hermann Krusi with these hundred children in his room, very much at a loss how to keep them in order, to occupy, and instruct them. Another in his place would have tried to recall what he had learned at school and have tried to copy his old master. But he did nothing of the kind. He had been tempted to the work on account of the means it would give him for study ; he knew he had much to learn, and instead of seeking to profess before his scholars he began to learn with them. He was warmly assisted by the pastor who, convinced of the errors of the old scholastic routine, was seeking new ways of elementary teaching. This excellent man helped Krusi to direct the school for the first eight weeks. The children were divided into three classes which were kept constantly occupied. A new reading book was introduced into the school ; it contained Bible Stories, notions of geography and natural history ; the children were questioned upon what they read so as to see that they thoroughly understood it. Krusi worked enormously ; he was happy in his new position, first because he was instructing himself, but especially because he loved the children ; he wished not only their good for the future, but also their pYesent happiness ; he knew how necessary activity is for them and he did all he could to prevent their ever suffering from weariness. Amongst the varied exercises of the class he did not hesitate to introduce accounts of his own experiences, of those especially by which he taught himself, sometimes at his own ~xpense, in the ordinary knowledge relating to the life of the people of the country. He spoke often to them of weaving and of cattle, of plants, and merchandise to the great delight of the children who were astonished to hear at school of things which interested them so much. Such a change in the habits of the school could not fail to be criticised and to meet with opposition. This opposi- tion became stronger after the revolution of 1798. Krusi was favourable to the new state of things because he thought it more favourable to develop popular work FIRST FELLOW-LABOURER. 115 and the progress of public instruction. This drew away from him many of those who remained attached to the old state of things. A chain of circumstances which we shall now relate opened up a new career to him. Towards the end of last century the celebrated educational establishment directed by Salzmann at Schnepfenthal had trained several good disciples full of zeal for reform and the advancement of public instruction. Amongst these was a young Swiss, named Fischer, who had finished his theological studies and became an assistant minister. But at the revolution of 1798, he gave up his post to become Secretary to the Minister of Arts and Sciences of the new Helvetic Government. Fischer, like Pestalozzi, had elevated, generous, and patriotic views ; like him, he felt the need of raising the schools of Switzerland ; but it was by the foundation of a normal school that he sought to reach his aim, whilst Pestalozzi wished at first to apply his doctrine to the education of young children. Fischer's plan was the same as Stapfer's ; and Stapfer had it approved by the Government. But the state of the finances did not admit of the establishing of this foundation ; Fischer was promised support if he succeeded in founding a normal school, ; he was led to hope that in time it would become a State institution. To carry out his plans, Fischer chose the Castle of Berthoud, and the Government put a part of it at his disposal. The future director went and installed himself there and he was well received by the inhabitants of Berthoud ; he was commissioned to re-organise and direct this school and he employed himself zealously whilst expecting the means to found his normal school. 56. Meanwhile there came in the autumn of 1799, a disaster, similar to that of the preceding year at Stans which ruined Eastern Switzerland ; the war that the French were carrying on there against the Austrians and Russians had destroyed everything. A dreadful famine prevailed especially in the cantons of the Linth and Santis where hundreds of mothers had not a piece of bread tu I 2 Il6 KRUSI, PESTALOZZl's give their children. The inhabitants of the Swiss country who escaped this scourge were touched with compassion and they sent for the unfortunate children of their ruined fellow-countrymen and brought them up. Fischer, at Berthoud, was the originator of this generous work ; he found so much sympathy around him that in the month of December he wrote to his friend Steinmuller of Claris, then pastor at Gai'ss, asking him for thirty poor children whom he undertook to place well ; he wished them to be accompanied by a young man capable of taking care of them and who had a taste for teaching ; Fischer promised to instruct and train him to be a good teacher. From the beginning of 1800, Steinmuller went back to Claris, his country ; it was the district that had suffered the most. But already eighty poor children of this canton had been sent away, and, by the care of the Literary Society of Berne, they were placed in the country of Vaud, then the canton of Leman, to the great grief of several Glaronais, who considered the Vaudois as having caused all the misfortunes of the country by calling in the French. When he returned to Gai'ss, Steinmuller announced to his parishoners that he could place some children in families of the canton of Berne, who would take the greatest care of them, and such was the misery of the country then that from the first day they proposed forty to him. It was Krusi whom the pastor sought to induce to accompany the young emigrants ; he pointed out to him the advantage he would have in being instructed by Fischer, perhaps also by Pestalozzi. Although the latter was already very celebrated, the young teacher had never heard of him ; nevertheless he accepted the offer eagerly, being full of the desire to pursue further his instruction and his talents for teaching. This is how Pastor Steinmuller speaks of Krusi in a letter which he wrote to Fischer, January i6th, 1800. " I have found just such a man as I was seeking, and I hope he will also please you. He is twenty-four years of ige ; he possesses only what he earns each day ; he is full FIRST FELLOW-LABOURER. llj of goodwill, gentle, and active ; his preliminary qualifica- tions are not without importance ; and he has a warm love for the profession ; he will certainly rise ; he is strictly moral and good. It is one of my parishioners and school- masters, Hermann Krusi, who desires very much lo go to you, knowing all that he will gain with you and Pestalozzi He can return here if he does not suit you." 57. On the 2ist of January, 1800, Krusi set out fron Gaiss with twenty-eight children of both sexes. He has left us some details of this journey which show that the little band met with sympathy at every stage. " At Winterthour " said he, " whilst they gave us refresh- ments, came the excellent pastor Hanhart, who, after being informed of the cause of our journey, went out hurriedly and returned soon with some crowns and small change which he had collected in his great zeal, and he gave us it accompanied by his best wishes and blessings. ' " At Bassersdorf, where we arrived later we were obliged to go to two inns ; but the beds there were all occupied on account of the fair at Zurich, and they put us into large rooms covered with straw. The Judge of the District had just come to the inn : its president had a plate sent round to collect the offerings for us and we carried them away with the best wishes for our journey." On the ayth January, the little company arrived at Berthoud. The children were placed in several families of the neighbourhood, Krusi lodged at the Castle where Fischer and Pestalozzi lived, and he took his meals with a burgess of the town. This emigration of poor children from the little cantons to other parts of Switzerland is a fact which characterises this period of confusion in a very remarkable manner. If we admire the devotion which led so many families to take in the little foreigners, we can hardly understand the misery which induced so many parents to part with their children. And this transmission of children was very general. A second convoy of forty-four Appenzellois took place in the beginning of February 1800. Jean Ramsauer of whom we have already spoken, formed one of the party ; Il8 KRUSI, PESTALOZZI'S he was then ten years old ; in his memoirs he has left a curious account of this journey, from which we borrow the following passages : "We travelled in two open carriages ; at midday and in the evening we went to our quarters where we were received and treated better or worse according to the political opinions of the inhabitants. I remarked at the time that it was nearly always the poorest, and most neglected and ignorant children who complained and lamented the most, whilst those who had known some comfort and received some education bore their troubles much better. Our first sleeping place was at Weil, canton of Thurgovie ; it was late and we were obliged to look for a long time for our resting place, carrying lanterns and walking through thick snow ; I was lodged with two other children in a very poor house ; we went to bed without supper, under a roof that let in the wind and the snow. At Zurich, which was full of foreign troops we could only find shelter iii a hospital, upon straw, where the most of the children did nothing but complain all night and were ill next day. At Morgenthal, in the canton of Berne, the people did not want to receive us and we were obliged to travel some leagues during the night to seek a resting place which we found at last in the remote house of a peasant which was already full of soldiers and vivandieres. The most of these people came to us, however, with compassion and benevolence. We could not congratulate ourselves enough upon the welcome which we received at Lenzbourg, where we had comfortable beds, and at Suhr where we had a good dinner. At the end of a week, we arrived at our destina- tion which was Obcrburgh, a league south from Berthoud. There ranged along the public place we were exposed to the view of generous persons who wished to adopt us. The rich people chose the prettiest children, the peasant the strongest and most robust. I was one of those whom nobody wanted, and fifteen of us were sent to Sehleumen a league west of Berthoud. There again ranged in ranks, we waited our fate, when the good Lady de Werth, who wished to take charge of two children came from her beautiful home to examine us. All were sad and silent. I only seemed gay and I cried " Ah, I know the age of this house," the date was inscribed above the door. My vivacity pleased Mme. de Werth, and she took me home with her and one of my comrades. The rest were taken to the rich village of Hindelbauk. A short time after, the same little country of Appenzell sent out a third, then a fourth convoy of children ; and they came not only from the Canton of Claris, but from those of Uri, Schwytz, Unterwald, Zug, and Saint Gall. They were welcomed in all parts of Switzerland, from Bale to Geneva. FIRST FELLOW LABOURER. 1 19 58. Krusi, established at Berthoud, taught the children whom he had brought and who were welcomed by some individuals of the town and its neighbourhood. The latter asked what money they would have to pay to the master : the school commissioners answered : " The teacher Krusi continues to instruct the children here, he is inclined to receive still more pupils. He receives about three shillings and sixpence per month for the lessons which he gives out of school. But we do not want to impose any further charge upon the adopted parents of the foreign children : those who wish to give a contribution to the master Krusi will themselves fix the amount." Pestalozzi, Fischer, and Krusi all lived under the same roof, not only on friendly terms, but in perfect unity. Pestalozzi and Fischer although their views were not the same, loved and esteemed each other very highly. But it was Fischer who directed the work of Krusi by his lessons, his example, and advice. Meanwhile the means of founding a normal school never came ; Fischer, who could not wait longer, accepted an appointment at Berne where he was nominated professor extraordinary ot philosophy and pedagogy ; and adjunct to the council of education : he went there on April 2nd, 1800. Krusi suffered from being deprived of his support, but he went every Sunday to Berne and got advice from Fischer, and gave him an account of the work of the week. Soon Fischer fell ill and died. Pestalozzi broke the sad news to Krusi. 59. Then he proposed that they should unite their schools and their efforts, and undertake a common work. Krusi accepted the offer at once, for he had come to know Pestalozzi, and to love and appreciate his educational views, which in some respects resembled the way that he had followed in teaching himself. Thus it was that Pestalozzi found the fellow-labourer whom he needed, a man full of heart, intelligence, activity, and zeal for teaching, and at the same time entirely free from the prejudices of the old schools. Krusi differed still more from the most of teachers in thinking himself more I2O KRUSI, PESTALOZZI S FIRST FELLOW-LABOURER. ignorant than he really was. He remained with Pestalozzi until the dissolution of the Institute at. Yverdon, teaching with much success all the elementary branches and distinguishing himself especially in exercises of language and natural history. His old pupils recall with affection this excellent man, with his fine patriarchal face, his high forehead, his curly hair, his intelligent eyes, and especially his constant expression of mildness, simplicity and benevolence. It was Krusi whom we liked best as our guide in our walks and mountain climbs ; and when we were weak and little children, he took care of us during these excursions, not only like a father, but with the delicacy and thoughtful care of a good mother. Krusi married at Yverdon, a charming and excellent assistant mistress in the Girls' School which was directed by M. and Mme. Niederer. On the fall of Pestalozzi's establishment he returned to his own country and was entrusted with the direction, first of the cantonal school at Trogen, then that of the normal school at Gai'ss. There we had the happiness of finding our old master, and of spending a week with him in 1837. He had a large house situated above the village at the foot of the Gaebris, and occupied the first story with his family ; the second was a school for girls directed by his eldest daughter who had been the pupil of Mme. Niederer; on the ground-floor was the room of the pupil teachers who lodged in the village, and beside it a Primary School where Krusi instructed children whose grandparents had been his pupils forty-four years before. Krusi was then sixty-two years of age ; it was twenty years since he had left us and he had changed very little ; he seemed just as active as ever. In the lessons, walks, games, songs, and at prayer, his goodness, ardour, and gentle piety animated the whole house and made harmony, joy, warmth, and earnest work to reign there. PESTALOZZI, HEAD OF THE INSTITUTE AT BERTHOUD. 121 CHAPTER XI. PESTALOZZI, HEAD OF THE INSTITUTE AT BERTHOUD. <>0. Union of the two Schools at the Castle. 31. Tobler, Buss, and Xaef join them. *2. Apiiivciation. by the Society of the Friends of Education. <>3. Great success of the Institute : its reputation abroad. 64. Distinguished visitors and their testimony. Co. Examination by Government Commission: Official report. 66. A Normal School to be founded. 67. Counter-Kevolution in Swit- zerland. 68. Pestalozzi in Paris, a deputy to the Conference. 69. Bonaparte and Pestalozzi. 70. The Castle of Berthoud required by the Government. 71. The Institute removed to Slunchenbuchsee : then to Yverdon. 60. Pestalozzi found in Krusi a help meet for him, a man who understood and adopted his ideas, who zealous to help him by following his advice, had precisely the knowledge and power which he himself lacked. In order to unite the two schools, that of the poor refugees with the pupils of Pestalozzi who were better off, more room was needed. Thanks to Stapfer, the executive council, by a decision of July 23rd, 1800, gave up to Pestalozzi all the necessary accommodation in the castle, a supply of wood, and a portion of the garden for the cultivation of vegetables. Then the two friends began to work together. This is the account that Krusi gives of their first efforts : "Pestalozzi let me do as I please. I was full of admiration for his views, work and experiences, encouraged by his confidence, and happy in his friendship. The appearance of our united schools became every day more cheering. The joy of our children and their desire to learn Boon attracted a serious attention to the new school." 122 PESTALOZZI, HEAD OF Pestalozzi, however, was less satisfied ; he felt hampered by the great diversity of age, instruction, character, habits and origin of the children brought together under his care. He felt the need of new helpers to leave him more freedom of action, especially as he was now engaged upon his books of elementary teaching ; which, we think was a mistake, but of which more will be said later on. 61. The summer holidays soon came and Krusi took advantage of them to go and visit his countryman, Tobler, who was tutor in a family in Bale ; and who, by his correspondence with Fischer, already knew Pestalozzi. He told him of the new undertaking at Berthoud and asked him to come and help. Tobler consented at once. He had talent, imagination, and a great taste for learning and teaching. His elementary education had been much neglected ; at the age of twenty-two years he had suddenly decided to begin serious study in order to become a minister of the GoSpel ; but, obliged to earn his living, he had become tutor in a family at Bale, carrying on his own study meanwhile. He worked in this way most zealously for six years, and remarked that he only succeeded very partially in communicating his knowledge to his pupils when he became acquainted with Pestalozzi. He under- stood that this man possessed what he wanted, so he was very happy to hasten to Berthoud. Pestalozzi needed a drawing and singing master. Tobler recommended Buss to him. Buss was then an apprentice bookbinder at Bale. This Buss had a singular life. His father employed and lodged in the school of theology at Tubingen, made him attend the latin school from the age of three years to thirteen. At eight years of age he received pianoforte lessons from a student who left in six months ; obliged to continue his music alone, he made such progress that, at the age of twelve, he was able to give successful lessons to a lady and a boy. At eleven he took drawing lessons and continued studying Greek, Hebrew, logic, and rhetoric. His father hoped that he might be able to finish his studies gratui- tously at the Academy of Arts and Sciences at Stuttgart, but he was sent away, because he was of too low extraction. THE INSTITUTE AT BERTHOUD. 123 Distressed and obliged to earn his bread, he became an apprentice bookbinder, continuing, however in spite of his depression, to cultivate his talents for music and drawing. He was working in this way at Bale without any love for the occupation which he had chosen, when Tobler sent him the offer of Pestalozzi. His friends did not advise him to accept it, for they knew of the great pedagogue only from the ridiculous sides. " He is a half-fool," they said to him, "you should have nothing to do with him ; he does not know what he is about ; he has been seen crossing the streets in Bale with his shoes tied with straw." It is a fact. One day Pestalozzi, wishing to help a poor man outside the gate of the town, and having no money gave him his buckles. But Buss had read Leonard and Gertrude which was enough to decide him. He arrived in Berthoud. Pestalozzi hastened to receive him with his hair and clothes in disorder, and his stockings loose, producing upon Buss an astonishment that was not favourable ; but a moment after, the extreme kindness of Pestalozzi, his simplicity and the liveliness of his wit had conquered the sympathy and confidence of the new-comer. When Buss first entered the schoolroom he found only noise and confusion : it took him some time to under- stand what was going on. Then he thought that the children were kept too long at the first exercises. But when he saw how much they gained in facility to go further on, he became convinced that if he had been taught thus at first he would have been able to master his own studies and would not have remained so far behind. This is what Krusi says of this re-union of masters with which the Institute of Berthoud opened : " So our association was composed of four very different men, brought together by a singular chain of circum- stances, namely : a founder whose high literary reputation was that of a dreamer incapable in practical life ; and three young men, a private tutor, neglected in his youth, but who had taken late to study, and whose attempts at teaching had never produced the results which his I24 PKSTALOZZI, HEAD OF characters and talents seemed to promise ; a binder whc devoted his leisure to singing and drawing : and lastly a village schoolmaster who fulfilled his duties as well as he could without having been in any way prepared for them. Those who saw this band of men not having a place where they could rest their head, little thought what they could do. And how could they think otherwise ? Meanwhile our work succeeded, it won the public confidence even beyond expectations of the men who knew us, beyond our own. This confidence was excited from the beginning of the Institution, by a testimony which we shall give here before beginning to relate the life of Berthoud. 62. The commission, charged by the Society of the Friends of Education to report upon the doctrine of Pestalozzi, visited his school in the early days of its connection with Krusi. We translate here the results of this examination as they were committed to writing by the reporter Luthi, and presented to the Society which met on October ist, 1800, at the house of the Minister of Arts and Sciences who was no longer Stapfer, but Mohr, of Lucerne : ' ' We all remarked at once that the pupils of Pestalozzi learnt very quickly to spell, read, write, and calculate. In six months they reach results that a village schoolmaster could only obtain in three years. It is true that the generality of schoolmasters are not Pestalozzis, and they do not find such helps as those of our friend. But it appears to us that this extraordinary progress is not due only to the personal te;iching, hut especially to the method of teaching. "And in what does this method consist ?" By following the path of nature as the wise express it ; this method starts from the child's own intuitions and leads him gradually, and by himself to abstract ideas. Another advantage of this method is that the master is not perceived : he never appears as a superior being, but, he sees, works, and seems to learn with the children his equals, rather than teach them with authority. " Who does not know the desire of little children to give each thing its name, to build, then to separate the elements and to recommence a new construction ? Who does not remember that he liked better, to draw than to write ? Who does not know that it is the most ignorant men who excel in mental arithmetic? Who is not aware that little boys and girls as soon AS they can walk delight in all sorts of exercises such as playing at soldiers ? " THE INSTITUTE AT BERTHOUD. T25 It is upon these simple, well-known facts that Pestalozzi founds his method of teaching. One might he tempted to ask how it is possible that this idea has been so long in being acted upon, if we did not well know- that in our own life we commit similar errors to those of pedagogy." Here, being obliged to abridge, we shall only mention the employment of movable letters for the element, of reading, the first exercises in writing on slates, arithmetic taught with visible objects for units, and lastly the songs and marches often introduced between lessons. The report concludes by saying : " As far as we have been able to judge, it is impossible to seize the ' whole of this method without having followed the exercises from the beginning. From what we have said, the system of Pestalozzi should be introduced into all Switzerland : the advantages would be incalculable. Pestalozzi earnestly desires, with the help of his worthy colleagues, to make hi method of teaching known everywhere to all teachers. The Commission can only most cordially sympathise in this desire and beg the society to use all its influence to help Pestaloz/.i to found a Normal School at Berthoud for elementary or primary teachers, to which, for the practical preparation of the pupils, a primary school will be added." Then, at the request of the Society of the Friends of Education, the Executive Council granted Pestalozzi a sum of 5oofr. for the winter quarter, which was beginning. At the same time the prefet of Berthoud published a pamphlet in which he described the views of Pestalozzi in a more complete and elevated manner than the report of the commission. It was on October 24th, 1800 that Pestalozzi announced the opening of his educational Institute at the Castle of Berthoud with a normal school to train teachers. The price of boarding in the institute for the children of the middle class, was from 16 to 20 livres, according to the parents' means. The Society seeing that the help furnished by the State would be insufficient to meet the expenses of the ne simple, familiar and cordial that, in the half hour of recreation which, followed breakfast, when the children played in the coui't, Pestalo/zi took' great pleasure in it, and often permitted them to continue their sports until ten o'clock. Also, in the summer evenings, instead of resuming study they often remained till eight or nine o'clock walking and running, or seeking for plants and minerals." * A. B.C. Exercises in which the children give their own observations upon the objects that are presented to them. THE INSTITUTE AT BERTHOUD. 129 This testimony of Ramsauer upon the family life that reigned in Berthoud is confirmed by an anecdote which should not be forgotten. One day, a peasant, the father of a pupil, had come to visit the Institute ; very much surprised at what he saw he exclaimed : " But, this is not a school, it is a household ! " " This is the greatest praise you could give me," answered Pestalozzi : " Yes, God be praised, I have succeeded in showing to the world that there should not be such a gulf between domestic life and the school, and that school is really useful .to education only so far as it develops the feelings and virtues which are at once the charm and the advantage of family life." If the Institute at Berthoud presented the image of a family it was because Pestalozzi was a father to all ; he only lived for others. His energy and love animated the whole house. The teachers were attached to him by warm affection and deep respect ; there was Krusi for language and arithmetic, Tobler for geography and history, Buss for geometry, drawing and singing, Naef for gymnastics and some other elementary lessons. Even the financial trouble that weighed upon the establishment exercised a moral influence. The masters had refused advantageous positions in order to stay with * Pestalozzi, they gave up even their moderate salaries to help to make up the deficiency of the resources. The pupils on their side contented themselves with little and tried in every way to economise expense. It was a practical school of sacrifice and renouncement. The confidence which the pupils had in their masters, their love and gratitude to them, took the place of rule and discipline ; no rewards or punishments were used unless in exceptional cases ; meanwhile obedience was complete, because it came from the heart. Besides, the children were gay and happy; they loved all their exercises and lessons almost as much as play ; it was not unusual to see some of them leave their recreation to study together, grouped round a picture or a map. It was at Berthoud that these exercises in natural history, which may be called intuitive, were commenced. K I3O PESTALOZZI, HEAD OF Most useful in life, and amusing to the children, they gave interest to each walk, and awakened tastes which could be salutary in the period of youth. Later on, Krusi became a clever mineralogist ; the pupils enjoyed his lessons, and profited much by them. But, at the Castle of Berthoud, in the early days, the masters were as ignorant of natural history as the children. Notwithstanding, they collected minerals and plants, examined and described them, and each one classified them according to his fancy. When Jean-Conrad Escher of Zurich came to visit the Institute, it was he who told Krusi that this was quartz, and that granite, &c. In spite of the success of the Institution, money was wanting and Pestalozzi came to the end of his means. From February i8th, 1801, at the request of Minister Mohr, the Executive Council had kept up the contribution of 500 livres allotted to the Institute of Berthoud by the decision of the 8th of October, 1800, and had ordered that a supply of firewood should be delivered to Pestalozzi from the State forests in Berne. But on April igth 1801, Mohr spent a day at the Castle, and sent such a favourable account to the Executive Council that it raised the subvention of the state to 1600 livres, payable in quarters. Several private gifts also arrived, amongst others 5oofrs. from Mme. Reinhard, wife of the Minister of France. 63. At the same time the reputation of the Institute spread afar ; the German Journal of Augsburg, and the German Mercury told wonders about it. This brought numerous pupils and soon there was not room to receive them. On the 22nd of September, 1801, the minister Mohr said in his report to the Executive Council " Pestalozzi' a Institute at Berthoud, the first and only one of its kind, well-known for its usefulness, attracts new pupils every day ; and the director for want of suitable room is obliged to refuse them, much to his regret and the disadvantage of public education. Citizen Pestalozzi has much need for the place to be enlarged by the construction of two large dormitories for the pupils and six little rooms for the masters." Although the Council had decided, the preceding August, THE INSTITUTE AT BERTHOUD. 13! that owing to the poverty of the treasury they could not undertake for that year any repair of public buildings, yet it consented to pay for the building required at the Castle of Berthoud, which cost 2 85 of r. The same year Pestalozzi published a new work intended to give the public a complete exposition of his doctrine and works : he called it " How Gertrude teaches her Children." This important work requires careful examination. Let us content ourselves here with saying that it met with great success in the German speaking countries and brought many visitors, some of them very distinguished men, to Berthoud. 64. In the following month (November, 1801) Wessen- berg and Charles Victor de Boustetten arrived together. The latter gave an account of his visit in a letter written the same evening. His testimony confirms all that has been said. We insert a portion of the letter : " I do not understand why Pestalozzi says that all teaching rests on three principal elements : number, form and language ; but what I do see clearly is that his forty-eight children, from five tr> twelve years old, have learned in six months to write, draw, count in a surprising manner, to read, to know geography and a little French. They do everything cheerfully, and their health seems excellent. I do not know if Pestalozzi's method is good, I do not know if he has a method. But I see clearly that he walks in unknown paths, and that he has gained results unheard of till now, and that is of the greatest importance. " I consider Pestalozzi's method a rich and precious germ, but yet young and undeveloped. Its success should convince every impartial thinker of its excellence. As it will be difficult for Pestalozzi to find his equal, I fear that the rich harvest promised by his discovery will not be preserved for future ages. It is a pity he professed his political opinions so warmly ; in our revolutionary time it is one other difficulty added to those that must always be overcome to do justice to an exceptional man. For forty years Pesta'lozzi has devoted his life to the education of poor children ; let him who has done more for humanity throw the first stone at him ! . . . " The pupils know little, but they know it well. In my opinion the school of Berthoud is the best that could be for children of eight or nine years of age. But it will only bear fruit when, upon this foundation and after this experience a new storey is raised. " The children are very cheerful and they take great pleasure in their lessons, which speaks much in favour of the method." In December 1801, the Institute of Berthoud was visited K 2 132 PESTALOZZI, HEAD OF by a Swiss of high position, who gave a very favourable account of it in a series of anonymous articles published by the Republican and German Journal of Augsbtirg. We shall only quote some lines so as not to repeat ourselves, and not to enter here into the details of the method which will be examined later on : " I must confess that I arrived at Berthoud with some prejudice or at least with great doubts of the fitness, usefulness, and success of the experience gained there. But my fear changed to confidence and joy as soon as I saw how Pestalozzi and his assistants worked with the children. On my return, I said to my friends : What goes on at Berthood deserves the greatest attention and support of all those who are interested in the happiness of humanity and the progress of public education." The advance the pupils made in geometry and drawing especially delighted visitors. A distinguished merchant of Nuremberg, who had come to Pestalozzi with some unfavourable prejudices expresses himself thus : "It made me giddy to see these children playing with the most complicated exercises in fractions as if they were the easiest things in the world. I gave them some problems that I could not solve myself without sustained attention and covering whole pages with figures ; but they did them quietly in their heads and in a few minutes gave the correct answer and explained the problem with great ease. They did not think they had done anything extraordinary." " At the institute of Berthoud " says another visitor, " the children of from six to eight years trace geometrical figures without the aid of rule or compass, and with a correctness that no one could believe if he had not seen it." Another again : " I saw a child of ten years, who had been with Pestalozzi for eighteen months, draw in an hour a map of Scandinavia reduced to scale, and with an exactness that defied the strictest examination." There may be some exaggeration in these praises, but they prove that Pestalozzi's method of teaching arithmetic succeeded under the direction of Krusi long before Joseph Schmid undertook this subject. THE INSTITUTE AT BERTHOUD. Ij., Such a cloud of witnesses increased the reputation of the new work and excited public attention. "An institute," said one, "that produces such results with such small means should be supported by the government so as to ensure it continuance. Might it not be utilised for the reform of education in Switzerland?" 65. From the time of the revolution of Oct. i8th, 1801, Mohr ceased to be minister, and the Executive Council of the Republic had been succeeded by the " Little Council." This body wished to do something for Pestalozzi's work, but before taking steps in the matter, it sought to gain clearer and more detailed information, and for this end it instructed a commission to visit the Institute of Berthoud. The report of this Commision was drawn up with great care by the President of the Council of public instruction and presented in the month of June, 1802 : " On my first visit I was full of doubt and determined not to be dazzled by the show of a brilliant theory, or surprised by any striking novelties." (page 76.) The Institute then numbered eighty pupils from five to eighteen years old and of all conditions. Twelve of them were poor children paid for by the establishment. The report first explains the principles of Pestalozzi, who it says " has discovered true laws, universal laws for all elementary teaching." It acknowledges the excellence of the results obtained in the recent and searching examina- tion of the pupils; praise is especially given to the discipline which is entirely based on affection, and the moral and religious life that pervades the establishment. Lastly, it asks the state to constitute the Institute i Swiss Normal School and to give fixed salaries to all the masters, also to grant a large subscription for a new and cheap edition of Pestalozzi's books of elementary instruction. For Pestalozzi himself the commission only asked one thing, namely, that when the time arrived help might be given him to found a school for orphans at Neuhof. Indeed, content with having made his method known and 134 PESTALOZZI, HEAD OF having found men capable of applying it, Pestalozzi thought that soon he should not be needed at Berthoud ; he wished to give up the direction of the Institute to his collaborateurs and return to what, from childhood, he had considered his vocation. He wished to end his days amongst poor neglected children to whom he would be a father. In August, 1802, the Institute of Berthoud was visited by Soyaux of Berlin, who was considered by the Literary Gazette of Jena as an adversary of Pestalozzi. Never- theless Soyaux has given an account of his visit in a pamphlet, which confirms the favourable testimonies which have been quoted. He begins by an appreciative acknowledgment of the personality and character of Pestalozzi with a penetration and depth of analysis which is very remarkable. Then he describes the different exercises at which he was present, and points out the great faculty that the pupils show for arithmetic and drawing. Here again, we are obliged to limit ourselves ta some short quotations : " Pestalozzi' s method may perhaps meet with little appreciation, but the spirit of his principles and the tendency of his method will certainly have a good influence. ' ' The discipline is founded on this principle : that youth should he allowed the greatest possible liberty, and that only the abuse of it should he restrained. "The establishment in all, numbers one hundred and two persons of whom sixty two are Swiss ; they come from all the Cantons, Catholic as well as Protestant; they are taught by ten masters; there are ;ils<> u number of foreigners in the castle who have come to study the method. "The institute is young. Pestalozzi' s principles are still growing; they have not yet reached maturity, this is why organisation of the institute is incomplete. The director and masters work with all their strength for the completion of the edifice One perfects pictures, another seeks the way of nature in the teaching of reading, arithmetic, &c. Would that all educational establishments presented such a spirit of concord and harmony and a similiar zeal for advancement! " 66. Meanwhile, the little Council had adopted the propositions of the Commission. A small salary was given to Pestalozzi and each of his masters, whilst the public teachers' salaries were a year and a half in arrear. A normal school was instituted at the castle of Berthoud, THE INSTITUTE AT BERTHOUD. 135 and every month twelve schoolmasters came to see the lessons ; lastly, with the help of the State the second edition of Pestalozzi's school books was begun. 67. Pestalozzi considered his work established for the future, and felt that all his wishes were granted, when a new revolution overturned the unitary government and ruined at once his position and all his hope. This man seemed fated to see the earth sink beneath him every time that he attained the goal of his ambition. In 1802, on the ijth of April, the little council had convoked a meeting of notables at Berne to represent the republic and to draw out a new plan of constitution which it unanimously adopted May igth, and which, when submitted to the vote of the electors in all Switzerland, was accepted by two hundred and twenty-eight thousand suffrages out of three hundred and two thousand citizens qualified to vote ; all those who did not come to give their names being counted as favourable. On July 3rd, the acceptance of the constitution was proclaimed at Berne, and the new government was constituted. Soon after Switzerland was evacuated by the French troops which had occupied it until then. This was the signal for a rising which extended from the little cantons over the greater part of Switzerland. The troops of the insurgents forced the Helvetic army to retreat. From the second of September, the Government decided "to solicit the good offices and mediation of the French Government ; on the igth it was obliged to leave Berne. It took refuge in Lausanne where it had no protection but the Vaudois Militia, when the proclamation of Napoleon, then first Consul, put a stop to hostilities. The French Government granted its mediation ; it convoked at Paris a Conference composed of deputies from the Helvetic senate, from the cantons, and even from all communes that wished to send them, "to learn the means of restoring union and tranquillity in all parts." 68. Pestalozzi had just published a conciliatory political pamphlet ; he was deputed to the consultation by the village of Kirch berg,* and he was also chosen by the * Where he had learned agriculture of Tscheffli. 13t> PESTALOZZI, HEAD OF canton of Zurich with Usteri, and the ex-Director Laharpe. The first meeting took place in Paris, December loth, 1802. The First Consul had appointed a commission composed of Barthelemy, President of the Conservative Senate and formerly Ambassador in Switzerland, Fouche of Nantes, Roederer and Desmeuniers, Councillors of State, to confer with the Swiss deputies. There were two parties amongst the latter, one, numbering forty five members favourably disposed to the new ideas ; Pestalozzi was amongst these ; the other was a minority of sixteen deputies who sought more or less explicitly a return to the old system. Pestalozzi's bad French and the eccentricity of his appearance were a great drawback to his getting a hearing in Paris ; besides, he could not confine himself to political questions in the order of the day ; he wanted to preach his educational ideas to France. Thus he exercised little influence upon the conference although the Commissioner Rosderer was then much occupied with public instruction. 69. Pestalozzi sought an audience of the First Consul, which was refused. Buonaparte answered by saying that he had other things to do than to discuss questions of ABC. However, he told Senator Monge to give Pestalozzi a hearing. Monge, the inventor of descriptive geometry, and founder of the Polytechnic School, was a man of large mind and a profound and serious thinker, he listened patiently to Pestalozzi and never tired of asking him needful questions : he understood him ; and after reflecting for a time upon the old man's plans, he observed " It is too much for us." As soon as Pestalozzi saw that he could do nothing in Paris he left the Conference and returned to Berthoud. When he entered the castle, Buss said to him : " Well, have you seen Buonaparte ? " " No," answered Pestalozzi, ' and neither has he seen me!" These words, although spoken smilingly may have seemed presumptuous. Nevertheless, if Pestalozzi said them in earnest, he was not mistaken : one of these two men will be blessed by posterity, in all lands ; and it is not he who was called " The Great " by his contemporaries. Buonaparte did THE INSTITUTE AT BERTHOUD. 137 France a great wrong in rejecting Pestalozzi's ideas, which Prussia welcomed soon after. But Buonaparte wished to subject the people whilst Pestalozzi wished to emancipate them. Here we shall relate an anecdote reported by Pompee in his book, already quoted, and which we have found nowhere else. We give it verbatim. " General Ney, French ambassador at Berne, frequently visited the Institute of Berthoud which he admired, as had all those who went before him. He gave an account of it to the First Consul, (page 124). Although Buonaparte had not wished to trouble himself with questions of ABC when Pestalozzi came to Paris as a deputy from Switzerland, he eagerly accepted the proposal of General Ney to introduce his system into the French Schools. M. Naef, a teacher at Berthoud was sent to Paris ; and commenced teaching in the Orphanage where the administration of the benevolent institutions entrusted a certain number of children to him. Napoleon, wishing to see for himself the result, went to the hospital, accompanied by Tallyrand, the ambassador from the United States, and a large number of distinguished people ; he left well satisfied with the exercises that he saw. A commission was formed to give an account of this experiment and M. De Wailly, Chief of the Lyc6e Napoleon declared in his report that this method might be specially useful to children intended for mechanical arts. At the end of this essay, M. Maine de Biran, sous-prefet of Bergerac, brought a professor, M. Barrand, from Berthoud to Dordogne, and gave him the direction of an establishment in which he was much interested. This philosophical official did all he could to discourage routine and took every opportunity of recommending the application of Pestalozzi's principles by telling the results at public meetings. Whilst all the governments of Europe were thinking of introducing a new system of teaching into the elementary schools, a private individual, Mr. Maclure, conferred upon his country, the United States, an establishment that could vie with the most important schools of Europe. A singular chance led him. towards the improvement of bis country's instruction. In 1804, he was in Paris, and had a great desire to see Napoleon. He applied to the Ambassador from the United States, who took him to the meeting where the First Consul had gone to see the result of Naef s teaching of the orphans. During the whole time that the exercises were going on, Maclure, absorbed in looking at Napoleon, saw nothing else; but, when going away he heard Tallyrand say to Napoleon "It is too much for us." This remark struck him ; he returned to the room and learned from Naef the object of the meeting; and as he was deeply interested in the improvement of the position of the poorer classes, he siw at once all that Pestalozzi's system could do to benefit their condition. He made a very favourable offer to Naef to go to Philadelphia and, later on, to New Harmony to found a Pestalozzian Institute." 138 PESTALOZZI, HEAD OF We have shown the success obtained by Pestalozzi at the Castle of Berthoud, and the great reputation that his Institute had gained in Switzerland and elsewhere. But the head of the house did not share in the feeling of admiration held by the public ; he was not satisfied with what he had done. At the end of his life, Pestalozzi publicly declared that in founding the Institute of Berthoud, he had entered upon a false road ; we might think that this opinion was held by him later on, amidst his misfortunes. But no ; from the year 1803, at Berthoud, he felt himself out of place ; he wanted to leave the Institute and devote himself to a new poor school, for this thought of his youth never left him. This feeling is expressed in a letter addressed to his friend Fellenberg who wanted him to visit him. This is Pestalozzi's answer : ' ' Many thanks for your hearty invitation, but I will not and cannot impose my trouble on my friend. I can, I will, and I ought to help myself ; when I have done it then I can enjoy the friendship of man. But, until I feel satisfied with myself, nobody can calm my troubled heart. Help me, by the sale of my works for the aim of my life, my school for the poor. There, in quiet and retirement, I shall seek repose as some do behind bolts and bars. Oh ! my friend, I am not at peace with myself, which is inexplicable, but the means of independence increase every day. Farewell ; I am oppressed with a melancholy, which I have never before experienced. It will pass away." Meanwhile, the act of mediation, signed Feb. I3th, 1803, had re-established federalism in Switzerland. The unitary government ceased to exist and with it fell the support given or promised to Pestalozzi. But his work was too well known to be annihilated. The governments of Aargau, Lucerne, and Zurich seemed anxious to support his Institute : the last voted a contribution of a thousand francs for the publication of the elementary books. The Swiss Diet, which met at Fribourg empowered a com- mission to see what could be done to help forward Pestalozzi's philanthropic schemes ; we do not know whether this commission made a report. 70. At the same time, the canton of Berne, which was THE INSTITUTE AT BERTHOUD. 139 newly constituted, took possession of the castle of Berthoud and made it what it formerly had been, the residence of the prefect of the district. He had little sympathy with Pestalozzi, whom he looked upon as a revolutionary and partisan of unitary government, however the Institute was not left without a shelter and it was transferred to an old convent situated at Munchenbuchsee, a league from Berne, and near the estate of Hofwyl which Emmanuel Fellenberg had taken some years before for his agricultural and philanthropic establishment. It was in June, 1804, that Pestalozzi transferred his institute to Munchenbuchsee. Mme. Pestalozzi from the death of her son (end of 1801) had left Neuhof to join her husband ; sad and ill, she rarely left her room as she was not in a state to stand the noise and stir of such a large boarding school. She kept the accounts and a part of the correspondence, for Pestalozzi was too much preoccupied, too distracted and impatient to follow any regular and settled practice. Mme. Pestalozzi's room was at the side of the large dining hah 1 in which Pestalozzi and the masters took their meals with all the scholars. From this room, as well as from the balconies and terraces of the castle, a magnificent view was to be had of the green valley of the Emme with its rich and varied cultivation, and in the horizon the snowy summits of the Alps of the Oberland. At this time part of the buildings was still used as a prison for some unhappy creatures who had to submit to the force of Bernese justice. Ramsauer relates a feature of this subject which gives a good idea of the character of Pestalozzi : " There was a famous criminal, named Bemhard, big and strong as a giant, who, every time that he escaped from prison was brought back to the Castle of Berthoud and shut up in a lower cell. Then Pestalozzi, taking his hand, and slipping a piece of money into it, said : " If you had received a good education, and learned to apply your powers to what is good, you would now be a useful member of society ; and they would not be obliged to shut you up in a hole and chain you like a dog." 1 have myself, with Pestalozzi's permission and the consent of the gaolof, visited Bernhard several times, and the visit gave me pleasure in spite of the dreadful underground cell in which he was confined, for Bernhard was a frank, sincere, and remarkably well- endowed man." 140 PESTALOZZI, HEAD OF Another anecdote proves with what energy Pestalozzi could overcome suffering and illnesss. One day when he was confined to bed by a sharp attack of rheumatism, the French Ambassador, Reinhardt, came to visit the Institute. In spite of the doctor and his friends he would get up and it was with much trouble he was dressed and put on his feet ; they begged him to go to bed again, and told him he was not in a fit state to enter the school. He dragged himself painfully, supported on each side. When in the presence of the ambassador he escaped from the hands of those who held him and began his explanations with great warmth. The longer the meeting lasted the stronger grew his vivacity until at last his rheumatism disappeared ! Fellenberg for twenty years was a friend of Pestalozzi ; a part of their correspondence has been quoted. Some time before, Fellenberg's labourers had brought a man to him, whom they had found in the fields badly dressed and worn out with hunger and fatigue. Fellenberg recognised him as Pestalozzi, who, in his passion for minerals, had, whilst filling his pockets and handkerchief with them, lost his way, and fallen with fatigue into a ditch. About the same time, Pestalozzi while walking painfully to the gates of Soleure, with his handkerchief full of stones was arrested by the police as a suspicious looking tramp, and taken to the house of the judge ; who being absent, the old man had to wait a long time in an ante-room beside his guard. At last the judge entered, he knew Pestalozzi well, hastened to him, embraced him, and invited him to supper to the intense bewilderment of the police agent. Fellenberg was a clever agriculturalist, an excellent administrator, a man of well regulated activity and of immense practical capacity; with noble and elevated views he was distinguished for those qualities which Pestalozzi lacked. He had given up the pleasant and easy life to which his birth and talents entitled him in the government of his country, to devote his fortune and powers to under- takings of public usefulness. His establishments at Hofwyl had a double aim ; they were intended to train intelligent and honest labourers THE INSTITUTE AT BERTHUD. 14! amongst the poor ; and amongst the rich to produce capable directors of rural undertakings. Thus the enterprise of Fellenberg and that of Pestalczzi would have seemed to be mutually helpful. The former offered a partnership to the old man ; he wished to manage all the economic part, whilst Pestalozzi, saved from cares for which he had neither taste nor capacity, was to take charge only of the educational direction of the Institute. 71. Pestalozzi accepted the offer at first. But Fellen- berg and he were intended to esteem each other, not to live together ; there was as great a difference in their character and mode of thinking as there was in their dress and appearance. Fellenberg, in spite of a really good heart, had a domineering and unbending spirit. Pestalozzi called him " a man of iron ; " he felt ill at ease with him, and could not rest content at Munchenbuchsee. Amongst the offers that were made to him were those from the Vaudois towns of Payerne, Yverdon and Rolle : he thought it would extend the usefulness of his method if he settled in a French-speaking country, so he chose Yverdon. " He then left Munchenbuchsee on Oct. i8th, 1804, after taking an affecting farewell of the pupils and masters, and he arrived at Yverdon, not knowing what was to become of him : he was so poor that he was obliged to lodge in the same room with Krusi and Niederer. This room served for every purpose ; it was their work room and bedroom. It was under these circumstances that he received from the King of Denmark a hundred Louis d'or which this monarch begged him to accept in consideration of the hospitality which he had offered to two Danes, who had been sent by their government to study the method at Berthoud. But, however pressing were his personal needs, his first thought was for the poor whom Fellenberg had scarcely tolerated ; he sent for them, and placed them with Buss and Barrand who were then laying at Yverdon the foundation of a Pestalozzian institute. (Pompee, page 141). Meanwhile the castle of Yverdon needed much repair before it could receive the Institute ; and, as the completion. 14.2 PESTALOZZI'S BOOKS AND of this work took a long time, Pestalozzi opened a pro- visional school, with six or eight pupils in an apartment forming part of the house now called No. 51, Middle Street, Pestalozzi had left with Tobler, de Muralt, Schmid, and de Turc, Steiner and some under masters. The pedagogic direction had been entrusted to Tobler, a man perfectly capable under all conditions. But Fellenberg, although only understood to have charge of the economic depart- ment, was not long in exercising a preponderating influence upon everything. In order to understand the change that the life of the Institute suffered from this influence we cannot do better than quote the memoirs of Ramsauer : "At Munchenbuchsee, I felt myself unfortunate for the first time in my life. I felt unhappy. I was still a table-hoy and under-master ; but I had no one to comfort my heart ; we missed above all the love and warmth that had vivified everything at Berthoud and made us so happy there ; with Pestalozzi the heart ruled ; with Fellenberg, the intellect. "Nevertheless, there was some good at Munchenbuchsee; there was more order there, and we learned more than at Berthoud. " To my great joy, on February, 1805, Pestalozzi called me to him, at Yverdon, where I found a father's heart and my dear masters, Krusi and iiuss. Some months later the whole Institute was re-united under Pestalozzi at Yverdon." CHAPTER XII. PESTALOZZIS BOOKS AND METHOD AT BERTHOUD. 72. How Gertrude teaches her Children. 1 3 . The Book for Mothers. Guide to Reading and Spelling, 73. Elementary teaching of num- 'ber and form. The Master of the Natural School. 72. From the beginning of the Institute, Pestalozzi wished the public to understand in a complete manner both the work of his life and the doctrine which he sought to METHOD AT BERTHOUD. 143 put in practice : he published, for this purpose, the book called: " How Gertrude teaches her children, an essay to show mothers how to teach their children." Here is the opinion of Morf, the author of the best biography of Pestalozzi and one who best studied and understood his work and ideas : " This is by far the most important and best thought out of all his pedagogic works, and its importance is not for the present only but for the future. His genius is expressed in it most purely and characteristically. It gives us the most faithful reflection of his noble heart, and his thoughts are expressed in his own words. We are delighted with the abundance of his intuitions, I might call them the revelations that Providence had destined him to give us. We read this book from beginning to end with unwavering attention and lively interest, although here and there some objections may be offered not to the principles and laws, but to certain ways of doing, and we should acknowledge gratefully that if experience has led us to differ upon certain points this difference has been the result of following in the way indicated by Pestalozzi. This book is and will be the foundation stone of the education of the people, but the treasures which it contains are far from having been utilised, and those who have been engaged in teaching and education have not sufficiently studied them." This book has the faults that were common to the works of the author. The abundance and richness of the ideas and the impulses of heart and imagination disturb the order of exposition, and the proportion of its parts. Digressions abound, repetitions are innumerable, but when the same idea appears it is always in a new light. An analytical resume of this work would not give a fair idea of it ; we prefer to go rapidly through it with our readers, stopping at the essential principles and translating the most characteristic passages. The book is composed of fifteen letters addressed to Gessner ; the First sketches briefly the life of the author, his works and endeavours to raise the people ; it commences thus : 144 PESTALOZZI S BOOKS AND ' ' My dear Gessner, you know it is time for me to explain myself publicly upon my ideas of the teaching of the people. Well ! i will do it in a series of letters as clearly as I can. ' ' Popular teaching has seemed to me to he a boundless marsh : I am buried in its need and I have travelled through it, painfully exerting all my strength, until I have found the source of its waters, the cause of their stagnant state, and the means of draining the land. " I would like to lead you for a moment into this labyrinth from which I have extricated myself more by chance than by talent." After having described the intellectual misery of the schools of the time, and the efforts he had made to remedy them, Pestalozzi tries to characterise the work which he has undertaken by saying : " Ah, I would rest in my grave, if I could succeed in popular teaching to reconcile nature and art which now are separated ; what rouses me is that they are not only separated but pnt in absolute and almost incom- patible opposition." The Second and Third letters give an account of the meeting of Krusi, Tobler and Buss with Pestalozzi, and the happy determination that these men had made to stand by him and his work. The Fourth, Fifth and Sixth explain the generu principles of the method. In the Fourth letter, he seeks to formulate the laws of instruction. In the Fifth, he begins by declaring that these laws do not satisfy him, because he cannot express them in their essence, and their generality ; he continues then to seek the natural sources of human knowledge. In the Sixth letter, Pestalazzi says that he took much trouble to explain his views, and with little success, because, for twenty years, he had lost the power of giving philosophic expression to his ideas. He observes that for generations Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic have been used as the elements of instruction, whilst they are not really simple and first elements. In seeking for these he has found sound, (language) number, and form. When anything new is seen, people ask " What is it ? (the name). How many things ? (number). What are they like ? (form). METHOD AT BERTHOUD. 145 In bringing instruction in this way to its true elements art is reconciled with nature, for we thus start from the first manifestations by which nature acts upon man. The Seventh letter is devoted to the elementary teaching of language, but the means described were abandoned later on, or much modified by Pestalozzi. The Eighth explains the elementary teaching of the intuition of forms by which the child should learn to measure, draw, and write. He should at first be well exercised in observing, in order to be able to appreciate forms according to their simplest elements, the straight line in its different positions, angles, &c., and to measure with the eye distances and slopes : then, only, can he draw successfully, that is to say copy upon his slate the lines, angles and figures, at first very simple ones, that are presented to him. These first exercises in linear drawing, by training his eye and hand, prepare him for writing. He writes first upon a slate, beginning with the easiest letters and words which are not compound, but soon he can make use of pen and paper. In his drawing exercises Pestalozzi made great use of the square, which has many advantages. In the first place, for drawing properly so called, it serves as a sort of frame- work for an infinite number of radiating figures, which the pupils can invent, vary, and ornament according to their taste. Then, for the art of measuring, and as a preparation for geometry, divided into little squares or rectangles it provides an intuitive introduction to the calculation of surfaces. Lastly, this division of the square gives place to the table of fractions, by the aid of which the pupils acquire great facility in mental calculation upon fractional numbers. Pestalozzi speaks then of the elementary books that he was designing : " the ABC of Intuition" and the " Book for Mothers;" he hopes these books will enable mothers to educate their children themselves. Some of the exercises of the intuition of forms which are explained in this letter were modified by Pestalozzi later on after further experience. L 146 PESTALOZZl's BOOKS AND The Ninth letter treats of the elementary teaching of arithmetic, the Intuition of numbers. The author begins by remarking that in the study of language and form we are obliged to employ means and notions foreign to their aim, and amongst others the testimony of the senses which are liable to error, whilst arithmetic has no need of help, and provides results that are exactly true. Other sciences are only exact as calculation can be applied to them. This is why this object of teaching is of the greatest importance, whether for the development of the intelligence, or for its practical utility. Pestalozzi then shews that all arithmetic consists in composing or decomposing numbers by processes intended to shorten the repetition of the formula : " one and one make two" and take " one from two and one remains" But these abbreviations which constitute all school teach- ing have the drawback of becoming a pure matter of memory, and of losing sight of the intuitive idea of numbers. So, we can have learned by heart : four and three make seven and get the required result ; but this result is nothing to us, we have received it in faith, and it is possible that we may know nothing about the number seven. Without these intuitive lessons the child knows nothing of numbers, he only knows their names which are to him mere empty sounds. For these exercises Pestalozzi makes use of his Table of Units in which each unit is represented by a stroke, and in which the pupil can in some measure perform by sight all the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division up to a hundred. Later, when he can work in his head he has a fair and precise idea of numbers, because he thinks of them always as collections of strokes, and sees them themselves, and not only the conventional signs, the figures by which they are represented. Then comes the table of fractions composed of squares of which some are entire and others divided horizontally in two, three, and up to ten equal parts. The child learns intuitively to count these parts from the unit, and to compose wholes with them. Lastly comes, the " Table of Fractions of Fractions " in METHOD AT BERTHOUD. IA-J which the squares, besides their horizontal divisions, have another vertical one into two, three, and up to ten equal parts. Thus they reach hundredths clearly and can evidently see what has to be done to reduce two fractions to the same denominator. In all these intuitive exercises in number the attention, observation, and judgment of the child are kept in play, and they lead him to find and say what he learns from the master's guidance. It would be a mistake to consider this an exercise of memory. This part of the method was extended and perfected by Pestalozzi after the publishing of this letter. The Tenth Letter treats of Intuition ; this is what Pestalo'zzi calls direct and experimental perception, whether in the domain of the physical or moral ; intuitive ideas are those that result immediately from perceptions. All descriptions, explanations, and definitions are ineffectual upon the mind of the child if they do not rest upon already acquired ideas. This understood, we can in a few lines give a resume of this letter. Intuition is the only basis of instruction, and for long it has been completely neglected in teaching. After the invention of printing the power and use of books were greatly exaggerated ; the book was confounded with knowledge, and words with ideas. In teaching, nothing but the book has been seen or employed. In teaching the child to read, that is to say, to pronounce the articulate sound of the diverse assemblage of letters it was thought that the door to all knowledge was opened ; we have only men of books, men of words, men of letters, in the narrowest and most material accepta- tion of the word : and an endless and unreasoning kind of talk has been created which deceives and stupifies with a deluge of words which correspond with no precise idea. The same thing has occurred in the moral and religious development. After the Reformation, the mania for dogmatism was carried even into the teaching of little children so as to prepare them betimes for controversy. Instead of rousing and exercising in their hearts sentiments L 2 148 PESTALOZZl'S BOOKS AND of faith, piety, and virtue, the first thing taught was a Catechism, that is a collection of abstract doctrines which could neither reach their mind nor their heart. Here again it was words alone that were learnt. This is how the school forsook nature, direct observation, the immediate impression of things and life, and practical and individual virtue. In this way Pestalozzi finishes his letter : " Europe, -with its system of popular teaching, has fallen into error, or rather it has lost its way. On one side it has risen to an immense height in the sciences and arts ; on the other it has lost the whole foundation of natural culture for the bulk of the people. No part of the world has risen so high ; no part has sunk so low. Our continent resembles the great image mentioned hy the prophet ; its golden head touches the clouds, but popular instruction, which should bear this head is, like the feet,* of clay. " In Europe, the culture of the people has become vain babbling, as fatal to faith as to true knowledge; an instruction of mere words which contains a little dreaming and show which cannot give us the calm wisdom of faith and love, but on the contrary leads to unbelief and superstition, to selfishness and hardness. It is indisputable that the mania for words and books, which has absorbed everything in our popular instruction, has been carried so far that we cannot possibly remain long as we are. " Everything convinces me that the only means of preserving us from remaining at a civil, moral, and religious dead-level is to abandon the superficiality, the piecemeal, and infatuation of our popular instruction, and to recognise intuition as the true foundation of knowledge." The Eleventh Letter continues to speak of intuition. Pestalozzi remarks that it is the means a mother employs with her infant, under the inspiration of instinct and love ; she shows nature to it : she brings it near distant objects, she brings to it those striking things that attract its gaze. She does this to quiet the child and distract it, she has no idea of instructing it, and yet she in this way gives it the first and most indispensable elements of instruction. Why does not the art of teaching link on its processes to these simple and precious beginnings ? The mothers in Appenzell suspend a bird of coloured paper above the cradle of their children ; this is the object of the first looks, the first gestures and play ; it points to a way that we should follow. The first course of the Book for Mothers (it was not yet written) will be intended to METHOD AT BERTHOUD. 149 continue this by the intuition of form, number, and word. The word wrongly understood spoils the course of the child's development, for it causes trouble in the use of the powers of its mind. One can see the consequences of this fault in the case of many of our contemporaries : " The advance of nature in the development of the human species is invariable. At this point there are not, there cannot be, two good methods of teaching ; there is only one good one, and it is that which is founded upon the eternal laws of nature, but there is an infinity of bad methods, and they are bad in proportion as they fall away from the laws of nature. I well know that I, no more than any other man, am not in possession of this only good method, and that all we can do is to approximate to it.'" Further on, after having said that the child must be exercised in seeing well, and describing what he sees, and that definitions should come only in the last place, Pestalozzi adds : " Premature definitions give a kind of knowledge that resembles the champignon which grows rapidly in the rain and is destroyed by the first heat of the SUDu" It is necessary for the child to learn its first elements in a complete and perfect manner. " An incomplete germ remains arrested in its development and this cannot bring its different parts to maturity. This is as true of the mind as the garden. "The empire of sense should be subordinated to the essential destiny of our nature, that is, to the moral and spiritual law. It is only by his internal and spiritual life that man takes possession of himself, of liberty and contentment. The education of our race should control the sensual nature which is blind and which leads to death ; it should quicken the moral and spiritual nature." In the Twelfth Letter Pestalozzi begins by repeating what he said twenty years before, in the preface to " Leonard and Gertrude :" " I have nothing to do with men's differences of opinion, but whatever makes them pious, honest, faithful, and gentle, and leads to the love of God and their neighbour, and happiness and blessing in their homes, tliat I believe is indisputable ground." 150 PESTALOZZI S BOOKS AND He then remarks that his educative work is independent of the opinions that divide men. His method is good, therefore, for the people, whatever their religious belief or their form of government. One can understand how he kept aloof from all dogmatism. Nevertheless in all that he does he rests upon the Providence of God : often, even, but with less precision, upon the Redemption of Jesus Christ. He thought these two points beyond dispute, at least with the portion of humanity with which he had to deal. To-day the illusion would be impossible. What would he do ? Would he think it possible to do without God in education ? We think not. In instruction strictly so called, it is true, his method is independent of any religious notion ; but, in the school as in the family, it is impossible to direct even in instruction without the consent of the will of the child, and the will is only formed by the moral development. Moral education is thus intimately connected with all the master's work as an integral and necessary part of an indivisible organism. Now, Pestalozzi makes the moral development proceed from the influence of a pious mother who prays with her child. Later, Pestalozzi defends himslf from the pretention of knowing all that is necessary in education ; he declares in seeking to help the people he has only found some principles, and he deplores his incapacity to formulate and apply them better. " Thus" said lie, " when I affirm positively that all the forces of man arise from an. organism, I do not say that I know in their full extent this organism and its laws ; and when I say that in teaching we should follow a rational course, 1 do not pretend to understand nor to have followed this course in all its parts." Pestalozzi then says that he has spent his life in wishing to do good to the people but he has never succeeded. He knows that it is his own fault, he bitterly repents it, he falls into deep sadness, and finishes thus : " I have lost all, and I have lost myself ; nevertheless, Oh God ! thou hast preserved in me the desire of my life, thou hast not effaced from my eyes the aim which has caused my misfortunes, as thou has taken away METHOD AT BERTHOUD. 15! the aim of thousands of men who have spoilt their own lives. Thou hast preserved my work in spite of my wanderings ; whilst I was sinking' without hope towards my grave, thou hast made me see it like an aurora to soften the grief of my life. Lord God! I am not worthy of the compassion and faithf ulness which Thou hast testified towards me; Thou, thou alone hast had pity on the crushed worm, thou hast not broken the bruised reed nor quenched the smoking flax, Thou hast not turned thy face from this offering which from my childhood I have desired to bring to the disinherited of this world, and which I have never been able to offer them." The Thirteenth Letter begins with a digression upon the abuse of language. When from the beginning it is the spontaneous and faithful expression of thought, it is at the same time its principal means of development, and it gives strength and precision. But when, from childhood, it is only the repetition or imitation of the language of others, when the words used express ideas unknown to the speaker, then it makes thought inert, it paralyses and extinguishes it. This is the cause of the empty and useless babble that fills the world. Pestalozzi then returns to the reform of elmentary education and points out a new need which should be satisfied. Knowledge is not everything, practical skill is necessary. Practical power also requires a number of graduated exercises of the senses and limbs, commencing with the simplest and easiest. The development of skill rests upon the same organic laws that regulate the acquisition of knowledge. The organism of nature observed in the plant and the animal is found in man ; it reigns with the same laws upon his physical nature and his normal nature, and in the development of skill. Humanity in its lowest abasement, never loses the senti- ment of the need of developing its industry for the necessities of life. As an ABC is needed for intuition so is an ABC required for practice. As we spoil knowledge and intelligence by putting definitions before sensible intuitions, so we spoil the heart and conscience by speaking of faith and virtue to the 152 PESTALOZZl'S BOOKS AND cuild who has not yet experienced any moral intuition of virtue or faith. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Letters which finish the work are devoted to moral and religious development. Here we shall let Pestalozzi speak : " I do not wish to finish, these letters without putting a question which is the keystone of the arch of my system. How does the worship of God depend upon the principles which I think to he true for the general development of humanity ? "I seek again the solution of my question, and l ask myself: How does the idea of God grow in my soul ? How comes it that I helieve in God, that I cast myself upon him, and am happy when I love and trust in him, when I thank and obey him ? "Then I soon see that the feelings of confidence, gratitude, and obedience must awaken in my heart if I am to apply them to God. I must love men, thank them, trust them, and obey them before I can raise" myself to love God, thank him, trust in him, and obey him. For he who loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love the Father whom he has not seen ? " Then, I ask : How comes it that I love men, trust them, thank and and obey them ? How do these feelings take root in my heart ? And I find that it is principally by the connection between the mother and her infant in the cradle. " The mother cares for her child, feeds it, guards it, makes it happy. She could not do otherwise, for she is urged by all the strength of her instinct. She provides for all its needs, she supplies everything that its weakness requires ; the child is cared for, it is happy, and the germ of love buds in it. "Now something appears that it has never seen before. The child is astonished, it weeps, it cries ; the mother presses it to her bosom, she plays with it and attracts its attention ; than the tears cease, but its eyes remain moist for a time. The strange object reappears ; the mother takes her child again in her sheltering arms and smiles to it. This time the child does not weep, it answers its mother's smile by a smile of its own ; the germ of confidence begins to bud. " The mother hastens to the cradle for every need ; when the child is hungry or thirsty ; when it hears her it is quiet, when it sees her it holds out its hands to her ; when fed it is satisfied ; that is enough for it, it is grateful. " The germs of love, trust, and gratitude develop early. The child knows the step of its mother, it smiles at her shadow, it loves whatever is like her ; a creature who has the same appearance as its mother is a good being to it. It smiles at the resemblance, it smiles at humanity. What its mother likes it likes also. The germ of the Jove of men, brotherly love, awakens in it. " Obedience, in its origin, is opposed to the first natural inclinations ; it does not proceed spontaneously from them, yet it is upon them that the art of the- educator rests to make it blossom. METHOD AT BERTHOUD. 153 " The child cries before it learns to wait ; it is impatient before it taows'how to obey. Patience appears before obedience, and the child needs it to obey. The first manifestations of obedience have a purely passive character, and arise principally from the feeling of hard necessity. But this sentiment is also developed under the influence of the mother. It must wait till she feeds it, till she takes it in her arms. It is only later that active obedience forms in it ; and, still later, the consciousness that it is good for it to obey its mother. " Nature is inflexible against the anger of the child ; it strikes upon the wood and stone, but nature remains inflexible, and the child strikes no more upon wood and stone. Meanwhile it is the mother who remains inflexible against its disorderly desires ; it storms and cries ; she remains firm and it cries no longer, but accustoms itself to yield its will to its mother's. The first germs of patience and obedience are awakened in it. " Obedience, love, gratitude, and trust united, cause the first germs of conscience to bud. This is a feeling, very feeble at first, that it is not well for the child to grieve its mother who loves it, that its mother is not in the world solely for it, that everything in the world is not for it, that the child is not in the world for itself alone. The first ray of duty and justice arises in it. " These are the first elements of moral development awakened by the relation of the mother with her child. Well, these are also those of the religious development ; and it is by faith in its mother that the child rises to faith in God. " Soon the time comes when the first motives which were so powerful for belief and acting disappear. Already its own strength lets it leave its mother's strength, it feels its independence growing from day to day, and gradually the secret thought arises in the depths of its mind, "I have no longer any need of my mother." But she reads this thought in its eyes, she presses her beloved child to her heart, and says to it in a tone of voice it has never heard before : " My dear child, there is a God whom you need, when you have no longer need of me, there is a God "rho takes you in his arms when I can no longer protect you, there is a God who prepares happiness and joy for you, when I can do nothing for your happiness and joy. 1 ' Then an inexpressible feeling moves the soul of the child, a holy flame which glows within him, a disposition to believe which raises him above himself ; he rejoices in the name of his God as soon as his mother speaks to him of it. The feelings of love, gratitude and trust awakened on his mother's breast widen and raise him to God, and embrace him like a father and mother. His readiness to obey extends also. The child believes now in the eye of God as in the eye of his mother, and he does the best he can to fulfil the will of God as he obeys his mother's will. "This first attempt of the innocence and heart of a mother to submit the growing feeling of independence to faith in God by connecting it with the moral dispositions already developed provides for education the fundamental points of view to which it should direct itself, if it would succeed in the ennobling of men. If the first germs of love, gratitude, faith and obedience are formed by 154 PESTALOZZI'S BOOKS AND an agreement of instructive sentiments between the mother and the hild, the ulterior development of these sentiments requires great art. But all your art, oh Educator ! will remain barren, if you lose sight, for an instant, of this starting point, for then you will let the thread be broken that united the actual sentiments to their first germs. This danger is great for your child, and it soon shows itself. He called for his mother, he loved her, he thanked her, trusted and obeyed her. He called upon God, he loved him, thanked him, trusted and obeyed him. But now, the first motives that awakened these sentiments no longer exist. He has no more need of his mother ; the world which surrounds him cries to him with all the attraction of its new appearance, "Now you are mine." "The child hears this voice. The instinct which he had in 'the cradle has disappeared : the instinct of his growing strength has taken its place. The moral sentiments, which were the product of his first impressions, disappear also, if at this time you do not succeed in uniting them to the supreme aspirations of our nature, to the duties of life and the will of the Creator ! Mother, mother ! the world begins now to separate your child from your heart ; and if, at this moment, nobody comes to reconcile the noblest sentiments of his nature with this new appearance of the world, all is over. Mother, mother, your child is torn from your heart ; the new world becomes his mother ; the new world becomes his God. The pleasure of the senses is his God, ruling pride is his God. . . " Here it is for the first time, you cannot trust to nature, but you should do all to preserve your child from its blind power, to give him the rules, principles, and strength that the experience of generations has taught us. The world which is now before his eyes is not the first creation of God ; it is a world spoilt as well for -the innocence of his pleasures as for the sentiments of his noble nature ; it is a world full of war, revolt, usurpation, violence, selfishness, falsehood, and fraud. . ." We stop here, for it is impossible to quote all. Pestalozzi allows himself easily to be carried beyond the subject which he has chosen. He took up his pen with the intention of explaining the views that were to be realised at the Institute of Berthoud, but during his work, new thoughts came to him, and led away by his heart, his imagination, and the richness of his ideas, he launched into new regions. That is how this book gives us other things than what its title promises. Morf has analysed this work with much care and sagacity ; he thus sums up the pedagogic principles : I. Intuition is the basis of instruction. II. Language should be linked with intuition. III. The time for learning is not the time for judgment and criticism. .METHOD AT BERTHOUD. 155 _ IV. In every branch, teaching should begin with the simplest elements and proceed gradually according to the development of the child, that is, in psychologically con- nected order. V. Sufficient time should be devoted to each point of the teaching in order to ensure the complete mastery of it by the pupil. VI. Teaching should aim at development and not dogmatic exposition. VII. The educator should respect the individuality of the pupil. VIII. The chief end of elementary teaching is not to impart knowledge and talent to the learner, but to develop and increase the powers of his intelligence. IX. Power must be linked to knowledge ; and skill to learning. X. The relations between the master and the pupil, especially as to discipline, should be based upon and ruled by love. XI. Instruction should be subordinated to the higher aim of education. We think that the time has not yet come to undertake an examination of the method which is still in process of formation ; Pestalozzi's experience during the few years at the Institute of Berthoud, and that of his fellow- workers, tended to modify in some points, and develop and extend it in others. Pestalozzi was working at it to the last, as we see in the Song of the Swan, written when he was eighty years of age. Only after having related the whole of his life can we examine the educational method that we owe to his genius and the wonderful activity of his mind. But what we wish to state is that, in this work, before his doctrine could have been subjected to any foreign influence, he returns to the idea often expressed before, that the intellectual and moral development is regulated by the same organic law that determines the physical development, like that of the plant and the animal ; in other words, that there is a human organism which comprehends a material, intellectual, and moral organism. We think, if he had sought to formulate the laws of the 150 PESTALOZZI S BOOKS ANQ. organism in order to apply them to the object of his work, he would have given his method more clearness and precision.* 73. We must now speak of the elementary books mentioned in the preceding chapters. The first appeared in 1801. It was the Guide to Reading and Spelling ; accompanied by large letters intended to be fixed on cardboard. The employment of these movable letters produced Pestalozzi's first definite scholastic success. His Book for Mothers was printed in 1803 ; it came far short of the ideal he had conceived, and did not produce the good intended. This non-success arose from an error which gave the world a false idea of the method, and lessened the usefulness of some elementary books which were published in Pestalozzi's name. This was not an error of doctrine but a mistaken view of the difficulties that the mothers of his time had in applying his method to the instruction of their children. It was assuredly a fine and noble idea to call upon mothers themselves to begin the reform of education by teaching their children according to the manner in which, guided by the inspiration of maternal instinct, they had begun it. But to succeed in this they would require to forget the mode of their own education and to be imbued with the spirit of the new method ; they would need to have been brought up themselves by Pestalozzi, or according to the spirit of his doctrine. The author of the elementary books thought to simplify the elements of instruction and multiply the steps in order to make a minutely graduated series, following the smallest details, and giving mothers word for word what they were to say or rather do to their children. This understood, the work was too long and monotonous for a mind like Pestalozzi's, always carried away by new ideas ; he left the chief part of it, therefore, to be done by his fellow- workers. * We have described the laws of the organism and their application to education, physical, moral and intellectual in our first work. The Philosophy and Practice of Education. METHOD AT BEBTHOUD. 157 The Book for Mothers was intended to initiate the- child, not only into the exact knowledge of the objects of nature and art which appear to his senses, but to the relations of number and form. From this infinite number of objects of the material world within the reach of the child, Pestalozzi chose the child's own body as the starting point. He had said in How Gertrude teaches her Children, "All that I am, all that I wish, all I can do, comes from myself." After the child were to come animals, then plants, then the inorganic world ; after the works of God, the works of man. It was Krusi who wrote the Book for Mothers according to Pestalozzi's directions ; but the study of the external parts of the body, comprising their names, number, relative position, connections, functions, &c., fills a volume, and there the work ends. Pestalozzi had written the preface : in it he announced ten exercises, seven of which only were written. The seventh is by himself and consists of a series of remarks and instructions upon the functions of the organs of the child : it contains some interesting pages. Here is an example from the article, " Seeing with the Eyes : " From the beginning of its life, hia mother takes him to the open window : he sees the sky and the ground, the garden before the house ; the trees, houses, men, and gnimala ; objects near him and others far away ; great and small ones ; some apart, others close to one another ; he sees white, blue, red and black. But he does not know what distance is, nor size, number or colour. " Some weeks after, his mother takes him in her arms out-doors, and he finds himself under the tree he can see from the window ; dogs, cats, cows and sheep pass by him. He sees the hen pick up the corn his mother throws to it, the water flowing from the fountain ; his mother plucks flowers of all colours, puts them into his hands and gives him them to smell. " Some months after his mother takes him further ; he sees now close to him the steeple which he had before seen far off. Hardly can he walk, when urged by the double need of playing and knowing, he crosses the threshold in four steps in order to get into the open air, and feel the pleasant warmth of the sun in a little corner behind the house. He tries to grasp everything he sees, picks up little stones, pulls the glowing and perfumed flower from its stalk, puts it into his mouth ; he would stop the. 158 PESTALOZZl's BOOKS AND worm in his path, the butterfly flying about, and the sheep grazing near. Nature unfolds before him and he wishes to enjoy it ; every day he gains new ideas, and he appreciates all he sees better than the preceding. Mothers! What must you do? Nothing but follow the way that nature and providence indicate. You see what objects God presents to the view of your child as soon as he opens his eyes, and the inevitable effects of his involuntary impressions ; bring the child closer to the object that strikes him, and to attract him more let him see what he is most anxious to see ; seek what is best within your reach in the garden, house, meadows or fields the objects which, by their colour, form, movement, brightness, are connected with this favourite object ; put them round his cradle and on the table before him. Give him time to examine the properties of the objects, to observe how they wither and disappear, and how you can restore them by filling anew the vase with flowers, calling the dog who has gone away, and lifting up the broken toy. That is something for his heart and judgment; but the most essential thing, young mothers, is that your child prefers you to all, that his sweetest smiles and lively affections are for you alone, and that you prefer no one to him." The Book for Mothers did not succeed, some of the critics did not even understand the intention of the author, and regarded it only as a ridiculous essay. Daissault, a celebrated and witty journalist of the (then) Journal de V Empire notices it in an amusing way, saying : " Pestalozzi gives himself A great deal of trouble to teach the child that his nose is in the middle of his face." After this work there appeared a book intended to give intuitive exercises in number and form, that is, in the first teaching of arithmetic and geometry. Krusi and Buss began the compiling of this, Schmid completed it. These books have the same faults as the first ; excess of detail, monotony of form &c., and were no more successful than the Book for Mothers although they followed the right way Pestalozzi's method is spirit and life; it cannot be transmitted in stereotyped form At the same time, that is between 1802-5, ne wrote a work which was not finished for printing, and was left unpublished. M. Morf possesses the MS. It is called the Master of the Natural School. It was printed first in 1872 in Seyffarth's collection. METHOD AT BERTHOUD. 159 The Book for Mothers was only a fragment of a more important work projected by the author. After having accustomed the child to speak about the impressions furnished by its senses, that is, its physical intuitions, Pestalozzi wished also to exercise it to speak of its moral intuitions. For this purpose he took for his text language itself; that is, words which express moral sentiments which it is important to make the child understand in such a way as to produce a salutary impression upon his heart. It is to this book that the title of the Master of the Natural School is given ; in plan and form it is quite different from the Book for Mothers. Whether the author was dissatisfied with his work, or want of time prevented his completing it, he gave it up and presented the MS. to Krusi, telling him to do what he liked with it. He did not, however, intend to give up writing a work upon the elementary teaching of language ; on the contrary he worked at this subject to the last. In 1829, Krusi, then Director of the Cantonal School at Trogen in Appenzell, sought to give the public the benefit of the work confided to his care. He studied his MS. made a selection of passages, arranged them in order and published them in a pamphlet entitled : Paternal Instruc- tions upon the Moral meaning of Words ; a Legacy from Father Pestalozzi to His People. In the preface, Krusi relates the history of the MS., and recalls the following passage from the letters of Pestalozzi to Gessner; " I wish to end all my reading exercises by a legacy to my pupils, in which after my death they will find attached to the principal verbs of the language, the moral instructions which are the result of my own experience, and presented in a manner to strike them as thejr strike me." The Paternal Instructions are, in fact, attached to a series of words, mostly verbs. . . Here is the dedictation : " To the poorest people of Helvetia, I have seen your abasement, your deep abasement, and I have pitied you. Dear people, I desire to help you. I have no talent, no science, l6o PESTALOZZ'S BOOKS AND METHOD AT BERTHOUU. and I am nobody ; but I know you, and I devote myself to you ; I give you all T can to improve you by the painful labour of my life. Read me without prejudice, and if any can give you better, cast me aside and let me return to the nothingness in which I have passed my life. But if nobody tells you what to do, if nobody does it in a way to be useful, then shed a tear to my memory and to the jQfe I have lost for you." Amongst the preliminary notes are some brilliant per- ceptions of the moral importance of a good teaching of language which remind one of the work of Pere Girard twenty years after ; then follow plans for the study of language, and criticisms of the old practice then in fashion. After having pointed out the harm done by so many masters by their bad method, the author says : " jfestis Christ is the only Master." Here, then is the model Pestalozzi sought to follow. The bulk of the work is a collection of instructions connected with the meaning of words. These words are arranged alphabetically ; the principal word is accompanied by its derivative, and each word is taken in its diverse meanings. It is therefore impossible to translate into another language. The following will give the reader some idea of the first paragraph : " I. Achien, aehtend, geachtet, erachten, beobachten, hochachten, verachten, sick selbstachten ; die achtung, die Selbsachtung. " Children, the first word I wish to explain is Selbsachtuug (self- respect). It is that which makes you blush when you do wrong ; which leads you to honour, virtue, to pray to God, believe in everlasting life, and overcome sin. It causes you to honour age and wisdom, never to turn your eyes from poverty, nor your hearts from misery, and makes you reject error and falsehood, and love truth. Children ! it makes a hero of a coward, an active man of an idler ; it gives honour to a stranger, raises the fallen, and saves the forsaken." The MS. which, after the death of Krusi had passed to M. Morf, Director of the Orphanage at Winterthour, does not contain all that Pestalozzi gave to Krusi ; but the matter of the two sources is combined by Seyffarth in his 1 6th vol. of Pestalozzi's Works. THE FIRST YEARS AT YVERDON CHAPTER XIII. THE FIRST YEARS AT YVERDON. 74. The Collaborateurs. 75. M. Louis Vulliemin's Remin- iscences. 76. Prussia adopts the method. 77. Charles Kilter's visits and their result. 78. Life at the Institute: Printing, Exercise, Manual work, and Festivals. 74. Pestalozzi's Institute was established in the ancient castle of Yverdon (in Vaud) and it rapidly increased. There were many more pupils there than at Berthoud, and masters also. Many of the latter had been scholars at Berthoud. But there were also distinguished collaborateurs who came from various countries to learn ; some of them men of high social position and influence who furthered the introduction of the system into their various countries. Time forbids mention of them all. But those longest and most intimately connected with the great master were Niederer, Ramsauer, and Schmid yean Niederer who came from Appenzell was a pastor and doctor of philosophy and the friend of Tobler. He is called the " Philosopher of the Method " because he gave philosophical expression to the ideas of Pestalozzi. He corrected and retouched all that Pestalozzi wrote for printing, sometimes injuring thus the originality of the form of the work. De Muralt was a good disciplinarian, and a learned man with elevated views, but simple, friendly and cheerful with the children. He had lived in Paris, he spoke good French ; and it was a great pleasure to us French pupils, always obliged to sing in German in the Institute, when on our excursions, he taught us songs in our mother-tongue. M IO2 PESTALOZZI. He subsequently became Director of an important educational establishment at St. Petersburg. Mieg, a capable man who was at once kind and firm, was entrusted by Pestalozzi with the general direction and discipline, after the departure of De Muralt. De Turc belonged to a noble family of North Germany ; he had given up a good position in the magistracy of Oldenburg in order to come to study Pestalozzi's work, and he soon after published his Letters from Munchenbiichsee upon Pestalozzi and his Method of Elementary Education. This man, who was distinguished for his talents, lofty views and great force of will, after having kept a boarding school connected with Pestalozzi's Institute at Yverdon, was appointed Councillor of State at Potsdam, and for thirty years he worked zealously at the propagation and application of the work of the master. Barraud, who was soon called to Bergerac (Dordogne) by Maine de Biran, founded an educational institute there on Pestalozzi's method. Ramsauer has been mentioned before ; he too was irom Appenzell. Joseph Schmid was a little shepherd from the Tyrol. He had more intelligence than heart, and developed a great talent for mathematics. He became the disturbing element and led to the fall of the Institute. He had a keen, crafty spirit, a will of iron, and a hard unfeeling nature. He wrote the books upon Number and Form Steiner, a child without any early education was educated by Pestalozzi. He became an assistant-master at Yverdon and did great credit to the method : he became one of the first mathematicians in Germany. A professor at Berlin, he has published works which have greatly contributed to popularise and render fruitful this science. Such were Pestalozzi's chief fellow- workers. Later on many others came ; but these were the early days of the Institute. 75. The life of the Institute at this time is described by M. Vulliemin, the eminent historian, who spent two years of his boyhood there, from the age of eight to ten. The historian writes for his family and friends : FIRST YEARS AT YVERDON. 163 f Imagine, my children, a very ugly man with (oust* hair, a face pitted with smallpox, and covered with red spots, a pointed disorderly beard, oo neck-tie, his clothes hanging loosely upon him, his walk jerky, his eyes now widening and flashing out lightning then closing in coutemplation and giving him an expression of deep sadness or blissful calm ; a voice slow or hasty, tender and melodious, or at times like thunder : this was our Father Pestalozzi. Such as he was, we loved him every one of us, for he loved us ; we loved him so cordially that if we did not see him for a time we became quite sad, and when he appeared, we could not keep our eyes off him. We knew that during the wars of the Helvetic Revolution he had gathered together a large number of orphans and devoted himself to them, that he was the friend of the poor and unfortunate, and especially ot children. My fellow-citizens of Yverdon, the old town where I was born, had generously given him the use of the old castle whose long rooms extended around wide courts and afforded space for play as well as study. We numbered from one hundred and fifty to two hundred young people of all nations. We played sometimes in the court of the castle and sometimes on the grass behind the lake. In winter we used to make a great snow fortress which was attacked and defended heroically. We hardly ever had anyone ill amongst us. Every morning we came in rank to get a cold shower-bath. We wore no caps. One day when the wind was keenly cold I appeared wearing a cap my father had put on me. But my companions no sooner caught sight of it than they set up a cry of " A hat, a hat," and tossed it hither and thither until it was lost in the lake. Our teachers were, for the most part, young men who from revolutionary times had lived and grown with Pestalozzi, their father and curs. There were besides, some literary and learned men among them who had come to share in the task. On the whole, there was little science. I have heard Pestalozzi boast of not having read anything for forty years. His first pupils, our masters, hardly read more. Their teaching was addressed to the intelligence rather than to the memory and its aim was harmonious culture of the germs providence had endowed us with. Let your work be to develop the child said Pestalozzi to them " and do not try to break him in as you would train a dog, and as the children of our schools are too often treated." Our studies were essentially directed to number, form, and language. Language was taught by the help of intuition. We were taught to observe well and so we came to have a clear idea of the connection of things, and what we understood we had no difficulty in describing or expressing. The first elements of geography were taught us on the ground. We began by taking a walk along a narrow valley on the outskirts of Yverdon. We were led to observe all its details, then to help ourselves to some clay we found there. This we carried back in our baskets, and on our return home we had to make a model of the ground walked over and of the surrounding country. We did this on long tables. Then our walk was extended from time to time, and, on our return, we added the new features as we learned them. M 2 164 PESTALOZZI. We also had to invent our own geometry. We were told what to seek (o attain and put on the way ; the rest we did ourselves. So it was, too, in arithmetic,. Our calculations were made in our head without the need of paper and this gave some of us surprising facility. What is called Pestalozzi's Method was a mystery to us. It was the same to our teachers. Like the disciples of Socrates each interpreted it in his own way, and each said that Pestalozzi was only understood by himself ; Schmid by Schmid ; Niederer by Niederer. At this time there were no scenes such as Moliere has given in his Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Faith in Pestalozzi still kept all the members of his large family united. Yet there was no order, no ability, no skill. In his childlike simplicity his heart was closed to distrust. He thought no evil : and, easily deceived, he fell later from deception to deception. But at the time of which I speak he ruled all hearts as all wills. One feature will show the spirit which ruled in the beginning. These educators who later gave themselves up to debates and disputes received no payment in money. Their daily needs were provided for and nothing more. The box containing the school-fees stood in Pestalozzi's room, and when one of the masters needed a new coat or pair of shoes he went to the money-box and helped himself." When Vulliemin left the Institute its external importance and its reputation extended afar, and some of its principles were established in a definite manner in the practical education of an entire people. This was a consequence of the battle of Jena ; it was Prussia vanquished, dismembered, ruined, and humiliated, which first adopted the regenerating doctrine that Pestalozzi had sought so long to make known. When Frederick William III. saw his monarchy crushed by the loss of a single battle, seizing courageously the slow and laborious but true means of raising it again he cried : " We have lost in territory ; our power and outward splendour have fallen ; but we ought and we shall work to gain at home in power and splendour. For this reason I wish the greatest attention to be given to the instruction of the people." The king was not the only one in Prussia who desired reform in public education ; for long, some of the best minds were occupied with the subject. The worthy wife of Frederich William III., Queen Louise, also employed her influence. She wrote thus in her journal : I am reading Leonard and Gertrude. I love to imagine myself in that THE FIRST YEARS AT YVERDON. 165 Swiss village. If I was mistress of my actions I would start at once for Switzerland to see Pestalozzi ; I would heartily shake hands with him, and thank him with tears in my eyes. . . With what goodness and ardour does he not interest himself in the good fellow creatures ! Yes, in the name of humanity, with my whole heart I thank him.' And later, when Zeller was sent for to teach according to the method at Kceingsberg, the queen took such a lively interest in the experiment that she often went herself to the new school. During the winter of 1807-8, Fichte gave in Berlin his Discourses to the German Nation. He had visited Pestalozzi in 1793 and had been much struck with his views which he had promised to make known in Germany. And now came his opportunity, which he took advantage of. He spoke sincerely for he knew that the work was a philanthropic and patriotic one. After having stated that education was the only means of raising the people, he spoke of Pestalozzi and declared that it was to his doctrine that they must trust every reform of public instruction if it was to be effectual and salutary. In Sept. 1808, Pestalozzi received a letter from the Minister of Worship saying that the king, who was actively interested in popular education, was fully convinced of the value of the new method and he wished to adopt it in its entirety. For this end he wished to know the best steps to take to introduce it into his country. The result was that seventeen students were sent successively to Pestalozzi and maintained at the cost of the State. Other sovereigns followed this example. The Kings of Holland and Denmark each supported two teachers at Yverdon. Other parts of Germany were also represented, there were about forty young masters studying at a time. Saxony was the most happy in its scholastic reform. The Minister of Instruction there for a long time was Justus Blochmann, a student and collaborateur of Pestalozzj. And popular instruction took, in Saxony, a sincerely religious, moral, and really Christian character. The primary schools of Saxony have taken the first rank in Germany. 1 66 PESTALOZZI. The ardour of Germany for Pestalozzi's method led other countries to send pupils, some of whom came merely from curiosity. The rage which the Institute of Yverdon enjoyed led to some troublesome consequences. The lessons were daily disturbed by visitors ; then the parents came and asked for some little changes ; each wished his child's education to be adapted to the circumstances and habits of his country, and Pestaiozzi was often weak enough to welcome these requirements in the hope of being thus able to spread his method in foreign countries. But the reputation of the Institute also brought eminent men, amongst whom was Charles Ritter, who gives an enthusiastic account of it. The testimony of Ritter, the illustrious reformer of geographical science, is translated into French by M. Vulliemin in the Evangelical Christian. It tells how Ritter who was no ordinary tourist came with his pupils : 77. " In September, 1807, there arrived at Yverdon a German tutor, with two pupils and their mother. The tutor was Charles Ritter ; and his pupils the young Hollwegs of Frankfort. . . . He was warmly received and spent a week of high pedagogic festival in the society of the head of this great family and his principal fellow -workers, Niederer, Tobler, Muralt, and Krusi. Every day there were conferences in which education was considered from all sides. Hitter was filled with admiration and respect in the presence of a mind devoted to one grand original idea, yet a nature in which simplicity and humility were united with boundless confidence in the greatness of his task. Hitter left elevated and ennobled by the contact. Two years after, he returned and was received as an old friend of the house, and he acknowledges the influence exercised over him by the companionship of his " noble friends Pestaiozzi, Niederer, Mieg, de Turc, Schmid, and others also who are engaged in the same aim, namely, the ennobling of humanity by education." Great changes had tak changes had taken place in the Institute, but these energetic men still remained. Their sphere of action had widened. The noble old man was always a child in heart and genius ; full of fire, he lived in continual agitation. His wife was a model of modest virtue, and delicacy, and tenderness of heart. " With them," said Ritter, "my hours t-peed like minutes. In the evening, seated between the father and mother of the large family, I share with all my friends their simple meal. The dishes go to right and left, the glasses are filled, and many a witty saying seasons this banquet of friendship. The work has become colossal, so that its founder can scarcely supervise it. There are more than fifty pupils. The assistants and THE FIRST YEARS AT YVERDON. l6/ students numbered forty. I do not know the number of the masters. Add to this a Girls' School, two private establishments, and a considerable number of educators who, living outside the Institution, yet give and take lessons there, and you will have some idea of what is done here. Pestalozzi himself is not able to give lessons according to his method in any branch of teaching. Perfectly helpless in the details, he surveys the whole ; what he knows he can expound with power and clearness ; and he can make intelligence act according to its conceptions. He was right when he said to me, " I cannot say that I have created what you see around. Niederer, Krusi, and Schmid would laugh if I called myself their master. I cannot calculate or write. I do not understand grammar or mathematics or any science, my youngest pupil knows more about these things than I do, I am only the Surveyor of the Institute, and others realise my idea." He spoke truly, yet without him it could not exist. He has no gift of governing ; yet it subsists. He has effected this work by the sacrifice of all he possessed, and yet he does not know the value of money ; he cannot keep accounts, and he gives up everything with the carelessness of a child. He does not even speak intelligibly ; he cannot speak either German or French ; yet he is, none the less, the soul of a great society in its gay or serious moods; his morning worship, his prayers and exhortations sink into the heart of his pupils and have a great influence. All venerate him and love him like a father." Ritter continues : "As Pestalozzi is the Surveyor, Niederer is the philosopher of the castle. "What the one evolves, the other deduces according to his own views. He would do honour to the highest chair of philosophy ; but to him, philosophy is inseparable tiom religion, and Jesus Christ is wisdom. The most vigorous of the collaborateurs, in the development of the method is the Tyrolean Schmid, whose teaching of drawing and geometry has been published and will be followed by that dealing with arithmetic and algebra. This part of the application of the method is the most advanced. The pupils of Schmid play with problems in geometry, stereometry, and trigonometry. He is twenty three years of age; his character, like his science, is of iron and steel ; and, the son of a peasant, he has preserved his childish simplicity in a religious heart." So said Ritter, 1809. It is evident that enthusiasm over-rulod his judgment. . . Perhaps it was as well that he saw all in rose colour : the influence upon himself was most powerful and salutary ; for apart from what he learned In other matters, it was his connection with Pestalozzi which awakened in-him the intuitions which later on aided him in hi gtudv of geography. Listen to what he says himself upon this subject : " I have seen more than the paradise of Switzeiland, 1 haveaeen Pestalozzi. I have learned to know his heart and his genius. Never have I felt so l68 PESTALOZZI. impressed with the sanctity of ray vocation as when I was with this noble son of Switzerland. I cannot recall without emotion this society of strong men, struggling with the present with the aim of clearing the way for a better future, men whose only joy and reward is the hope of raising the child to the dignity of man. I have seen this precious plant grow ; I have seen the spring flow that watered it, and breathed the pure air that fed it. I have learned to understand this method which rests upon the nature of the child, and develops like truth in liberty. It remains to me to apply it to the domain of geography. There is between nature and history a great blank yet to be filled up. I left Yverdon resolved to fulfil my promise made to Pestalozzi to carry his method into geography, and wrote to him later on "I have happily emerged from chaos : I have the clue to a knowledge of the globe such as will satisfy the mind and heart, reveal the laws of the All- Wise, and contribute to physico-theology." This promise has been amply fulfilled. His fine work upon Comparative Geography is the exposition Df a new science. Before him, geography was a juxtaposition of facts ; he has transformed it into an organic science in which the accounts of the physical conditions of the peoples are explained with their intellectual diversity. Doubtless he has been preceded by others, notably by William von Humboldt. But it is nevertheless Pestalozzi to whom he is indebted for the first impulse given to his mind and the principal part of what is best in his book. Forty years after his visit to Yverdon we heard him declare with joy ; " Pestalozzi did not know as much geography as a child in our Primary Schools, but, none the less, have I learnt that science from him for it was in listening to him that I felt awaken within me the instinct of the natural methods : he shewed me the way, and what was given to him to do I am pleased to admit as belonging to him." Another visitor was M. de Raumer, who was studying geology in Paris, whilst Fichte was discoursing on education and Pestalozzi : this led him to Yverdon. Then, returning to Germany, he wrote his History of Pedagogy in which he both praises and blames what he saw. The Biography of Pestalozzi by Mile Chavannes gives the testimony of a pupil who had become a minister of the Gospel. Here is an extract from it : " I entered at the age of seven and a half, in June, 1808, and I remained only nine months. It was the most brilliant period of the Institute. There were one hundred and thirty seven pupils, not only Swiss, German, and French ; but also Italiaiis, Spaniards, Russians, and even Americans. NOTE. Ritter dedicated the first volume of his Geography to Pestalozzi. THE FIRST YEARS AT YVERDON. 169 " We had to rough it in regard to personal care, food, and neatness; but although I felt this very much at first, being so far removed from my good parents at Vevey, I became accustomed to it, and I liked our devoted masters all the more for their sharing in our recreations and allowing us to thee and thou them. I was especiall} attached to Pestalozzi, their excellent head. I can see him still with his stockings hang-ing over his shoes, his shirt, hair, and beard, all in disorder, but bos eyes full of life and tenderness, and kindness written upon his lips. . . . " I can add to the praise of this excellent man, that if he did not develop in me the fear of God and faith in the Saviour, I learned under him to do my work as a scholar from a feeling of duty rather than from the dangerous motives of praise and reward. Called one day to go into his office with a young Italian who had been the subject of complaint, and whom he reprimanded, I thought he was also going to scold me ; but th good old man, turning towards me, said that my masters were pleased with me and that he would tell my parents this, which would gratify them. Thus I had done my duty without the masters praising ma before my companions, and without being aware of it myself. " Although I was very young, and only a very short time with this extraordinary man, he made an indelible impression upon me and I regard him as one of the benefactors of my youth." In the morning and evening Pestalozzi pronounced his meditations whilst walking in the large room that served for a chapel, and where all the pupils and masters were assembled. Worship ended with singing and silent prayer. 78. Pestalozzi founded a Girls' School not far from the castle, where the masters went to give lessons, and the pupils came every evening to prayers at the Institute. Mme. Kuster, Pestalozzi's daughter-in-law was the first directress of the Girls' School. She had for first assistant Mile. Rosette Kasthoffer from Berne, who soon became the directress of the school and the wife of Doctor Niederer. The boarding school under Mr. and Mrs. Niederer became independent of Pestalozzi. It was carried on at Yverdon till 1838, and then at Geneva till the death of Mr. Niederer. Pestalozzi also induced M. Naef, from Zurich, to found an Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, in 1811. This establishment enjoyed a great and deserved reputation at the time of the founder and his son. These accounts give an idea of what Pestalozzi's Institute was in the days of its prosperity. Some other particulars will complete the picture. I7O PESTALOZZI. The pupils enjoyed great liberty, the two doors of the castle remained open all day and there was no porter, all could come in or go out at any hour as in an ordinary dwelling house, and this freedom was hardly ever taken advantage of by the children. There were generally ten hours given to lessons every day, from six in the morning till eight at night, but each of the lessons only lasted an hour and was followed by a short interval during which they generally changed rooms. Besides, some of the lessons consisted of gymnastic exercises and manual work, such as gardening and cutting out cardboard. The last hour, from seven till eight, was given to free work ; the children said "We work for ourselves ;" and they could occupy themselves as they pleased with drawing or geography, in writing to their friends, or arranging their exercise books. The youngest masters, who were mostly pupils from Berthoud were entrusted with the oversight of the children out of lesson-time ; they slept in the dormitories, played with the pupils in recreation time and enjoyed it ; they also went to the garden, bath, and walks and were much beloved. The pupils were allowed to address them as thee and thou. They were divided into squadrons and they performed their duties in turns. Three times a week the masters gave an account of the conduct and work of the pupils, who were called five or six at a time before the old man to receive his remonstrances and exhortations. Pestalozzi took them one after the other aside and whispered to them. He asked if the child had anything to say or ask him. Every Saturday, the work of the week was reported upon 'in a general meeting. The faithful Elizabeth, the heroic servant who had of her own free will come and saved Pestalozzi in his distress at Neuhof, had followed her master to Yverdon as house- keeper. She had married Krusi, brother of the excellent teacher, and her husband was a confidential servant of the institute : he took charge of the cellar and wine for meals. Mme. Krusi had brought her economical and culinary habits from German Switzerland and the taste of the THE FIRST YEARS AT YVERDON. IJI French speaking country did not accord with her somewhat primitive simplicity. The dishes good and wholesome in their nature, if not by their preparation, were in excessive abundance, and the meals were numerous according to German needs. At seven o'clock, after the first lesson, the pupils made their ablutions in the court : the water, pumped from wells, ran along a pipe pierced with holes on both sides, from which each child received his stream pure and cold there were no ewers or basins. After dressing, they breakfasted on soup. At eight o'clock lessons recommenced. At ten o'clock there was an interval of rest, during which those who were hungry went to Mme. Krusi for fruit or dry bread. At mid-day, there was an hour for recreation : bath, or game of "barrier" or "prisoners" upon the sward behind the lake, &c. At one o'clock, dinner of soup, meat and vegetables. At half past one, lessons again until half past four. Then came collation, an informal meal, sometimes of fruit, sometimes cheese, at other times great slices of bread and butter. The pupils filed in order to receive their godter, (or piece as the Scotch call it), but they could eat it wherever they liked during recreation time which lasted till six o'clock, and which took place in fine weather behind the lake or in the great garden of the castle, where each child had his little square plot of ground to himself. From six till eight, new lessons, and then supper which was like the dinner. When we think of the conditions under which the masters lived, we cannot doubt their devotion to Pestalozzi or the disinterested motives that had attached them to him. We have seen what the food was, the furniture was more rustic still. Some of the oldest masters lodged outside the castle, but all the rest had not a room where they could go for quiet. When they needed it, they made little cabinets of planks for themselves in the highest storeys of the round towers of the castle. M. and Mme. Pestalozzi occupied an apartment in the second storey of the building on the north side. They often invited the masters to take coffee with them and also gave evening receptions to which some of the pupils were 1 72 PESTALOZZI. admitted, and sometimes visitors came from the town or from other places. Madame Pestalozzi made an amiable and graceful hostess. Although she had remained an invalid since the disasters at Neuhof she retained all her freshness of imagination, and a kind of poetry of heart which made her the centre of the most agreeable conversation. As for Pestalozzi, he met everybody with the kindest goodwill ; his conversation was animated, spiritual, full of imagination and originality, though difficult to follow on account of his bad pronunciation. But it was very unequal, and sometimes he passed in a moment from frank and expansive gaiety to meditative and concentrated sadness. Habitually distracted and preoccupied in manner and a prey to feverish agitation, he could not sit still ; he used to walk along the corridors of the castle, with one hand behind his back and the other holding the end of his cravat between his teeth. In this way he came into the classes every day ; if the teaching pleased him his face beamed, he petted the children and spoke to them smiling ; but if the master did not please him, he went out angry and shut the door behind him. He continued to work with indefatigable zeal at the perfecting and new applications of this method ; every morning as early as two o'clock he had one of the under masters to come to his bedside, (usually it was Ramsauer) to write to his dictation. But he was seldom satisfied with his own work, it had to be corrected and begun over and over again. At this time Pestalozzi had set up a printing press in the castle, and it was not idle. But the works printed at Yverdon from 1807 to 1811 do not bear the stamp of the original genius of the head of the Institute ; they were more the works of his collaborateurs than himself. Amongst these works were the following : " Upon the Principles and Plans of a Journal announced in 1807. A Glance at my Views and Essays on Education. Report to the Parents and Public upon the Institnte at Yverdon. THE FIRST YEARS AT YVERDON. 173 At the same time there began the Weekly Journal for the Education of Man, published from 1807 to 1811. In it were articles by the various collaborateurs ; but Pestalozzi's numerous contributions have been retouched by Niederer. It also contains the remarkable Discourse pronounced by Pestalozzi in 1809 at the meeting of the Society of the Friends of Education at Lenzbourg. Then too, appeared the exercises upon Number and Form, which were the work of Schmid. Before finishing this chapter we should tell what kind of physical exercises were practised at the Institute, what was the hand work done, and ~wha.t fetes were held. Every week when the season permitted, some hours of the afternoon were given to military drill. The pupils formed a small battallion, with a flag, drums, music and arms ; and they became skilful in the most complicated manoeuvres. When they were exercised in firing, the petty officers were occupied in making cartridges under the direction of the chief instructor. From time to time they carried on mock wars in the neighbourhood of the town. They started with an ammunition and provision cart, many of the friends of the pupils and others interested joining the party. It was a grand treat to the pupils. Sometimes they shot at the target, and the successful shot obtained a sheep with its lamb and the use of a little stable in the garden. Gymnastics, games with bars, etc. were carried on regularly. In winter, skating was added to this ; in sum- mer, bathing in the lake and mountain climbing. Every year the first day of spring was celebrated by a walk to one of the heights in the neighbourhood, and if the late snow prevented it there was great grumbling. Manual work was carried on at the Institute, but although often attempted it was not pursued in a regular and connected manner. The great number and diversity of the pupils and their occupations was probably the the obstacle that they could not surmount. Gardening succeeded best ; sometimes the pupils cultivated their own gardens, at others they were sent in two's by turns to work for some hours under the gardener's direction. The chil- 174 ' PESTALOZZl. also got on well in binding and cardboard modelling. They made solids in this way for the understanding of geometry. But their skill was chiefly spent upon decor- ations for their festivals. The end of the year was finished in making new year's .( books for their parents and friends. In these they put ' drawings, maps, mathematical problems, historical episodes, descriptions from natural history, and literary compositions. On New Year's Day there was a discourse from Pestalozzi, worship, distribution of presents, and a great dinner : in the evening a march to the town with torches, (each pupil making his own), then a ball, to which the pupils from the Girls' School came, and also guests invited from the town. Few lessons were given between New Year's Day and Jan. i2th, the time was chiefly spent in preparing for the fete of Pestalozzi which took place on his birthday, the i2th. For this each class decorated their room, transforming it more or less into a wood with thatched cottage, chapel, ruins, sometimes even a cascade which played when Pestalozzi entered. The pupils made long excursions into the neighbourhood to find pines, ivy, and moss. They made transparencies with emblems and inscriptions. The decoration of each room was not only kept as a surprise for Pestalozzi, but a secret from the other classes. They also learnt a song in honour of the father of the house. The chief idea in most of the inscriptions was " In summer you take us to see nature, to- day we seek to bring nature to you." Often on these occasions also the pupils gave dramatic representations, taken generally from the finest scenes in Swiss history of the middle ages. They made their own costumes of card- board and coloured paper, helmets, shields, &c. Here follows an extract from the journal of a pupil of Pestalozzi who was at the Institute from 1806 to 1810 : "Jan. 12th, 1808. Pestalozzi' s birthday. At the close of the day a llection for the poor of Yverdon was made amongst those pupils who were in easy circumstances and it amounted to 95 francs. "Sept. 30th, 1809. To-day is the fortieth anniversary of the marriage of Father Pestalozzi. Splendid festival discourse from Niederer, "beautiful songs ; the room is decorated with garlands ; & great supper for THE lilRST YJiARS AT YVEKDON. IJ5 three hundred people in five rooms. Then a ball opened by M. and Mme. Pestalozzi, who performed a dance according to the old fashioned style." On Christmas Eve a large fir tree was placed in the large hall and decked with wax candles, gilt nuts, apples, &c., the traditional and popular Christmas Tree of the Germans, which till then was unknown in that French- speaking country, but which has since been naturalised everywhere. Then religious discourses and prayers alternated with joyful songs while the pupils sang heartily. Singing which played an important part in Pestalozzi' s , Institute enlivened the whole house. The Swiss Pfeiffer V and Naegeli have fulfilled the wishes of Pestalozzi by publishing charming collections for children. Germany, it is true is very rich in sweet melodies and simple poetry suited to the needs and character of children. Some French songs were also taught, but they were few and unsatisfactory. In spite of some praiseworthy efforts France has not been able to rise to eminence in this respect. We have sought to snow what the Institute was during the first years of his residence there. At this time the world admired its splendour, but we shall soon see that already it contained the evils that led to its fall and ruin. 176 PESTALOZZ. CHAPTER XIV. DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 79. Pestalozzi the first to see it ; its cause. 80. He asks the Diet to inspect his Institute. 8 1 . Controversy between Niederer and the Detractors of the work. 82. Dispute between Niederer and Schmid ; Schmid leaves. 83. Marc - Antoine Jullien at Yverdon ; his influence. 84. Illness of Pestalozzi. 85. The Allied Armies in Switzer- land. Pestalozzi and the Czar at Bale. 86. Internal difficulties. Recall of Schmid. 87. "To Innocence, and the Seriout and Noble Sentiments of my Fatherland. 88. Dr. Bell at Yverdon. 89. Death of Mme. Pestalozzi. 90. Discontent amongst the mas- ters caused by Schmid' a domination. 91. They leave the Institute. 79. AT the end of 1807, when the establishment of Yverdon was at the height of its fame, when it called forth the admiration of learned men and sovereigns, when it attracted a crowd of pupils, disciples and visitors, when it inspired all the masters who taught there, with joy and hope, one man alone was dissatisfied with it, one man alone regarded the work as a failure, incapable of lasting, like a plant whose root is gnawed by an indestructible worm. He was in the habit of addressing a discourse every New Year's Day in which he reviewed the past year, and spoke frankly about the state of his work, of the fears and hopes that it raised in him. His discourse ot Jan. ist, 1808 is full of sadness and discouragement ; he pronounced it beside his open coffin which he had brought into the the room which served for a chapel. We shall translate the greater part of it : DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 177 ' The old year has gone ; the new one is here. I am in the midst of yon, but not with the joy that seems natural in my position. I seem to Bee my hour approaching, and to hear a voice crying to me : " Render an account of thy stewardship, for thou must die." Can I render a favourable account ? Have I done right towards God, men, and myself ? I have been happy and the sound of my happiness deafened me like the humming of a. swarm of bees seeking a new hive. But I must die. And what says this humming ? That I do not deserve this good fortune, and that I am not happy. The past year has not been happy. The ice has broken under my feet when I thought I was walking on firm ground. The work of my life presents blanks that I did not suspect. The bond which unites us has proved weak, where I thought it was strongest. I have seen ill-will where I thought there was peace, and love grow cold where I never doubted its warmth. I have seen confidence disappear when I need it to live and to breathe and when it is the very necessity of my life. You see my coffin. What remains for me ? The hope of the grave. My heart is broken. I am not what I was before yesterday. I have no longer any love, confidence or hope. Why should I live ? Why did God preserve me miraculously from the feet of the horses ?* . . . He has dissipated the dream that deceived me regarding my own worth and happiness. . . I have attached too much value to a happiness which I did not deserve. I undertook my work, poor, weak and unworthy, incapable and ignorant. It was folly to the world, but God watched over me. My work was done. I found friends for my heart and work. I did not know what 1 was doing. I scarcely knew what I wished to do. And the work is done. It came out of chaos like Creation. It is the work of God Observe, my Friends, it is the work of God. And the work of God unites us, not as the wicked are united, but as the work of God unites the angels with the angels. You were astonished at my being saved from the horses, but my work has been saved in a more astonishing manner than my poor body. It is a miracle I am here ! It is a greater miracle that my work has escaped the dangers of Berthoud, Munchenbuchsee, and Yverdon. New dangers threaten it. With the help of God they will be overcome. But shall I overcome them ? My heart doubts it ; it is fearful and agitated. I feel I d<> not deserve my good fortune ; it will come to an end. But my work will not end with it. Whatever is gold will not burn but be purified in the glowing furnace. My work, however, will not endure by me. It cannot. My life is not worthy of it. I lacked power for truth, and innocence for love. Good fortune never failed me, but I did not know how to retain it. It slipped * The month before ,when descending a hill at night with Krusi, he was knocked down by horses, trampled upon and rolled into a ditch, from which Krusi pulled him out with his clothes torn to rags, but himself unhurt. Pestalozzi immediately gave thanks to God for his miraculous preservation. N 178 PESTALOZZI. from my hands whilst a child could have held it. I attributed to myself the good that God was working for me. In my folly I believed I was doing the miracles that were taking place around me. I allowed myself to be praised for what I had not done, and thought myself the author of n work that was not mine. This work was founded upon love. Love has disappeared from amongst us. We have deceived ourselves as to the powers that this lm; requires, it must disappear. The work required great patience. I have it not. I was impatient when I should have been grateful. Oh God ! How have I come to this ? How have I fallen into this abyss ? I know it, O God, and before Thy face and my friends I wish to say it openly. My blindness has become so great tha't I could not believe it possible. Oh God, by a series of miracles, Thou builtest without me, thou main- taindest without me, whilst I thought little was needed to maintain. Then when I saw that this support required enormous strength, I sought to make others do what I could not do myself, and I exacted without care what I should have sought for with humility : I wished to keep up the life of my house by powers which my faults and weakness banished from amongst us. This is what has produced misunderstanding among us. That is what has broken the ties which I thought were formed for ever. That is what has severed hearts which I thought to be indissolubly united. See where I am. There is my coffin. There is my consolation. I can no longer take comfort. The poison which is at the heart of our work increases amongst us ; and yet its worldly glory is still increasing. Oh God, grant that we may no longer rest in our blindness ! These laurels that are offered us cover a skeleton. I see befora me the skeleton of my work, in so far as it is my work. I wish you to see it too. This skeleton is in my house : I have seen it covered with laurels ; but all at once the Laurels were consumed with fire. It will not support the fire of affliction which will come, which must come upon my house ; it will disappear, it must disappear. My work will remain but the consequences of my faults will not pass away. They will overwhelm me ; my safety is my grave. I shall go away, but you will remain. Let these words remain before your eyes like shafts of fire. Friends ! liecome better than I have been, that God may achieve by you what he has not finished by me. . . Do not allow yourselves to be misled by the appearance of success. You are called to a great sacrifice, an absolute sacrifice, if not you will not save my work. Enjoy the present time, enjoy the fulness of the honour of the world ^which has been showered upon us ; but know that it will pass away like the flower of the field which blooms for a little time and then fades away. Once again look at my coffin. Perhaps this year it will contain my bones or those of my wife who has sacrificed for me the happiness of her life. . . I already see these walls in mourning for myself, my wife, or perhaps for both. Then let our bones rest in peace, Let your tears of love and pardon fall upon our grave, and may the blessing of God rest upon you. I DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 179 approach my end with calm and hope. But there is another misfortune possible, the prospect of which terrifies me ! I may live to see my work crumble to ruin through my faults. I could not bear it. Then I would hang the walls of my room with mourning and hide myself there for ever from the eyes of human kind, of whom I should not feel myself worthy." Is it like the head of an Institution to speak thus in his own house, and this at the time of its greatest prosperity ? Doubtless from Pestalozzi nothing can surprise us in the -way of frankness, sincerity and humility. But still what reason had he for feeling thus in regard to the actual and future condition of his institute ? We shall explain. In the first place Pestalozzi felt instinctively though perhaps vaguely, and he alone felt then, that his work, in so far as he wished to realise it, was an impossibility. He explains this towards the end of his life in a book called " My Destinies " by saying, " I had already failed at Berthoud, through an enterprise which was folly and nonsense." Indeed, wheri we consider that Pestalozzi wished in teaching to follow, from the first years of life, an entirely different order from what was in use elsewhere, a natural and complete order, that he counted upon the strength acquired by the child in its first exercises to enable it to overcome the difficulties of the following exercises, one does not understand how he could have believed himself able to follow a similar course in ah establishment which received pupils of all ages and from all places. If a big boy came to the Institute he could neither be made to commence the elements with the little children nor be placed in a higher class for which he was not prepared. This difficulty which often occurred obliged Pestalozzi to make compromises which injured the method, whilst they did not satisfy the requirements of the child's instruction. Again, Pestalozzi founded his moral and disciplinary influence upon the relation of family life ; he wished to be the father of his pupils. This beautiful and touching idea of paternity which had succeeded with him in his early experiences, in which it was a living and wholesome reality, could, no longer be sustained in an Institute which was a N 2 l8o PESTALOZZI. little world in number, diversity of language and culture, antecedents and habits. At Yverdon Pestalozzi failed in spite of heroic efforts. In vain he sent out the pupils amongst his fellow- workers to replace him and to give an account of him ; in vain he called them by turns into his study to speak familiarly with them ; in vain he gave them caresses and exhortatians when he met them ; they continued to call him Father Pestalozzi, but he no longer knew them as a father knows his children. Thus the discipline of affection gradually disappeared without being replaced by that of the schools, which is more or less a discipline of the barracks, and at the Institute of Yverdon the family life soon changed into a sort of badly regulated public life. Pestalozzi complained especially that love and concord no longer existed in his house ; that was the great evil, the real cause of its ruin. But he attributes the fault to him- self, he wrongfully blames his own impatience and exactions with a magnanimity that might have touched all hearts. When he had for fellow-workers Niederer and Schmid, he had two powerful helpers, both valuable and in a manner necessary for the execution of his plans. But neither of these two men could identify himself with him as his first collaborateurs had done with perfect disinterestedness, simplicity, and the trustfulness of children. Niederer had grasped the idea of the master from its philosophical, theoretical, and speculative side ; he formu- lated it in a way which, although not perfectly satisfactory to Pestalozzi, appeared nevertheless useful to spread it abroad and make it known to the learned. It was to this philosophical idea, as he had formed it, that he continually drew Pestalozzi, opposing everything that seemed to be a deviation from the principle. But Niederer was not a practical man so far as concerns management, economy, and discipline. In these matters he could not supply what Pestalozzi lacked. Schmid, on the contrary, regarded his master's work as little more than an excellent method of teaching mathematics; and this method he had developed, and DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. l8l applied with such success as to draw forth the admiration of visitors, a result which had more than anything else contributed to the reputation of the Institute. Then, in administration, he supplied Pestalozzi with great practical skill while exercising a will of iron. He cared little for the principles where the reputation and material prosperity of the Institute were concerned. These two men appealed to Pestalozzi in opposite ways ; their influence was incompatible, and each tried to prevail. They could neither understand nor like each other. This antagonism had broken the harmony of the great family, and that was what Pestalozzi meant when he said " love has disappeared from amongst us." These were the causes of the ruin which Pestalozzi discovered in his Institute on January ist., 1808. For more than fifteen years he struggled against them, some- times with temporary success ; at last, after many vicissitudes, he was overwhelmed, and suffered the dreadful evil he had feared ; be survived all his undertakings. It remains to relate the different phases of this sad period of decline. In the face of an inevitable catastrophe this account would have but a commonplace interest if we had not always with us the heart and genius of Pestalozzi, which never weakened ; for if the old man became more and more clumsy and incapable in the affairs of life, if he ended by being subject to the will of others with a blind confidence which caused him to add fault to fault he preserved nevertheless, even until his last day, the ardent love for the poor and weak of the world, and the original and powerful mind ever applied to the reform of education which had been the aim of his life. In following hence- forth the thought of Pestalozzi, we find a precious resource in the discourse which he pronounced before the whole Institute gathered together for the principal solemnities of the year, especially at Christmas, New Year, and on his birthday. They were the overflowings of his heart in which his fears and hopes, his sadness and joy, his ideas and sentiments were accurately disclosed ; one constantly meets with his religious faith, his love of men, his ardent desire to raise the people and the educative views by l82 PESTALOZZI. which he seeks to succeed. The most of these discourses have been faithfully collected and published at different times. . 80. The discourse of Jan. ist 1808 had painfully surprised all the masters, but it had not convinced them of the evil that was undermining the establishment. The masters endeavoured to encourage the old man and persuade him he was mistaken, by showing him the increasing prosperity of the Institute, and the admiration it received from visitors, and the splendid testimonials that came from far and near. Pestalozzi was reassured ; but his confidence and se- curity did not last long ; he began to find things going badly whilst the masters assured him all was well. But to take away all doubt they proposed that he should ask the Helvetic Diet to have an official inspection of his Institute, and the old man consented. In June, 1809 the Diet met at Fribourg when it received the request of Pestalozzi. It consented and named a commission composed of M. Abel Merian, member of the little council of IBale, M. Treschel, professor of mathe- matics at Berne, and Pere Girard of Fribourg, to examine the Institute Yverdon. The commissioners arrived at the castle on Nov. gth, 1809, and spent five days there, questioning masters and examining everything with the greatest care. It is curious to see how Pere Girard speaks of this inspection in the book which he published thirty seven after : " Of the Regular Teaching of the Mother tongue." by P. G. Girard, Cordelier. " The cultivation of the mind of youth was my intention as well as my duty ; but 1 did not then know how much the mother-tongue could co?itribute in this respect. It was when paying an official visit to M. Pestalozzi at Yverdon, whilst conversing with my two respected colleagues and in being occupied very carefully in the' preparing of the official report, with which I was entrusted, that the chiaroscuro in which I was, was changed into brilliant light. On a preceding visit I had remarked to my old friend Pestalozzi that I thought, as he did, mathematics occupied too much sway, and I feared the results for education. He answered me DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 183 with his usual smile: "The reason for this is that I do not wish the children to believe anything that cannot be demonstrated to them as two and two make four." ily answer was similar: "In that case, if I had thirty sons I would not trust you with one of them ; for it would be impossible for you to demonstrate to him, as you can that two and two make four, that I am his father and he must obey me." This led to an explanation of the exaggeration which had escaped him, and which was not uncommon in a man of fire and genius, and we ended by understanding one another. Meanwhile, exaggerated prominence was given to mathematics to the loss of the mother-tongue which was far less cultivated. My colleagues and I were struck with another anomaly. We found that the children had attained surprising facility in abstract mathematics, whilst in the arithmetic of ordinary practice they were far below our expectations." This last criticism contains an evident error which is surprising, coming from such a superior man as Pere Girard, if we did not know how difficult it is to view things from a different standpoint than that to which we have been accustomed. Pestalozzi did not wish children to have abstract calculations ; he began by exercising them with concrete numbers, and his pupils easily did all the calculations of practical life. But they did them mentally; the written arithmetic came later, and for a long time they were weak and backward in it. Now, it is precisely the practices founded upon the arbitrary and conventional system of written numeration which constitute abstract arithmetic ; and these are the practices which Pere Girard called here " the arithmetic of ordinary use," and in which he found the pupils " below all expectation." 'The result of the inspection was not satisfactory either to masters or inspectors. At Yverdon they foresaw that the report would be unfavourable. Pestalozzi expected it, but Niederer and those who shared his illusions were surprised and irritated ; they thought they were mis-judged. It had been arranged that written documents would be sent to the commissioners to give them more complete information. This was the subject of a very wordy correspondence between Niederer and Abel Merian, president of the Commission, and with Pere Girard, who was entrusted with the report. Niederer said that the commission had not entered into 184 PESTALOZZI. the spirit of the Institution, that it had only grasped its form which varied, and not its invariable idea. To which the commissioners replied that their instructions had empowered them to examine facts and not ideas. In a letter of the 3ist Jan., 1810, Pere Girard says to M. Abel Merian that he was surprised not to receive the documents which were to be sent to him from Yverdon, then he adds : ' ' My opinion is that the Institute is not worth troubling oneself ahout. Since I have considered it on all sides, I think it far inferior to the cantonal school of Aarau, and the institute of Saint Gall, to say nothing of the old institutions. It is inconceivable how it has gained such celebrity and esteem." This is how Pestalozzi judged later on the work of the commission : "The commissioners were at first frightened to see how we neglected the teaching of some ordinary subjects which are treated with the greatest care in the smallest schools ; then they had neither faith nor courage to penetrate deeper, and many good things escaped them." But if Pestalozzi thought the commission had not seen all the good, Pere Girard thought they had not seen all the bad ; for he said, in December gth, 1809 : " Besides, the Institute has hidden many things from us." The Report of Pere Girard appeared in French, in Sept., 1810, and the German translation by Bernard Hiiber, in Oct. It was written with much moderation and consideration towards Pestalozzi, who could not certainly have wished a worthier judge than Pere Girard ; never- theless it pointed out grave omissions. It praised the discipline of the house, but it pronounced the religious teaching to be insufficient, and blamed the plan of Niederer for this branch of study with which he was entrusted. It reproached him with beginning his course by a kind of natural religion, of passing then to the Old Testament, and only taking the Gospel in the preparation ot the pupils for the sacrament, and then only at the request of their parents. DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 1&5 We can affirm, from our own experience, that such was not the habitual plan of M. Niederer. We have often attended the lessons on religion at Pestalozzi's, at the time of the inspection, in a class for children of eight or nine years of age, in which we had to read at first the gospel according to St. Matthew, and we had to learn by heart a part of the Sermon on the Mount. But we merely had to repeat it : there was nothing regular and coherent in the teaching at Yverdon, unless, perhaps, the mathematics, in which we were not so much subjected to change. The report of Pere Girard ended thus : " The instruction given in Pestalozzi's Institute is not in harmony with that of the establishments of public instruction. The Institute, besides, has not sought to establish this harmony. Eesolved, at all hazards, to seek the development of the faculties of the child according to Pestalozzi's views it has only taken account of its own ways, and it betrays an ardent zeal to open new paths, even if they should be opposed to those consecrated by custom. This was, perhaps, the only way of arriving at new discoveries ; but it has rendered harmony with the public establish - meats impossible. The Institute goes its own way, the public establishments follow theirs ; and there is no likelihood of their coming to an understanding. What a pity it is that the course of events urges Pestalozzi aside from the path along which his zeal and heart would lead him. But we should do justice to his good intentions, his noble efforts, and his untiring perseverance. Let us profit by the excellent ideas which are the foundation of his work, and let us follow the instructive example which he gives us ; but let us deplore the fate of a man whom the force of circumstances has always hindered from realising what he wished to do." This report was presented to the Diet which met at Soleure in 1801 ; the Diet thanked Pestalozzi and thought no more about him. Meanwhile Pestalozzi's work had been attacked in several publications in Switzerland and Germany. Every reform is challenged at first. This is especially the case in educational matters. Sometimes it was urged against Pestalozzi's ideas that they were not new, some- times that they were unpractical, while the real faults of his Institute were not only pointed out, but exaggerated. 81. The Report of Pere Girard was a cause of rejoicing :o the adversaries, and furnished them with fresh arms ; their attacks became more impassioned and unjust 1 86 PESTALOZZI. especially in the Scientific Announcements of Gottingen, in which Professor Heller styled the Institute of Yverdon as a nest of revolutionaries, and in the " Popular Gazette of Burckli" of Zurich, in which Canon Bremi published an article against the work of Pestalozzi, entitled, " Three Dozen Questions." The old man wounded by this last shaft said, in answer to Bremi ; " I confess I am grieved to see my establishment nnd my friends calumniated in the city of my birth, more than in any other place. I am pained that it is in my native town that they have written all that is spiteful and dangerous against me and my work, and printed the most bitter writing to ruin my house and my undertaking." Then began an impassioned and endless controversy between the Institute and its detractors. Niederer generally answered the attacks even under the name of Pestalozzi. This war of words and pens occupied a great deal of the time and energies of the occupants of the Castle, who worked more to establish the reputation of the Institute without than to merit it within. Many improvements, doubtless, which were possible, were not undertaken. Nevertheless the first cause of the evil was in the nature of things ; the method of Pestalozzi was irreconcilable with the method of the public schools, unless by a modification to which Pestalozzi and his fellow labourer would not consent. Schmid alone was disposed towards it, because he attached more value to the success of the Institute than to the support of the spirit in which it was founded. This difference of view added civil war to foreign strife ; and the former antagonism between Niederer and Schmid broke out with fresh violence. 82. Before the publication of Pere Girard's report and in anticipation of what it would contain, Schmid had demanded reforms in a general assembly of masters, reforms which were rejected. A reconciliation could not be effected, and this time Niederer prevailed and Schmid was obliged to leave the Institute. He left in July 1810, with some of his adherents. Then Pestalozzi said : " If I were only forty years of age I DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 187 would go too and undertake something I could do, but I have begun too many things so that my strength is ex- hausted." The great Chancellor de Beyme, who, came at this time to visit the establishment at Yverdon for the King of Prussia, said in parting, " Truly, if I learned to-morrow that the Institute was dissolved I would be less astonished than if it lasted another year." Notwithstanding this, many visitors and pupils flocked to it ; new masters came and gave lessons and new subjects such as Chemistry, Latin and Greek, were added to the curriculum. Let us return to Pestalozzi's discourses ; we can read in them from year to year the state of his mind and the growth of his idea. In Jan. ist., 1809, he was re-assured ; he thanks God who has raised him and saved his work from the dangers that threatened it ; he admits that he does not deserve this favour and he humbles himself. Then, after God, he attributes all the prosperity to his collaborateurs, whom he thanks. The discourse of Jan. ist., 1810, is a pressing exhortation to the renewal of a life of faith, love, peace, devotion, and effort. The examination of the Federal commission had just taken place, and Pestalozzi, whilst he thought his Institute misjudged, seemed to feel the need of some reform ; he wished it to begin with the New Year and to advance with its course ; he urged all to rid themselves of illusions, vanity, weakness, and negligence. He addressed the pupils ; then the young men who were there studying the method in order to teach it in their own countries ; then his old fellow- workers and friends ; lastly he examines himself and passes his whole life in review, he thanks God for all he has received in spite of his unworthiness, and he asks help to enable him to become better. The discourse of Christmas 1810 speaks at first of the great joy that this day iccalls and which it should bring back to all men. Jesus Christ became a man to save us ; and we, pardoned, sanctified, and united by love, in communion with God and the Saviour for ever : this is the 1 88 PESTALOZZI. great joy, divine and celestial which surpasses all other earthly joys, and it is for all men and all time. But in order to participate in this the heart must be full of the spirit of Jesus Christ, and full of gifts for men. After having developed these ideas, he applies them to the work of his house. The discourse of January, i8ir is remarkable in that Pestalozzi addressed himself personally to Niederer, Krusi, and the absent Schmid. He begins by a religious exposition of which this is an abridgment. Life passes like the years, the years like the hours of the day ; everything changes, everything fades. God only remains eternal, as also man who is created in his image. Man is only man and is immortal only by the divine nature which is in him, the love of God and the love of man. When man lives for what is divine in him, when all his faculties and all his feelings are quickened by the love of God, then he regards the course of time and years as a part of eternity, for he has already eternal life in him. Pestalozzi thus began the year 1811, which added much to the external prosperity of the Institute without delaying the course of its internal decline. Controversy occupied nearly all the time and energies of Niederer in answering violent attacks ; he had just published a pamphlet entitled, " The Educational Establish- ment of Pestalozzi in its relation to the Needs of our Time." This is how Pestalozzi speaks of it in a letter to Knusert, of the canton of Appenzell, who from 1801 had been his pupil, then one of his under-masters, and who in 1807 had entered the service of France as lieutenant, had taken part in the war in Spain, and was now at Barcelona : Yverdon, April, 1811. " My dear Swiss, When you return you will find many changes amongst us. The chief work progresses satisfactorily. But, like you in Spain, we have guerillas round us who spy our weak points in order to strike us : sometimes they even glide into our houses and eat our soup and meat so long as we give it to them. There are even great dons of the Junta who do not stop at finding out our weakness, but who have united in a fusillade against us. Fortunately many of our enemies fire badly, but their shots make a great noise, although they do nothing more. The most of these DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 189 shots are directed against the general of our corps of genius, your com- patriot ; not him of Gaiss, but him of Wolfhalden,* But he is a match for them all, for, whilst they attack him on all sides he casts cannon of enormous size and mounts them as high as the Tower of Babel so that they can reach to the clouds. You see I talk strangely, but our circum- stances are so peculiar that in our schoolmastering life we can say as little of what we think as you in your mode of life cannot do what you will. I am well, thank God ; but my strength fails. I have seen my best days ; I have an inexpressible desire for rest, and if I can only find it in the tomb, I wish it would soon come. Keep well, my dear Knusert, and write soon. Your friend, PBSTALOZZI." From the time of the establishment of the Institute many important changes had taken place in the personal teaching. Pestalozzi had lost several of his good and old colla- borateurs, Tobler, Buss, Knusert, then Steiner, Muralt, Mieg and Hoffmann. The most of these friends had left to spread abroad the principles of his method. Later on Schmid had gone bearing bitter resentment against his colleagues, who would not adopt his ideas or submit to his domination. He had gone to Vienna where he had published a pamphlet against the Institute, in which he called it "the shame of humanity." The establishment had also lost several other less remarkable masters. As these fellow- workers left they were replaced successively by a larger number of masters, who were, perhaps, better informed ; amongst them were some distinguished, such as : Ramsauer whom we already know and who had become an excellent master of arithmetic, elementary geometry, and especially drawing; Goldi, Weilenmann, Baumgartuer, Leuenzinger, Schacht, Bloch- mann and Lehmann. (Space forbids a description of these men who became pioneers of the system in various parts of Europe.) 83. In the summer of this year, 1811, a Frenchman arrived at Yverdon who exercised a great influence over the future state of the Institute. He was named Marc- Antoine Jullien of Paris, Knight of the Legion of Honour, That is : not Krusi but Niederer. igO PESTALOZZI. member of several learned societies, and author of the " Essay on Education Physical, Moral and Intellectual ; " " Essay upon the Employment of Time, etc. " Jullien soon grasped and appreciated the merit and importance of the educative reform which he saw being tried under his eyes, and he resolved to study thoroughly Pestalozzi's doctrine and its application ; he prolonged his stay at Yverdon, and had many conferences with Pesta- lozzi and his staff, and in spite of his ignorance of German and the bad French of his interpreters, he patiently persevered until he learned all he wished to know. The following year he published at Milan, Summary of the Educational Institute at Yverdon, a pamphlet of 91 pages, and Spirit of the Educational Method of M. Pestalozzi, 2 vols. Jullien placed his son with Pestalozzi ; and then by his personal interest and that of his works he drew a large number of pupils and some French masters, so that the Institute was no longer essentially German ; we shall later on point out the effect of the modifications which this led to in its management and internal life. The year 1811 seemed to be a fortunate one for the establishment of Yverdon, and Pestalozzi expresses his joy and gratitude in his discourse of January ist, 1812. He addresses himself personally to Niederer, Krusi, and the other collaborateurs. In the speech which he then addressed to his wife we find a confirmation of a fact that was not established, namely : that the old man who, all his life had known nothing of money matters, nevertheless took necessary means to secure to his wife, and after her to her grandson Gottlieb, the remains of the dowry she had brought, and which was estimated at the value of Neuhof. Here are his words : " I address myself to thee, the faithful companion of my life. Do not trike for indifference the alm with which I survey my life. God has gi ven me this calm, the past year has brought me this peace, the present will complete it. This year has also been blessed to thee, noble smd dear one ! Thy health is stronger. God grant that thou mayest yet see the goal to which I am pressing forward; it would gladden thee, thou DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. IQI deservest it ; thou hast suffered much for me in the time of struggle and preparation which lasted so long in my life ; thou didst look forward with anxiety to the future of our grandson ; he was compromised by my fault. But God who directs all did see thy anguish, his Fatherly hand sent thee unexpected help ; our child is thy heir. I shall die poor ; I have promised so to do ; I wish to consecrate myself to my work and make all the sacrifices that it requires. But God is good, dear one! Let our faith in him be steadfast." Pestalozzi then addressed the children of the establish- ment, then the pupils of the girls' school, and their mistress Mme. Kuster his daughter-in-law, and also their teacher Mile. Rosette Kasthoffer. To all he acknowledged his gratitude and confidence, to all he gives encouragement. Lastly he prays that the blessing of God may rest upon them all, not forgetting the absent ones, in the year that is beginning. 84. This year 1812, which Pestalozzi thought was commencing so favourably soon brought him a new trial a painful, long, and dangerous illness. One day, whilst walking about in Mme. Krusi's room in a pre-occupied, and absent-minded way, he seized a / knitting needle and scratched his ear with it. He knocked himself so violently against the stove that the needle went into his head, not through, the drum of the ear, but through the bone. This is what the doctor told us, and he was surprised that the old man could get over such an accident. Pestalozzi was for a long time confined to bed ; he suffered much and could not bear the least noise, and for four months it was not expected that he could recover. Sometimes he thought he was about to die, and he seemed to rejoice at the thought, at other times he said : " I wish to live yet awhile, for a great deal remains for me to do." At last he began to mend, but his convalescence was long and painful. The old man, however, could not give up work ; in the midst of his sufferings, when parched with fever, he continued his dictations, for his mind never ceased to labour at the perfecting of his method. When he was able to lie on a sofa he began to write a little, and he carried out a plan which had engaged him for some time. He considered the best way of teaching a new language IQ2 PESTALOZZI. to be the way that nature employs to teach the child its mother-tongue ; this is by use, by the practice of articulate speech. This was how in his Institute and with such success the. Germans learned French ; and the French German ; grammar did the rest. Meanwhile Pestalozzi was wondering whether a similar method could be employed in teaching a dead language, and he wished to try the experiment. He had half a dozen children who had not learned Latin brought to him every day. The writer of these lines was one of the number. Pestalozzi had carefully chosen and extracted from Caesar's Commentaries some short passages, some isolated phrases connected with the same subject and containing the same words ; he had filled large pages with them in illegible writing. We were ranged round the sofa where he was lying weak and suffering. He said a phrase to us which we repeated until we knew it by heart ; he explained the different words to us, then some variations to which they were subject according to the modifications arising from the sense of the sentence. In this way we were soon able to make changes ourselves and to make sentences with the elements that we knew ; thus, with a very limited vocabulary,' and always in the same order of ideas, we spoke Latin like Caesar. These lessons went on during the whole period of his convalescence ; after that time we had no more. Whether he gave up this experiment because it did not succeed or because other cares left him no time to pursue it we never learned. At the beginning of 1813, M. Niederer married Mile. Kasthoffer, and Pestalozzi gave them the Girls' School, which had been established in a large house in the square of the castle, where it remained for twenty-five years. Mme. Kuster was thus supplanted by her assistant, and without complaint this excellent lady renounced the position she had held. The establishment profited by the change for the un- common capacity of Mme. Niederer gave it great and long DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 193 continued prosperity. In this year the financial position of the Institute was very low. From 1810, the number of the masters had increased. The castle was inhabited by a crowd of young men who paid nothing for their board, having been admitted to study the method because, they said, they wished to spread it abroad. In this matter Pestalozzi was extremely credulous, he refused nobody, he received the shallowest and worst qualified persons, some- time rogues even, who disappeared at the end of some months leaving debts which Pestalozzi thought he was obliged to pay. The diet was simple, it is true, and the faithful Lisbeth Krusi gave all her efforts to the house keeping, but in seeking to provide plenty, she fell into prodigality and there was much waste. Then the printing cost a great deal, especially as the controversy carried on by Niederer required many publications. These were the principal causes of the bad state of the finances which was already felt, but the disastrous effects of which only were discovered later. From the time that Schmid left, Rameauer was Pestalozzi's favourite and right hand in the practice of teaching as Niederer was in the exposition of principles. It is a pity that Ramsauer at this time did not assume authority in matters of management and finance ; perhaps this would have saved the Institute. But he limited his activity to his connection with the pupils and to perfecting the means of study for the elementary subjects. Linear drawing and perspective were his favourite parts of the work ; he excelled in these, and to him is due the credit for the rational and graduated course which has led to the introduction of this branch of teaching into popular schools. Often foreigners while visiting asked him for a collection of his copies to teach in their country, and thus his method spread everywhere. It was almost the same collection that was published later in Paris by Boniface and Rivail. Meanwhile let us listen to Ramsauer, who gives us an account of his connection with Pestalozzi : " In summer, it was not unusual, four or five times a day, to see strangers arrive at the castle, to whom it was O 194 PESTALOZZI. necessary to explain the method in the midst of the lessons. In the years 1812, 1813, 1814, besides my ordinary occupations, I had so often to give explanations aloud that my chest suffered from the fatigue. When I was really ill, Pestalozzi reproached himself for having allowed me to work so hard, and he wanted to nurse me himself. But he was so clumsy that it was necessary to see him to imagine it. " The most trying time I passed with Pestalozzi was in 1812-15, when I often had to write in his room from two till six o'clock in the morning. Even when I did not go to bed till eleven or twelve o'clock, I had to be at his bedside by two. Whenever I was a few minutes late, in his impatience he would jump out of bed, dress himself scantily, and through the long dormitories of the pupils, (and often in summer or winter,) crossing the court he would call me in a voice that was not always friendly. But when I arrived in time, or even when I appeared after I was called, he praised and embraced me, went into bed and began to dictate. It was very difficult to write to his dictation, on account of his bad pronunciation (he always had the end of his neck-cloth in his mouth) or because he began each sentence in several different ways. When he talked one had to guess what he meant to say by the remarkable expression of his face, seeing that his speech could not always follow the flight of his thoughts and feelings. Similarly, his secretary was sometimes obliged to guess his words by the intonation of his voice. This made my task as difficult as it was interesting ; and whilst the old man always impressed me with love and respect he seemed to me sometimes to be worthy of pity. "During the . years 1812, 1813 and 1814, in which I enjoyed the confidence and friendship of Pestalozzi in a very special manner, he invited me every afternoon to take coffee and cherry water in the apartment of Mme. Pestalozzi or of Mme. Krusi, the faithful housekeeper. He was then generally gay and full of wit, and his wit was sparkling, for whatever he was, he was completely, abandoning himself ever to the sentiment of the moment. " Pestalozzi was often angry when the masters displeased DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. IQ5 him ; then he would leave the room in a rage, shutting the door loud enough to strain it. But if at that moment he met a little pupil, the sight of him calmed him immediately, he would kiss the child and re-enter the room saying " Pardon ! pardon ! I have been violent ; I was a fool." (Short Sketch of my Pedagogic Life by John Ramsauer). Here we should say something about the letter to Mr. Delbruck which Pestalozzi published towards the end of April, 1813. Mr. Delbruck was tutor to the Prince Royal of Prussia ; sent by the King to Yverdon, he stayed there until he understood the work and doctrine of Pestalozzi whose admirer and friend he was. On his return to Berlin, he wrote to Pestalozzi advising him to give up controversy and not to answer the attacks directed against his Institute. Pestalozzi in his lengthy reply tries to shew him that an educational Institute cannot keep silence when it is accused of corrupting youth in matters of politics and religion ; he seeks thus to excuse Niederer for the violence of the language with which he was charged ; then he adds : "The remembrance of what has passed through my heart, my explanations, do not console me ; I almost hate my words whilst I write them. When one begins a struggle with people lacking nobleness of heart, one is always liable to lose something of the nobility of one's own nature. This thought saddens me. I would give a part of the days that yet remain to me to be able to efface this portion of my history." The end of this letter shows that the old man had fallen into the illusions which himself had recognised. By the furious work to which he gives himself up with his collaborateurs, he thinks he will soon make his Institute able to realise the application of his method in all departments of teaching. 85. This year 1813 disclosed, against the power of Napoleon I., all the consequences of the disaster of his great army in Russia. The Germans thought it a favour- able time to deliver their country from a foreign power that had brought upon it so many humiliations ; they rose with enthusiasm everywhere to fight the French. The young O 2 196 PESTALOZZI. men in Pestalozzi's Institute who belonged to Germany could not remain passive at such a time ; they left in great numbers and went to take arms for the deliverance of their country. All the Prussians left. They had finished their studies ; some masters followed their example, amongst others Schacht and Ackermann. Pestalozzi approved of this ; he did not seek to keep them, and he gave them his best wishes for the success of their patriotic undertaking. He considered the great power of Napoleon in Europe as an obstacle to his work so far as it consisted in raising the people by education. We saw that in 1803, Napoleon had rejected the proposals of Pestalozzi without listening to them, saying he could not trouble himself with questions of ABC ; later however he had seen that the work of the Swiss philanthropist went beyond ABC ; that its aim was to lead to individual development and emancipation from the routine of the old school, which was only a kind of teaching en masse* He had no sympathy with this work, and when he heard it spoken of he said " The Pestalozzians are Jesuits." Thus Pestalozzi sympathised with the success of the allied sovereigns whose union freed Europe. Upon this subject there was great division of opinion amongst the Swiss ; they could not maintain their neutrality, and the Austrian troops crossed Switzerland to enter France by the frontier of the Jura. On Christmas Day, 1813, a regiment of Hungarian Huzzars from Esterhazy arrived in the square of Yverdon, and a number of Croatian infantry soon followed. On January gth, 1814, the municipality received orders from the Commissary of the Austrian wars at Pontarlier to -I prepare a military hospital at Yverdon ; some days after two delegates arrived to choose the place and order the necessary furniture at the cost of the town. They required four buildings : the castle of Yverdon with two hundred and seventy beds, the old barn in front of the castle with two hundred beds, the baths at Yverdon with ninety-four beds, and the castle of Grandson with one hundred and sixteen beds The municipality at once informed the Government of DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 197 the canton and prayed it to deliver the commune from the danger which threatened it. The little council only answered that it would consider the expense necessitated by a military hospital as a cantonal charge and would cause it to be borne by the state treasury. Notwithstanding, the population of Yverdon was greatly frightened, for the Austrian army encumbered with sick and wounded were suffering severely from typhus. The municipality charged two delegates to go to the head quarters of the allied armies to beg a revocation of these orders. Pestalozzi, the existence of whose Institute was threatened, joined these deputies : and this saved the town. Those who knew the representatives of the town of Yverdon personally feared much that they would hardly appreciate the true worth of Pestalozzi ; they felt themselves little honoured by their fellow-traveller, who, to vulgar eyes was only an untidy buffoon. Their surprise was great when, on their arrival at Bale, they saw the reception which he got from the allied sovereigns. On January 2ist they returned to Yverdon ; and the next day they announced that " their mission had been perfectly successful, that no military hospital would be established at Yverdon, and that M. Pestalozzi had been received with extraordinary favour." Nevertheless, the old man had not comported himself at the head quarters any better than he did elsewhere. When admitted to the presence of the Emperor of Russia, who was surrounded by dignitaries, he took the . opportunity to preach to him upon scholastic reform and the liberation of his serfs ; and he did it with such enthusiasm and warmth as to forget his position com- pletely ; he approached so closely to the Emperor that the latter had to draw back ; after having thus pushed him to the wall, he was on the point of seizing him by the button of his coat, when he suddenly bethought himself of his indiscretion. " Pardon ! " said he, and he wished to kiss the hand of the Czar, but Alexander embraced him heartily. In spite of its eccentricity this discourse of Pestalozzi had produced a great effect, and for a moment in the suites of the Emperor there seemed hope that it would not be long igS PESTALOZZI. before the effort would be made to realise the views of the Swiss philanthropist. But, alas ! the Muscovite serfs had to wait for fifty years for emancipation ; and the Russian people have yet to get good schools. The Czar gave Pestalozzi the cross of Saint Wladimir of the third class, and sent for his Institute a collection of minerals from the Oural. The Emperor of Austria sent him a case of Tokay wine. Thus this poor and ugly old man, the weakest and most clumsy of men, as well as the meanest in appearance, aroused the attention and sympathy of sovereigns at a time when they were intoxicated with fortune and glory. To the honour of humanity it was moral beauty that triumphed, a consoling thought which might wipe out the reniembrance of much injustice. Of the four buildings chosen for military hospitals one alone was put to this use, the castle of Grandson, some leagues from Yverdon. Typhus spread thence into the little town and its neighbourhood, where for several years it continued its ravages. The town of Yverdon did not escape ; one pupil of the Institute was seized but he was cured. It is not without significance that from the foundation of the Institute of Pestalozzi not a single pupil died. The same year, (1814) the King of Prussia visited his principality of Neuchatel and Vallangin which he went to take possession of, and where he was cordially welcomed by almost all. When at Neuchatel, Pestalozzi, although very ill, wished to go and thank him for having sent so many student teachers to be trained, and at the same time to preach a little on behalf of the work that these young men were undertaking in Prussia. This is what Ramsauer, who accompanied him, tells : ' During the journey Pestalozzi fainted several times. I was obliged to carry him from the carriage into a neighbouring house , then I urged him to return home. " No ! " said he, " be quiet ! I must see the king, though I should die in doing so. If I succeed in getting only one Prussian, child better educated, I shall be amply rewarded." Meanwhile the peace gave a new period of great external DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 199 prosperity to the Institute of Yverdon ; pupils, young masters, and visitors flocked to it from all countries ; France and England at last followed the example given by Germany. But this great gathering of people of every language was as dangerous to the internal progress of the establishment as it was to its financial position. Ramsauer gives an account of one of these frequent visits which delighted Pestalozzi, but which threw the lessons into confusion : "In 1814, Ihe aged Prince Esterhazy arrived ; Pestalozzi ran through the castle calling ' ' Ramsauer, Ramsauer, where are you ? Come quickly ! Take the best pupils in gymnastics, arithmetic, and geometry ; come quickly to the Red house (the hotel where the Prince was staying). He is a very important personage, immensely rich ; he has thousands of serfs in Hungary and Austria; he will certainly found schools and liberate his peasants when he understands our work, &c." I went to the hotel with fifteen pupils. Pestalozzi presented me to the prince, saying, " This is the master of these pupils, he came to me, fifteen years ago, with other poor children from the canton of Appenzell ; he has been brought up without constraint, and by the development of his individual powers, now he is a teacher, and you will see that amongst the poor there is as much ability, if not more, as amongst the rich ; but with the first the powers are rarely developed, and when they are it is not done methodically. That is why it is so important to improve the popular schools. He will explain to you better than I can." Pestalozzi left us : and I questioned the pupils, explained, and talked till I was in a perspiration, never doubting but that the prince was fully converted. In an hour Pestalozzi returned, the prince expressed his satisfaction to him and we left. As we were going downstairs Pestalozzi cried " He is perfectly convinced, he will certainly foiled schools on his estates in Hungary." At the foot of the stairs, Pestalozzi cried " Hullo, hullo, what is the matter with my arm ? It is very painful, and look it is swollen I cannot bend it ! " and sure enough, the wide sleeve of his overcoat was too tight. I then looked at the great door key of the hotel, and I said " See, when we entered an hour ago, you struck your elbow against that key, and you have hurt it." And during that hour of joy and excitement the old man had not noticed it. Such was the fare that animated him yet in his seventieth year, when he thought he could do any good ; and I could quote many similar examples." At this time there were nearly as many French as Germans at the Institute of Yverdon ; and often a master was obliged to give his explanations in both languages ; 200 PESTALOZZI. many times a pupil could not be placed in the class that would have suited him, because he did not understand the language that was spoken in it. The pupils who came from the French Lycees, being then subjected to an almost military discipline, were disposed to abuse the liberty that was allowed at Yverdon ; accustomed to consider their masters as natural enemies, with whom the scholars should necessarily be at war, they liked to play tricks and torment them ; deprived suddenly of the incentives of self-conceit, they were little inclined to work without the prospect of reward or the fear of punishment ; and even the German cookery and the rather rustic simplicity of the inhabitants roused their aversion and contempt. All this could not fail to produce disorder and confusion. M. Jullien had undertaken to obtain some French masters for the Institute ; amongst those whom he succeeded in engaging there was only one distinguished man worthy of being a collaborates of Pestalozzi ; this was Alexander Boniface, the author of one of the best French grammars. " Amongst the men of merit," said M. Jullien, " Boniface alone was willing to leave Paris to bear the hardships of Yverdon." Boniface had the nature, gaiety, vivacity and wit of a Paris city arab, but at the sarne time he was good and simple-hearted ; he was not long in understanding, admiring, and loving Pestalozzi ; he became the centre of the French-speaking portion of the Institute and his influence was excellent. The children loved him because he became their companion and they respected him although his appearance was not imposing ; he was small in stature, exceedingly short-sighted, and he always wore red or green slippers, which was considered intensely eccentric. Endowed with good classical learning and a refined taste, he gave excellent lessons in grammar and French literature which were much enjoyed by his pupils. When he returned to Paris he founded a school of the first rank according to the principles of Pestalozzi. 86. At this time unfortunately the masters and assistant masters were not all like Boniface, they were not all zealous and assiduous, and in the absence of energetic DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 2OI direction each did what he liked. The devotion of the good masters was powerless to counteract all the elements of disorder which were growing in the Institute, and none were in a position to make up for the want of administrative power in the head. At the same time the financial position grew worse ; the causes of ruin, pointed out before had increased with the growth of the establishment since the peace. In this state of matters, Schmid was thought of as the only man able to re-establish government with a strong hand. Niederer his former rival was the first to advise Pestalozzi to recall him, and he even undertook to ask him to return. Schmid was then director of the Public School of Bregenz, and his talents and energy had caused the establishment to prosper. Hither Niederer went and asked him to return to Yverdon. He had never doubted the great capacity of Schmid, and he seems still to have had confidence in his character. One can judge of it from the following passage in a letter which he wrote a few days after this interview : " Be assured of the love of Pestalozzi who has never ceased to regard you as a son. You have great strength, which makes you valuable ; that nature gives you. But you have better still ; you are true, you wish to do right with a strong will. This, man gives himself, and this is why you are respected." Schmid returned to the castle of Yverdon at Easter, 1815, Pestalozzi received him as a saviour, a son who was sacrificing himself for his father, and he vowed eternal gratitude to him. As soon as he arrived, Schmid set about quietly and coldly all the necessary reforms ; he worked nearly all day and all night. He dismissed useless masters, lowered the salary of others, checked waste, re-established the order and regularity of the lessons, as well as the discipline of the pupils. All the good fellow-workers willingly seconded him in these reforms, which they felt to be necessary. 202 PESTALOZZI. But Schmid wished to be master, that is to say, to have sole authority in the name of Pestalozzi ; he knew how to profit by the position that had been given him as an indispensable man, and he worked to gain his end with a tact and cleverness, perseverance and coldness that never swerved for an instant. Under the guise of respect and affection he made proposals to the old man as conditions of safety without which nothing could be done. At the same time he succeeded in winning to his side the ladies of the house, Mme. Pestalozzi, because she was tired of the philosophy of Niederer in whom she could not see a man able to save the financial position of her husband ; Mme. Kuster, to whom he remarked too late that Mme. Niederer had acted badly towards her in taking her place as Directress of the Girls' School ; and lastly the faithful housekeeper Lisbeth Krusi herself, who hoped to find in Schmid the support necessary to maintain order and economy in the household. Schmid in fact had this merit, he was satisfied with very little, and he preached simplicity to all. We shall see that Mme. Krusi had reason to repent the confidence she gave him. 87. In the same year, 1815, Pestalozzi published at Yverdon a volume upon which he had been engaged the previous year, entitled " A word about the Present. To Innocence, to the Serious, and Noble Sentiments of my Fatherland" If it is particularly to Switzerland that the author addresses himself it is not to her alone, but also to all Europe which, freed by the fall of Napoleon, was about to enter upon a new era. " This may be an era of weakness, vanity, and selfishness, which has already produced revo- lution, licence, and despotism. The peoples of Europe are spoilt by a sensual civilisation which only stimulates their appetites and their vanity, which makes those who suffer envious of those who enjoy, and those who enjoy insensible to the ills of those who suffer. True moral civilisation is wanting, which raises man to the nobility of his nature, to love, pity, and self-sacrifice. This civilisation can only begin by a reform of public education." DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 20$ We have endeavoured to give in a few words an idea of the subject treated by Pestalozzi ; but what has been said can give no idea of the richness of the true, original, and precious thoughts which the reader will find in this new work, which is in a measure, a second edition of what the author had written more than twenty years before : " Researches into the course of Nature in the Development of the Human Race." But the second work is more mature, clear, and practical ; although it is more than half a century since it was published it is as applicable to the present time as it was then ; Europe would do well to think of its advice and profit by it. 88. About this time old Dr. Bell, the father of the English schools of Mutual Instruction (the monitorial system), came to visit Pestalozzi, his rival in reputation as the inventor and propagator of a new educational method. He came to seek in the celebrated Institute some methods which he might apply to his system. Bell neither knew French nor German, but he found at the castle, an interpreter whom he already knew ; this was the Saxon Ackermann, a teacher of eminence, who had left Pestalozzi in 1813 to fight for the liberation of Germany, and who before returning to Yverdon, during a visit to England had examined the Mutual Schools of Dr. Bell. The latter attended several of the classes, then with the help of the masters and assistants he gave a kind of demonstration of his method ; lastly a conference was held when Pestalozzi and he criticised each other. Ackermann was always at his side to translate and explain. The Englishman certainly had a talent which the Swiss lacked; the latter, by his pedagogical works ruined himself pecuniarily whilst the other gained an income of ^2000. After leaving Yverdon, Bell went to Fribourg accom- panied by Ackermann and Jullien to see the schools of Pere Girard, who with true pedagogic tact and elevated views, knew how to utilise what was good in the method of Bell and Lancaster. In parting from Ackermann, Bell said to him, " In a dozen years, mutual teaching will be adopted, all over the world, and we shall hear no more of Pestalozzi's method." 204 PESTALOZZI. A few dayt after one of these illiterate people whom fashion alone led to visit Pestalozzi, met him in the walk behind the lake. He addressed the old man thus, " Sir, is it you who has invented mutual teaching ? " " God forbid " answered Pestalozzi. Nevertheless at Stans, seventeen years before, he had employed mutual teaching, but in his own way. 89. In the beginning of December, 1815, Mme. Pestalozzi fell ill, her strength was exhausted. Without suffering and with beautiful tranquillity the good and amiable old lady felt her life fading away ; she was seventy- nine years of age. At last, on the evening of i2th December she expired, seated on the sofa. Her funeral took pk ce on the i6th. In the morning the coffin was placed in the prayer room. All the inmates of the house were gathered there ; they were singing some verses of a funeral hymn, when the bereaved old man entered and approached the coffin. When the hymn was ended he addressed his faithful companion as if she could hear him ; he reviewed their forty-five years of union with their labours, trials, and disasters, dwelling especially upon all that his beloved wife had sacrificed and suffered for him and his faults. Coming to the time which he describes thus: "We were avoided and abused by everybody ; overcome with misery and sickness we ate our dry bread with tears " he added " What, in those sad days gave us strength to support our troubles and to keep hope?" Then seizing a Bible which was near, he placed it close to the corpse saying : " This is the source whence you, and I also, drew courage, strength, and peace." Soon the coffin was shut and carried away, followed by all those present and a large party of the inhabitants of the the town, to the end of the garden, where a grave had been dug between two large chestnut trees, according to Mme Pestalozzi's desire. There another hymn was sung by the boys and girls, then a prayer was said by Niederer, who also preached a sermon after the return to the chapel. The service was concluded by the singing of the beautiful poem of Klopstock Song of Triumph of Christian Hope. DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 205 Pestalozzi's grief was deep ; for a long time he used to go secretly at night and pray and weep on the marble slab between the two chestnut trees, on which they had engraved the name of his wife, and the dates of her birth and death. And he had a good reason to lament her who for so long had been his support and counsel, his good angel ; deprived of her he was soon tossed by the wind of adversity like a vessel without a rudder. Notwithstanding, Pestalozzi had a singular mobility of impressions ; and when he was particularly interested" in his favourite thought for the raising of the people he forgot everything else. A short time after the death of his wife, one of his old pupils, much affected by the event, came to see him. After the first words about the sad subject of his visit, the old man spoke of new plans, and his new hopes for the success of his method. A prey to his illusions and enthusiasm he finished by saying, " I swim in- joy." The year 1816 began very sadly for Pestalozzi and it became disastrous. The old man became more attached to Schmid than ever as his only means of safety ; he resolved to sacrifice everything to keep him, and he could only keep him by obeying his will ; there was no other will but his. Schmid, henceforth sure of his power, no longer observed discretion. He put down the master's meetings and him- self gave orders in the name of Pestalozzi. He was rather tall than short, with a spare, strong, and nervous figure, his brown visage with its eagle glance, expressed an NOTE. The remains of Mme. Pestalozzi now rest in the cemetery of Yverdon, to the left on entering. The first inscription has been completed as follows : The Worthy wife of Pestalozzi, The Friend of the Poor, The Benefactor of the People, The Reformer of Education. Associated unreservedly during forty-six years with hia work of devotion, she has left after her a blessed and venerated memory. Her mortal remains, taken from the grounds of the castle, have been religiously brought here to the field of rest, by the care of the municipality, August llth, 1866. 206 PESTALOZZI. impassive severity. Much as Pestalozzi was loved, much as Schmid was feared, the latter knew how to gain a large number of pupils. He went through the castle holding his head high with a proud walk as if he wished to prove to all that he was master. To show the way he had made since his arrival at Yverdon, we shall quote an anecdote of 1805 which was given by an eye witness. Schmid was then very untidy in his appearance ; he wore a cap not fit to be seen : during a lesson which he was giving to the children, M. de Muralt entered the class room and seeing the greasy cap of the young master lying on a form, he threw it out of the window into the river which flows under the walls of the castle ; the pupils laughed, and Schmid did not trouble himself. Meanwhile, the behaviour of this domineering spirit made the life of the old friends of Pestalozzi intolerable. Ramsauer left in the spring of 1816; for a long time he had refused offers of the most brilliant appointments, in order not to leave his benefactor ; it was only after having been completely slighted by Schmid that he decided to accept one of three proposals then addressed to him. The fellow-labourers of Pestalozzi were generally as disinterested as himself, and did not know the value of money ; they often refused very good positions in order to retain their modest and arduous duties, unless their master himself engaged them to go to spread his method of education afar. Pestalozzi had always cherished the hope of founding a new school for the poor and it was Ramsauer he counted upon to direct it ; with this intention, so early as 1807, he had him taught some manual trades. Is it not strange that this poor deserted child, brought up to instruct othei poor children should become tutor to the Princes and Princesses of Oldenburg ? One of the most cruel losses that the good Pestalozzi had to submit to was that of his faithful housekeeper, Lisbeth Krusi, to whom be owed all. Schmid wished to introduce into the housekeeping a reform which, perhaps was necessary, and which probably DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. WJ the old Lisbeth was no longer able to accomplish. But she should, at all hazards, have had a happy position in the house. He seems not to have given her a thought, for she had to go. She had lost her husband several years before and she had but one child, an idiot son. This heroic woman who had saved Pestalozzi at Neuhof and who had served for the type of his Gertrude, went away to end her days in the poor-house of Gais, her husband's commune. She was replaced by Mile. Ray from Grandson ; the cooking became rather more French and more varied. The soup and fruits were sometimes replaced by coffee, choco- late, and a kind of pastry called salee in the country. At the same time the waste diminished. But, alas, the finances did not improve. Towards the end of this year, 1816, the German masters resolved to celebrate the triumph and independence of Germany. On October 18, after dinner, they went to a height called the Duke of Burgundy, where, according to tradition the tent and camp of Charles the Bold were situated during the battle of Grandson. A great bon-fire was prepared and there they sang German hymns, drank wine and remained till night. Pestalozzi, who was one of the party, was full of spirit and gaiety ; but what he celebrated was not the triumph of one nation over another but the freeing of the peoples by the fall of Napoleon. Ackermann, to whom we owe the account of this fete, relates that they yet could trace on the " Duke of Burgundy " the remains of the encircling wall which he himself climbed to the summit, giving a toast " To the liberty of the human kind," to which the thirty assistants replied by a triple hurrah. go. Soon the German masters could not endure the domination of Schmid who in their eyes falsified the spirit of Pestalozzi's Institution and compromised its reputation. They resolved to present their complaints and anxiety to Pestalozzi in a collective letter which was written by Blochmann and signed by sixteen masters, under masters, and student teachers. 2O8 PESTALOZZI. One evening the old man called together all those who had signed the letter. He was in bed. At his side Schmid read his written defence ; then as the complainants were neither satisfied nor re-assured told them that he would rather see them all depart than restrain the power of Schmid who was the only one able to save him. 91. A most painful scene then ensued ; sometimes the old man deplored the ruinous state of his Institute and begged them all to help him, at other times he seized the hand of Schmid, calling him his saviour, his good angel. But Schmid remained inflexible ; it was impossible to gain an understanding with them, so the complainants left Yverdon. Later, Blochmann acknowledged in a truly Christian spirit that self-conceit had not been completely foreign to the determination taken by his colleagues and himself, and that it would have been better for them to have remained and suffered. Some children of well to do families of the country, formerly admitted gratuitously, had become under-masters, they and some new comers replaced the masters who had gone away, and the teaching suffered in consequence. Niederer and Krusi were almost the only teachers of merit who remained with Schmid, and the last named made their position gradually more painful. Krusi, simple and modest, a gentle and loving soul groaned in silence, and bore all without complaint. But Niederer could not submit to this state of things ; he was constantly at war with Schmid and the animosity between these men grew stronger daily. At the same time the financial situation of the Institute became perilous. At the entreaty of Jullien, some experienced and honourable merchants of the town came every week to examine the books. Their intervention only confirmed the evil without curing it. The same year there were rains and floods, and famine reigned in the country for the price of food was more than trebled. Pestalozzi was obliged to raise the fees of the pupils but this did not meet the expenses and the number of his boarders diminished rapidly. Then it occurred to Schmid to publish an edition of DECLINE OF THE INSTITUTE. 2OQ Pestalozzi's works by subscription in order to make up the means required by the Institute, and he had not much trouble in persuading the old man to do so. Here it is necessary to say that the views of Schmid and Pestalozzi did not agree as to what was to be done with the product of the subscription. Schmid wanted the money to re-establish the finances of the Institute, and to be assured of its continuance in the future, even after Pestalozzi's death. Pestalozzi wished above all to found a school for the poor, which had been the dream of his life, and about which Schmid cared nothing at all. This difference of view will be made clearer later on. In the month of March, 1817, Pestalozzi published an appeal asking for subscribers for his complete works. In this paper he describes his position in a very touching manner : after a long life of work and sacrifice, he is obliged to see the fruit of his labour lost to humanity ; he had undertaken work beyond his strength, but now he wishes to profit by his experience, by realising the wish of his life for the elevation of the people ; at the same time, he speaks of his Institute as a work which no longer belongs to him and which should continue in the interest of humanity. The object of the produce of the subscrip- tions is so vaguely stated that it admits of any interpretation. But the conditions of the sale and the receipt of the money are regulated in a minutely business- like way ; and friends, schools, and the governments of all countries are urged in the most pressing terms to subscribe and seek for subscribers. Niederer and Krusi refused to regard this Statement as the work of the noble Pestalozzi ; they accused Schmid of it. They thought that the old man would dishonour himself by giving it his sanction. Their entreaties were vain ; the appeal was published. Then they decided to leave their old benefactor, him whom they called their father. They left him alone with the man he had chosen. From that day, the ruin of the Institute was inevitable. NOTE. Krusi had a strong inducement to leave the Institute. Although he had been married for several years he could not keep his family upon his small salary ; he founded a boarding school at Yverdon in order to make a living. f 2IO AGONY OF THE CHAPTER XV. AGONY OF THE INSTITUTE AT YVERDON. 92. Pestalozzi in despair after the departure of Niederer and Krusi. 93. He becomes ill and goes to the Jura. 94. Negotiations with Fellenberg to secure calm independence to Pestalozzi. 95. Pestalozzi's Discourse Jan. 12, 1818. 9^, Foundation of the School for the Poor at Clendy. Mr. Greaves. 97. The School removed to the Castle. 98. Gottlieb Pestalozzi arrives at Yverdon. 99. Quarrels between Pestalozzi and the Municipality. Law- suit between Niederer and Schmid. Arrangement. 100. Views upon Industry, Educa- tion, and f'olitics, $c. 101. Ruin of the Institute. Schmid banished the Canton; Pesta- lozzi accompanies him. 92. FOR seven years more the Institute lingered on at Yverdon but it was only a shadow of its former self. Henceforth Pestalozzi was entirely subject to the will of Schmid whom he regarded as a devoted son to whom he should be for ever grateful, also as a saviour and an indispensable support. In return he felt he should do whatever pleased him, espouse his quarrels, and desert his old friends when Schmid objected to his receiving their help. These wretched years were troubled with quarrels and law-suits. Niederer and Schmid abused each other in pamphlets and newspapers : then actions for calumny were instituted in which Pestalozzi was implicated because he took the responsibility of all that Schmid did. This unfortunate controversy produced a very unfavourable opinion of Niederer upon the public ; still more so of Schmid. Some biographies even accept without proofs INSTITUTE AT YVERDON. 2H accusations which we believe to be calumnies and which we shall not repeat. We shall restrict ourselves to the relating of authentic facts. These two fellow-workers of Pestalozzi have been too long the firm supporters of his work, and they have rendered too great services to the cause of education for us to recall how they forgot themselves in the heat of passion. Whilst Pestalozzi seemed to be blindly following Schmid's advice, whilst he was showing himself to be more and more weak and incapable of the management of the Institute, he had lost nothing of the strength of his philosophical and investigating genius, nor his passionate devotion to the cause of the poor and weak of this world. In this respect Schmid did not share his views, and Pestalozzi, although yielding to him in every other matter, never gave in upon this point. We shall see later on that in this struggle it was the old man who lost his temper. He is always working to ex- tend and perfect his doctrine, cherishing the illusions of youth, making excellent plans of re-organization and perpetual foundation, even undertaking with surprising success a new school for the poor, whilst all that remained of his visible work was crumbling under his feet. It has been necessary to anticipate in order to charac- terise this present period ; now let us take up the thread of events. After the departure of Blochmann and his German colleagues in 1816, some good masters still remained with Schmid, Niederer, and Krusi. Amongst these were Boni- face, who has been mentioned before ; Stern, who taught Latin and Greek very well, and who later became the director of the Gymnasium at Stuttgart ; Knusert, who had left the service of France at the peace of 1814, and had resumed his duties under Pestalozzi (he directed the military drill at that time) ; Hagnauer, a young Argovian of talent who was professor at the cantonal school of Aarau. We said that the masters who left were replaced by young in experienced men : an exception must be made in favour of an able teacher who at a critical time was of P 2 212 AGONY OF THE great use to Pestalozzi. This was M. Lange, a well edu- cated and refined man, of gentle but firm character. He spoke French very well, and he used to say the morning prayers with the French-speaking pupils. But when, in the spring of 1817, Niederer and Krusi decided to leave Pestalozzi, these masters just mentioned soon followed. The announcement of the subscription for Pestalozzi's works, which led to this rupture, was published in the end of March, 1817, but Niederer and Krusi left before then,, for they asked (on the i4th of March) from the Municipa- lity of Yverdon a certificate of good conduct for all the time they had passed in the town ; either because they thought it necessary to have this document in order to live in the town unconnected with Pestalozzi, or because they feared the attacks of Schmid. M. C. Naef, Director of the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, made the same demand on the same day, although his position was already quite independent of the Institute. On July 5th, 1817, Pestalozzi asked the municipality that the castle might be kept gratuitously for five years after his death by persons whom he would appoint as his successors. This demand was granted. Some days after he asked to rent for agricultural purposes the Bertrand field, a meadow of about twelve acres, adjoining the town, on condition that its lease, like the use of the castle, might continue after his death. This new demand was also granted. One can guess the object of these requests, and understand them better from the sequel. Meanwhile Pestalozzi had never thought that Niederer and Krusi would forsake him ; he only realised the fact after receiving rather a hard letter from Niederer which said that his old fellow-workers would stand aloof so long as he kept Schmid with him. 93. The old man was quite forlorn and distracted ; there were times when fears were entertained of his losing his reason. Schmid advised him to go for change of air to the Jura, to recover from the blow that had injured his health. There Pestalozzi passed some weeks in the almost uninhabitable village of Bulet, more than three thousand feet above the Lake of Neuchatel. He lived in an INSTITUTE AT YVERDON. 213 unpleasant room in the house of an old woman who supplied him with the bare necessaries of life. But he breathed pure and invigorating air, and lived amongst splendid scenery, the Lakes of Neuchatel and Morat, then the Vaudois table-land and Fribourg with its thousand charms, further away Lake Leman, and lastly the long chain of the Alps with their abrupt and frozen summits. In his lofty solitude the old man found the rest he needed, but it was a desolate repose, and he poured out his griefs in verses which are worth keeping, not for their literary merit, but as evidence of the suffering that his weakness cost him. Pestalozzi had rarely written poems ; although he was a poet in heart and imagination, we can hardly understand why he chose then to write in verse if one did not know that at that time of his life, and for a long time before, he was engaged upon a series of elementary exercises in language, in which he often made use of measure and rhyme as a mnemonic aid to the child's study. This form of composition came naturally to him therefore when he wished to pour out his sorrows at Bulet. The English translator has no poetic gift and regrets being unable to give a rhythmic rendering of Pestalozzi' s verse. It is eloquent, touching, and elevated ; in keeping Avith his great thoughts and surroundings. One poem especially beautiful and appropriate, is addressed to a Rainbow appearing after a storm on the mountains ; and the poet, taking it as a symbol, begs God for a sign to encourage him after the tempest and sorrows of life. Meanwhile, rest, and the mountain air, had brought back calm and strength to Pestalozzi, and he returned to Yverdon. Then his friends tried once more to save him from the domination of Schmid, and make the end of his life happy and peaceful. 94. Jullien, Fellenberg and Charles Ritter together sought to devise a way to save Pestalozzi and his Institute. Pestalozzi had been several times to Hofwylon long visits during which he recovered his spirits and gaiety, and continued to work upon his exercises in language. One evening when he arrived at Hofwyl from Berne on foot (a distance of more than three miles) as was his 214 AGONY OF THE wont, Fellenberg, wishing to shield the old man from the noise of his School, had him established in the neighbour- hood, in the castle of Diemerswyl, the residence of M. Van Mnyden, a Dutchman who was much interested in education, and who later on became Councillor of State at Lausanne. On October iyth, 1817, after long discussions, Pestalozzi and Fellenberg drew up an agreement in eighteen articles, the principal of which are given here : An asylum school was to be founded in a place yet to be chosen by Pestalozzi who was to draw up the plans and instructions, and this establishment was to be financially independent of the Institute of Yverdon. The latter was to be re-organised under the direction of Pestalozzi and Fellenberg together, who would choose a director and masters suitable for a good educational establishment for the middle classes ; to be self-supporting. Any overplus in the receipts to be employed in receiving poor children into the Institute. When Schmid was no longer needed by the Institute, he was to leave Yverdon and direct the school for the poor under Pestalozzi who would supply him with two assistants. In order to ensure their existence these two foundations would be put under the protection of the friends of humanity, and particularly of a great com- mission amongst whom the following would be asked to take part, Messrs. Zellweger, of Trogen ; de Rougemont, of Neuchatel ; May de la Schadan, of Berne ; de Mollins, Lausanne; and Father Girard, of Fribourg. Gottlieb, Pestalozzi's grandson was to come constantly to Hofwyl to attend the work of the Agricultural School, and Fellenberg's School for the poor, in order to be able to direct at Neuhof both the estate and the school for the poor which Pestalozzi wished to establish there. But Schmid had Pestalozzi's promise that he would make no final agreements without consulting him ; this is why the old man, although he agreed with Fellenberg on all points of the covenant, declined signing it till he had added a condition which involved a short delay. Schmid disapproved of the arrangement and persuaded Pestalozzi that it would put him entirely under the power INSTITUTE AT YVERDON 215 of Fellenberg: the whole scheme thus broke down, and from this time, the old man's friends could do nothing more for him. Fellenberg relates fully all the negotiations and he judges Schmid very severely, attributing only interested motives to his part in the proceedings. Whatever they might have been, an association between Pestalozzi and Fellenberg was as unlikely to succeed in 1817 as it was in 1805. Towards the end of 1817, Jullien, all the French, many other pupils, and nearly all the good masters had left the Institute, which had now sunk into a low condition in every respect. On the other hand, the subscription for Pestalozzi's works succeeded admirably, so great still was the sympathy for the old man over a large part of Europe. The Emperor of Russia subscribed 5,000 roubles, (a rouble is worth about four and sixpence, in all ^"1,125); the King of Prussia 400 dollars ; and the King of Bavaria 700 florins. Thanks to Schmid's tact and the good nature of the editor, Cotta, of Stuttgart, the author of " Leonard and Gertrude," without running any risk received 50,000 francs. This success restored the courage, hope, and alas ! the illusions of Pestalozzi ; he thought the time had come when he would at last realise the idea of his life. He recalled his grandson, Gottlieb, his sole heir, in the hope of making him the successor and continuer of his work. Gottlieb, who was formerly a pupil at the Institute of Yverdon, had shown so little inclination for study that his grandfather had thought it better for him to learn a manual trade ; and he became a tanner at Zurich. 95. Pestalozzi's discourse on January I2th, 1818, his seventy-second birthday, is one of the most important and remarkable that he ever uttered. In it his educative and philanthropic doctrine is expressed with more strength and clearness than perhaps anywhere else ; he states his plans, projects, and hopes for the future, then the state of his thoughts and feelings with regard to everybody around him, even to his old friends who had just forsaken him. 2l6 AGONY OF THK The length of this discourse forbids its being given in its entirety ; this is a translation of its most instructive parts " I am now in a position of the father of a family who, seeing his end approaching, and wishing to set his house in order, gathers round him all who belong to him, at this solemn hour opens his fatherly heart to them, explaining the condition of his house, the projects and wishes of his life, and implores them to do their utmost for the attainment of his hopes.'* " I am now entering my seventy-third year, and my life has heen rather a puhlic than a private one. What concerns me most just no*, is not my private position which I wish to ensure after my death, hut my public work, the little which I have been able to do for a great aim, for the revelation and diffusion of the true principles of the care of the poor, and education ; an aim which requires the joint efforts of many men devoted to their fatherland and humanity." " Friends, at this time, I feel compelled to say, and I do so from steadfast conviction that in matters of the raising of the people and th education of the poor, our part of the world has plunged into such an atmosphere of error that it employs only artificial means, which counteract its aim. This error has so thoroughly penetrated the thoughts, feelings and habits of men that truth and love are powerless against it ; it is like a thick fog which shuts off both the warm rays of the sun and the gentle light of the moon. I know that what I say now will not be thoroughly understood, simply because this error of thought, feeling, and habit has become second nature to the men of this generation." " But I am dead to the present. This world and this century are no longer for me. I am possessed by a dream, the education of man, the education of this people, the education of the poor in a world that is clogged with all that is false and artificial. But I give myself up to my dream and it inspires me. Inward and holy education, the best education appears to me under the figure of a tree planted beside flowing water. iSeo it. Whence comes it with its roots, its trunk, its branches, its boughs and its fruits:' See, you put a little seed in the ground. It contains the spirit of the tree, its essence : God is the father and creator of the seed and of the fruitful earth ; God is great in the seed of the tree. " The seed is the spirit of the tree, it makes a body for itself. Ix>ok at it as it rises from mother earth. Before it appears it has already struck root. When the internal essence of the seed develops its external covering disappears. Its internal organic life is passed in the root, and all has come from it. Look at the entire tree, too, the weak brunches which bear the fruit : it is the work of the root. Thence come the sap, the wood, and the bark. In the trunk, in the branches, in the boughs, there is the same sap, the same wood, the same bark, distinct and separate, but continuous and without flaw, protecting, sustaining, and nourishing one another by the same organic life, and in harmony with nature and the essence of the tree." "As the tree grows, so does man appear to me to grow. Before the child ia born even, it possesses invisible germs of dispositions that life will develop. The different powers of its being and its life are forming as in AGONY OF THE 2I 7 the tree by remaining continuous andjunited, although distinct, during the whole course of its existence. "And as the essential parts of the tree, always distinct and animated by the invisible spirit of their physical organism, that is to say, working in the harmony pre-established and assured hy God, all unite in the forma- tion of the final production of their forces, the production of fruit, so in man all the faculties of knowledge, power and will, distinct but united by the invisible spirit of the human organism, working in the divine harmony of faith and love, unite together to form the internal being distinct from flesh and blood, the eternal being of justice and holiness, man created in the image of God, to become perfect as his Father in Heaven is perfect. "The spirit gives life, the flesh contributes nothing. The spirit of man is not in any one of his particular powers, it is not in what we call force : it is not in his fist neither is it in his brain. The point of union of all his real and effectual force is in his faith and love. " These forces of the heart, faith and love, are to man what the root is to the tree. But we do not look only at the tree that flourishes ; see that one whose root encounters a hard rock, or the hot and burning sun, or stagnant water. See then this root dry up or rot, and the whole tree dying with it ! Then, reflect upon yourselves and see if the organic forces which should give you life are not so lost as to make you perish." After having developed the preceding ideas, and recog- nised that the human organism differs from the animal and vegetable organism because it is endowed with liberty and conscience, Pestalozzi explains the part education has to take, which should preserve and direct the development of the salutary forces of the child, as the gardener pre- serves and directs the growth of the tree. Then he adds : " Each of our forces, moral, intellectual, or industrial, can find only in itself and not in external artificial influences the reason and means of ita growth. Thought must proceed from thought and not from the knowledge and intelligence of what love is and what deserves to be loved. Art must come from art and skill ; not from endless discourses upon art and skill. And this return to the progress of the true organism of human nature for the development of our powers requires the work of education to be subordinated to the knowledge of laws which regulate our knowledge, power and will." Then Pestalozzi reviews his whole life, which he has devoted to seeking the means of elevating the people by education. He admits he has always been too weak to make any of his enterprises succeed. But experience has 2l8 AGONY OF THE taught him many things, it teaches him every day, and he thanks God for not permitting him to put his hand to the plough until he was ready, and for obliging him to work continually. He has ruined himself, and he suffered long, for having tried to found a school for the poor at Neuhof. Notwithstanding, the recollection of this is dear to him. He never has sold this property although it costs him more than it brings in. He hopes yet to found a school for the poor there ; and with this object he will begin repairs in the spring. Further, he says that such a shelter could only take the place of the home by the heart of a father and mother, and he adds : " The religious spirit which blesses the domestic hearth still exists in the midst of us ; hut it lacks internal life ; it is reduced to a reasoning spirit which discourses only upon what is holy and divine. . . Nevertheless, the blessed spirit of the true doctrine of Christ seems to be taking new and deep root in the midst of the corruption of our race and to be drawing thousands to a purer internal life. . . The great evil of our century, find the almost insurmountable obstacle to its regeneration is that the fathers and mothers of our time have almost entirely lost the consciousness that they can do anything ; that they can do- everything for the education of their children." This discourse is curious and instructive on several accounts : in it Pestalozzi is to be found and also, here and there, the influences of Schmid. We wish it could be translated at length, but in the first edition it occupies not less than one hundred and thirteen pages, in Cotta's it has been subjected to large omissions that can hardly be attributed to anything but the censure of Schmid; for example, the pressing appeal addressed to Niederer and Krusi, which had no effect, is omitted. It is in the first edition of Pestalozzi's letters that in general these thoughts should be sought, and these books are not now to be had ; but the primitive text and the changes which it has undergone are reproduced in the collection of Pestalozzi's works, recently published by Seyffarth at Brandenburg. Fellenburg records that on Jan. 12, 1818, immediately after the old man's discourse, Schmid spoke, saying that INSTITUTE AT YVERDON. 219 he did not approve of the gift that Pestalozzi was giving, but that, notwithstanding, wishing to devote himself entirely to the foundation, he would give all he possessed to it, which was 6000 francs. Fellenburg says that Schmid was not in earnest, that it was with the intention of raising the subscription that he urged Pestalozzi to announce his plan of the foundation, and that two years after, when Gottlieb was his brother-in-law, he obliged the old man to declare that he was unable to carry out the plan of the foundation to which he had pledged himself. It is known that Fellenburg did not like Schmid, and that he judged him very severely ; this accusation must there- fore be received with reserve. Meanwhile the School for the Poor was ever the favourite plan of Pestalozzi ; he always returned to it ; and for this aim he easily forgot the more aspiring plans which lately had occupied his mind. He wished to start the work at once, but Schmid objected as he had other things to do* The old man insisted, but always met with the same objections. A grotesque episode connected with this struggle is related by an eye-witness who is perfectly trust- worthy : Mme. (widow) Kraft who now lives at Berthoud, (in 1818 she wa"s Mile. Anne-Francisca-Theresia Kuster, aged thirteen years, eldest daughter of Pestalozzi's daughter-in-law,) says that one day Pestalozzi urged Schmid to let him found a school for the poor. The latter declining to listen, turned his back upon him and went hurriedly away, the old man following him faster and faster. At test, as Schmid continued to lend a deaf ear, Pestalozzi who could not overtake him, took off his slippers and threw them at his back. 96. But this time Pestalozzi won the victory. The school for the Poor was opened the same year, 1818, at Clendy, a little hamlet near Yverdon, in the house which is now the Daulte School. It began with twelve poor children of both sexes, the most of them orphans or abandoned by their parents. The old man devoted himself to them entirely, and despite his seventy two years, with the same activity, zeal, and warmth of heart, as in youth ; also, what seems almost incredible, with the saire success 22O AGON OF THE that had crowned his first efforts at Neuhof, Stans, and Berthoud. Such is the power of the heart for an education suited to the laws of nature that this man whom we always find awkward, embarrassed, and absent in practice, this man who lacked skill, tact, and all external advantages, won as by enchantment, the attention, will, and hearts of the little children who surrounded him. At the end of a few months, the number of the pupils at Clendy rose to thirty, and their progress was wonderful. To give an idea of it we shall translate what Professor Henssler says of it; he is one of Pestalozzi's best biographers : " Some children of from five to six years of age were joyfully engaged for hours with exercises upon number and form. Some of the youngest learned by themselves, merely being present at the lessons. Some were so zealous that they needed to be restrained rather than urged. Soon the pupils were called to teach themselves and they did So with pleasure and success. In winter and summer, day and night, they often hurried to Grandson, some distance from Yverdon, to give lessons to others older than themselves, and they took charge during part of the night. At Yverdon their teaching was preferred to that of the incapable masters. It was said that they knew how to teach children without making them feel that they were learning, and on watching them closely it seemed as if they drew the knowledge from the pupils themselves." This new success of Pestalozzi aroused new admiration. People came from all parts to see Clendy. The English were especially enthusiastic, as the Germans had been at first, and then the French. They persuaded the old man that England might be won over to his system ; they asked him to receive rich children at Clendy, who would pay for their board and afterwards carry his method across the Channel. Pestalozzi was weak enough to yield, and soon his Institute lost the character that he wish to give it. The teaching became more advanced and more scientific : English, too, was taught there. At the same time the internal management of the house lost something of its early simplicity. Meanwhile, Schmid who had given a reluctant consent to the foundation of an Asylum for the poor, took advan- tage of the circumstances to hinder its continuance. INSTITUTE AT YVERDON. 221 Dwelling upon the success the Clendy pupils had obtained in teaching, he advised Pestalozzi to convert his Asylum into a Normal School and transfer it to the castle where all the means of instruction were at hand. In a writing published in 1820, entitled, "A Word about the condition of my Pedagogic Works, and the Organisation of my Institute," Pestalozzi admits that Schmid advised him. The plan of uniting the two establishments was entertained as early as the spring of 1819, as one can learn by a leaflet printed and freely circulated at Yverdon and its neighbourhood. This document written in French, signed by Pestalozzi, and dated May 26th, 1819, is so curious that we translate it fully, changing nothing of its style : " During the fifteen years that I have been established in this town, my house has been fr^e to everybody from morning till evening. Indeed, this has subjected me to intolerable inconvenience, to which J yielded, from stress of circumstances. But these have changed and this freedom can no longer be granted unconditionally to alL Although my wish is to act openly, and I desire nothing better than to let my efforts be known and understood by all interested in education, I must request all who wish to see my Institute of Wendy to apply first to the office of the Castle, in order to learn at what hour it will be convenient for us to receive them. The children gathered together in this new establishment form a family rather than a school, and as they take part in the domestic occupations they are no more ready to receive visitors than are any members of a townsman's family. As I am obliged to prepare the children as quickly as possible for their work in life, I exercise great economy in the use of their time. If it please God, the result of their education will soon be seen in the Institute at the Castle, and will enable me not only to apply fully what is done at Clendy, but to open advanced classes in the method for persons not connected with the Castle, and the most advanced pupils of the Clendy Institute will be admitted to these. First and especially, lessons in the English language will be given at the Castle very soon by English persons, and to people of both sexes if desired. I expect some people to arrive next summer from abroad who wish to become acquainted with parts of the system, and I shall willingly grant to others the opportunity of joining the classes which will be formed. The public may be assured that I overlook nothing that can possibly be done to improve education in my efforts ; but, it must not give offence, if, on one side, I wish to give myself up to those who take a true interest ; and if on the other I wish to dispense with the visits of those who are only brought by curiosity and who waste both my time and that of my charge." 222 THE AGONY OF It is a matter of deep regret that Pestalozzi should have given his signature to a paper like this, the object of which was perfectly just and necessary, but which is so drawn out as a claim that we fail to recognise the noble reformer of education. 97. In July of the same year the Institute of Clendy was joined to that of Yverdon in the castle, the girls were established in the second story, facing the north, in the apartments that used to be occupied by M. and Mme. Pestalozzi. At the same time some repairs were made in the castle, several new rooms were made in the towers, and chimneys put in the rooms that needed them. On July, 23rd, 1819, the municipality of Yverdon, in answer to Pestalozzi while granting him some more repairs, takes the opportunity to say that it regrets the amalgama- tion of the two Institutes, and that public opinion does not approve of a mixed school in the same building. The school for the poor at Clendy had only lasted one year and had been a source of joy to the old man. In his last days, in his days of deception and ruin, it had shone bright and welcome, with a fleeting glory that recalls the rainbow which he wished for his tomb, when he wrote his poetry of desolation at Bulet. This last success, ephemeral as it was, was not without its benefit to humanity. The little children gathered at Clendy, amused, occupied and instructed under the rational, mild and fatherly discipline of Pestalozzi, have served as the model of a precious educative institution of our century. Let us hear what Professor Vulliemin says upon the subject : " The work of Pestalozzi has lasted longer than his Institute ; it has survived him and it will continue to live. The flower and frnit have dis- appeared, but the seed is spread all over the globe. It is impossible for a book of education to be written without giving Pestalozzi a prominent and honorable place in it. And how many mothers have learned from him to regard with new care the first years of their children's lives ! How many schools have been renewed by his breath ! 1 nfant schools now are found everywhere : I have seen them rise near him, and iu this way." "The Institute of Yverdon was coming to a close when Pestalozzi thought of beginning in his 73rd year a school for poor children such as that with which he had begun. You know the hamlet of Clendy, to the INSTITUTE AT YVERDON. 223 east of Tverdon on the shores of the lake ; there I saw him resume his task with the same devotion and youthfulness, and a purer faith to gain the same success and avoid the same shoals. Clendy fell as the great Institute soon after fell. Bnt there was a man there who helped the short-lived enterprise ; he was an Englishman named Greaves, who had a truly Christian heart and an enlightened mind. What he saw there he took to England ; he planted it there, and hence arose Infant Schools. From England they came back to Switzerland, first to Geneva, then to Nyon.then everywhere. We understood the English betterwhen they gave us the clearer, adapted, and somewhat colder translation of his work." The year 1820 was one of illusions and dreams to Pestalozzi. He had gathered together in the castle poor and rich, boys and girls, an elementary class of little children, a college and a normal school. The poor children, admitted for philanthropy, who paid little or nothing for maintenance had a more frugal diet than the rich, and discharged certain domestic duties during the hours of recreation, whilst the others amused themselves. It was generally these pupils, boys and girls, who were intended to become masters and teachers. Schmid, probably, only suggested this amalgamation from motives of economy : but Pestalozzi regarded it as a condition of new and precious success. In order to let others share in his convictions upon the matter, he pub- lished a pamphlet entitled : A Word upon my Pedagogic Works and the Organisation of my Institute. This little works begins thus : " In presenting to-day the new plan of organisation of my house to the public, I feel obliged, on the one hand, to say a few words upon my former works for the progress of education ; and on the other, to give some general explanations of what I feel should and can be done to consolidate my work and assure its continuance after my death." After repeating that the helping and elevating of the people by education was the aim of his first works ; after having admitted that he lacked the strength and capacity necessary when he founded his Institute at Berthoud, he speaks of the controversies that have taken place on account of his weakness and he attributes in a great 224 AGONY OF THE measure the faults that have spoilt his work to them. But now the cause of trouble has disappeared, all the fellow-workers are now on the road leading to the same aim. At the same time the financial progress is such that the Institute is no longer fettered as it used to be. Nevertheless, the public cannot yet quite appreciate the idea of his works ; to remove prejudices facts and not words must be cited. Then he adds : 98. " The resolve of my grandson to continue my work, to devote his life to it, and to connect himself with Schmid by the closest ties gives solidity, even in an economic sense, to our undertaking. " But what is much more important than any economic assurance, or any external means is that by training teachers in my Institute I have succeeded in establishing a new basis for the execution of my old under- taking in every essential point ; and nobody can doubt it after having seen the results of the union of my two Institutes, which has lasted for a year and a half. " One can see that the pupils work together most cordially and that they mutually help each other, so that each goes on according to his application and talents, without jealousy or humiliation. I can say, that it is an incontestible fact that when rich and poor children are brought together in the same Institution, although they are there subjected to different conditions), they nevertheless, in these circumstances, find a means for their moral development." Pestalozzi then explains at length the advantages of his new organisation. First, those of home, for his Institute is the model of a family; the children entertain the feelings that they should have for their parents, and the boys and girls are accustomed to the gentleness, modesty, and respect that should exist between the sexes. There are also social advantages which may have a very happy influence on their future. Children of different means and position in society are there united without being confounded, and preserve the character fitted for their family ; they receive the same education and elementary instruction, profiting from all the resources of the Institute ; they learn to know, esteem and love each other ; when they enter upon active life they will help to dispel the prejudices which make such dangerous antagonism between the different classes of society. INSTITUTE AT YVERDON. 225 Pestalozzi is aware that his magnificent ideal of social regeneration is not to be realised in his time, but his experience of a year and a half makes it a possibility. He admits his own incapacity, but he relies upon Schmid, who already bears the burden, to continue the work and finish it. Here he renews his praise of his valiant fellow- worker, whose worth he alone can estimate. He ends by giving lists of pupils, conditions of admission, charge for board, dress, &c. But Pestalozzi's new experience and the pamphlet intended to recommend it did not convince the public. Those families who were in easy circumstances scarcely appreciated the benefit of such a mixed Institution, many withdrew their children, and financial difficulties re- commenced. 99. The year 1821 was in a measure occupied with quarrels of Pestalozzi, or rather Schmid, with the municipality of Yverdon. The latter had hitherto granted all the repairs required at the castle. But when the number of pupils was much reduced, when the poor formed the greater part, it was suggested to Pestalozzi that the rooms were not comfortable enough for the rich pupils, and great changes were desirable. A letter of Pestalozzi's, dated January I2th, 1821, addressed to the municipality of Yverdon, complains that the bad condition of the building is the cause of the decline of the Institute, asks for further repairs, and threatens to go to law to oblige the communal administration to fulfil all its engagements. On February 2nd, the municipality replies that the charges and threats which are addressed to it contrast strangely with the former communications which have passed between Pestalozzi and the administration, which have always been cordial and agreeable, and it can only attribute the unsuitable tone of his letter to a Secretary whom he has been pleased to employ. It is astonished that he should want more rooms when there are fewer pupils. It remarks that the nature of the Institute has been changed : on one side a school for the poor has been added to it ; and on the other, it is wished to conform the 226 AGONY OF THE internal arrangements to the tastes and luxurious habits of the English who are numerous at the Institute, and are not content with its old simplicity under which the esta- blishment prospered so much. It adds that it names a commission to confer and come to an understanding with Pestalozzi upon the required repairs. February isth. Another letter from Pestalozzi asks that the free use of the castle, after his death, in favour of persons whom he will name, may be granted not only for five years, but for twenty. February 24th. The municipality proposes an amend- ment according to which the cost of repairs will be borne partly by Pestalozzi and partly by the town ; on these conditions it consents to grant the free use of the castle for fifteen years, counting from 1821. In the letter of March 3rd, Pestalozzi refuses to contri- bute anything to the repairs. The result of this is that the municipality withdraws its offer ; it expects that Pestalozzi will summon it before the tribunal as he threatened. Soon after, the municipal delegates appeared with Schmid before the justice of the peace ; they could not come to an understanding, so a lawsuit began. On August lyth, the municipality made another arrangement; it allowed Pestalozzi 2,000 livres more for the repairs, on condition that he would not ask it for five years. This term passed, the repairs would be shared equally between Pestalozzi and the town, provided that the half did not -exceed fifteen louis a year. This new proposal was also rejected aud the case went on; then in November 1 5th, 1821, Pestalozzi ceased to sue. In consideration for him, the municipality consented to defray the expenses which he had occasioned, which amounted to 330 livres. Whilst Schmid was thus compromising the name of Pestalozzi by ridiculous quibbles, the old man ever at a loss in matters of adminstration, never stopped working in his study ; he was endeavouring to complete the applic- ation of his principles to elementary instruction and the elevation of the people. On January i2th, 1822, his seventy-sixth birthday, he INSTITUTE AT YVERDON. 227 made a present to a child of a copy of his " Leonard and Gertrude," accompanied by a letter which we copy : " My dear Child, If I were not near the grave 1 could hope to see the development of your youth ; I would not give you the rememhrance of my work and views in this inert form, but I would delight in using all my powers to awaken and develop yours. But my time is past. This is why I can only give you a dead form, Leonard and Gertrude, as a souvenir of the experience of my life. May it so impress you as to lead you to combine in the like wisdom, strength, and holiness, what is divine and human in life. Child, the world is full of evil ; fear its wiles, fear its enchantments, fear its gold ! But above all, fear your own weakness. Learn to know yourself. Seek to note what God has given you that is great, good, holy, or elevated, for therein will come the first help from the Lord against the flesh and the blood, and the world. Pray to God that none of your gifts may be given you in vain. Do not bury your talents like the useless servant of the Gospel. Try as far as God has given you to become perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect. These bodily gifts which you have sanctify by faith and love in order that they may become holy and divine powers employed in imitating your Saviour, and sacrificing yourself to the service of God and man. Deir Child ! whilst developing in you what is of God, do not neglect what belongs to man. Let holiness mingle with all the duties of your earthlv life. May it guide and sustain you in all positions and under all circumstances. PBSTALOZZI. Yverdon, my birthday, 12th January, 1822." This letter proves that, at seventy- six years of age Pestalozzi had not lost his activity of heart and mind, although the weak old man allowed himself to be blindly led into foolish suits and impossible undertakings. But it is interesting for another reason. At this time the canton of Vaud was stirred by apostles of what was called the religious revival. Many of these men shewed, in addition to strong convictions upon doctrines of the Bible that were too much neglected, a sectarian and narrow spirit which led them to consider believers out of the conditions of ordinary life, to the great detriment of their family relations and society. Pestalozzi evidently fears this tendency and warns the child in whom he takes such a tender interest. Q 2 228 AGONY OF HET Indeed, the essential point of his exhortation is to unite what is divine with what is human in the life of man. We have now the painful duty of referring to the deplorable quarrels of Pestalozzi and Schmid with their old collaborateurs. It was in the first instance to exonerate himself from having forsaken the Institute that Niederer accused Schmid, and the latter, to excuse himself accused Niederer. This newspaper and pamphlet warfare became more and more bitter. Pestalozzi, really, had nothing to do with it, but as he would not have his friend Schmid unprotected he took the whole responsibility of his actions. Niederer tried to control himself and respect his old master ; but he wished to strike Schmid and the blows fell on the old man. In order to gratify his spite, Schmid knew of two ways of attacking his adversaries in the name of the interests of Pestalozzi and his Institute. The first was the gift made by Pestalozzi to M. and Mme. Niederer of the Institute for girls which he had founded. Schmid pretended that for this object a pecuniary indemnity to Pestalozzi was due, and Niederer did not admit the existence of this debt. After several years of dispute Schmid and Pestalozzi gave up this claim. The other way was in getting from the government of the canton of Vaud a prohibition against the collaborateurs who had left the Pestalozzi Institute, having separate educational establishments. With this end in view Pestalozzi addressed a memorial to the Vaudois govern- ment ; on October 23rd, 1818, he sent a copy of it to the municipality of Yverdon, telling them to make it known. The latter refused, and answered that in the canton of Vaud free trade is guaranteed, and that consequently, the Council of State itself had not the right to accede to Pestalozzi's demand. The 3oth of the same month, M. Niederer, Krusi and Naef asked for information from the municipality of Pestalozzi's memorial ; this request was also denied. We do not know what the answer of the government was, but it could only be negative. Niederer continued to direct the Girls' School ; Naef INSTITUTE AT YVERDON. 229 that of the Deaf Mutes ; and Krusi and Knusert founded a Boys' School 'at the head of which Knusert alone remained, his partner being invited to direct the cantonaj school of Trogen in his native district, Appenzell. Whilst this was going on, Niederer had attacked Schmid for calumny before the judge ; this case lasted a long time, and in the end, Schmid was acquitted. But this state of things which had deprived the Institute of the strength it required, and which ended by bringing about its ruin, made the old man very unhappy : he was willing to do anytfeing to restore peace except the one thing necessary, which was to send away Schmid. From the death of his wife he had been deprived of that sympathy, counsel, and hearty support which had for forty five years supported his courage, in spite of the hardest experiences ; he still had devotion and faith in his work, also his own lively imagination, and persevering activity ; but with intervals of weakness and desolation. In one of these sad moments, in February, 1823, he wrote to M. and Mme. Niederer begging them to put an end to the suit against Schmid, of which the old man says he is himself the cause, because he wished to answer for his friend. This is the letter, which has been printed in the book of Pestalozzi, entitled " My Destinies," page 254. " I beg you, in the name of God and his holy mercy, to deliver me from the martyrdom that I have endured for six years, in this guilty war which has been going on in such an obstinate and unchristian way between our two educational houses which call themselves Christ i:iu. Think, my dear Niedeier of what we have hoped together, and whut wo have been to each other. Be again, as far as you can, my old friend Ni- <1