The West Virginia journal. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1864-1877, 1864-11-16

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strikes while the teacher is giving in.
struction; in an instant all spring and
become like wild beasts who have scented
blood the i'm patience becomes so great
that they chare and fret, and could you
see them at thst moment you would ncv'
cr again speak; contcmptuously of "leth.
arsic Germans" In Il minute the teach
cr ceases giving instruction, merely end
ing his sentence, and in moment,
quicker than l can tell YOU, all have
sprung towards the door, clambering
over seats for the most part, with caps
on their heads, and you believe that
what Goethe calls the "Sturm and
Drang' period has come. Certainly, if
the German schools are SO great, must
infer That their disorder and noise are
also great.
The method of instruction in this
country has one great merit and one
great dcmerit, which, however, is offset
by one equally great with US. The
merit Of which | speak is that educators
devote a great share Of their efforts to
natural method of study; to such a
course as calls into play the coDsccu.
lively expanding faculties Of the mind.
From the infant schools, where nothing
is taught excepting singing and suhJec'
ton to authority. up to the highest
classes Of the gymnasia, where sentences
from Taci;us aud Thucydidcs are anal
yzcd with utmost cxactness, the course
of education moves naturally on, con.
lormably TO the gradual awakening OF d
chiId's nature. Aud herein is the great
merit Of ihc pcstalozzian system; and
the art Of pcdngosic instruction here is
the carrying Of the. philosophy Of the
mind into the school, bringing admir-
able practical results Of the highest i'm.
porlancc. Did space allow l should
gladly illustrate this.
The de,ucrit Of which ! spoke, and
which is equalled by none with US, is
the prominence which is given to the
memory, and to matters which must be
committed TO it. With us this is done
from the book with the Germans from
oral obstruction, or what | may call
familiar lectures. We assign our child
rem lessons which are to be learned by
heart, and then give them time to study
them the Germans allow little time Tor
study, but class is lccturcd nearly all
the time. Lock into room with me,
Cor example. Here you have one class
out Of eleven or twelve which make up
what VIC would call high school the
Germans call it u Real Uwo syllaUles)
or practical school. The room is hot
and entirely unvcnlilatrd two unIrcr.
sal evils in German schools. The seats
arc mere benches, the only back being
the bench on which the boys behind lay
their books. Rude and primitive as the
benches in an American college, are the
seats of u German school. At 5 o'clock
in the morning the wild disorder solicns
down, and when the teacher comes in
there is q ,olcrablc degree Of stiffness.
Rather | SHOULD say Il tolerablc degree
Of confusion that no good American
teacher would bear with an hour. The
first hour to.d day is given to religion, let
us suppose, as is the case three times a
week. The Germans use this word in Il
manner which, were it not so solemn a
word, would be in our ears ludicrous.
"Do you take religion ?" asks German
boy OF one Of the two lads who arc with
ms in Germany. "To give religion, .
" to lose my religion" "to neglect rcli'
gion," "to attend to religion" and ito
get religion" arc words Of mysterious
meaning to an American in Germany.
till he learns that by religion is meant
the catcchism approved by the Govern.
ment. Well, the boys take religion
for an hour, and then there is breath.
ing spell of five minutes, which shows
you, by the terrific disorder, that the
4" religion" has not brought any soothing
influences to bear upon the gay and
ardent spirits. Then another teacher
comes in, and he lectures the children
for an hour on topics Of general geoSra-
phy, not hearing them rccite 4 lesson
from book, but talking and then
reviewing the ground with questions.
And thus geography is taught to the
younger children, though the older elas'
scs study it topically, gathering their
facts from what books they can. They
do not commit from a textbook, as is
the universal way with US. Their top.
ical method we have in our best schools
and their method Of teaching by oral
lectures may be nearly as good as ours
Of committing much to memory from a
textbook. The geography Of our coun.
try is strangely neglected. Mach is
said of the "copper" colofed" inhabit.
ants of America; and it is not strange
that the Germans believe that the 1ndi.
ihok hou