The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-03-14
THE LIFE OF PESTALOZZL
One of the Greatest Teachers of
the World.
HARD STRUGGLE FOR RECOGNITION
"A Paper by Professor Ill. s. Townsend,
of Lahainaluna--The Life of n Swiss
Pedagogue-A Lecture at n Recent
Teachers Public Meeting on Maui.

The following is the conclusion
of the article on Pestalozzi, the
Swiss pedagogue, which was begun
in yesterdays issue:
In this case we have no fault to find
with the history which we read on q
tombstone. Pestalozzi was completely
dominated by his overwhelming love
for humanity. This determined the
motive of his life, and of his philoso-
ply of education, if he may be said to
have bad philosophy of education.
Stung by the degradation of the poor,
and the wrongs which they suffered,
he set himself to devise means of
helping them. And his conclusion
was: ''If we desire to aid the poor
man, the very lowest among the peo-
pie, this can be done in one way only,
that is by changing his schools into
true places of education, in which the
moral, intellectual and physical pow
ers which God has put into our nature
may be drawn out, so that the man
may be enabled to live a life such as
a man should live, contented in him
self and satisfying other people. Thus,
and only thus, does the man, whom
in Gods wide world nobody helps and
nobody can help, learn to help him
self.'' With this view of his life, we
cannot cry "cantr' when he tells us,
"For thirty years my life was a des
perate struggle against the most
frightful poverty. More than thous-
and times / was obliged to go without
dinner, and at noon, when even the
poorest were seated around q table, L
! 4 6 n 4 l,a
highway; and all that / might minis
ter to the needs of the poor by the
realization of my principles" 1t is
wholesome to contemplate such a
character.
HIS PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION.
F'ichte tried to make philosopher
of Pestalozzi, but he can scarcely be
said to have succeeded. His heart
was better than his head. In fact his
heart ruled not only his hands but also
his head. Speaking of his Researches
on the Course of Nature in the Devel-
opment of the Human Race" phil
osophical undertaking TO which Ficbte
urged him on, he says: "This book
is to me only another proof of my lack
of ability No one understands me,
and it has been hinted that the whole
work has been taken for nonsense. ="
His most friendly critics argree with
him in his estimate of this book.
But some sort of philosophy under
lies all thought, however unconscious
of such philosophy the, thinker may
be. Pestalozzi got exceedingly clear
views of the outlines of the philoso-
ply which underlies his educational
theories, though he was not able to
combine them into philosophical
system. Even his own assistants at
Yverdun disputed among themselves
as to which one understood PestalozZi,
and the controversy grew so heated
as to become chief cause for the
eventual failure of the institute. Yet
his writings contain pregnant SEN
tences in which the most profound of
educational principles are clearly ex-
pressed. When these are sepaTted
from the mass of less pertinent mat
ter which surrounds them, the system
which lies at the base of such theories
may be readily seen. In order TO an
swer to ourselves the question, "What
is Pestalozzianism?1 iC is necessary to
examine these most characteristic sen
tences in the light of his life.
We have seen that the motive of his
life and thought was philanthropy,
and its purpose 10 draw out the moral.
intellectual and physical powers,
which God has put into our nature.
But what are the first and most essen
tial powers which God has put into
our nature? Let PestaloZzi answer in
his own words: "The essential prin-
ciple of education is not teaching, it is
love. The child loves and believes
before it thinks and acts. The forces
of the heart-faith and love-are in
the formation OF immortal man what
the root is for the tree" Speaking of
Stanz, he says: "Before all things /
was bound To gain the confidence and
the love of the children" And again:
az was persuaded that my affection
would change the state of my children
just as quickly as the spring sun
would awake to new life the earth
that winter had benumbed | was not
deceiving myself. Before the spring
sun melted the snow of our mountains,
my children were hardly to be recOg-
niZed.' Let Professor Vuillemin, at
one time a pupil in the Institute at
YveTdum, speak of the manner OF
love PestaloZZi inspired: "Imagine,
my children he WAS writing this
account for his own children), very
ugly man with rough, bristliGg hair
his face scared with smallpox and
covered with freckIes, an uutidy
beard, DO necktie, bis breeches no.
properly buttoned and coming down
to his - rkings, which in their tura
descended on his great thick shoes