The Hawaiian gazette., 1896-08-21

=
a education can know neither rank, con
h dition, race nor sex, since before Coz
:. all must stand upon the platform o
D common humanity. 1t is worth on
D while to quote his argument for the ed
= ucation of women, whom he calls the
3 later sex. And in passing we should
not fail to notice the delicate compli-
: ment which he pays to woman in re-
: fusing to call her, according to the
: current phraseology of his time ''the
; inferior sex, or even, according to the
: current phrase based wholly upon the
: order of creation. Nor" says he, ito
say something particularly on this sub
ject, can any sufficieK5 reason be given
why the later sex should be wholly
shut out from liberal studies whether
in the native tongue or in Latin. For
equally are they Gods image, equally
are they partakers of grace, and of the
Kingdom to come; equally are they
furnished with minds agile and capable
of wisdom, yea, often beyond our sex;
equally to them is there a possibility
of attaining high distinction, inasmuch
as they have ofen been employed by
God himself for the government of peo-
pies, the bestowing of wholesome coun-
sells on Kings and Princes, the science
of medicine and other things useful to
the human race, nay even the prophetic
Office and bishops. Why then should
we admit them to the alphabet, but af-
terwards debar them from books? Do
We fear their rashness? The more we
| occupy their thoughts, the less room
will there be in them for rashness,
which springs generally from vacuity
of mind"
1t was thus his religious motive led
him in advance of his time to the doc
trine of universal education I'VE de-
sign" he says, for all who have been
born human beings, general instruc-
| tion to fit them for everything human
They must, therefore, as far as possi-
bic be taught together, so that they
may mutually draw each other out,
enliven and stimulate" How strange
all this must have sounded in the
seventeenth century!
And again in the same strain he says,
Not only are the children of the rich
and noble to be drawn to the school,
but all alike, gentle and simple, rich
and poor, boys and girls, in great towns
and small, down to the country vii
lagos. And for this reason. Everyone
who is born human being is born |
with this intent-that he should be |
a human being, that is, a reasonable |
creature, ruling over the other crea-
lures, and bearing the likeness of his
Maker" This l believe to be the earli-
est appearance of a demand of educd-
ton for every human being simply be-
cause he or she was a human being. |
While this was tardy statement of |
what seems TO US an inevitable conse-
qUence of the acceptance of Christian
ity it has taken the world two hun
dred and fifty years to reach the stand
point of Comenius.
Shortly hefore his death, Comenius
wrote these words: Il thank God
that have all my life been a man of
aspiration. For the longing after
good, however it spring up in the heart.
IS always a rill flowing from the foun-
tain of all good-from God" He was
indeed man of aspirations of faith
and hope, as well as of charity. His
were all on a large scale.
When he set about the work of reform
ing the education of his times, it was
no ordinary task which he undertook
And even the desolating Thirty Years
War could not discourage him. And
be was man of heroic industry and
energy. The work which he under
took and accomplished in a few years
would have occupied another for a
lifetime. Forty-two books on educa-
ton, large number on religion and a
few on politics, the care of 10000 fami-
lies eXiled and scattered all over Eu-
rope, the reformation of the schools
Of Sweden and of Pennsylvania such
were the more important undertakings
during his life, so full
Of disappointments and troubles. More
over when he did thing he did it
When he undertook to
profound a scheme for the reforma-
ton of the schools of the world, no
detail seems TO have escaped his notice.
Thus it will be seen that the work
which he did, implied, in addition to
industry and energy, large mental
powers. A man of strong convictions,
Of deep piety, of enduring faith, of
hope which knew no disappointment.
Of almost superhuman energy, indus
try and mental power, such was Come
MUS
In trying to discern the chief educa-
tional reforms which Comenius advo-
Gated one is struck at once with the
classes into which he proposed that
schools should be divided; 1st, the
School of Infancy; I'd. the Mother
Tongue School,; 3rd, the Latin School;
ith, the University. These suggest the
the Elementary School.
the High School and College, and the
University. And the more one studies
his scheme the more overwhelming be-
comes the evidence that Comenius was
simply two hundred and fifty years in
advance of his times, and that his
system of schools would correspond
very closely with an ideal system for
our own day.
Let me read you Quicks summary of
Comenius's discussion of his proposed
School of Infancy, not stopping to in
dicate all the Quotations-which form
about half of the summary.
Very interesting are the hints here
given, in which we get the first ap-
proaehes to Kindergarten training.
Comenius saw that, much as their
elders might do to develop children's