The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-08-19

be delivered 10 each nation IN its owl
speech" All this seems 10 us so evi
dent as 10 be commonplace. Yet il is
only within our own century that it has
come to be considered proper TO use
the vulgar tongue in the Universities
OF Europe or even America. And as
late as 1880 to my knowledge it was
declared in one university to be inn
possible TO conduct certain studies in
any other language than Latin; and
suppose that such is the theory yet. 1t
was deep in the present century that
DR.. Wayland, of Brown University, adj
dressed his class in Moral Science in
Latin. Yet this is one of the very
studies designated by COmenius TO be
pursued in the mother tongue. This
leads to consider the course Of study
for his proposed Mother Tongue School.
1t included reading, writing, compost
ton, arithmetic, singing, psalms and
hymns, catechism, Bible History and
texts, moral rules with examples, eco
nomicS and politics, general history of
the world astronomy, physics, geog-
raphy, and general knowledge of arts
and handicrafts. Thus we see that he
was not only the ancestor of the Kin
dergarten, but the lineal predecessor
of the very modern advocates of the
study of the mother tongue, of singing,
of civics, and of realities in the schools,
as we'll as the grandfather of manual
training. What more could be asked
of one seventeenth century man?
But something more should be said
of his realism. He accepted Bacon's
doctrine, that the way to learn about
&c TO or n NJ nd
study her through experiment, observa-
ton and induction. Ratich suggested
to him that education proceed accord
ing to the same plan, and this is his
title to fame But Comenius, with the
mind of a philosopher, founded this
mthod on doctrine that the educational
of the child must be in
the same path as the advancement in
learning of the race, and the same steps
must be taken in both cases. In this
doctrine he anticipated Condillac,
Comte, Herbart and Herbart Spencer
And going to the beginning of the
of the mind he says,
There is nothing in the intellect which
has not been first in the senses" And
again, 'The senses (being the main
guides of childhood, because therein
the mind doth not as yet raise up itself
70 an abstract contemplation of things)
ever more seek their own objects; and
# these be away, they grow dull, and
Wry themselves hithr and thither out
IF WEAKNESS of themselves: but when
heir objects are present, they grow
merry, wax lively, and willingly suffer |
themselves to be fastened upon them |
i'll the thing b sufficiently discerned. |
Here we see one of the foundation |
stones Of what is variously known as |
he Pestalozzian method, the Oswego |
,laS, ETC., laid by this brave old Mora |
ian who passed through this world |
learly two hundred years in advance !
# PestalOZzi.
Although we have not the time to |
onsider in detail his plans for securing |
N higher education, yet we cannot |
,ass them over without noticing that |
here was unity in the whole scheme. |
provided for one common education |
or all, rich and poor, high and lOwly, |
men and women. The School of In
ancy was to prepare children for the |
Gother Tongue School, the latter for
he Latin School, and the Latin School |
or the University. There was nothing !
n the system itself to hinder at any
oint the progress of any one having
ntered upon this course till he reached
he University. This organic unity is
he browning glory of American educa
ion. With the German many point with
roper pride to the most thoroughly
rained corps of teachers in the world.
he American may justly retOrt that in
there is one education for the
hildren of the poor man and another
4, 80 ,,;al I,4+
les school, attended by a very large
majority of the children, leads to moth
ng beyond the fifteenth year; whereas
n the American system, imperfectly
eveloped though it is, the kindergar-
en- leads to the elementary school; so
he elementary school leads to the high |
chool the high school to the college,
nd the college to the university. In
he matter of organization Of schools,
hen, Comenius was fully abreast of the
est ideas of the present day.
Let us not follow him further into
etails, or pick flaws in the details
hitch we have considered. Our time is
90 brief, and the profit in such a course
5 too small. Let us not even discuss
i'm as a methodizer, though perhaps
would be interesting to note the re-
alton of his methods to those of our
wn time. He lived at a time when
anguage work occupied almost the
hole of the time in the schools. We
i've in just such time. He began his
reforms in practice with an
tempt to improve the methods OF
9aching language, so that the mastery
the language of the schools should
ccupy less time, to the end that time
hight be found for other branches of
Just so our coming educa-
onal reformer will devise ways of
aiming a mastery of the English Ian
uage in less time, to the end that other |
ranches of instruction may be taken
D and carried on to better purpose.
Of his influence on posterity it will
e sufficient to speak briefly. He an
cipated Froebel, and I have not been
BILE to find that he influenced him
Z !