The Hawaiian gazette., 1896-08-21

of WEAKNESS of themselves: but when
!, their objects are present, they grow
merry, wax lively, and willingly suffer
themselves to be fastened upon them
till the thing b sufficiently discerned. y
Here we see one of the foundation
stones of what is variously known as
the Pestalozzian method, the Oswego
plan. etc, laid by this brave old Mora
\ Wan who passed through this world
nearly two hundred years in advance
OF Pestalozzi.
Although we have not the time to
consider in detail his plans for securing
an higher education, yet we cannot
pass them over without noticing that
there was a unity in the whole scheme
| It provided for one common education
for all, rich and poor, high and lowly
men and women. The School of In
| fancy was to prepare children for the
Mother Tongue School, the latter for
the Latin School, and the Latin School
for the University. There was nothing
in the system itself to hinder at any
point the progress of any one having
entered upon this course till he reached
the University. This organic unity is
the crowning glory of American educa-
tion. With the German many point with
proper pride to the most thoroughly
trained corps of teachers in the world.
The American may justly retort that in
Germany there is one education for the
children of the poor man and another
for those of the rich, and that the peo-
pies school, attended by very large
majority of the children, leads to moth
ing beyond the fifteenth year; whereas
in the American system, imperfectly
developed though it is, the kindergar-
ten leads to the elementary school; so
the elementary school leads to the high
school, the high school to the college
and the college to the university. In
the matter of organization of schools,
then, Comenius was fully abreast of the
best ideas of the present day.
Let us not follow him further into
details, or pick flaws in the details
which we have considered. Our time is
too brief and the profit in such course
is too small. Let us not even discuss
him as methodizer, though perhaps
1t would be interesting to note the re-
Iatlon OF his methods to those of our |
own time. He lived at a time when |
language work occupied almost the |
whole of the time in the schools. We
live in just such time. He began his |
educational reforms in practice with an
attempt to improve the methods of |
teaching language, SO that the mastery
of the language of the schools should
occupy less time, to the end that time
might be found for other branches of
instruction. Just so our coming educa-
tional reformer will devise ways of
gaining mastery of the English Ian
guage in less time, to the end that other
branches OF instruction may be taken
up and carried on to better purpose.
OF his influence on posterity it will
be sufficient to speak briefly. He an
Froebel, and l have not been
able to find that he Influenced him
Pestalozzi was his follower, but not his
disciple. He drew in advance the plan
-or the American school system, yet the
American people built their structure
in ignorance of his plan. Modern peda-
5ogy has learned little from him, while
learning much that he taught. He was
so far in advance of his times and the
of his life were so unfa-
vorable, especially the Thirty Years
War, that his influence has not been at
all commensurate with his abilities.
For nearly two centuries he was left to
oblivion. Within the memory of men
1ot yet old he was rescued from that
and now a teachers profess
;ional education is not fairly begun till
lie has studied Comenius His influence
Turing the last thirty years has been
yreater than during the first two cen
uries after his death, and it is steadily
One can not study the man
md his writings today without being
impressed with the breadth
Of his mind, the keenness of his in
;ight, and the nobility of his character,
and the vastness of his labors.