Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

studies which give knowledge of the human heart and soul, and teach how to guide and govern the human being.

"We need not depreciate our own time. This era has its admirable acquisitions, its marvelous inventions which revolutionize material existence from day to day, and on account of its feverish activity this era is worthily called great. But it is obvious that the era of electricity, lightning trains, nerve-killing telephone, etc., can not be the time of intellectual concentration. It can not be a time of harmonious contemplation of men and the world. The antique world, with its simpler conditions of life, its incomparably fewer complications, was much more able than we to view the human being from a human standpoint. That is the reason why the sources of wisdom, of law, and art, are found in Greek culture, compared with which the Latin is only an imitation, a second-hand civilization. From these sources is fed, even to this day, our own material development; for, though we have acquired much new knowledge and are acquiring it daily, we can scarcely say that we are acquiring new ideas.

"Through this mental concentration history, legislation, and art of the ancients became instructive and sublime: through it the knowledge of the human heart and soul became profound and true. But all that can be acquired only in youth; that is, before life's combat robs us of the faculty to receive deep impres sions and prevents mental concentration. Afterward, when greater maturity comes with its fever of passion and hot blood, the battle for subsistence opens, and the everyday humdrum business, the prose of debit and credit, overtakes us-then it is too late to acquire all that; and he who would endeavor to do so at that age could acquire it only with very much greater trouble, exertion, and loss of time, or by means of pale-complexioned and insufficient translations.

"It is a demoralizing argument, one that undermines the national ambition of youth, that we should throw out these studies to which all nations cling, great and insignificant alike, only because the mental exertion is too great for us Hungarians. That would not be a proclamation indicating intellectual superiority, but inferiority; it would be an abdication of the mission to guide other nations, and, indeed, an abdication of the place Hungary has in the galaxy of nations." II. From a recent debat in the Norwegian Storthing (lower house of parliament).

Prof. Horst (of Tromsö): "The classical high school of to-day can not be regarded as a school of general culture. It may seem curious how a man who is himself a philologist, and who from early youth has been brought up entirely in the atmosphere of classical study; furthermore, one who has honestly endeavored to enter deeper into antiquity, how such a man can occupy a standpoint such as I do to-day. But I wish to remark that twenty years of teaching the classics has brought it about that I arrive at the conclusion mentioned before. I have also had ample opportunity to notice how little classic culture is serviceable in life. By the term general culture' we understand such branches which are necessary for life, and Latin and Greek are in this regard not any more essential than other branches, unless it be for such persons whose intention it is to spend their lives in studies of a similar kind. As far as Greek is concerned, too little of it is read to learn the language, and too much in comparison with the waste of time it necessitates." The speaker said he could scarcely find words strong enough to express the usefulness of the study of Greek. And yet he did not intend to abolish the study of the dead languages at once; "that would be a revolution, and in matters of school one should proceed with the spirit of reform, not in a revolutionary manner." Hence he suggested to do away with Greek in order to make a beginning with reform. "Nonprofessional men will be astonnished not a little if I tell them that this opinion is generally shared by the younger philologists. I was struck with the fact that wherever I discussed this question with younger colleagues I found ready assent. You will find this to be the case all over the country and in small towns. What the weight of opinion is in the capital I have had no means of ascertaining as yet."

Prof. Koht (of Skien) said: "I, too, have arrived at a similar conclusion in consequence of my occupation in school. Classical study does not give what those need who from the threshold of schooi enter practical life. Development proceeds with inexorable logic, and it can not be prevented; that it will eventually exclude what is commonly called classical culture. What we need are schools of culture which are active in the service of the present time, not in the service of the past."

Rev. Weelsen pleaded for the abolishment of both Latin and Greek, saying: "Latin has no place in a school for general culture. It must be reserved for the university, and there taken up by those who need it for their professional studies. There is absolutely no reason why this language should be kept in the second

ary schools. Its literature is antiquated and, according to my opinion, not only not beneficial but even dangerous under certain conditions. The importance ascribed to it in formative culture may be found in other branches. I believe that Latin as a requisite component of our higher education is a thing of the past."

Jacob Sverdrup (minister of education) also was of the opinion that the way to general higher culture for the majority in the future would be through the elements of modern education. According to his opinion there is no sense in abolishing Greek only. "Why put the ax to the root of the Greek tree and not to that of the Latin also? A common high school with a strong Latin tendency, that I consider a step backward." As a common foundation for higher education the speaker thought he would propose the native language, in connection with history. However, he did not think the time had come to suddenly dispense, scornfully, with classical education.

Ullmann: "I am thoroughly convinced that the only correct thing is to make a beginning; to abolish Greek entirely and to retain Latin as an optional study; that inevitably Latin will drop out of the foundation of higher education in the future and be only a secondary study for those who for practical reasons require a Latin vocabulary, for at present this is all the majority of persons need of

Latin.

"If they know enough to understand a little about prescriptions and apothecary Latin and a few Latin proverbs it is really about all that the majority of persons have retained of Latin at the present day, unless one is a scholar and a specialist. In the treatment of this matter one constantly meets with the peculiar fact that the advocates of the classical languages constantly confound the subject of which they treat with the object in view. People talk as though to abolish Latin would be leading the people back into the times of barbarism. They are mistaken. To do away with Latin would not be detrimental tɔ education. Latin is spoken of as if it were a great educational medium, and it is a mistake to imagine that this special study possesses such an importance,while, on the contrary, there are other studies from which more profit can be derived during the same length of time.

"It is a great misapprehension that it is really Latin which produces philanthropists, and should lead to human culture. For one may know Latin and still be a thoroughly beutal nature. But that which human education does give is the ability to participate in the great thoughts of culture and civilization of mankind but one can not do that through Latin as the only means. On account of the study of Latin many other studies must be set aside that are most prolific sources of culture. I say this because I have heard rumors that possibly a direct proposition is to be made to adopt new school regulations—namely, such as are based upon the order that Latin be optional without exception.

"To such a motion I, for my part, shall give my consent with great pleasure, for I must admit that owing to the small remainder of philological conscience, which has nearly been ground up in the mill of my examinations, if there is anything unprofitable and foolish in the world for us Germanic people to do it is, above all things, the study of Latin. There is nothing gained by it, but a certain formal education which can be acquired as well through other studies, while in the mean time life and reality derive no benefit from this study.”

Hertzberg (from Christiania, a former minister of education, a theologian): "So far as the two gentlemen are concerned who, as professors, occupy such important positions in our high schools, I must admit that their utterances have surprised me not a little. They are both, to my knowledge, men who not only work with zeal in the interests of the high schools, and especially as teachers of the classical languages, but they also understand how to awaken interest for these studies in their pupils. They must either fail to comprehend themselves, or they are in a very unenviable position, having to perform a task the value and importance of which they doubt. In opposition to this point of view, allow me to say, that 1 believe that classical education has withstood many a test, and storm, much stronger and severer than that of to-day, and I trust that, also, in the future it will go through ordeals without being injured. Classical study has taken such firm root in the general European culture, that it has become a member of it, so to speak. And it will not do to pretend that this classical education is something antiquated.

"No, classical education can not become antiquated, it can not die, for it has grown up with the history of man from its infancy. The classical languages mark the way to learning that the generations must take, if they strive to reach the height of the culture of to-day, in case they do not wish to exclude them

selves from this great work of general education that is now in progress in all civilized countries. Permit me to draw your attention especially to the importance of classical studies for our church. In case Greek should be omitted from our high schools, preparatory to the university, or in case it be postponed until the university years, I fear that this will give a mortal blow to the Protestant Church."

Ullmann: "When the delegate from Christiania, Mr. Hertzberg, tells us that classical education had stood many tests and weathered many a storm, and will continue to do so, I deny most positively the supposition from which he proceeds. Classical education has not withstood a single blow. All the assaults that have been made on this education have only caused philologists to open the door to the demands of the times, in that they have admitted first one and then another of the modern branches, and have given them a place by the side of their muchbeloved Latin and Greek. They have done this with continual warfare and constant fear that they would lose their Latin and Greek, because mankind has become so godless that it wishes for other things than to wander in Ciceronian fields. No, classical education has stood no tests and warded off no assaults, but it has understood how to accommodate itself, and in this respect it has been very clever. It has filled the course with such a number of branches, beside Latin and Greek, that it succeeded in meeting the most pressing needs and demands, and hence we have obtained an organization which suffers from a multitude of studies. Never were the schools so crowded with studies as now. This condition is ample proof of the fact that classical education is 'piping on the last hole.' What remains to be done is to give a last decisive blow, so that the latest modern changes become the dominant influences. The modern branches have found their way into school, and now they are there by right and to be extended, while the classic branches become subordinate; their final elimination is only a question of time." III. Dr. Karl Walcker (in Politik der constitutionellen Staaten. Karlsruhe, Germany, 1890):

"The Greeks were at least as much indebted to Oriental culture as we are to the Græco-Roman, but it did not occur to them to require of every gentleman (każòç kal úyaðóç) the knowledge of Oriental languages. Many portions of the Old Testament are more beautiful and important than all Græco Roman classics taken together; but for this reason the students of gymnasia are not compelled to learn the Hebrew language (excepting, perhaps, future theologians). Furthermore, one must not forget what all European nations owe to the ancients, including the Egyptians, the Hindoostanees, and especially the Assyrians. Shall our students for this reason learn Egyptian, Sanscrit, and Assyrian? It is worthy of notice that a philological professional man of conservative political tendency, the celebrated national economist, W. Roscher, justly asserts that on may become acquainted with the classics through good translations in the same manner in which most learned and educated men know the Bible from Luther's translation. Even future theologians, philosophers, nonclassical philologists, jurists, national economists, and physicians need not pursue the ancient languages in the way in which professors of secondary schools pursue them. Greek compositions are not necessary for them.

Latin and

"Latin has long ceased to be the international language of the learned. For international intercourse, at the present day, English and French are used. The Berlin Labor Congress in the spring of 1890, for example, held its discussions in French. As far as I can see, future Christian theologians and scholars in Hebrew will never make Hebrew compositions. It would be absurd to assert that a country parson needs no English; that the Assyrian researches of the Englishmen and Anglo-American works and periodicals have no interest for him. Every intelligent person, generally speaking, must understand at least as much English as German students of gymnasia on an average understand French. It is to be regretted that English is not an obligatory study in gymnasia. In consequence of this 95 to 99 per cent of German students of law and national economy, prepared in classical gymnasia, understand no English. They make blunders in the pronunciation of the most ordinary words, and can not translate even the shortest, easiest English sentences. For philologists, national economists, jurists, naturalists, etc., the knowledge of English is indispensable." IV. Professor Dr. Herman Cohn (Breslau, Germany) in Die Schule der Zukunft, Hamburg, 1890:

"That the ancient languages will claim much less time in the future than at present is quite certain. In the Middle Ages Latin and Greek were quite in place; to-day their details have become quite superfluous. It has been calcuÏated that students of gymnasia spend 4,066 hours in the schools in the study of

Latin and Greek alone, not including work done at home. The student of medicine, on the contrary, spends only 2,160 hours for his preparation, even when he attends the clinics four hours every day for five semesters. And what has the student gained by his 4,036 hours? He knows bad Latin, which with genuine joy he strives to forget, and he knows less Greek, which he succeeds in forgetting without effort.

The grammatocrats, as Prof. Esmarch so beautifully calls them, of course maintain that the grammatical exercises are mental gymnastics. I do not believe," however, that anyone can prove that the mental gymnastics are stronger when the beginner memorizes amo, amas, amat," that when he learns 'j'aime, tu aimes, il aime,' or 'I love, thou lovest, he loves.' Virchow justly affirms, that the ancient languages have somewhat of an ideal purpose, is only an opinion of obstinate philologists.' They naturally will always stubbornly uphold an idea which seems to live like an eternal malady, namely: The ancient languages sharpen the mind more than the modern,' for these men gain their livelihood by teaching the ancient languages. Grammatical instruction in general, however, does not afford mental gymnastics at all in any language, as is so brilliantly proven in the writings of Prof. Lowenthal; for memorizing grammatical rules is not brain work, but only cramming with words without meaning, which positively none of the present needs of children demand.

[ocr errors]

"I am far from wishing to deny the beauties of the Latin and Greek classics; but who will not acknowledge that there are also many beautiful things contained in Sanscrit and Hebrew books? And yet we are contented with good translations of these. It is also true of the ancient classics that only he who completely masters the languages can appreciate their beauty, and students of gymnasia do not progress as far as that. Gutzkow is quite correct in his theory that one will not discover the treasures of antiquity until one reads the classics in the schools in good translations, and leave the study of the original texts to scholars.'

"But as things are now, the most important time is squandered in studying grammatical and philological vexations of the dead languages, and especially in superfluous inverted translations from German into Latin and Greek, which in the schools of the future will have to give way to much more important thingsthe modern languages (French and English, which the citizen of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries finds absolutely necessary for life), mathematics, history, literature, geography, physics, chemistry, all of which for training the mind are incomparably more important than all the deal languages taken together. Also drawing, athletic sport, and manual labor will receive more attention than formerly. For in a harmonious development the hand will demand more consideration than is bestowed upon it now."

V. Dr. Paul Güssfeld (Berlin) in Die Erziehung der deutschen Jugend, Berlin, 1890:

"Graduates of the secondary school of the future who enter the university will be lacking much knowledge with which at present the students are quite familiar. They will not be masters of Greek and Latin grammar, nor be able to read the ancient authors in the original. This concerns philologists first, then lawyers, historians, and theologians. As Hebrew is a professional study of the theologians which is acquired in the university, so Latin and Greek will in time to come be taught there, and there only. It would seem best for that purpose to establish seminaries in connection with universities for the special benefit of those students only who have a vital interest in learning the classical languages. Their diligence will be greater, their progress much faster, for the simple reason that by virtue of their general intellectual culture they will be able to understand the grammar the more easily.

"The modern language which as a medium of culture and as a substitute for Greek and Latin deserves consideration above all others is the French. Its advantages are chiefly found in the grammar, which resembles in lucidity a Code Napoleon. Its rules are strict and clear. One does not venture to violate them, but enjoys following them. This feature may be traced through the entire French literature, and no revolution could effect any change in this. There is nothing holy and sublime in France that has not been dragged into the mud by party or faction; but no one dared to touch the language with unholy hands. Respect for the French language is shown everywhere in France, from the hastily penned advertisement of the merchant to the orations of the immortals in the French Academy, and every violation of the rules of that language is punished severely with ridicule. There is no room left for arbitrary construction in syntax, as is claimed in German and Latin by every writer and speaker. But

as a substitute for that want of liberty there is offered a wealth of words signifying similar things, so that the finest shading in expression is made possible. Thus it comes that the French language is equally well fitted for the presentation of mathematical theories and the expression of the most charming play of poetic thought.

"To master such a language, so that one may be able to express one's thoughts fluently in it without violating its grammar or groping for proper terms, is an object worthy of the highest human intellect and the most cultivated taste. The way to it, moreover, has the advantage of leading through alternately charming and grand but ever beautiful sceneries-French literature. He who sees in French literature only an accumulation of novels full of adultery betrays himself by his unjust and distorted judgment. Nor need we restrict ourselves in school to contemporaneous literature. If we exclude it there would still remain the works of many centuries to choose from."

4.-CITY SCHOOL SYSTEMS.

Germany-The city of Berlin had in 1890-91, 290 public elementary schools and 82 private and Jewish schools; together, 352. An increase of 3 schools, 111 class rooms, and 3,518 pupils. The Protestant population in Berlin has increased 18 per cent within the last 5 years, the Catholic population 36 per cent, and the Jewish 23 per cent. The actual increase is 210,038 Protestants, 35,825 Catholics, and 14,881 Jews. Fourteen per cent of the Protestant population were found in the lower public schools; only 10 per cent of the Catholic, but 15 per cent of the Jewish population. Of the 3,141 classes in the lower schools, 3,021 had their own class rooms; 120 had to share class rooms with other classes; this was done by introducing half-day schools. Since 1889-90, the number of classes in houses belonging to the city has increased by 202, while the number of classes in rented quarters has decreased by 133. Half day instruction is given to children in primary grades and to those employed in factories. The schools of Berlin, though fully graded, have not as with us 8, but 6 grades. The following figures are instructive of all the pupils there were in the lowest grade (1 year) 19 per cent; second grade (1 year) 19 per cent: third grade (1 year) 19 per cent; fourth grade (1 year) 18 per cent; fifth grade (2 years) 14 per cent; sixth grade (2 years) 11 per cent.

This is a distribution which few American schools can equal. What American school has still 11 per cent of its school population in the seventh and eighth grades? Toward the close of the year the average number of pupils to the teacher was 55. Besides the 3.141 teachers and 352 principals there is another corps of teachers engaged in the city schools, namely, the women who teach the girls to knit, embroider, sew, etc. Since 1863, when the first women teachers were employed, 1,325 have been in active service. Of these 956 were still in active service in 1891; 369 have dropped out (273 resigned, 222 of them have married, 32 were promoted to higher schools, 25 were pensioned, 39 died). It is found that the women teachers were absent on an average 8 days per year within the first 5 years of service. The absence increased to 224 days per year up to the fourteenth year of service. Up to the nineteenth year the average annual absences amounted to 8 days; up to the twenty-ninth and thirtieth it increased to 8 days, until in the forty-second years of age the absence amounted to 15.8 days. The calculations are not a good basis, for they offer too slender a premise. An anomaly is the fact, that in 35 Protestant city schools of Berlin instruction in Hebrew religion is given to the children of that faith. Another notable fact is that 18 principals, 91 male and 109 female and 16 industrial teachers asked for and received leave of absence or prolongation on account of impaired health. (Paed. Ztg.)

Austria.-Vienna has recently annexed its suburbs and thereby increased the number of its primary schools from 170 with 2,300 teachers, to 285 schools with 3,800 teachers and 140,000 pupils. Berlin had, in 1890, 184 schools with 3,800 teachers and 172,778 pupils.

5.-COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE.

The following countries have laws on their statute books which decree compulsory attendance at elementary schools. In many of these countries the law is of recent origin, hence has not had the results it will show 10 or 20 years hence. In England the law leaves it to local authorities to decree compulsory attendance at school, if they see fit.

« AnteriorContinuar »