History of Education - Levi Seeley (top novels to read .txt) 📗

[132] Kant, "Ueber Pädagogik."

PESTALOZZI (1746-1827)

Literature.—De Guimps, Pestalozzi, his Life and Works; Krüsi, Life, Work, and Influence of Pestalozzi; Quick, Educational Reformers; Von Raumer, Life and System of Pestalozzi; Durrell, New Life in Education; Gill, Systems of Education; Skinner, The Schoolmaster in Literature; Barnard, Pestalozzi and Pestalozzianism; Vogel, Geschichte des deutschen Volksschulwesens; Rein, Encyklopädisches Handbuch der Pädagogik.

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was born in Zurich, Switzerland, January 12, 1746. His father was a physician of great intelligence, and his death before the boy reached his sixth year deprived the latter of a wise counselor. The character of the mother is shown by the dying appeal of Pestalozzi's father to his servant Bäbeli: "For God's sake and in the name of mercy do not forsake my wife. When I am dead she will be helpless, and my children will fall into the hands of strangers."

Bäbeli replied, "I will never leave your wife, if it should please God to take you hence. I will remain with her till death, if she wishes me to do so," a promise which she faithfully kept. Krüsi thinks that, "The sacrifices of a mother for her children do not show more nobility of soul than was displayed by this poor, uneducated girl, who gave up all her worldly interest for a family not her own." Who can say that Pestalozzi himself was not inspired to his long life of devotion to the interests of the lowly by the unselfish consecration of this lowly woman to his family?

Pestalozzi did not care for companions of his own age. He was peculiarly a mother's boy, content to grow up dreamy and impractical at her quiet hearthstone. Consequently he was awkward and reserved, easily imposed upon, and lacking in self-reliance. These qualities remained with him as long as he lived, and caused him many painful failures. On the other hand, the pious example of his mother and the tranquil life he led with her made the boy reflective and imaginative, while his soul became filled with great thoughts for the well-being of mankind. His grandfather, a country pastor, whom he often visited, by his simple, godly life exerted a great influence in shaping Pestalozzi's religious character.

Schooling.—At school he was the butt of ridicule among the scholars because of his awkwardness, his simplicity, and his ingenuousness. His comrades dubbed him "Harry Oddity of Follyville," a nickname that carried no reproach with it, but was intended to express good-natured appreciation of his characteristics. Mr. Quick tells us that "his good nature and obliging disposition gained him many friends. No doubt his friends profited from his willingness to do anything for them. We find that when, on the shock of an earthquake, teachers and scholars alike rushed out of the schoolhouse, Harry Oddity was the boy sent back to fetch out caps and books." While not brilliant as a scholar, he was by no means dull. He was more ready in grasping the content than the form of the subject. Consequently all through life he never overcame his weakness in some of the commonest requirements of education.[133]

Life Purpose.—After completing the work of the elementary schools, he entered the university of Zurich, where he sustained himself with credit. Even while yet a boy he joined a league of students which was intended to resist injustice. Of himself and his fellow-students, he says, "We decided to live for nothing but independence, well-doing, and sacrifice for love of country."

Speaking of society as he saw it, he says, "I saw the unfortunate condition of all mankind, especially of my own countrymen, in all its hollowness. I saw indulgence despoiling the highest moral, spiritual, and civil interests, and sapping the lifeblood of our race as never before in the history of Europe. I saw finally the people of our nation steeped in poverty, misery, and universal want. From youth up the purpose of my life has been to secure to the poor of my country a happier fate by improving and simplifying their educational privileges. But the only sure foundation upon which we may hope to secure national culture and elevate the poor is that of the home where the love of father and mother is the ruling principle. Through the unselfishness, truth, strength, and purity of their love, parents kindle faith in their children. This leads to that implicit obedience which is based on confidence and love."

Love for humanity, desire to ameliorate suffering, and thorough unselfishness furnished the key to Pestalozzi's purpose and lifework.

The Christian Ministry.—It was this lofty purpose that led him first to attempt the work of the Christian ministry, a work which his aged grandfather encouraged. But he failed in his first sermon, and at once decided that he had mistaken his calling. Krüsi[134] says that "he stopped short in his sermon and made mistakes in the Lord's Prayer. This may have been due to embarrassment, which made the young minister forget the sermon which he had been obliged to commit to memory. More likely, however, it was an exalted idea of the proper qualifications of a clergyman, compared with his own humble merits, which induced him to exchange the study of theology for that of law."

The Law.—His motive in devoting himself to law was the same that had led him to the ministry,—his desire to be a blessing to his fellow-beings. He saw the peasantry cheated and imposed upon because of their ignorance, and determined to become their champion. Krüsi thinks that his study of the law must "have produced negative results by showing him the insufficiency of human legislation to do away with abuses, unless supported by principles of charity and justice." He therefore gave up this enterprise also.

Farming.—The advice of a dying friend, Bluntschli, "Never embark in any operation which might become dangerous to your peace of mind, because of the simplicity and tenderness of your disposition," may have had its effect upon Pestalozzi. He now entered upon his third venture. Having induced a wealthy firm in Zurich to advance him money, he bought about one hundred acres of unimproved land in the canton of Aargau, where he proposed to raise madder as a means of profit. Once more his real purpose was philanthropic, as he intended to show the poor peasants improved methods of farming whereby they could obtain better results for their labor and thereby be enabled to live more comfortably. He named the place Neuhof.

Marriage.—At this time he had just passed his twenty-first year. We pause to mention an event that had much to do with his happiness and with his later life. He had made the acquaintance of Anna Schulthess, a young lady of considerable means, and sought her hand in marriage. His letter to her, proposing marriage, is remarkable for its frankness, for the ingenuous confession of his own weaknesses, and for its correct estimate of himself. A few quotations from this letter must suffice.[135] "My failings, which appear to me the most important in relation to the future, are improvidence, want of caution, and want of that presence of mind which is necessary to meet unexpected changes in my future prospects. I hope, by continued exertions, to overcome them; but know that I still possess them to a degree that does not allow me to conceal them from the maiden I love.... I am further bound to confess that I shall place the duties toward my fatherland in advance of those to my wife, and that, although I mean to be a tender husband, I shall be inexorable even to the tears of my wife, if they should ever try to detain me from performing my duties as a citizen, to their fullest extent. My wife shall be the confidant of my heart, the partner of all my most secret counsel. A great and holy simplicity shall reign in my house.... My dear friend, I love you so tenderly and fervently that this confession has cost me much, since it may even take from me the hope of winning you."

Anna was not discouraged by the picture which the man she loved drew of himself, and she consented to become his wife. They were married in his twenty-fourth year, and thus began a long period of happy wedded life that extended over fifty years. Quick tells us that "the forebodings of the letter were amply realized, ... and yet we may well believe that Madame Pestalozzi never repented of her choice."

Neuhof.—But to return to Pestalozzi's experiment in farming, matters had not progressed well. The Zurich capitalists became suspicious, and after an investigation decided to withdraw their support, thus precipitating failure. Of this Pestalozzi himself says, "The cause of the failure of my undertaking lay essentially and exclusively in myself, and in my pronounced incapacity for every kind of undertaking which requires practical ability." One cannot fail to admire the energy and courage of the man, who, conscious of his own weakness, still persevered in great enterprises until he achieved success.

It was not for himself, but for humanity, that Pestalozzi labored, and no discouragement could daunt, no failure defeat, no lack of appreciation or misunderstanding check, the ardor of his zeal for the great work that absorbed his life. Around him were men and women in poverty and misery, whose children were growing up in vice and ignorance, to perpetuate the evils under which their parents suffered. With the spirit of his divine Master, Pestalozzi sought to elevate and bless those around him.

Accordingly, after the failure caused by the withdrawal of the financial support heretofore mentioned, he started again at Neuhof, using his wife's money. He opened an "industrial school for the poor," which Krüsi calls "the first school of its kind ever conceived, and the mother of hundreds now existing on both sides of the Atlantic." This was in 1775. He gathered fifty children together, and fed, clothed, housed, and taught them without compensation; in return for