EDUCATION IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH AND ENGLISH PERIODICALS (1700-1789)
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VARNEY# MARSHA EDUCATION IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH AND ENGLISH PERIODICALS (1700-1789),
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, PH.D., 1978
University. Micrdfilms International 300 n. zeeu moad, amn arboh, mmhiog
© 1978
MARSHA VARNEY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED EDUCATION IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH AND ENGLISH
PERIODICALS (1700-1789)
by
Marsha Varney
A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the
DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN FRENCH
In the Graduate College
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
19 7 8
Copyright 1978 Marsha Varney THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
GRADUATE COLLEGE
I hereby reconanend that this dissertation prepared under my
direction by Marsha Varney
entitled Education in Eighteenth-Century French and English
Periodicals (1700-1789)
be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy
. Af«/f7: /'!7^ Dissertation Director U Date /
As members of the Final Examination Committeet we certify
that we have read this dissertation and agree that it may be
presented for final defense.
P _j V-—o—i\ | v<\ *7 &
7 /W i rMd/faiMd A/ Mjjid Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense thereof at the final oral examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: vCLh^Y TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ' vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii ABSTRftCT viii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. LE CRI DE LA NATURE, LA VOIX DE LA RAISON; EDUCATIONAL THEORY 8 England 8 Book Learning and Right Thinking 9 Moral Aims 14 Practicality 16 The Creative Imagination 22 France 24 Learning Theories 1 26 Definitions 31 Class Distinctions 35 The Monarch's Role 39 Prizes 40 Aims 41 III. A MIXED HERD OF BOYS; THE SCHOOLS 45 - School or Tutor? 49 New Schools and Reforms 55 Discipline 61 School Life 73 IV. BIRCHEN-SCEPTER'D MONARCH; THE SCHOOLMASTER 97 Salaries and Status 97 Education and Training 102 Finding Work 105 The Teacher's Role 107 The Faults of a Poor Teacher 112 The Character of a Good Teacher 126 iii iv TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued Page V. TEACH BY NATURE; CURRICULA AND METHODS 135 Curricula and Methods in the Schools 136 Prizes 150 Books Offering General Courses of Study 150 Criticisms of Educational Systems and Methods 158 Proposed Reforms 167 VI. DIGNITY AND REFINEMENT; THE BELLES LETTRES 177 Eloquence, Rhetoric, Logic 180 Penmanship 182 Languages 183 Latin and Greek, Hebrew 185 English . . 197 French 199 Italian, German 205 VII. UTILITY AND BEAUTY; SCIENCE AND THE ARTS 208 Agriculture and Botany ' 216 Medicine 218 Geography 219 Mathematics 226 Drawing, Painting, Sculpture 228 Architecture 231 Music 233 VIII. CULTIVATING VIRTUE; MORAL ASPECTS OF EDUCATION 236 Religious Academies, Sunday Schools, Moral Societies 237 Methodology 239 Books for Children 246 Monsieur Berquin 249 Learning to Read and Write 253 The Theater 259 History' 263 Textbooks: Aims and Methods 263 Course Content and Method 267 The Citizen in Society 270 The Parents' Role 275 Censorship 278 Satire of the Corruption of Society 280 V TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued Page IX. SPECIAL EDUCATION, PART I: GOD BLESS YOU, GENTLEMEN, • GOD BLESS YOU; CHARITY EDUCATION, MILITARY EDUCATION, EDUCATION FOR THE HANDICAPPED 285 Charity Education 285 Military Education 300 Education for the Handicapped 311 X. SPECIAL EDUCATION, PART II; MY MIND FAILED IN PERFORMING THE PROMISES OF MY FACE; EDUCATION FOR WOMEN 323 Suggestions for Improving Women's Education 325 Boarding Schools 329 Role Distinctions 332 Books and Study Courses for Women 337 Women as Educators 344 Madame d'Epinay 347 Madame de Genlis 349 XI. SPECIAL EDUCATION, PART III; THE ENCYCLOPEDIST SPIRIT; ADULT EDUCATION 358 The Periodicals as Educators 358 Chemistry, Anatomy, Surgery, Physiology 362 Physics 367 Mathematics 369 History and Geography 373 Law, Trade, and Business 375 Modern Languages 377 Music 386 XII. CONCLUSION - 388 APPENDIX A. EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH AND ENGLISH PERIODICALS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA LIBRARY {IN PUBLICATION BETWEEN 1700 AND 1789) 398 APPENDIX B. BOOKS AND ARTICLES ABOUT EDUCATION PUBLISHED IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND (1700-1789) 405 LIST OF REFERENCES 452 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Schoolmaster 113 2. Curricula of the Boarding Schools 145 vi LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. A Table of London Charity Schools 290 vii ABSTRACT Editors, educators, reviewers, men of letters, and readers all contribute to the special perspective of education we receive from eighteenth-century periodicals published between 1700 and 1789. The information they furnish is largely in the form either of articles and letters in the essay sections or reviews of new books on education, with some comment from the news departments and a fair representation from aspiring poets. They tell us about everything from general theories of education and general methodology and curriculum to plans for teaching specific subject matter in the belles lettres and the arts and sciences. Articles and advertisements describe life in the'schools disciplinary and administrative problems, and countless ways to instill morality into the young. Contributors praise or castigate school masters, criticize practices of the time, often propose reforms, and generally reveal themselves possessors of the increasing middle class concern for practicality. An examination of the material tends to encourage support for the position of those historians who take an optimistic view of eighteenth-century education, especially given the high proportion of articles about types of special education. What was said about charity military, and adult education, as well as education for women and the handicapped is presented in considerable detail in this study. The two magazines which receive the most attention are the Mercure de France and the Gentleman's Magazine, due to their very long viii ix runs, but others are represented also, such as the Present State of Europe, The Spectator, The London Magazine, and the Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres. Two appendices may be useful for others working in eighteenth-century education or with the early periodicals. Appendix A is a list of French and English periodicals published between 1700 and 1789 which are in The University of Arizona Library; the holdings for the English periodicals are much more extensive. Appendix B (46 pages) lists categorically books and articles on educa tion, both French and English, published between 1700 and 1789. Most of these are titles which appeared in the magazines* catalogues of books or critical review sections. The comparative nature of the dissertation necessitated some attempts to explain why the French wrote so much more about education in the periodicals, for example, while the English published more text books and books on education; how Locke compared with Rousseau, Helvetius, and Condillac in educational theory and how the periodicals show their influence; why the English seemed more pessimistic; how science and empiricism affected education in both countries; and how educators tried to make learning more pleasant and agreeable. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION About three years ago I had occasion, in a seminar on eighteenth- century English prose, to look at the Gentleman's Magazine for the first time. It opened a new world to me. It was the first time I can remember that a teacher ever called the early periodicals to my attention. I knew almost immediately that I wanted to do a dissertation based on research in the early magazines and newspapers. For the following months I read histories of the periodicals, surveyed a number of them, and thought about subject possibilities. Books and articles about various aspects of the early periodicals are fairly numerous. Some give histories of the origins of a periodical, describe its contents, and present biographies of its editor(s), as in the cases of Steele and Cave. General histories of the press exist as well as those which are more specialized by type or by a limited time period. There are thematic studies, such as an article on benevolence, sensibility, and sentiment in certain eighteenth-century periodicals.^" But so far I have located few studies related to my own, which make the connection of education and the periodicals. One short article reviews 1. R. W. Babcock, "Benevolence, Sensibility and Sentiment in Some 18th Century Periodicals," Modern Language Notes LXII, pp. 394-397. 1 2 2 recommendations for students in the Spectator; another, longer, is about what the Mercure galant tells us of French provincial academies in 3 the seventeenth century. For background information about eighteenth-century education one relies rather heavily on short sections in general histories of France or England, in histories of education, or in social histories of the "life in the eighteenth century" type. There are also more specialized histories of aspects of education, of course, such as one 4 on the University of Paris in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. More specialized social histories cam also be helpful, such as a book 5 on the bourgeoisie m eighteenth-century France or on private charity g in England during that century. There are many studies about the early children's books and about courtesy literature. At least one article 7 describes the effect of English education on the culture of the time, 2. George C. Brauer, Jr. "Recommendations of the Spectator for Students During the 18th Century," Notes and Queries n.s. II, pp. 207- 208. 3. Mary E. Storer, "Information Furnished by the Mercure Galant on the French Provincial Academies in the Seventeenth Century," Publications of the Modern Language Association, Vol. L, pp. 444-468. 4. Charles Marie Gabriel Brechillet Jourdain, Histoire de l'Universite de Paris au XVII et au XVIIIe Siecles. Paris 1862-1866, impression anastaltique. Bruxelles, Culture et civilisation, 1966. 5. Elinor Barber, The Bourgeoisie in 18th Century France (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1955). 6. Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis, Private Charity in England, 1747- 1757 (New Haven: Yale University Press, c. 1938). 7. Alice S. Brandenburg, "English Education and Neo-Classical Taste in the 18th Century," Modern Language Queries VIII, pp. 174-193. 3 but the most popular subject choice for early education seems to be primarily author-oriented. Much has been done about Locke and educa tion or on the pedagogical ideas of Fenelon. There are also many thematic studies about education in certain authors' works: in Goldsmith/ for example.** I find few comparative studies of the periodicals. There is one showing how certain of the French journals portrayed English 9 10 people, another about the Journal des Savans and England. One article describes Grimm's criticism of English literature in the Correspondance Litteraire.^ For these reasons the present work is essentially a source study of what we learn about eighteenth-century education in France and England from the periodicals of that time. This is a somewhat unusual subject for a candidate in French and English literature, I suppose. It is not, after all, a literary or stylistic study, but rather the history of education which is at issue here. But occasionally I think it permissible for a student to undertake research which clearly contributes to the kinds of knowledge essential to his speciality. We 8. Helmuth W. Joel, Jr. "The Theme of Education in the Works of Oliver Goldsmi'th," DA 28 (1967):1398A (Pa.). 9. Minnie M. Miller, "The English People as Portrayed in Certain French Journals, 1700-1760," Modern Philology XXXIV, pp. 365- 376. 10. Jacqueline de La Harpe, Le Journal des Savants et 1'Angleterre, 1702-1789, Berkeley, University of California Publications in Modern Philology, Vol. XX, No. 6. 11. Frederic Ewen, "Criticism of English Literatu.— in Grimm's Correspondance litteraire," Studies in Philology, XXXIII, pp. 397-404. 4 all know that we do not study literature in a vacuum. I would like to make a small contribution to the background for the study of eighteenth- century literature. Certainly my general approach to the topic and my own preparation will result in a text which is different from a historian's treatment of the same subject. Since so much of this study is comparative in nature, it may be well to comment that I have generally blended block and side-by-side comparisons for variety, using the block method in areas of strong contrast, like the chapter on theory, and the side-by-side where no particular differences existed. Because of their long runs and the scope of their contents, I chose to concentrate on the Gentleman's Magazine and the Mercure de France, although I did not limit myself exclusively to these two. It was tempting to include some history of the magazines, but I resisted, knowing that such information is available elsewhere to those who might be interested in more background. The reader will notice two things very soon: that the French have the larger amount of space and that more of what I have;said is applicable to the second half of the century than the first. The French were in fact writing more about education, at least in the periodicals 1 studied, in spite of the fact that the Mercure copies available to me were fragmented and the Gentleman1s almost complete (see Appendix A). I It is also useful to realize at the outset the difference between the first half of the century and the second. Far more was written in both countries after 1750. 5 I began the Gentleman's in 1731, its first year, and the Mercure in 1700 and went through the volumes page by page to 1789. Both have monthly indexes and the Gentleman1s an index from 1731 to 1786, but I soon found I could not trust them, for the same reason that one might have difficulty locating a particular subject area in a library which only had an author-title catalogue. Certain problems faced me, a few of which I would like to mention. I acknowledge some subject overlap in the chapters which seemed to me unavoidable or in some cases desirable. But I do not believe there is repetition. Talking about private and public educa tion raised some complications, since virtually no schools were public in the modern sense, but I did use the term for the English great schools and French secondary schools run by religious societies, the larger, more common schools as opposed to the small boarding schools. "Public" was often applied to schools supported by grants or donations. Determining literacy gives rise to every kind of answer, from "higher than we think" to "extremely low." Based on my own perception of the problem, I decided to accept the more optimistic estimate. Course names, especially in the sciences, did not always mean what they do today. Authors sometimes seemed to contradict themselves about teaching methods, one saying, for example, that he was against doctored-up versions for Latin study and translation when he wrote them himself. I have included a fairly thorough but not exhaustive biblio graphy (Appendix B)by chapter and partly annotated, of eighteenth- century books which had to do with education, most of them catalogued in the magazines; the Gentleman's, the London Magazine, and the Mercure 6 listed new books each month, for example. For no particular reason except the necessity of placing a limit somewhere/ I omitted most titles in the fine arts and of the do-it-yourself-at-home type and have therefore avoided conclusions, comparisons, or generalizations in those areas. Spelling books and grammars appeared consistently virtually every month and I also copied only a few of their titles. The lists for a chapter like that on theory should be fairly complete, but of course they are incomplete for the volumes unavailable to me. The titles are for the most part of newly published books, occasionally of books in progress. Usually they were catalogued in a book list and a few reviewed briefly or at some length in another section. My list 12 could be compared with the London Catalogue, if anyone were interested in undertaking that task. X also made up a list of eighteenth-century French and English periodicals in the University of Arizona Library, thinking it may be useful to others working in this area (Appendix A). I have tried to remain faithful throughout to the spirit of the periodicals and to refrain from imposing twentieth-century value judgments. For example, when I talk about the productions of Madame de Genlis, I shall not label them stuffy, insufferable, and boring as some modem authors have done, because no eighteenth-century reviewer spoke of them in that way. Several theses helped give me a central focus and served as themes to unify the work as a whole. They should also be useful as 12. The London Catalogue of Books, with their sizes and prices. Corrected to September MDCCXCIX {London: Printed for W. Bent by M. Brown, 1799). 7 guides for the reader. First, I suspected that pedagogical conditions in the period from 1700 to 1789 were not as bad as historians, early and modern, and many men of literature of the period present them. I hoped that the periodicals would make the picture somewhat brighter. Second, I assumed that periodical literature would stand as additional proof of Locke's influence on education. I made the same assumption about Rousseau and Helvetius, but Locke gets the major emphasis here. Would the periodicals furnish evidence that Locke, science, the new empiricism, and an increasingly middle class system were reducing the authority of older, more traditional values? Third, I wanted to prove some essential differences in the way the English and the French looked at education, notably that a deep vein of dissatisfaction characterized the English writers, while the French tended to optimism. The English articles in the periodicals leaned more toward satire and criticism of what was wrong in education, but the French took a more positive approach by proposing better methods for improvement. The French contributed more to educational progress from 1700 to 1789. The concluding chapter presents the results of the research in terms of these three theses. My purpose, as I said, is to present eighteenth-century educa tion from the particular viewpoint of the periodicals. I thought they might reveal aspects of early educational theory and practice that perhaps are not found in other sources or that have been emphasized differently. It seemed to me that the periodical writers would make their own special contribution to what we know about education in eighteenth-century France and England. CHAPTER II LE CRI DE LA NATURE, LA VOIX DE LA RAISON; EDUCATIONAL THEORY English educational theory in the periodicals is in general terms of the aims or purpose of an education and how well instruction was fulfilling those aims. French theorists also considered aims and goals, but their major preoccupation was more objective. If the English were saying, "why an education?" the French were asking, "what exactly is an education?" and "how do we learn?" The French wanted to define in orderly fashion from the outset and the English to leap right in and demand, "what good will come of all this? of what use is it?" Though an education was expected to be increasingly realistic and prepare a child for this life and this world, its ultimate purpose was still the humanistic ideal of the ancient Greeks: to give a man learning tempered with good manners and to make of him a worthy citizen. Plutarch was the principal source whose influence had so pervasive an imprint on eighteenth century educational aims; secondary to him were Cicero, Aristotle, Quintilian. England In the English periodicals examples of what contributors believed should be the ultimate purpose of education fall into five general groups; the aim of a sound education for some was book learning, for others right thinking, or practicality, or the creative imagination, 8 9 or moral aims such as piety and .good citizenship. Some authors were concerned with only one of these general ends, while others espoused various combinations of them. Book Learning and Right Thinking Three of these aims were very traditional. Book learning as an end in itself seems an indication of scholasticism, but it is tempered by humanism in its appearance in a mid-century Gentleman's Magazine and is really Montaigne's or John Locke's ideal of the learned gentleman. In April, 1766, an extract of a letter from a gentleman to a lady gives an account of his journey from Lancashire into Scotland, where he was impressed by this nation's educational attainments. It was rare, he said, to find a Scot of any rank but the very lowest without some tincture of learning, for the pride and delight of every father was to give a liberal education to his son (page 167). The Scots were especially talented at the disciplining of both body and mind that Locke taught. Gay, in The Present State of Wit, relates how entirely Steele's writings had convinced the fops and young fellows of the value and advantages of learning, but one wonders, if they were so convinced, why they did not give up foppery in favor of studies. The complaints about it went on long after Gay's optimistic observation. No author sweepingly denied that an education had advantages, but many criticized the kind of education provided in their day, and the criticism was often a matter of aims not being met. When the reviewer of an educational periodical produced by the University of Oxford remarked that scholars generally know little of the world, or 10 else are poor scholars, he was really saying that education was still too scholastic, lagging behind the times, and not preparing a man for life in this world. Such was often the case. All through the seventeenth century education had been unable to keep up with the cultural attainments and advancements of the age, and it was still lagging, though the eighteenth century was closing the gap more than most people realize today. Descartes', Spinoza's, and Leibniz' belief that the ultimate purpose of an education is to teach a man to think, to develop sound judgment rather than to fill him with encyclopedic information, is easy to see in the periodicals. At first this rationalist aim seemed at odds with empiricism, yet in the periodicals it is clear that the authors saw no particular conflict between stressing the importance of thinking and doing so through the sense impressions. One result of not teaching a child to think was the predominant quality of the times, according to numerous critics: effeminacy. A child of fortune was sent to a public school, where he might gain a considerable knowledge of words, and there his education generally stopped, leaving him without any knowledge of things. Then when he went on to the university, he did not have enough book work to keep him busy, so that he occupied his imagination with folly or vice. The next step of the typical upper class education was travel, no improvement to him at all, for he merely brought home foreign follies, effeminacies and vices to add to his former stock. Locke had recommended travel abroad as an important part of the education of a gentleman, but as it became universally applied, criticism against it abounded. If education 11 failed in what ought to be its aim—teaching a man to think—the result was a nation of effeminate fops. The general idea of what to do to insure that the present young men of fashion not become impudent fops was to give them more book learning. Former ages may have tended to pedantry, argued some cor respondents, but that was better than men who act like boys to the end of their days because they were not taught to study in youth. The great Greeks and Romans had knowledge of books, went the argument, often used, since the eighteenth century was still so often holding up as the ideal the way the ancient Greeks and Romans studied. Modern education created fops because it was too lax, said some who preferred the "good old days," when a lad gained competence in Latin and Greek and then went to an English university. They objected to the argument that grounding in the learned languages bred pedantry and that early instruction in religion and virtue would infringe on a young man's natural rights. French and dancing were all many young gentlemen learned. Another error was that children were indulged too early in every fashionable dress and diversion. If such methods would make a man, he would be as much a man at fifteen as he would prove at forty. The wisest nations trained their children in severe discipline, virtue and love of their national religion and banished all vice unless to use it as a lesson. As every nation has gone to ruin, remissness of education.has been a forerunner. In Persia youths had tutors instead of being sent to public school. The Roman had his Greek, the English their Frenchmen. Youth should not be sent to foreign universities, whece they could not learn respect for their religion or their king. 12 They needed to be at home tinder their parents' influence and authority. Some of the aims mentioned here dealing with discipline, the merits of a public or a private education, and morality are discussed more fully in following chapters. A superb example of the point the critics of foppery were making appeared as "Little Master's Letter from Cambridge," in the Grubstreet journal, reprinted in the Gentleman's of February, 1733 (page 55): Midonius to Sophronia Hon. and dearest Auntee, Well: I'm resolved I won't stay in this strange place, and so I would have you tell Mamma: I am sure you two can persuade Papa to Any thing—Here indeed they put me on a fine Gown, but L—d, I can't laugh when I will, and say what I please. Here the Wretches call me an insignificant Creature, a Thing, a pert Coxcomb, a Fop, a Fool; I won't bear it: I didn't come here to be laugh'd at, that I didn't: I am sure I cry'd bitterly when Papa threw the pretty Baby into the Fire, which I dress'd up so fine, and out did you know who, when I was at School. Tho* Papa frowns, I won't bear the Flears of these bookish unmannerly Fellows that don't put on a clean Shirt above once a Week; and as for Burgundy and Champaign, good Gads! 'tis all Arabic to them. I vow you'd split your Sides at a great Greasy Animal, that thinks himself a Philosopher, with a Piss-burnt Wig, and threadbare Coat. Here's a Wretch too had the Impudence to tell me, my Face wasn't my own, when you know, dear Auntee, I never us'd any thing but your Wash, to cure Pimples, and Dr. 's Cosmetic. —Well; I long to see you, I must see you, and will see you; and so with Duty to Papa and Mamma, I am, dearest Auntee, your most obedient Nephew, Midonius P.S. Tell Mamma I can't eat Mutton, and have just forgot my Dancing. {The London Magazine of the same month and year ran a slightly different, longer version of this same letter, pp. 67-68.) The Gentleman's for July, 1737, included excerpts from an essay in The London Journal about the necessity of forming sound judgment. 13 Children should be taught young to think, advised the author, because though a boy was taught to read, write, and dance, these things were of no use without right thinking. Children have the capacity, he said: their little games can require the reasoning one would need for Euclid. Their witty sayings are sparkles of a latent fire, and they could know many things at six then not known at sixteen. With proper management, the child would be as pleased with geometrical diagrams as with "raising Dirt-Pyes, or drawing Scotch Hops" (page 438). Right thinking is also the major aim given for education in a poem, "On Education," inscribed to the Rev. Peter Mayson, M.A. on his opening the New Grammar School at Frome. The poet says that since verbal knowledge is the lowest part of education, a man can rattle off words and still be quite incapable of thinking.1 There was, then, still some preoccupation with trying to abolish scholasticism entirely: that the tyranny of custom forbade innovation and that youth was still too often being taught words rather than things, that children learned prejudices rather than truths and had to unlearn them when they were older, that they were taught in complex systems and jargon instead of simple truths. This was what Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz had criticized, and it was still worrying the eighteenth century. Thomas Sheridan, author of a book called British Education (London, 1756), held as his fundamental principle that our manners depend upon our notions and opinions, and our opinions and notions are the result of education. Education in England, he 1. Gentleman's Magazine, September 1748, p. 421. 14 thought, did not inculcate such notions and opinions as would form proper manners. The aim of right thinking, like so many educational theories and practices in eighteenth-century France and England, may well have been due to the influence of John Locke (1632-1704). Much of it was not original with him. He was part of a great current of what we can call "modem" educational thought which began when Rabelais turned away from the scholasticism of the middle ages, continued through Montaigne to Locke and from Locke to Rousseau. A few of Locke's parallels with Montaigne are noted in these chapters. Rousseau popularized Locke's best ideas, in particular the replacement of authority by reason and investigation, the emphasis on physical activity and health, the con tention that the education of children should be natural and normal, and the belief that we learn through our sense impressions. But in the great controversy over whether heredity or environment shapes us most and makes us what we are, Locke thought environment, including educa tion, the most important factor, and Rousseau heredity, or the natural man. Moral Aims The seventeenth century passed along its belief that the primary goals of education revolved around the kinds of manners and morals that could make people religious, pious, and happy. The true end of educa tion was to instill into youth such principles as would most easily conduct them to happiness, and enable them to distinguish false pleasure and happiness from the true. To be truly learned was to be wise and 15 virtuous. No one in the periodicals questioned the moral aims of an education. True, definitions of piety differed from Church of England members to Dissenters to Deists. One spoke of honoring God and another of honoring the eternal and immutable First Cause. Together with providing a child a good religious foundation, his educators sought to insure that he would find his own niche in society. Citizenship and patriotism as pedagogic aims often got mixed in with tendencies toward making the state responsible for education, yet in England national pedagogic movements were more limited than on the Continent, and the state had less influence. Citizenship as one of the ultimate purposes of education, introduced here, is treated at some length in the chapter on the moral character of education in the eighteenth century. Other moral aims were to teach youth to be friendly and beneficent to all, and love themselves with decency and propriety, so as to covet only what tends to glory, and avoid whatever is base or infamous. It would not be correct to generalize too freely that classical theories about education—its ultimate moral purpose, for example— were being completely changed by the new empiricism, notably by Locke, or by Rousseau's naturalism, the two great currents influencing eighteenth century education. It would be safer to say that ideas about right thinking, piety, and good citizenship were expanding but were not essentially changed and that the change was largely in book learning in and of itself as a basic purpose of education. This latter was giving way to something relatively new, of great concern in the 16 English periodicals, and it is Locke's greatest contribution as far as they are concerned—practicality. Practicality The periodical press was by its very nature practical, a part of people's everyday lives, to be rapidly read and digested and discussed by all classes. Even among the laboring poor, there were always enough people who could read to share the information with those around them. Each issue went through many hands. It was logical that when the magazines dealt with educational theory, their primary question was, "How useful is it? How well does it meet individual needs?"—Locke's question, and Sarah Fielding's, and Fenelon's before them. Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education, 1693, was extensively read by the gentry in England, as expressive of the best current practice of their class. Locke is not frequently mentioned by name in the periodicals, and when he is, it is usually to include his work in some particular curriculum, but his spirit is nonetheless pervasive. The London Magazine and the Gentleman's both published the same essay from Applebee's Journal, May 13, 1732, entitled "Of Educa tion," in which the minds of young people are compared to impressionable wax, a blank sheet of paper on which the teacher writes, or a canvas 2 stretched across a frame, ready to be painted. The problem was in determining what to paint on the canvas; forming the mind and discover ing what direction the talents leaned was difficult. 2. Ibid., May 1732, p. 747. 17 Chesterfield, epitome of worldly thought in the eighteenth century, wrote Solomon Dayrolles on the problem of considering the % individual needs of his sons. Do not consider what profession you would like to choose for your children and force them to it, he told them; rather, consider what they are likely to succeed best in and come to an agreement with them. At about age eight or ten they often show a determined preference, which it is not good to oppose. Give them a good education so as to qualify them for whatever profession you agree on together. Chesterfield's general recommendations were the army or navy for a boy "of a warm constitution, strong animal spirits and a cold genius; the law to one of quick, lively and distinguishing parts; the church to a good, dull and decent boy; trade to an acute, thinking and 3 laborious one." He was godfather to one of Dayrolles1 sons, and he hoped that his godson would choose law, the truly independent profes sion. People would only trust their property to the ablest lawyer, whatever his political affiliation or his status at court. Isaac Bickerstaff (Steele's persona) of the Tatler worried about his three nephews, who were his wards. He could well see that they all possessed different aptitudes and desires, and he believed that great evils could arise by putting us in our tender years to what we are unfit. And yet his nephews were all instructed the same way. A boy had to struggle over Horace and Virgil whether he was to go to a university or be apprenticed. As an example of such waste, Bickerstaff told of a mother who brought her son in for Bickerstaff to examine in the 3. Ibid., March 1977, p. 117. 18 classics. He saw right away such an education was not suited to the boy's nature. He speaks of "the impertinent Method used in breeding Boys without Genius or Spirit, to the reading Things for which their 4 Heads were never framed." These examples bring up a point which deserves comment, and that is that since Locke and his followers realized the importance of providing each child an education that would be practical and useful for his own personal needs, the sheet of paper was not entirely blank, or every child could be educated in the same way with the same results. He was of course stressing the importance of training on what we become, and the potential of education. Budgell also thought that a boy ought to be guided in the direction of his greatest aptitude, but instead of the boy making his own choice of a profession, Budgell wanted him examined by state examiners, who would allot him the career most suitable to him. Very few could not succeed in some field or other. But in the Spectator he too pointed out that instead of individualizing, the English had every one in the same classes doing exactly the same things. Instead of adapting the studies to the boy, the boy had to adapt himself to the studies. Budgell thought this situation was largely the parents1 fault, for believing that their sons were capable of doing anything anyone else's could, or that they could shape their children any way they pleased. 4. Richmond P. Bond, The Tatler. The Making of a Literary Journal (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971), p. 94. 19 His aim for an education was an eminently practical one: to 5 enable boys to make their way in the world and acquire a fortune. There was a steady growth in population after 1740; more children of the middle classes were surviving than ever before. Education offered them opportunities for advancement (cf. Chapter VIII, p. 246). To advance and make their way in the world, just in the sense of acquiring sufficient means to live by, some children, sent to Latin school between the time of learning to write and being apprenticed because their parents did not know what else to do with them, would no doubt have been better off doing manual labor, as Locke thought they would. The poem "On Education" pictures country boys plodding to school to slave over extinct languages when they hardly know their own and raises the question, why try to make a wit out of what could become a good tradesman? One proposal to solve the problem of what to do with a child prior to his apprenticeship was to establish English Academies in all the major towns. They would teach children of both sexes, in English, all that would be necessary to render them rational creatures, 7 fit to judge for themselves, polite but not pedantic. They would leave these academies with as much knowledge as would be useful in life or religion and thereby eliminate such dilemmas as are described by two young men who wrote letters for a Westminster School periodical. 5. Budgell, The Spectator, Volume III, #353, Tuesday, April 15, 1712, ed. Donald F. Bond (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965), pp. 316-319. 6. Gentleman's, September 1748, p. 421. 7. Ibid., March 1760, pp. 132-133. 20 Well-educated to a degree of pride that would not allow them to work in their merchant class, they had great difficulty and fell into such poverty that the sister of one of these young men even became a prosti tute. So the pragmatists of the middle classes were still unsatis fied, even if the rationalist aim were met. A young aristocrat could do quite well with a sound classical education; he, after all, would not have to work for a living. But the sons of the middle class were educated in exactly the same way, in the same schools. Although many parents were resolved to get their children into a good public school like Eton, Winchester, or Westminster, which in the eighteenth century were beginning to establish their reputations, in order for them to make friends among the sons of the leading families and perhaps thus gain advancement, their boys still had to work. Unless they were among the rather limited number who went on to the university and into the learned professions, they were apt to find themselves stocked with learning and like a man, who having built, rigged, and victualled a ship, locked her 0 up in a dry dock. Even if a young man did go to the university and prepare for a profession like law, he still had to find a place. With far too many takers to provide for in the extensive system of patronage, there were few who found preferment. The story of one such young man, J. N., who wrote the Gentleman's a poem of his plight, illustrates the popular criticism of an educational system whose ultimate purpose was not 8. Ibid., June 1760, p. 279. 21 practical enough. For years he toiled away from morning until night on Lily and the classics. At eighteen he was still reading some ancient sage, supported by others rather than himself useful, with the great expense of college still to be faced. At college he had every gentle manly convenience in his room, idled, drank, schemed and ceased thinking, fell into debt as his father meanwhile continued struggling and sacri ficing to keep him in school. In the end he never got preferment and wound up a poor country parson with no opportunity for intelligent con versation, Marrying a rich wife was a way out for some but was not the answer for him. "OhJ" he cried, Could I but past years regain. But all my wishes are in vain, A college!—I would fly it: Sooner to business I'd apply, And good and honest methods try To get a living by it.9 His one solace was his reading and writing, like this poem. Education was a blessing when it was sound, useful, and pious, but J.N.'s school learning had not been useful. In a May, 1755 letter (Gentleman* s, pp. 208-210) a hungry young man lamented that he could not find work as a physician, even though he had been a prize pupil under Boerhaave in Leyden. He warned young people not to try a learned profession unless they had a private fortune or powerful friends. Opinion was mixed about the practicality of a university educa tion. A comment with regard to Oxford was that since a system of 9. Ibid., August 1758, p. 485. 22 education can never be universally applicable to all times, but must keep pace with changing manners and studies instead of its inventors yearning after the too abstract studies of the ancients, the general welfare of mankind having been advanced by the moderns, education at 10 Oxford was therefore outdated. On the other hand, a gentleman who had recently visited one of the universities, which he did not name, said he found a generous and noble spirit among the younger members of the university, and good sense improved upon by a valuable selection of useful learning. They were different from the usual lot of young fellows around London, who could perhaps quote a few scraps of plays or poetry, or produce a few stale arguments against Christianity. It may have been Cambridge in question here, as Cambridge was somewhat more progressive than Oxford at the time. The Creative Imagination The last aim for education we find much less frequently than any of the others in the periodicals, but it should be mentioned because of the importance it was to come to have. Johnson described it in his essay "Learning vs. Invention." I have called it Rousseau's creative imagination, because he popularized it and we associate it with his educational theory. Certainly the idea was not uniquely his. It appears only twice, in an excerpt from Fog's Journal quoted in both the London and Gentleman's magazines. The Chevalier Ramsey, author of The 10. Ibid., March 1780, pp. 119-120. 11. Ibid., May 1731, pp. 196-197. 23 Travels of Cyrus, said that education should help overcome our decayed human nature and return us to our more primitive purity. "The principal End of all Instruction should be to strengthen the Judgment, to wing the Fancy, and to purify the Heart" (Gentleman's Magazine, August 1732, pp. 889-890;. London Magazine, August 1732, p. 231). Here are two of the traditional aims, strengthening the judgment (right thinking) and purifying the heart (the moral purpose of education), and one new one, winging the fancy. It certainly sounds like a translation of Rousseau's letter of 1740 to Monsieur de Mailly, in which he formulated some of his theories: "Le but que l'on doit se proposer dans 1"education d'un jeune homme, c'est de lui former le coeur, le jugement et 1"esprit, et cela 12 dans l'ordre que je les nomme." The Fog's Journal article, however, dates from 1732. What we think an education ought to be depends on what we think man is. Eighteenth century educational theory reflects the challenge, the compromise, the changes that typify the age in its varying answers to this question. Moral concerns—that education should foster piety, teach a man how to be happy and to be a good citizen—as well as the rational aim of Descartes and the Relief in book learning as an end in itself inherited from medieval scholasticism were all traditional. They were still part of the philosophy of the same theorists who followed Locke in his materialism. The Rousseauists could also compromise with some of the traditional aims, but for them one part of Locke's 12. Paul Lacroix, XVIIIe Siecle: Institutions, usages, et costumes (Paris: Firmin-Didot Etude, 1875), p. 272. 24 philosophy was leading people astray. At the turn of the century Blake portrayed as one of the regions of his Hell the kind of school in which the innate energies of the spirit are curbed and Locke's process of implanting impressions on the mind like seals in wax is put into practice. Nevertheless, if the periodicals accurately mirror their age, it was Locke who had the greatest impact on educational theory in England, above all in terms of pragmatic, useful, realistic goals. France A frequent French comment .in the 1770'S and 80's is that the public was inundated with books and tracts about education. Some felt that this was good, that much of value was being proposed, that observa tion and experience would before very long cause detractors to appreciate the worthwhile contributions among the infinity of principles hazarded on so precise an art. Others thought it was a senseless waste of time. And some did not know what to make of itl How much, exactly, did this inundation consist of? A Mercure article of 1786 gives the number of pedagogic books which had appeared at the most recent fair in Leipzig as 108.The selected bibliography for the chapter includes seventy-three English titles compared to thirty-one French, but in the periodicals the balance swings the other way; French articles about education outnumber English by two or three to one. By today's standards—a look at the Education Index with its thousands of titles, for example—the perhaps two hundred titles do not 13. Mercure de France, July 1, 1786, pp. 6-7. 25 seem like very much, but they represented a significant proportion of the total output of the eighteenth century. The French preoccupation with how much was being said was not the only difference in English and French educational theory. To some extent the French were also concerned about general aims for education, for the most part the same as the English, with the exception of book learning and the creative imagination, which they did not mention (despite Rousseau), and with the addition of a sound body, which the English did not seem to consider (despite Locke). It is interesting that the nation which produced Rousseau seemed to count fewer partisans of his aims than did England. Locke was also more popular in France, and his name and theories appeared more frequently than Rousseau's. This probably was due simply to the time difference and Locke's belong ing to an earlier generation, however. Prizes described in the French periodicals but not in the English encouraged education in various ways. French authors spoke of the advantages of an education, were free with their praise, almost never censuring unless they also made suggestions for improvement, while the English were more generally negative in their criticism, without any hints of how to better the situation. The major differ ences in theory, however, were a French obsession with defining what an education was, how people learn, and whom to educate, rather than thinking completely in terms of aims as the English did. 26 Learning Theories How did the French periodical theorists think children learn? Almost all of them recognized that how a child learned depended to a great extent on what nature had given him at birth. Differences arose over determining the relative importance of nature and education. At the one extreme were those who believed that nature dominated and would control an individual's development, accomplishments and character/ no matter what his education. At the other were those who said that education was everything, since we are all born with the same potential and are molded into whatever our upbringing makes of us. But the extremists were few indeed. It was a sensible, logical age. Men certainly leaned one way or the other, at the same time admitting the importance of the other side. Letters were exchanged, critical reviews of books presented in a moderate spirit, as Mr. B refuted certain arguments of Mr. A, yet agreed with him on some points. For the naturalists, influenced by Rousseau, nature gave chil dren certain talents, tastes, and preferences that affected their learning and which had to be taken into consideration. These natural inclinations which they were bom with had to be developed by educa tion, felt some of the more moderate. The extremists trusted completely in the Tightness and soundness of the child's mind, saying that if he could be left on his own, his natural curiosity would insure that he would learn and that what he learned would be true. He was so much like a monkey that he could learn much through imitation. Learning on his own, often through imitation, was much better than too early book learning, which might overcharge him. At least sometimes, a child should be allowed to work alone, be left to his own resources, and overcome difficulties on his own. He was certainly capable of this; Condillac thought that a child was capable of reasoning from his earliest years. Children also forget quickly, another conse quence of nature the teacher himself must not quickly forget. Another concern of the naturalists was the importance of the passions, which had to be overcome or they would lead to vice in some. Neither were they always possible to overcome. In a 1753 book review of the Nouveaux Dialogues des morts, Plutarch is criticizing Seneca for failing so miserably with his pupil, Nero. Seneca's argument is, "Si 14 le bois n'est pas bon, combien le sculpteur peut-il faire?" If Plutarch's own pupil, Trajan, turned out so well, Plutarch should not overly take pride in his role as a teacher because his student had been bom a great man. Good men were also born. Education could aid and fortify whatever natural qualities we have that sway us toward what is good, but in the last analysis, even though a teacher could try to direct his student's passions—focusing the adolescent's ardor on his studies, for example—instinct was the only real force against the corruption of society. The "Fable du jardinier et de la jeune plante" speaks for the proponents of Locke, Condillac, Helvetius, Condorcet: Dans un climat delicieux, Ou l'art donne un air de parure Aux richesses de la nature, Un Jardinier industrieux Fit eclore line jeune plante: 14. IbidL, July 1753, p. 99. Elle etoit droite et bien venante, Et faisoit le plaisir des yeux. La sommite bien faite et fine, Et son contour noble, elegant, De sa peau le poli charmant, Sa fraicheur et sa bonne mine, En elle tout avoit un air interessant. La. souche qui lui donna l'etre, Ne produisit jamais qu'en beau; Aussi le tendre et docile arbrisseau Promettoit-il tout ce qu'on peut promettre. Encourage par les succes, Et se plaisant dans son ouvrage, Le jardinier mit en usage Tous ses talens, tous ses secrets, Pour de la jeune plante avancer les progres Toujours debout avant l'Aurore, II s'empressoit de l'arroser; Le soir il l'arrosoit encore. Tantot, afin de l'exhausser, II supprimoit une branche inutile; Et si quelqu'autre peu docile, De sa tige pouvoit alterer la rondeur, II la plioit en maitre habile, Malgre son vice et sa roideur. Tantot epris d'un nouveau zele, II fossoyoit, il creusoit autour d'elle Jusqu'a certaine profondeur. Pour y porter un terreau salutaire. Tantot d'un papillon volage et temeraire II fixoit 1'importunite, La deroboit a la malignite De la chenille devorante, Et la sauvoit de l'aiguillon, De l'insecte et du moucheron. Tantot il arrochoit toute herbe malfaisante Que de la jeune plante Pouvoit abreger le destin, En lui communicant sa seve et son venin. Tantot enfin pour garantir sa tete De la fureur des ouragans, II l'adossoit, l'ajustoit a tous sens, A des appuis fermes et bien-tenans, Ou venoit se briser 1'effort de la tempete. AhJ que vos soins sont prevenans, Lui dit un jour le tendre arbuste! Qu'ils sont genereux, bienfaisansl Ehl oui, sans doute, il est bien juste D'avoir pour vous les sentimens D'une sincere gratitude1 29 Oui, j'en formerai 1'habitude, Et ce sera dans tous les terns Ma principale etude. Daignez, au nom de tous les Dieux, Me les continuer ces soins officieux, A qui je dois tout le bien de mon etre: Sans vos bontes puis-je rien me promettre? Puis-je compter sur des progres nouveaux? Si vous m'aimez, soyez encor mon maitre, Jusqu'a ce que, par vos travaux, J'aye vu s'accroitre et s'etendre Et ma racine et mes rameaux Assez pour resister au deluge des maux Dont vous avez spu me defendre. Penetre d'un aveu si tendre, Le jardinier sentit redoubler son ardeur; II prodigua les efforts de son zele, Tant en effet, qu'a leur faveur, Et la plante eprouvant en elle A chaque instant un surcroit de vigueur, Et de dispositions a croitre, Devint enfin un arbre grand et beau, Qui tous les jours par un eclat nouveau, S^ut embellir le lieu qui le vit naitre. Le naturel tout seul ne mene pas au grand: Ajoutez-y 11assortiment D'une education bien suivie, Et vous aurez le surgarant Des progres d'une belle vie.-1-5 The moderates among the empiricists admitted that there was a naturel to be dealt with, and that even though education had the greater power and great men were the result of a good education, still, education could not do everything. Only one anonymous author insisted like Helvetius that there is no innate intelligence. He referred to man as the harpsi chord which, under the fingers of an ignorant or a deft musician, renders either the most discordant sounds or the most harmonious chords.». * 16 15. Ibid., December 1753, pp. 36-39. 16. Ibid., July 1780, p. 153. 30 There is much stress on learning through the senses, of course. Whenever possible, the child's study of words was to be facilitated by showing him the objects the words stood for. The belief that a child learned by example was responsible for often-repeated concern among the upper classes about how much contact he should have with the servants. Usually parents were warned to keep their children away from servants so that they would not acquire their inferior morals and manners, since "On apprend a boiter avec les 17 boiteux." This was one of Plutarch's ideas on the education of chil dren used by eighteenth century authors. That we only really know what we have learned for ourselves was another major part of empiricist thinking. The Vues patriotiques sur 1* education du peuple proposed that to accustom the children to face danger they should be taken to fires, to places where rivers were flooding and carrying off houses, to pursuits of rabid animals and the like. This is the most extreme example of experience as the best teacher in the periodicals, and the reviewer of this book reacted for the more moderate majority opinion when he inquired if all these young observers v trailing along in the wake of disasters would not get in the way? He wondered also who would be leading them in these field trips, their 18 religion teachers? the music master? A review of Condillac's Cours d'Etudes de 1'Infant Due de Panne gives some illustration of the pleasure-pain principle in learning 17. Ibid.,. May 21, 1785, p. 121. 18. Ibid., January 31, 1784, p. 205. 31 theory. The child could acquire right ideas about the objects of his needs and pleasures. The manner in which one acquired right ideas was the same as that in which one acquired all ideas; therefore, a child used all his mental faculties to learn a game, just as the philosopher did to resolve a problem. If he could be brought to observe what he was doing in these moments, the child would be occupied yet further with his pleasures, and he would be analyzing human reasoning as he observed the games appropriate to his age. Condillac also conceived an idea similar to today's that each child as he learns and develops follows the evolution of the whole race, except that his variation of it compared the child1s learning and capa bilities to that of primitive peoples. The public considered Condillac's theories very daring and surprising, yet the reviewer pointed out that they were based on a very limited number of easily- conceived-of ideas. Definitions The conflict between the roles of nature and reason, so much a part of eighteenth century theory about how children learn, also entered into general definitions of education: Education is the course every man must hold to between nature and reason. It is everything which enters into the composition of our ideas, into the development of our intel lectual faculties, and it is the mass of both physical and moral objects which fill the environment of childhood and mold the soul. The author of an article in the Journal de Paris had said that the great literary talent in France had all come from the north of the country. The writer 32 of a letter to the editors of the Mercure disagreed, giving the above definition of education, the same as Helvetius1, as a proof that the environment in the north and the greater encouragement of education were the real reasons greater literary talent flowered there, not some kind of special innate superiority. It was because of the king's influence, as well as that of the University of Paris, which had attracted the youth of the provinces. In the south, children and youth had been condemned to deprivation. A few obscure prizes from colleges and academies were the only recompense for literary endeavors, and the arts were looked down upon."^ How can we define education, wrote the author of an article entitled "Reflexions detachees sur les Traites d'Education," until we have made multiple observations of particular cases? precept has to be born of example; if nobody has actually put into practice all the advice on education of youth being written, why believe any of it? Teachers who are writing theory, he said, talk about forming little automates, who would readily do their will, when in reality there are many rebels. One must be aware of and admit all the difficulties and not present a model child as the example. How can people write about the learning of man at different ages and in all his varied social conditions, he went on. Who has been able to observe experiments down through the centuries as one has done for physical education? Perhaps each master should publicize his observations of the children he teaches: facts, not opinions. The 19. Ibid., April -15, 1780, pp. 103-107. 33 father will add to this a description of what the child was like .^n his earliest years, what tendencies he manifested, what procedures one had followed for his improvement, by what means one had resisted and countered the preponderance of the passions, and what had been the effect—immediate or delayed—of disciplinary measures. With data like this, the author thought, people would be able to see clearly whether a child was enriched by the treasures of his education, or whether he went on growing stronger in his natural vices, which his education had not been able to destroy. Such a survey would be in valuable to teachers, he said, but thus far no such aid existed. Everything being written was too hypothetical. In order to bring to pass the miracles of education theorists were writing about, since those involved had to be so perfect, he commented that Fenelon knew what he was doing in bringing Wisdom down from the heavens and in placing Telemachus in her care. Outside of a novel, the theories were impossible to put into practice. If a father fulfilled all the duties the theorists expected him to, he would not have time for any civic functions. Children might be raised satisfactorily, but how could the 20 state and society subsist? In response to this article, another correspondent, signed "un Libraire de Paris," countered that the educational treatises did have value and were necessary. He thought the other correspondent was probably a philosophe, more interested in novelty than truth. Treatises, after all, would not be perfect until everyone was in perfect agreement 20. Ibid., March 2, 1782, pp. 9-16. 34 on the principles of education. This was possible. There is a true manner of feeling, of seeing, of judging, for all good minds, which in the end brings all their thoughts to a common measure, wrote the book seller, illustrating that the eighteenth century classical standard of r taste in the arts was also applied to education. He contended that to say educational treatises were worthless because they were not perfect and because not all students responded favorably when theories were put 21 into practice by their teachers was strange, dangerous doctrine. If education was the most important goal for all men, the" treatises were necessary, in that they xepresented attempts, however imperfect, to create better plans of study and inform the public what children were being taught. Often they shed light on great areas of neglect, like the child's earliest upbringing at home, a vital part of his education, which, until Rousseau, most eighteenth century people defined in terms of schools or tutors, although Locke did not forget it in the Thoughts on Education. The treatises made a distinction between education, the responsibility at first of a mother and father and some thing which continued throughout life, and instruction, more narrowly associated with schools, teachers, and books. It was possibly their greatest contribution, as well as Rousseau's. Vous qui jouissez du fragile bonheur d'etre peres, etudiez le naturel de vos enfans, conformez-y vos legons, pratiquez le bien devant eux, veillez sur ceux qui s'annoncent heureusement, desesperez tard des medians; et pour former un homme, comptez sur la Nature plus que sur vous-memes.^ 21. Ibid., March 16, 1782, pp. 99-109. 22. Ibid., March 2, 1782, p. 16. 35 Class Distinctions The problem of whom to educate was not so much a matter of deciding whether everybody ought to receive some kind of instruction or not as it was of determining the amount to give and what kind. There was some question as to whether the lower classes ought to be educated at all, while little was said in Prance about the kind of education the middle classes ought to have, and no particular problems arose over that of the aristocracy, which continued to be classical and traditional. During the pre-Revolutionary years, one great theme in the periodicals is equality. Philosophes like Condorcet taught that talents and mental prowess could be common to all men and that virtues and vices were learned. Education, along with proper legislation, could be an infallible means of forever assuring the felicity of the people. Educa tion would enlighten men about the nature of their rights and duties. They believed that education could either lessen or enlarge the mind's reach, fill it with either clear or obscure ideas, distinct or confused notions. Here again is the distinction between the natural inheritance of innate intelligence and the environmental contribution of the upbringing and education, the latter dominating in the views of one correspondent, who wrote that according to whether an education was well or poorly directed, it would make of the mind a limited, ordinary, or superior intelligence. The horizons of a mind could reach no further than the number, variety, and kind of ideas which education presented to it. The organization of the brain obeying sinful impressions no less than righteous ones, a man would always owe to his education his love for truth, or his attachment to error, his penchant for virtue, or his 36 inclination toward vice. Man had from education his talents, his genius, his passions, his character. He was everything that his educa tion made of him. This author, anonymous but sounding very like Condorcet, went on that he would prove that men in general were equally 23 perfectible. When the theory appears that education should be for all, uniform in all parts of the kingdom, it is generally in treatises on education for the working classes, although one textbook reviewer pointed it out. Locke and the upsurge of philanthropy inspired more interest in merchants, artisans, workers, all the class of men whose education had been more neglected than any other, and for which people had only rarely worked. Some began writing books for young people destined for professions not requiring the traditional course of study and who had only received a very rudimentary education—in short, the children of the masses. One such author said that if the common people did not have the privilege of becoming learned, they at least had the right to an education which would make them more useful and more precious to society. He cited writers of common birth to show that intelligence was not limited to the rich. Demosthenes' father was a blacksmith, Virgil's a baker, Horace's a freed slave, Theophrastus' an old-clothes dealer, Amyot's a currier, Lamotte's a hatter, Rousseau's 24 a shoemaker, Massillon's a tanner, for example. The prize of the Academy of Chalons-sur-Marne in 1782 went to Monsieur de Goyon d'Azzac 23. Ibid., July 22, 1780, pp. 153-158. 24. Ibid., November 17, 1781, pp. 127-128. 37 for his report on what would be the best plan of education for the common people. In 1774 Professor Mauduit had included in one of his lectures an opinion that was generally accepted in following years: there was really no point in educating the masses in the belles lettres. They needed a practical education but not a study of languages, sciences, literature, or the fine arts, which would be of no use to them. He referred to 25 their children as inept, with material minds heavy as lead. The author of the Vues patriotiques sur 1'education du peuple, cited above, was also against this kind of instruction. He proposed common homes, expenses to be paid for by a dozen taxes, for the children aged eight to twelve. They would have regular masters, a monk to teach them religion, and a musician from some regiment who would guide their exercise and teach them dancing and the principles of singing. For some reason, difficult to grasp, he said that all this education would quickly vanish from the children's memories. They would learn arithme tic and practical geometry by routine, without any demonstration, so as not to learn how to reason. And yet two pages later he said that the more equality there could be among the individuals of the human race, the less miserable it could be. Inequality of instruction did more harm than that of classes and fortunes because it perpetuated this latter inequality and was one of the principal causes of the evils that resulted from it. 25. Ibid., February 1774, pp. 100-101. 38 This is the author who proposed taking children to scenes of natural disasters so that they could learn by experience. His reviewer stated that he included almost no discussion of two important questions: What is useful for the common people to know? What is it possible to teach them? An anecdote called "Saint-Alme et Pulcherie, ou le Mal-entendu" begins, "Saint-Alme had received an education fitting the fortune of his 26 parents, who had become rich in commerce." It was possible even for a middle class child from a family without much money or one of the impoverished nobility to find a free place in one of the pleasant boarding schools or in the colleges, as these schools provided five or six scholarships each, on the average. University colleges also pro vided scholarships. Under the Ancien Regime, in fact, many children of all social classes received free instruction through municipal funds or scholarships of one kind or another. The nobility was receiving more attention in the French press. Histories of the nobility and guides for living furnished them with suggestions for complete courses of study. The key word was equality, and sometimes the comment is included that, really, a course written for princes was applicable at all levels. On the other hand, educating a prince presented additional complexities because of the necessity of forming two beings within his person: the real man and the personage of the statesman. Even if children were born with certain qualities, and even if nature treated the children of great and small with perfect 26. Ibid., June 2, 1781, p. 4. 39 equality, particular attention had to be paid to the education of those destined to govern the others. The Monarch's Role The enlightened monarchs„of Europe were willing to improve middle class education but were much more hesitant at first to educate the poor. But this was changing. Arguments against the "too much ' learning is dangerous" theory warned that politicians did not seem to realize that the only way to insure the tranquility of large states was to provide education for the working classes. Otherwise the repetitious monotony of their jobs might cause unrest as they fell into a dull stupidity accentuated by each step of progress society made. Louis XV won published praise from the University at Perpignan by assigning new revenues for the professors, having some edifices which had been destroyed rebuilt, founding courses in experimental physics and botany, and raising a public library (Mercure, October 1759, p. 98). News about monarchs and education came primarily from countries other than France. One way kings encouraged education was by their presence at various school functions. From Poland, for example, came the report that the king's health had not permitted him to attend the annual examination of the young people raised in the normal schools. Still, His Majesty, who realized the importance of national education and who was reputed very attentive about it, informed himself of the students' progress and had a few of the most distinguished among them presented to him. Another announcement showed him present at the annual examination of the College of Nobles at Warsaw. 40 Frederick of Prussia established a special department for any business relative to the schools and public instruction in his states and assigned it the necessary sums of money. D'Alembert having sent him a poem by Monsieur Luce, a student on scholarship at the prestigious Louis-le-Grand, Frederick had D'Alembert present him with a pecuniary gift to help and encourage him in his studies. Among Maria Theresa's contributions were the founding of a secondary school, named for her, of a professorship in political economy, a teacher training school, and a trade school where the masters taught writing, arithmetic, drawing, languages, geography, and morality to twenty-six pupils, sons of merchants and artisans. The Mercure of November, 1775 also gave a similar list for Catherine II of Russia. In May, 1782, she was working on arrangements to have schools set up in all parts of the Empire where there had been none, and on a new alphabet and catechism containing knowledge basic to the common people, still very ignorant in many regions. Prizes Prizes were a means of encouraging educational theorists. The Academy of Chalons-sur-Marne, especially, took education as its own particular province and in 1782 proposed the education of the common people as the subject for a paper, then in 1783 ways to perfect the education of the colleges, repeated in 1784. The most ambitious project was announced in the Mercure of August 2, 1783, page 32. An anonymous citizen gave a sum of money to the French Academy. Among the prizes that he proposed were an 41 encyclopedia for young people under twenty; a complete course of educa tion for magistrates, men in public life, and nobles; a complete course for wholesalers; a complete course for city people; for country folk; for the men of the bourgeoisie; for young noblewomen; for young women of the bourgeoisie. By complete course he meant a kind of encyclopedia made especially for each of these classes and which would contain what it was important for each to know. This is an illustration of the many contradictions of the eighteenth century: On the one hand right thinking as an important educational aim stressed the value of forming the judgment over acquiring encyclopedic knowledge; on the other, complete courses on every subject abounded. The anonymous citizen also proposed a prize to go to someone who could devise a plan for forming an academy of modern languages. Its members could give language courses to the general public. This academy would publish a newspaper similar to the Journal Etranqer, translate scientific papers from foreign academies, collect foreign literature and research. Its members would be from Europe and the major countries of the world. One of its responsibilities would be to prepare men who 27 would be very useful in the department of foreign affairs. Aims Like the English, the French were convinced that education should do more than fill a child with information, which in itself was useless to him unless he could manipulate it and employ it to his own advantage. "Former 1'esprit et le gout" was what counted. Devoting 27. Ibid., August 2, 1783, pp. 32-34. 42 much of one's time to study gave life value, especially when that study included the works of great men as models for conduct that would bring happiness. Study required certain precautions, such as a good method. Otherwise, chaos would result; the student would have confused ideas and be unable to distinguish the relationships among his various fields of knowledge. What good is reading or conversation with learned men if, always occupied by what others have thought, we fail to work to produce our own ideas? A child whose memory had not been carefully cultivated, who had been forced to incessantly accumulate information either too vague to be useful to him or too abstract for him to grasp would finally resemble Montaigne's scholar, "qui s'arretoit a se chaffer [sic] chez son voisin, 28 sans se souvenir de rapporter du feu chez soi." The parent or the master also had to exercise care in judgments of ability. It was not easy to distinguish real backwardness from the deceiving apparent slowness that sometimes accompanied minds which would eventually prove themselves strong and thoughtful. Supposing that it was easy to discern children lacking aptitude, they should still probably not be refused an education which could develop what intel ligence they had as much as possible. The principal aim of the schools was to make sure that children had the means of exercising and per fecting their mental faculties. It was not at all precisely because a young man knew Latin that he could succeed in his undertakings better than another who had not studied this language, but because his mind was 28. Ibid., January 1772, p. 89. 43 more supple, better exercised, and consequently more apt at overcoming difficulties. The French owed these ideas largely to Locke and Condillac. Moral aims resulted in the belief that an education enabled a man to provide for his own amusement even in solitude, that study would make him virtuous and form his heart, mind, and taste. The French also were conscious that it was necessary to be aware of the differences in temperaments and each child's individual needs, consulting him about a future career and helping him make a reasonable, useful choice. A good example of the interest in the physical aspect of educa tion is a treatise by M. G. Daignan on the health of children of both sexes, especially at puberty. "I have sometimes," said Monsieur Daignan, "heard puberty spoken of in convents for girls, but for the thirty years I have been practicing medicine, never have X heard the word pronounced in boarding schools, in colleges, in seminaries, in monasteries, or among the general public, and yet not a day goes by that everyone in charge of young people's health does not have to deal with 29 some question on the subject." It is true that, even post-Rousseau, little was said in the periodicals about physical health. The boarding school announcements show some interest in it, but for the most part moral and intellectual aims predominated. The pervasive theme of both English and French educational theory was reason versus nature. The French, not the English, remarked on the plethora of treatises being published about education and 29. Ibid., September 1, 1787, p. 39. 44 disputed their worth, some feeling that it was all a waste, others believing in the merit of a forum of ideas. General definitions of education and a consideration of what kind of education was appropriate to each social level were unique to the French, who wrote more about the nobles and the monarch on the one hand, the poor on the other. The English preoccupation, on the contrary, was with the middle class. Both nations accepted the same ultimate aims for education: book learning; right thinking; moral aims like piety, happiness, citizenship; practicality; the creative imagination; the cultivation of a healthy body as well as of a sound mind, but the English put the most stress on practicality and the French on right thinking. The French were more positive, suggesting improvements when they criticized, while the English were more generally critical and did not so often propose solutions. It was the English who worried more about foppery and effeminacy. Classical and Renaissance values and influences vied with the more modern in the periodicals. Montaigne, Fenelon, Helvetius, Condillac, Condorcet, Rousseau all shared space there, but Locke pre dominated, in France as well as in England. The new empiricism was not significantly changing classical educational theory in terms of aims, except that book learning was somewhat superseded by learning by experience, and practicality was emphasized. It did add a whole new dimension to definitions of how we learn, and it turned the emphasis in the periodicals to practice—content and methods—rather than theory. CHAPTER III A MIXED HERD OF BOYS; THE SCHOOLS The periodicals give us a somewhat distorted picture of eighteenth-century education. They tend to represent the interests and viewpoints of the upper classes, who were the ones writing letters to the editor. After all, a lower class mem was not worrying about whether or not to provide a tutor for his children or to send them to a schoolI His concern, if, indeed, he felt any, was getting any form of education for them by any means possible. He and his wife were un likely to have the knowledge themselves to teach their own children, so they relied on the church. The idea that education should be uniformly compulsory for all classes and state-supported grew slowly in Franch and England but was not applied until after the French Revolution in France, with many reversals and changes as one government succeeded another. England was almost a century behind France in nationalizing its educational system. In the eighteenth century the rural and urban masses had to depend on charity for education since, even if many people believed it was a child's right no matter what class he belonged to, practice was so far behind theory. If we did not know better and relied solely on the periodicals for a history of the education of the time, we would believe that conditions were far superior to reality and that practices were surprisingly modern. I believe that evidence in the periodicals leads 45 46 to a slight readjustment of the usual position of historians, even so, and that conditions were a little better than they say, but I do not wish to exaggerate the case. In France a few religious societies provided almost all elementary education. Some was offered by the parishes as a charity. A formal education over a number of years in a school remained an aristocratic privilege. The few private schools catered to the aristocracy and, to some extent, to the more distinguished and wealthy part of the middle class; they were secondary schools, for the most part, although some took children very young. The number of free schools varied greatly by region and time, the cities doing better than the country. There may not have been one school for twenty villages in some rural areas. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle created the order of the Freres de la Doctrine Chretienne in 1684 to set up schools for working class children. He also organized a commercial and indus trial school near Rouen. Under about one thousand brothers, in 1790 to 1792 these schools/ now in 121 communities in France and six elsewhere, still reached only thirty to thirty-five thousand students, which represented possibly one in every 175 of school age.1 Secondary education in the colleges, most run by the Jesuits until they were expelled, was for a privileged few and was totally humanist, ignoring science, with some notable exceptions such as the Jansenists had been at Port Royal in the seventeenth century: the Oratorians, with 250 schools in eighteenth-century France, the military 1. Ellwood P. Cubberley, The History of Education (Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1920), p. 350. 47 schools, and the private schools. It is the latter historians neglect to describe, sometimes even to mention. The universities were vegetating, especially in letters; no doubt this is why the French periodicals do not mention them. An eighteenth-century periodical was no different from a modern one in its basic sources of news. Where nothing very new or stimulating was happening there was nothing to report. Changes in educational practices, creative new thinking, and contributions to scientific progress were more the domain of the academies than of the universities. Today many of the advances in the quality of our lives do come about because of research done in universities, but in the eighteenth century it was often necessary to go outside the schools to find true intellectual life. The academies were not teaching institutions in the same sense that a university was, but in Rome or Berlin, at England's Royal Academy or the Academie des Sciences in Prance one could attend public lectures and courses. We can therefore say that an academy performed some of the functions of a school. What was true for France was largely true for England. Regular parish, endowed elementary, dame, church charity, and private-adventure or "hedge" schools provided a few more options for elementary education in England. Workhouse training for orphans and the poor was the only form of education supported by taxation. Apprenticing boys to a trade was practiced everywhere in Europe. As industry expanded, with so many children hired as cheap labor, Locke had demanded trade schools for the poor. He wrote plans for the sons of gentlemen and for workhouses and trades for the poor, really nothing per se for the middle class. 48 although certainly most of his suggestions were universally applicable. He dealt with the secondary period primarily, not the elementary. He had an influence on the English public school (Latin Grammar) but not so much on elementary education, which was primarily religious, or on charity education. The English universities were about as stagnant as the French/ except that Cambridge by the end of the century was emphasizing mathe matics, then all the sciences, so that it was on the way to becoming the center for the sciences that it remains to this day. The Gentleman's carried a description of the buildings of the Cambridge of 1734 (July, page 383) along with a mention of some of the famous men connected with them. The London Magazine gave a 1748 description of Cambridge (March, page 125) as generally smaller and more beautiful than Oxford, and an account of the colleges in Oxford in 1747 in terms of their numbers, revenues, and dimensions. There were twenty of them, their usual number of students about one hundred (December, page 565). J. Steven Watson, in the Oxford History of England, cautions about negativism with regard to the universities. He believes that much of it has been due to Gibbon's influence on secondary works, but the evidence in the periodicals is that many of Gibbon's contemporaries 2 also felt generally negative about them. 2. J. Steven Watson, The Reign of George XII (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960), p. 40. 49 School or Tutor? As the shift continued slowly but inexorably toward public education, opinion in the periodicals was split about in half and followed a clear pattern: English correspondents and editors had many reservations about public education, generally favoring the private, these articles dating almost all from the thirties and forties. French opinion, dating from the seventies and eighties,' took the opposite point of view, arguing for public education. By public education here is meant any education in a school with other children, whether that school be state-run or private, as opposed to keeping the child at home with a tutor to give him his lessons. The early-century English opinion may be at least partially attributed to Locke, who was concerned with the education of the sons of gentlemen at home, preparing them for the world of affairs, even i though Locke's own education was public. He went to Westminster and then Oxford. Certainly such French disciples as Helvetius followed the trend toward the idea that a child should be educated to be a citizen and to become an integral part of his society. A moral education based on the doctrine of the common good would help man fulfill his destiny as a member of society. Locke believed that a child could be educated for society at home with a tutor, but the French tended to feel that an adequate preparation for society was only possible in a school. Bloch, in his French Studies article "Gaspard Guillard de Beaurieu's L'Eleve de la nature and Rousseau's Emile" {Vol. 26, July, 1972, pp. 276-284), names several of the French authors who suggested the need for a truly public education which would successfully prepare 50 a child for society. The Abbe de Saint-Pierre was one of these. In 1728 he counseled educating children away from home in boarding schools and not giving them any holidays. The education for children as por trayed in Morelly's imaginary republic (Code de la Nature 1755) followed the ideas of the Abbe de Saint-Pierre. Other supporters of public education were Guyton de Morveau, Maubert de Gouvest, Gamier, and the Gaspard of Bloch's study. All these writers represented in education the new spirit of civic and patriotic consciousness particularly apparent in writings on political and economic theory. Bloch's thesis is that Rousseau's private education for Emile therefore seems reac tionary and anachronistic in the context of the 1750's and sixties; this is supported by my own findings in the French periodicals (for further treatment of this topic, see "The Citizen in Society," in Chapter VIII). Switzerland was working on reforms in public education. The Society of Schinznach met in May, 1786, at Olten, near Soleurre. During this meeting the members resolved to propose a prize of twenty gold louis for the best paper on the present state of public institutes as well as of domestic education in the Swiss republics, and on the ways to ameliorate this education. They also proposed a prize of thirty-five gold louis for 1789 on the question: What would be the advantages of a national, general institute of education; what would be the best organization for it; and what would be the surest way to 51 succeed in its establishment? The society hoped to see similar pro- 3 posals xn other countries. The reform project for the College of Geneva, drawn up by H. B. de Saussure, philosophy professor, appeared in the Mercure catalogue for October, 1774 (p. 63), followed by a plan for a new boarding school (Nouveau Plan raisonne d'Education publigue, ou projet d'une pension qu'on se propose d'etablir a Geneve, pour 11 institution de la jeunesse). Saussure considered public education preferable in a republic in order to give all its youth a love for their country, unified interests, and a spirit of equality. A child raised in his own home held that house and his family as his nation, and this resulted in a harmful partisan ship. In public education children were treated with equality, regard ing one another as brothers. Fear of ridicule suppressed pride. In the last chapter of his Doutes sur les Opinions regues dans la Societe, published in Amsterdam and Paris, 1782, another author spoke of his reasons for preferring public to private education because of the great advantage of the former in teaching us to know ourselves and others. Still another Frenchman wrote of the necessity for public schools in cheerful, well-cultivated surroundings, since it was impossible and perhaps not even desirable that parents all should take 4 ^ charge of the education of their young children. M. l'Abbe Proyart, Principal of the College Royal at Le Puy, issued a plan for reforms in public education during a general assembly of the French clergy. 3. Mercure, July 8, 1786, pp. 55-56. 4. Ibid., March 8, 1783, pp. 78-80. 52 Helvetius favored public education because the government could offer teachers more rewards and pay them more liberally, thus attracting real talent to the profession, whereas the excellent tutor was rare and unaffordable to most households (see Chapter IV). The school was generally in a more healthful location, the paternal home in a city often small and unsalubrious, the public school in the countryside vast and well-ventilated. The firmness of the discipline and the inflexi bility of the rules—everything ordered by the clock—was an advantage of public schools, as was the emulation produced by a comparison of oneself with a great number of others. Since the master himself furnished the example of what his student should be and was thus forced to impose on his actions, demeanor, and speech a vigilance impossible to maintain for long periods of time, it was an advantage in the schools for the masters to be able to take over for one another in shifts. In the midst of the clamor for more and better public schools, however, many Frenchmen still quietly advertised tutoring and some- times room and board in their own homes. A M. Fremont was one of these. M. Lesne, Master of Surgery, who referred to himself as a retired man of letters living on an honest income in a Paris suburb, wanted a single boarder, preferably a foreigner, whose education needed completion in geography, history, geometry, and good Latin and French literature. Samuel Johnson advertised in the English papers his school at Edial, near Litchfield in Staffordshire, where he boarded young gentlemen and taught them Latin and Greek—not a successful enterprise for him, as it turned out. Swift stressed the value of a public education, but Defoe did not. The Reverend Vicesimus Knox, Master of Tunbridge School and author of educational treatises, approved of public schooling, not private or solitary. Budgell compared the two, considering the merits of each. The public school, which the Greeks preferred, invested a boy with xnanly assurance, gave him knowledge in the ways of the world, and enabled him to form the so-important ties of friendship. The private tutor of Roman preference encouraged virtue and good breeding (Locke believed a tutor was the better way to keep a child from vice) 5 and provided more qualified masters, which the public schools lacked." Another middle-of-the-roader like Budgell, Mr. Barclay, suggested that an education should be neither too public nor too private. One allowed in a class a sufficient number of boys to encourage emulation but not so many as to occasion disorder. They would be a check on one another and in this way improve in the principles of knowledge and humanity, g including the pleasures of good conversation. In the Dunciad Pope spared nobody, parodying school commencement ceremonies and satirizing pedantry in the public schools. Private schools were at the other extreme, both corrupt. Tutors were corrupt. English opinion in the periodicals agreed with him primarily about the boarding schools, which in fact did not seem to be in England at all of quality comparable to the French. The French boarding schools probably offered the best education available in that country in the eighteenth 5. Budgell, Spectator, Vol. Ill, #313, Thursday, February 28, 1712, pp. 134-135. 6. Gentleman's, June 1749, pp. 264-265. 54 century, and nowhere does a reader find them criticized; just the opposite was true of English boarding schools. A Lady's Magazine serial novel called The Governess related the tale of an opulent farmer and his wife who wanted the governess to turn their fourteen-year-old Moll into Mary. They did not want to send her to a boarding school lest she not be treated as well as the other young ladies, who might be grander people's children even though they might not have more money {January, 1780, pp. 34-36). The first item about education to appear in the Gentleman1s {February, 1731, p. 64) finds fault with the present methods of educating young gentlemen at a board ing school, where the two chief branches of knowledge were French and dancing. Sometimes people of higher rank used boarding schools to get rid of bothersome children who might, for example, spy on Mother's affair, or who would have to be taught by a mother who felt it was enough to bear them: surely she would not have to stoop so low as to teach them too? The merchant's wife sent her son away so that she could boast that he was in school with so-and-so of the upper crust's son. Thus youth of inferior fortune learned to become hangers-on of the rich and noble, and learned dissipation from them. No one thought of the good of the child. The diet was unsatis factory at the schools because the women in charge of food scrimped on the funds to such a degree that the children were underfed and went out to buy pastries to stuff.themselves with. As for morality, the servants were all too willing to share their sexual knowledge with young master. When a child only came home twice a year, the parents had not much time 55 to observe what his character was becoming. A child could develop lazy habits. Training by the parents themselves was therefore best. One tragic consequence of keeping a child away from home in a boarding school was the suicide of a school boy in Bridewell on suspi cion of setting Mr. Williams' school (Bratton School in Wilts) on fire. He thought if he did it he might be allowed to return home, which his 7 father had not permitted for fifteen or sixteen months (see Chapter X, "Boarding Schools"). A writer who signed Hermas also expressed concern that the moral education of youth was lacking in public schools, where children of all classes were put together to be made learned but not wise and good. This part of the rising generation had become remarkably indecent, immoral, and profane. Their behavior at divine service shocked Hermas. It was especially alarming when one considered the influence the ones in 8 high station were likely to have on national affairs. New Schools and Reforms Despite the criticism of public education from many quarters, and perhaps also because of it, new kinds of schools continued to be proposed or created and the old system reformed. From Italy came news that the King of Sardinia was to establish a university composed of four colleges in Turin and had already designated considerable sums toward the professors' salaries (Mercure, December, 1729, p. 2916). Later in the century the Grand Duke formed a Florentine Academy and named 7. Ibid., December 1789, p. 1141. 8. Ibid., January 1747, p. 35. 56 professors to teach Greek, mathematics, and civil institutions (Mercure, September 13, 1783, p. 62). All of the news items about Italy, France, and Germany are from the Mercure, and almost all of them from the "Journal Politique" section. New schools in France established under Louis XVI included the Ecole de Medecine and Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees. The author of a book on coiffure proposed a general school of coiffure. The Ecole Royale de Danse, de Chant et de Declamation was object of a short article in the section "Spectacles." Only two years old, staffed with distinguished professors, it nonetheless needed better organization (Mercure, September 23, 1786, pp. 173-181). It was the Germans who were the busiest reformers, especially in 1782. By an imperial decree of September 14, just published, the university and seminary of Brinn had been done away with and a college established at Olmutz, composed of twelve professors, four to teach theology, two for jurisprudence, two for medicine, and four for philosophy and the political and economic sciences. In the same year, also from Vienna, the announcement came that in the future there would be only four universities in all the hereditary states: at Vienna, Prague, Buda, and Lemberg. The others would be eliminated. The 9 Emperor would also effect reforms in the colleges. Later in the year the actual reform differed somewhat from the proposal and fixed the universities at seven rather than four: one in Vienna for Upper and Lower Austria; one in Prague for Bohemia, Moravia and the part of 9. Mercure, January 12, 1786, p. 56. 57 Silesia under Moravian rule; one at Pest for Hungary; one at Lemberg for Galicia and Lodomeria; one at Pavia for the Italian states; one at Louvain for the low countries; and one at Freybourg for the rest of Austria. The next year Vienna issued a new ordinance with regard to Jewish children in the public schools. As long as they had ordinary credentials, they were to be received in the Latin schools without being distinguished from the Christians. Their parents were advised to keep them properly groomed and dressed, without any distinctive feature that might expose them to the raillery of the other children. The masters would set the example against Jewish persecution and would punish such behavior if necessary. To avoid dissension, they would also be particu larly vigilant against any sales, exchanges, or other such mercantile or pecuniary enterprises among students. Jewish children would enter class after the usual prayer and would leave before the prayer at the end of class, and would not attend the instruction in the Christian religion given on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Christians would be on vacation during their holidays and Jews likewise during theirs. Religious officials in Germany also attempted to put their schools in better order and sometimes worked for public education as well. The Archbishop Elector of Trier resolved to reorganize all the establishments involved in instructing youth in his diocese and to apply a uniform method in the plans for public education. To this end he ordered an annual surcharge of 25,000 florins on ecclesiastical 10. Ibid., February 15, 1783, p. 103. 58 revenues. The Prelate Bilansky, Abbot of Goldencron, also was occupied in bettering the education of youth in his abbey. He saw to it that agriculture was emphasized and that religion, reading, writing, and arithmetic were also taught without charge. Men like the Landgrave of Cassel, who furnished a sum of 18,000 reichsdollars for the construc tion of his city's school, 20,000 to augment the regents' and teachers' salaries, and 5,000 to establish a seminary to train schoolmasters, rivaled the ecclesiastics in good deeds. The last article from Vienna, about reforms in Hungary, appeared in 1787. In 1784 seventeen colleges of education had existed in Hungary, all of them closed by 1787, at which time the country had a large number of small schools, fifty-nine gymnasia, five academies and the University of Buda. There were 7190 students in all, 910 of them destined for the clergy (Mercure, April 7, 1787, p. 15). Since everything in America was new anyway, and the English were not as busy with school reform as the Continent was, the Gentleman's ran fewer news items about reforms and school openings than the Mercure. The Thoughts Upon the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic, addressed to the legislature and citizens of Pennsylvania, proposed one university in the state, in the capital, its professors to receive state salaries; four colleges, in Philadelphia, Carlisle, Manheim (for Germans), and Pittsburgh. Four colleges were preferable to one or two when one con sidered the dissipation of Oxford and Cambridge, whereas the more numerous and less crowded universities in Scotland were remarkable for their order and the diligence and decent behavior of the students. The author continued that each county would have its own academy for college 59 preparation# every township or district of one hundred families its free-school. The plan of the free^schools had been taken chiefly from those successfully used in Scotland and in the eastern United States. Connecticut, for example, had 600 free-schools with 25,000 pupils (Gentleman's, September, 1786, p. 775). Most of the articles about America described the new Philadelphia Academy, called an academy but more properly an assemblage of schools under one roof, subject to the inspection of the trustees. A group of private citizens got together, published their proposals, framed a basic constitution which could be altered and amended, and appointed twenty-four trustees without regard to religious differences. The scheme was popular and they were able to raise subscriptions at five hundred pounds a year for five years. Next they acquired a suitable building and its contiguous lots with buildings, in order to provide a wide and spacious area for the school. In time, as funds permitted, they thought they might build a regular college. The corporation voted 200 pounds to be paid to the trustees, then 100 pounds a year for 11 five years. For England itself the Gentleman's of July, 1733 contained a proposal for a theatrical college. A June, 1752 item quoted the Latin inscription on the foundation stone of a free grammar school to be erected at Bath. Translated, it began, "May this edifice, so well and wisely designed to propagate polite literature and the liberal axts and 11. Gentleman's, December 1753, pp. 552-553. 60 sciences, rise auspiciously ..." (page 284). February, 1783 con tained an account of the seminary to be opened at Epsom (page 688). A single English reform proposal dealing with the formation, administration, and financing of schools suggested abolishing All Souls College at Oxford and refraining from founding Downing College, Cambridge. The revenues from these would instead go to public service. Only the fellows in other colleges necessary to give lectures would receive a stipend. The rest would only have the benefit of succeeding to college livings in their turns. Three or four resident fellows would give lectures besides the master in the large colleges, two or three in the small ones. All sinecure professorships would be abolished. R. J., this reformer, also suggested transforming the collegiate and cathedral churches into schools with the deans as head, three canons to give lectures to youth between age fourteen and going to the university, and three or four minor canons under these to instruct the younger boys in the first rudiments of the dead languages and prepare them for the canons, who would complete their knowledge of Latin and Greek, teach them a little geometry, and qualify them for Oxford or Cambridge. He wanted public salaries for music and drawing masters, and robust, healthy exercises for the boys. What the boys paid toward their education would be used to buy books for the public library or given for the support of poor clergymen's sons at the university. The minor canons (not necessarily clergymen) would have 150 pounds per year, the deans 600, the canons 200. There would be two chaplains, choris ters, and singers. No daily prayers would be held, just the Sunday services. Boys could be sent to school at any age and put into the 61 class they were qualified for. R. J. proposed all this to save the country money and reduce taxes. A December correspondent who disagreed with R. J. asserted that the savings proposed would not go far in paying off the national debt. A small college had an estate of about eight hundred pounds a year, out of which the master and twelve fellows were maintained, about twenty scholars assisted, and a butler, cook, porter, and other servants were salaried, taxes paid, large expensive buildings supported, and something was given away in charity. People had the false notion that university revenues were considerable. Discipline The great hue and cry of the eighteenth century in matters of discipline was against corporal punishment. It continued to be a problem throughout the century and remained widespread despite many voices raised to abolish it. Probably most of the severer practices were eliminated and masters forced to at least consider why they believed in corporal punishment and to weigh the wisdom of the practice against gentler measures. One of the voices was that of a French medical professor who was against corporal punishments in the schools because he believed they changed a child's make-up, altered his temperament, intelligence, and character for the worse, and threw students into the most horrible 12. Ibid., July 1782, p. 334. 62 despair. In short, he saw its greatest harm as psychological. It was, 13 he thought, one of the causes of the general corruption of morals. The critic of a poem called "La Journee des Enfans" found that the picture it gave of the master instructing his students contained some truth: La, du haut de son trone, un maitre imperieux Enchaine les esprits et fixe tous les yeux. Sa redoutable main tient un sceptre flexible, Le signe et 1*instrument de son pouvoir terrible; Et semblable aux Heros de I'Univers naissant, Sur ion peuple soumis il regne en 1'instruisant.^4 The critic wrote that it was a shame that lines like these or like, "Je vois pret a s'appesantir, / Le sceptre rigoureux leve pour le punir" were perpetuating old errors more in need of the hand of the destroying angel, such as the one which armed the professor's hand with this rigorous yet flexible switch and made him so feared instead of loved. As the critic saw it, all the upright people and good minds of the time agreed that blows ought to be entirely banished from educa tion. True, this would mean the master had to be cleverer, more patient, more in control of his temper, but this would only make him more virtuous. His reward would be to be loved rather than feared any more. Another French poet recommended gentleness in correction and lashed out against those who used violence: Pedans, tristes pedans, de qui la barbarie Fletrit toutes les fleurs du printemps de la vie. 13. Mercure, November 1774, p. 131. 14. Ibid., April 28, 1787, p. 168. 63 Vos coeurs a la pitie seroient-ils done fermesl Quel est ce fouet honteux dont vous etes armes? Quoil ces tendres enfans deviendroient vos victimes? Vous les a-t-on livres pour expier des crimes?1^ Was it Locke who had set these protests in motion? We cannot know with certainty that he did# but perhaps his influence was behind some of the public outcry, although no one speaking against corporal punishment actually named him. He had counseled against the use of force in favor of persuasion and he believed that the examples the masters set were better than strict rules in guiding student behavior. Inserted without any comment, and lengthier than the usual essay, the abridgment of a curious treatise, published 1669, entitled The Children's Petition against the Severities of School-Discipline; humbly presented to the Consideration of Parliament made these points: 1. Beating around the exposed genitals should be abolished. Twisted masters get sadistic pleasure from doing this, and the schoolboy should not be subjected to a teacher's desires and sexual cravings. 2. Errors in a lesson should not be a reason for beating. If done, it should be only for moral faults. "The understanding will never be enlightened, the Memory healed, or the Invention 16 quickened by Stripes upon the Flesh." Some children are duller than others and should not be punished for what they cannot help. Quintilian is cited against beatings. Learning is more hindered than helped if the boy is terrified. His 15. Ibid., November 3, 1787, p. 24. 16. Gentleman's, June 1736, pp. 331-334. 64 care or negligence, his diligence or disobedience is to be regarded, not how many words he misses in a lesson. 3. Learning should be a pleasant, happy process. "You should imbitter to us our sinful Pleasures that will do us hurt; but 17 you should sugar to us our Learning, which is for our good." 4. If Solomon's advice is followed, let it be remembered he was speaking to parents, not masters. A wand could at least be used, rather than a rod, and on the back, not the genitals. 5. A careful choice of teachers could eliminate much abuse. They need temperate minds and unwearied diligence to control a group of boys without violence and beatings, and anyone incapable of such control should never be admitted to the profession. 6. Children should be punished only some time after the crime, not while the master is in the heat of passion. 7. Let him be judged by his peers, and let him speak in his own defense. If he is punished, let the worst-behaved boy of the day administer the stripes, as a shame and a lesson to himself. But let the boy be forgiven if possible. The student's poem of Westminster School concluded with a description of the birch-room, a dire place beyond the utmost limits of the school. But he kept the tone humorous. So did Pope in the Dunciad, as he criticized sadism and the excessive use of physical discipline. "Morning, An Ode Written by a Student Confined to College" mourned, 17. Ibid., p. 333. 65 18 "Me . . . with leaden rod, stern Discipline restrains." Youths of seventeen or eighteen subjected to the indecency of whipping might seek recourse in rebellion, turn on the master, and beat him soundly, suggested one adult writer. Numerous articles objecting to corporal punishment, like one against birching, especially in schools for girls, suggested alterna tive methods of punishment. These included sharp reproofs, forfeits, the fool's cap, double tasks, or the opposite—privation of ordinary work, loss of holidays, and confinement to a closet. One school-mistress made her noble-born girls dress like charity-girls when they needed punishment, but it was humiliating to the poor to be thus made objects of ridicule. Mr. Barclay, schoolmaster at Dalkeith, who died in 1764, was one of the first in Scotland to try to replace the rod with shame. He put boys naked to bed on a holiday. This worked for a while; then the boys' terrors wore off and they simply napped. When Barclay dis covered this, he went back to flogging. There were a few vocal believers in flogging and strict disci pline. Boswell, who once defended a teacher suspended for beating his pupils, was one of them; so was Johnson. When Toulouse was having trouble with theater riots, the reporter said that the students were largely responsible for the fracas, that once out from under the rod, they thought they could get away with anything (Mercure, May 31, 17B3, p. 240). Spain and Scotland were especially strict about discipline. 18. Ibid., May 1770, p. 232. 66 In Spain, students traveling alone from the university to their parents' homes were treated like vagabonds or tramps if they were challenged and found to be lacking certificates and passports from their masters and rectors. Scotland ranked all university students into classes and obliged them continually to do exercises before the whole university so that ignorance and idleness would be sure to be punished by disgrace. Most, however, recommended corporal punishment only regretfully or not at all. Knox reprobated severe correction but thought that corporal punishment was sometimes necessary. Helvetius wrote that punishment was sometimes necessary to make students pay attention, although the fear of punishment itself often worked equally well. He suggested a method similar to Rousseau's in Bmile in having a tribunal of children in every college to judge themselves. William Gilpin (1724-1804), educational reformer who at about age thirty became headmaster of a school at Cheam, Surrey, tried various innovations, including a system of fines and restrictions 19 instead of corporal punishment. Locke was against corporal punishment in any form, which he considered a type of cruelty to children. It was best always to treat them gently and indulgently. A 1735 Gentleman's poem giving advice to parents and teachers bore as its theme that indulgence was better than severity (June, page 326). "So boys to rods, and reading, long 19. Oliver F. Sigworth, ed. Criticism and Aesthetics 1660- 1800 (San Francisco: Rinehart Press, 1971), p. 486. 67 20 confin'd, / Still couple books and bondage in their mind": this from another poem extolling love and gentleness in the schools. Boys in M. de Longpre's school had to submit to a firm but not severe discipline; they were continually watched over by masters who handled them with due regard to gentleness, honesty, and feelings. M. Audet also advertised that discipline was good at his school, under a gentle and positive method which made study pleasant, not blows or a harsh tone. So did M. Viard. The French boarding schools most closely followed Locke's encouragement for positive discipline under close supervision but without many formal rules and regulations. It was the supervision by a warm, trusted adult that made all the difference. A little play written to be acted by children suggested that pupil insubordination could be attributed to teacher negligence. The Abbe Durmint, preceptor to the young Dorville, on the pretext of punishing him for gambling, had him locked in his room all day. But the tutor's real motive was to free himself for his own amusements. The twelve-year-old Dorville, shut up alone and desperate at not being able to play, picked up his dictionary, threw it with all his strength against the door, and raged 21 through a monologue about how discontent and bored he was. Cambridge and Oxford did not provide the close supervision that the French boarding schools did, but they did have long lists of rules. They also had many discipline problems. The murder of a student at 20. Gentleman's, September 1748, p. 421. • 21. Mercure, August 28, 1784, pp. 164-165. Cambridge in April, 1746 gave rise to pleas for stricter discipline. New regulations at Cambridge passed the Senate June 26, 1750. There were eighteen of them, the breaking of which was punishable by fines, usually, or by suspension or expulsion. A sample: Students had to wear clothes of a grave color, without lace. They could have no servants without the express consent of their parents or guardians, and no horses except for health purposes with express permission. Between nine and twelve in the morning they were not allowed to frequent coffee houses, tennis courts, cricket grounds and the like. They were not to miss any of the required number of sermons. No liquor could be served after eleven p.m., which was the curfew. They were not permitted to leave town on horseback or in a carriage without permission. They were not to keep guns or sporting dogs, visit houses of evil fame, break windows, riot, or play dice or cards except for small sums. Oxford, in full convocation, passed a statute against the luxury and expense of servants, horses, dogs, racing, and cock-fighting. Naturally, Cambridge and Oxford students broke all of these rules. The gravest problem was rioting, especially by Jacobites. They rioted at Oxford, for example, in 1715, on the anniversary of the Restoration and King George's birthday the day before. Late at night a mob was in the streets breaking windows and otherwise vandalizing and terrifying the inhabitants. The Vice-Chancellor, heads of houses, and proctors proclaimed their abhorrence of this behavior and their inten tions of severe punishment. They required the magistrates and officers to be diligent in visiting public houses and in punishing disorderly persons therein or in the streets by imprisonment, suspension from 69 degrees, fines, expulsion and other penalties. They commanded all tutors to be careful that their pupils behaved themselves in a quiet and respectable manner and obeyed the, curfews. Copies of this procla mation were to be hung in the public halls of all the houses and in the 22 lodgings of heads of colleges and halls. The next year (1716} brought trouble in the university in Dublin. One Joseph Cuffe illuminated his windows as a demonstration of joy to celebrate the birthday of the Duke of Ormond. This had been forbidden by statute. Cuffe was expelled. William Proby committed the same offense but due to his tender years and some extenuating circum stances he was not expelled but had to acknowledge his offense publicly in the Hall. After this the Vice-Provost and the senior fellows of Trinity College issued a decree of loyalty to George. Dr. Huddesford, vice chancellor of Exeter College, sought to obviate a charge of disaffection because he had too leniently treated a young man who had several times cried out within the walls of the college, "King James foreverl" He was accused by the rector and the fellows, the crime proved, and he was sentenced to beg pardon in the convocation house publicly. The Vice Chancellor contrived to have it done privately in the ordinary congregation at ten a.m. without giving notice to the rector until the bell was ringing and the congregation ready to sit. His own account of the matter was that upon complaint, he appointed the next day for a hearing, and summoned the rector and 22. Present State of Europe, June 1715 (Huntington Library), p. 238. 70 governor of the accused's college to be present. As he heard the evidence, he realized that there was really no defense except that the offender was so drunk as to be unable to go to his college without assistance. Upon being asked whether or not to bind the boy over to sessions, the accusers and governor declined, saying that an academic punishment would be better because of his youth. He was then sentenced to make public acknowledgment on his knees and be suspended from his bachelor's degree for one term. There were at the university two distinct assemblies held in the same place: the convocation and the congregation, the latter having more young people as spectators and being more for business. Since the congregation was thought to be best for an act of discipline, a congre gation was appointed, and the vice chancellor as a point of civility ordered the delinquent to wait on the rector the same morning to tell him the time and give him a copy of the acknowledgment he was to make. He did this just as the bell was ringing, about 9:30, yet no objection was made, so about eleven, in full congregation, he recited aloud, on his knees, the acknowledgment in Latin, which was entered in the 23 records. A vice chancellor was involved in a similar case at Oxford in 1747. Six or seven young gownsmen were said to have shouted, "Damn King George, God save dear King James!" A Mr. Blacow, a street master, accused the vice chancellor of refusing to hear the case because he did not want to be too severe on these young drunks. The next year Mr. 23. Gentleman's, January 1755, p. 46. 71 Whitmore and Mr. Dawes, Oxford scholars, were brought to the King's- bench bar, judged guilty of treasonable words; fined five nobles each; sentenced to two years in prison and to find security for seven years, themselves in 400 pounds each and their securities 250 pounds each; and to walk through all the courts with their crimes fixed on their fore heads. Controversy in England was hot over various university issues connected with religion: whether or not Oxford and Cambridge ought to have the right of printing Bibles, for example, as stationers and the King's printers struggled with them for the privilege. The most bitter disputes wer<3 over subscription to the Thirty-Nine Articles, which required university students to Swear allegiance to the English monarch and to the Book of Common Prayer, which made them agree not to marry or they would lose their fellowships, and which also directed them to take orders. Thus, six Oxford students were expelled for Methodism in 1768 and a young gentlemcin of Cambridge for refusing to subscribe to the articles. A bill was proposed at Cambridge in 1766 to take off the prohibition of marriage. Oxoniensis (February, 1737) thought the statutes requiring college fellows to take orders were outdated. Forcing men into religion was not good. Would it fit them to educate youth? This was not a university problem alone. Dissenting ministers were also protesting national subscriptions. By July, 1773, Parliament was debating the issue. The August conclusion of the debate brought a vote of 64 for the motion to abolish them and 159 against. 72 Articles about the subscriptions also appeared in the Gentleman's of May, August, and September, 1771; January through April, June, and October, 1773; and February, 1774. On the continent the major difficulties reported were in the low countries; for example, a student uprising at the General Seminary of Louvain. The boys destroyed furniture, complained about the food, made a great deal of noise shouting, threatened the superiors, and threw stones at the commissioner sent to restore order. Finally the government sent troops to quell the insurrection. The older boys, presented with a statute to sign under pain of expulsion, accepted it, but the students of the fourth and fifth classes absolutely refused to take the course in canon law. They were all expelled and the seminary almost vacant; it was reported that Thursday, January 25, 1787, only 24 thirty-six pupils remained. The "Journal Politique" section of the Mercure reported that its troubles continued into the next year. Ordinarily, said the article, the administration regulates the duties and studies of the students: here, the students attempt to govern the administration (Mercure, February 2, 1788, p. 38). An April article said it was still not peaceful at the.seminary (pp. 134-135), but by May the students were little by little returning to their colleges (p. 39). The Seminary of Luxembourg was experiencing the same kinds of disputes. The theology students rejected their elementary textbooks. One of their professors took a stand with them. The rector's attempts 24. Mercure, February 10, 1787, p. 91. 73 to appease them had been useless, as they continued to refuse any obedience. Blood was shed at Antwerp by the inhabitants, who opposed the closing of the Episcopal Seminaries. The same happened at Malines; the seminarists refusing to leave their college, a detachment of Invalides forced some to come out. Then the townspeople gathered in support of the students, the young theologians went back into their school, and the rock-throwing citizens chased away the Invalides. Soon their commander gathered together the two companies of these old soldiers, who formed a square batallion, which then answered the stones with gunshots. Each side sustained some wounded. Next, Brussels sent out six companies of grenadiers with cannon, and 150 dragoons from Arberg. Fortunately, when they arrived, they found tranquility re-established and the seminarists moved out. The English periodicals carried more than twice as many of the articles about discipline, a difference accounted for by the more numerous reports of strife at the universities and by greater stress on corporal punishment as a subject for periodical writers. School Life Private schools in Paris and the larger provincial cities had both local students and out-of-town boarders, as the public schools do now. Others, particularly those in the Paris suburbs, were completely boarding schools. All restricted the number of students at one time to somewhere between eight and twenty, while the schools operated by religious orders, like the Jesuit Louis-le-Grand, might have hundreds. 74 Vacancies occurred/ a few at a time, and school directors liked to be notified early by parents who wanted to enter a child when they learned of a vacancy. The director handled registration himself, mailing out brochures or school handbooks in answer to requests for information. Or, the prospectus, as the handbooks were called, might be distributed by a contact in Paris for schools outside the capital, while the principal indicated his availability to give instructions to any parent who wished to write or see him personally. Baillot reminded them to pay the postage themselves. A visit to the school itself would have been tempting, because the surroundings were pleasant and comfortable, if not elegant, in beautiful residences; schools were in the directors' own homes. Of course, we are talking about a certain group of schools for the upper class; saying that those for the poor were in private homes usually meant a disadvantage. As the bell rang to mark the change of classes, students dressed in fine uniforms moved about in the rooms where they studied or went out into the gardens for recreation. M. Serane's boys at Angers and M. de Longpre's in Paris wore a very similar attire: in Angers this was a green coat lined with yellow, a double gold braid on the collar and cuffs, jacket and pants of chamois leather, gilded copper buttons, and a white plume in the hat. The Longpre uniform con sisted of a suit of green cloth, jacket and pants in light-colored chamois, plain gilded buttons, a gold epaulette, and a plain hat with a plume. Many of the noble boys these schools catered to were preparing for military careers. Upper middle class children had a wider choice 75 of professions, among which law was popular. The schools generally stipulated young gentlemen of good breeding and family with a high sense of decency and morality. A few, like Taillandier's, also placed intellectual requirements on applicants. He stressed that he sought only children capable of accelerated language study and that his course was by no means remedial. At no price would he accept children who for years had been promenaded from school to school with always the same lack of success. The director and his masters literally brought up these children. M. Cochet and the Morets took children from the time they were three- and-a-half or four years old. Between five and seven was the usual entrance age. They stayed until they were twelve to fourteen, but rarely older unless one knew well the innocence of their morals and their character, because they became more difficult to control. Older children who had not been raised in the house were accepted after careful examination of their backgrounds, but the schools preferred not to do this, considering it too much a risk. They all were proud of the good order reigning within the classes and dormitories and their efforts to comply with parental wishes. M. de Longpre said that even though he lived with his students as friends, he accorded them only as much liberty as their parents agreed to. M. Dupont took as boarders five young people whose parents wished exactness and attention with regard to their conduct. The boarding schools taught the laws of modesty, neatness and cleanliness, and polite manners, and watched over games, conversations, and meals. 76 Food was regularly good enough for these schools to boast about it. M. de Longpre's served a soup, a dish of boiled beef/ two entrees, and dessert for dinner; roast, salad, a sweet, and dessert for supper, with wine at each meal. Other directors who mentioned that their tables were regularly well-laden were Dupont, Viard, and Havard. Some schools featured certain special attentions. A student who was not well might eat with the master and mistress, who restricted his diet and watched over him more closely. Directors sometimes considered their boarders as friends and associates. Many schools manifested great willingness to talk to parents at any time and furnish any details they wished. The establishments which took in very young children assured that they gave the extra care little ones need. At M. Cochet's they were in a specially arranged very beautiful isolated apartment of the school under the surveillance of an intelligent maid supervised by the mistress of the house. One of the sisters of Messieurs Moret had as her sole charge the care of the youngest in a separate part of the house. The children's health was a major concern. The Austrian Emperor sent out a proclamation in 1783 from Vienna forbidding whale bone stays or corsets in any educational establishment and sent parents a treatise explaining the evils of their use. Locations of schools were important with regard to health: Was the air good? Were the buildings in a salubrious, cheerful spot? Were they spacious? M. Chocquart said his school was in a hotel with a very beautiful garden. Those in the Paris suburbs especially emphasized the location on the banks of a 77 stream, the lovely quarter, or the robust health of the pupils due to the pure air. Various amenities supplied included good libraries featuring special collections of items depending on the type of school—drawings by the greatest masters at Blondel1s; mathematical instruments of all kinds, graphs and figures, and several machines at Dupont's, for example—and much that applied to daily living. Most gave a student his own room, possibly with a fireplace, with closets and wardrobes, or with its own bathroom. They were well furnished and equipped with everything convenient. Services included laundry; mending and care of clothing, underwear, linens, and stockings; heat; light {even all night in some places to avoid accidents); a daily hairdresser to comb, powder, and pommade. Schools provided paper and ink. Mail service was good in.the suburbs: the petite poste delivered from Paris twice a day. All of this was not free, of course. The least e^qpensive seemed to be the school at Eu (1779) at one hundred ecus per year (about $375), a price limit made possible by masters unconcerned about their salaries and some private means available to the administrators. M. Audet was next at 380 livres to ten years of age and 420 for older children, a price which also could vary depending on the kind of education parents wanted a child to have—whether one wanted the fencing and dancing masters, for example. These cost extra, as did the masters of music, German, writing, and usually of drawing. These maxtres d'agrement were not on the regular faculty but came in several times a week. M. Duhamel's drawing master cost seven livres a month for two hours' lessons a day, required. The fencing, German, and writing masters 78 came in three times a week and were optional. The 380 livres was M. Audet's 1775 price, inflated from 350 in 1773. An average price in the seventies was about seven hundred livres, one thousand in the eighties. The Sieur Pain offered the most reasonable price in the eighties, 400 livres for board per year, 600 for one or two young gentlemen of sixteen to whom he taught Latin in twelve to fifteen i months. M. Chocquart's 500 livres is the only price given in the sixties. Messieurs Serane and Duhamel charged 600, Duhamel 800 for students over sixteen, Serane fifteen per month in summer, eighteen in winter. Cochet charged a flat 350 livres for board, but we assume most of his boarders were also students in his Ecole de Maths et de Dessin,- for which the total rate was 750 livres• In 1775 Longpre's 800 livres rose to 1000 at the age of fourteen, and he noted that so low a price—he had less consulted his own interests than his zeal—meant that parents had to be prompt in their payments. Actually, he was not so low, but he had come down from his 1500 livres of 1771 and his 1000 of 1772. By 1782 he was charging 1200 for fourteen-year-olds, 1400 for those old enough to have a room of their own. Dupont (twelve livres a month for his lessons, sixteen with the drawing teacher too), Daubanton, and Taillandier all charged 1200, Baillot 1260. Pleigniere did not cite a price but only asserted that his school at Caen cost no more than in the city. M. Detesniere listed his fees by month, twelve livres for the first and nine for each month following. He advertised that the first to sign up would receive a price reduction. The usual practice was to pay by quarters, always one quarter in advance. Some schools itemized expenses for hairdresser, powder. 79 pommade, laundry, paper, pens or let parents choose to pay a lump sum. This could be done at Longpre's school for twelve livres a month. Others# like Audet, included most of these items in the overall fee. He also threw in a chair in church. Longpre's students paid fifty livres at entrance for the bed and other furniture, twenty-four livres for the servants (four of them) at entrance and then twelve livres a year for their tip. Audet charged extra for the hairdresser and any purchases or considerable changes requested by the parents. His entry tip for the masters and servants was nine livres in 1773, ten in '75. Other bed rates, if the student did not furnish his own, were Daubanton's twelve livres per quarter and Duhamel's twenty-four livres per year. Blondel had twelve free places for students who could not be in the school except by accepting a scholarship; Daubanton had six. If any other establishments followed this practice, they did not mention it. The fees did not cover certain items which students had to bring with them: sometimes all the bedding (Audet—with a canopy), a goblet, silver table service, two pewter plates at Audet*s, six to two dozen towels, two or three pairs of sheets, eight chemises, a couple of peignoirs, and the clothing suitable for the child's age if there were no school uniform. All the linens were marked with identification. The school year began in October or November, with classes given daily or two or three times a week except Thursdays, Sundays, and holidays. Periodically somebody protested that there were too many holidays. The College Royal de France, in Paris, began its 1789 academic year on Monday, November 28. Daubanton's ran from October 80 first to April first. Jurain, in Reims, began his art classes October 22 and his mathematics and philosophy lessons November third. Dupont began mathematics courses January 7, March 16, and October first in 1772. Mathematics, writing and drawing took four hours a day in the afternoons, mornings being reserved for private lessons for military students. The Reims art classes were from eight to noon in winter, seven to noon in summer, mathematics and philosophy from two to five in the afternoon. Cochet taught mathematics lessons on an individual basis daily and drawing two hours three times a week. Students who were products of these schools tended to perform rather well during examinations. M. de Trudaine, Minister, sent Blondel students in the Ponts et Chaussees for their architecture and obtained a gratification from the King for him, though we do not know exactly what the sum of money was. He used part of it to give an all-day ceremony at the school with special presentations by the students. Public examinations and demonstrations were common practice in the eighteenth century. The art students at Reims gave annual expositions of their work. The Morets' students underwent public literary examina tions each year with parents invited. Often the examination was for a single student, as at Angers, July 2, 1756, when M. le Corvaissier, Secretary in Perpetuity of the Academy of Angers, gave a speech to open a public mathematics "exercise," as these examinations were called, for M. Amelot-de-Chateau-neuf, son of 81 the Marquis de Chaillou, in the auditorium of the College de l'Oratoire. 25 The Mercure published his discourse. When Mr. Jebb proposed that annual examinations be established at Cambridge (A Proposal for the Establishment of Public Examinations in the University of Cambridge with Occasional Remarks. By the Reverend John Jebb, late Fellow of St. Peter's College. Wilkie. Appears in List of Books, Gentleman's, October, 1773, page 477, and also in the Catalogue, page 533), a lively controversy ensued, with correspondents writing to the Gentleman's either to support or refute his suggestion. The university senate, almost equally divided in opinion, finally rejected the proposal by one vote. The major argument against public examinations was that if they were private, dull boys would not be exposed to the sneers of their comrades. The most detailed description of such an event is from the Gentleman's of January, 1755 {page 36), about the Philadelphia Academy. On a Tuesday early in November, 1754, the students in philosophy, the higher class, delivered a series of public exercises before the trustees. It was the first of its kind, the academy being so new, and attracted a large audience of ladies and gentlemen, including several dignitaries, the lieutenant governor and governor of Providence, for example. The exercises began with a Prologue written, with the exception of a few lines, by the young orator who spoke it, Mr. Jacob Duche. There followed a speech on the advantages of education in general, an enquiry into the several branches of education in order to ascertain 25. Ibid., July 1757, p. 141. 82 the just importance or moment of each, an address to the trustees of the academy and the dignitaries present, talks on logic, on method, on moral philosophy, and a hymn to philosophy. The epilogue was spoken by Master Billy Hamilton, who was under nine years old, with a great deal of humor and propriety, to the inexpressible satisfaction of the audience. Longpre's students also seemed to be strong testimony of the quality of education his school furnished. It opened in 1769, and each year five of the seven boys he presented for the engineering examination were admitted to the school at Mezieres. The times were fairly peace ful, which meant that places were rarer and harder to merit in these years and the degree of instruction necessary to succeed more con siderable. By 1778 he was very proud of the twenty fine ingenieurs ordinaires of the King he had formed. Daubanton's boys were carrying off ministry prizes in record time. Along with student success, two other indicators of the quality of a school were the years of experience of its directors—five years in Paris for M. Rollin, twenty years at Besan^on for the Morets—and the moral stature of the institution. Baillot's in Paris had the approbation of the government and that of people interested in good morals, although Pleigniere argued that children could do better at his school than anywhere in the corrupting influence of the capital. The addresses for the schools provided the information necessary in the days before house numbers and show that they were scattered around Paris in various quarters of the city, in the suburbs, and a few in provincial towns or cities. There follow a few samples of the Paris addresses. Chocquart—moved from rue des SS. Peres, Fauxbourg S. Germain, vis-a-vis le Portail de la Charite to rue et Barriere S. Dominique. Longpre—moved from rue Neuve St. Etienne to rue et vis-a-vis l'Abbaye St. Victor, both in the quartier St. Victor. Dupont—rue Neuve-Saint-Mederic. Detesniere—rue des Pretres, S. Germain 1'Auxerrois, maison de Mme Frederiq, Martresse Sage-Femme. Rollin—rue et barriere de Seve. Baillot—rue poupee. Daubanton—rue et Isle Saint Louis, pres la rue Regratiere Taillandier—rue Pavee S. Andre-des-Arts. Whereas French descriptions of what life in school was like centered on the private boarding schools, most of the English comment is about the universities, much of it negative. A divinity professor at Cambridge on July 4th, 1780, in an oration before the Doctors were awarded their degrees talked about the lack of discipline in the university. The number of hair-dressers was amazingly increased since he had been an undergraduate, and instead of finding young men in their rooms in the morning, one found them racing their horses in the hills for great wagers. The poetry section in April, 1758 (page 178) included the "Soliloquy of a Repentant Fellow of a College" who regretted all the lost hours of sleeping in until noon, drinking ale and smoking tobacco, skipping morning prayers, and basking in pride over humbler folk. A poem in August, 1757 (page 371), "To a Fellow Collegian in the Country," 84 cherished the country vacation as respite from days of meaningless jargon and nonsense, running around, and arguing with bill collectors at Oxford. A third poem in June, 1746 (page 322), was entitled, "The Lounger; Addressed to that tribe in the University of Oxford." It reproached those who awakened with a hang-over, looked forward to nothing all day but meals, strolled about, read, if anything, some thing shameless like Rochester, and whiled their evenings and nights away in the ale-house. A fourth, even earlier (July, 1734, p. 379), from the London Magazine did not illustrate any more serious a day. A familiar epistle from a student at Cambridge, it described his typical day. He was awakened at six for chapel but went back to sleep until ten, breakfasted, was attended by the barber and dressed, dined, went to the coffee house for the afternoon and the tavern all night. There were names for such loungers: a Sir John was one admitted to orders without a regular education, having never seen college, but a Sir Jack had been at college two or three years without taking a degree. "The Leyden Student" (London Magazine, August, 1733, p. 418) offered a different reason for lack of learning: he was dirty and too poor to live or eat well. Marmontel's description of the French student's life was similar to these. He said that most young people studied very little, dividing their leisurely time rather among sleep, the theater, and coffee. Others did enjoy reading modern writers but found no merit in the ancient authors. Besides sleeping, dressing, eating, drinking, and conversing in coffee houses and taverns, what els£ was on a young man's mind but longing for girls? A student in love and ill-treated by his coquettish Belinda wrote the Gentleman's in February, 1735, to ask for advice on governing his passions. One poem in praise of Cambridge named famous scholars who wrote 26 there. Obviously, not everybody was wasting time. Many, like the poet Collins, worked hard in school. He was admitted a scholar of Winchester College February 23, 1733, when he was twelve. He spent seven years under the care of the learned Dr. Burton. In 1740 in con sideration of his merit he was placed on the list of scholars elected fran Winchester to New College in Oxford, but no vacancy happening at the latter, he was entered the same year a commoner of Queen's College and July 29, 1741, was elected a demy, or scholar, of Magdalen College. At school he began to study poetry and criticism, particularly the latter. The Gentleman's inserted an epigram he wrote at Winchester, which it said had a genius and a turn of expression rarely met with in juvenile compositions. His Latin exercises were never as admired as his English. At Oxford he wrote the epistle to Sir Thomas Hanmer and the Oriental Eclogues, first published in 1742 under the title of Persian Eclogues. About 1743 he left Oxford with a B. A., but he too was disillusioned with university life, weary of the confinement and uniformity of academics. Periodically controversy broke into the uniformity of the college routines. Besides the trouble over subscriptions, a Jacobite riot now and again, or friction between servitors and commoners, 26. London Magazine, July 1734, p. 379. 86 administrative matters occasionally caused altercations. In August/ 1758 (pages 376-377) the Gentleman's printed a letter to the Rev. Dr. Lowth, prebendary of Durham, in vindication of the fellows of New College in Oxford, in their late election of a warden of Winchester, along with a rather complicated explanation of the procedures for selecting new wardens and what was being objected to. Dr. Lowth answered this anonymous letter in January, 1759 (page 33), defending the Bishop of Winchester and saying that Dr. Purnell was eligible to the wardenship of Winchester. In May was printed A Reply to Dr. Golding's and Dr. Lowth's Answers to an Anonymous Letter (one shilling, by Baldwin) and in July An Impartial Bystander's Review of the Controversy Concerning the Wardenship of Winchester College (Baldwin). Objections arose to some of the restrictions and limitations placed on college and university offices. For example, the electors of Eton College had to fill any vacancies among them with present or former fellows of King's College, Cambridge, so long as properly qualified people could be found within that group. In April, 1764, there was trouble at Cambridge over the election of a high steward. Due to a tie, two proctors took a vote by voice. A correspondent writing in about a college bill believed that non-resident fellows should be allowed to marry without losing their fellowships or succession to 27 college livings. These were some of the common problems. Another had to do with university dress. A Cambridge student proposed that masters wear something that would identify them, and that undergraduates 27. Gentleman's, February 1782, p. 129. 87 have square caps like Oxford's instead of the frightful things worn in most Cambridge colleges. It was the custom on important occasions, such as the death or wedding of a monarch or a major peace treaty, for the universities, as well as the cities and the clergy, to make formal addresses to the king. The Gentleman's printed both the addresses and the sovereign's reply. The university and its new high officials also exchanged formal letters of welcome. \ A royal visit to a school was a great occasion. When, in September, 1762, their majesties stopped at Eton on their return from Windsor, attended by the lords and ladies of the court, they were met by the provost and fellows at the great gates and conducted into the school, where the masters were prepared to receive them and five hundred scholars were standing in their places. Their majesties passed between the rows of scholars to chairs at the upper end of the school. One scholar advanced to the middle of the school and gave a speech in English. Then the king and queen went to look into the long chamber or dormitory before listening to a program of solemn music in the chapel by an organ and many other instruments. Their majesties walked the length of the chapel viewing the scholars, then to the hall and library, where many of the young noblemen were presented to them. They examined a valuable collection of drawings and other art work belonging to the college, passed down from the Provost's Lodge into the Quadrangle. The whole school, drawn up in lines, cried "Vivant Rex et Regina" as they went into their chaise. The Lord Chamberlain, by his majesty's orders, 88 left 230 pounds to be disposed of as the provost and masters thought best. Ceremonies of this type were not always connected with a royal visit. Each year at Oxford was held what was called the Encoenia. An encoenia was an anniversary feast, held by the primitive Christians in commemoration of the day on which their churches were founded, and in the eighteenth century used to denote any annual festival. The money for the last one at Oxford had been funds left to New College by its benefactor Lord Crew and was formerly spent on a feast of eating and drinking. In 1763, however, the Encoenia consisted of several days of speeches, poetry recitations, plays, and conferring of honorary degrees. This practice continued, and in 1772 the Gentleman's described that year's festivities as the grandest ever held. It was planned to honor Lord North the first time he sat in the chair as chancellor of the university. The "Historical Chronicles" in the Gentleman's each month announced university prizes, new appointments like that of Lord North to be Chancellor of Oxford, and degrees conferred. Seventy or eighty degrees were usually awarded. On February 21, 1774, eighty-three were admitted to the Bachelor of Arts by the vice-chancellor at the Bachelors' Commencement, Cambridge. Listed by college: Corpus Christi 4 King's College 1 Emanuel . 5 Caius 4 Trinity 21 Jesus College 3 Christ College 4 St. John's 19 Peter-house 2 Queen's 3 Clare-Hall 7 Pembroke Hall 1 Catherine-Hall 3 Magdalen College 5 Sidney College l28 28. Ibid., February 1774, p. 44. 89 Degrees conferred at the Cambridge commencement, 1783, were three Doctors of Divinity, seven Bachelors of Divinity, eleven Bachelors of Law, three Masters of Arts in right of nobility, one Master of Arts by Royal Mandate, one Bachelor of Physic, and sixty-two regular Masters of Arts. The men are listed individually by name and college. English feeling about school was divided. Some boys had been miserable in school and wrote bitter poems and letters about their experience, and others wrote in praise of former friends and benefactors, their teachers or someone who had given books to the school or obtained a holiday for the students. Pride in the great schools resulted in lively rivalry in the magazines. In one series of battles in the fifties, first the Westminster scholar challenged a Winchester man in poetry writing. The next month a Winchester man replied with a poem in praise of the excellencies of his own school. Then Westminster replied with another poem preceded by the usual sarcastic introduction, "As the state of that place (Winchester) is too bad to need any aggravation, I 29 barely mention it." The poems themselves are really insulting, as a few sanple phrases show: "thy drooping verse/" "By folly prompted, and squeez'd out with pain, Shot forth the motly piece from brains hard bound," "go thick heap," "antiquated pile," "thy grov'ling lay." The author of a letter in December, 1754 (p. 592), was in a company where a person attacked Winchester as a school of no credit or reputation next to Eton and Westminster. By way of vindication he listed famous men who went to Winchester. 29. Ibid., August 1751, p. 372. 90 What the English did have to say about the boarding schools, as we have seen, tended to be largely negative, unlike the favorable French opinion of them. In the seventies and eighties especially. Englishmen wrote satires of boarding schools and described their weaknesses in letters to the editor. Perhaps most felt with the Philadelphian Rush that children should live at home and be separated from each other in hours of relaxation from study. A criticism in the form of a conversa tion between a gentleman, Townly, and his friend whose daughter was at a genteel boarding school revealed that these schools could cost one hundred pounds a year or more. This sum inclu '-5d provisions like wine and card money for a twelve-year-old girl. The governess herself said that every young lady was allowed wine for dinner and quadrille lessons in the evenings. Townly reminded his friend that association with girls of proud disposition, with passionate tempers, narrow minds, and bad habits who were cunning and vain—and there were bound to be some— could only have a bad influence on his daughter. For the most part criticisms were aimed, like this one, at genteel establishments for girls, but even the great schools for boys were not exempt. Fathers must not let their sons carry about so much money at Eton and West minster, wrote one critic, because it only caused trouble and vice and kept the boys' minds off their studies.^ Boys in more modest circum stances had their problems too. An advertisement to parents of boys attending Henry Whitaker's school (May 12, 1752 of the Manchester Journal) informed them that the carriers' horses which three days a 30. Ibid., November 1788, p. 946. 91 week were crowding the courtyard that the boys had to pass through had been moved and would no longer be a menace. Sarah Fielding wrote about the ideal English boarding school in The Governess, listed in the Gentleman's catalogue of books, January, 1749, as The Governess; or female academy: being the history of Mrs. Teachum and her nine girls. One of the secrets of Mrs. Teachum's success was her limit of nine students, so that there was never any crowding. Their typical day began with morning devotions and a walk before breakfast. Then they took their morning classes, had a recrea tion in the arbor, and dined. A second period of free time followed afternoon classes, then supper, evening prayers, and bed. The story reveals some of the teaching methods which made the school so pleasant a place and which Locke himself might well have formulated. The girls argued over an apple, and Jenny Peace reformed them. Jenny, the eldest pupil at fourteen, helped teach the younger. In this way Mrs. Teachum could give them time away from her so that they could converse freely, unrestrained by her presence. Jenny then reported to her mistress what had transpired. The day of the argument they decided to write their autobiographies to share with each other in order to understand each other better, improve communication, and avoid future disputes. The first day after their repentance, Monday, Jenny read hers to them first along with the story of the cruel giant Barbarico and the good giant Benefico. After they discussed the story Tuesday Sukey Jennett, not quite twelve, gave her story, followed by Dolly Friendly, just turned eleven. Wednesday Dolly read the story of Caelia and Chloe, 92 Jenny drawing the moral at the end, before Lucy Sly, eleven, shared her life. The fourth day, Thursday, Sukey read a letter from her cousin aloud to them, and ten-year-old Patty Lockit took her turn telling her story. Instead of their afternoon classes that day they walked three miles to the dairy for exercise. On the fifth day Jenny read the fairy tale of the Princess Hebe. Mrs. Teachum had them all come in the house with her to converse in the evening. Saturday they had a writing lesson in the morning but no school in the afternoon. Jenny continued the fairy tale, which con tained a song. The dancing master came and they had to interrupt their reading until evening. Mrs. Teachum was with them part of the time while Jenny read but left soon enough that they could discuss the story first with her gone. Later she pointed out what they should have learned from it. Sunday they went twice to church, walking two by two, and met Lady Caroline and Lady Fanny. Nanny Spruce and Betty Ford, both nine, gave their autobiographies. Jenny read a play, Funeral; or Grief a la mode, on the eighth day, Monday, and Mrs. Teachum had Sukey tell about it to check their attention and listening. She had Jenny give the moral, then talked about the play herself, referring to specific lines and reading them to illustrate her points. Henny Frett, just turned nine, and Polly Suckling, eight, gave their stories. The ninth day Jenny handed in all the Lives. For morning recreation some walked or ran in the garden, some tended plants, some talked. They made another trip to the dairy house in the afternoon, but without Mrs. Teachum. On their way home they stopped by a fine estate, learning that the Lord and Lady had 93 no happiness from their possessions. Mrs. Teachum, on their return, told them about this couple and drew a moral by having Jenny read a fable of birds containing a poem about the faithfulness and loyalty of the dove. A letter came saying Jenny had to leave and return home, so in the conclusion the girls had yet another lesson to learn—this one about saying good-bye. The eighteenth century periodicals give us so much diverse information about the schools that it is a bit difficult to orgcinize it into workable# coherent topics, but certain dominant issues do surface. First, the tendency toward national education in public schools over whelmed those still favoring tutors in the home. In the early part of the century, possibly because of Locke, Englishmen insisted that the tutor was better. Their great argument was that the tutoring system resulted in a more virtuous pupil. Some also listed as an advantage that among tutors were the more qualified masters# but the public school advocates used the same argument. The government could reward teachers more handsomely, and the masters in schools could work in shifts# they said. Later in the century, French opinion opted for public education. The notable exception, of course# was Rousseau. Arguments for public education were that it fostered a love of country, a democratic spirit of equality, a better knowledge of oneself and others, healthful learning conditions, better discipline and adherence to a schedule, friendship and good conversation, and an improved knowledge of the ways of the world through the example of one's masters and peers. 94 Both countries had people who did private tutoring, of course, but this cannot be equated with endorsement of an educational system by private tutor, under which a child receives most or all of his educa tion from a permanent tutor in his own home. The people who advertised tutoring served the same purpose as tutors do today: to satisfy an interest, remedy a weakness, or supplement an education in some way. They were often schoolmasters professionally who tutored for a little extra money or as a social service, and their students were as often likely to be adults as children (see Chapter XI). What it seems most important to remember is that advocates of both the public and the private system had the same goal in the eighteenth century: to prepare a child to be a good citizen and take his place in society. They just had differing ideas about how this ought to be accomplished. It seems easy to account for the preponderance of French articles late in the century in favor of public education. We can attribute them to the Revolutionary spirit, the fervor of equality as each man became more consciously a citizen than he had ever been before. It was right to look to the state as a source of education. We can also say without too many qualms that the English were writing in favor of the tutor in the thirties and forties because of Locke. Throughout the century they never could really work up any enthusiasm about public education, as the French did. Even after they dropped direct arguments in favor of tutors, their comments about schools grumped and complained and snorted. Boarding schools in England, for example, fostered class consciousness, 95 furnished only a very superficial education, and encouraged immorality. The diet was poor and the expense great. In some cases they were mere dumping grounds for parents who wanted to be rid of their children. The English lavished even more complaints on the universities, scenes of frequent disorders. Rioting, dispute over the national subscriptions, friction between servitors and commoners, and strife in administrative matters all troubled the university atmosphere. Many students wasted time and led generally dissolute lives. French periodicals, on the other hand, were silent about the universities. The French felt better about their schools, on the whole, although both countries produced personal laments and tributes about educational experiences. The French boarding schools seemed at the opposite pole from the English. They most closely followed Locke's concept of few formal rules under masters who set good examples and provided rather close supervision, and they avoided corporal punishment. Their students were successful in society and their professions. The moral atmosphere was healthy and the masters experienced. The Mercure reported educational reforms on the continent; the Gentleman's did not, although it did provide some description of American reforms in Pennsylvania. Most reform was German, as the German states sought greater efficiency and equality in their pedagogic systems, better training and salaries for teachers, and increased literacy. When the English pushed educational reforms, they tended to have one motiva tion: greater economy. How can we spend less on education, they wondered. 96 The English ideal of school life seemed to exist in few places outside Sarah Fielding's little novel, The Governess. At the French boarding schools, it was a reality. Overall, a pattern was emerging in eighteenth-century education of English dissatisfaction and French enthusiasm for reform. Was there a real discrepancy? Did existing conditions give the English greater reason for feeling negative? In the case of the boarding schools, the answer is "yes," but they repre sented only a small portion of educational establishments. I think the differences were more apparent than real, more a matter of national character. Let us speculate that English energy was venting itself in the outcry against educational abuses, and that French optimism was preparing that nation for a more hopeful future. CHAPTER IV BIRCHEN-SCEPTER'D MONARCH; THE SCHOOLMASTER In February, 1772, the Mercure printed a letter addressed to Madame Cornuel in Paris from a woman in the provinces who asked her to please find a preceptor possessed of an endless list of virtues, a paragon, in fact, bespoken for in a most insistent manner. Madame Cornuel answered this demanding epistle by indicating that she had looked for such a preceptor and had not yet located him, but that she would continue the search and promised that as soon as she found this worthy person, she would marry him!^ Salaries and Status Part of the problem of finding either a good private tutor or public schoolmaster was financial, as it is now. Helvetius wrote in Chapter VI of De L'Homme, published in 1772, that in a private education one did not really have the choice^ of a master. The excellent one was rare and too expensive for most households. In public education, on the other hand, the government could pay teachers liberally, give them a certain distinction and make their positions honorable. After all, said Rousseau, if the government insured that the child learn by motivating him, then what must it do to insure that the master perfect his teaching method? Of course he must be similarly motivated. To be occupied in 1. Mercure, February 1772, p. 198. 97 98 such difficult work required the hope of a considerable recompense. Only the head of state could inspire in meritorious persons the desire to obtain the salary, distinction and honor the government could offer them. Teachers' positions would be so attractive that there would be a choice among a great number of enlightened men, enough to always fill any position with the man most suited for it. In all fields, finally, 2 it was the lack of recompense that produced a dearth of talent. State-supported education was not a new idea with Helvetius, of course. For example, in America Charlestown undertook to pay a teacher out of the town purse in 1636. Three years later Dorchester made fiscal provision to maintain a permanent town school. Other towns imitated these initiators, until by the 1640s town-supported education was no longer a novelty. In 1647 the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ordered that parents or masters of apprentices or the inhabitants in general pay teachers, but many towns evaded this require ment. Any modern educator would agree with Helvetius, yet in practice the teachers' salaries of the eighteenth century were lamentably small. A European regulation of 1736 shows why teaching still did not provide a living wage: "If the teacher is a workman he can already support him self; if he is not, then he is hereby allowed to go to work for daily 3 wages for six weeks at harvest-time (Prmcipia Regulativa, clause 10)." 2. Claude Adrien Helvetius, Oeuvres Completes vol. 7-8 (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1967. Reprint of 1795 Paris edition [post humous]), pp. 170-171. 3. The Encyclopedia Britannica, Macropaedia, vol. 6 {Chicago: William Benton, 1943-1973), p. 357. 99 Even parsons earned more. On March 13, 1750, a group of school whose master would earn three hundred florins, a considerably higher trustees advertised in the Manchester Magazine that a "School Master, salary than the English ones of mid-century, since the florin was worth properly qualified'to teach English," was needed at Rochdale for twenty about $6.25. In 1768 professors of the University of Paris were pupils. The salary was six pounds per year but "like to be improv'd," receiving an annual pension of two hundred livres until they obtained The pound was worth about $25.00 then. The house and school were rent- a chair and the pension then ceased. The worth of the lira was about free and he could take in additional pupils for his own benefit. In $1.25, so they were earning even less than the English masters.^ the Leeds Mercury of December 30, 1740, Rawcliffe, Snaith, Yorkshire A hospital in Sheffield erected in 1703 by Mr, Thomas Hollis, needed someone to teach fourteen children to read and write "true" London merchant and perhaps himself a native of Sheffield, paid U a English and arithmetic at eleven or twelve pounds a year. He would quarter to a master, Mr. N. Hick, for teaching a number of boys to also officiate as clerk of the chapel. The trustees of the Free School write during three or four of the suuier months. The stipend for at Haworth in May 1758 advertised in the Leeds Intelligencer that they headmaster Rev. John Smith of the free grammar school was £20 per wanted a graduate of Oxford or Cambridge for grammar, English, writing, annum, but by improvement in the estate belonging to the school the arithmetic "in the best Method," but only if the applicant came trustees had been able to allow every year what was called an aupenta- "sufficiently recommended for good Conversation." The last line of tion, a sum of 120 or more. The usher's certain stipend was £11, but the invitation to apply began with a pointing hand and proudly read, the augmentation meant that Mr. Robinson was really earning about £20. "The Salary is £18 per Year."'* The headmaster also had a handsome house adjoining the school. Mr. There are, in fact, no complaints about salaries in either the John Eadon, master of the writing school, earned £16 per annum and was French or the English magazines. They are not mentioned at all in 1 furnished a house for teaching sixty boys writing and arithmetic, either magazine until the 80's, except in one Gentleman's article of The reviewer of a spelling book by the Reverend John Hewlett for 1764, and their appearance at this time seems easily explained by the the use of schools commented that every master of an academy wrote a reform fervor of the Revolutionary period. News from Vienna in the book to sell to his own scholars-one way of augmenting the meager "Journal Politique" section (Mercure, 6 avril, 1782) announced that her Imperial Majesty (Maria Theresa) wanted each village to have a school, 5. Mercure, July 1768, pp. 126-127. 6. Gentleman's, April 1764, pp. 158-159. 4. R. M. Wiles, "Further Additions and Corrections to G. A. 7. Ibid. Cranfield's Handlist," Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, Vol. ii, 5, 195B, pp, 352-353. 101 a income. A check of new books published and listed under "Schoolbooks" or marked "For the use of schools" shows only eleven of eighty-nine actually indicating that the book was written by a master, but it is quite possible many of the others were too. In the French announce ments twenty-five of sixty-six texts were written by masters. Indirectly, one sympathetic article about teachers' low status in general did mention their poverty, without specifying salaries. A translation by J. B. of the Latin epitaph on a country schoolmaster enumerated the woes he was now free from: his poverty; the mischiefs of his boys, who broke into gardens and orchards to look at birds' nests or steal fruit, who threw stones, talked to him impertinently, chalked doors, made each others' noses bleed, cut off the cat's ears and tail, set the dog after the boar, broke through hedges, tore down walls. When he beat them, they only acted worse. Their mothers raved at him, and many a father told him that if his son did not progress it was the 9 master's fault because the boy had genius enough. Marks of respect were usually as small as the requirement at the universities that students remove their hats to masters, dis tinguishable at Oxford by their prunella gowns with velvet tuck-up sleeves. However, the feeling of the 80's resulted in an increasing desire in France to honor teachers, so that the Hercure reported enthusiastically King Frederick's purchase of the estate of Lichtenfeld 8. Ibid., September 1787, p. 804. 9. Ibid., March 1777, p. 138. 102 for 25,000 reichsdollars as a present to his former tutor, Professor Bequelin. In a letter to the professor Frederick said, I would like to show you how much esteem I have for you and give you proof of what I promised you when I was your pupil. Students only rarely keep their promises, but they are wrong in that, since nothing is more painful than the state of a teacher who knows the full extent of his duty and who works zealously to fulfill it. I bought the property of Lichtenfeld for you so that you will have a peaceful place to go when you want to leave the city.-*-0 Locke cautioned parents to treat a tutor with great respect so that their children would follow their example. If the family succeeded in obtaining the kind of tutor Locke recommended, there would be no problem in showing him proper respect and deference. He would be a man of virtue, good sense, good humor, and prudence. To have arrived at a high degree of breeding and knowledge of the world, he could not be a young man; rather, his experiences of life would allow him to teach his pupil how to judge men and get beneath appearances. Such a one was not to be had at ordinary cost, but Locke counseled buying the best, since no money could be better spent. Education and Training The Duke of Gotha, Ernst the Pious, took an interest in the education and examination of teachers, but he was unique. Any kind of teacher training prior to the late eighteenth century was sparse, and one searches even for a few examples. A notable earlier example of this type of interest was an institution for the Indian nobility, Santa Cruz de Tlaltelolco 10. Mercure, December 15, 1787, pp. 99-100. 103 (1535-1595) in Mexico, which produced teachers of native languages and liberal arts. August Hermann Francke, after establishing several different kinds of schools in Halle in the 1690's, felt a lack of suitable teachers for his schools and added two teachers' seminaries, a seminarium praeceptorum for the elementary level and a seminarium selectum for the higher schools. But other than scattered efforts like these, it was not until the eighteenth century that the state began to recognize that worth while school instruction depended upon the standard of education of teachers and that the first state teachers' colleges were established, one at Gottingen. Johann Julius Hecker continued Francke's work by planning a uniform program of education for teachers, Kurmarkisches Landschullehrerseminar (1753, "Seminary for Bell Ringers and School masters"). Frederick the Great's minister Freiherr von Zedlitz founded a chair of pedagogy at Halle (1779) and worked for the improved educa tion of teachers. The Landgrave of Cassel furnished five thousand reichsdollars in 1785 for the establishment of a seminary to train schoolmasters.^ In England, realizing that a lack of teachers and no money for assistants was hampering formation of an elementary school system, first Andrew Bell developed and Joseph Lancaster later modified the monitorial method, by which a master trained his pupils to teach each other. From two hundred to one thousand children were gathered together 11. Ibid., December 17, 1785, p. 109. 104 in one room and seated in rows, usually of ten. The master taught the monitor for each row the lesson in spelling, reading, arithmetic, or higher subjects and then the monitor taught his fellow students. People had to recognize that the only real solution to teacher shortages was more widespread training of teachers because Lancaster was wrong when he said that any boy who could read could teach. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts might be said to have fostered teacher training in that it stipulated qualifications for its teachers. Early standards and qualifications were so poor, however, that it is perhaps surprising that the periodicals were not complaining about the lack of proper training institutions for teachers. Like the comments about salary and status, the few examples one can find all date from the 80's. This silence is only ejqplainable in the light of all the evidence which shows that the overwhelming interest of the time was in the personal characteristics, moral qualities, and responsi bilities of the master for his own progress, rather than in training that the state might owe to him. State leaders may have been beginning to recognize the necessity of teachers' colleges, but the general public had evidently not. The "Journal de Bruxelles" section (November 18, 1780, page 99) reported from Poland that the University of Cracow would establish a seminary which would in the future furnish the masters necessary to the national schools, and the Gentleman's included in its book list for September, 1785 (page 775), A Plan for the Establishment of Public Schools and the Diffusion of Knowledge in Pennsylvania, by Dr. Rush, 105 among whose proposals is one that the university will in time furnish masters for the colleges, and the colleges for the academies and free- schools. Another article about Maria Theresa mentioned the seminary she established for training country school masters. Note that these reports are all of events outside England and France. LaSalle set up at Reims a school for training rural teachers and one in Paris with a practice-teaching provision, but the Austrians and Prussians contributed most to the education and training of teachers in the eighteenth century. Finding Work Poorly trained or totally untrained, expecting little remunera tion, the young university graduate took his classical degree job seeking. He might rely on word of mouth as to what was available in his home area or on personal acquaintances, since he might be sought by someone like Madame Cornuel, trying to find a preceptor for her friend in the provinces. If he had the proper connections, he could try to find a place through court preferment. He could scan the advertisements in the periodicals or place one himself, as did P. F. (Gentleman's, July, 1746) on the contents page: A gentleman of university education, skill'd also in the modern languages, especially French, is desirous to attend any nobleman or gentleman as tutor, or amanuensis; he can have indubitable recommendation from the university and several gentlemen in Town; and will wait upon gentlemen in receiving a line directed to P. F. to be left at Mr. Cave's, St. John's Gate. Another reads: "A Gentleman, who has taken a Degree in the University, and can come well recommended, is willing to serve in the Capacity of 106 12 a private Tutor in any Gentleman's Family." Though no young Frenchmen actually placed such an advertisement in the Mercure, P.F.'s counterpart in France in the second half of the century would find advertisements of state examinations for those interested in applying for teaching positions in the new national schools or the university, which in July, 1768 (pages 126-127 of the Mercure) needed philosophers, rhetoricians and grammarians. University authorities filled these professorships with the candidates they thought had performed best during six weeks of examination, including composition and explanation of authors in the presence of the whole university, with the Rector at the head. The two national schools advertising in the 1770*s and 1780's, the Free Drawing Schools and the National Military Schools, were also concerned solely with the candidate1s competence in his field. All of the officers, the rector, the inspector, the teachers and assistants for the drawing schools were chosen by means of an examination, judged by famous men from all the royal academies.^ A later examination for one officer in charge of the instruction at the school was judged on July 1st £1780, page 39) from among only those who had received first place medals at the Academy of Painting. Similar strictures applied to appointments at the National Military Schools, although a reference and recommendation system replaced the examinations. People who applied for employment as officers in these schools sent letters containing the 12. Gentleman's, February 1738, p. 111. 13. Mercure, May 1771, p. 174. 107 useful subjects they were qualified to teach, whereupon the school authorities made careful inquiries about them, inquiries, noted the article, all the more necessary when dealing with a function as con cerned with the public welfare as education is. Catholic foreigners were invited to apply if they could also receive favorable comment from the twelve to fifteen enlightened and zealous military men who would be consulted in the selection process. These same men would also be consulted about salary and respect due to persons devoted to such 14 noble, useful and difficult functions. The Teacher1s Role The kind of position a teacher eventually found, whether as a country master or a classical master in a city, as a private tutor, or as a university professor, as well as the conditions under which he taught, largely determined his role. In the small country schools he was expected to teach little besides reading, writing and arithmetic. Fathers of young tradesmen or merchants in the commercial towns commonly put their sons first under the care of a mistress, who taught them to read, and then sent them to a country school, perhaps dignified 15 by the name of academy. No matter what the circumstances, parents believed that masters or tutors should be vigilant in fostering their children's virtue, but they especially held the boarding school masters responsible on this account. Thus, S. L., writing from Cambridge, lauds a house where all 14. Ibid., July 6, 1782, pp. 39-40. 15. Gentleman's, May 1776, p. 215. 108 boys dwell together, eat at the same table, and are ever under the master's eye. He could behold at his leisure the differences in his boys' personalities and encourage virtue by applying the proper rewards and punishments.^ One would think that religious orders would be regarded as especially suited for moral training, but in 1782 the German Emperor 17 excluded monks from all professorships. The Jesuits had been banned from France in 1764. Virtue, in short, had to come from the proper sources, and if these sources included teachers in religious orders, only certain ones were acceptable. It was easier for a tutor to watch over his single pupil's conduct than for masters in country schools or boarding schools. As it was for them, his single most powerful resource was his own attach ment to his student, which made him care deeply whether or not the child grew up virtuous and good. He had to himself be the model of all the virtues he wanted to communicate. But the long-term relationship of the good tutor and his charge was a distinct advantage, at least in French thinking: "Ce n'est pas, dit-oiv 1'enfant a qui on fait le plus 18 changer de maitres, qui est ordinairement le mieux eleve." Locke was probably behind the ideas of a tutor's role. He advised families to choose a tutor with the greatest care and then abide by the decision and refrain from later making changes. Studies themselves, he said, were 16. Ibid., June 1749, pp. 264-265. 17. Mercure, May 11, 1782, p. 55. 18. Ibid., May 15, 1784, p. 124. 109 but exercises of the faculties. The tutor's real duty was forming his pupil's mind, manners, and habits. Twice as many of the comments on teacher role are English, and they are also more varied, in dates—they span the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's—and in subject matter. The French examples, again almost all from the 80's (one from 1775), are concerned solely with the inculcation of virtue in the young, including the one ironic sample of this section, M. de Crousaz's Nouvelles Maximes sur 1'Education des Enfans. In what the Mercure reviewer called an ingenious satire, by feigning to approve of what he really believed were the lamentable methods ordinarily used to raise the children of the time, M. de Crousaz attempted to persuade his readers to shun ridiculous, false opinions about education, like the typical tutor's instilling in his aristocratic charge the notion that quality of birth was the primary advantage in life. The last chapter, advice to the tutors, is the shortest, because the tutor's role was very simple if he would only remember to always please the parents, praise the pupil, and never try in his instruction to remedy 19 faults or change the status-quo. Even though one reviewer said that every master wrote a textbook for his own students, masters were not expected to write their own lessons in morality. They had neither the time nor, usually, the talent to invent them quickly enough when the occasion arose; authors like Madame de Genlis were well-qualified to supply collections of moral lessons (see Chapter X). 19. Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres, Tome X, 1716-1718 (Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1966), p. 658. 110 Professors had less to do with the guardianship of the university student's morals. Street masters were in charge of keeping the peace, seizing and reprimanding younger scholars lounging about or behaving indecently and bringing them before the vice chancellor and proctors. The students' views on the teacher's role differed from the universal parental interest in morality, as evidenced by "The Scholars Address to the Masters of public schools, particularly to those of Manchester." Preceptors, insisted the scholars, should make learning as pleasant as possible, rather than discouraging it by giving tasks at vacation. 20 These boys would undoubtedly second Rousseau's views that the child should grow up as naturally as possible and make many of his own choices of learning situations, placing his tutor more in the role of an advisor than an authoritative figure on whom rested all the responsi bility of the work. Unfortunately for them, almost all the articles in the periodicals with references to the schoolmaster show the teacher- centered system of rigid and clearly defined disciplines that educators like the German reformer Wolfgang Ratke (1571-1635) had espoused. From Philadelphia, for example, came news that the academy had added two more professors since the previous account, one to teach history, geography, chronology, logic and rhetoric, with several branches of natural and moral philosophy, and the other French, German, and drawing in 20. Gentleman's, November 1766, pp. 528-529. Ill 21 perspective. Another example of these clearly defined teacher roles is a project for an academy of painting and sculpture. The author suggested that there be professors of anatomy, geometry, perspective, architecture and similar other sciences necessary to the painter, sculptor, or architect; that professors read lectures at stated times on the re'asons on which the arts were founded and the precision and immutability of objects of true taste. Here, then, is the familiar eighteenth century belief that good taste was something so stable and universal that fine arts teachers were its arbiters, properly cautioning against all caprice and affectation (cf. Chapter II, p. 34). As visible testimony that he was capable of fulfilling this role, the professor had to present the academy with a piece of his own work. From a practical standpoint, some professors were to be well-skilled in ornaments, fruit, flowers, birds and animals because these items were so useful in the manufacturing industry. Another role of the profes sors at the academy would be to appoint drawing masters for the schools 22 around the kingdom. The sole example of the Mercure from the 70*s is a good summary of the concern of both the English and French with virtue and morality, and the insistence on treating children as individuals. It also illustrates the special French emphasis on the humanity of the teacher's role, the necessity of a deep personal attachment, as well as one of the Rousseauistic objections—in the minority, to be sure—to the 21. Ibid., January 1755, p. 36. 22. Ibid., March 1755, p. 127. 112 teacher-centered system. The article is called "Premiere solution de la suite de ce Probleme: Trouver pour 1*education des enfans la forme la plus propre a en faire des grands hommes." If the education of a child is consummated within his own soul, says the author, that is where the master must look. He must also look to the future, as well as the present and past, by being in his students' most intimate confidence. "Le premier et le plus essentiel de tous les devoirs d'un instituteur pour ses eleves, est de s'insinuer et de se maintenir constamment dans « 23 le centre meme de leur confidence." He must love his students completely and neglect nothing to help them love him. He takes the individual character of each one into consideration and adapts himself accordingly: patience for the one with the terrible temper, extra encouragement for the one who lacks ambition. The author well knows that masters will have trouble giving up their right to teach whatever they want whenever they want, since it is much quicker and easier to teach a troup of children from a distance what one wants them to do and to punish those who do not do it than to always be fearful oneself of losing their confidence. But what is the choice, after all? Is it the masters' convenience that we should aim for in a system of education, or the students' advantage? The Faults of a Poor Teacher By far the largest category of references to teachers in the periodicals concerns character, the virtues of the good and the vices of the bad. Referring to Table 1 will show at a glance what positive and 23. Mercure, January 1775, 2nd volume, pp. 168-174. Table 1. Schoolmaster Virtues Vices French English French English 1. diligent, zealous, con 1. uninterested, lazy, cerned, dedicated, negligent 1 1 enthusiastic 9 2 2. able to inspire interest 1 2 2. boring, pedantic 4 2 3. thorough 1 2 3. giving too little explana tion 1 1 4. temperate, virtuous, pro 4. corrupt, intemperate 1 3 tective also of student morals 2 3 5. kind, polite, friendly to 5. savage, cold, distant 1 3 pupils 6 4 6. honest 2 0 6. dishonest 1 0 7. well-known, experienced 10 1 7. obscure, badly trained or untrained, lacking experience 1 2 8. worthy of respect 1 0 8. awkward, ridiculous 0 1 9. fair, democratic; open to 9. unfair, tyrannical 0 5 new ideas, opinions of others 3 0 10. charitable 5 0 10. mercenary 3 0 11. intelligent, knowledgeable, 11. ignorant 0 2 wise 5 2 12. foreign (for language) 2 0 12. foreign 0 2 Table 1.—Continued Virtues Vices French English French English 13. sensible 0 1 13. impractical 2 1 14. insuring success of pupils 8 1 14. selfishly ambitious 0 2 General: good 1 2 poor 3 2 Total 56 20 18 27 Total French 74 Total English 47 115 negative qualities people were writing about as well as the fact that the French examples are about one-fourth again more numerous. Still more interesting, one notes immediately that most of the French comment was positive, the English more evenly divided but leaning slightly to the negative. Were the French, then, more satisfied with their teachers, meaning that in general their instructors of all types were superior to those of the English? Were they more apt to think in terms of what a teacher should be like, even if not all were in fact equally meritorious? Or were appearances deceiving, and did this apparent optimism result from the knowledge that the government censor would read every week's Mercure before it was published? Conversely, since the English belabor vices in their tutors and masters more than they praise them, did this reflect a more adverse situation, a more critical and negative turn of mind, or was it simply the result of a more open society taking advantage of its opportunities to deplore its own flaws? Censorship no doubt had something to do with the tone of French journalism; the censor's stamp does not disappear from the last page of the Mercure until 1789. The French admiration of the freer flow of ideas in England was after all what led Voltaire and other lesser figures to want to spend time there. Another possibility for the choice of article which predominated in the Mercure or the Gentleman's was that publications reflected their editor's personality more than they do now. These answers are more likely than that actual conditions were worse in England, since salaries, for example, were higher. The best explana tion, however, seems to lie in the wave of sentimentality which affected both national characters in the eighteenth century and resulted in the 116 Gothic novel, the sentimental theater, poems like Young's "Night Thoughts," and which for some reason seems to have manifested itself sooner and more strongly in the French periodical press than in the English. In this study at least, the French seem more generally senti mental, more idealistic. A wide range of tones—vitriolic, reasonably objective, humorous —characterizes the articles critical of poor teachers. In fact, some eight of them, mostly poems, are light spirited or broadly humorous and are about evenly distributed among the French and the English. One might have ejected more satirical treatment of vices than this in the age of Pope, Swift, and Voltaire. Perhaps the explanation is that the great masters of irony were not writing about education for the periodicals, at least not those used in this study. The Mercure and the Gentleman's published a letter or two of Voltaire's, but they were not about education, and the poetry is mostly pure doggerel. Of course, some of it may have been intentional doggerel. Serious vice is never funny in itself, but in the long run the authors of the humorous pieces probably inspired more reflection about what was wrong with certain schoolmasters than those who were writing under the heat of strong passion and thus made themselves more controversial. At least people had a general agreement in the eighteenth century about what vice was, so that there was in some ways less dispute about what ought not to be tolerated than among us. Corrupt, intemperate morals of tutors were a genuine concern, whereas in our cities nobody cares very much about the teacher's morals or his private life, even if we could agree on what immoral behavior is. One person 117 might want him fired for living unmarried with a woman, while another might not be bothered at all by such a relationship. Perhaps the moral climate in small towns today, where there is greater consensus of opinion, has changed less. We would probably all agree with the eighteenth century that seducing one's young pupil is immoral. Corrupted tutors such as Pope satirized in The Dunciad sought to win away their fair pupils. Music and dancing masters were especially notorious for affecting foppish dress and airs in order to lure a young miss into their arms. The kinds of dishonesty and ambition of educators that were a major concern are not at all so today. Neither to we criticize teachers as mercenary, as a general rule, nor as savage, now that the days of corporal punishment are fading. We do not find many teachers really awkward or ridiculous because of the mass stamp we give to their train ing. Pedantry is not a problem; in fact, we have probably gone too far in the other direction in our own century, but our students still commonly complain of boredom. Whereas pedantry and boredom went together for the eighteenth-century schoolboy, now other factors, which the early critics did not mention, make a teacher boring in the students' eyes, notably his inability to be entertaining in a show business kind of way, an expectation the media are responsible for. Other criticisms have not changed at all. The pupil of either century might be bored because he felt his teacher was impractical and not giving him material useful in his life, although the eighteenth century was not using and wearing out the word relevance in this sense. Eighteenth and twentieth century pupils have called many a teacher 118 unfair or not friendly enough or lazy, or complained that he did not explain a lesson well enough. And what change has there been in the general lament that there are too many poor or mediocre teachers and too few good ones? A. B. was convinced that schoolmasters were savage and tyrannical by profession: "Long accustomed to absolute power, these birchen- scepter' d monarchs are prompt to exercise it not only on their pupils, 24 but on every trembling object within their reach." Vindictive pedagogues inflicted as severe a torment as they could, sometimes even joking while doing so. A. B.'s horror may not have been initiated by his recent visit to a college where the master treated even the females of his own family in a gross and arbitrary manner, but it certainly was reinforced. In response, a reader sent in a school anecdote in December about the complaints showered on one master, otherwise much beloved, after this incident: A young lad came back late from the holidays with a bribe from his mother—a fine ham for Dr. ***, who accepted the present but applied the rule anyway. While the master was administer ing the rod, he publicly desired the offender to convey his compliments in return to his mother, with many thanks for her ham, even though it 25 did not save her boy's bacon. While his pupils considered this master unfair on this occasion, he was not savage or tyrannical. 24. Gentleman's, October 1780, p. 462. 25. Ibid., December 1780, p. 563. 119 Another reader, D. C., himself a teacher for more than twenty years, objected to the October correspondent's comparison of masters to jailers, butchers and hangmen. What was A. B.'s solution as a replace ment for the old method? He did not say. If the rod were spared, 26 anarchy and confusion would follow. This harshness was closely allied to pedantry. In the second chant of the poem Les Quatre Ages de 1'Homme is a description of the college as a dark hole where pedantry resided with foolishness and lethargy, where, under the eye of the headmaster subalternate pedants spread terror throughout these learned quarters. All one's comings and goings had to be done methodically; one drank, ate, slept, played or worked, talked or was silent, at the sound of a bell. The boys, some of them just acquiring Homer's beard, spoke Greek, while many a Cicero yawned sadly in his corner at the pain of memorizing some rudiment of grammar. Racine was not to be found there, nor Moliere, nor any French authors. What one saw was the master and his little minions, an old Tacitus in hand, translating word for word, or in a lamentable tone gracelessly interpreting the beauties of Virgil or the gaiety of Horace. Dumb fellow that he was, bridled by his narrow mental powers, preparing a maladroit lesson for his flock, the master made it difficult to say whether he knew more than his pupils or not. Even when he was 27 preaching humanity to a child, he was ever cold and harsh. 26. Ibid., Supplement to 1780, p. 618. 27. Mercure, March 29, 1783, pp. 222-232. 120 A similar poem also gave an exaggerated account of master and student, but there was undoubtedly truth in these light verses, because the criticisms were repeated too often in too many different ways to be fiction and no more. A master dearly loved his profession; his student, on the other hand, did not care much for his. From the time the child got up in the morning Latin, Greek or French, poet or historian inundated his desk, for the master taught everything and the child learned nothing. Except when he ate, not a minute of his day was free. The master even felt the longest days of summer were too short for all that needed to be learned, while the child wished it could be night all the time. But, said the author, I could guarantee that even if the master had his pupil for one hundred years, he would still for one hundred years be the very foolish pedagogue of a very ignorant student. The key lines: the master was much more hated than the subject. Why place boredom so close to wisdom? We like to disobey those who command too 28 harshly. In the French viewpoint pedantry, boredom and harshness were a constant trio. If one were present, the others were inescapable. Pedantic also meant methodical to the extreme. A story set in Troy before the time of Helen and Paris featured a tutor, Manassus, chosen by Policleas for his son Lenidor. This Manassus was the most methodically learned man ever seen before or after the siege of Troy. Equally correct in his conduct and his conversation, he seemed when speaking to count and measure all his words, in the same way that he counted and measured his steps while walking. For thirty years he had 28. Ibid., May 12, 1781, pp. 49-50. 121 arisen, dined, supped and gone to bed at the same time. Every book in his apartment was in perfect order, and he well knew these old authors, citing them with the most scrupulous fidelity. In fact, in his study there reigned marvelous order because he insisted that a man whose surroundings were untidy could not possibly be a logical person. He expressed himself thus: "Yesterday morning, at ten minutes after six, near the gate of Scee, the natural inclination of one sex toward the 29 other manifested itself in Lenidor in a frightful way." He wrote Policleas such letters daily, recounting every action of his son, letters of alarm like this one when it was a matter of Lenidor's interest in a girl at puberty, in playing chess, or in war. Manassus himself loved only men and consequently hated war. Since Jupiter owed Policleas a debt because of his piety, when the father asked that his son not have these faults, Jupiter was forced to comply. His education complete, introduced into society, Lenidor was at first the object of praise for his perfection; he possessed none of the faults of youth. But before long his perfection itself was criticized. He lost against Menelaus during the Trojan war simply because when he was winning brilliantly and saw so much blood flowing, he compassionately made a quick retreat. He was considered boorish with women. Finally a young girl took over his re-education. The pretty zamire was able to make of Lenidor a gentle, amiable being and thus corrected the work of a god and of a learned man. 29. Ibid., December 25, 1779, pp. 164-173. 122 Manassus' language was ridiculously exact but not latinate as in "Pedantry exposed, in a letter from one Schoolmaster to another." An example of this humorous epistle from Gilbert Syntax: ". . .1 think there ought to be a mutual concourse, or concatenation of missives 30 establish'd betwixt us, relative to the tractation of pupils." The "Response to Gilbert Syntax from Jacobus Orthographicus" in August is if anything even more latinate and impossible to follow. Ridiculous though the pedant was, the ignorant, untrained boor was equally so: the bear, for instance, an English youth, and the bear leader, his unskilled and ignorant tutor. The author of The bear leaders; or, modern travelling stated in a proper light objected to the disgrace he felt was incurred by the English nation by the ridiculous custom of sending their youth to travel before they were properly qualified. A young squire without taste, knowledge or manners went off under the direction of a tutor in every respect unfit to accompany him, probably a needy scholar, Scot or Swiss, who knew no more of life than his pupil and who, with his bag wig and sword, was one of the most awkward and ridiculous figures imaginable. While these grotesque characters were in a foreign country, they were the dupes and laughing stocks of all that dealt with them or saw them, and they returned with a sufficient number of exotic follies to be equally ridiculous at home. The author believed that every young gentleman who was to travel should first learn to draw and have acquired at least enough knowledge not to be prejudiced. The tutor should be fluent in French and Italian, 30. Gentleman's, June 1753, pp. 276-277. 123 well-acquainted with books and the world, have no defect or peculiarity 31 in language or manners, and have traveled before. The trouble with articles like this, fortunately in the minority, is that the objections are not specific enough for the modern reader. The contemporary would have known, but notice that we do not, exactly why the tutor and his pupil were so grotesque and ridiculous. Steele thought that the generality of schoolmasters were ignorant and undiscerning. And Goldsmith said that men who were unsuccessful in other professions became schoolmasters. The declamation of the tailor turned teacher in the Gentleman's featured puns: "As my profession has been famous for inventing new patterns of religion and discipline, I doubt not but that I shall appear to every one who has a shred of understanding to be cut out for the employment which I have 32 chosen . . . ." However, the poem in the Mercure starring the tailor's counterpart has a much darker satirical tone. Underneath the title, "Le Maitre d'ecole, conte," was the subscription, "Ne Magister ultra ferulam." This teacher has made large sums of money having his students recite their Pater and in wielding his rod but, dissatisfied, he decides to try painting. He is so bad at it and wants so much to be "sjavant" that he signs great masterpieces with his name. Of course this is found out right away. Then he tries cutting out pieces of great paintings and pasting them together, but this fails too. Most people find his work awful, but there are always a few fools who praise him. 31. Ibid., March 1758, p. 130. 32. Ibid., August 1752, p. 369. 124 The censor finally orders him to get back to the school, where his 33 talents truly lie. Is any other criticism still more alive? To Shaw's aphorism, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach" we have added, "Those who can't teach, teach teachers." There is some truth in these modern criticisms, yet such cases are rare. A more common occurrence is the teacher who is skilled, excellent in his specialty and who has still chosen the classroom despite the fact that at teaching itself he is inept. M. Carpentier, author of the Nouveau Plan d'Education pour former des hommes instruits et des citoyens utiles, himself a teacher, would have dealt harshly with such cases in 1775. In his view, anyone lacking talent for teaching ought to quickly take up another profes sion he might be more suited for. Otherwise, he should join the public sinners of various sorts forced to walk about wearing signs as labels of their crimes. His would read "Voleur public, soi disant Instituteur." Since this was done to thieves, whose crimes could at least be made up for materially, why not punish similarly one who 34 wastes the most valuable time of all? The Gentleman's, February 1738, included an anecdote about one lazy old fellow M. Carpentier would surely have liked to put in the stocks for wasting time. About two months before a vacation, this negligent master busied his students in authors far superior to their capacity and then assured their parents that they were prodigies and 33. Mercure, September 1739, pp. 2103-2108. 34. Ibid., February 1775, p. 106. 125 could explain such a book (naming one far beyond their years) in any place one might open it. For proof, he would take up the book, which would fall open of itself at the one page the poor child had been working on for the last two months. Then he would question the boy on that particular passage, about which after so long a practice the lad knew something, and thus impress the parents. Dorante had an essentially good heart and a sensitive soul, but he had lost his parents in infancy and had been put in the care of mercenary preceptors in whose eyes money was everything and the pupil 35 nothing. He grew up despising learning and, in fact, knew very little. Many supposedly charitable foundations were announced at first with a grand display of how much they would contribute to the public good, but later were discovered to be financial schemes very well calculated for the profit of a few administrators, who were sometimes even clever enough to have people thanking them for getting rich. A notice in the Mercure of May, 1777, informed the public that they should beware one piece of false news being circulated: that M. le Chevalier de la Pleigniere was no longer taking boarding students at his academy in Caen. Those responsible simply wanted to win away for themselves the students who might have gone to him. These were several of many forms dishonesty took. It was often a problem with private tutors and governesses, who had a tendency to flatter their pupils, or with ambitious masters seeking preferment at court, who would use any means to further their ends, including libels 35. Ibid., April 1772, 2nd volume, p. 13. 126 and lying in politics for some nobleman and his party capable of giving the master favors as a reward for the propaganda he wrote for them. Ambition was also a reason other masters might copy the lazy old fellow who had his boys learn one passage in a book too hard for them, in order to deceive and impress the parents: they sought preferment for their pupils for their own sake and thus encouraged parents, even from the humble classes, who thought their children were bright and wanted, if they had any money at all, to send them off to school. Such masters would not be honest with the parents even if the children showed little promise. By no means did every school function like the upright Institution de la Jeunesse in Angers I Whatever it is that has made vice more interesting than virtue in all the classics of litera ture, as well as in our daily newspapers, manifests itself in this study: the preponderance of materials critical of teachers in the periodicals means that the section about teacher faults is longer. Curiously, the articles from the Gentleman's Magazine date from the first half of the century, those from the Mercure from the second. The Character of a Good Teacher Since there are fewer English examples of what constituted a good teacher, they can be considered first, fairly briefly. One of the items in the Gentleman's book list for July, 1752, which appeared again in January, 1753, is Youth's Friendly Monitor; or, the affectionate schoolmaster, which implies, of course, that a schoolmaster could be kindly and affectionate. 127 Stephen Duck wrote a glowing poem of praise "To Dr. Freind, on his quitting Westminster School" to retire, in which he named important men the doctor had influenced. Judging the success of a teacher by the success of his pupils was one of the most common measures of ability 36 long before today's controversies over accountability. General favorable comments include the remark (by the reviewer of Essays Moral and Literary) that the author, Mr. Knox, was well-chosen like his predecessors, men of very distinguished and eminent abilities. An April 1764 description of charity schools indicated that the free grammar school in Sheffield was in a flourishing state due to the good abilities and diligence of the present masters. The author of an account of a journey into Scotland opined that the university profes sors were very thorough and that the tutors, who had the direction of classical learning, were strict in their care of student morals. Success and experience were often mentioned together. After twenty years or more experience, some professors had clearly proven themselves successful. In the French examples men who were known for the success of their pupils were Monsieur de Longpre, teacher of mathematics, whose boarding school at Paris was frequently advertised; Messieurs Moret, who also ran a boarding school at Paris, theirs for the young nobility; Monsieur Selis, who had been named a member of the Academy of Berlin for his success in the education of youth; Monsieur Bourgelat, head of the Royal Veterinary School, whose students were already serving in different provinces, and of whom nineteen had just 36. Gentleman's, March 1733, p. 152. 128 been in a contest for a prize of fifty livres, all showing that they had learned much; and Monsieur Dupont, master of mathematics/ who gave both public courses and private lessons, and who was also singled out for his diligence and dedication. Named for their concern, enthusiasm, zeal for the education of young people were Monsieur Chompre; Monsieur Selis, aforementioned professor at the College de Louis-le-Grand; the masters at the Moret school, also praised for their experience; and Monsieur l'Abbe de l'Epee, teacher of the deaf and dumb in Paris. Monsieur l'Abbe de l'Epee was especially knowledgeable, as was the thorough Monsieur Herivault, professor of rhetoric at Louis-le-Grand, who carefully exposed the beauties of both good French writers and the Greek and Latin authors. Knowledge and intelligence were generally what distinguished the men, like Monsieur Herivault, who were spoken of as well-known or famous. For example, each of the schools of natural history founded in the Jardin du Hoi was presided over by the men most celebrated in that field: physics, chemistry, medicine, surgery; directed by d'Aubenton, Macquer, Petit, Lemonnier, Jussieu, Portal. School announcements were more attractive when they could list such men among their masters. The Abbe Chocquart's assures that the masters were all carefully chosen and well-known. Book reviewers, too, some times accomplished the same purpose as an advertisement, if they praised the author as an outstanding master. The reviewer of La Morale en action, by Monsieur Metivier, Principal of the College d*Orleans, wrote of the merit of this school. Monsieur Metivier had translated the Hymn to the Sun into Latin verse, and his philosophy professors had obtained distinctions and awards in learned and literary societies. The reviewer 129 added that he had several times rendered homage to the talents of the professor of eloquence, whom he did not name, and that several other colleagues were or should have been known by excellent elementary books they had written. He concluded enthusiastically, "Happy the city which 37 can confide the care of the education of its citizens to such men!" Monsieur Selis's name appears again in this category. At the Institution de la Jeunesse of the Hotel d'Anjou in Angers, if it were found that a student for some reason was not pro gressing, the masters hastened to inform the parents, to spare them needless expense, and were admired by the public on this account, for their honesty. Monsieur Selis was another commended for his honesty by the reviewer of his book Le Prince Desire. Akin to the examples of the importance of the teacher's role in the morality of his students but placed here because it is in terms of praise for a professor apparently adulated for his contribution to the care of morals is the judgment of the reviewer of the Pensees sur plusieurs points importans de Litterature, de Politique et de Religion, recueillies de l'Histoire Ancienne et du Traite des Etudes de M. Rollin that Monsieur Rollin's name would be dear to all good fathers and respected by the children he wrote for, who would never read him without feeling themselves inspired to become better. Palissot wrote an epigraph for the book in which he said that young people would never study lessons of a healthier morality nor a purer taste than in the works of Monsieur Rollin. As long as those who presided over public 37. Mercure, March 27, 1784, p. 178. 130 education themselves gave no other guide to their pupils, one need not 38 fear an entire decadence in the fine arts. Probably the most modern of these characteristics belonged to teachers like Monsieur Dupuis, professor of architecture at Versailles/ who sent a detailed description of his course to the Mercure in order to have the opinions of other people and an exchange of ideas, hoping thus 39 to be more useful to his students. The only other representative of the profession noted as being open to new ideas and the opinions of others was fictional, a personage in a play. In this little one-act drama a marquise comes to confide her daughter to the schoolmistress, who puts her in a place where she can watch the students at recreation 40 and form an idea of how the mistress raises youth. Another modern characteristic—at least, we tend to think of it as modern in educational history—is fairness and democracy in the classroom. Monsieur Gaillard watched attentively over the progress of the young students of his school and took pleasure in examining their compositions with the masters. He found one day that some of the working class children, who were instructed with the young nobility, had a very marked advantage over them, whether by chance or whether, not being able to count on special favors at Court, they felt more strongly the necessity of amounting to something on their own. He swore that the bishoprics and abbeys would be theirs and, turning toward the 38. Ibid., June 3, 1780, pp. 70, 72-73. 39. Ibid., December 1771, pp. 162-174. 40. Ibid., February 7, 1784, p. 46. 131 children of the nobles/ "As for you," he said, "I can see that you are counting on the merits of your ancestors, but realize that they have received their recompense and that the State owes nothing except to those who render themselves capable of serving it and doing it honor 41 by their talents." Not surprisingly, this item was published in 1782. A more universal quality is charity, which hundreds and thousands and more children as the centuries have passed have yearned for in their teachers. Many have not been disappointed. Among these were two French boys a letter signed C. G. T. told about: Monsieur Havard, master of a boarding school at Saint-Cloud for about ten years, encouraged by his first successes, had sacrificed considerable sums of money to the school. His virtuous and enlightened wife, said the writer, was like a second mother to each of the children there. Indica tive of their character was the following story: A career military man, of an ancient and distinguished family, had two of his sons' in this boarding school, the older of whom had been there about three years. Satisfied with the physical and moral progress of these lads, he was not at all considering withdrawing them before the usual age for placing them in some position. But very suddenly unfortunate circumstances forced him to take his boys home, in spite of his fear that a multitude of occupations and indispensable errands would prevent him from seeing to their education himself as well as he desired and knew he should. It was then that Monsieur and Madame Havard, even though owed money by many of their students, were reluctant to take this officer's last 41. Ibid., September 28, 1782, p. 161. 132 payments and insisted most cordially and nobly that they would keep his sons and continue to care for them just as well, without there being question of any bill until the day they entered the Ecole Militaire, 42 became pages, or went into military service. When he left the College de Louis-le-Grand, Monsieur Roi wrote a poem of gratitude to the Reverend Father de la Tour, Principal, who was evidently rather kindly, to express to him a desire that the students in the future by their successes would render their principal well-known. It was, said the poet, from de la Tour that they had learned to ennoble their careers. He had taught them patriotism. Monsieur Roi1s masters had been precious friends whose concern for him had penetrated his soul with the same feelings that his own father had 43 passed on to him. The friendship between teacher and pupil, already treated at some length in the section on the teacher's role, epitomized all that the eighteenth century sought in its good and wise masters. "Teacher," it said, "consider your pupil no different from one of your dearest and most respectable friends, who has approached you for help, perhaps with a foreign language you know well. Nothing can accomplish less than fear and pedantry. If you are only obeyed, not loved and even adored, you have accomplished nothing. Let your students forget your title. Why must there always be a yoke, irons, constraint? A degraded slave obeys only out of fear, but a child's heart is made for friend ship." 42. Ibid., October 5, 1782, pp. 38-39. 43. Ibid., March 1749, pp. 37-38. 133 An anecdote of 1775 told of a worthy man who appeared before a young prince in poor and plain clothing. "Who let in this miserable fellow?" wondered the prince. "He is a man," responded his wise 44 tutor. It is fitting to end this section with Monsieur Mahaut, the envy of many a teacher, who knew how to interest his little listeners so well that they willingly left their games for his lessons. The curious or incredulous were invited to see for themselves that this was true. How did he do it? Alas, the Mercure did not explain! Two accounts in the Gentleman's of actual professors' lives summarize the study of the eighteenth century schoolmaster in a positive way. Both the Dutch Peter Burman and the English Dr. John Burton were respected men, secure in their status as educators. They were well- educated: Professor Burman was sent to public school in Utrecht to learn languages, passed through all the classes and was admitted to the university at age thirteen. Though we are not told so specifically, we might assume that they were singled out early for their careers and had no difficulty being placed in good positions, Dr. Burman first as a professor at Utrecht, then as professor of history and poetry in the University of Leiden; Dr. Burton as tutor in Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and then pro-proctor and master of the schools at Eton. In their conception of their role as professors they followed the thinking of the majority at the time, rigidly defining their programs of instruction, allowing for no student initiative in the 44. Ibid., November 1775, p. 219. 134 planning, and putting little stress on private studies. Burton especially was convinced of the necessity of strict discipline. One of Burton's outstanding qualities was his patience in correcting student compositions, and one of his major achievements was his introduction of Locke into the schools. The individualization of instruction within a prescribed curriculum was considered just as important in the eighteenth century as it is today, and teachers who were successful at it equally admired. Burman had inherited from his own instructor, Graevius, great skill in teaching youth which came from being able to quickly perceive what they were best at, especially in literature. He then accommodated his instruction to their different abilities and attainments. He was an extremely learned and versatile man whose published works were numerous. A man also of strength and activity, he preserved himself by knowing when to interrupt his studies for relaxation and amusement, so that they would not exhaust him. Had these professors been available as private preceptors, perhaps Madame Cornuel could have fulfilled the request of the woman in the provinces. CHAPTER V TEACH BY NATURE; CURRICULA AND METHODS The three leading educational reforms of the eighteenth century, especially marked as a century for education, were teaching in the mother language, making the exact sciences a part of the curriculum, and considering correct methods of teaching as a pedagogic question. Curricula were laid down, with an increasing emphasis upon practical subjects such as mathematics, modern languages, and science instead of a minute study of Greek and Latin. "Teach by nature things the children will need to know in the course of life," said a London Magazine article."'' The people still wanted a basically uniform plan of educa tion, but one which would be modifiable to suit diverse natural abilities and the professions or careers young people were destined for. The daily study of geography and national history and literature meant that education was being modernized in the secondary schools, but these were late to be added to the curricula of the public schools. Formidable lists of books were provided; for example, a French one giving a methodical choice of books on the proper education for both sexes from earliest infancy and for all social conditions, followed by a list of elementary and classical books which could be placed in young people's hands. Teachers, parents, philosophers, and a variety of interested self-styled authorities suggested educational plans of all kinds. 1. London Magazine, May 1732, p. 66. 135 136 The periodicals first of all give a clear picture of actual general curricula and methods in use in the schools/ especially in the small French boarding schools, more innovative than the general lot of still heavily classical secondary schools. They also review many of the books containing general courses of study, and they list textbooks for particular subjects. One can first examine these actual practices, then turn fruitfully to the criticisms of the systems and methods described and the suggestions for improvement, the proposals of reform, of new courses of study. Curricula and Methods in the Schools The French boarding schools were the innovators of the eighteenth century in both curriculum and methods, bridges between secondary school and university, finishing schools for those who were not going to a university but wanted more than the classical Latin and Greek curriculum of the colleges or grammar schools, providers of supplementary education and supervision for those attending a college or grammar school at the same time. Announcements began appearing about Monsieur de Longpre's School of Mathematics and Drawing in 1768. He was a professor of mathematics who successfully remedied the ordinary problem that boys destined for the Engineering or Artillery Corps studied their mathematics too late and were rarely well enough prepared by age sixteen. The general order of studies depended on the age and intelligence of the child, but M. de Longpre believed that experience and reason had both proved that a child of seven could very well learn geometry, an easier stabject to 137 start with than grammar. This science, in helping him to reason well, would insure that his progress in other sciences would be swift and sure. The choice of subjects included mathematics, drawing, fortifica tion, tactics, geography, history, French, Latin, and German. Those who studied German spoke it with their master at least an hour every day. M. de Longpre arranged for examinations and contests every six months, with prizes to be awarded to those students who most distinguished themselves. The final step of a boy's education at this school was a course in experimental physics and another in arts and careers. Young gentlemen destined for the Navy or the Engineering or Artillery Corps could thus be sure to have, at age sixteen, the necessary knowledge to pass their examinations with distinction, having attended an institu tion which provided everything which could contribute to a distinguished 2 education, said the article about the school. By 1775 M. de Longpre had somewhat expanded the name of his school, now calling it the School of Mathematics, Drawing, Geography and History. He now made it clear that Latin, although useful and not to be neglected, was not the basis of the education he offered: a student had only two or three years of Latin study, but he assured that a young gentleman would be able to translate the best authors when he left the school. In 1782 the school was still very successful. The Sieur Baillot, lawyer in the Parlement and former King's prosecutor, boarded young gentlemen of distinguished families who wanted a sort of finishing education for them after they had completed 2. Mercure, October 1772, p. 173. 138 the college. Particularly welcome were those designed for the magistracy. High-bom young people who wanted to expand their knowledge, be groomed for entering society, and use their time profitably would find all the help they needed. Foreigners could find in his establishment thorough instruction in the French language and literature. Besides languages, students could take mathematics and physics, as well as some of the polite arts. In his school in Paris the Sieur Viard adopted M. Dumas' Bureau Typographique for teaching the youngest pupils French, Latin, spelling, writing, counting, and the first elements of grammar, following the practice he had observed in the famous schools of the Messieurs Chompre as well as in other well-known schools, and in private schools like his own, under the skillful use of preceptors attached to the schools and even by a rather large number of outside masters, most of whom did admirable things with these subjects. The Bureau Typographique was a game with alphabet pieces very much in vogue for teaching little children to read and write. For French he used M. Restaud's small grammar, and he intro duced the use and practice of Latin little by little, each day having the students learn a certain number of Latin words and common phrases, drawn from the best authors, like Erasmus or Mathurin Cordier, in order to follow Montaigne's advice and accustom youth to speak Latin comfortably because of its familiarity to them. Next he used the method of MM. Rollin and Pluche, and especially the practice of interlinear texts (M. Dumarsais' in his school), during which translation, always to come before composing themes in his 139 opinion, he carefully explained the rules and the reasons for each turn of phrase {Latin and French) to the children. His curriculum included M. Chompre's books, those of the best classical authors of the colleges, and as many lessons as possible of the university professors and Jesuit priests. M. Hure was his master for geometry, sphere and fortifications, following particularly the plans proposed by MM. Clairaut and de la Chapelle. He also had a talented master who taught German to those of his pupils destined for the Army. He brought in from outside masters for writing, drawing, dancing, music and fencing, depending on the parents' taste and wishes. Since several of his materials and methods were innovative— games, translations for Latin study, for example—he felt it necessary that his advertisement begin defensively. Every absolutely new theory, every system of education consisting of pure untried speculation, can be legitimately suspected of some defect or insufficiency, said the writer. Practice, by concrete, incontestable facts, has to have proved whatever is most or least advantageous about any method. The Sieur Viard in his new educational establishment, Place de l'Estrapade, had 3 recourse only to those which had already completely succeeded. On certain days he made the young men recite or speak in public. As soon as they were capable of it, they had to write compositions on various subjects, particularly in the epistolary style. The oldest were taken to hear sermons, harangues, academic discourses, and court cases. 3. Ibid., April 1753, p. 149. 140 They did some experimental physics, some surveying, and sometimes went on botanic field trips into the country. The Abbe Chocquart's institution was called The School of Latin and Greek, but as the first principle here was a great variety of lessons in order to avoid boredom, the name was somewhat misleading. French, Italian, Spanish, English, and German were taught as well as Greek and Latin. The morning hours of the day were given to the studies 1 that demanded the greatest application: Latin and French, arithmetic, followed by music and physical exercise. After a mid-day dinner and recess or recreation period came algebra, geometry, fortifications, optics, drawing, mechanics and physics, geography, history. Since the time for the lessons in French, arithmetic, geography and history was so short, hours that they occupied were given on other days to German, Italian, English or Spanish or military exercises, or to constructing plans of cities, or to work with a file or a lathe, or even to some science relative to the career one was destined for. The advertisement 4 claimed that the students made rapid progress on thxs regimen. For students who were not boarding and for those still attending college, special lessons could be arranged. The former schools were all in Paris. In the suburbs at Pantin was the boarding school of M. Audet, Master of Arts of the University of Paris, formerly teacher of the belles lettres in the College of Chalons-sur-Marne, and member of that city's Academy. He prided him self on his masters' solid grounding in their subjects: Latin, geography, 4. Ibid., December 1760, p. 210. 141 history, reading, writing, numbers, which were taught during four daily study periods interspersed with four recesses. Fencing and dancing were optional. He offered separate private reading, writing, and arithmetic classes with resident masters. Outside of Paris there were also four schools which were described in the Mercure: the Sieur Pain's at Vaureal, one at Eu, the Abbe Jurain's at Reims and one at Angers. The Sieur Pain, Master of Arts of the University of Paris, formerly head of a boarding school in Pontoise, wishing in 1782 to limit his efforts to forming a very small number of selected students in the complete program he had devised in 1773, had retired to Vaureal. Concerning the study of languages, he joined to the very well-known method of Dumarsais the procedure indi cated in the essays at the end of the work entitled Maniere d'etudier les langues. He gave his students lessons in religious, secular and national history, in geography and the sphere, in arithmetic, algebra and geometry, all graduated according to their developing capabilities. The success that he had enjoyed at Pontoise as long as he had been permitted to use his special methods was a guarantee to the public of 5 his enthusiasm, said the advertisement. Every August 25, during a public demonstration, his students would illustrate the lessons he had given them. The boarding school at Eu, newly established, did not limit itself to ordinary courses, either, but expanded its curriculum to include arithmetic, geometry, geography and history, depending on the 5. Ibid., November 1782, p. 79. 142 inclinations of the students and the wishes of the parents. They would not have to pay special masters, except perhaps for dancing and music. The school at the Hotel de Ville of Reims had been created for the progress of the arts and sciences. An article about it gave the plan the Abbe Jurain, teacher of mathematics and correspondent of the Academie Royale des Sciences, proposed to follow for lessons in mathematics, French philosophy and experimental physics. First, he said that it was surprising that scholasticism was still subsisting even after Descartes, Malebranche, Newton and Locke.^ His students would spend about three weeks explaining the logic of these great thinkers. For ten months the first hour and a half would consist of explanation of the rules of arithmetic; algebra; and elementary geometry, both theoretical and practical. The second hour and a half would be the logic mentioned above, then theoretical and experimental physics, all proportionate to the progress the students had already made. They would do a little metaphysics for natural phenomena. This ten-month course would be completely in French. Each Saturday, beginning with the first non-holiday in January, there would be public demonstrations, with a lesson, to serve as a recapitulation of all the lessons of the week. Among the advantages that the students would find in this school were a French philosophy, from which would be banished all the inutility of the ancient, and a course which would only last ten months and thus would spare foreigners a year of boarding school. Those native to 6. Ibid., December 1753, volume 1, p. 149. 143 Reims could enroll in a physics course that one would try to make useful for their industries, without, however, neglecting the usefulness it could bring to other regions as well. Very complete mathematics were another advantage of Jurain's school, as well as the little time that students would have to spend on these lessons, which would only be for three hours a day, all in one session, which would give them the advantage of attending the schools of drawing in the morning and of learning the parts of this art which would best apply to their respec tive careers. At the Institution de la Jeunesse in the Hotel d'Anjou at Angers care was taken not to overwork the children. Their work and play were varied to avoid dissatisfaction. They went successively from one object of study to another as they progressed. Their studies consisted of French language and literature, German, English, geography, history, arithmetic and albegra, the geometry an officer needed to know, forti fications, and experimental physics. Those with low aptitude would receive free extra tutoring. These eight schools, representing about half of those which advertised in the French magazines, were typical in the curricula they offered. The majority were called Schools of Mathematics or of Architecture. M. Duhamel gave all of his boys the same preparation in the mathematics, even those who would not make their careers in the corps most needing mathematics. He reasoned that it would be good for them no matter what their professions. The earliest established were the Sieur Viard's and the Abbe Jurain's in 1753, with M. Chocquart's following in 1760 and the rest in the decade from 1772 to 1782. Most 144 of the English boarding schools did not advertise in the periodicals, but they too appeared from mid- to late-century, and for the same reasons as the French: to supplement the limited classical education of the colleges and grammar schools and to provide a better-supervised environment for their pupils. Most children in both countries lived at home while they were in secondary school, but for those who boarded at the most illustrious French college, Louis-le-Grand in Paris, or at the English great schools of Harrow, Westminster, Winchester, and Eton, overall supervision was lax, while discipline, when it was applied, was extremely severe. Living conditions and food were also poor. A plan of education for Mr. Elphinston's Academy was listed in the Gentleman's book section for June and July, 1742 (page 339), but no curriculum is described in the periodical itself. Henry Whitaker's School was apparently more middle class than any of the French schools in its offering of English, Latin, writing, arithmetic and merchants' accounts. The French boarding house at Westminster included writing, accounts, geography, and mathematics as well as French. Table 2 shows the curricula of a representative sample of schools advertised or mentioned in some way in the periodicals. There are over twenty of them, but curricula are only given for fourteen. Their titles, directors, locations, and dates they appeared in the magazines are given at the left, although sometimes no particular director was named or the location was not mentioned. The schools with the broadest curricula, the Abbe chocquart's and the Sieur Viard's, date from mid-century. Table 2. Curricula of the Boarding Schools French: M. Audet Pension at Pantin 1772, 1773, 1775 Le Sieur Baillot Pension at Paris 1780 M. L'Abbe Chocquart Ecole Latine et Grecque Paris 1760 M. d'Aubenton Ecole d'Architecture et de Dessin, Figure, Mathematiques, Paysage etc. Paris 1775, 1777, 1780, 1782 M. Duhamel Ecole de Genie Versailles 1775 M. Dupont Ecole de mathematiques Paris 1771, 1772 Pensionnat d'Eu 1779, 1780 M. L'Abbe Jurain Ecoles a L'Hotel de Ville de Rheims 1753 M. de Longpre Ecole de Mathematiques et de Dessin Paris 1768, 1771, 1772, 177 1778, 1782 Le Sieur Pain Pension a Vaureal 1782 M. Serane Institution de la Jeunesse a Angers 1772 Le Sieur Viard Nouvel Etablissement pour 1'Education Paris 1753 English: French Boarding House Westminster 1748 Henry Whitaker's School Manchester 1752 1 mathematics physique arith. geom. algebra sphere experimentale mechanics philos. archi. d: 1 j X X X X X X X X X X :iquesf Paysage, X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X .771, 1772, 1775, X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X • arts & mechanics philos. archi. drawing figure lands. perspec. p.e. caxeers fencing tact X X X X X X X X X arts s careers fencing tactics fortifi. hist. geog. Fren. Eng. Germ. Ital. Span. Latin X X X x x X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XXX X X XX X X X X X X X X XX XXX X X X X X 145 r. Fren. Eng. Germ. Ital. Span. Latin writ. read. sp. dance mus. accounts X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 146 Mathematics were the most popular subject offered. Sometimes the statement is only generally made that mathematics were offered; sometimes arithmetic, which might be called numeration or calcul numerique, geometry, and algebra were specified: the term mathematics meant these three. The schools list sphere, the Sieur Viard's right after geometry and the Sieur Pain's, where it follows geography in the list and precedes arithmetic, algebra and geometry. It could have meant the study of spheres in mathematics or of the globe in geography. Second in popularity were history and geography, usually studied together, although some educators were objecting to this and wanted them separated. History was almost universally considered as a means of studying morality (see Chapter VIXX). The Sieur Viard listed chronology, morality, and politics as separate headings, but normally these were just included in history. Next were the languages, especially French, Latin, and German for those entering military service; drawing; and experimental physics. Writing got surprising attention for what was considered the province of the basic elementary studies, but this can be explained in that at higher levels one learned to artistically polish one's hand writing and "write to perfection." The Sieur Viard listed grammar separately, the Sieur Baillot and M. Serane literature, but I did not show them separately in the table. One might expect rather more emphasis on the polite arts in the boarding schools. By way of contrast, the curriculum of the College Royal de France of Paris in 1729 was traditional and classical, including Hebrew; Greek; mathematics; philosophy; Latin eloquence; medicine, surgery, 147 pharmacy, botany; Arabic; canon law; and Syrian—no history, geography, modern languages, science except for those necessary for medicine, or anything totally practical like the merchant's accounts of the English boarding schools. The curriculum of Louis-le-Grand was similar. The great English grammar schools offered English, Latin, Greek, the Eastern tongues. A poem by a former student in praise of Westminster School gives us a fairly detailed enumeration of this classical curriculum. After describing the old buildings, the poet comments that the youth are all eager to learn,, as studious and active as the pupils of ancient Greece. He allots a portion of his poem to each of the seven classes into which the school was divided. The little ones are next to the door. Sweet and innocent, they spend their time working on Aesop's fables and the rudiments of speech. The slightly older students of the second class study Aesop in greater depth. These young boys dine at home and impress their grooms and mothers with their learning. Across from the first two classes is the third, which studies Martial, Justin, and Ovid, as well as how poets write. They try writing a little poetry themselves because of the classical idea that one learns by imitation. (Hill of the Plain Dealer said there was no more delightful way to convey useful knowledge into the minds of men than by copying the allegories of the ancients.) The fourth class works on Virgil and Greek, charming their hearers at their fathers' country seats, arguing with the curate and winning, gaining their nurses' praise. They begin to be aimed for specific trades as accountants, lawyers' clerks, apothecary's apprentices. Interest in politics begins to blossom in the fifth class, which does further Greek 148 and now begins Horace. But the politics are extra-curricular, debated only "The doctor's back being turn'd, and lessons done; No fear of his 7 uplifted arm to run . - . -" By now the sixth class is skilled in the classics. They supply and honor both universities: Dryden, Rowe, Prior, Cowley and Newcastle were in this class. Finally, Greek, especially Homer, and the Eastern tongues are the province of the seventh and highest class. The books that Dr. John Burton of Eton chiefly read and recom mended to his pupils were Sanderson and Le Clerc for logic, preparatory to Locke; Aristotle and Cicero, Puffendorff1s abridgments, and Sanderson's lectures for ethics; and Whiteside and Bradley's course of experiments for natural philosophy, this iatter indicating that some science was included, at least at Eton. For Greek he lectured two times per week in Xenophon and Demosthenes, hearing his pupils translate and criticizing them. He was less attentive to Latin. Dr. Burton laid little stress on private studies, as we saw in the preceding chapter, though he frequently required compositions, either translated from approved authors or original, to form and polish their style. The notable exception to the strictly classical curriculum in public education was not found in England or France, but in America, at the Philadelphia Academy. The Gentleman's reported on it in 1753, when it was still in the planning stages, and a year later, once it was in operation. Its masters included a rector who taught Greek and Latin, English and mathematics. The pupils in the Latin and Greek 7. Gentleman's, November 1736, p. 679. 149 schools were taught the grammatical construction of the classics. Lectures were read to those advanced enough, and the subject matters of each author were explained and illustrated and his beauties pointed out. Even the children's exercises were ccniposed by the masters and adapted to their capacity and proficiency. They consisted of history, morals, and the plainest parts of natural philosophy, along with the languages. In the Latin schools the masters were also to particularly correct, refine, and beautify the mother tongue, so that the scholars could understand it well and write it with purity and elegance. English was taught in a grammatical manner in a separate school, for the benefit of those who were not inclined to learn Latin. Learning Latin alone did not mean mastery of the mother tongue, since the rules of Latin grammar were not exactly the same as those of English. A person unacquainted with any grammar would not be able to express him self with propriety and correctness. At the time, only such branches of science as were adapted to the circumstances of the province were taught, but additions were expected in time to improve it into a collegiate institution and a seminary for every kind of science. The Philadelphia Academy was founded on the principle of instructing children in the dead and living languages, particularly their mother tongue, and all other useful branches of the liberal arts and sciences. In addition to those already mentioned, these included geography, chronology, logic, rhetoric, French, German, drawing in perspective. This is much more like the curricula of the small boarding schools described than of the other French and English schools. 150 Prizes However else they differed, all the schools offered prizes to encourage academic excellence. University prizes are announced in the Historical Chronicles of the Gentleman's Magazine and generally in the "Journal Politique" section of the Mercure de France. The Parlement was present for the distribution of prizes at the Sorbonne reported in October, 1763 (page 207). Vicaire, Rector of the University of Paris, presented a list of the names of the prize-winning students in 1759 to the King, the Dauphin, and the Due de Bourgogne. Occasionally, complaints of partiality somewhat reduced the honor, as in a letter to Lord North in 1775 asking that the prizes for composition be more fairly awarded. Books Offering General Courses of Study Sometimes the boarding houses and grammar schools made their curricula available to the public, either for private use or for use by I other schools. In fact, a characteristic of the announcements of course plans used in particular schools is that they point out their adapta bility. Thus, noted on the announcement of the Plan for the Course of Study used by the Students of the College Royal d'Estampes is the comment that this course applied to all youth without exception and covered all the material represented in the general teaching practice of 8 the universities and military schools. The Course of Study to be used either in public or private education from the seventh form to Philosophy, inclusively, composed 8. Mercure, July 11, 1789, p. 95. 151 and printed by the king's order for the colleges of the Ecole Royale Militaire, also had been designed to include subjects equally fitting for all men and all conditions, because these colleges took in without distinction all the children who asked to be admitted and who did not have any particular profession as a target. Consequently the course could be adopted in any college in the kingdom. The complete collec tion contained 42 volumes, including the translations for the masters' use and convenience. These volumes could be bought as a set or separately, at the lowest possible price. Instead of separate specialized textbooks, schools might use books containing complete courses of study by the same author, usually in several volumes. The Praeceptor, for example, containing a general course of education in two thick volumes, with maps and illustrations, was designed for the higher classes in the schools and for readers yet inexperienced in the sciences—in other words, those whose schooling had been cut short or neglected. Here are its contents: Part X. Reading, speaking, writing letters Part XX. Geometry Part III. Geography and Astronomy Part IV. Chronology and History Part V. Rhetoric and Poetry Part VI. Drawing Part VII. Logic Part VIII. Natural History Part IX. Ethics Part X. Trade and Commerce Part XI. Laws and Government ^ Part XII. Human Life and Manners 9. Gentleman's, April 1748, p. 163. 152 One author designed a course like this for the largest group whose education was likely to have been cut short or neglected—the lower classes. These young people had to begin work very early and therefore had no time for traditional classical studies. Persuaded (like Montaigne) that they would do better to have a quality rather than a merely copious education in their heads, he contented himself with gathering together in a short collection the elementary notions that would interest them between the ages of 12 and 18, leaving it up to the parents or masters to adapt them to the unique needs of their own children. His course offerings are a bit more limited and simplified than those of The Praeceptor, but otherwise are very similar. Most published courses of study were less adaptable than these, however, and for various reasons were much more effective just for private use. Three typical titles give a taste of their personal nature: Idee du Monde, ou Idees qenerales des choses dont un jeune homme doit etre instruit (1783); Mentor Universel, ouvrage destine a 1'Education (1784—one volume at the beginning of each month); Le Livre des Enfans et des jeunes Gens sans etudes, ou Idees generales des choses qu'ils ne doivent pas ignorer. The Mentor Universel cost 13 livres 4 sols for a year's subscription in Paris, 16 livres 4 sols for the provinces, conparable to the current rate for some of the more expensive monthlies and a bargain at today's prices for correspondence courses. Also personal were the popular collections of letters on various subjects and the Etrennes (Gifts), sometimes called almanachs, 153 which often were courses of study, rather intimate in style, or general collections of advice like the letters. The subjects of the 26 Letters from a Tutor to his Pupils included: A Teachable Disposition Good Manners Temperance Diversions Novels The Use of Mathematical Learning Reading and Pronunciation Style The Idioms of Language The Use of History Taste The Origin and Use of Fables The Use of Heathen Learning The Consent between the Scriptures and the Heathen Poets Horace's Love of Solitude The Effect of Learning upon the Manners True and False Honour Literary Composition To a Young Gentleman going into the Army The Practice of Devotion Parties The Character of Voltaire Private Judgement10 The first and second parts of the Etrennes d'un Pere a ses enfans, published in Paris in 1773, were in the form of dialogues written in the simple, easy, varied style of conversation. Since these dialogues presented various objects of instruction, a father could quite usefully put them into his children's hands. Reading the dialogues on their own would raise questions in their minds. If all worked as it was supposed to, their curiosity would cause them to initiate studies the teacher could then expand upon. The third part, published in January, 1774, was more concerned with practical morality. 10. Ibid., March 1781, p. 127. 154 Another cinnouncement at the end of the year named the whole collection the Petit Magasin des Enfans and said it contained a complete and precise course of education for children of both sexes.^ Subjects named were religion, geography, history, morality, and natural history. The Etrennes aux Ecoliers, announced in 1787 and 1789, was more like an early yearbook. It was hoped it would inspire a love of study and beneficence. Along with selected literary passages would be an account of students' virtuous and charitable actions each year, with the names of those who had been awarded the most important University prizes. Some student and teacher writing would also be included, with a view to making this annual truly a work by and for students. What the eighteenth century thought it was necessary to know occasionally results in some strange combinations of information. The Connoissances elementaires et indispensables pour les Enfans des Villes et des Campagnes, divided into eight chapters, contained announcements on various subjects, a little dictionary, a universal geography, a section on human knowledge, items about commerce, maxims for running a house, and letters on different subjectsI This volume was the complement of two others: Grammaire Frangaise, ou Rudiment des Enfans de la Campagne and les Devoirs de la Religion Chretienne pour les Enfans de la Campagne, the set of three entitled Bibliotheque des Enfans de la Campagne. Since princes were privately tutored, another category of general course studies for private use was composed of plans tailored 11. Mercure, December 25, 1784, p. 187. 155 to royalty and the highest nobility. The Mercure (September 16, 1780, page 104) reported on Condillac's course of study for the Infant Due de Parme. It had appeared in 16 volumes, 12 on history? the first four were a grammar, an art of writing, an art of reasoning, and an art of thinking. At the beginning of the first volume he had included an introduction explaining his method and the motives that had made him prefer it. The first study we should take up, he said, is that of the human mind, next of historic tableaux of the earliest progress man had made in the arts, in morality, in legislation. Starting out this way, as we saw in the theory chapter, seemed surprising to most—backwards. Was it possible to expect a mere child to be a metaphysician and moralist? The Plan of Education for a Young Prince was a rather detailed enumeration of a largely classical course of study in much the same vein as Fenelon's Telemaque, written as part of his scheme for educat ing the Due de Bourgogne. The Prince was first to study Greek and Latin; then he was to take up mathematics, algebra, fluxions, the doctrine of curves; nature and its operations, natural and experi mental philosophy. He could wander the globe studying and observing phenomena. He also studied poetry, mythology, eloquence in prose and verse. He was to have dancing to give him grace, which commanded attention in the House of Lords and in Commons; painting; music. History was his great study. It was to be a very flexible plan with no definite number of years in which to be completed and no set hours. It was to be done at all hours by a skillful tutor until the prince * was twenty. 156 Two men in France specialized in writing courses designed to fill in the gaps left by the ordinary sequence of secondary education. They were providing "home-study boarding schools," as it were, since the boarding school goal was also to amend traditional errors. We would call the materials they produced a kind of programmed instruc tion. M. Luneau de Boisjermain of Paris published the Journal d'Education, in which he intended to treat successively all the subjects crucial to the physical and moral education of young people: the study of foreign languages, of ancient and modern history, of geography, of physics and natural history, of morality, of the belles- lettres, of the principles and practices in the arts. The first four books of the course in the Italian language had appeared before the Mercure's announcement. It was an ambitious scheme, and either it failed or perhaps it was only intended to last a year. At any rate, no more announcements appeared in the Mercure, and the Journal d1 Education did last only one year. But M. Boisjermain went on writing textbooks for various subjects, as he had done before. The Cours d'Education by M. Wandelaincourt, prefect of the College de Verdun, fared better. It was divided into three parts. In the first he dealt with the education of very young children, of country children, and of girls. The second was a complete course of studies designed to prepare a young man for any career. Beginning at age eight or nine until sixteen young men worked on the study, divided into five levels, of languages and science: religion, natural history, ancient and modern history, philosophy and literature, French 157 and Latin. The third was devoted to the particular science the boy needed for the career he had chosen. Thus, the young ecclesiastic would specialize in theology# the lawyer in law, the merchant in mercantile studies. This part necessitated specialized studies beyond the realm of the ordinary master. M. Wandelaincourt had tried to give young people the informa tion they were capable of learning as their intellectual faculties developed and became more perfected. His method of teaching, crowned by unequivocal success, read the announcement, had the precious advantage of economizing the most beautiful years of life and of con verting work into amusement, by very happily uniting the study of languages and the sciences.^ By 1782 he had decided to omit Latin entirely from his course. In 1785 he had created his Vues sur 1'Education d'un Prince and put it back in. For the prince he began with drawing and music, then went on to the art of writing, which he taught his pupil before reading; logic and grammar followed, preceding the study of the arts, of physics, astronomy, mathematics, and geography. Then came history, morality, and religion. He ended the course with Latin. It was supposed to be an easy way of teaching a young nobleman requiring no textbooks and not much time. He was not as daring as Condillac, but his placement of Latin was unorthodox. Neither was he rigid in this order of affairs: he admitted that the tutor had to study his student's character before deciding on an exact order of instruction. 12. Ibid., August 14, 1779, pp. 131-132. 158 A serious problem of the courses used by people trying to learn on their own, without the help of a tutor or master, was that prior knowledge was sometimes supposed, a step or an explanation having been inadvertently omitted along the way. The tutor could fill in the gaps, but a student alone might often wish that his text would teach him a certain rudiment instead of supposing that he already knew it. On the other hand, the tutor or the master himself could cause the same kind of trouble and make work with the book alone more satis factory, as in the case of a young Saxon peasant, born February 24, 1715, sent very young to school as a poor child of the village. He learned to read from the Bible, which gave him so much pleasure that he wanted to read other books but had no opportunity to get any. In about a year his master began to teach him to write, which he did not like at first, but when books were given to him to copy as an exercise, he worked almost night and day. After four years of school, when he was ten, he started on arithmetic, which was difficult because he wanted to know the theory involved instead of just applying the rules his master gave him. Here was a child who wanted to know why, not just how, but his master would not explain, and in disgust he stopped going to school. After that, he was self-taught, eventually acquiring a reputa tion as a learned man, a curiosity, of course, because he was a peasant. Criticisms of Educational Systems and Methods The majority of the general criticisms of method and curricula are English, but the French examples, even though fewer, agree with the English in favoring newer, more practical subjects over the 159 traditional Latin and Greek and in questioning the value of travel as part of a young person's education and training. In one of the weekly essays from the Universal Spectator quoted in the Gentleman's, Mr. Spectator censured the modern education of fine gentlemen and ladies. He said that he was convinced that the English petits maatres made such a contemptible figure because of their educa tion, not because of the example set them after they were mature. After pronouncing himself against foreign tutors, he asked Mr. Stonecastle for some hints of what to do to educate a fine gentleman and for a comment on what was wrong with the methods of the day. Stonecastle answered with a passage from the Persian Letters, Selim to his friend Mirza. Selim was at the time in the company of a clergy man who was in charge of the education of several young noblemen. It was difficult to get him to engage in conversation until he had occasion to quote a Latin poet. Then he came forth with a learned deluge Selim could only admire, although barely understand. His scholars were going into government and the legislature. Was he teaching them the English Constitution? No, they knew even less about it than Selim. Their only notions of government came from the imaginary republic of a Greek philosopher. Did he at least instruct them in Greek and Roman virtue, the love of liberty of the ancients? No, the vigor of their spirits was thwarted instead. They were just supposed to acquire some Greek and Latin words and were pronounced dunces if they were backward at it. Then, if only words were taught them, at least they learned their English well, did they not? Eloquence 160 was important in the government. But no: they learned only dead languages. If they were sent abroad to study, they did no better. The custom of sending young gentlemen abroad to study was a controversial issue, as we have seen. An essay in the London Journal found that sending young gentlemen too early to travel was an error in education. There were no deficiencies in British education to occasion sending English youth elsewhere. The author named great Englishmen educated at home. M. Crousaz of Lausanne spoke against sending young people into foreign countries: doing so injured the reputation of their own. Why send them abroad to learn dancing, fencing, and riding along with the academics? Such masters were plentiful in England, even if not at Oxford and Cambridge. The Greeks and Spartans did not send their children abroad, and the Romans only did when they were becoming corrupt. In modern times, neither the Italians, Spaniards, French, Dutch, nor Germans did. Controversial though it was, travel was still a lesser issue than the problem of classical studies. Like Stonecastle, James Nelson, apothecary, author of An Essay on the Government of Children, under three General Heads, Health, Manners, and Education, was against them. He observed that nothing was more talked of than consulting the genius of the child, nor less practiced. He gave no new precepts but said what should be done was to enforce those already known. It was absurd to set every boy to write verses, putting them all on the same track no matter what their inclination, capacity, fortune, or intended profes sion. Those destined for trade and business should study English, writing, arithmetic, the rudiments of geography, and drawing instead of 161 dead languages. This desire for practicality becomes probably the most familiar of all the educational arguments to the reader of the eighteenth-century periodicals. Thus the trend was toward the sciences, away from Greek and Latin, but one can always find defenders of the classics. If Stone- castle wanted his fine young gentleman and Nelson his middle class lad to spend less time on the dead languages, Lancastriensis thought that young men of the merchant class needed more. They were taught English grammar, writing, accounts, bookkeeping, navigation. They studied spelling lists, the parts of speech, subject and verb agreement. They had their dictionaries to endlessly look up words and learn their meanings. Yet none of these things could they manipulate very well when they themselves wrote. Writing and accounts took up most of their time, with perhaps some dancing, drawing, and French. The copies or accounting books were sent home to the father with a letter from the master, and yet the son wrote nonsense under a fine handwriting. Lancastriensis wished to explode such erroneous modes of education. The simplicity of manners and the sound education of former times had been supplanted by affectation and flimsiness. The signs of the times were macaroni learning and macaroni dress. The solution was to confide the son to a good classical master, with whom he would have English lessons, too, at first, and then Latin alone. By learning Latin, which has the best grammatical system, we at once learn not only the theory for all other languages, but half 13. Gentleman's. May 1776, pp. 216-217. 162 attain all European languages originated from it. Besides grammar, from Greece and Rome we get morality, mythology, elegance of taste, and refinement of sentiment, insisted Lancastriensis. This study would be accompanied by memorizing exercises and writing, as well as some arithmetic to be fitted in here and there. A little dancing could provide a break, then it was back to the classics, beginning with the simplest dialogues, then epistles, then translations and themes, with the minutest regard to spelling and punctuation, style and taste. An hour per week would be given to geography and astronomy. It would be a busy schedule, but that was all to the good. The Reverend John Jebb also felt that the languages were neglected. According to him, the major problem of a Cambridge educa tion was dissipation caused by lack of emulation. The first years at the university were usually spent in indolence and extravagance, the last in labor that enfeebled the mental powers and frequently destroyed the health. The course of study was too narrow: mathematics and natural philosophy were necessary, but metaphysics and moral truth ought also to be included. History was not sufficiently encouraged. People in literary studies did not receive enough distinction for their efforts; the prizes went to the sciences. Therefore, the literary student saw his acquisitions as unimportant in the eyes of his fellow-citizens and turned to dissipation. How could this situation be remedied? First an examination of all undergraduates, ranged according to their standing in the university, should be annually held in the Senate-house, in the May term. Second, the subject matter of this examination should be the law of nature and nations, chronology, 163 history, classics, mathematics, metaphysics/ and natural and moral philosophy. Third, the classical authors and the portions of history to be prepared should be given out each year for the year following, with honorary awards to be given to those who distinguish themselves most in each division. Fourth, the same should be done for mathematics and philosophy, but within very careful limits, because they had taken too much attention. Fifth, to encourage Latin and English composition, beautiful books as well as honorary awards should be given- Sixth, attainments in sacred literature should be given their share of praise. Seventh, this examination would not supersede but would be preparatory to that for the Bachelor's degree. Mr. Jebb followed up his criticisms and suggestions by pro posing a grace in February of the next year (1774) at Cambridge for appointment of a committee to draw up a plan for the improvement of the academic course of the university. This grace passed through all forms without opposition. In the same month a parent wrote in support of Jebb's views and added one more criticism: the time between admission to the university and the examinations was so long that many got through all their years of academic residence without ever being evaluated. Syndics were appointed to deliberate on the grace, which passed the two houses on February 17. The syndics drew up nineteen resolutions on the times, subjects, and methods of examinations, which they were now offering to the Senate for approbation. Meanwhile, another parent wrote in April in response to the first, disagreeing that the mathematics were over-emphasized. It took time to teach young men how to work with tools, like algebra, useful to 164 higher knowledge. The learned Saxon peasant would have seconded this parent, who was also against frequent examinations before the University because there would be too many for them to be open enough and there would follow continual complaints of partiality and injustice. In the colleges, however, such a procedure would be acceptable. But the resolutions did not pass. One reason they did not was objection to the severity of the penalty for non-attendance. In May another defender of the present Cambridge system said in his letter that he was also glad the mathematics and natural philosophy were stressed, as mathematics was the best former of the reasoning process. At that point the Jebb case disappeared from the Gentleman's. (It was intro duced in Chapter III, School Life Section*) Seven years later the examination and classical studies issue was still unresolved. An Oxford, rather than Cambridge, observer, this time, described the outdated system. The first exercise necessary for a degree was holding a disputation in the public schools on some question of logic or moral philosophy. This was called-"doing Generals" and was carried on in the strict forms of the syllogism, based on the dull subjects which formed the learning of the middle ages. Within a week after admission anybody could pass it because of the "firings" (called "arguments" at Cambridge), which the two disputants memorized and then sat facing each other from one o'clock until three. If a Proctor came in, they started reciting in Latin, frequently not knowing what they were talking about. For example, one "firing," translated, 165 began, "What think you of this question, whether universal ideas are 14 formed by abstraction?" These exercises took place at least four times. Then there followed an examination in five subjects: logic, grammar, geometry, rhetoric, and ethics. A "scheme" provided the student with all the likely questions, which he memorized. The one thing he actually really prepared was the examination on three classical authors of his own choosing, and for this he had had three or four years. Pope commented in Spence that by writing something "against the methods now used11 in education "I might have been more useful that way than any 15 other." Education is one of the major topics of Book II of the Dunciad (in four books, 1743), the figure of Dulness directly associ ated with the question of the aims of education. Pope took a middle course somewhere between those who favored a heavily classical curriculum and those who would exclude them entirely in favor of the sciences. He felt that both extremes of the subject matter of education—the words of grammar and languages and the things of nature—were mistaken. Even though the French presses had been groaning under the weight of the plethora of recent educational treatises, even though all the newspapers had been overloaded with them, they all repeated a few already familiar maxims, and the authors of the treatises were more concerned with trying to make students like their present work than 14. Ibid., June 1780, pp. 277-278. 15. C. R. Kropf, "Education and the Neoplatonic Idea of Wisdom in Pope's Dunciad," Texas Studies in Literature and Language XIV, 4 (Winter, 1973), p. 594. 166 with creating anything new, said one of the speakers at a meeting of the 16 Academie Royale des Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts of Rouen. The French criticism also tended to be against the traditional classical curriculum. M. Mathias, Principal of the College of Langres, in his book De L'Enseignement Public, wrote that the studies of the colleges were really unplanned and haphazard. The general public never thought about the schools and had no idea what children were being taught. The first books their masters put into their hands were grammars, in which imperfect observations on languages were presented in the most general, abstract terms. The masters were teaching the children grammar they could not possibly understand because they had been started over their heads, with no step-by-step build-up and not even a sound basis or foundation. They were given fat dictionaries, the sight of which alone made them shudder, and they were then to translate bad French dictated to them by the master into equally bad Latin, or vice versa. One of these was called the theme, the other the version, even though both were actually versions, in which one converts a good 17 thing into something bad, or something bad into another even worse. The final touch to all this was logic: syllogisms and enthymemes, that no one had any use for anymore, and physics, involving endless discussions on fullness and emptiness. The children learned nothing about the discoveries of Galileo, Kepler, and Newton. They left their philosophy course without familiarity with electrical phenomena, the 16. Mercure, May 17, 1783, p. 141. 17. Ibid., September 24, 1785, pp. 153-157. 167 laws of motion, the prodigies of mechanics, or at any rate, possessing only incomplete, vague, disordered ideas about these things, a state more pernicious to the mind and reason than absolute ignorance would be. This was what was taught during the seven or eight years they were imprisoned in the colleges, said M. Mathias; what child could get out of it with his own natural sound mind? Giving him such and such knowledge should be merely a means to an end, and the end was to form his mind and teach him to use it in his profession and in his life. Proposed Reforms Since both English and French criticisms of the practice of the day were usually aimed at the preponderance of Greek and Latin studies to the virtual exclusion of the sciences and other more practical subjects, and at a lack of concern for methodology which resulted in a dull disregard for individuality, it is to be expected that proposals for change and reform would stress teaching in the mother language, including more science and practical material, and trying to consider the needs ond feelings of each child; this is, indeed, what happened. Speaking to the supposed masters of a proposed English academy, the author of a Gentleman's article made these suggestions of curriculum and methods: Begin with Euclid's elements, with spelling and punctuation. Form the rules for punctuation and then lay a printed book before the children and show them what parts are well-punctuated and which are not. After they understand somewhat, dictate or read a short passage to them and have them write it as fast as they can. As homework, have them make it as correct as they can, then review and correct the next day. 168 Give them, after some time, criticism of good and bad English authors. Observe the beauties and the blunders of language, that they may seek the one and avoid the other. Observe where the author's ideas are un clear; for example, Addison wrote in the Spectator, "The whole circle (he meant line) of our lives is concluded (read included) between our 18 births and deaths." A circle cannot (though a line may) be included between two points. Thus they can learn to read an author handsomely. Go on with Euclid, he advised the masters, and demonstrate all the rules of arithmetic. Touch on the most necessary parts of astronomy and geography and teach the use of globes. Also teach the general properties of bodies, the laws of motion, gravitation, a general view at least of history and chronology. Help them with their reasoning by showing them how to distinguish truth from error and how the mind forms a judgment of things- Demonstrate the existence and attributes of God and our rela tions with him. Teach them the difference between moral good and evil so that they know how to act and how to judge other men's actions. Christian divinity itself they would learn from pastors and in catechism classes. This would be much better, the author thought, than useless Latin and Greek, forgotten as soon as a boy leaves school: he would be learning useful things rather than just words. There was no evidence that the study of Latin results in a better knowledge of English. An English grammar and dictionary serve just as well, perhaps better. 18. Gentleman's, March 1760, pp. 132-133. 169 True, the learned languages were necessary for those designed for divinity, law, and medicine, but they could still receive practical knowledge at the university. The only difference would be that it would be taught in Latin. William Gilpin also encouraged the study of English, though not to the exclusion of Latin. A similar French proposal for a boarding school in Geneva stressed how ridiculous it was to use the most beautiful years of youth studying a dead language. Rather, they should be taught what was available through their senses. These practical studies should be well structured from the more simple to the more complex, never presented all of a sudden as a lesson more appropriate for a mature man. These children would get physical exercise to help them develop strong arms, sound eyes, and skill in their movements: long walks to go swimming sometimes, or to make some observations of natural history or astronomy, or to survey. We labor long and hard enough to obtain knowledge as it is without wasting time at it, commented the author of an article 19 originally in the Universal Weekly Chronicle. To him, unless a person devotes his whole life to study or desires to obtain a particular eminence, he should not bother with foreign authors. The ordinary person could find all he needed in English books, namely: the poets, who had been done justice (Foreign poets were little read, anyway); mathematics; the experimental sciences, which had been established first in England; philology and criticism; political knowledge; and chiefly, 19. Ibid., February 1760, pp. 57-58. 170 morality and metaphysical speculations, as no other nation could boast the quality and quantity of writing contributed by English divines. One suggestion Budgell had as a method of enabling boys to make their way in the world and acquire a fortune was to teach them English writing, especially letters—business letters, for instance. He envisioned the establishment of an imaginary business between each two boys about which they would carry on a punctual and regular correspond ence. Masters should not underestimate the importance of small accomplishments, not try to educate everyone as if he were a genius but teach most boys small practical matters, such as the English letter writing, practical geometry, and accounts and shorthand. The lad of genius needed these accomplishments too. The former exanples all stressed the study of the native language, but sometimes proposals for a general curriculum that every body should have seemed to forget about it. The author of the Vues patriotiques sur 11 education du Peuple, replying to a critic's letter, said that he distinguished three types of instruction: one necessary for all men, one for all the individuals in the same profession, and the 20 superior education of the man of genius. The first should include an elementary understanding of natural and civil law, of the constitution, of legislation, of the administration of the country in which one lives; an elementary knowledge of arithmetic, geometry, natural history— animal, vegetable, and mineral—and general physics. These were neces sary because of their usefulness in daily life and because they were a 20. Mercure, March 6, 1784, p. 32. 171 protection against the prejudices and prestigious shows of charlatans. French was not mentioned at all. The Gentleman's reviewed one of these general course proposals in 1764, Priestley's An Essay on a Course of liberal education for civil and active life, with plans of lectures on the study of history and general policy, the history of England, and the constitution and laws of England, the same types of social studies that the French author of the Vues patriotigues outlined. Priestley tried to close the gap between the entirely abstract studies of young persons designed for the learned professions and the straight diet of reading, writing, arithmetic and merchant's accounts of the lad headed for the counting house. His was a practical middle route that Pope, with his objection to the extremes of words and things, might have favored. The goal of his first course was to make history intelligible, to make it form an able statesman or an intelligent and useful citizen, to make it particu larly useful to gentlemen who intended to travel. Commerce was included and would be useful to merchants. He said that his presentation of the history of England was chronological and scientific. Young gentlemen were to enter the course about age sixteen, not necessarily furnished with a background in the learned languages, though such knowledge was desirable. Each student should already understand French very well, be a pretty good accountant, and be acquainted with the most useful branches of practical mathematics, as well as possess some knowledge of algebra and geometry. In 1782 Knox also wrote a general course and gave it the title Priestley had used. Liberal Education. He advocated that the child 172 should be early taught to read in the nursery by his nurse or mother. For these little ones and, indeed, all through an education, one should follow the dictates of common sense and prudence, despairing of none but the hopelessly retarded. Whereas Priestley's course began at sixteen and did not insist on a background in Greek and Latin, Knox's followed the child through his whole education, providing a very thorough classical curriculum including Greek, Latin, elocution in his younger years and beginning with English composition at thirteen. He exhorted even those destined to commercial life not to devote their time only to penmanship and arithmetic but also to Latin, French, and geography to exalt and refine the sentiments and form the gentleman. Geography and the use of maps should be taught very early. He recommended Italian, easily attainable though not taught in the schools. Dancing, fencing, military exercises, music, and drawing were subordinate. Knox stressed the value of freguent periodical examinations and of diversions and sports for health and cheerfulness. His plan allowed two months' holidays, one month at Christmas and one in midsummer, with a moderate task assigned even then. No boy should be sent to a university before nineteen, he thought, and he also disapproved of travel before that age. His goal overall was to inspire a love for literature and truth, a sense of honor and religion. Dr. Rush's proposed curricula for the schools of Pennsylvania included law, physics, divinity, laws of nature and nations, and economy, to be taught by public lectures in the universities in the winter season as was done in Europe. The colleges would offer mathe matics and the higher branches of science; the academies the learned languages; and the free-schools reading and writing, German and English and the use of figures. The unity in the state system would insure that the same grammar, oratory, and philosophy would be taught in every part of the state. Dr. Rush warned against teaching boys the learned languages and the arts and sciences too early, when the first twelve years was already barely enough to instruct them in reading, writing, arithmetic, and the modern languages it was necessary for them to 21 speak. They would in time also study eloquence; history and chronology, especially of ancient republics; commerce and money—the best security against the influence of hereditary monopolies of land and the aristocracy; chemistry; the art of war; practical legislation— they would attend the courts; the federal government. Some of the English and French proposals for curricula, then, stressed the native language, while others still continued to emphasize the classics. Some stressed social studies. The American example—and both the English and French were very interested in America, of course, and reported regularly on her educational developments—is perhaps the most balanced. But they are all really very similar. The general pattern was reading, writing, and arithmetic to begin with, geography, followed by modern languages, then history, sciences, possibly some higher mathematics, and commercial and social studies. A few include polite arts like dancing. When classical studies are recommended, there is some disagreement as to where to place them, but the most common suggestion was that they should be learned early, right after the basic 21. Gentleman's, September 1786, pp. 775-777. 174 reading, writing, and arithmetic. Morality and metaphysics as courses lose ground, considering their traditional importance. General considerations of methodology not connected with any particular subject matter tended to be based on Locke, or Helvetius and Condillac for the French. Empiricism meant that a child learned through his sense perceptions and through practice and experience. Fenelon and Rousseau as well believed that the master should teach by example and interfere as little as possible, training the child in good physical habits as well as academics. Individualizing instruction was the most-emphasized teaching method in the periodicals. Its advocates stressed the study of each child's needs in order to direct his natural curiosity and make his lessons as pleasant as possible. By following nature one would avoid the pernicious education which cast everyone into the same mold. Some precautions suggested by one author to make this individualizing possible were to make sure that a class was formed when the children were no older than four, to keep the class size about twelve, and to keep the same master for the class during the whole of the educational progression. Another, an American talking about Virginia, planned to teach all the children to read, write and do the standard arithmetic, but ten would be singled out annually to be educated at public expense. As they were more talented, these would be very well instructed in Greek and Latin and mathematics. Ten others, of even more superior talent, would add to these studies all individual subjects they felt inclined to pursue. 175 The master could individualize his instruction better by working with the parents. In a letter poem, an epitre, a teacher writing to the mother of his student, praising her for what she has accomplished and notifying her of what remains to be done, offered a kind of course of education. One of the ideas of the poem is that as a child grows older, he needs an ever-widening range of activities to hold his interest. His curiosity urges him to learn all he can, and parents and masters must take advantage of this in opening to him all the treasures of the arts and sciences, without, however, over-charging his memory because they are in too much of a hurry to show off all he knows. If a rose blooms too early before its season in the spring, it has no perfume, and talents which are rushed are but feeble. Another idea is to guide the child gently to work by pleasurable attraction, and let him laugh as he gathers his books together. What he learns in this fashion, easily, time will not efface from his memory. The author pictures him sitting with his pen in hand, full of zeal and burning to get his ideas down on the paper, after having first learned to copy from his books and bring his careful efforts to his mother. He laughs, reasons, and sings with Horace, is full of enthusiasm for Virgil, cries occasionally because he is so moved by Corneille, Fenelon, Racine, Boileau, or Voltaire. The senses could not be disdained in making lessons agreeable: the wisdom had to be artfully hidden and the truths disguised, the friend hidden under the face of the flatterer in order to find acceptance. But when a lesson pleases us, we never forget it. 176 The Arts and Sciences are often mistaken for all that is necessary to form a Man, whereas they are no better than Accomplishments. Therefore, they are wide of the Mark who make Education so laborious and abstruse a Thing. There is little more to' be done than to inculcate true Notions of Things, not as they are defined in Books, but as they appear in Nature, and as they are likewise to be experienced in the course of Life. But then this sort of Learning is not to be beat into any.^ A few boarding schools were responding to desires for better methods, especially programmed, step-by-step learning, and tailoring the studies to the developmental level. They were more career oriented, and they put increasing emphasis on mathematics, modern languages, science, and practical subjects in general. Secondary schools for the most part did not; they were still classical and unconcerned with methods. Their failure to individualize was not so serious for the nobility and those going to a university. Most information about school programs is in the French periodicals, as is most about the general course study books, but these courses were parallel in both countries, and there are no contrasts to be made. The criticisms and reform proposals are largely English, on the other hand, but again, the two nations agree in criticizing a too narrow classical education and foreign travel, in their emphases in curriculum reform and their interest in methods which would individualize and make a student1s work agreeable. 22. Ibid., May 1732, p. 747. CHAPTER VI DIGNITY AND REFINEMENT; THE BELLES LETTRES The great majority of eighteenth-century students concentrated almost exclusively on the belles lettres. Every student got some exposure to them, even though there was enough doubt about how salubrious they were to warrant some consideration. One of the rhetoric teachers at Louis-le-Grand, the Pere du Pare, risked undermining his own career by delivering a speech in Latin examining whether the study of 1 the belles lettres can cause neirvousness and overstimulation. What were these enervating subjects? The belles lettres generally included what we would today call the humanities, with the addition of penmanship: Philosophy, logic, rhetoric, eloquence, and the languages, ancient and modern. The account of Peter Burman's life in the Gentleman's of April, 1742, gives an interesting glimpse of the system for learning the belles lettres. He was the professor at the University of Leiden introduced in the fourth chapter who had been himself admitted to university studies at age thirteen. The rapidity of his studies seemed stupendous to the English, accustomed to seeing even the highest genius entangled sometimes for ten years. It appeared that the most skillful of the English masters were much excelled by the Dutch teachers find the abilities of English scholars far surpassed by those of Burman. But, Mercure, April 1753, p. 193. 177 178 in the universities of countries other than England there were profes sors of philology or humanities who instructed the younger classes in grammar, rhetoric, and languages. The students did not study philosophy until they had passed through a course of philological lectures and exercises, to which in some places two years were commonly allotted. The English were evidently more rigorous, setting a higher price on literary honors than in any other country and expecting a university entrant to already have a certain degree of philological knowledge, enough to qualify him for lectures in philosophy delivered in Latin and to enable him to proceed in other studies without assistance. Burman may not have been as skilled at his university entrance in languages and composition as in the higher classes of an English school. Knox gave recommendations for some of the materials he thought these classes should use: he recommended Ward's edition of Lily's grammar for general use. As dictionaries he named Ainsworth's abridg ment (Entick's small portable one in the lower classes) for the two or three first years, with the lexicons of Schrevelius and Hederic. All crutches for the classics—translations, synopses, and the like—should be banished, he felt. He preferred the Eton Exempla Moralia for the higher classes (Clarke's introduction for beginners). The first class should use the grammar; the second Cordery's colloquies and Latin testament; the third Cornelius Nepos, Phaedrus, and the latter part of Cordery; the fourth Ovid's epistles, Erasmus's dialogues, and Phaedrus continued; the fifth Ovid's Fasti and Metamorphoses, Virgil and Caesar; the sixth the Greek testament, Virgil and Cicero's letters; the seventh the Greek testament, Lucian, Virgil, and Cicero's De Officiis; the 179 eighth Homer, Demosthenes, Xenophon, Horace, Juvenal, Virgil, Cicero's orations and the golden treatises De Amicitia and De Senectute. These would all be editions without notes or with very few. From the age of eight to ten the boys' exercises should be those of a part of Clarke's introduction; after ten, nonsense Latin verses occasionally; at thirteen English compositions, Aesop's Fables in their own words, or letters on familiar subjects; at fourteen or before, English themes, after reading Roman history on their own, Plutarch's Lives, and the Spectator; from fourteen to eighteen or nineteen Latin themes, Latin verse, English letters, English verse, English themes for the seven evenings of the week. The composition of Latin verses would only be for those who would enter a profession or assume a fortune. The style for prose would be that of Cicero in his letters, his moral duties, philosophical conversations, his tracts on the orator, friendship and old age and a few of his orations. Knox applauded learning the classics by heart because he believed the memory was improved by cultivation and exercise. As we see from the list of texts, Latin was to be taught previous to Greek, using the Eton, or Grant's Westminster grammar (Ward's edition). There would follow ten or twelve chapters of Saint John, Saint Luke, the grammar again, Xenophon, Demosthenes, and Homer. The Greek works he recommended were Xenophon, Lucian (with restrictions), E^ictetus, the fable of Cebes, Homer, Plato, and Demosthenes. Those destined for commercial life would study French after Latin grammar and would read Gil Bias, Telemaque, the Varietes historiques, but nothing by Voltaire. For elocution, once a week the students would rehearse passages from celebrated Greek, Latin 180 and English authors, but there would be no actual play-acting, particu larly not of English plays. The instructors in speaking would be Burgh, Enfield, some parts of Sheridan's Art of Reading. A poetical turn in boys of fortune should be encouraged, not by Byshe and Gildon but by Milton, Shakespeare and Pope. Private studies he recommended were, at thirteen or fourteen, Addison *s Spectators, Robinson Crusoe, Telemaque, Don Quixote, and the best English poetry; at fifteen, easy Latin authors 2 as well as English. Novels would be prohibited. The author of On Princely Education thought that the prince's studies in the belles lettres should include epic, dramatic, and lyric poetry and the principles of Pythagorean or Platonic philosophy in 3 reading the ancients. Eloquence, Rhetoric, Logic The English school at the Philadelphia Academy was particularly important for the instruction it gave in pronunciation and oratory, so needed in America, where the original pronunciation would soon be lost without great care because of the mixture of the people. To eighteenth- century Americans the British pronunciation was the "true" one, and they would have probably been upset to know what divergence the future would bring. Some of the exercises for pronunciation were delivering speeches from parliamentary debates and acting scenes from tragedies, performed sometimes by the lower schools before large audiences with much success and great applause. The children of the philosophy schools 2. Gentleman's, April 1782, pp. 182-184. 3. Ibid., August 1732, pp. 889-890. 181 often delivered speeches of their own composition. One group made so much progress in oratory that in January of 1757 they decided to present Mallet's Masque of Alfred, with the songs performed by young ladies. 4 This production enjoyed resounding success. The English seemed to use a broader definition for the belles lettres than the French, who, like the author of the article about the Philadelphia Academy, applied it solely to pronunciation, oratory, eloquence, and rhetoric, as well as logic. Instead of just the terms of rhetoric by rote learning, M. Mathias wanted students to really understand that the beauty of a work would be more meaningful to them if they understood the terms for it. In studying the architecture of a building, the one who knew the architectural terms for its parts would have a more exact idea of what the building was than the one who did not know those terms. M. Mathias' choice of texts for eloquence was M. De Buffon's speech for his reception into the Academie Francaise and the article "Elocution" of M. d'Alembert's Encyclopedie, a courageous choice, said the reviewer, pedants preferring the Cours des Belles-Lettres of the Abbe Batteux. His emphasis was on understanding in depth rather than mechani cal memorization, as was that of Father Le Breton, who found it very strange that in almost all the public schools the faculty was striving to perfect the art of elocution before that of sound reasoning. The logic the students did at the end of their studies was obscure, easily 4. Ibid., April 1757, p. 177. 182 forgotten. He believed that rhetoric and logic had to function together in the same plan of instruction. The critic found that he followed his principles in his own writing, producing a short, simple, clear work.^ Penmanship penmanship was nearly as important to the French as the speaking arts, but the English did not write about it. There was even an Academie Royale d'Ecriture in France by 1772, whose public meeting in January to open the year 1775 featured the theme of the importance of educating youth. The next announcement to appear, not until November, 1779, shows its name as the Bureau Academique d'Ecriture, M. Lenoir, Conseiller d'Etat and Lieutenant-General of Police and M. Moreau, King's prosecutor in the Chatelet, presiding. At its public opening meeting of the season in the auditorium of the Mathurins, M. Harger, Secretary, began by reading a paper on the duties established by the patent letters of the society, namely: the perfection of writing, the deciphering of ancient scripts and accounts, verifying handwritings, and French grammar relative to spelling. M. d'Autrepe next read a paper on the necessity of a good handwriting and the inconveniences or even dangers of a bad 6 one. The announcement of the opening session for the next year included on the program, with many other things, M. Blin's proof of the necessity of combining the teaching of French grammar with that of 5. Mercure, April 1789, p. 21. 6. Ibid., November 29, 1779, pp. 132-133. 183 7 writing. For 1782 the opening session featured a paper on the teaching of writing, arithmetic, and French grammar which described the pro cedures that could procure and.conserve for each person a handwriting as easy to read as it was easy to execute and which affirmed that the g teaching of spelling and of writing were mutually helpful. Languages Of 262 textbooks in the belles lettres advertised, announced, or reviewed in the Gentleman's and the Mercure between 1700 and 1789, 147 are in the languages, especially Latin, French and English. Only a few were published for the other belles lettres. Ninety-five of the 147 language titles are English. All the Latin readers and dictionaries were published by the English; all the Greek and Hebrew grammars but two; most of the grammars, spelling books, readers for English study; and about half of what was published for French study. Except for Greek, for which most texts appeared early to mid-century and then dwindled, language books appeared at the rate of about one or two a decade until the eighties, when production mushroomed to about double what it had been before. Textbook prices in all the disciplines varied according to the type of binding and size, but an average in both countries seemed to be about two shillings or two livres, about $2.50. Prices may have been slightly lower in England, because one finds many English books listed for one shilling, but the French always seem to be over a livre- 7. Ibid., November 25, 1780, p. 36. 8. Ibid., November 19, 1782, p. 179. 184 Under Louis XIV grammar and languages, especially Latin, were considered too common to be proper study for princes, but that idea had changed in the eighteenth century so that the classics seemed necessary for the dignity and refinement of the nobility and the middle classes, to a certain extent. The lower classes had no part in them, and a growing contingent of the middle class was struggling to get out from under them as too impractical; thus, what in the seventeenth century seemed too common for princes was now deemed more appropriate for them than for anybody else. The major concern about how to teach languages in general was to simplify and shorten their study, make them more alive and agreeable. Some felt that one way to do this was to learn languages the way the Romans did Greek—by practice and conversation, not in theories, books, translations, themes and dictionaries. We have to learn them the same way we learn our own, they thought. We have seen that the boarding schools were attempting to do this, especially for German. As for the familiar refrain that children lost too much time in the secondary schools learning Latin badly, ever since the seventeenth- century Ratke, who promised to be able to teach ten languages in five years, each language in six months, numerous modest to wild schemes had been advanced for shortening language study. In one of them a child, instead of spending ten or twelve years in the same academy, would rotate to each of six schools, studying a different language in each. First would come the Latin school from ages seven to" nine, then another two years each in the Italian, Spanish, English, and a couple of other schools, finishing with two years in a philosophy school. Assuming a 185 good method and extreme application on the part of the masters, two years would be sufficient for the greatest number of students. There were at the time of this French proposal (1759) twelve colleges offering a full curriculum. In six of them hardly ten students could be counted 9 for each class: these could be easily converted to the new plan. Another much later (1782) French proposal for simplifying and shortening language study was researched for some years by M. Taillandier, a lawyer who, satisfied with his results, decided to give his time to educating several young people desiring and willing to learn but too old to go through the usual educational career. This age was from fifteen to twenty years and even older. They would know in two years what they would have been able to learn in a college in the full time that was usual. To gain confidence, this gentleman let it be known that he intended to take no payment until he fulfilled his goal and met the conditions he had set for himself. He provided himself as a buffer period the first three months as time in which to get to know the capabilities of his students and whether or not they would be able 10 to succeed on his plan. Latin and Greek, Hebrew Speaking of Latin and Greek in particular, A. Bourgeois, Principal of the College of Crepy, in his "Reflexions critiques sur 1"etude des humanites," said that, based on the ridiculous reasoning that in former times people knew just as much Latin and Greek and 9. Ibid., October 1759, volume 2, pp. 92-94. 10. Ibid., April 23, 1782, pp. 182-183. 186 therefore the traditional method of teaching them was preferable, nobody ever practiced all the new methods that had been offered. One of the current abuses was the reading of ancient authors not in the original but in abridgments, extracts, anthologies. How was one to learn history in Moreri, the fable in M. de Chompre's very small dictionary, or Latin in the books of moderns? The only good aspect of the traditional method, in fact, was the use of originals; why abandon that and yet keep all of its weaknesses? For exairple, if the youth of the time were indocile, fickle, lacking in application, and indifferent to fine learning, it was easy to see why. Sometimes it was the parents' fault but often it was due to the kind of book given to the young—too. complicated. And when they made mistakes, they were punished, the unfairness of which disgusted them. Why not, suggested the author, as had the young petitioners of 1669, imitate doctors and give the taste of honey or sugar to the potions they have young children take? The wish at the time was for a young man of good birth to know a little of everything, and he was made fun of if he entered society with only his Latin and Greek. What would people think of the masters of the Ecole Militaire if all they taught were the ancient languages? What is the art of shortening the humanities for many young people who, like those of the Ecole Militaire, only had a few hours each day to consecrate to the ancient tongues? He approved of M. Nicole's plan, which was to get children reading Latin books as early as possible and to give them many exercises in French translation. As soon as they knew noun declensions, verb conjugations, and the principal rules of 187 Latin syntax, he put them to studying the sources themselves, the best Latin authors. He had undertaken to put the works of Virgil into such a form as to be literally translated by a school child in the sixth class (a twelve-year-old). So far only the Eglogues had been published, but soon the Georgics would appear, then the fleneid.^ Shortening and simplifying the study of the classics, then, could be done by incorporating them into modern language study, especially of the native language, as the German peoples were also attempting to do. Berlin reported in December, 1779, that the King of Prussia had just sent a Cabinet order to M. de Zedlitz, his Secretary of State, who was responsible for all the universities and schools in the Prussian states, recommending that measures be taken to augment solid learning, especially of Greek and Roman literature. In order to spread familiarity with the manner and style of the ancients and contribute at the same time to the progress of the German language, the King desired that new translations be made of the best classical authors and would himself designate the worthiest of being taken for models.• . 12 The use of translations was encouraged and emphasized. One book projected for publication in 1780 or 81 was an anthology of selec tions along the order of the Latin Selectae Profanae and at the same time the Greek Selectae Sacrae, so that a student would have a Greek 11. Ibid., July 1756, pp. 93-98. / 12. Ibid., December 4, 1779, p. 9 of the "Journal Politique de Bruxelles" section. 188 and Latin text and be able to express the same thing in all three languages: French, Latin, and Greek. On the English side of the channel people wrote less in the periodicals about specific methods and texts for study of the classics. We know that among men of literature Swift was in favor of Latin and Greek and Defoe against them. The Gentleman's published an article giving in detail Dr. Johnson's scheme for a grammar school, worked out about the time of his marriage, and it included nothing but the classics. When the children knew the formation of nouns and verbs in Latin, they learned Corderius by Mr. Clarke, then Erasmus, with an English translation, also by Mr. Clarke. The second class worked on Eutropius, Cornelius Nepos, or Justin, with a translation. The first class reviewed every morning the rules they had learned, and in the afternoon studied new Latin rules for nouns and verbs. They were examined in the rules every Thursday and Saturday. The second class did the same while in Eutropius, then went on to the irregular nouns and verbs and the rules for making and scanning verses. They were examined in the same manner as the first class. The third class read Ovid's Metamorphoses in the morning and Caesar*s Commentaries in the afternoon. When they had worked on the Latin rules until they were perfect, they took up Mr. Leeds' Greek grammar, then Virgil, Horace, beginning to write themes and verses and to learn Greek. Their examinations were also the same as those of the other two classes. Johnson's advice to a relative about what to read before going to the university included these Greek authors (to be skilled in all dialects): Cebes, Aelian, Leeds' edition of Lucian, and Xenophon for 189 Attic; Homer for Ionic; Theocritus for Doric; and Euripides for Attic and Doric. In Latin, he said, do not read the later authors until you are well-versed in those of the purest ages: Terence, Tully, Caesar, Sallust, Nepos, Velleius Paterculus, Virgil, Horace, Phaedrus. To write well, especially in English, he advised imitating daily the best, 13 most correct authors. About five Hebrew texts appeared in catalogues or advertisements in the course of the century, four of those published in England, but the magazines did not run any articles about teaching methods specifi cally for Hebrew. Latin. By far the most comment the eighteenth century periodi cals have left us with regard to any specific discipline is about Latin, a large proportion of it French and from the eighties. There is the usual sprinkling of criticism spread out here and there over the century in the magazines of both countries. An early Gentleman's pictured a son at Cambridge coming home and jokingly speaking such a hodgepodge of Latinisms and classical jargon to his tradesman father that the father could understand none of it. He did not get the joke but thought perhaps this was the way scholars talked. The boy was his only son and he wanted to bring him up a scholar. The son may only have been joking; nonetheless his disrespectful trick on his father seemed proof to detractors of what effect the classical studies could have, introducing egotism and pedantry into the schools and from thence into 13. Gentleman's, March 1785, p. 266. 190 the world. Studies should enhance life in the world, not be divorced from it. One great flaw of classical studies was that regents who had passed their whole lives in the colleges, who were unfamiliar with the passions, the human heart, and the world, took it upon themselves to explain the beauties and graces of Virgil and Horace; regents who would have been incapable of writing a letter correctly were trying to make 14 students feel the intense, sublime style of Demosthenes. And of course there were those who were sad to see Latin study neglected, as they thought, as the modern languages became more in vogue and nothing much was written in Latin anymore save scientific works. Actually, it was still far from moribund, as all of its various manifestations attest. We have already seen briefly that one of these was the awarding of prizes, such as at Cambridge when the Hon. Mr. Finch and the Hon. Mr. Townshend proposed to give two prizes of fifteen guineas each to two senior bachelors of arts and to two middle bachelors who composed the best exercise in Latin .prose, the subjects of the year being, for the seniors: Utrum Veteris Comoediae, apud Athenienses, licentia magis ad emendandos mores, an corrumpendos contulerit, and for the middle: Utrum Leges Solonis an Lycurgi, magis tam ad singulorum virtutem, quam ad Reipublicae honorem et emolumentum contulerint. Each candidate was to send his effort confidentially, without his name, to the vice chancellor on or before the twelfth of April, 1755, with some Latin verse written upon it, and at the same time a sealed paper with his name written within and the same Latin verse on the' outside. The 14. Mercure, September 24, 1785, p. 155. 191 papers containing the names of candidates who did not succeed were destroyed unopened.15 Latin was also alive and on public display at examination time, when programs of student recitation often followed the examinations • themselves. The poetry sections of the periodicals contained some samples of works recited, such as "Oceanus," verses in Latin spoken by the senior scholar of Merchant Taylor's School, after the public 16 examination on March 16, 1771. Other prophets of doom, however, saw that it must perish as long as students felt disgust at the very word grammar. So many people had written grammar books that the number and variety of systems had worn the schools out: they no longer knew whom to listen to, according to the gloomy critics. Any discipline would surely perish when the teachers outnumbered the pupils. The modern reader is somewhat amused that such prognostications appear in reviews of new grammars and are invariably accompanied by the assurance that this particular grammar, however, is the simplest, shortest, and most enlightening ever put into the hands of youth. If only this one were used, the peril would vanish. Helvetius was cool to Latin study in the first place, but he said that, assuming that the study of the Latin language were as useful as it probably is not, and that one wanted in the shortest time possible to fix all its vocabulary in a child's memory, the solution to the confusing array of books and methods was to surround the child with men 15. Gentleman's, February 1755, p. 83. 16. Ibid., April 1771, p. 184. 192 who spoke only Latin. If the traveler thrown by a storm on an island whose language he did not know wasted no time in learning to speak it, 17 he did so because his masters were need and necessity. Defenders of Latin often wanted its study begun very early, believing that it was easier and more suited to developing the under standing than French. They were concerned about simplifying it and making it pleasanter. M. Vaniere had been successful with his method, whereby persons of both sexes could learn the language in a short time without a master, instead of the seven or eight years of lessons ordinarily required. His method was compacted into ten parts in an octavo edition just reprinted in 1782 and was especially recom mended for people whose educations had been neglected and who could supplement them without upsetting their usual course of affairs, for 18 those who had forgotten their Latin, and for foreigners. Hurtaut1s manual was supposed to be one of those models of clarity, simplicity, and precision one desired the most and which so often were least found in works destined for youth. A teacher himself, he knew the character of young people and how repugnant elementary books were to them; he knew that in order to engross them in their studies, it was necessary to offer them a gradual attraction which would hold their interest right up to the last page of the book, "covering 19 the thorns of instruction with flowers." 17. Helvetius, p. 139. 18. Mercure, May 1, 1782, p. 85. 19. Ibid., October 26, 1782, pp. 175-176. 193 The most-often proposed method of making Latin study more agreeable was the use of translations. One schoolmaster composed verses like these (in Latin—this is the translation) for his boys to translate: Come lads, whoe'er translates these homely lays, Of well accomplish*d youth, shall get the praise. The prize with great applause he shall obtain, And constantly my darling shall remain: Ten times I'll call him dearest, pretty boy, The love of all, and mine, he shall enjoy. To study close, his fellows he'll engage, Shew them the way to mount on honour * s stage. Enough I've trifled in this artless verse, Well, if I please in home-spun dress and coarse: But thou my lad, learn by melodious strain, Th'applause and favour of the learn'd to gain. What one first notices about the Latin bibliography entries is the large number that are translations for Latin study. A letter to M. Remond de Sainte Albine in the Mercure is an unsigned essay explain ing the author's method in his Latin grammar. The book was divided into two parts, the first consisting of sentences with the French translation under each line and complete grammatical explanations. The second contained texts to analyze. All the beginner needed to learn the first part was to be able to read and to be able to use his memory a bit. Then, knowing the .first part and having it behind him, he would not have any difficulty with the second, because he would already have the Latin used in it fixed in his mind along with its French meaning. The pupil would have the second part explained to him and then would be questioned on it and have to reason out the explanation he had listened to, telling genders, number, cases and declensions of 20. Gentleman's, February 1741, p. 102. 194 nouns. Care would constantly be taken to make these exercises agreeable by proposing small rewards. The author of the grammar regarded as unworkable the traditional method that had the student looking up words in his dictionary because he would be unable to choose the most suitable meanings. The master's explanation alone was insufficient because we retain what we have read ourselves so much better. With this author's method, he assured, a student could work alone and for as long as he wanted to; he would find on paper a master always prepared in orderly fashion and always ready to instruct him. The author concluded, all those who use my method will surely learn Latin, and faster than by ordinary methods, because they will learn to translate Latin into French and French into Latin without thumbing through their dictionaries.^ Thirty years later the translation method was generally accepted, and defenses like this were no longer necessary. When his new translation of Virgil's works was published, M. le Blond remarked that young people who followed the ordinary courses of study, even those who acquired an extensive knowledge of Latin, made great use of translations, which spared them the trouble of searching for the meaning 22 of the thought—therefore the importance of good translations. The reviewer of M. l'Abbe Paul's translation of select passages of Livy talked about the old method of teaching Latin to youth by 21. Mercure, March 1749, pp. 67-85. 22. Ibid., June 28, 1783, p. 180. 195 employing themes which did not teach the students a word of French but only how to write bad Latin. But by then for a long time explanations and simplified versions had been in use to facilitate and speed up ^ 23 progress in both languages, and the Abbe Paul's was one of these. A sample of the major ideas of La Vraie maniere d'apprendre une langue quelconque includes a suggestion to shorten Latin study to two years instead of seven and to apply all the time gained to the study of modern languages, if the student so wished. La Vraie maniere consisted of several volumes, among which was a Latin and French opuscule in two volumes. The first presented a Latin text constructed like French, without inversion. On the facing page was a .French text with Latin construction. The second volume contained a Latin beside a French 24 text, both in natural order. M. Mathias was another who did not force the use of dictionaries any more, but placed the French beside the Latin. Presenting beginners with ready-made translations like this was perhaps best known as the realm of M. Dumarsais: his were interlinear rather than side-by-side. When a child learns a living language, explained the reviewer, one shows him the object and pronounces the word for it; the word is, as it were, translated by the object. In an interlinear type of translation a word is translated by a word, one of the two taking the place of the object. As you would for living languages you learn the constructions, 23. Ibid., January 17, 1784, p. 114. 24. Ibid., July 29, 1786, supplement, p. 14. 196 forms and sentences with an interlinear translation instead of having to analyze word for word. M. Mathias and his reviewer provide a summary of the prevailing modern opinion about Latin methodology since, along with favoring translations they also believed in simplifying, and the reviewer, like Helvetius, in trying total immersion. He said that experiencing everything by our own senses, as Locke and Condillac would have us do, . was fine in education, as far as practicable. But another way had to be found than that to teach the classical languages. Why not just not teach them? M. Mathias said they had to be taught because of their style and the way it expressed their ideas, different for each people and culture. The reviewer agreed. Many ways of experiencing the human spirit are added to our culture by studying other languages, especially those ancient ones in all their youthful vigor. He then talked about Maupertuis* idea for all European monarchs to create two cities, where Greek and Latin would be spoken and where all the children would be sent for an allotted time. Why would this not work, he wondered. M. Mathias thought perhaps he would begin his text with a historian, but after reflecting that children do not yet have moral ideas, he decided upon a selection from Pliny in which it was only a question of the animal, vegetable and mineral elements known to children. An elementary grammar went along with this—the least possible. The reviewer said he would entirely omit the grammar and let the children make their own observations about the words they used and 197 draw their own conclusions. If you begin by general principles, he wrote, the student will understand nothing but the impossibility of 25 , understanding it. In this eighteenth century review we find a description of the inductive method of teaching foreign languages so popular in the late 1960s and 70s. English One expects to find a considerably longer list of textbooks for learning English in the English periodicals but not such a dis proportion as is actually-the case. There are only two French titles, both of them published in the eighties, although one of them was a new edition of a book that had been in use for awhile. The other was M. Luneau de Boisjermain's Cours de Langue Angloise, the second course of the Journal d'Education. It was described in 1784 as lasting eight months, two years later two or three, which is interesting. Evidently students found they could work much faster than initially believed. The student read the twenty-four books of Telemaque divided into sixteen workbooks distributed the first and the fifteenth of each month. Pronunciation was indicated at the bottom of each page of this interlinear translation. The twelve books of Milton's Paradise Lost were divided into six workbooks, distributed the twentieth of each month.^ Almost half of the English grammars and spelling books (there are very few readers) were published in the eighties, with a steady 25. Ibid., September 24, 1785, pp. 157-164. 26. Ibid., May 1, 1784, pp. 43-44. 198 rate of one or two a year earlier in the century, a spurt of activity in 1737, and a lull in the sixties and seventies. Publishers did not seem to specialize in any particular discipline; there is a wide variety of their names in the bibliographical lists, none particularly predominat ing for English, for example (see Appendix B). One of the earlier grammars in the list is Mr. William Loughton's Practical Grammar of the English Tongue {1734). In December, 1739, a poem called "The Progress of Language" appeared in the Gentleman's. Addressed to Loughton, it shows the trend favoring the modern native tongue over the classics, the reformation of education by first teaching English grammar as a foundation for learning Latin and other languages. The poet called Loughton's text familiar, pertinent, and clear, with no foreign terms, no Greek and Roman weeds—only pure 27 British seed. Buchanan's Plan of an English Grammar School Education, listed in the bibliography for the theory chapter, contained an introduction inquiring "whether by the English language alone, without the embarrass ment of Latin and Greek, the British youth in.general cannot be thoroughly accomplished in every part of useful and polite literature, and qualified to make a more early, advantageous, and elegant figure in 28 life." The Praxis was a course of English and Latin exercises together. It furnished a series of examples, from an initial one for a beginner 27. Gentleman's# December 1739, p. 655. 28. Ibid., Supplement 1770, p. 622. 199 at school to several applicable to the powers of youth in the academies at higher levels, to help them form good habits of thinking and writing early in life. It was the first book of this kind attempted in English, although one had been done in Latin in 1627. The Gentleman's article about it gives samples of a descriptive essay and of an English secondary theme.4-1, 29 French The English published the majority of French texts, which were also spelling books and grammars, for the most part. There were about the same number of French texts published as English, almost half of them published in the eighties as well, with the same steady rate of issue, minus the sixties and seventies' lull. Their advertisements emphasized ease and amusement, especially in the texts written for very young children. A working example on a very small scale of Helvetius* or M. Mathias* reviewer's learning language by total immersion was the French Boarding House, in College Street, across from the dormitory of Westminster School, where gentlemen had not often chosen to send their sons, even though it might be the best grammar school in the kingdom, because they could not get their French there at the same time. Young noblemen and gentlemen boarding at the house, however, spoke French together and were also encouraged in their school lessons. M. de Wailly wrote a simplified grammar for young people in which he was particularly concerned with syntax. The spelling rules for 29. Ibid., September 1783, p. 774. 200 writing final syllables of words could be very useful to those who were 30 studying Latin. Articles after the sixties, like their English counterparts, emphasized the value of mastering the native tongue first, before Latin study. The new method of teaching was to supersede the old ordinary routine, which had been to read Latin first and to make rather haphazardly what one could out of it, said a critic of the traditional method. The new method, which put French first, was useful for masters and for adults who wanted to learn on their own. If the worst abuse in the education of the time was an ignorance of the principles of the French language, as some felt, one remedy could be to have no lessons memorized in any educational institution except the definitions of the catechism, of morality, and of French grammar. No students would be permitted to study Latin or any other foreign language 31 except those who knew French grammar perfectly. By the eighties the amusing game approach in France got tangled up with a surfeit of materialism, treating language learning as a very mechanical scientific process. M. Fauleau invented for his grammar a division that was always uniform and therefore easier to commit to memory. He divided everything into threes, instead of the familiar eight parts of speech: noun, article, pronoun; verb, adverb, preposi tion; conjunction, particle, interjection. The work itself was divided into three books, each book into three chapters, each chapter into three articles. The first book was about the parts of speech, the 30. Mercure, November 1763, p. 121. 31. Ibid., July 28, 1787, supplement, pp. 12-23. 201 second construction, the third purity of language. Chapter 1 of the first book treated the nominal parts—the noun, article and pronoun; chapter 2 the verbal parts—verb, preposition and adverb; and chapter 3 32 the succursales—conjunction, particle and interjection. And so on. The grammar games were intended to make abstract ideas clearer by mechanical means and had been invented for the deaf and dumb in Italy. Before that the same kind of analytical approach had not been used in grammar, and one critic at least hoped that the people responsi ble for education would be able to abandon old methods in favor of new ones like this based on the true spirit of observation. The articles about the games are very defensive, illustrating that they were a controversial issue. One argument they used was that Locke approved of the use of games in instructing children. The original game consisted of a board divided in three parts, which presented ten parts of speech in 97 compartments. Ninety-seven playing pieces bearing the words in the compartments matched them. There were various ways of playing, depending on the student's level. The rules for playing were printed and supplied with the game. The Abbe Gaultier's version was one of many patterned after the Italian parent model. His reviewer said that the method in general was the art of directing the mental faculties while augmenting and strengthening them. It might be called the leavening agent of the intelligence. The nearer the method could come to Nature, the more perfect it was, just as in Nature ideas acquired by the senses led to 32. Ibid., January 5, 1782, pp. 16-22. 202 those more abstract, from the known to the unknown. The reviewer thought the Abbe's method superior to all the others because it was truly analytical. The Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres said of it that ordinarily one mistrusted games because of their tendency to encourage sloth, but this one required attention and effort and was a useful and ingenious method. The first three chapters of these grammar lessons, which the author called preliminary instruction, had as their objective giving fathers and teachers suitable means of preparing children's minds for learning grammar, first, in making them understand what words are; second, in exercising them at enumerating a random group of words and distinguishing the different ideas each of them expressed; third, in teaching them to arrange all the words of a language in principal classes such as the noun, the verb, the particle. As for the game itself, obviously the children had to be together in order to play, so M. l'Abbe, under the auspices of the government, had organized a course of instructive games for youth. To aid the children's intelligence even further, he had used two heretofore relatively unknown methods in elementary books which he found to be of the greatest utility: the etymology to explain words which express grammatical relations and which otherwise would be just words without meaning, and gestures, since they learned faster with 33 their eyes than with their ears. 33. Ibid., July 19, 1788, pp. 134-140. 203 A gentleman called Du Morier visited the Abbe's little school in that fateful month of July, 1789, and wrote a letter to the editor of the Mercure giving a good eyewitness account of the proceedings there. Boys and girls attended the school twice a week to participate in grammar, geography, and history games. For the grammar game there were several playing boards on a table, and on these were written, in orderly fashion, the different parts of speech and their subdivisions and principal modifications. Corresponding to these, bearing the same words, were small round play ing pieces, similar to those of the game of Lotho, with which the readers were familiar. Each child took his turn drawing a piece from the bag until there were none left. The player put his piece, which determined the question he had to answer, in its place on the board. If he responded quickly and correctly, he received tokens; if he answered incorrectly or took too long, another child could answer for him and win his chips. The master took part in the game also, answering questions sometimes well and sometimes badly, in order to test his pupils and give them a chance to correct him, which they did with a singular ardorI As the children became more advanced, they were given, relative to each playing piece, sentences in which they had to indicate the substantive, the adjective or the verb, singular or plural, the mood, the tense, the person, joined to which were also questions on syntax. The master's skill (and Du Morier said that most in this lycee excelled at it) was in proportioning the difficulties of these sentences and questions to the level of intelligence and achievement of the child. 204 to match meanings to his inclinations and character. Sometimes it was a grammatical explication which he needed that the sentence presented, sometimes a moral maxim, or a sentimental truth, depending on what most needed to be impressed on the child at the time. The game could be used for many lessons besides grammar, a most useful variety at an age when a child cannot stand long dissertations on the same subject. Periodically a note of humor had to break into his serious study. When the children had learned the principal rules, they invented sentences, each trying to outdo the other in arranging his, sometimes creating three or four. The subject of these, of their own choosing, revealed much about the personality, tastes, and interests of each child—a good time to study them and learn their preoccupations. Du Morier was charmed with one who expressed his affection for his mother, who was playing too. Why not, wondered Du Morier, gather children together like this at one house or another and have one of the masters of the lycee come, instead of isolating them with a tutor or a maid? Children used to practicing the game would be quicker-witted, more used to public speaking, well-grounded in language, better at pronunciation and clearer in their ideas. Why not use a method that would give pleasure instead of the repugnance caused by some and make the first years of 34 the child's life happy? 34. Ibid., July 25, 1789, pp. 149-153. 205 Italian, German Everything said specifically about Italian was in the Mercure in 1783 and 84: four advertisements for M. Luneau de Boisjermain's course. The first described his method, which was to join to the Italian text a literal interlinear translation; using this, one could supposedly make himself capable of reading any work written in Italian, 35 without a master, a dictionary, or a grammar book. Nothing was said about teaching methodology for German, for which I only noted one text published by the English, beyond what has already been said about the way the French boarding schools taught it. In this chapter we looked first at the way the eighteenth century defined the belles lettres and found that the English seemed to assign them a broader meaning than the French. Both nations cautioned that the belles lettres could make a man nervous, and no wonder, when we examine some of the heavily classical curricula. Just reading the lists is tiringI In specific subjects we have looked at a representative sample of the eighteenth-century textbooks. The classical and modern languages accounted for the bulk of the informaton the periodicals give us in the belles lettres, especially Latin, which received more comment than any other single discipline. Both countries criticized it increasingly as encouraging pedantry and the boredom of innumerable systems, but it was by no means vanishing. It remained steadfast in most curricula. It was the 35. Ibid., October 4, 1783, p. 45. 206 language of competitive essays and of many school ceremonies and examinations. The methodology for teaching Latin and Greek as well as the modern languages was changing, however. The aim was to simplify and shorten language study by incorporating the classics into work with the native tongue and by relying on translations. Many methodologists approved of immersion, surrounding the child with the language and beginning early with this type of environmental approach. They often recommended an inductive teaching style, which avoided descriptive grammar, especially in the early stages. The child began by using the structures and vocabulary of a foreign language and then tried to draw his own conclusions, with his master as guide, about the functions of the language he was studying. It was generally agreed that the native tongue was most important and ought to get the most emphasis, but the French were not publishing as many textbooks for the study of French as the English wereI In fact, the English press was considerably more active in publishing language books of all kinds. I do not believe we know why this happened. Perhaps we can speculate that there was a French lag left over from Louis XIV's time, when languages were not very fashionable. Perhaps it had something to do with political rivalry and the wars: the French did not produce many books for English study because one did not want to learn the language of the enemy. More likely, Boisjermains1s materials for modern foreign language study were so populcir in France that they might have curbed a need for publications of greater variety. Most likely of all, the French passion for gambling 207 and games turned them away from traditional textbook study in search of more amusing methods. CHAPTER VII UTILITY AND BEAUTY; SCIENCE AND THE ARTS A look at the bibliographical entries of some sixty-eight titles of textbooks published in the sciences which were listed in catalogues and new books sections in the Mercure and the Gentleman's in the period 1700-1789, compared with the one hundred thirty-nine texts in the belles lettres, gives rise to some doubt about terms like the new scientism and rationalism of the eighteenth century. The doubts are justified when applied to education, which was lagging behind other fields in its application of empirical methods, including all that was most valuable in the latest scientific thought of the age. Once we admit this, there is room for reflection about a possible positive side to that lag and that conservatism, a side more difficult for us to accept when all that has been negative about attempts to retard the great contributions of advancements in science is so starkly clear. In the controversies over how important studies in the belles lettres were, compared to those in the sciences, the advocates of a balance were closest to the truth of the way things should be. The eighteenth century had not achieved that balance because it still put the sciences in the shadow of the humanities, and we have not achieved it because we have tended to let the sciences eclipse the humanities. Yet if Bacon was right that the exact sciences should be put before logic and rhetoric, Descartes was also right in saying that empiricism 208 209 could be too mechanistic. Rousseau was not ridiculous in his belief that the sciences corrupted men, only too extreme. But we like Helvetius' refutation of his theory better today, and we prefer comments like the following from Helvetius: "Detaillons les malheurs ou 1*ignorance plonge les nations; on en sentira plus fortement 1* importance d'une bonne education; j'inspirerai plus de desir de la perf ectionner." Even though the balance was lacking and far fewer textbooks were being published in the sciences, there were certain pedagogical areas in which the sciences predominated. Book output was not one of them, but mathematics was the most popular subject of the boarding schools, and publication of mathematics and geography textbooks, at least, approached that of the languages. Most notably, no matter what the subject of a schoolbook, many authors proudly proclaimed their scientific approach to the material. The methodology crossed the boundaries of subject matter, as in the case of one book entitled Memoria Technica; Or, a New Method of Artificial Memory, Applied to and Exemplified in Chronology, History, Geography, Astronomy, also Jewish, Grecian, and Roman Coins, 2 Weights and Measures, etc. Lionel Gossman, in his book French Society and Culture, pro poses that even the novel, so much in disrepute and banned from educa tional curricula, could be thought of as a contributor to the scientific culture of the eighteenth century. He says that the serious side of 1. Helvetius, p. 220. 2. Gentleman's, February 1733, p. 107. 210 the novel lay in the information it provided its readers and that the imaginative part was secondary. Novels became instruments of knowledge and power, guides to success, ways to find out about the world beyond 3 one's own closed circle. The scientific spirit in books of all kinds reflected society's interest in science. School reform, especially at university level, was in the direction of the sciences. Cambridge emphasized them, for example, and the University of Cracow, Poland, had obtained a new ruling in 1780 that was to transform it into a university of sciences and arts. The periodicals considered in their educational role of dis seminators of knowledge also reflect this interest by the number of scientific articles they published; my impression is that they equalled those in the belles lettres in both the Gentleman's and the Mercure. Medical articles about rabies and childbirth, reports about Montgolfier's balloons and Cook's travels were especially fascinating to the readers. Another evidence of the increased importance of science was its inclusion in the theorist's educational plans, both early and late in the century. For mathematics the author of On Princely Education (1732) recommended the first five books of Euclid's Elements to habituate the understanding to penetration, depth, and attention and to allow close reasoning. He does not mention any other sciences, however, though he does also include a study of Greek painting to learn the techniques of symmetry and light and shade and of music to develop good taste rather 3. Lionel Gossman, French Society and Culture: Background for 18th Century Literature (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972), p. 134. 211 4 than much skill. William Penn in The Fruits of a Father's Love {1726) said that children should be educated at home in agriculture and the 5 useful parts of mathematics: measuring, surveying and navigation. Knox's specific recommendations were Cellarius for ancient geography, g Guthrie for modern, find Wells for mathematics. M. Mathias* plan for geography was reputedly very original, but the reviewer said the details were too lengthy to give in the magazine. He realized that such originality in educational methods, if it could bring into the schools sciences like chemistry, anatomy, experimental physics and natural history as they were being studied in the Academies and in society in general, would cause a great revolution in public education. While he was dealing with the sciences he talked about whether the kind of genius that produces great works of art can be studied and understood, which led him into a long digression on Beccaria, who, like Helvetius, thought it could. 7 Three of the French schools putting these theories about teach ing science into actual practice were those directed by Messieurs Daubanton, de Longpre, and Dupont. Daubanton was an architect and a teacher for the Corps of Bridges and Roads. His courses included mathematics, surveying and perspective, architecture, figure, 4. Gentleman's, August 1732, pp. 889-890. 5. John E. Mason, Gentlefolk in the Making (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1935), p. 79. 6. Gentleman's, April 1782, pp. 182-184. 7. Mercure, September 1785, pp. 167-171. 212 8 ornamentation, landscape, drafting, maps, military architecture. He will re-appear in the section on architecture. Chapters III and V give some description of M. de Longpre's reputation and the curriculum of his school. His methods in the sciences included exciting the chil dren's curiosity, adapting lessons to their individual abilities, and holding frequent discussions with them (what appeared to them as a way of having fun). They did geometry first, as explained in Chapter V. Drawing amused and usefully occupied children who were good at imitation. Geography was a science suited to their age; by drawing maps themselves, they could painlessly fix place names and their respective positions in their heads and become disposed to study history. De Longpre's public exercises seemed to prove the efficacy of his methods, as the prodigious progress of his students every year astounded the members of the Royal Academy of Sciences, who eagerly sat through these exercises. One eleven-year-old in 1778, M. Antoine- Romain-Coquebert de Montbret, had answered with clarity, assurance and precision questions on arithmetic, geometry, rectilinear and spherical trigonometry, algebra (up to equations of the fourth power), the application of algebra to geometry, conic sections, principles of differential and integral calculus, statics, dynamics, geography and history. If this child had been the kind of bright phenomenon that enters a teacher's life on rare occasions, his performance could have been dismissed as no particular testimony to his teacher's methods in 8. Ibid., November 18, 1780, back cover. 213 the sciences, since he would have done as brilliantly no matter who his master was, but M. de Longpre produced enough of these children almost every year to convince his astonished audience that his procedures must be superior.9 More appeared in the Mercure about Dupont's school than about any other, most of the articles in 1772. His mathematics course in 1771 used the elements of M. Bejout, with his mechanics and piloting lessons, alternating this author's works with those of M. Camus. He added to these the works of M. I'Abbe Bossut, whose lessons of dynamics he gave three times a week. His ordinary lessons were every day from two to seven. His students reviewed their elements three times during the year. In the morning he offered private lessons on navy theory and all parts of mathematics, especially those useful in the military, following the author the student preferred. He had a drawing master for lessons three mornings a week in fortification, figure, maps, and especially landscape, at which he excelled. Every holiday he took his students to the countryside to draw from nature (an essential ability for officers). M. Dupont also gave practical outdoor lessons once a week in the afternoon, for which he had instruments of all kinds, even for piloting, since he possessed M. Cassini's new universal instrument, approved by the Academy of Sciences, whose use he would explain to those destined for engineering. He also gave them all the knowledge about astronomy which could be best applied to geography and would therefore be necessary for engineers to know. He limited the number of students, 9. Ibid., September 10, 1778, pp. 230-231. 214 repeated each lesson twice, had his students do demonstrations, and helped them with all their difficulties. There were examinations to which the general public was invited and free practical lessons in the countryside that he loaned instruments for. On Sundays he taught a course of astronomical geography following the principles of MM. Le Monnier and de Lalande. The collection of mathematics books, the memoirs of the Academy, and various visual aids in his library were available to his students. One of the 1772 announcements added that he would be giving lessons in practical geometry every Thursday, on everything that con cerned aspects of surveying, the way to organize camps and to draw them, estimate height, and everything useful to geography. These courses added up to ninety-six lessons per month at the school, not counting the practical exercises in the country. By 1777 the King had named him Inspecteur des Carrieres pour la Surete des Rues et Maisons de Paris. Under the orders of the Lieutenant General of Police, he was working with the same evident energy that he expended on his teaching, which he continued despite his increased responsibilities."1"^ References in the magazines to specific sciences and arts such as these schools taught or reviews of textbooks in the sciences and arts illustrate increasing systematization, but the disciplines were still much broader than they are today. A particular modern science was sometimes pulled out of the haystack and spoken of 10. Ibid., May 1777, p. 193. individually—botany, for instance—but usually the terms natural history, natural philosophy, or natural science were applied to mean the study of nature and the physical universe, everything animal, vegetable, and mineral, including zoology, botany, mineralogy, geology, chemistry, and physics. An English textbook published in translation in France in 1749, for example, was called Grammaire des Sciences philosophiques, ou Analyse abregee de la Philosophie moderne, appuye sur les Experiences. In the form of questions and answers, this "philosophy" taught children and adults alike the rudiments of physics and natural history, or what we would call: Part I. Physics, II. Astronomy, III. Meteorology, IV. 11 Geography, Biology. Schools and individuals who had the money to spend (fifty ecus) could purchase portable cases and cabinets put together by M. Mornet, mineralogist of the Academies of Turin and Rouen. His displays were of five types: soils, rocks, mines, inflammable substances, and salts. Each cabinet, two feet long and ten inches wide, divided into forty- eight compartments, was explained by a catalogue with descriptions matching the numbers on the compartments and on the substances them selves. Another paper joined to this catalogue gave fuller explana tions of parts of the display that needed greater detail. Physics, like botany and mineralogy, was beginning tp be taught separately. Often called experimental physics by the French, originally just another of the names for natural science, it now meant the study of 11. Ibid., March 1749, pp. 122-124. 216 general properties of bodies and the laws of motion and gravitation. Men also began to distinguish optics and mechanics as parts of physics. The fields in mathematics, medicine and the arts bear their familiar names, except perhaps for the English physic to mean medicine. Agriculture and Botany M. Daubenton, of the Royal Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society of Medicine, professor of natural history at the College Royal de France (not Daubanton the architect), put a notice in the Mercure of January 11, 1782, about his new book, Instruction pour les Bergers et pour les Froprietaires de Troupeaux. He explained that the government had delegated him to experiment with flocks in order to find ways to perfect wool and that in order to do this he had found it necessary to expand his research to all that could contribute to the sheep's general good health because it had so much bearing on the quality of their fleece. He had written his book after fourteen years of observations, adding to his own contributions the best practices he had learned from the country people and some he had discovered in books written in France or in other countries. M. Daubenton worked in Burgundy near the town of Montbard. He had written his lessons in the form of questions and answers to make them easier to understand and memorize. In his notice he summarized the contents. At first he had planned to have the book printed in small type to make it less expensive, but he then realized that country people, unused to books, had less trouble reading large type, and so the book had been done in large type. It would also be a 217 useful text, he thought, for learning to read; village schoolmasters could use it to give their pupils both practice in reading and instruc tion in caring for flocks. What a sensible man! Neither was he alone in realizing that a peasantry which would spend its life working in agriculture and mechanical arts needed, in addition to the three R's, some education in applying scientific principles to the different trades and rural tasks of the provinces where they lived. Books on botany before about mid-century contained many errors, transmitted to students as they read descriptions which often contra dicted nature. Later authors tried to remedy this. The three titles in the bibliography are French and date from the eighties (Appendix B)- Botany in 1761 was still not publicly taught anywhere in England, although Oxford had long had a garden and there had been numerous unsuccessful attempts to establish one at Cambridge. One hopeful innovator proposed to Gentleman's readers to try once more at Cambridge, in view of the need for botany to be taught at the university. Those who supplied the markets with vegetables might well have joined medical students in the study of botany, since noxious plants on the markets had been the cause of several terrible accidents in recent years in England. It was, said this gentleman, a branch of knowledge so essential to the health of mankind, there was scarcely a university in other parts of Europe, however small, where medicine was taught, which did not have a botanic garden and a professor to instruct the youth. The Rev. Dr. Walker, vice-master of Trinity College, had purchased a large garden conveniently situated and given it for public 218 use to the university. The seeds of more than six hundred different sorts of plants had already been sown, and a large house on the grounds was to be repaired and stocked with books and collections of natural history. The purchase of the house and land cost the doctor sixteen hundred pounds, but he did not have enough to fit everything up and maintain annual expenses. For this reason interested parties like our Gentleman's gentleman were issuing a plea for contributions. He assured those with generous purses that usefulness was the aim and useless expense to be avoided; they would be fully informed how their money was employed. By 1765 the garden had thus far been maintained by voluntary subscriptions, and proposals were being made for an annual subscrip tion. Contributions had paid for a small stove, a greenhouse, a curator with two men under him, the laying out of the grounds, and all other expenses as well. A May article listed the names of the gardeners and the nursery men who had furnished the plants (page 212). As the century passed, botany took its place among other accepted and recognized sciences. The Marquise de Sillery introduced a botany course for the Due d'Orleans' children with a discourse on the advantages of the study of botany considered as part of a complete education. Medicine Medical articles abounded in the periodicals and fascinated readers, let us hope for more elevated reasons than those that drew 12. Ibid., April 19, 1788, supplement, pp. 1-2. 219 the populace to public executions, though they often give the magazines an air of Ripley's Believe It or Not. Few have place here as examples, however, because although about medicine, they were not about medicine in education. Various notices appeared in the Mercure for the sixties and seventies about the new veterinary school (established in 1762), most of them reporting on prize distributions. Students were experi menting with animal diseases. The Mercure reported examinations and prizes in March, October and November; nine students had participated in the "concours" in March, 1771. All the examples of articles or notices about medical education are French. The Mercure published a report about another new school, established to give practice to young doctors, the Ecoles de Medecine- Pratique. Sometimes the students sent reports in these practical matters to the Mercure, such as one from a student at the Hopital de la Charite about the operation for stones in the bladder. Training was sketchier earlier in the century. The review of a new anatomy text published in 1749 said that it was designed for young people, not necessarily those preparing for medicine, because what they were taught in their classes was extremely superficial, and there had existed no elementary anatomy text to give them. Geography New material in geography was also largely French and consisted more of the latest visual methods—maps, atlases, and games—than traditional textbooks. Those materials which were in book form tended 13. Ibid., March 1749, pp. 124-131. 220 to follow three emphases, modern in the eighteenth century: the separa tion of geography and history, which had always been studied together; the systematization of geographical details needed for a clear under standing of both ancient and modern literature; or the simplification and abridgment of studies in geography so that the student could learn on his own in a short period of time, without a master, these books usually divided into lessons and in question and answer form. The geographies with a literary, comparative approach still blended geography and history, however, so if they were modern in method in one way, in another they were old-fashioned. Two of these were the Abbe Morin de la Baume's and M. Mentelle's. M. Mentelle's reviewer said that the public had long desired an elementary book which would tie ancient geography in with the modern and would present at the same time a double tableau of the chronology and history of each country. This was the first work prepared in such a way (1780); it was, said the reviewer, useful and even necessary for the education of young people, and agreeable and 14 instructive for the already learned. The Abbe Morin's reviewer also termed a treatise on geography one of the most useful and necessary of all works in the classics. Young people had so little time to devote to geography, yet it was difficult to keep it free of prolixity or dryness. It was doing youth a service to present them with a clear, precise and methodical abridg ment, and the reviewer hoped professors would adopt the Abbe Morin"s in the schools, where, for lack of good elementary books, the study of 14. Ibid., February 5, 1780, pp. 12-13. 221 geography had been for a long while too neglected, even almost non- 15 existent. Among popular maps were the Etat general de la France, recom mended by Freron in the Annee Litteraire especially for the instruction of children; the Carte Physique et Hydrographique de la France; and the Mappemonde Geographique et Historique. The Carte Physique had been drawn for the use of colleges and boarding schools by the Sieur Dupain- Triel fils, Engineer-Geographer to the King, and illustrated according to the request of purchasers based on the department of rivers or 16 division of provinces they lived in. It cost one livre, ten sous. Maclot had designed his Mappemonde as an attempt at an elemen tary, methodical, clear, precise work to remind people of all ages what they had learned or were supposed to have learned early in childhood. He had been teaching history and geography successfully for a long time in various Parisiai. boarding schools and had drawn his map for his own 17 students, to help them.retain the lessons he taught them. Desnos and Grenet issued two popular atlases. X include the following sentence to illustrate the eighteenth-century fondness for over-explanatory titles. The sieur Desnos announced in 1779 to those who had bought his General, Civilian, Ecclesiastical and Military Atlas, methodical and elementary, for the study of geography and history, a work destined especially for the young nobility of the Ecole Royale 15. Ibid., February 7, 1784, pp. 8-11. 16. Ibid., March 9, 1782, p. 92. 17. Ibid., January 5, 1779, pp. 38-39. 222 Militaire and received by a deliberation of the council of this school, atlas adapted to the most frequently used geography texts, among others those of M. l'flbbe Lenglet du Fresnoy, of Robert, professor of philo sophy i to the one dedicated to Mile Crozat, but especially to the geography of Nicole/ of la Croix, and to the new geographical method of M. l'Abbe Compan, dedicated to Mme de France, drawn according to the new astronomical observations of MM. Thiricow and Delille by MM. Brion and Desnos, Engineer-Geographers to the King, that, to insure the easiest use of this atlas, he had just added an alphabetical table in the form of a dictionary containing thirty-four pages printed in the same format, where were found the countries and cities contained in the books of the Abbe de la Croix and in the other most modern works of this kind, without any omissions, he thought. People who had bought the atlas before it was added needed this table, by means of which one could locate at a glance the places one was looking for on the map. The first column was an alphabetical nomenclature of the different countries and principal places on the earth. The second indicated their situation and dependencies of other regions or countries. This table sold for three livres paperbound. The complete atlas of fifty-five maps, done in a color wash in the Dutch style, each map enclosed in an ornamental border, which differ entiated this atlas from all others of the same type, sold for twenty- seven livres bound. The same atlas was also sold with a geographical and historical description printed beside each map to make its study easier, with which one did not need any other book, nor a master to learn geography. To this atlas Desnos had added several detailed maps 223 of France, showing various governmental divisions, with the roads of the kingdom, useful to travelers; it contained sixty-five maps and cost fifty livres for the best paper, forty for medium quality, and thirty- 18 six for lower quality. The Abbe Grenet was a professor at the College of Lisieux. His Atlas Portatif had been adopted by the professors of the Faculte des Arts and dedicated to the University of Paris. Convinced of the neces sity of learning geography in the classroom and of the impossibility of succeeding at it with the maps then available, he had invented a plan which he hoped would overcome all the obstacles. He eliminated very large maps, judging them insufficient, since, however large they were, it was still impossible in a big class for all the pupils to see objects on them without leaving their seats, and consequently, without some loss of order. Near-sighted children could not see them, either. And if the children only did geography while they were in class, they would progress little, since not much time could be spent on it without neglecting other studies. Grenet wanted every pupil to have his own set of maps to take with him everywhere, just like his books in the classics. This way he could learn almost everything on his own, pre paring his maps at home just as he studied his classical authors. The professor limited himself to teaching only a few basics, asking students to identify the countries of cities .mentioned in their classical readings. M. Grenet himself only spent a half hour a week on this. 18. Ibid., December 11, 1779, back cover. 224 The Abbe insisted that there were no other maps which could meet his goal: some were too small to teach anything, others too large or too expensive for most students. Ancient maps were needed for the study of Latin authors, who were often obscure and sometimes unintel ligible because of the students' lack of geographical knowledge. Modern maps were necessary for fruitful reading of modern history. He proposed a set of twelve or thirteen maps for ancient geography, and for modern he limited himself to a world map, Europe, Asia, Africa, America (in two parts), France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and England. If he found that others were needed, he would add them, he said. All these maps, drawn by M. Bonne, first hydrographer of the navy and one of the most skillful geographers, would be bound in a small atlas in-quarto. To make purchase easier each map would be sold separately, and the atlas would only be completed by degrees. Because it was important to stimulate early familiarity with the world map, Europe, Asia and Prance, these four would compose the sixth grade collection. Binding strips would be provided so that each year the maps a student needed could be inserted; thus, the collection would not be complete until Rhetoric. Each professor, in indicating at the beginning of the year the books he would explain would at the same time name the maps he would use. It would be a good idea for him not to ask for more than four maps, or fewer than three, to keep "the cost evenly modest each year. It would not exceed that of the ordinary classical texts, each map costing only twelve sous. A year later, when the proposed maps had actually appeared, a reviewer commented that their principal advantage was that, without the 225 help of any book, but just with a compass, the public could ascertain whether an ancient city still existed and what her modern name was, because, the ancient map having been made to the same scale as the modern, two cities would be found at the same distance from each other on both. After the maps had been in use for two years, a final glowing review asserted, as the Abbe had originally, that everyone knew how geography had been neglected in the colleges for lack of convenient maps and a workable plan for teaching this science in the largest classes, but that the Abbe Grenet had overcome all obstacles. The reviewer recommended the use of his maps to public and private masters, saying that the work was not only useful to youth but necessary for all those who read ancient and modern history—a precious collection which should merit the thanks of the public, especially that of youth, whose 19 benefactor he was. The Loto Geographique amused children and taught them geography at the same time. There was no work involved and they hardly even realized they were learning. In this game a child placed little playing pieces (dames) on the states, provinces, and cities to which the numbers they drew corresponded. Two, three, four or five people could play at a time. A sheet detailed the rules and enabled fathers 20 and teachers to guide their children and students in the game. The Abbe Gaultier also offered a geographical game which was as well-known 19. Ibid., November 9, 1782, pp. 80-81. 20. Ibid., June 9, 1781, p. 94. 226 and successful as the one he did for language. This consisted of a kind of puzzle carved in wood, showing the various divisions of France in different pieces which could be easily taken apart or put together and 21 a sack containing eighty-four balls (boules). Mathematics The practicality of mathematics was uncontested, but it tended to be difficult to teach, at least in terms of getting children started in mathematical studies. M. de la F. in his Legons elementaires tried to make its undertaking easy and agreeable by presenting less voluminous materials than a mathematics course ordinarily covered. His text, in dialogue form, was so clear the reviewer thought it could be placed among the classic textbooks which had been the most useful to educa- tion.22 The Abbe Sauri's Abrege du cours complet de Mathematiques had the same aims. It was a precis within anybody's normal comprehension but designed particularly for colleges and boarding schools for the instruction of the very youngest children. Those who had no mathematics master to help them and who wanted to initiate themselves into this science in a short time and without much effort would also find the book profitable. It contained figures for arithmetic, fractions, algebra, logarithms, equations, geometry. M. Sauri was a former philosophy professor at the University of Montpellier. 21. Ibid., November 1789, pp. 23-24. 22- Ibid., July 1784, p. 174. 227 We have encountered the Abbe Bossut's name as the one most fre quently given for mathematics in explanations of curricula used in the schools. What was there about his Cours de Mathematiques that made it such a popular text? In the 1781 edition he had added some new theories, simplified several demonstrations and presented new ones whenever those found in the works by specialists in geometry seemed to him too in direct or too complicated for beginners. The first volume contained the elements of arithmetic and algebra, a discourse on mathematics, one on arithmetic, and one on algebra (Bossut seemed to use "arithmetic" as synonymous with "geometry"). These discourses gave a history of the progress and development of these branches of mathematics sufficient for those who did not intend to specialize in mathematics. There is nothing particularly original about the contents to explain why the book was in demand. From the comments of one reviewer/ what seemed to be appreciated was Bossut's writing style. The dis courses were written with the dignity suitable to serious subjects and with the simplicity good taste insisted upon in scientific writing. The new edition was more condensed and contained more original contributions by its author than the preceding ones. Most of the textbooks for mathematics were written for children or youth and stress elementary, introductory arithmetic in simplified versions using a question and answer method, but a few on higher mathe matics, like M. Beguin's Du Calcul infinitesimal et de la geometrie des courbes, were produced to meet the needs of youth with a flair for mathematics, especially in the colleges. About half the titles are English, half French, the English books of generally earlier date. 228 Drawing, Painting, Sculpture The Gentleman's permits us to follow the progress of the English Royal Academy from the plans for its creation through several years of discourses on art, given by its president. Sir Joshua Reynolds. The proposal for its establishment suggested that a house be taken with two adjoining rooms for drawing and modeling from the life; one room for architecture and perspective; one for drawing from plaster; one for receiving the works of the school; one for the exhibition of these works; and other rooms for a housekeeper and servants. The housekeeper would continually reside at the Academy to keep everything in order and not let any piece leave without a proper warrant. Some fine pictures, casts, busts, bas reliefs, intaglios, drawings and prints should be purchased at the outset. Living models of various sorts would be provided to stand five nights a week, but no scholar would draw from life until he had gone through the previous classes and given proofs of his capacity. A certain number of medals would be given each year to students who distinguished themselves most, and every student after practicing for some time and giving proofs of his ability could be a candidate for a fellowship. Medals of even greater distinction would be given publicly to the most excellent. Such of the fellows who traveled to. Rome to complete their studies would make a composition from some given subject as a proof of their abilities: one of these would be chosen arid given a salary to maintain him while he copied pictures, antique statues or bas reliefs, work which would become the property of the society. 229 The proposal dates from 1755. By 1769 the Royal Academy had been established, and in his opening discourse on January 2, the president, Sir Joshua Reynolds, delivered some remarks on how he believed youth should be taught art. ...it is generally found, that a youth more easily receives instructions from the companions of his studies, whose minds are nearly upon a level with his own, than from those who are much his superiors; and it is from his equals only, that he catches the fire of emulation, which will not a little contribute to his advancement.23 The youths were to obey the rules of art and were not to break them until they became masters themselves. More captivated by bril liance than solidity and tempted by their natural sloth, they had to be told again and again that "labour is the only price of just fame, and that whatever their force of genius may be, there is no easy method of 24 becoming a good painter." What did Reynolds think of the rash of textbooks in all fields touting ease and amusement? Instead of vying with each other who had the readiest hand, they should be taught to contend who had the purest and most correct outline. The brightest tint or most real-looking cloth mattered less than the folds of drapery, the grace and dignity of the human figure. Reynolds spoke again at the distribution of prizes in December, repeating his instructions for improvement as an artist and making quite a few recommendations, over all to work hard because one cannot wait for genius. At the next distribution of prizes (December 14, 23. Gentleman's, February 1769, p. 100. 24. Ibid. 230 1770) he spoke about the theory and practice of art. The Gentleman1s also published his lectures in 1771, 1772, and 1777. A correspondent in 1786 suggested that an academy of painting be established at Oxford. A few months later another wrote to agree with the former correspondent that professorships at least for archi tecture, painting, and sculpture ought to be established. Why have a chair for music but not these other arts? What we find in the Mercure about art is from an earlier decade (1753). Reports appeared of an explication of works of painting and sculpture done during 1752 by the student proteges of the King and presented to him on February 3, 1753 at Versailles by M. de Vandieres, Directeur et Ordonnateur General des Batiments. These students were from twenty-one to twenty-seven years old. The same article announced that Marseille had just estab lished an Academy of Painting and Sculpture which would have skillful professors to give public lessons on geometry, perspective and archi tecture. Why was it important to study drawing? Being able to draw was like possessing an extra sense through which thousands of new objects could be usefully and agreeably brought before the eyes. Prom the simplest artisan to the greatest lord, the French knew how to wield a pencil. M. Robert, who ran the art school in the Hotel de Ville of Reims, was among those who taught them how. The lessons were arranged in order of difficulty, so that a student needed to be present from the beginning, or at least during the first weeks, since the last lessons assumed a knowledge of the first. Instruction included art history and 231 a theory lesson once a month on Saturday, and of course the familiar public exercise to recapitulate all the year's lessons. Drawing studies included the human face, animals, flowers, fruits, landscape, the anatomy of the human body, the five orders of architecture, the way to draw plans for all kinds of buildings, to design facades as well as sectional elevations, metalwork, woodwork, ornamentation, and all the parts of drawing which could be useful in the manufacture of wool and silk textiles.^ Architecture The curriculum at M. Blondel's Ecole des Arts in Paris, rue de la Harpe, was very similar to that at Reims. In 1743 M. Blondel had obtained the permission of the Academie Royale d'Architecture to give public lessons on architecture to citizens and foreigners. These studies included mathematics, drawing, stonecutting, carpentry, wood work, and metalwork. His experiences led him to write a book called simply Architecture, and in its third volume he spoke of why his school had been called the Ecole des Arts instead of Ecole d'Architecture and of how he felt the utility of joining to the study of architecture that of the other sciences and arts relative to it, including ornamentation, landscape, figure, perspective, geometry, trigonometry, hydraulics, mechanics, physics, fencing, music and dance as well as those already enumerated- 25. Me retire, December 1753, volume 1, pp. 154-155. 26. Ibid., January 1772, volume 2, p. 114. 232 The Mercure gives an even more detailed account of the curricu lum students followed at the Ecole d'Architecture of the sieur Sibry, whose title was Architecte Demonstrateur. A sample: the first preparatory class studied the four principal rules of arithmetic, simple tracing and line drawing, a little ornamentation. The second class took up the three Greek orders, all the details for columns, calculating column dimension, the use of space, symmetry. These classes met on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from eight to eleven and three to 27 six. These private schools did not join in the honor permitted prize winners of the Royal Architectural School of having their works shown in the Louvre. One of Blondel's students, the sieur Daubanton, became a teacher of the Corps Royal des Ponts et Chaussees and also taught in his own school in Paris drawing for architecture, figure, drawing in relief, the ornamentation of different kinds of decorations, perspective, stone-cutting, landscape, map-making, and mathematics, a curriculum list from a different article and varying slightly from the one I gave before. When the weather permitted, his students worked outside every two weeks, applying the lessons in trigonometry and drafting which they had been working on. Every Monday from Pentecost to All Saints' Day they visited various edifices in the city and its environs. The school 28 boarded students from the provinces and from foreign countries. 27. Ibid., November 1765, p. 134. 28. Ibid., April 1777, p. 184. 233 Music Helvetius recommended that a child should become habituated to the arts from earliest infancy, whether music, dance, or art, always taking into consideration individual desires. Certainly the general tendencies in music as in the other disciplines to make study easier, briefer, less painful and disagreeable, made it possible for children to begin earlier. Many French believed that a singing school needed to be established for early training of replacements for opera stars who died or retired. There would thus be trained singers ready to take over even the most important roles, often left unfilled for some time for lack of suitable individuals. The Academie Royale de Musique did have a School of Dance, but it needed improvement, and there was nothing for voice, only instrumental music. The Mercure described one of the great projects of the age, one which required contributions from almost all the arts and sciences. It was a botanical park, a zoo, and a school of science all combined. Its entrance was on the Rue du Jardin du Roi. The major axis of the whole plan began at the Rue d'Orleans and described a half-circle following the Boulevard on the side of the Salpetriere. You entered first into a great courtyard, a kind of parterre, which led to the main wing of the building, climbing up terraces and flights of steps which embellished and supported the facade of the Cabinet d'Histoire Naturelle. Along the front of the Cabinet ran six Corinthian columns, and under this portico you saw two seated figures, one of which could well repre sent the learned Fagon, who was the first to conceive of the Cabinet, 234 and the other M. de Buffon, guardian angel of this immense depository, fruit of his studies, of his research and his long hours of work through many a night. The interior was divided into three rooms, one for each of the three kingdoms of nature. As you walked through these rooms you would look at a gradual progression of all the beings issued from her breast and the imperceptible nuances which separate the different types of her productions. But many displays, like this one, were still only in the planning stage. Open galleries led on one side to the greenhouses and on the other to the amphitheater, where the most famous anatomists, scalpel in hand, would discover to your eyes the admirable functioning of the organs which make us move and live. In this same amphitheater the most skillful chemists, physicists and mineralogists would uncover for you the best-hidden secrets of nature and the most surprising discoveries useful for humanity. A botanical garden on one side would contain familiar plants. You could see plants frcrn the most distant regions and climates the most unlike temperatures in France conserving their sap and their vigor in the greenhouses. From these greenhouses you would pass on to numerous gardens, where medicinal herbs and shrubs native countrysides produce would be arranged for the instruction of those who were studying their nature and properties. M. Viel, the architect, had been able, with all possible taste and intelligence, to make the most advantageous use of the hill on the site. Hewn out of its natural cavities were semi-circular enclosures like the habitats of modern zoos for the most ferocious animals. On 235 the summit of the hill vast and elegant aviaries were planned to bring together birds of the rarest species. Wild beasts and foreign animals would be displayed in cages on both sides of the hill. Canals and basins would conserve fish unknown in French climates and aquatic birds from the most distant countries. The School of Herbs was beyond the Cabinet; a large pool furnished the water necessary for watering the plants. On both sides of it rose slopes which would be good locations for the School of Trees and Shrubs. These slopes climbed up to terraces serving as promenades from which you looked over the entire garden. Simple ditches separated this part of the garden from that destined to become the nursery area. You would cross from one to the other over bridges placed at different distances. The nursery for the South (midi), where the Bievre River {called the Gobelins) would wind, would contain trees that grow in humid areas; all the trees that prefer more arid lands would be placed in the northern part. The writer hoped Buffon would be able to realize all of these plans. Completion looked hopeful. In a few years the Cabinet d'Histoire Naturelle had daily gained all sorts of riches from naturalists all around the world, sent as a kind of hommage to Buffon, creator of the 29 Cabinet and spirit of a new scientific age. 29. Ibid., October 14, 1780, pp. 78-82. CHAPTER VIII CULTIVATING VIRTUE; MORAL ASPECTS OF EDUCATION In 1775 a seventeen-year-old rhetoric student at the French College d'Harcourt one day happened to meet one of his family's former servants, now very poor and a victim of misfortune. The student fur nished him with food, clothing, his own allowance; paid his rent, and finally found him a job. He never mentioned this to his family, who learned of his good deed only by accident. People admired such exemplary youth, whether they performed such acts out of Christian charity or the new bienfaisance of the philosophes, and enjoyed reading about them in the periodicals. It was hoped that reporting such incidents would encourage emulation. Eighteenth-century France and England believed that parents and schools should inculcate good morals, religion, and citizenship. If they were diligent in so doing, charitable actions would become wonder fully commonplace. Moral education is, in fact, one of the prime concerns of pedagogical articles in the periodicals, promoted by the century just as it had been so pervasive in Locke, who expecially emphasized moral training, and in Rollin and Helvetius. Inculcating morality and citizenship could be done through censorship; through an explanation of la sensibilite and the place of passions and love in a studious life; by maintaining religious academies, Sunday Schools, and moral societies; by giving training in how to teach 236 237 morals and religion; through satire of the corruption of society; through the theater; by encouraging parents to carefully regulate their children's home life and by stressing the importance of early training; by teaching history; by means of books written especially for children; and by illustrating the kind of education necessary to form a good citizen. Religious Academies/ Sunday Schools, Moral Societies For the most part religious academies, Sunday Schools, and moral societies were an English phenomenon. Societies like the Society for the Reformation of Manners (organized 1692), the Society for Pro moting Christian Knowledge, and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts had an influence on education. The Gentleman's of May and June, 1784 and of January, 1787 carry articles on Sunday Schools. May, 1786 (page 379), describes a Sunday School in Canterbury under the Reverend Mr. Hearne which met from nine to eleven, after which the members went to church together. By 1:30 they were at the school again, where they remained until church at 2:30. The books used were various catechisms, testaments, and prayer books. Dissenters and Catholics were banned from English public schools and had to establish their own academies. Catholic children generally went to the continent. Even some Protestant parents sent their children abroad for a convent education. A letter to a friend in London from an English gentleman on his travels, dated Paris, March 21, 1766, described seminaries abroad for the.education of English youth. 238 The French convent at Boulogne had then about thirty English girls aged eight to fifteen and the English convent twenty girls of about the same ages. In Calais the French convent had forty-seven girls# all children of Protestant parents in the regions of Dover, Canterbury, and other parts of Kent. At Graveline: an English convent with twenty or more girls. At Dunkirk: two nunneries, in each more than thirty English girls. In Bruges: two English convents, forty girls in one and twenty- three in the other. At Ghent: one English convent with only fourteen girls. At Brussels: two English convents, one with sixteen and the other about eighteen girls. At Louvain: an English convent which had nearly forty girls, chiefly Irish. At Lear: an English convent with about thirty girls. Generally the prices for board and education in these convent schools were from twelve to twenty pounds a year. In some, music was paid for separately and in others music and dancing were included in the general fee. Protestant children had to practice Catholicism as strictly as the nuns themselves. Early and carefully grounded in a partial history of England and taught to believe that the true King of England was in exile at Rome, by the age of fourteen these children were sometimes quite vehement in opposing their country's government and religion. Similar establishments for boys included St. Omer's College under the Jesuits with about fifty Irish and English boys, nearly one hundred fifty boys at Douay, and a Minor School and college at Bruges with one hundred seventy-five boys housed in stately buildings on extensive property. All these boys, aged ten to twenty-two, were 239 clothed in the Jesuit's habit and observed all rites of the Roman church. The five to ten year-olds, about eighty boys, made up the Minor School, where twenty pounds a year procured their board and education. The college rate was twenty-five pounds including the habit, which was not worn in the Minor School. The parents had to clothe the younger boys. This was more expensive than many schools in the London area. At Louvain the Irish and English shared the university, also possessed large and extensive colleges, and educated priests and physicians to export to Ireland, but there were no Protestant boys sent here."*" Methodology In emphasizing the importance of cultivating virtue, courtesy literature of the eighteenth century like the moral weeklies, which disseminated their theories to a wide reading public, was in accordance with Locke. We ought to institute good habits from the outset, he thought, rather than trying to break bad ones later. Teach a lad to keep a secret, Budgell advised in the Spectator (#337, Thursday, March 27, 1712, pp. 246-250) and educate him in virtue as he advances in letters. Give him reasons and opinions why the famous men he reads about were good or bad so that he studies and understands the faults as well as the admirable qualities of great men. Xenophon, said Budgell, told of Persian children who held courts of honor and rendered judgments on each other. Apuleius related that Indians had made a boy who had 1. Gentleman's. May 1766, p. 227. 240 not employed his morning wisely miss dinner and work while the others ate. One way to ensure that a young boy learned good habits was to keep him in the company of other young unspoiled lads and to remove any rotten seed. At Angers if any student unfortunately showed inclinations toward vice and it was obvious. that his example was contagious, as a precaution school authorities requested that his parents remove him. To try to avoid such unhappy situations the teachers had decided to be very firm about not admitting any child older than thirteen. The desire of young children to imitate everything furnished a way to introduce the beginning of all the virtues into these new little souls. In a simple and pleasant way parents and teachers could give children moral lessons through their sense impressions and experiences. Conversely, they could teach them through experiences which were not so pleasant. The same author who wanted to take children to fires and floods to accustom them to danger advised for moral lessons experiences such as insulting drunks, throwing mud at them, and marking their doors. His reviewer did not approve of such inhumanity in the name of inspiring a horror of vice in children. A girl of thirteen was beheaded at Munich in 1768 for the murder of two children, aged four and six. The electorial council ordered that all the children from the schools should be present at the execution to take warning by this punishment. Usually, when schools assured that they used all the most suitable means to make students want to be attentive to all the duties of religion and society, to form their temperament, adorn their minds, to give them 241 righteous souls and accustom them to the practice of moral, civil, and Christian virtues, they used subtler and more merciful means than these. French books for children especially stressed the importance of simplicity, clarity, and a pleasant use of experience. The review of De la Connoissance de 1'Homme indicated that the colleges and all teachers, in fact, should adopt this work and once and for all rid themselves of the notebook method (methode des cahiers), which was a considerable waste of time for master and disciple alike. Neither did this text have the problem of so many books on metaphysics that made people want to avoid such an important study as that of themselves: 2 obscurity and complexity. A book on sacred history related its facts in question and answer form because that seemed the simplest way to aid the child's intelligence and memory. A little book of stories was supposed to be equally good for amusing children and inspiring them with a love of virtue, which it did by successfully using all the objects which surround a child and strike his senses, in order to make the ideas one wanted to give him clearer and more concrete. The volume contained a great variety of stories because of the child's invincible need for constant change. The attempt here was to try to speak to his imagination and to take into account 3 his short attention span. Another story book carried this epigraph: "Never try to explain anything to a child which he cannot see; so long as humanity is foreign 2. Mercure, June 1775, p. 70. 3. Ibid., February 5, 1778, pp. 51-53. 242 to him since he cannot be a man yet, bring man down to a child's level for him." (J. J. Rousseau. "Ne montrez jamais rien a 1'enfant qu'il ne puisse voir; tandis que l'humanite lui est etrangere, ne pouvant l'elever a l'etat d'homme, rabaissez pour lui l'homme a l'etat 4 d'enfant.") Its goal was to put lessons in morality within reach of earliest childhood, as a science one cannot learn too soon. La Fontaine's Fables were insufficient, even dangerous, for a beginner. Instead, offer children the defects of their own age; make them foresee the dire consequences. Show virtue to them smiling and amiable. The author had chosen to write in poetry because it was easier for the child's memory and would habituate his ear to harmony and his language to precision. In education the eighteenth century generally used literature to teach morality; thus the Gentleman's ran a series of Horace, Epistle II. Book I. modernized by Dr. D-n, of S. W-rmb-r-gh as a moral lesson for his son at Winchester School. Military education especially favored teaching morality by using examples from classical authors and either holding up heroes of antiquity or modern ones, preferably young, as models for student conduct. Students could find ample moral guidance in individual courses like the Nouveaux Essais d'Education, which was a complete composition course whose goal was to form the heart, the judgment and the style of children of both sexes during the last three years of their education, or De la Formation des Moeurs et de 1'Esprit, which contained a concise 4. Ibid., March 9, 1782, pp. 62-63. 243 yet nearly complete treatise on religion and morality. Some of its points were that an honest man is God's most beautiful creation, that only the wicked are really alone, that crime brings great unhappiness, that the heart, when it lays itself open to excess passion, lets in all of life's trouble, that opulence is the secret of shrinking the circle of one's needs, that we tend to waste all the time that we might put to 5 better use. Boarding schools were another source of moral guidance. The Sieur Baillot advertised that he wanted to remedy the situation of so many young boys spread around in furnished hotels, where nothing reminded them of the objective of their stay in Paris and their parents' views, by giving them good examples to emulate as well as the advice of a Monitor and an enlightened friend (himself?), so that they could follow a decent, reasonable course at an age when absolute independence made departing from that course all too easy. As in the academic courses, schools and towns offered prizes to encourage morality, sometimes to the students themselves, sometimes to men of letters as an attempt to develop new courses or books on moral thinking. Mercure articles give us some insights as to the difficulty of creating these books and courses. A letter from Monsieur Durand, Paris bookseller, to Monsieur de la Place commented that M. le Recteur of the University of Paris had just announced the subject of the prize for Masters of Arts in the year 1763 (February, p. 101): Quanti Populorum intersit, eadem in omnibus Scholis publicis, de Religione, de Moribus 5. Ibid., November 17, 1781, p. 129. 244 ac Litteris doceri. This seemed to him very like the same material treated in a letter entitled, Lettre de M. *** a M. l'Abbe ***, Professeur en Philosophie, sur la necessite et la maniere de faire entrer un cours de morale dans 1'education physique, several copies of which he had available in his shop, in case prize contenders wanted to read it, possibly to be sure their own work did not parallel it so closely they might be accused of plagiarism, but more probably to forage for ideas, since imitation and borrowing were not frowned upon as much as they are now. In 1781 one zealous individual, for the public well-being, thinking that a good education could contribute much to it, let it be known that he desired the composition of an elementary treatise on morality which would explain and prove the duties of each man and citizen. He wanted it to follow the principles of natural law, to be clear, methodical and suitable for all nations. Since it would be destined for the use of schools, it needed to be brief and written in a simple style, not exceeding one hundred or one hundred twenty pages duodecimo, ordinary print, so that it could be read and remembered by children learning to read and purchased at a very low price. To elicit the composition of this work by men of letters the zealous individual had deposited twelve hundred livres prize money with Maitre Sauvaige, notary, rue de Bussy. The author of this proposal asked well-known educated and enlightened people to be judges of the contest; according to their conclusions Maitre Sauvaige would deliver the prize to the one who best had fulfilled the conditions here set forth. The work had to be printed 245 and approved, or if a contestant did not want to risk the printing expense, the manuscript had to at least carry a stamp of approval or of permission to print. Printed copies or approved manuscripts were to be submitted to the Maitre Sauvaige by the first of May without the author's name but with an epigraph, which would also be enclosed with the author's name in a sealed paper, not to be opened until the prize distribution the day of St. Louis, 1782. The prize announcement appeared again in September 1782 because the Academie Fran^raise had been unable to make the award: no work had been worthy of it. They reset the date to 1784, then to 1786, by this time admitting the difficulty of writing such a book and giving, in the Mercure of December 11, 1784, some guidelines for its composition (pp. 73-74). They explained that a child's new, free intelligence is dis posed to receive everything but lacks everything. The principles had to be ordered like a kind of chain whose two ends a child could hold in his hands, measure the length, and count the links. In the same issue an author (M. de la C.) working on a moral treatise talks about the problems of doing one for children. How can we teach rules of morality to a child still learning to read? How can we teach him the duties of a father, of a citizen, when he cannot even understand what it is to be a father? How much can be said in the very simplified language of a child? He thought it was better just to teach these notions orally until the child was older. Teaching religion presented fewer problems. The school at Reims simply stated that it would teach the respect due to the Author of the many marvelous natural phenomena, proving God's existence by the order 246 in nature and combatting materialism. At Angers religion was considered the first and greatest goal of education and the faculty made it their major duty. They had their students go to confession every month and especially consecrated holidays to religious study. M. de Longpre's school also said that religion (object so important for virtue and happiness) would be taught and followed with the greatest exactitude. The sieur Viard brought in a dedicated priest from the parish from time to time to teach catechism and give general religious instruction. By comparison, the Gentleman's did not carry articles about religious education, though several books on the subject appear in the catalogues, and Germany was even more adamant about it than Prance was. The Emperor* s plan was to establish in all the schools in his states the greatest doctrinal uniformity possible; in order to do this, he dictated that all regular orders which permitted their members to study theology send them, without exception, to the university in the capital. He also proposed establishing a School of Theology, where the students of each sect permitted in his states would meet after finishing their particular courses, so as to begin one on all non-controversial matters. This seemed a way to eradicate all the seeds of division and hatred against 6 those who adored the same God. Books for children As more and more children of the middle classes survived infancy, there came a growing need for educational books. Locke re marked that he knew of no books except Aesop's Fables and Renard the Fox 6. Ibid., March 29, 1783, p. 197. 247 that would appeal to children and tempt them to read (in the Thoughts on Education, section 149). Then came Sarah and John Newbery with A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, aimed at a younger age group. Sarah on her own wrote for older children. The output of adult fiction from 1700-1740 was about seven works per year, from 1740-1770 about twenty. Fiction for children began appearing in England after mid-century, one book every few years, but in France there was virtually nothing until the eighties, when the output was suddenly about three books a year. When some authors began to produce children's books, advertise ments for them began appearing in papers and periodicals. Although they were advertised, children's books were not systematically reviewed until the end of the eighteenth century. Sarah Newbery Fielding's The Governess was first advertised in the London Evening Post no. 3301, Tuesday, December 27—Thursday, December 29, 1748 (middle of page 2). Its purpose was moral. The last lines of the Preface read: And there is one Mark in which you can never be deceived; namely, That whoever tempts you to fail in your Duty, or justifies you in so doing, is not your real Friend. And if you cannot have Resolution enough to break from such pretended Friends, you will nourish in your Bosoms Serpents, that in the End will sting you to Death.' The significance of The Governess was that it was the first attempt in juvenile literature at creating fictional children in a contemporary setting. It was the first novel in children's literature and the first to apply child psychology in a book for children; for example, the 7. Sarah Fielding, The Governess, Facsimile of first edition of 1749 with introduction and bibliography by Jill E. Grey (London: Oxford University Press, 1968), p. 98. 248 eldest, Jenny Peace, fourteen, acts as example and preceptor to the younger ones, as we have seen. A sample of one of the reviews that appeared late in the century for a child's book is the one for Sandfort et Merton in the Mercure, May 5, 1787 (pp. 27-32+). The reviewer opined that this was one of the most useful and agreeable of works for children. It was a course of educa tion in novel form. The heroes were two children, one a peasant, the other noble, raised by the same master. Merton, the noble, was very badly behaved due to a mother who, for example, refused to let him be taught his alphabet lessons because he complained of headaches. What seemed new about the morality in the tale was that he was punished for his faulty education by the acciden-ts which happened to him. Henri, the peasant boy, saved him from a snake; he could never extricate himself from his own difficulties. M. Barlow, the priest who was bringing them up, was a wise, knowledgeable, honest man who had a very simple educational system: he managed to get his students to like everything that he wanted to teach them. Not only that, but he made them feel the need and necessity for it through their own experience. What the two boys saw and encountered during daily walks excited their curiosity and M. Barlow, by the way he answered them, inspired in them a desire to learn on their own. Thus his two students asked him for lessons in.arithmetic, mechanics, astronomy because various interesting effects of these sciences made them judge how much they could contribute to their well-being or amusement. 249 Henri, who was much more advanced physically and morally than his friend Tommy, became for him an object of emulation. Since in physical needs the master often left Tommy to come to grips with Nature, and made him notice that a peasant, roughly brought up, was better than he was at getting along in such situations, he thus worked to cure him of the prejudices of his birth. M. Barlow's method in instructing his students, that is, in conversing with t.hem, was to tell them from time to time stories which, while entertaining them, also etched in their memories the moral fitting the circumstance. These stories were sometimes taken from other works, sometimes imaginary subjects that they read themselves. It was this approach which made Tommy want to know how to read. The review goes on for a few more pages; they were sometimes extremely detailed. The English led the French in publication of books for children, including collections of proverbs, stories, games, riddles, poetry, letters, dialogues. The great English name of the century in chil dren's literature was Newbery, but we must pass over it because we only see it occasionally in catalogue lists in the periodicals, and turn to the most popular French author for children, M. Berquin. Monsieur Berquin The periodicals do not give us any biography of M. Berquin. The first review the Mercure ran, in 1781 (December 22, pp. 209-218), summarized one of the plays in his Ami des Enfans, which appeared monthly all through the eighties. Enormously popular, it was soon 250 translated into English and his name became as familiar in England as it was in France. In the little play reviewed, a young girl, Josephine, let her pet bird starve to death through negligence. Her family had it stuffed with straw, and from then on each time that Josephine did some thing foolish, they brought out the stuffed bird. The second review, in 1782 (May 25, pp. 152-153), rhapsodized over the first four months' issues: they bore all the grace and charm of childhood. Nothing in them gave children the idea of a master or a school. The Friend of Children had not at all taken with them the dogmatical teaching tone which bored and frightened them. Perhaps, said the reviewer, hard work and painful studies are necessary to acquire knowledge;- the virtues much more necessary to our happiness are fortunately much easier to acquire. They are born especially of natural affections, and these affections are the tenderest enjoyments of the soul. Children do not yet have any of the passions that produce our vices, yet they already have all the feelings from which are formed the most necessary and pleasing virtues. They are very sensitive to pity, tending toward beneficence and generosity. Nature has already done almost everything, and it would already be an excellent education if a child just could conserve in all their purity the happy dispositions that she gives us (another point for the nature partisans in the controversy). We are always, said Montaigne, accusing nature of the vices that we plant ourselves in the souls of our children. M. Berquin's goal was to develop the feelings nature gave them through short dramas. Everybody knows, continued the reviewer, how much the fresh imagination of .children is avid for all stories of some interest. 251 and how in order to hear them, they often forget the times for meals and sleep. M. Berquin won their interest by using children as the charac ters in his stories and by filling them with the objects that most amuse youth: the instruments of their games, the animals which are their companions. His little girls were almost always surrounded by birds they were caring for or flowers they cultivated with their own hands. Another of M. Berquin's stories was from the Contes Moraux of M. Marmontel: while a mother was ill, one of her children drew close to her bed. in the shadows. She was thinking only of her elder son, whom she idolized, sacrificing the younger boy to him, and she had no doubt that this was her elder come to be near her in her malady. "Is that you, my son?" she said to him. "No, Mother, it's Jacquot," the child answered. Other subjects of stories the critic, M. Garat, talked about were a younger sister trying to comfort an older one being chastised by their mother; a girl whose mother is cold with her, preferring her brother, but who finally melts; Jacquot crying on his mother's grave; the child who pretends to be sick and wants to die of htinger so that his father and brothers and sisters can have more to eat. M. Garat thought this last may have been a bit too fine an example of virtue, not natural enough, when morality should be practical, not out of reach, but that this was the only such case in the book. One of the great merits of M. Berquin was that in his stories little girls were not always lovable and good, only the boys having faults, as was usually the case in children's literature. The greatest praise M. Garat could think of to give the work was that it was of the 252 same quality as the Conversations d'Emilie by Mme d'Epinay and the Theatre d'Education of Mme la Comtesse de Genlis, two authors rivaling Berquin in popularity, as we see in the history section and the chapter about women and education. By 1783 L'Ami des Enfans had arrived in England. The Gentleman'5 article about it compared it to Newbery's little books. Twenty-two of twenty-four volumes had so far appeared. Published in France with success in 1782, said the article, it was now available in England with a translation at one shilling the volume. "The Canary Bird" was given Q as an example. Another item in April (page 281) said that twenty-four volumes in French were now complete, six in English. The French Academy had given it a prize as the best work of the year, commenting that children considered it as a reward, not as work. Its tone was always matched to the age of its readers and its morality gay and pleasant. One child wrote in to the Mercure saying how he enjoyed his subscription and how sad he was when the little vblume did not come for several months. P. F. sent in an "Epitre a M. Berquin," from which I quote a few lines: Les peres attendris apprennent aux enfans A begayer tes vers; instruisent leur memoire A retenir les traits d'une piquante Histoire. ^ Pour donner meme encor plus de poids aux lemons ... . Along with reviews and advertisements for the Amis of M. Berquin, the magazines sometimes published whole stories, like "La Neige" in January, 8. Gentleman's, February 1784, p. 115. 9. Mercure, February 28, 1784, p. 146. 253 1782, and "Zephirin" from the Ami de 1'Adolescence, which followed the Ami des Enfans, August, 1784. Any publication of this popularity tempted those who wanted to share in the profits to flaunt the copyright laws, the privilege du roi in France. The legal publishers tried to lower the price of their editions because of a spurious copy under the same title circulating in the provinces. It was full of errors, truncated, missing many plays entirely, but it was cheaper and people were buying it. Another problem was red tape with subscriptions. People ordered the series improperly, notably by forgetting to pay the postage themselves. By remitting the price to the post office, anyone anywhere in France could order these books, but they forgot to put a stamp on the payment and their cover letter, or they forgot to include the receipt from the postal director. M. Leprince, Director of the Bureau de l'Ami des Enfans, sent out reminders from headquarters: they had their own printing house and offices, number 28, rue de 1"Universite, Paris. Learning to Read and Write M. Berquin's fiction excelled in entertaining and instructing children who already knew how to read, but a whole new line had to be developed for those just learning. In the third year the Gentleman's Magazine was published, 1733, A Play-Book for Children was advertised as alluring children to read as soon as they could speak plainly. It was composed of small pages so as not to tire little hands, "and printed with a fair and pleasant Letter."10 Mrs. Barbauld had composed 10. Gentleman's, April 1733, p. 56. 254 Lessons for Children for a particular child and then offered it to the public. Its reviewer pointed out that among the multitude of books for children there was not one adapted to the comprehension of a two or three year old. A grave remark or connected story, however simple, was above his capacity and nonsense was always below it, folly being worse than ignorance. Books also tended to be defective in good paper, large clear type, and large spaces. Lessons for Children and A Play-Book for Children remedied these problems. Major English authors for children like Mrs. Barbauld, Dr. Aiken, and Mrs. Trimmer understood that five or six year olds who had learned to read liked natural objects best and could adapt their descriptions to the child's comprehension, not by lowering language in a patronizing way. but by presenting the object by one or two of its most distinguishing qualities or strongest features. Admirers of their work believed that every mother should study Lessons for Children, Prose Hymns, Introduction to the Knowledge of Nature, and the Calendar of Nature, books by these authors. In France Mme de v***, who wrote books for children like the Historiettes et Conversations a 1*usage des Enfans qui commencent a Epeler, lamented that in the great number of books published in recent years for children (she wrote this in 1789), it pained her that there was not one particularly aimed at the youngest children. What book could one hand to a little child just learning to spell? Mothers were reduced to trying to teach reading from any book they could lay their hands on, so why should anybody wonder that a child, finding no interest or even any sense in it, would rebel at the very first lines and 255 consider this exercise as a torment? A book, on the contrary, which presented them only with words familiar to their ears, which spoke to them only of their affections and pleasures, captivated their imagina tion, reinforced their small reserves of patience, and put some bounds to their frivolity. It seemed to children that they were playing with the objects as they read their names, and the book itself soon became their favorite toy. Mme de V. said that the works she presented to the public could be put in children's hands as soon as they began to read, however laboriously, complete words. The first volume, composed of very short sentences, would soon have them ready to go on to the second, in which the stories were more extensive, and from this to the third and so on, so that their natural progress would conduct them without difficulty by careful gradations in the succession of volumes. It seemed to her reviewer that Mme de V. had met her goals. The five volumes could be considered as the first books of childhood, which would find several advantages in them: that of becoming assured in the science, as dry as it was difficult, of reading, and that of actually acquiring a taste for it by the amusement they would find in the books here announced. He summarized one of the stories: Leonor was the vainest of little girls. Providing that she was well-dressed, she thought she had no need to know how to read or work and that it was best to leave books and needles to poor children, who had to learn something in order to earn a living. There was not a servant in the house whom she did not humiliate each day by her spiteful airs, and when she found in the street little 256 boys or girls whose clothes were not rich, she lifted her head high and looked at them over her shoulder, considering them unworthy to even walk on the same ground she did. She was just as haughty with her own friends, her heart swelling with pride when she compared herself with them, because she had prettier jewelry and more beautiful clothes. Sometimes little Emilie came to play with her, but since her parents, even though very rich, dressed her simply, Leonor insulted her and sometimes even hit her when she did not want to be the servant when they were playing house. Her parents underwent a trial on which their whole fortune depended. They lost it and died of sorrow. Leonor found herself most unfortunate. She was unable to earn her own living because she had never learned to work when she had the opportunity. After having dis dained her friends so, she could not ask them for help. Everyone shut her out. Then she felt how much pain disdain gave to poor people. Finally she considered herself lucky to be able to enter into Emilie's service. Was it not sad for her to see herself in reality reduced to being Emilie's servant, she who had so often slapped her friend for not wanting to pretend to be hers?'1"'1" Graded readers were one way of teaching children to read; what were some of the others? M. Viard began with the alphabet, then pro ceeded to pronunciation rules, spelling, punctuation, grammar, and French prose composition. Right after the alphabet, for example, he 11. Mercure, December 1789, pp. 10-14. 257 used charts showing simple sounds of consonant and vowel, then words of two syllables formed from these same sounds. Next came words of three and four syllables of the same sounds, then entire sentences composed of these words. He included a teaching guide for masters and selected reading passages at the end. M. Goullier wrote similar texts, as did M. Noel. Le Polyglotte was intended to promote reading readiness as a child looked at pictures and learned to recognize familiar objects, an exercise which prepared him for future study and furnished intel ligent masters a way to instruct him while amusing him. The same pictorial method could be used to teach the principal terms of foreign languages. One new system of teaching reading was rather vaguely described in the Mercure article but seemed to be a historical method of showing the student how writing evolved aind supposedly thus helped him reconcile spoken and written language. This method also involved motivating a student to want to read by instilling in him a desire to learn. Everybody wanted to make reading pleasant, no matter what the approach, including one that taught the child to read without ever mentioning beastly items like letters and syllables. The idea was that children needed all their strength to withstand physical problems, without being weighted down too early with moral concerns like their studies. Thus the reading games were born. Eoyer invented the touches typographiques, two hundred twelve ivory letters in a light, portable 258 box. They cost forty-eight livres. M. Dumas produced a similar assortment, called the Bureau Typographique, to help children learn to read by having them go through about the same kinds of operations that a type-setter did. This one was very bulky at first, but M. Reybert reduced it in size and made it easier to use. By means of a box or case about twelve inches high, thirty wide and three deep, the child most limited in intelligence and lazy could learn to read in less time 12 than with dice or flashcards, said the advertisement. Mile p*** de N...S.S. designed a reading game which the Mercure did not describe. Wandelaincourt.' s system for teaching a student to form and recognize letters is interesting. First he drew a little perpendicular line with a dot on top to form an _i; from this i^ the master derived fifteen letters of the alphabet. He made a little bar across the top for a t, put a hook on the perpendicular line in front for an it, added a second i^ on the side for an n and a third for m. If he lengthened upward the first i_ in the 11 it made an h; another JL at the side could make u, and so on. To form the rest of the alphabet, he followed the same system, bending the end to make c^, attaching a little loop for an e^, putting another i_ on for an a_. A lengthened jL either in front, 13 behind, on the top, on the bottom, would be a a _d, a jp, or a b. These are essentially modern methods, the foggy historical system aside: recognizing the need for reading readiness; using graded readers, phonetics, games; and stressing simplicity and clarity. In 12. Ibid., April 22, 1786, p. 208. 13. Ibid., February 12, 1785, pp. 75-76. 259 many ways in teaching reading the eighteenth century was ahead of the nineteenth. Nineteenth-century teachers may have known that it is important to continue to explain to a child what he reads until he can understand it on his own, but in the education of the masses, at least, they tended to ignore this precept. The Theater The theater as one means of teaching morality is not an issue at all in the Gentleman's and a rather slight one in the Mercure; it is, however, worth including. So many battles in that age over whether the theater was a corrupting influence or not! M. Desprez de Boissy, a lawyer of the Parlement, wrote a series of letters on plays, with a history of works for and against theaters, which the University of Paris used as one of its prize books. Secondary principals in Paris and the provinces gave it to their young people on the verge of entering society. It warned of the danger in going to the theater too often. If plays were safely in written form in a book, however, that made all the difference; then the drama was praised as one of the most useful instruments of education. With regard to the Theatre a 1'usage des Jeunes Personnes M. de la Harpe said that, in digging into a well- spring of the best moral lessons, young people would find the finest model of true wit of a pure style and of excellent taste. The seven plays of its first volume were "Les Dangers du Monde," "La Curieuse," "L'Enfant Gate," in which Lucie is brought up .by Dorine, her music and drawing instructor, who flatters her pupil in her faults, "Agar dans le Desert," "La Belle et la Bete," "Les Flacons," and "l'Isle Heureuse." 260 Domestics like Dorine to whom one confided a child's education were all too typical, but Lucie's good character, though altered by her poor education, resists destruction. Volumes XI, III, and IV made a total of twenty-four plays in the collection. There were very few important lessons to give to youth of either sex and to children of all classes which could not be found in these volumes, said M. de la Harpe. The author, Mme de Genlis, consecrated the first two volumes more particularly to female education and the third to male. M. de la Harpe, having reviewed one volume at a time, concluded as he wrote about the fourth that every intelligent parent 14 would see to it that his child read this work. Theater was a method of rendering moral study attractive to all ages. A few verses to Mile de L... in sending her the Theatre a 1'usage des Jeunes Personnes underlined this: Les homines sont de grands enfans, Pour les instruire il faut leur plaire; C'est leur besoin de tous les temps. Une morale trop austere, Qui dedaigne les agremens, ^ Aupres d'eux ne profite guere. M. de Saint-Marc was another author of plays for children. His third volume contained six little comedies: "La Bienfaisance," "La Vanite corrigee," "L'Ingratitude," "La Confiance mal placee," "La Franchise," and "L"Union de Famille." This reading, said the reviewer, was the fittest of any for developing children's ideas, inspiring them 14. Ibid., February 5, 1780, p. 26. 15. Ibid., March 4, 1780, p. 3. 261 with attachment to their duties, hatred of vice arid love of virtue. Its 16 author had overcome the difficulty of writing at children's level. If reading plays was not immoral and could even furnish some of the best of moral lessons, it was also acceptable for schools to present plays. One of the bibliography entries is a play done by the students at the Opera school; that was natural enough, but secondary and boarding schools presented them frequently also, especially at prize distributions, and poetry sections in the magazines often included verses pronounced by some young actor accompanied by comments on the flair of his performance relished by an enthusiastic audience. For example, the January, 1748/ poetical essays in the Gentleman's (pp. 36- 37} included the Prologue and Epilogue to Ignoramus, acted at Westminster School in December, 1747. Ignoramus had been played by the Hon. Hamilton Boyle, second son of the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Orrery. Ignoramus criticized the pedantry of the university and asserted that he could succeed on his handsome face alone. But at the end learning triumphed. There was only one objection—English—to a school play: that the boys of Westminster should not perform the Eunuchus of Terence because it would corrupt their morals. By the end of the century it was very fashionable for children of the upper classes to present plays in their parents' chateaux or country houses. Other school plays: Mr. Newcome's school at Hackney performed the tragedy of King Lear with a prologue and epilogue written by George Keate, esq. (Gentleman1s, May poetry, 1783, p. 429). Louis-le-Grand did 16. Ibid., April 7, 1781, p. 20. 262 a comedy and a tragedy by the Pere Geoffroy, professor of rhetoric. Le Misanthrope, the comedy, was presented differently from Moliere's version (Mercure, May 1753/ p. 170). For the Fete du Roi, celebrated on the day of Saint Louis, M. l'Abbe Chocquart's students presented the Originaux by M. Fagan and Voltaire's Mahomet with illuminations—all one of the Abbe's innovations (Mercure, October 1763, 2e volume, p. 63). A letter to the editor of the Mercure reported that August 24 the College de Vernon sur Seine presented Athalie in front of a large number of distinguished people. To avoid the problem of boys playing women, they made changes: Athalie became Achibal, her brother (Mercure, November 1756, p. 178). The regular theaters occasionally ran plays with education as a theme, such as La Pension Genevoise done at the Theatre de l'Ambigu Comique. Generally, the conversations and amusements of the students at this boarding school do credit to their mistress, but there are two sisters who think about nothing except their apparel and who exude pride at their station and wealth. To reform them, their teacher has them told that their father has just been ruined and that from then on they will live in indigence. It is difficult for us to understand how anybody could condemn the theater as an immoral place if one went to see a play with a subject like this, but then the condemnation was of the milieu more than it was of the subjects of the plays. 263 History Textbooks: Aims and Methods The 1770s and 80s saw the publication of almost all the new textbooks in history. A few of these were for ancient history, half French and half English, but most were modern histories, the French publication running two to one of these over the English for general texts or histories of France or England. History was the subject par excellence for inculcating morality into youth, as many titles illustrated, Mme de Genlis's Les Annales de la Vertu, ou Cours d'Histoire, for example. Its study, in fact, could be a school in itself for all mankind, thought the critic of the 17 Annales. A letter to Mile D. p*** stressed the importance of the 18 study of history, which, it said, was neglected in the schools. Another correspondent suggested that national history be taught, rather than Livy or Florus and that it should be part of a university educa tion, with professorships of English history founded at Oxford or 19 Cambridge, of Irish at Dublin, and of Scottish at Edinburgh. In her general' plan of education Mme de Genlis thought that it was important to principally fix the attention of young students on the most beautiful examples of virtue and heroism which were the pride of both ancient and modern peoples. But the students were not left ignorant of the crimes men are capable of nor that there are wicked men. 17. Ibid., December 22, 1781, p. 236. 18. Ibid., October 1759, volume 2, p. 66. 19. Gentleman's, December 1788, p. 1057. 264 However, she was careful to show vice to youth only from a distance and to persuade that it is rather the good which is natural in a man's heart, and evil which is foreign to him. The Dictionnaire Historigue d'Education proposed to exercise and enrich all the faculties of soul and mind, without giving weighty precepts', by substituting examples for lessons, facts for supposition, practice for theory. Nothing seemed like instruction or morality because they were always hidden under the guise of history, in the form of facts arranged categorically according to the virtues and qualities they illustrated. The facts in any one category were numbered for easier reference. The translator of another work of this kind, the. Historical Extracts (French), told the public in his preface that this work came about because of a letter in the Gentleman's Magazine wishing that collections of short passages from authentic history, tending to promote public and private virtue, were committed to press and put in the hands of youth, as subjects to exercise minds and improve manners. The Principes d'Institution concluded with a collection of maxims and thoughts taken from different authors and a collection of historical items to form the mind and heart of youth. M. de Bury in his Essai historigue et moral sur 1'Education frangoise divided his plan for education into three parts: in boarding schools, in colleges, and what it was necessary to know to enter society at sixteen or seventeen. He indicated the knowledge necessary to this age, but without mentioning natural history and in showing himself against physics. He principally stressed the study of religion, 265 of history, and morality taught anecdotally, as in a course of practical morality. His method was to try to support usually dry, distasteful moral precepts with agreeable and interesting historical facts. In several places he gave teachers general advice on teaching history to youth, and in the part called "Instructions for the study of history" he traced a complete plan for them, followed by a section on ancient chivalry and the education that parents of that period had 20 their children given. Other history texts were less overtly moral. M. Luneau de Boisjermain1s was at first distributed page by page like the periodicals. His reviewer was one of those who said that history study was neglected and that students left their colleges with only a few scattered fragments of Greek or Roman history. Advantages of this course were that it could be used for both sexes and for all ages, that it was easy to use and seemed recreation rather than painful study. Its goal was to present the history of the universe according to the different points of view cast on it by politics, morality, and religion and to avoid lists of facts, 21 unlike M. de Bury, and the boredom of a philosophical treatise. Milot, instead of giving details of sieges, battles and marches, wrote about the morals, customs, and manners of the nations and their progress in the sciences and arts. He distributed the material so that each chapter could constitute a lesson. His summaries formed a kind of 20. Mercure, April 1777, volume 2, pp. 119-124. 21. Ibid., November 1765, p. 104. 266 analysis helpful in facilitating memorization (Mercure, avril 1773, pp. 86-88). Many of the history textbooks were really reference works, like the Etrennes de Clio et de Mnemosyne with its chronological tables of ancient history, its list of historical events with the year, month and day of each, a scheme of French history in technical verse, and a collection of apophthegms, maxims, anecdotes, witticisms. The ancient histories especially used their many illustrations, when they had them, as a selling item, touting the pictures as a means of inspiring a love of antiquity, providing amusement, and etching information deeply in children's memories. The Maltre d'Histoire, designed for youth and masters, contained all the history from the creation to the eighteenth century, divided chronologically into fifteen epochs, with all the principal events to be learned by heart expressed simply. Then followed chapters on sacred, ecclesiastical, ancient, Roman, Imperial Roman, Lower Empire, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and English history, with advice for masters at the end of each, including a bibliography of history books that could be used in teaching children. The reviewer pronounced this a useful book, though not very interesting or amusing. History came first in a young person's education, he said, because it alone, in teaching us to understand men, can contribute toward making something of them. History is the foundation of politics and morality, 22 creator of the statesman and the useful citizen. 22. Ibid., June 1777, p. 140. 267 What emerges from all this as the most popular method of text book authors for teaching history? The use of lists of facts and tables to aid memorization, Boisjermain excepted. Milot also tried to give a broader perspective and to avoid lists of facts but still with a view to memorization. Even though the question and answer approach was steadily gaining acceptance in all fields, new publications using it, like Vetour's Nouvelles Instructions sur I'Histoire de France, faced problems. Often public schools adopted new works with the greatest repugnance and then hung on to them long after they were obsolete. Sometimes a new work appeared, a school considered and argued long over whether to adopt it, and by the time its authorities finally made up their minds to use it, it was already outdated and another new work coming off the press. Vetour's recognized the problem of posing good questions and carefully linked each question to the preceding and follow ing answers. Course Content and Method Educators of the eighteenth century gave some thought to readi ness activities for various subjects, especially reading. One way to prepare a child for history study was to have him read the Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses de tous les Peuples du Monde. Then he could go on to both volumes of Rollin for ancient history, Plutarch's Lives, The History of Rome by Question and Answer, Goldsmith's History of Greece and Rome, some English biography, an abridgment of Spence's Polymetis, and a little general chronology. This plan, Knox's, was still fairly typical in its stress on ancient history, but the direction the 268 curriculum in history was taking was increasingly modern and national as the century wore on. What would it have been like to be a student in Priestley's history class? He furnished each pupil with a text of his lectures, quite complete, with an explanation of his method of discoursing on the subjects and all of his principal arguments and leading facts, materials which he expected to be well-digested. This text was to be the subject of a regular but familiar discourse, not more than an hour at a time, with a class limited to twenty or thirty. The lecturer encouraged the students to participate by asking questions, making remarks or objections. In the intervals between lectures all students were to have the opportunity of perusing the text or copying it. Nearly half the time for lecturing was spent in receiving from the students a minute account of the preceding lecture and explaining any difficulties they had. No subject was to be left until the tutor was sure the students understood it well. On every subject of importance the tutor referred to the principal authors who had treated it. If it was controversial, he gave references on both sides. He occasionally questioned orally about these "outside" readings or had a written summary turned in. A selection of major questions was given as exercises: orations, theses, dissertations, for which the tutor could give rewards for the best work if he wished. Young gentlemen designed for the learned professions could just attend the lectures and skip the outside work. The lectures were at three-day intervals at least, so their other studies would not be 269 23 interfered with. A syllabus was given for each course. Would a modern university student have felt out of place? Our secondary students, given a trick of anachronism, may have felt equally at home with history studies under M. Mathias, who had a singular method. Against jumping around on a page here and there of the ancients, his idea was to start by studying civilization and to begin with the Americans, then the Scythians, the Germans, the Gauls, the civilized nations of the Orient, and finally the Greeks and Romans. M. Chocquart's technique was to combine geography and history by using maps folded in such a way that facts and places could be learned together. The favorite newer visual and manual methods were the Bibliotheque Historique and the Bureau Typographique, which were very similar. The Sieur Viard had been using (August 1753) the former with a dozen children for six months in his Paris boarding school, and they apparently knew more about history than they would have after years of study using traditional methods. Events and facts entered the memory through all their senses and in such good order that the children themselves were astonished at the facility they found in their study. The child who normally became bored was reluctant to leave these lessons. The method had also been in use for three months at the school of Messieurs les Chevaux-Legers and the court was praising it. Each card was imprinted with a historical name, and on its back was a clear and precise explanation of that name. 23. Gentleman's, September 1765, pp. 434-435. 270 Why did the French so predominate in history education? Perhaps in all the troubles leading to the Revolution—the economic crises and financial instability, the changing concept of class roles and privileges—all levels of French society felt a greater need for the security of an established race and culture, national pride, and a common ancestry and inheritance from earlier civilizations. Studying history was supposed to result in good, virtuous citizens and a safer society. The Citizen in Society As we have seen, the English and the French both believed that a major aim of education was to prepare children to become good citizens and to be worthy members of their society. The state took increasing responsibility for educating its citizens as it recognized that it would be more ordered and efficient if each one of its members were capable and informed. Educated citizens would obey the law much better out of conviction and will because they understood it than they would under constraint. The Mercure printed a lengthy review of a treatise prepared for the King of Sweden which recommended that the best mode of educa tion looked to the government as schoolmaster. In public free schools all the other arts and sciences would be subordinate to the one great 24 lesson of good citizenship. Education was to form patriotism, obedience to the laws and to the sovereign. Fundamental in every system of education was putting the common people in a position to themselves be the primary defenders and sure guardians of their liberty. It was 24. Mercure, October 1775, pp. 64-79. 271 true that this was exceedingly difficult to do. Laws could not be contrary to education; rather they had to be reinforced by it, and this was not an easy goal. The periodicals reflect one reason why it was not easy. Many writers spoke generally of citizenship as a necessary aijn of education, but very few explained exactly how to form a good citizen. The major answer was "Teach religion." The Philadelphia Academy promoted a spirit of piety and devotion and a profound awe and reverence for the supreme being. A plan for schools in Pennsylvania recommended the Bible as the best schoolbook. Even princes could also be good citizens if they were kept from vanity by being taught what tiny specks we are compared to Divinity and the immensity of the universe. But, though teaching religion worked in America and among the middle and lower classes, it was not fashionable at all in the upper classes to be religious in the generation of the philosophes, at least not in a traditionally orthodox way. One of them, Helvetius, emphasized life in the social world as Locke, whose primary concerns were behavioral, had done. One of-the major responsibilities of an educator according to Locke—and Helvetius —was supervising children's social experience. If a child were surrounded by comrades, he and they would teach one another social qualities leading toward good citizenship. The goal of education, said Helvetius, was to inspire in men a love for the law and social virtues. 25 C'D'inspirer aux hommes l'amour des lois et des vertus sociales.") For 25. Helvetius, p. 93. 272 him public well-being was the supreme law substituted for the golden rule. But this most important part of an education, the moral part, was neglected, in the college a boy made up Latin verses and spent hardly a month on morality. The Abbe Trublet in a 1759 Mercure article (July 22, p. 51) was one of Helvetius' echoes in the periodicals. We study physics, mathematics, etc. and we neglect morality, he said, just as we study dead or foreign languages and neglect that of our own country. One problem was that it was not a fixed science but a dis organized mass of precepts. Since it was so abstract, the instructor had to be very careful to get the child to work from particular ideas to the more general and to attach clear, precise ideas to the various words which made up the vocabulary of moral studies. Another problem, in the opinion of the philosophes, was the priests1 role in moral education, another the imperfection of most governments. Any important reform in the moral part of education presupposed one in the laws and the form of the government. Here was the catch. "Helvetius could not see how the kind of education that he believed would transform men and society was to be realized. To change the educational system, the political system had to be changed first, and how was philosophie to do that without first winning men over, which it could only do by a new 26 educational system?" 26. Gossman, p. Ill, note 64 for chapter 3. 273 He was not alone in his perplexity. Teaching government seemed a perfectly logical way to form a good citizen, yet in France in 1760* for example, there was not one political academy, no professorship of public law, no professor of the law of nations, nor any certain rule for raising good subjects in the knowledge required for governmental jobs. Studies depended upon what was fashionable, and young people learned nothing formally about government. One Mercure correspondent was trying to remedy this problem by writing a complete treatise on govern ment which would be universal and refer to both cincient and modern authors on politics. He had been working on it for forty years. By the eighties texts in government and law existed but often came under criticism in France because they included long, dangerous ideas against kingly authority. Traditional recommendations for forming good citizens included the familiar "keep them at home rather than sending them abroad so that they can form ties of patriotism" and the awarding of prizes. An anonymous person (France 1763) decided to contribute prizes—four per * year—to the children of his village to encourage them to better profit from their lessons. The first prize, entitled "for good qualities," was. awarded to the child most respectful to his father, mother, and superiors, the most honest and truthful, gentlest, exact in his duties, who was best at causing everyone to love him. This prize was only given to one of the more advanced children who could read and write. It was a one-volume Telemaque or an abridgment of the old or new Testament or the Instruction de la jeunesse by M. Gobinet. The second prize: the Conseils de la Sagesse, the Cathechisine Historique by M. Fleury, or the 274 Instruction de la jeunesse. Third prize: the Traite d1Arithmetigue of M. le Gendre or a collection of writing samples or a prayer book. Fourth prize: the Cathechisme Historique, the Manuel du Chretien, or prayer books of lesser value. The parish priest judged the winners aided by the opinions of the Vicar and the schoolmaster, and the awards ceremony took place at the church one Sunday or holiday after High Mass toward the end of the year. On this occasion the prizes for the next year were announced.^' Sheridan's solution for the education of the citizen for society was oratory. England was also evidently deficient in citizenship training. When a boy can read English, at about eight, he is put to school to learn Latin and Greek for seven years, said Sheridan. At fifteen he goes to the university for four more years in continental languages and learning the rudiments of logic, natural philosophy, astronomy, metaphysics, and heathen morality. At nineteen or twenty he takes a degree in the arts and there ends the education of a gentle man. What single office as a citizen was he qualified to fill? The rudiments of the arts were taught for their own sake but their uses for the purposes of life were never pointed out. An education could not be finished in England; a gentleman either went to a foreign academy or traveled, both of which brought about the worst consequences. Sheridan thought that education should be adapted to the nature of the government and form good citizens and that the principles of religion, of Christianity, formed a chief part of education. The best 27. Mercure, August 1763, pp. 207-209. 275 way to imbue the student with these virtues was through oratory, as the ancient Greeks and Romans taught it. His reviewer disagreed. If oratory were used to inculcate virtue, but virtue had already been well taught as a part of education, then what need for oratory? The reviewer then expounded on oratory's lack of use in English government. It could not affect the laws. Oratory was necessary for the clergy, thought Sheridan, but not the reviewer, if religion were properly taught. Mr. Sheridan prefers speaking to writing, said the reviewer. Sheridan felt that the glory of the ancients was due to their language and that without oratory there could be no good painter or statuary. "He has not laid down a single principle with respect to education, which he says should principally inculcate virtue and religion, but that our schools should teach oratory," concluded Sheridan's exasperated critic.•4-- 28 The Parents' Role The muddle that the social studies were in leads to a look at some of the more negative aspects of moral training. If the schools were lax in moral training, increased responsibility fell on the parents to give their offspring proper guidance. Even the humblest fathers of families received governmental admonitions that they should not regret any sacrifice for the instruction of their children, regarding it as the most useful portion of their heritage. The English were especially conscious of this and deplored parents' shortcomings, particularly in the upper class. Writers in 28. Gentleman's, June 1769, pp. 304-306. 276 the periodicals felt that good breeding was destructive to good manners, as we saw in the first chapter about English aims for education and concern with foppery, effeminacy, and the corruption of society. Osborn's advice to his son and the Marquis of Halifax's to his daughter were very good tracts for helping parents with the moral education of their children, as was Locke's treatise on education, but everybody seemed to ignore this part of what they said. Parents educated their children in too much knowledge and politeness, which led to so much corruption in England that what was needed was fewer manners and more virtue, fewer rakes and coquettes. Mr. Stonecastle in an essay in the Universal Spectator (March, 1740, pp. 115-117) said that he had seen the other day a proof of this in a scene from domestic life while visiting a friend with a daughter thirteen and son fifteen for dinner. Miss was gone with Mamma to an auction, Master for a turn in the mall, and none of them got home until dinner was spoiled. During dinner the girl's part of the conversation consisted in begging for an India screen for Mamma, while Master announced that he had promised to go to the play that night with young Master Flutter, who had been to no school and was destined for a foreign university because they did nothing at the English universities but drink ale and smoke. Some young ladies came to call on Miss to see if she could go to the masquerade with them, but her father said she could not until the next season. Later that evening Mr. Stonecastle dropped in to a playhouse and saw young master in the gallery with two other sparks and two noted 277 courtesans. The essay concluded that parents, instead of teaching chil dren to know the world, should teach them to know themselves. Another gloomy sample from the Gentleman's was a letter to Mr. Urban from Oxford signed "Yours, Acasto." He began by saying that nothing more mortifying could happen to an honest man than to know he left behind him a degenerate son. The foundations of what a man will be are laid from infancy, thus the importance of very early training. "If a child is permitted to furnish his yet empty cabinet with nothing but Trifles, the Consequence is what must naturally be expected: Those Follies which have first got Possession of his unjudging Mind, influ ence and indeed have the commanding Stroke in forming his future 29 Behaviour." This letter and these thoughts were occasioned by a letter Acasto had himself received from a friend, an unhappy father whose daughter converted to the Church of Rome. She married a young man she loved, with the father's blessing. He had professed to be a member of the Church of England, but after the wedding he revealed himself as a Catholic and influenced his wife to convert. The father concluded it was his own fault for not teaching her religion. He had left her open to the attack. Even with the best of educations and most careful parental surveillance, one could fall prey to the passions, such as love in the case of the Santon Selym in Arabia Felix. Blessed with sublime capacity, he was interested only in study, so he retired from society to a cave. 29. Ibid., May 1736, pp. 250-251. 278 A shepherdess went by one day for whom he gave up all and sank into degradation. But this was falling from one extreme into another, for certainly virtuous or conjugal love was very consistent with the just pursuit of wisdom and virtue. M. Mistelet in his De la Sensibilite, par rapport aux Drames, aux Romans et a 1'Education insisted on the useful ness in education of reading good novels and on the good effects that a well-directed sensitivity, fruit of this reading, could produce in the hearts of young people. Knowledge of the human heart was a too- neglected part of education (Mercure, juillet, 1777, p. 100). Censorship The father saw his failing as a sin of omission, since he had not taught his young daughter religion. Censorship was an active way for parents and schools to try to prevent sins of commission. Parents could be cautious about keeping their children in proper company, away from servants, and be vigilant in preventing their seeing anything base or flagitious. Contrary to Mistelet's recommendation novels were generally included in this category or at least considered worthless. The child's young mind was more susceptible to impressions of whatever passed before it than at any other stage of life, which was perhaps the reason why so many sons of princes turned out to be tyrants and debauchees, the court providing so few examples worthy of imitation. The Scots were particularly strict about not letting children read any book that could give them mean or bad ideas. In England the matter of how much to censure children's books was somewhat contro versial. Mr. W. L. had proposed making a Latin school book from 279 Paradise Lost by purging it of heathen mythology, abridging it, and putting it into Latin verse. This would be better for youth them Terence, Ovid, Virgil, or Horace, who tended to debauch morals. Another reader remarked that it would be an excellent undertaking for the pupils but not for schools, since the verse could not approach the purity of the Romans1, and if students in the schools could not be permitted to read the best Latin poets, why teach the language of verse? Tully 30 or Roman histories would be more proper. One author applied a kind of reverse censorship in citing arguments against using the Bible as a common school book: (1) whatever is very common is generally very lightly esteemed; (2) that which is constantly repeated, or carelessly read becomes so familiar to us that we afterwards feel an unwillingness or aversion to apply ourselves to read it over again with proper attention; (3) the scriptures contain matter of the greatest importance and should be reserved to maturity, when the mind is at its full vigor and the memory better capable of retention. There are no French examples about censorship, probably because the French press itself was censored, and one would expect comments about censorship to be prohibited. It is true that a great deal got past the censor in France, especially under Malesherbes, or out of France by being published elsewhere. 30. Ibid., November 1747, pp. 530-531. 31. Ibid., September 1780, p. 417. 280 Satire of the Corruption of Society One of the most effective, if somewhat infrequent, teaching methods for inculcating good morals was the use of satire and irony by both the English and the French. One of the earlier satirical schemes (1740) was a proposal by a gentleman in a February letter to set up an academy where he would teach the art of getting rich, also fawning and flattering at court. A few years later (1743) appeared a scheme for a political academy to teach cringing, insinuating, and haranguing. It would have a separate school of disguise, of the art of address (for candidates for political office), of arithmetic (where students would learn to make any given number exceed any other number produced by fair calculation), of rhetoric (especially of the closet whisper). Each school had a man's name given as head (Gentleman's, December, 1743, p. 649). A later example (1787-89) was a series of rather vitriolic letters, signed Belzebub, from Edinburgh. His system of education was to be that of the most perfect freedom, as he was averse to every kind of restraint. As fashionable people were then too busy with amusements to be troubled with the care and education of their children, he proposed a short plan to make the matter as easy for them as possible, doing so out of pure love and regard for their offspring. A baby boy was to be sent off with a nurse right away, though the woman could be directed to bring him with her when she came to receive her quarter's payment, but if he should be dead, she could bring any other child of the same age, since the father and mother would not know the difference. Then a handsome smart young woman would 281 keep the child for show, teach him to swear early, and give him whatever he wanted. He would always play with his inferiors, never be chastised, even by his master. If he had a tutor, the father would choose a JOLLY DOG. He would let his son get drunk with him and drink at school. The boy would not be taught religion. In general he would be permitted to follow his natural passions as Rousseau advised. Young boys should go with harlots and never to Sunday Schools, which offended Belzebub. A boy should grow up fast and have knowledge of vices early. Keep the Bible, especially the New Testament, away from your children, said Belzebub. Never speak to your son respecting his duty to God, to society, or himself. Let all your precepts and example teach him to please himself and gratify his passions, without regard to the rights of others. Give him fine dress and money. Let him avoid books. Dancing, however, was very important—romping country dances— not dancing with gracefulness, elegance, and taste. Most of your son's time should be spent with the hairdresser, reading modern novels and magazines, attending comedies and farces and trials for divorce. Suggested authors for French were De Vergy and the younger Crebillon. Frequenting circulating libraries was especially good because they gratified indiscriminate tastes. In questions of right and wrong, teach a child that his own inclinations were right. In the 1717 volume of the Nouvelles de la Repuhlique des Lettres a very long article previewed a book to appear in 1718 at Amsterdam, the Nouvelles Maximes sur 1'Education des Enfans by Monsieur de Crousaz, who, in feigning to approve of and to give as the pattern for a child's education the wretched way in which they were ordinarily brought up, was 282 teaching how they ought to be raised. He criticized ridiculous, false opinions about education, as for example in the first chapter, "Moeurs," a child had to be taught envy, malice, and the love of money to be successful in government and to shine in society. A woman had to learn that if she had the choice in marriage of a man of merit without fortune or a man with fortune who was a fool, she must choose the latter. The four cardinal virtues to which the child must be formed were attachment to possessions, ruse, courage, and malice. Chapter two dealt with the kind of instruction necessary to develop the above qualities. Since it was not imperative to be genuinely wise if you could pass yourself off as wise, the curriculum consisted of the study of Latin and Greek, especially of the grammar rules in Latin, not English. This way the student could rattle off his rules without understanding any of it, never reasoning for himself. "Un homme parle, et je n'entends rien dans ce qu'il dit; c'est done un prodige d'eru- 32 dition en comparaison de moi." There had to be complete submission to authority and to the church, with never the slightest questioning. If a man got into his memory what he did not understand at all, he would be docile and remain blind, well-disposed to learn religion. The student's amusement would be only gambling, a passion which drives out all others and reunites men of every kind. To liberate a young man, the best procedure was to give him large sums to travel and let him know that one can do anything with money. 32. Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres, p. 658. 283 The fifth chapter contained advice to fathers: they must beware of their sons' tutors, who would not teach them that quality of birth was the primary advantage in life, but the fathers could fill in this lack themselves. "Le Cure et le Loup," a fable in the manner of La Fontaine, satirized some slightly more subtle abuses in the person of the cure himself and the kind of morality that resulted from his teaching efforts. Un Cure de Village, indulgent, debonnaire, Qui comprenoit, ou peu s'en faut, Le Latin de son Breviaire; Un Erudit, un Docteur, en un mot, Ne restoit pas oisif dans son saint Presbytere. Ce n'est pas pour lui seul qu'il se croyoit Docteur, Et d'enseigner il avoit la fureur. La fureur d'enseigner est une maladie, Comme tousser, etre goutteux; II employoit les trois quarts de sa vie A donner des leyons en maitre genereux. Pas un effet dont il ne sut la cause; La dire etoit son emploi le plus doux; Et n'eut-il rien su plus que vous, II vous auroit toujours enseigne quelgue chose. En un mot, c'etoit-la sa seule passion. Mais quand il eut rendu savant tout son Village, II entreprit une education Fort singuliere: il eut 1'ambition D'instruire un Loup. II crut par-la le rendre sage, En faire un Loup bonhoirane. Un pareil Ecolier Etoit d'un natural peu facile a plier; Mais patience etoit du maitre 1"apanage. Par 1*alphabet il fallut commencer. A, fut le premier son qu'il apprit, non sans peine,* II parvint a le prononcer, A le hurler au bout d'une semaine. Au B, vite on le fit passer. Ce fut bien pis. Cent fois le maitre recommence, Et perdant tout ensemble espoir et patience, A sa besogne est pres de renoncer. L'instituteur enfin, pour mieux se faire entendre, Imita le cri du Mouton; II cria bel le Loup, apres mainte lejon. 284 L'apprit si bien, qu'il parvint a le rendre. Notre nouveau Docteur apres cela, sans bruit Quitte son maitre, et va, sans plus attendre, De son savoir cueillir le fruit. II va criant autour des bergeries, Bel be! Moutons d'aller grand train; Et les pauvres betes soudain Dans la gueule du Loup se trouvent englouties. Apres cela, gardons d'enseigner les medians; Dans leurs mains, qu'on instruit a choisir leur victime, Les ressorts les plus innocens 33 Deviennent 1*instrument du crime. Greed, insincerity, dishonesty, selfishness, shallowness, and pride were moral flaws deplored, these examples illustrate, by both the French and the English, and some of them appeared in arguments and opinions about whether an education should be public or private, or about what kind of discipline was best. We can try to judge how severe a problem they were and whether or not these satirical attacks were exaggerated, if we remember that most of them were aimed at the nobility. In that class especially there were indeed abuses of the kind described here, as well as many petty problems, but I do not believe eighteenth century education was generally corrupt. There are so few of these satires in comparison with all of the excited accounts of progress in education for special groups that one tends to come away from the periodicals with a positive feeling about the period. 33. Mercure, October 6, 1781, pp. 3-5. CHAPTER IX SPECIAL EDUCATION, PART I: GOD BLESS YOU, GENTLEMEN, GOD BLESS YOU; CHARITY EDUCATION, MILITARY EDUCATION, EDUCATION FOR THE HANDICAPPED What I have called charity education was primarily an English concern; most of the articles on the subject were English and revealed a widespread attempt to give the poor at least some rudimentary practical knowledge. Along with this went frequent charges of corruption and mis management. Much of what was done in military education and the educa tion for the handicapped, the blind and the deaf, particularly, was also of a charitable nature. French articles dominate the military section, many of them about the Ecole Royale Militaire or the Ecole Nationale Militaire, while those written about the handicapped are half French, half English. Locke, other than his contribution of a proposal for trade schools, takes his leave in these matters of special education; he did not write about them. ' Charity Education The Academie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres d'Angers, during its public session at Easter, 1785, planned to award a prize for the best treatise on the subject of what were the most efficacious, workable, and the least costly means of caring for foundlings in the provinces and giving them the education most useful to the state. A gold medal worth three hundred livres awaited the winner. Charity education was a rare-considered issue in the eighteenth-century French 285 286 academies, which were more interested, for example, in improving educa tion for women. What we might call lay charity education in France was of two types: scholarships furnished by the colleges, and the newly-created Ecoles Gratuites de Dessin, the Free Drawing Schools, which dominated the Mercure charity news. Madame la Baronne de Bourdic wrote a poem, an Epxtre, to M. le Due de Nivernois, to ask him for a place in the College Mazarin for a child of the Comtat region. One of the children on scholarship at Louis-le-Grand presented Le Prince Desire, a fairy tale written by M. Selis, to the Queen in honor of the birth of the Dauphin. The Ecoles Gratuites de Dessin, created in 1767 by letters of patent of the king, educated 1500 students for the mechanical arts on a regimen of mathematics, architecture, and the various aspects of draw ing. An administrative bureau presided over by the Lieutenant General of Police governed it with the director (M. Bachelier its first—he was the founder), and six administrators chosen from among the benefactors. By these same letters of patent the king authorized groups, communities, and private individuals to compete with each other in contributing to the schools by undertaking the entire support of one student or by smaller prizes. Each "fondation" was for thirty livres allowance. Three "fondations" made up a full scholarship. The school furnished a student who had a "fondation" with paper, pencils, the instruments he would need for working during his classes, and with the art materials he needed for studying at home for each genre. The student on scholar ship was admitted every day to every genre. 287 Benefit concerts in 1771 and 1772 aided the push for publicity for the schools in the early seventies. The Paris school distributed 220 prizes at the Tuileries in the Queen's Gallery December 26, 1771. One benefactor sent fifty louis to M. Bachelier, who said he was none theless angry that nothing was being done for the girls. The first announcement of examinations was in December, 1775. A special 1783 calendar for the use of the students who attended the Ecole Gratuite de Dessin gave its floorplan and elevation. It was in fact what we would call a student handbook intended to. clarify all the details and list the rules of the school's administration and instruction. There was a list of all the benefactors, of the graduated students' names and addresses, of prize winners and of those in attend ance at the school in 1782. A detailed reading of this handbook sufficed to convince at least one reporter of the wisdom and utility of the plan adopted for the school. In 1782 de la Tour, who was himself from the city of Saint- Quentin, obtained patent letters from Versailles to begin a free drawing school there, founded and financed by himself. Three other examples from the Mercure illustrate further that continental interest in charity education lay chiefly in the fine arts. Stockholm established an academy of music to give free lessons to children of both sexes who showed taste and talent for this art. Prince Martin-Lubomirski of Poland, at his own expense, founded a conservatory of drama where young men and women would receive an honest education and give the nation a school of national actors who would 288 have morals. Berlin added a free drawing school to its Royal Academy of Mechanical Arts and Sciences. The English emphasis was quite different. Book sections listed sermons and books describing charity education and its history, work houses, a few reform proposals, and benefit publications. Articles summarized meetings of patrons; enumerated abuses, especially in mis treatment" of the apprenticed poor; described new foundations and hospitals for foundlings and orphans, free schools in several cities; and talked about general advantages of charity schools. What the English were largely trying to do was teach orphans and the children of the poor a little basic reading, writing, and religion, and set them to work at a trade as young as possible so that they would be useful to the state rather than idle. Two advocates of charity education were Budgell, of the Spectator, and Dr. Samuel Parr, master of the free school in Norwich, where he preached a sermon refuting the arguments of Mandeville and Rousseau, both professed enemies to charity schools. He criticized Mandeville more because of his darkness, favoring the benevolence of Rousseau. He discussed religious and moral education and recommended Sunday Schools, also commenting on Plutarch and Priestley. Budgell thought that one great advantage of charity schools was that they could better guide children into work most suitable for each individual, because they did not have to worry about parental influence. By 1735 all charity schools in London except those of St. Margaret, Westminster, and Norton-Falgate, had been set up since the year 1697. There were then within the Bills of Mortality 132 schools 289 with 3158 boys and 1965 girls: 5123 children in all. The number of children educated since the beginning of the schools and 1734 was 21,399, of which 8678 had been put out apprentices, and 7598 to the services, the rest provided for by their parents or some other way. The other charity schools in England were 1329 in number, with 19,506 boys and 3915 girls. One hundred nine schools in Scotland were educating 3009 boys, 1047 girls; 168 in Ireland had 2406 boys, 600 girls. The total in England, Scotland, and Ireland, then, was 1738 schools 1 with 35,606 children. Trustees in each district oversaw the management of masters and mistresses and prescribed rules for each school. Treasurers were also appointed. In 1706 the trustees formed themselves into a voluntary society and chose a chairman to preside and summon regular meetings. Rules, approved and established by the Archbishops, were recommended to the trustees of schools in the country in 1729. The number of London schools had grown to 160 in 1785, as shown by the table extracted from the alphabetical list of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (Figure 1). It gives the date of each institution, the reign in which it was founded, and the number of schools erected in and about London since 1688. Friday, January 1, 1768, Sir Robert Ladbroke, president of Christ's Hospital, presented, according to annual custom, forty boys educated in that hospital to his majesty. Such an event was possibly the most exciting in many of these boys' lives. 1. London Magazine, April 1735, p. 218. •J!A ... . Vet Nvf i:«0f i •n "- • • Year. Sch', Yrif. Sclir., Yeir. "r'"- Ycir. i'.T' 'i Y'.ir. .. , . (;o; Sr.TToti>lpIt(Tlpf^at. a . ,1 1710 CifltiP»yn»rdwd, *11." ' Groans I, —— St Juhn,Souili fr-' ~~~ |6E« Sf. Mjr/;r. UVflnt. . 1703 Sir Gn>. Whecier.'i • •»— •• J!riJi;iy CinJIe- ; 1714 Si.John,Hackney, 1 . parttdl fiom5:.0!. • wt o. briivjjtlir/irjl infl i- ..._ ' t. Chapel, S)'iialficldi I,' " •»ick,and Dottgite " 1715 Sr. Andrew, ltnlb, • *739 Si. MarVjAotbcih, 1 ' TUT'T,N "f *II*S kind r — Norton I'ligJte, • ; j G.V " WarJ. •• 1B. ' ^ for Navigation. . 1 1741 Ditto, ' ' I B, Popery. — i B. /1 1704. St. Thnmn, South-. . —— St..Lute, Middlex. IB, Si.Grorp^Southtr, 1746 Ditto. 1 G, William nnj Mart. •* ^ * wark. — _ 1" ——Cnrubill and Lime -~-lIlewnrtii, Mjddlx' 1 ; 1747 WW1m.F«(ncli Sr. 3 * u.tj- t£g.i Norton Fulpue . I.B; St. John,Wappin(j", 1 D,' . Street Ward •— a l" <—^-Clirill Church, Sar. 1 (J. - • Sl.George.Smithw. 1 G, ' .EujJj,'. 1697 St. Jiuiesi VAflni. X.B, •IjojSt. Gilej in the •• - Vimry Ward . — 1. ; 1716 Sr. George, M.ddi. 1 B. 1755 5t. Mny.Huthejhi n" g 169S Sr. Antir, Wrllnt, »• .. . Fieldj, indSt. Geo. Rafcliff Hamlet, 1717 Aldgate within. 1 nntclothrd. " 1 •s/S-E; — St. Marp^WeHrn. ,J : Blooirfburr. 4;' Stepney. — 1 B.f 1 St. Barth. the Gt. 1 B. . »7ji St. A!phaw» Lond. 1 If, c ,e ,§i3 I'- . '°'' d iti Giey. Z, -'-i—- St.M^ry,WI>itrch, ,3 .. — St. Miry,Iflington a • ——^'Sr.Qlive, Old Jury, 1 ' 1753 Ditto. 1G t <—:St.Si*(ili.\VaIbroal; 1; Sr. Anne, JHackffi. 1 * — Hewingron'Belli, . •— Qjieenhithe Ward, • Gtoio* III. — St. G'l's, Clippie." w Fari'ingdon Ward Sarry. — i Bridge,Cindlt- I761 St, Luke,. Middl*. iG, •5 "J"" " B>it without —• JC f •' within. — i' — - St, llntnlpU Aid- wick, and Dow[jJic, iG, 1761 St. ^«tthew,Mrth» CH >v'—— 5t.Bo:oIph,Aljjate • Sr. Leonard,Slioie- gate within •— iG, 1718 Brinih Char. Sch, 1 • rat Gre?n< " •— iG. *o i.S4. ; ®i'hln ^ — I B,' , direll, — IBj • Kaft Smiltificld, ; 1719 Sr. Erhrlburga, — 1 . ^765 Ditto ^ * t.' 1 B« i'"" 5 1699 St. Mattitt lb the 1706F.aH; Smiihficld, .. _ A|J|;atf. — lC; —— Cjlllc .'liynard wd; 1 G. • 1767 St. John, Cltrk'civ 1 -l .3. Atdgate. — 1 B. 1 St. IJiinllan, Wed. iG,' 1 St. Georgr, Middx. 1C. Tke fpllowing hare fib o u-ff.'*"— St. Andrevi Holb: I- 1 St.Srpulchreyitht. I B. (711 St. llridr'i Farillt. » 1711 Cambcrwell. Sur. » ' Pate. ** ™"oL"~^rSr^I'awl.Sb'dwtll. *I.B.* . Limbtth, 5urrr. lO,. — Sr.Sepulchrewithi. 1 C,. 1711 Hi&Ngaie,Middle. 1 G, ' Frtm.KSehool,Spt- iB, , ^S>a-"'7<'® St.'Aiidtcw, Iloiu, 1 '1707St, Kaili.Tower. t Poplar Chap. Step, t ' —r—St. Miry fttngda- , • t»lfield>. • & Q, •5 .£ 13-* — St.Srrulchrewilhn. r- ^ Tower Ward 1 G. —— ChriflChurch,Sur. I B. 'lene, Uermnpdrc-yi ! 1 G. • Hanjtneffm. Midi,< % STI' St. J«mri,Clrrkcn. t ' - Chrlfej,Middlefcx a 17(1 St. Mary Magda* ' 1713_Mile>cndOIJ town, i Tutney', Surry.— a ^£'3 ' 1 trttrnwtch, Kent, r- *" «—ditto. *. • . Irnc, IJcrtnonJfcy. i B» —Dido,clothedl>t«e. j St.Si»ioiir,Soothw, ^ • Ditto clothed iq ' 1708 St. Mary, Strand. 1 —— Gripplegate witho, lb, —— RsJcliiriljm.Stcp. > G, Deptfiird, Kent. * •3 •£ • I Grten.. r .. Si.Geo.tlieMtrtyr a . — Ki>»gStr.St-J«mcj, ijj'4 St. Clemrnt DaneJ t B. \Vindf«orth, Sar. | . «o — 3. . Ditto, ditto Grey - it • ;' —— St.Dunflin, Weft. 1 B. Wcftminflcr. — J B. "i 1 Jlnrutioak Scliool. UO. Buterfe*, Surryl' t ,Jo ))ci Si,r(»l,Ciir,G«r, >B, •—Chrifl Ch. Spitjlfj, a "• — St.Paol,Shadweli. > OS'iyt$ St. Jimei, Wellev. 1 ' ' Mile-end, Blue. ^ —"Cofdwainen,Bread . - ; Lttnbeib. Surry. 1 B. — St. PiulCoT.Gard. xG. -i Gr.onct II. Iamii II: —— j Ob. 8/ _ Street.- •— '--lllr S:. John, Wipping, iG,; 1713 Richmond, Sorry, z , 1717 St. Luke, Middle, j/ V/n.'inil Mast 31 *5 £jf —~ Mottlake,Sorry.' '/-.J7C5 St./innf, Aldcrf^,- * — Crlpplcgate within. iG, ,-i—St.Darth.thtGrc#t," 1 p.,. Aw.Ke " * .-j-; jh Ahn*. -- Chtlfei,'Middle*. 1714 BroadSiren Waid, i ijjo.St. Jaipes,Clerktn. •Gio*o*I#."— • "tf •S ™ fl". l)oi St.Cltnciit Dim < j * • for Soldiers Gjtli, i G, —St. Marg. Weftm, i G. . for Children 5 yeiri. Gio^GI II, — 14 —^Sr. Botolpb, AW- • ' St. Gil«; Cripplr- ;CordvntnCriBreid .* ' otd/torjualify them Crone! III. — 4 X1 • . . derftre ' •, - j»te*hhot)t. — ji Street, Ward, ~ iO. • for other Schools, j No Date — . it' a . ^StiSeimlchrtwithio * Sr.Leon.Shoffdich 1 O, Billioifffue 1 i«< St. Olite, Sooihw,| .«n LingbomWiri I — TowerW«di ; iB. Tatil • 6n' to Figure 1. A Table of London Charity Schools vo o 291 A correspondent wrote in about the college at Dulwich, which he said historians had neglected to mention, reporting that it was extremely well-run. Six poor men and six women were maintained and twelve boys educated in religion and literature, then apprenticed to useful but not very laborious trades. During an examination before the Archbishop of Canterbury or those he appointed, if one were found of special ability and learning, he was supported by the college at one of the universities. Dulwich (The College of God's Gift) had been founded under James I by Mr. Allen, actor. He committed the running of it to a master, warden, and four fellows, one of whom could never be away for a week without the consent of all the rest. Everyone came in for prayers twice a day in the chapel. "We see the universal corruption that prevails in alms-houses, public schools, and most foundations of this sort. Instead of being asylums for the miserable, they but make charity a pretence to furnish means of luxury to overseers and 2 governors." But the College of God's Gift was an exception. Philadelphia had a charity school begun on a fifty pound a year trust which had a very similar plan: instructing poor children in the principles of the Christian religion, reading, writing and arithmetic. One of the most promising was annually chosen and educated gratis in higher learning in the academy. The Hospital at Sheffield, on the north side of town near the Don, had a very good improvable estate under the management of thirteen 2. Gentleman's, August 1745, pp. 426-427. 292 trustees. On the northeast corner of Trinity churchyard was a charity school for clothing, feeding, and instructing in English twenty poor boys aged seven to twelve. The dress was a blue uniform, bands and caps, as was usual in such places. A benefaction from the Duke of Norfolk, some testamentary legacies, and annual subscriptions supported this charity. Mr. Westby Hatfield was the master in 1764, under the management of the trustees. In Birmingham the free school stood on the south side of Newstreet. It was a spacious brick building of two wings, ornamented on the top with a stone rail and balusters, a tower in the middle, with a clock and a bell. The schools were in one wing; the other was the headmaster's house. There were two masters, two ushers, and a writing master. The school had been founded by Edward VI in the first year of his reign, 1551, and endowed with lands belonging to a dissolved priory. The revenue amounted to nearly 600 pounds per annum, but the school was still by no means flourishing. At the northeast corner of the new churchyard stood the charity school of plain brick where seventy boys and thirty girls were taught and provided with all necessities. This school was supported .chiefly by voluntary contributions of the inhabitants of the town. Oxford had five or six charity schools. One for 54 boys was founded by the university; another for 30 boys and girls, by the city. Workhouses were not set up until fairly late in the century in England, in spite of Locke's advice. The author of a 1761 proposal for such a house called it a scheme for instructing and employing the industrious poor and commented that it was strange that in a trading 293 country, where there were so many foundations for teaching reading and writing, even Latin, there were none for instructing people in useful manufactures. In November, 1739, the nobility and gentry appointed by Royal Charter to be governors and guardians of the hospital for the maintenance and education of exposed, deserted children held their first general meeting, and the second in December. The Gentleman's has preserved for us a more detailed description of this foundling hospital than of any other charity school. It gave a plate illustrating what the children's clothing looked like (June, 1747). All of them wore numbers on their clothes. The children were kept by country nurses until they were four years old, after which they lived in wards under the supervision of a nurse. They rose at five in summer, seven in winter, and were out of their wards in a quarter hour after these times. At 5:30 and 7:30 the boys were called in the school room by the master and went with him to work in the garden unless the weather was extremely bad. Their work was bodily labor suitable for their age and strength, to fit them for agriculture or the sea service, such as digging, hoeing, plowing with hand plows, hedging, wood chopping, carrying burdens. Breakfast was at eight in summer, nine in winter, and lasted an hour. The elder boys ate in the open air, weather permitting, the younger in the eating room, in the presence of the nurses of their wards. They labored again until noon, and then had dinner and a rest until two. From two to six in summer, till dark in winter they worked again. From then until supper part of the time was to be spent in learning to read, the rest for play outside or in the school rooms. At 294 eight in summer and seven in winter they ate supper and went right to bed at nine. Sundays and worship days they attended church, were taught the Church of England catechism, and read Scripture aloud, Saturday after noons and the afternoons of some of the public holidays they could exercise to increase their strength, but no games of chance were per mitted and if caught at such a thing they were punished. The girls were Kept in wards entirely separate from those of the boys. They rose at the same hour as the boys, then cleaned house and made the beds until breakfast. After that, they made linen or clothes or did other such labor as was suitable to their ages and strengths, making useful items. Periodically the Gentleman's listed the sewn items the girls had made in the past year. The diet was plain, including meat on some days, on others roots or herbs raised by themselves, accompanied by water to drink and coarse bread of wheat, rye, barley, pease, or oats. No strong drink, tea, coffee, tobacco or butter was allowed. The Lords of the Admiralty sent orders to ship captains to take a certain number of boys from time to time. The author of one of the articles about the foundling hospital proposed that the captain of every merchant ship of one hundred tons or more be obliged to take one or more, a proposal still being made much later in the century when nautical charity schools were under consideration. The first airing this issue got in the Gentleman's had been in the "Debates in the Senate of Lilliput" for October, 1741, when the impressment of sailors was under discussion. One member proposed that since charity schools 295 were so numerous, and the children of the poor were receiving an educa tion disproportionate to their birth, making them unfit for their stations because they thought themselves above the drudgery of daily labor, causing them in idleness to turn to evil practices to support themselves, a reasonable number out of every school be alloted to service at sea. The hospital kept records on all the children so that the government could trace them in an emergency. The governors found out in what inland places boys were needed for husbandry and informed the committee. The girls were placed as household servants or in "factories" after inquiries had been made into the character of the persons who took them. There were too many children for all to stay at the London hospital itself. The officials therefore thought it would be proper to send out colonies at or near Yarmouth, Lynn, Liverpool, Hull, and other towns for the boys and Manchester, Nottingham, Braintree, Devizes, etc. for the girls. Children were to be discharged when claimed by their parents, when they attained the age appointed by act of Parliament, or when the girls married. If a person claimed a child, he left a petition with the secretary directed to the governors, came on the appointed day, when the house committee inquired what right he had to the child, his circum stances, whether he was able and willing to provide for the child, and what he could pay to the hospital. This committee reported the case to the next general committee with their opinion. If the report was satisfactory to the general committee, they ordered the billet or mark which was affixed to the child opened and the register searched. If the qhild was living, they could make an order to deliver him to the parents or relations when they had complied with the committee's terms. Every person to whom a child was delivered provided clothes so that the hospital's could be left. The age of discharge was 24 for males, 21 for females, or when any of the girls married with the consent of the committee. The general committee could give them clothes, money, or necessities not exceeding ten pounds. Except upon the marriage of girls, this had to be cautiously practiced, as by that age they were supposed to be able to earn a living. It seemed reasonable to apply to the legislature for an act to vest in the hospital the estate and effects of every person brought up in the hospital and not claimed, who should die intestate and without issue, with no surviving husband or wife. The hospital would appoint an administrator of the estate. The April, 1760 magazine gave an account of the children at the Foundling Hospital from March 25, 1741 to December 31, 1759: Number received 14,994 Claimed and returned to parents 75 Boys apprenticed to sea service and husbandry 87 Girls apprenticed out 74 Alive in the country 5,929 Hospital at London 155 Hospital at Ackworth 113 Hospital at Shrewsbury 56 Hospital at Aylesbury 40 Died to December 31, 1759 8,465 3 Of these children, 13,610 had been received since June 21, 1756. 3. Ibid., April 1760, p. 201. 297 A more specialized society for helping orphans was attempting to raise donations and new subscriptions from the general public for main taining and educating poor orphans of the clergy until they were old enough to be apprenticed. Besides general donations and subscriptions, benefits on the sales of books were a way to raise money for the schools. The Welsh charity school had a zoology, those in St. Edmond's- bury a sermon, and the one in St. Thomas's, Southwark two sermons listed in the book sections. The first general meeting of patrons of charity schools through out Great Britain was held Friday, November 8, 1782 at St. Paul's Coffee-house in St. Paul's churchyard. St. Paul's had been the London- area meeting place for many years. At the 1724 assemblage of masters and mistresses of charity schools in the chapter house Edmund, Lord Bishop, gave directions respecting two major abuses: (1) the children's education was setting them above the lower stations of life and (2) many schools were training children up to disaffection to the government. As to the first, he advised avoiding fine writing, working, or singing because the charity school goal was to prepare good Christians and servants. The second problem was passing with George securely on the throne, but all masters and mistresses were to pray daily for the king and royal family by name in order to set the children a good example. Mistreatment of poor children apprenticed or in service was a serious problem. Accounts of such cases appeared frequently in the historical chronicle. For example, two of the Foundling Hospital's girl orphans, put out apprentices to one Mrs. Brownrigg, were found to be horribly mistreated, kept in a cellar with hogs, whipped, and 298 starved. One of them was seventeen, the other thirteen. A journeyman baker happened to see them at a trap door, reported it, and thus caused what was happening to become public knowledge, but the older girl died anyway, in too miserable condition by the time of the dis covery to survive. In May, 1765, one girl, a Mary Jones, had escaped from the Brownriggs and gone back to the Foundling Hospital. The hospital sollicitor had written James Brownrigg, a painter, requiring that he make satisfaction for the abuse to the child or the corporation would prosecute. Brownrigg had been summoned before the chamberlain of London, the matter settled, and the girl discharged. The other girl, Mary Mitchell, was still there and continued being mistreated. Then a third, Mary Clifford, was bound to them: this was the girl who died. The wife, the major offender, was executed. Brownrigg and his son John, who knew what Mrs. Brownrigg was doing and did not prevent it, were tried, sentenced to six months' imprisonment, fined one shilling, and ordered to find bail in 500 pounds for good behavior for seven years. Who knows how many others were cruel to these children undetected? There were fewer reform proposals directed at types of charity education than at the regular schools and tutors. Two of them had to do with university financial aid. A correspondent made a few observa tions regarding the fellowships of Magdalen College, which needed a cost of living adjustment because they were a fixed sum and not enough to live on. Another reader suggested what to do with the Downing estate bequeathed to Cambridge. Since a university education gave a good 299 foundation but stopped short because young men could not afford to stay any longer, the founding of Downing College would enable them to continue. It would be composed of a president and three readers, one in common law, one in physick, and one in divinity {more than one per field might be necessary). These readers would be elected by the university. The students would be bachelors elected from all the other colleges who for three to five years would receive handsome stipends. The trustees would appoint two or three, but all the rest of the students would be elected by heads of houses, proctors, and moderators. They would be obliged to attend the lectures of one of the readers and would take examinations—in English—from time to time. There might be honorary medals awarded. The lectures could be open to the rest of the university on payment of a fee, but the number of students would be regulated. The readers would remain in their chambers on certain days to help students who needed it. A reform plan for educating the children of the poor which appeared in 1789 won the approval of the reviewer, but he thought it was probably too strict for the relaxed habits of the age. He recom mended maintaining the children together in one house for not less than seven years, until they were properly qualified to be placed out in manufactories or in service. Parishes doing this and serving as examples that the plan was workable were St. Anne, Westminster, St. George, Bloomsbury, St. John, Southwark, St. Paul, Covent Garden, St. 300 Sepulchre/ Snow Hill, the British Charity School, and above all, Rayne's 4 foundation for forty poor girls. Military Education January first, 1751, at Mme de Pompadour's instigation, was founded the Ecole Royale Militaire, in which 500 young gentlemen chosen especially from those whose fathers had died in active military duty were to be raised free of charge. The public took a great interest in this enterprise. That same month the Gentleman's carried an immediate report of its establishment and gave a detailed account of how children would be chosen for admission. The eight categories were these: (1) orphans whose fathers had been killed in service or who had died of their wounds; (2) the father had died a natural death in service or had retired after 30 years in commission; (3) they were burdensome to their mothers, their fathers having been killed in service; (4) they were burdensome to their mothers, their fathers having died in service or retired after 30 years; (5) the father was presently in the service; (6) the father had left service because of infirmities or age; (7) the fathers had not served but ancestors had; (8) the child belonged to the poor nobility.^ A M. Tresseol wrote a published letter twenty-six years later offering suggestions to the director of the Ecole Militaire of how to best run a military school and what subjects to teach there. Some of his comments are fairly general ones about keeping the main goals in 4. Ibid., May 1789, p. 434. 5. Ibid., January 1751, p. 45. 301 sight and maintaining unity of purpose. "Unity in variety" was what he considered the fundamental principle of a good education. One should not present a single and unique objective to children, but everything that one did present to them needed to bend and guide their minds toward a single goal. He considered an ordinary education of the time false and worthless because all methods were not meshed but instead crossed each other, fought, destroyed one another, and did not take as a point of reference the particular destination of the students. Each profession needed its own education, as it had its own particular spirit and objective. A military education inculcated a feeling for the nation better in a school, where a lad was among his fellows, as the Spartans had done. All study in a military school, all the arts, all the games had to live and breathe war. M. Tresseol advocated a better gymnastics program, no blows, which vilified the soul, but punishment based on honor, and rewards which were honors and distinctions. A library, also open to the students, where the masters could do research would be useful. The study of languages was indispensable to an officer who would be obliged to travel and live in foreign countries. Military manners were rough and needed to be softened by polite bearing, the letters and the arts, poetry, music, dancing, literature, history, and philosophy, officers needed to know something about law, both natural and man-made, and to be familiar with the morality behind the use of weapons. The Mercure does not tell us what in reality the curriculum of the Ecole Militaire was, although its book list carried the Cours 302 d'Etudes a 1'usage des Eleves de 1'Ecole Royale Hilitaire in 1782. This included an abridgment of Roman history. We also know that they studied fortifications because at the prize distribution of 1775 one of the students asked for lenity in this subject, which they were supposed to have studied for two years, but their books had come a year late. They were therefore weak in what they ought to have known about the sieges of Namur and the practical application of theories. Thirty-six years after the founding of the Ecole Militaire, in 1787, the king resolved to close the Paris school, where there was too much luxury, and to send its students to those in the different provinces. The number of students in all the units of the Ecole Militaire would be raised to seven hundred. Louis signed a list of new controls, especially of finances, and authorized the formation of an advisory council composed of the Inspecteur-general of the military schools, the Sous-Inspecteur, four men of letters, three chosen from the academies and one from the university. This council would evaluate the study programs, examinations, and other such details. A kind of satellite organization existed beginning in 1780, the Ecole Nationale Militaire, which I have never seen mentioned or described in histories of education. It was a work camp which survived through donations and advertised in the Mercure for contributors. Its organizers published each month details of the work it was accomplishing and its expenses in the parish where it was laboring. The fourth report, which all contributors received, gave credits as of May first, 1782, of 50,058 livres and debits of 46,863 livres, 4 francs, 9 deniers, according to the statements deposited at M. 303 Brichard's, Notary, rue Saint-Andre-des-Arcs, at whose office one 0 subscribed to the reports at 24 livres per year. Help increasing as it was daily, the number of students could be augmented accordingly, as well as the means of improving their education. An announcement attached to the fifth report requested that gentlemen who wished to have their children admitted into the Ecoles Nationales Militaires write a note to M. Brichard containing the names of the proposed boys, their age and size, and the sum that the parents could pay for this education, which was figured on the basis of their total worth. Even though the actual outlay per pupil was almost 800 livres in Paris and 500 in the provinces, the school would still accept boys for as much less as could be made up through the voluntary contribu tions. They would write the parents of the children who could be admitted, the announcement read.-as soon as the government would permit them to. The instruction given the students was intended to make them capable of any type of military service: arithmetic, geometry, fortifi cations, surveying, attack and defense strategy, French grammar, history, geography, gymnastics and acrobatics, fencing, and trick- riding. Procedures for staffing these schools are described in the schoolmaster chapter. Upper class benefactors had founded them for the children of the general population, with whom authorities seemed to rarely bother. The objective was to remedy some of the greatest evils of the countryside: poverty, the effects of sloth and begging, the 6. Mercure, May 28, 1782, pp. 35-36. 304 weight of the taxes too heavy for peasants, the inadequacy of the militias, the imperfection of recruits, and especially the sunken morals and ignorance of religion. The king had established, in the provincial colleges, for the poor nobility, 600 places, for each of which he paid 600 livres, but this did not reach nearly enough children. So a group of private citizens banded together to try to provide an education for more of them, and the Ecoles Nationales Militaires were born. Also attached to the fifth report was a letter from the Due de Charost to the Comte de Thelis, dated May 30, 1782. It explains further the goals of the organizers. He wanted there to be in Paris and in each province one or several establishments for public education. Their principals would examine the strength of each boy and his mental abilities and preferences. A more robust lad might seem apt to become an excellent soldier, while a weaker but more industrious one might be good at some mechanical trade; another by his ordered mind and talent for calculation might readily be at home in commerce, another in the liberal arts because of his lively, rich imagination; and yet a fifth by his brightness and penetration might seem destined for a career in literature or the higher sciences. Somebody, in any case, had to find the means to make each become useful to the state in his own way, and never to choose profes sions simply by chance. The Duke described what was being done so far in the schools for the lower classes: the types of instruction and the schedules. He believed with his class that nobles ought to have 305 preference in the military but that a few soldiers ought to be able to reach the grade of officer. In the second part of his letter he talked more specifically about educating gentlemen, giving some details of their instruction. They were kept apart from the others and constantly watched by officers who even slept in their rooms. The great difficulty was finding a place for these students, because they were competing with those of the Ecoles Royales. I suspect, in fact, that this is why one does not find them mentioned today. They probably could not compete and had to be abandoned within three or four years. People who had the money could have their sons educated in the military boarding schools, most of them described in the second chapter. One I did not include there was the Pension Academique de l'Ecole Royale d'Equitation des Tuileries, since this one was a subsidiary of the Ecole Royale and therefore had a charitable and national origin, not strictly private. It offered fathers the facility of completing their children's educations in all the studies and exercises suitable for well-born young people, along with the advantage of protection against the dangers of the capital, at the same time profiting from all its resources for the culture of the mind and politeness in manners. The masters were supposed to be excellent. It was located in the Rue du Saussai, Faubourg St.-Honore, Hotel de l'Academie Royale, where the students were suitably fed and lodged. They studied equitation, weaponry, trick-riding, and military technology. One afternoon of each week they visited the monuments of the city and artists' studios. Boys were thirteen or fourteen at entrance and if Catholic had to have made 306 their first communion. It was the most expensive of this type of school despite its connections: 2400 livres per year, payable by quarters and always in advance, with a 200 livre entry fee for sheets, towels, dishes, and the other usual accouterments. I might also add as an example one other anonymous boarding school: its director's name was not mentioned, but it was in Paris, Barriere de l'Universite, Faubourg St-Germain, house of M. Dropsy, artisan in marble to the king. The curriculum consisted of historical, chronological, and physical geography; general history, especially of France; a mathematics course written by M. Maugonne, containing numerical calculation, practical geometry demonstrated, mechanics, hydraulics, and a brief section on physics; fortification of fortresses and battlefields, preceded by a treatise on artillery, and their defense and attack, in which M. de Maugonne demonstrated his system of the secure stronghold after those of the best authors; camp formation and general tactical principles, with the art of drawing up various sorts of maps. Music, weaponry, dancing, handling a gun, a foreign language, and horseback riding complemented these lessons. Students who would be in the Navy, the artillery or the engineering corps took the courses adopted by these branches. On recreation days they went on manoeuvres, or visited the studios of various arts and trades, since a well-brought-up man needed -to be familiar with these. The price was 1200 livres, payable by quarters, always in advance, and an additional 200 livres at entrance. This amount covered food, lodging, heating, lighting, laundry, and hairdressing. The boys had separate rooms. All of them studied the courses listed in the plan; 307 as for the complementary subjects, the parents paid for them separately. The school consulted parents about whatever special arrangements might need to be made for each child's care, especially if he fell ill. A provisional plan drawn up for the Regiment of F, for which Colonel M. de N. had just obtained a mathematics master, was divided into ten articles, each one applicable to a class level. In a school for geometers or physicists the students had to get themselves up to the summits of the most sublime speculations in higher geometry. But in a military mathematics school there had to be a limit of just what had immediate bearing on military science and what young officers who would use their mathematics as engineers and artillery men needed to know. With this plan, young gentlemen living far from a school could instruct themselves by studying the books indicated. The belles lettres and the native language were an important part of the curriculum of a military education in France. The English emphasis was very similar, although they were always somewhat more likely to stress the practical, as in an essay by Lewis Lochee, Master of the military academy at Little Chelsea. His is that beginning which becomes so familiar after one has read many of the eighteenth-century periodical articles on education: that children of all ranks and abilities were educated the same way and studied Latin and Greek when I they could not even express themselves in English, that they took degrees but were then fit for nothing practical, that these were serious flaws in English education, which was meant to form good citizens as its first aim. The soldier was one of the most useful of citizens. His education consisted of exercises of the body: dancing, fencing, swimming, 308 and riding. To aid the operations of his mind he developed a vigorous habit of self-denial, a competent knowledge of modern languages and of those sciences immediately applicable to the various duties and employ ments of a military officer. History study was especially valuable to him for a whole paragraph of marvels Lochee listed, such as a true knowledge of human life and manners. One methodology problem peculiar to military education was the impossibility most parents and instructors found themselves in of getting their children or students to picture or even conceive of real fortifications. Being able to do this was absolutely necessary; it speeded up study at least by half. The sieur Besson decided to try to do something about this, applied himself for a long period to this feature of engineering, and then announced to the public in the Mercure that he was producing models according to every system. To make it easier to acquire them, he made fronts of fortifications composed of two half-bastions with full centers, with empty centers, with orillions, with a right flank, with a dry-trench type of defense, with water- filled trenches, in half-moon shape, of a covered road with its defenses and its glacis, all this following the most generally adopted system. Prices ranged from 48 to 192 livres. One placed orders at Besson's home, rue des Lions, the third porte cochere on the left, entering from the rue Saint-Paul. A competitor, M. du Puy, was also making fortifications in relief to help teachers make the young nobility understand better and was . selling them to military schools. 309 Along with the Ecoles Royales Militaires and the military boarding schools, France also had a national system of Navy schools. The over seven hundred page Code de la Marine provided for them. Near Brest, Toulon, and Rochefort, they admitted boys between the age of eleven and thirteen. The board was 600 livres for clothes and their care; all other expenses were paid by the king. After diverse examina tions, when one thought the students sufficiently trained, they were sent to the ports as students in the third class, and from then on they received 300 livres of emoluments. Here they received instruction in the theory and practice of all maritime work. After the second class examination the wage went up to 400 livres and to 500 in the first class. The total number of these students was fixed at 360. A Mercure article named all the officers and grades and described the administra- 7 tion of the Navy schools. A 1785 English article proposed establishing a Marine school, since, said the author, there ought to be something of this kind to teach children to labor and be industrious, not just to read and write alone, as the charity schools tended to do. By January of the next year, when the French schools were established, the Admiralty in London had taken into consideration the project of forming nautical schools in the maritime provinces to instruct poor or orphaned children, to whom good sailors taken from Greenwich Hospital would teach the construction, equipping, rigging, and manoeuvring of ships and the skill of making nets for fishing. These students grown to a certain age, each merchant 7. Ibid., May 27, 1786, pp. 176-179. 310 ship of 150 tons would be obligated to take one on board, and propor tionately a greater number, depending on the size of the ship. In this way the English could count on training 25,000 sailors in ten years and thus dispense with the odious method of impressment in wartime. Spain established a military school for the young nobility in 1751. Germany was slower than France in creating a plan similar to Louis XV's Ecoles Royales, but by 1782 His Imperial Majesty had decided to raise 48 young boys, children of soldiers in each of the fifty infantry regiments stationed in the hereditary German states and in Hungary. Annually the king would pay 100,000 florins in expenses for these 2400 young men, whose regiment commanders were charged with keeping a close watch over the education that would turn them out as lower-ranking officers. They would especially learn to become accustomed to order, good morals, neatness, subordination, economy, and the routines of their future state. Everything they needed to know they would learn in the normal schools. At 18 they would join the respective regiments. In ten years there would be 4000 of these military students in His Majesty's armies. Another report in November said that it had been decided that there would be two military schools in Prague for educating soldiers' children. The building of the Celestines and that of the Clairists would be used, the first housing 84 boys and the other 42. By the time of the French Revolution, then, military education with government sanction and at least partial support was well under way in Europe. 311 Education for the Handicapped A very long Mercure article in 1772 told of the opening of a special school where infirm, valetudinarian children would find good instruction coupled with treatment of their handicaps and illnesses. M. Verdier, responsible for the genesis of the school, was a doctor of medicine from the University of Angers, had been a medical consultant to the King of Poland, was an honorary member of the Royal College of Physicians of Nancy, and represented the Paris Parlement as a lawyer to the court. A very optimistic gentleman, he believed that with the necessary special attention, a handicapped child could make as much progress as a normal one. He would accept any "special" child as long as the malady was not contagious. The educational program was to be tailored to fit the needs of the individual child and based on parental wishes as well as on the principles of his collection of notes and observations on the perfectibility of man. Every three months he planned to issue a progress report. He would hold consultations with many doctors, especially his two masters, Messieurs Petit and Barbeu Dubourg. He indicated that he had chosen on the outskirts of Paris a comfortable, healthy house in which he could immediately receive all who wished to present themselves. At the time, he was working on obtaining all kinds of substances from natural history and instruments of physics, as he called them, proper for developing the senses and voluntary muscular movement and for filling the mind with useful knowledge, his object being to exercise the students as much in the study of nature as of books. 312 For this and for the moral instruction his students would be given to help them become good Christians and good citizens, he would charge a board which would depend on the kind of care the child required and on his parents' means, but he intended that the institution 8 would practice economy. The Mercure leaves us to wonder whether or not Monsieur Verdier succeeded in his unique undertaking. No articles or reports followed the one which announced the school's opening and invited applicants- It is the only reference I found in the periodicals to such a school. Little was written about education for the handicapped, probably because so little was done. The articles we do find—all of them about the deaf or the blind other than this one—are about evenly divided between the English and the French. A breathless air of wonder and curiosity characterizes them, as if it were a kind of miracle that the few dedicated people working with the blind and deaf could teach them any thing at all. Under Louis XVI Paris began the Hospice des Jeunes Aveugles. At a public meeting of the Bureau Academique d'Ecriture to open the school year of 1785, part of the program was a demonstration by the blind children of this hospice, children brought up and sustained by the Societe Philantropique of Paris. M. Haiiy, member of the Bureau, was their teacher. Twelve of them executed together a presentation of spinning using a machine invented by a Monsieur Hildebrand. Another went through an arithmetical formula. Others read from books designed 8. Ibid., December 1772, pp. 185-195. 313 especially for them, while some demonstrated various manual skills like weaving, book-binding, and all kinds of knitting, A few gave a recitation of geography, pointing out locations on maps. Others demonstrated type-setting and printing in relief for their own use or in black for the seeing. They printed a written description of the proceedings to be distributed among the public, any profits therefrom to be for their own use. M. Haiiy took his students to Versailles in 1787 for a similar demonstration before the royal family. It was fairly common in the Mercure to find announcements of books printed as benefits for the blind or deaf. When the title of a biography of LaSalle by the Abbe de Montis appeared in the "Annonces et Notices," the note accompanying it said that it merited indulgence for its author, who was deprived of sight. The same section listed, on January 28, 1786, the Essay on the Education of the Blind, printed by themselves. The English and French periodicals liked to publish accounts of blind or deaf individuals who were notable or accomplished in some way. A Mercure London report gave an account of Doctor Henry Moyes, blind from his youth because of smallpox. It talked of his education, his interest in mechanics, the chemistry lessons he taught. John Metcalf also of Manchester, also blind at an early age, was now an engineer or inspector of the mountain roads. Professor Saunderson (1682-1739) was Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge, chosen in 1711. Blind from smallpox at the age of one, he had lost not only his sight but his eyes as well. Among his pupils he was very entertaining and informal, but he became 314 excessively exasperated if they did not pay due attention to his lectures. Gentlemen commoners and noblemen were the most troublesome in this regard, and he said in a passion one day "that if he was to go to hell, his Punishment would be to read lectures in the mathematics 9 to the gentlemen commoners of that university." The November, 1754 Gentleman1s included the Life of Blacklock, a blind poet who, because of his genius for poetry, was sent to the university, and the May 1762 (page 220) an account of a French lady, blind from her infancy, who could read, write, and play cards (by pricking them with a pin in order to identify them). It is this article that is the most interesting, since none of the others really tell us anything about methods which were used for teaching the blind. "The most wonderful circumstance is, that she should have learnt to read and write; but even this is readily believed on knowing her method.With her fingertips she read letters pricked on paper. She wrote in pencil since she could not know when her pen was dry, using a small, thin ruler as a guide. Her spelling and writing were very clear due to the care of her mother, who had taught her to feel letters cut in cards or pasteboard, brought her to distinguish A from B and thus the whole alphabet, then to spell and remember the shape of letters in order to delineate them on paper, and lastly, to arrange them so as to form words and sentences. She played guitar, pricking down the tunes to aid her memory. 9. Gentleman's, August 1754, p. 373. 10. Ibid., May 1762, p. 220. 315 We see from this that an early form of braille was available in France but evidently just beginning to be known by the English/ since the quoted remark expresses amazement that a blind person could read and write, yet M. Haiiy's students could read, and this French lady could also read and write because of her mother's efforts. It also seems from the periodicals that the most memorable names in special education were Haiiy for the blind; Pereira, Wallis, Pereyne, Deschamps, Braidwood, Margaron, and de l'Epee for the deaf, and Verdier for other physical handicaps. More attention was directed toward the deaf, for some reason, possibly that they represented a more complex problem. The blind possess oral language; making it possible for them to read and write is less difficult than giving a deaf person any means of communication. The earliest report came in to the Gentleman's in 1747 from a cor respondent on the continent, his information having reached him at Brussels from Caen by way of Paris. The news was taken from the Register of the Academy at Caen in Normandy. M. Jacob Rodrigues Pereira, settled with his family at Bordeaux, had made his first attempt at teaching the deaf on the son of a friend, M. Israel Beaumarin, merchant. Aaron at thirteen had been deaf and dumb from birth. At the end of one hundred lessons he knew and could name by means of certain signs the greatest part of the letters of the alphabet and to pronounce madame, chapel, vessel, what's your pleasure, and some other words. Pereira's second pupil was the son of M. d'Azi de Tavigni, a boy who had not been helped by physicians in France, Italy, or Germany. 316 He spent seven years at Amiens, however, with an old deaf and dumb man, who taught him by signs how to make his needs known. Then he became a pensioner in the college of Beaumont at Auge from October, 1743 to July, 1746. M. Pereira went to Beaumont to give him lessons. After a few days he could say papa, mamma, madame, castle. By the following November he could speak more than 300 words of which he understood the meaning and could repeat most words said to him, though not distinctly and without understanding the meanings. In four months he could pronounce the letters of the alphabet, join them in syllables and words and annex ideas of quality and quantity to them: much, little, good, bad, and he could affirm or deny. He pronounced syllabically, making as many words as there were syllables. Sometimes he transposed words, v IX and he used mostly the infinitive, as "moi vouler aller a Paris." Pereira kept his own method secret but said he found that of his English contemporary, Wallis, defective and absurd. It was known that he carefully examined the organs of speech before he began, that he used a method agreeable to the learner, and that he took no money except according to the improvement of his pupils. What was this Wallis method he found so objectionable? First, Wallis, who also worked with stutterers, recommended that by the most significant signs the teacher could devise, he make his student under stand the placement and motion of the organs of speech in forming any sound. Confirm him when he is right, instructed Wallis, and if not, show him what is wrong and how to correct it. Begin with concrete 11. Ibid., Supplement, 1747, p. 610. 317 actions and gestures and from them, using signs the deaf person has used himself, proceed to the more abstract. What he knew already was always a step to what he learned next. One of his students was Daniel Whalley of Northampton. He went to Dr. Wallis in January, 1661, having lost his hearing at five, then his speech in about six months. Good at drawing and observing faces, he was quite an ingenious man. In a little more than a year he learned to pronounce distinctly any words given him and even six or seven very difficult Polish words, at the desire of a Polish lord at Oxford. He could understand the English language and express his mind in writing, but not elegantly. He appeared before the Royal Society and at Whitehall before the king. Wallis also taught Mr. Popham, son of Admiral Popham. Both when away from him tended to forget what they had learned. In the eighteenth century in both France and England, particu larly England, and especially in the early years, the whole subject of special education was treated as a great curiosity. To teach even as much as Pereira and Wallis did to the deaf was so incredible as to require all sorts of testimony to be believed. For the appearance of Periera's pupil Tavigni the Bishop, Prior, and all present at the "performance" at the Academy of Caen gave a certificate of their observations of what M. Pereira, a Spaniard living in France, had done. These deaf were people of advantaged families, at that. The poor must have been left in an almost animal-like state. The Sieur Pereyne on the 7th of January, 1750, presented to the king a young man about 21 years of age, bom deaf and dumb, whom, after two years, he had taught to speak. The young man made compliments to 318 the king, answered very properly and distinctly, pronounced several lines from a book he had not seen before. Pereyne discoursed with him by a manual alphabet, a not uncommon practice. The periodicals then skipped to 1779 before anything more appeared about education for the deaf. In that year was published M. l'Abbe Deschamps' elementary course of education for them, closely followed by the Observations d'un sourd et muet, sur un Cours Elementaire d'education des sourds et muets publie en 1779 par M. l'Abbe Deschamps, but there was no review to tell us what the deaf mute1s opinion of the quality of the course was. An English parent of a deaf child wrote Vox Oculis Subjecta, a book about teaching speech and language to the deaf, published in 1783. His son was at the Academy of Messrs. Braidwood at Hackney (near London). Proud of the boy's progress in reading, writing, and speaking, the parent called the school a great philosophical curiosity and proposed charitable funds for more such schools to be founded. The 19th of August, 1783, M. l'Abbe Margaron of Lyon had the honor of presenting to the Archduke Ferdinand and Archduchess Beatrice a young man deaf and dumb from birth whom he had been instructing for fifteen months. He went through the usual routine of this kind: the delivery of an extended compliment, then answers to questions posed him by his master. It was the custom for the royal audience to then express their satisfaction at his responses. Major progress in deaf education was connected with the name of the Abbe de l'Epee, as we see that most of the work with the handi capped was French, possibly not because he was more remarkable than the 319 others but because the times were right. After the U. S. war of independence people's souls were inebriated with philanthropy and they favored the Abbe's institutions. Another of his distinct advantages was that he did not cloak himself with pride and secrecy as Pereira had done. He thought that those working in the field should share their discoveries, and he profited from studying the experiences of his predecessors. Like Deschamps, he also wrote an elementary course of education for the deaf, which was followed by Observations by a deaf mute just as Deschamps' had been. This time, however, a reviewer laid its contents open to us. The author spoke first of the sign language perfected by the Abbe de l'Epee and defended his method, which had been attacked in several works. This author, M. Desloges, had been born in the diocese of Tours in 1747. Deaf because of smallpox at the age of seven, he could read and write a little and had maintained the habit of speaking but could make himself understood only with great difficulty. When he was 22 his parents took him to Paris. On his own, without any encourage ment, he had cultivated his small store of knowledge from before his illness and even extended it. Still, his parents had only taken him to Paris to put him in an asylum, but he fought this and finally persuaded them to have him taught the trade of bookbinding, which gave him a chance to read. With other deaf mutes he formed a society in Paris. The reviewer remarked that in general, as soon as a group of the deaf met together, their apparent imbecility vanished, a feeling of camaraderie united them, and they invented a common language. This group of friends 320 of Desloges had a simpler one than l'Epee's; it had only three tenses, like the language of certain peoples, and very few particles, but it sufficed for the needs of life. Desloges explained in his book how much it could be expanded, how natural it was, how independent of arbitrary conventions. The deaf were almost entirely on their own to acquire language. So little systematizing had been done; no common sign language existed. The prevailing attitude was that it was impossible for the deaf to learn to read and write, and most parents did not question this. Occasionally a parent helped a handicapped child make real gains, but most were in the position of Desloges. The reviewer concluded by eulogizing Desloges' character and subtly requesting benefactors who would permit him to quit his trade and become solely a man of letters. Then he inserted an open letter from Desloges, a defense against the charge that he was not the author of his own book. Prejudice on the account of my companions in misfortune is so deeply imbedded, said Desloges, that it is not surprising that such a strange writer should have much difficulty in persuading people that he is the true author of a book. Some of these prejudices were that being accustomed to writing was impossible for a deaf person, or knowing what metaphysics were. He justified sign language: there were still those who were against its use. The education of the deaf and dumb, he concluded on a more positive note", the establishments that the French king and other European sovereigns were hurrying to create, would be one of the famous events of the century. The various methods 321 used by teachers of the deaf demonstrated that only prejudice had made education of these unfortunates seem impossible up to that time. But 12 he objected that journalists were keeping silent on the subject. De l'Epee himself referred to the always-too-limited work in special education of Wallis in England, Bonnet in Spain, Amman, a Swiss doctor in Holland, and Father Sanin, M. Pereira and others in France. Not enough people had helped them, the general public being more curious than anything else. His was the first national plan, and it had been successful. The goal, he said, was to find a way to get into the deaf person's brain what enters ours by our ears. Words represent things and can be explained; the explanation can be oral or in writing for hearing people, but writing alone is sufficient for the deaf. He described the manual alphabet, likening it, so that his readers would picture it better, to the one school children used to converse with each other on opposite sides of the classroom. He explained his methods for teaching the deaf speech, parts of speech, numbers, abstrac tions. To demonstrate the excellence of his method, he had his students answer 200 questions in a public exercise. The king, through a decree of the Conseil on March 25, 1785, turned over to him part of the buildings of the Celestins at Paris along with a guarantee of their upkeep to be a permanent hospice for the deaf of both sexes for their teaching under the Abbe de l'Epee and his successors in the future. Until it could be permanently endowed the 12. Mercure, December 18, 1779, pp. 142-149. 322 Abbe would receive 3400 livres annually to care for the poor deaf and to train the ecclesiastic who would be second in charge. Free board for each student was fixed at 400 livres a year, partial board at 200/ for no longer than three years. These scholarships would only go to those of poverty recognized and attested to by a certificate from the parish 13 priest and tax roles legalized by the nearest Royal Judge. Important advance though it was, this only provided for a very small number of the poor. And yet a breakthrough had been effected toward abolishing prejudice and ignorance about educating the handi capped, especially the deaf, who had been considered the most hopeless, and toward beginning to try to reach them and give them an education, a silent music for their lives. 13. Ibid., May 21, 1785, pp. 130-131. CHAPTER X SPECIAL EDUCATION, PART II; MY MIND FAILED IN PERFORMING THE PROMISES OF MY FACE; EDUCATION FOR WOMEN Mile Verneuil had a pretty mother who reared her almost without education; that is to say, she sent her to convents where all she was interested in was her toilette/ music, and dancing. A very egotistical girl, she married the highly virtuous brother of one of her friends, Mile de Beausange. They had a daughter. But this woman, who disliked reading, who appreciated nothing other than gaming and brilliant society, spent all her time, with a vice-ridden chevalier. Her husband left her, taking the daughter, and died after a time. Too late, she realized the effect of her poor upbringing. A pretty woman wrote her confidences to the Mercure. She attributed her misfortunes to her poor education, received from a governess without capacity who caused her to be left without principles, her mind "decorated" but untrained to thinking and reasoning. Hortense's story is another criticism of convent education. Newly out of the convent at fifteen, she was already older than her years from the influence of other young girls in worldly wiles, mischief, and tricks, and from reading novels. The parlor, said the author, has a greater influence than one thinks on the education of young convent boarders. So novels and parlors had spoiled Hortense. The writer's light, humorous satire is aimed also at marriages arranged on the basis of money, as Hortense's was. However, he let her insure a successful 323 324 marriage despite her upbringing and its conditions by being un alterably hard for her husband to win over. Sharlot Wealthy, as the letter was signed, was a beautiful young lady of fortune, her parents' only daughter, who was subjected to their constant spoiling and the flattery of everyone who came near her. It was impossible for her to have an intelligent conversation with anyone, yet she hungered for knowledge, loved books, wanted to be taught, and thought it unfair to be treated as she was because she was a woman. One young English girl of fortune wrote in that she had just spent some time in the country with an aunt and found that the delights of nature wore thin very soon. She needed the amusements of London, was bored with herself and could not keep entertained. Another letter, signed Victoria, from a young beauty pampered from birth by her mother said that mamma's whole concern was for her appearance. She had been taught little but cards and dancing. After making a great impact in society, she soon found "That my mind failed in performing the promises of my face." One of her lovers married Lavinia with less beauty and fortune because he thought a wife ought to have qualities which would make her amiable when her bloom was past. At nineteen, disfigured by smallpox, Victoria was no longer beautiful and sank into .despair, while her mother wished she had died. Her ignorance became even more apparent when she re-entered society with her beauty gone. 1. Gentleman's, June 1751, p. 256. 325 Across the century English and French women of the upper classes complained of the frivolity of their education, whether at home with a governess, in a boarding school, or at convents. Some wanted an educa tion exactly the same as a male's, perhaps heavy in language, litera ture, and science; these reproached writers like Rousseau, who dif ferentiated roles of men and women in society and planned an education for women that was not like a man's. But everybody wanted more substance. Suggestions for Improving Women's Education Knox recommended a course of education for unmarried and opulent ladies which paralleled a man's in literature, at least, beginning with Lowth's grammar and some easy and elegant author, then French after a year. Some years later they added Milton, Addison, and Pope to culti vate their taste in English literature; Boileau, Fontenelle, and Vertot for French. If a young lady were bright, she could also study Latin and Greek early. "Her mind is certainly as capable of improvement as 2 the other sex." For girls he preferred a private education which adhered to the plan of the public. A letter from Z, a woman, agreed with him that ffemale education should be private. Selim, of the Persian Letters, as he looked around him at women in England, unconfined as women were in his own land, marveled that they confined their minds and shapes through their own volition, killing all their own natural sentiments in order to act and think with the fashion. In a country where women played an active part in all the scenes of 2. Ibid., April 1782, pp. 182-183. 326 life, they should have the same education as men and be directed away from the former follies. A 1739 essay from the Craftsman explained that ladies became vain coquettes as early as fourteen because all they had been taught was dancing, singing, and dressing. Beauties, like kings, he said, are utter strangers to truth from their infancy, habituated as they are to flattery, in love with themselves, taught to look on pleasure as the chief business of their lives, and arbitrary power as the sole aim of their ambition. The author was present among several young persons of quality of both sexes, the eldest not above fourteen, who had met to play whist and quadrille. Some lost two, three, four, or five guineas—which would have served their great grandmothers a whole Christmas. One young lady, the greatest loser, said she liked games of chance because there was more spirit in them and wondered if the late ridiculous act against gaming would prevent betting on things. Modern women needed to look on past ages, he thought, when there were good wives, useful subjects, patriots .who looked on beauty and dress merely as ornaments of virtue and good sense. To illustrate his point, the author told the story of Semiramis, Queen of Assyria, half- dressed at her toilet, informed by a messenger that she was needed to break up a riot in the streets. She rushed out in her deshabille and did so. Military virtues were not necessary to modern eighteenth- century ladies, now that there were standing armies who looked as pretty 327 at a review with their hair neatly tucked up and powdered as the ladies would. The author just wanted ladies to preserve their natural good sense and sincerity. To read intelligibly and write accurately was not an unpardonable crime. To make a pie or a pudding (in the middle class, at any rate) or to go to church in a dress she made herself or that was at least of English make would not cause her to have fewer admirers. There had been, he asserted, a rise in separations and divorces due to this pernicious sort of education, as well as in the practice of keeping mistresses. It was the fashion to enjoy bawdy speech and double entendres, which led to promiscuity. Fools and coxcombs of all ages had become most popular with women. Falstaff would have been the 3 hero of the age. Two months later a lady reader expanded on his ideas in an essay called, "To make Women as useful and capable of maintaining them selves as the men, and prevent their becoming old maids." The magazine's note introducing it remarked that if the war against Spain became really general and destructive, this type of proposal might be paid some attention. It was the misfortune of the nation, according to this lady, that most gentlemen and tradesmen brought up their daughters at boarding school, where all they learned was to work a cushion or a picture, a little dancing and French, a little unperfected English and writing. She should be taught, instead, to make up her own and the family's linen, and the prudent management of household affairs. 3. Ibid., July 1739, pp. 373-375. 328 In reality, as soon as she left school, her father and mother were showing her off to get her a husband, so she was spoiled by thinking of nothing but dress, visits, tea drinking and card playing. She became giddy, thoughtless and idle. If this did not get her a husband and her parents did not have a large for tuner she was an old maid. If her parents died and she could not live on the interest of the small fortune they left her, she might desperately marry some designing fellow just for a livelihood, or she took to ill courses. The author's proposal to rectify this was that all gentlemen who had several daughters and tradesmen who could not give about 1000 or. 1500 pounds apiece to their daughters made sure the girls were taught the most useful part of needlework, the arts of economy, writing, book keeping, enough dancing and French for a graceful demeanor. At fifteen or sixteen, she said, apprentice them to genteel and easy trades, such as linen or woolen drapers, haberdashers of small wares, mercers, glovers, perfumers, grocers, confectioners, retailers of gold and silver lace, or buttons. Why were not these as creditable trades for daughters of gentleman as for their sons? All were more proper for women than men. Is it not as agreeable and becoming for women to be employ*d in selling a Farthing's worth of Needles, a Halfpenny Lace, a Quarter of a Yard of Silk, Stuff, or Cambrick, as it is absurd and ridiculous to see a Parcel of young Fellows, dish"d out in their Tie-Wigs and Ruffles, the Lords of the Creation, as Men affect to be call'd, busied in Professions so much below the Honour and Dignity of their Sex?^ 4. Ibid., September 1739, p. 525. 329 There were few trades in which women could not weigh, measure, and sell as well as men. They could buy as cheaply or cheaper because they could go to the wholesale merchant's house and purchase goods, whereas men transacted this business in taverns and coffee houses at a great additional expense and loss of time, even to the neglect of their affairs at home. Women just went right back to business. Thus they could support themselves on three or four hundred pounds a year and make good wives if need be. They would never have to become servants. The author was a mother and would educate her daughters this way even if she had 2000 pounds for them. They would be better and more careful managers in household affairs and could help tradesmen husbands in the shop and keeping books. Boarding Schools Should any object that young girls would thus be exposed to temptations, it would be no worse than boarding schools, where girls were carried off by footmen and fortune hunters. Rumor had it that in one of these schools "Not a mile from H..." nine girls were pregnant. We have already seen how badly the boarding schools fared in English public opinion. This particular charge was followed by an advertisement signed by the vicar and twelve gentlemen of the parish where the school was located that the statement was false. A slightly milder objection to boarding schools, "Thoughts on the Education of young ladies," advised parents not to send their girls away to a school, where no one would attend to their morals and manners. 330 There was too much emphasis on dance and dress in these places and the teachers were not of the first rank. Better that a daughter be brought up by kind and loving parents who would teach her which were friends to be trusted and how to function gracefully in her own society. One father took it upon himself to teach his fourteen-year-old daughter proper grammar by setting down in a letter a few rules, which he begged her to peruse once or twice a week to rid herself of the mistakes which the habit of conversing with women and illiterate men was apt to produce. She could not be supposed to know anything about the parts of speech, so he promised to keep his terms very simple. She was to distinguish between the nominative and accusative cases and between a participle and the past tense of a verb. "I feel that I 5 already shock you with these uncouth phrases." The father gave the cases for pronouns and a few examples of past tenses and participles. One of them was "I have rid," for which he noted that ridden was the participle but could not be used by a lady without the appearance of pedantry. He then listed errors resulting because of confusing the cases. Were you a boy who had learnt at a Latin school the Rudiments of the Grammar, I should here tell you, that, in order to distinguish when to use the nominative, and when the accusative case, you should remember that the nominative precedes, and the accusative follows the verb; but I am aware you would not comprehend my meaning, and perhaps would be so alarmed at the crabbidness of the precept as to lay aside my letter, and think no more of it.^ 5. Ibid., November 1764, pp. 519-520. 6. Ibid. 331 Instead, he told her to rely on her ear to set her right, by making trials like "He gave you and X a shilling. Whatl did he give ^ a shillingI" He talked about her use of the past tense instead of the participle (I have chose instead of I have chosen) even though she was not so ungrammatical when she spoke French. For example, saying "We was" and mixing singular and plural was an error she never made in French. Even people of good education were subject to misapplication of one word for another as she sometimes did: eminent for imminent, scout for flout, learn for teach, of for on, yourn for yours. Whether or not his daughter profited from his letter, he has left us a rather charming sample of part of a young lady's education and her typical problems with grammar. Some of the schools, even so, must have been at least a little like Sarah Fielding's model in The Governess. Yet the only favorable English comment I know of in a periodical was this from an unknown writer in the Annual Register, 1759: . . . every village in the neighborhood of this great city has one or two little boarding schools, with an inscription over the door, "Young Ladies boarded and educated." The expense is small, and hither the blacksmith, the ale-housekeeper, the shoe-maker, etc. sends his daughter who, from the moment she enters these walls becomes a young lady.' Compared to the information in the French periodicals about boarding schools for boys, little was said about those for girls. The Mercure only mentioned two. A 1773 article about M. Audet's school at Pantin indicated that a new girls' school had just been opened there. 7. G. A. Sambrook, ed., English Life in the Eighteenth Century (Macmillan, 1955), pp. 272-275, quoted by Grey in Fielding, p. 43. 332 Mile Ecambourt advertised that she ran a school for girls at Paris, in good air, with a garden, rue des Postes, near the Dames Saint Michel. The curriculum included religion; the development of talents useful and agreeable to society like all kinds of needlework and lace-making? writing; arithmetic; French grammar; geography; history; vocal music and instrumental on harpsichord, harp, and guitar. Role Distinctions The author of a Mercure essay on education commiserated with woman's lot, complaining that she ought to have the same education as a man. Comments by the reviewer of Mme de Chateauregnault's Eloge Historigue d'Anne de Montmorency included that in the number of prejudices which had surrounded French education to that time and which were still holding back progress, the one which excluded women from knowing the letters and the arts was certainly the most unjust and absurd. Gifted with a great sensitivity, with a rare delicacy, with exquisite tact, women by nature seemed to have been provided more apt qualities for engaging in matters of culture and taste: the manner of expression unique to them and the truth of feeling which perfected them. This gentleness made them susceptible to movements of passion, to heroic traits, courage, and grandeur of soul. All these charac teristics made them good students of literature and the arts when they had the opportunity, too often denied them. Females were prevented from engaging deeply in literary pursuits, said an English journalist, who rebuked authors who had satirized and ridiculed women. He also gave examples of authors who had treated women favorably. Women by 333 education may be rendered capable of discharging all civil employments equally with men, if it were truly found to be advantageous to society, he thought. Their minds should be rightly educated, no matter what their role. The French academies occasionally touched on this problem. At the public session of the Royal Academy of Nxmes May 13, 1756, in the auditorium of the Hotel de Ville M. Girard gave a lecture on the injustices of men toward women. Women had an inferior education, he said. All their instruction merely aimed them at pleasing men. At Dijon a public meeting of the Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Belles- Lettres, August 17, 1762 featured a paper presented by M. l'Abbe Picardet, whose thesis was that women are as apt as men for the study of science and the arts. Other times the articles show that academies manifested an interest in the education of women without telling us the tendencies of the speakers. Also at Dijon, November 26, 1787, the program included a discourse read by M. l'Abbe Volfius on the type of instruction best for women. At the public meeting of September 25, 1783, the Academy of Chalons-sur-Marne distributed three prizes, one of which was for a paper on ways to perfect women's education in France, by M. Dumas, a lawyer from Lons-le-Saunier. Despite a respectable number of articles favoring academic instruction for women, most—English and French alike—stressed giving a woman practical training for her role as a wife and mother. An excerpt from a life of Charlotte Chark, youngest daughter of the play wright Colley Cibber, ridiculed her education. She was taught French as 334 soon as she could speak but never had any needlework at all. At eight she was sent to Mrs. Draper's boarding school in Parkstreet, Westminster, for two years. She began to learn Latin, Italian, geography, music and dancing, then was taken home and attended by proper masters, to finish her education. "When this great work was thought to be accomplished 8 . . . Note the tone. In a rather long article on the causes of infelicity which particularly affect females, the author said that daughters should be educated not only in elegant accomplishments but also in useful employ ments. Coquettes were of no use in the married state. The English tended more to articles like these, with titles indicating some censure of female education. Another began that many good essays had been written on the subject of education. Had they done any good, there would be no reason for yet another, but, sadly enough, one might define the education of the time as "teaching young minds those things they 9 have no idea of, and without which they would be wholly unbiased." The end of education should be the good of the person taught, yet young girls' judgments were distorted in a way that could only result in eventual grief. Instead of learning their station in life and their duties, daughters learned pleasure and expense, to live beyond their families' means, and to game at a very early age. "No wonder she should not know the value of money, who never heard the words of a good 8. Gentleman's, October 1755, pp. 455-456. 9. Ibid., April 1747, pp. 178-179. 335 father, I can't afford it . . . ."'L0 The girl either had to marry beyond her rank or come to the cruel realization that she was not rich. Women were to manage families, not nations, and had to be taught frugality. The old way of educating females was better, said a London Journal author in one of the most conservative of articles; that is, mothers set the example for their children in charity and reading. These were the basics she needed to fulfill her narrow duties: (1] seeing to the comfort and well-being of her husband and (2) governing her family with prudence. French and the needle were important for young ladies, but thinking was more. They could get through life with out the first two. In Dr. Rush's plan of education for Pennsylvania, women were to be taught the usual branches of female education, as well as liberty, government, and patriotism. The Mercure generally made the same role distinctions. When Madame Elie de Beaumont published her epistolary novel, Lettres du Marquis de Roselle (1764), her reviewer commented that she was interested in women's instruction, which in his opinion ought to be analogous to their state as housewives and mothers. Cultivate their grace and sensibility, he said, which is what in them takes the place of reason. There was no use in their wearing themselves out in long studies, especially not of the sciences, which would only make them dissatisfied with their state. 10. Ibid. 336 An excerpt from a poem called "La Journee des Enfans" shows some of the educational differences based on sexual role distinction: Des supins escarpes atteindre la hauteur, Et des lourds gerondifs trainer la pesanteur, Et repeter des mots qu'il n'entend pas encore, Le jeune enfant soupire, et tourne un oeil d'envie Vers le salon tranquille, ou d'un babil joyeux Sa soeur peut egayer des momens plus heureux. Une aiguille a la main, elle Parcourt agilement un blanc tissu de lin, Ou sur des fers croises, adroitement enchaine, La laine qu'a 1'entour son doigt leger promene. Les uns nes pour la guerre et les travaux des arts, Portent deja I'audace empreinte en leurs regards; A de paisibles soins les autres destinees, D'une douceur modeste en naissant sont ornees. Ici, je vois la force et la vivacite; La, c'est la grace unie a la timidite, Et, sous l'oeil vigilant des peres et des meres, L'art developpe encor ces premiers caracteres. Only one representative in the press was against education of some kind for women, the rather odd author of the Vues patriotiques sur 1'education du peuple whom we have encountered before. His idea of punishment for a child who had shown weakness or cowardice was to dress him like a woman and let the other boys laugh at him. Not only that, but he proposed having parents of unmarried girls who had babies pay forty ecus as a fine to encourage chastity. This kind of degradation of women was very rare in the eighteenth-century press. These, then, are some of the prevailing criticisms and attitudes, similar in content and quantity for both nations, about education for women. The major complaint was that women were permitted to become vain coquettes—frivolous, spendthrift, and empty- headed. Ways to combat this varied from the methods of those who 11. Mercure, April 28, 1787, pp. 165-167. 337 wanted women to have exactly the same education as men to the approach of those who made a sexual role distinction and would have had women trained in practical matters useful to their own station and responsi bilities in the home. Books and Study Courses for Women Let us look now at some of the proposals of plans of study and courses for women, and the kinds of books and periodicals that were published especially for them. Following the example set by Mme de Lambert, the first writer who strongly upheld the rights of her sex to instruction and really more of an eighteenth than a seventeenth century woman because of it, Mme la Baronne Duplessy wanted to see more kinds of instruction available to women and proposed a museum for women which the government accepted as a project. Each Thursday there would be a class in readings on all kinds of knowledge appropriate for women. A Plan de Lecture pour une jeune Dame advised women to begin by the study of their own language but that studying a second language at the same time aided greatly in learning the grammars of both. Italian would be a good choice. There was no use delving into theology when God is manifested everywhere in nature. The reading list included, for religion, the Bible, Pascal Massillon, Bossuet, Flechier, and the Abbe Poule; for morality the offices of Cicero, La Bruyere, Vauvenargues, La Rochefoucauld, and Montaigne; for history Josephus, Rollin, Fleury, Hume, Robertson, Bossuet, Voltaire; and novels by Le Sage, l'Abbe Prevost, Duclos, Marivaux, La Fayette, Tencin, Grassigny, and Mme Riccoboni. No works of metaphysics or physics were mentioned because 338 they were considered useless to women. The reviewer agreed with the first point but thought women needed some notions of natural history, at least to teach their sons. A reader's letter from Aspasia to the Plain Dealer, Friday, October 23, 1724, said that two young ladies of fortune had been confided to her care and she was wondering how to educate them. The eldest was about fifteen, very bookish along the lines of romances and novels. Aspasia asked how she could persuade her to read better authors. The younger was not quite fourteen and the opposite of her sister. This little girl had been a coquette from her cradle. Good- natured and sensible, she was, however, giddy and unsettled. Hill replied that Aspasia's first action should be to study every turn of their tempers and find out the true bent of their inclinations. She should improve and heighten their native good qualities and transform their defects into ornaments. It was most important that their tutors gain their affection first and then instruct, instead of the other way around, as was so unfortunately true of contemporary practices. But we learn from those we love. He advised that she keep her admonitions as subtle as possible. He suggested a little psychological subterfuge to change the elder girl's reading tastes. One day Aspasia should arrange a conversation with a friend, who would be apprised of what was going on. To this friend, in the hearing of her pupil, she would praise the virtuous heroes of the novels. Right then, when her pupil felt Aspasia was on her side, she would be able to introduce praise of a passage in a book she wanted the girl to read. By this means her pupil would be begging to read what Aspasia wanted her to. Hill recommended certain 339 books. After reading The Christian Hero by Sir Richard Steele, for example, the girl would naturally prefer this book and realize from her own experience that the novels were coarse. Other suggestions were the Marquess of Halifax's Advice to a Daughter and Lady's Library. The Gentleman Instructed would also be very useful because in this reading girls could come to know men and themselves in order to preserve their honor and chastity. In the next issue Hill said he meant to say more on the subject but was interrupted and did not. Sarah Fielding's Governess was written especially to teach young women virtue and benevolence. Creator of the school story, she was providing girls with a middle class model of what an education could be. The Female Guardian, for the education of girls, was in the form of anecdotes at Mrs. Teachwell's school, largely about moral matters such as being thoughtful of others. Its reviewer was a little surprised that in the attached "library for young ladies" the only historical work was Bossuet's Discourse on Universal History and the only novels Robinson Crusoe and Telemaque. The Guardian was a pre-1760 periodical, as were the Ladies Diary; or, Women's Almanack (1704), The Tatler, The Spectator, and The Free thinker, all for women's edification, especially The Freethinker. Ambrose Phillips, its editor and chief writer March, 1718 to September, 1719, earnestly assured his readers that knowledge would not "disfigure 12 the features, wrinkle the skin, or spoil the complexion." John 12. Bertha M. Stearns, "Early English Periodicals for Ladies (1700-1760)," Publications of the Modem Language Association, Vol. 48, No. 1 (March, 1933), p. 43. 340 Tipper, mathematician and master of Bablake school, was author of the Ladies' Diary. Its contents included rules to help mothers educate their children. It was set up in two parts: the calendar and the miscellany, to which readers contributed. Bickerstaff of the Tatler believed that women needed a good liberal education as much as men did, for with it well-bred and intel ligent women were appreciated by men without respect to their sex. They would long remain pleasing companions if they obtained qualifica tions that would make them so even if they were not women. When a correspondent requested advice on the best education for his young daughter, Bickerstaff commented that "the great Happiness or Misfortune of Mankind depends upon the Manner of Educating and Treating • • 13 that Sex" and promised to render an opinion within a week. He did not keep his promise, but 100 issues later he dealt with the education of gentlewomen. He thought that girls should not be left to indolence but put to healthful exercises in their time away from studies. He blamed parents who thought their daughters were so insignificant as to be sufficiently provided for if they fed and dressed them or who gfc best considered them accomplished enough if nothing interrupted their growth or their shape. But the Tatler did not furnish any substantial, con crete proposals for female curricula or pedagogy. The Lady's Magazine, which began publication in 1770, would be a good source for a study of female education continued beyond the scope of this chapter. The Mercure and the other French periodicals I 13. Bond, p. 94. 341 examined contained no references to such journalism especially for women in Prance. A number of books for women were of the "complete course" or "complete reading series" type. England produced the Female Library and Steele's three-volume Ladies Library. From France came the Bibliotheque universelle des Dames with its useful, pleasant readings in travel, history, philosophy, the belles lettres, the sciences, and the arts—everything, supposedly, that women needed to be adequately knowledgeable. In fact, the French published the majority of these special courses for women. The first three volumes (of six) of the Traite de 1'Education des Femmes, a complete course of instruction, tried to give an idea of all the sciences and explained the care that girls needed up to the age of fourteen. The rest, of which there were eventually to be ten, contained a history of France. The censor had approved the work, by a woman, as encouraging a virtuous, patriotic education. The Cours d'etudes des jeunes demoiselles was said to be no less useful for boys as a complement to the studies of the colleges, with its maps for geography, its copper-plate engravings for heraldry, astronomy, physics and natural history. Two volumes appeared in 1772, geography first, then history, including an expose of its moral and philosophical purpose, the different forms of governments, and an abridged biblical history. Volumes III, IV, V, and VI came out in 1774. Encouraged by the response to the first volumes, the author, Fromageot, had worked even harder to make the series as useful to boys as to girls, by adding, for 342 example, a section on agriculture. The preface to the third volume contained some advice given him by M. Suart of the Congregation de la Doctrine Chretienne, formerly professor of eloquence in the colleges of his order. We can give young people only a very imperfect idea of ancient history, by the isolated passages we have them translate from Sallust, Quintus-Cursius, Livy, Cornelius-Nepos, and Caesar's commentaries, said Suart. A good translation of the best parts we choose for them is all that we require. As for modern history, we never even talk about it, and they enter society without the slightest notions of the history of their country or of that of our neighbors. It would therefore be very advantageous to have them take a complete course in history, after having taught them a bit of geography. Suart continued that he had foreseen another advantage of this study for both teachers and students in the kind of plan that Fromageot had adopted. Nothing would better stimulate emulation among young people than the examinations and contests the colleges could hold in geography, history, rhetoric, poetics, and the various other aspects of literature and the sciences. If Fromageot would organize his volumes so that they would lend themselves to these examinations, he would spare teachers much time and effort, since they could prepare several students at a time using different exercises, without having to do anything themselves but listen to their memory work. Students, too, would profit by having their examination materials all ready in the regular course of study. He thought that a child who, in the sixth form, began with geography and who, each year, underwent one of these 343 examinations in public, would find at the end of his studies that he had 14 acquired much useful, pleasing knowledge. Usually books aimed at women were less serious than this. The attitude was that women were so delicate and light-headed that any study they undertook had to be especially entertaining and amusing; this is over and above the whole general trend toward making study more pleasant and agreeable. The father whose letter is described above and who wrote as if his daughter would recoil in horror at a grammar lesson is an example of this. A grammar book especially for women called the Cantatrice Grammairienne assured that it presented the art of learning spelling without the help of any master, by means of erotic songs, pastorals, villageoises, anacreontics, and the like. It con tained a portrait of the more agreeable "singing" poets and was supposed to be encouraging to women, who did not like to study a dry grammar. M. de Saint-Ange's article on the Soupers de Vaucluse explained that it was a collection of poetry and dialogue designed to give young people a taste for instruction, particularly "this lovable, weak sex, whose 15 education obstinately continued to dedicate to frivolity." Books for women had two major functions: to deck out knowledge in a bearable form and to teach morality. One on grammar called Idee de la Grammaire de la Langue Fran^oise was touted as providing mothers with an excellent opportunity to give their daughters moral lessons. The Instruction d'un Pere a sa Fille was based on scriptures concerning 14. Mercure, March 1774, pp. 88-91. 15. Ibid., May 1789, pp. 174-178. 344 the most important subjects of religion, morals, and the way the girl should conduct herself in society. The Abbe Reyre, author of the Mentor des enfans, collected letters from a virtuous mother to her daughter and published a book similar to the father's moral instruc tions, this one including the daughter's answers to her mother. Women as Educators The French in the late eighteenth century were interested in whether or not men or women were more fit to teach children of either sex. Some felt that women were definitely best fitted to give a child an education; that is, a continuation of feelings and habits which perfect the organs, the natural judgment, and the soul, and something which begins with life and ends only when life does. This kind of education first comes to a child from his mother, nature beginning it through the baby's sensations. Men might handle instruction—lessons on language, history, science—as well as or even better than women. It was admirable when women theorized about educational principles, nature having given them the infancy of the race to control. They formed the child's first feelings, which influenced all his others for the rest of his life. One author argued for female superiority as teachers by beginning that even an older child was weak and dependent. His mother controlled all that he saw and touched, all the objects around him. No matter how good a father a child had, or how good a teacher, if his mother had serious defects, he would acquire them too. Fathers and teachers were putty in the hands of a wilful young prince, but he could 345 be controlled by a woman. Better vibrations passed between women and children because of their similar spirits. The student would learn better and be more docile because of the rapport nature had furnished between the sexes. Opponents of this idea questioned whether passions would not arise, and if the woman were old, they asked, what differ ence would there really be then from having a man instruct? Only a woman could properly supervise her household to make sure that all its members were virtuous and that all therein contributed to the child's education. She would insure no corrupting influences from servants in the houses of ordinary men, nor from courtisans in princely palaces. Chosen carefully, the governess would be a real woman, making no ridiculous attempts at being like a man. A woman could guide a young student to choose the right friends and to form his judgment well, if not to fill his head with information. "Locke a prouve que presque toutes les erreurs venoient de l'abus des mots; les jugemens des femmes ne se fondent pas sur les mots, mais sur les choses, et 16 voila pourquoi elles ont si peu d'erreurs." Few believed with this author that women ought to be the sole educators, however. Most recognized them as best responsible for early education, but after that the general recommendation was that each sex should teach its own. Only a man could teach a boy the things a man needed to know. A woman could teach him domestic matters but could not follow him in all his exercises, such as arms and horses, and as 16. Ibid., June 1783, p. 126. 346 Montaigne said, the teacher needed to be with his pupil to draw lessons from all aspects of his daily activities. Women needed to be in charge of their own education because men in directing it in all countries had been unjust, giving them few rights under law. Some men were convinced that women lost their graces when they were educated. Neither should a man be too influenced by woman's changing feelings and lack of courage. For example, a man who had been tormented all his life by his cowardice remembered that during his college days he had held his own with his fellows any time it was necessary until once his father and mother took him to spend some holidays in the country. One night thieves broke into the house, and his mother, who was one of the first to discover their presence, screamed in terror and fell into convulsions, whereupon the child, as he witnessed this, was also over come by terrible convulsions. Another viewpoint was that men could handle a boy's early education but that he should then be educated by a woman when he left his governor's care, as he entered society and began his true education. A lady writing to a young officer she had chosen as her pupil expressed this attitude, while her primary concern was really the perfection of women's education to make it rival that of men. She wanted them admitted to the study of the belles lettres and of moral philosophy. Their greatest need was to develop the habit of reflection. If a woman were deceived in love, she had only herself to blame for not studying such cases and learning to distinguish a good man from a bad. Instruc tion was necessary to combat excess emotionality. Like so many authors, 347 she examined and discussed the need for improving education for women, but did not attempt to propose or outline a plan to follow to achieve that improvement. Still, her book was successful and went into a second edition. Madame d'Epinay The best known French female writers were Mme d'Epinay and Mme de Genlis, both of them occupying considerable space in the periodicals of the eighties. Mme d'Epinay came to notoriety slightly earlier, when the Mercure of May, 1775 inserted a review of her Conversations d'Emilie, dialogues between a mother and her daughter to serve as elementary lessons in morality. The two passages cited were on happiness and on how a child should not use big words he does not understand. This was highly successful, went into a second edition in 1781, and into the fifth in 1788. The Academie Frangaise awarded it a prize in 1782 as the best work in education that year. Emilie became accustomed to reading her own soul as she confided everything to her mother, who taught her how to conduct herself. This process is perhaps the greatest secret of educating someone. Emilie Mama, why do X exist? Why was I born? La Mere Can't you try to tell me that yourself? E. I have no idea. M. Well, what do you do all day long? 348 E. Oh, I go for walks, I study, I jump, I drink and eat, I laugh, I talk with you when I'm a good girl. M. There you have itI Up till now that is why you are in this world: to drink, eat, sleep, laugh, jump, grow up, get stronger, learn. Those are the things you have to do here, and as you grow older your occupations and obligations will change. Instead of being in the world to jump, dance, and to have others take care of you, you will be here to work, to be useful, to fulfill other duties, and to enjoy other amusements. E. To have others take care of me? Are other people in charge of me? M. Of course, since you are a child. E. But a child is a person. M. A child is a child who in time will become a rational person. E. What am I now, then, now while I'm still a child? M. You mean you are five years old and you still have not thought about what you are? Try to find the answer all by yourself The 1781 reviewer judged the work as lacking any very methodical order, since the child by her questions kept breaking the natural flow of her mother's ideas. Mme d'Epinay wanted to have the mother direct the child's mind but not overly perplex or constrain it. The reviewer complimented the author for distinguishing herself by a talent which at first glance would not seem to belong to her sex, that of defining 17. Ibid., May 19, 1781, pp. 105-108. 349 words and things with an exactness and precision that few philosophers had attained. She was also adept at drawing a perceptive general result -from a mass of detailed observations, but perhaps it was because women could not generalize their ideas as often that they generalized better; they made up in exactness and clarity what they might lack in strength. Their minds, tired quickly of abstract ideas, dashed immediately to lean and repose on concrete examples and ideas. At the end of the Conversations, Emilie is only ten. Until this age, the great difficulties of education came from the mind, from the trouble of giving ideas to children who did not yet have any, but soon they reached an age during which the passions presented even greater problems. The main one (sex) inspired far too much delicacy and got the French into more trouble than if they had been more open about it, the reviewer said, not even himself daring to name itl How to get children to foresee the dangers of the passions soon enough without letting them see their appeal too early was problematic. Rousseau handled it fairly well in the fourth volume- of his book on education, the love of Emile and Sophie. The trick was seeing to it that education preserved virtue not only in a reclusive life, which tended to purify and regulate the passions, but also in the middle of society, which disturbed and disordered them. Madame de Genlis Adele et Theodore, by Mme de Genlis, was a more complicated work, as its full title shows: ou Lettres sur I'Education, contenant tous les principes relatifs aux trois differens plans d'Education des 350 Princes, des jeunes Personnes et des Hoiranes. It came under more criticism than Mme d'Epinay's book, partly because it was too compli cated, trying to cover the complete plan of education for Adele and Theodore; for a prince destined for the throne; for two married women; for two children, one of whom was to marry Adele and the other Theodore; and for a M. porphire, man of letters. The educational methods got lost in the vehicle of the epistolary novel amidst romanesque adventures, descriptions of cities and familiar peoples, and critical letters on morals, books, opinions, fashions. Unlike Rousseau, who believed in universal education, Mme de Genlis at first applied her theories only to the wealthy nobility, especially women. To men in general and princes she devoted only a few of the letters. She adopted as her personae the Baronne d'Almane, who was presiding over the education of her daughter Adele; the Baron d'Almane, who was raising his son Theodore; the Comte de Roseville, governor of a prince destined to inherit a throne; and M. d'Aimeri, who was bringing up his grandson the Chevalier de Valmont, intended to marry Adele. In the courses of education for these four children especially, Mme de Genlis developed her educational theory. Her general guidelines for the physical upbringing of these children advised that until three years of age, the child was to be washed from head to feet with warm water in winter and at its natural temperature in summer, rubbing him well with a sponge. He slept in a rather hard bed without curtains, having only a linen cap, a small loose jacket, a single blanket in winter and a sheet in summer, the windows of the bedroom almost always open during the day, except during 351 wet weather. The child spent most of his time in the outside air. There was to be no great hurry in urging him to walk, in order to let his legs grow strong enough to bear his body without difficulty. He was to be kept from humidity, especially his feet, which was contrary to Locke's advice. After weaning he would have water as his only drink, never cream or hot drinks, but occasionally some cold milk, eggs, vegetables, meaty soup, or fruit. No one was to give him jam, candy, or pastry. Under four years of age he wore no corsets and then only those that were very thin and loose; they were useful and healthy other than in summer. If the shoulders were well-placed, Mme de Genlis believed they opened the chest and aided breathing. Those in charge of the child always had to themselves be examples of the virtues they demanded from him, and they had to obtain his complete confidence. They were never to lie to him—though an English critic said Genlis encouraged deceit. Any occasion to teach children anything within their grasp should not be neglected. The choice of rewards was not.an indifferent matter, since a child would react best to those which were interesting, noble, and useful, such as some mark of confidence, a portrait of someone the child loved and admired, a good book. No conversation with servants was allowed, as it would only encourage the use of trivial expressions, ridiculous behavior, base sentiments and a taste for bad company. Discipline that played on the feelings was rarely useful— repeating endlessly that a child made one feel bad or sick—since it only made him familiar with an idea that ought rather to horrify him, and it also effectively eliminated real sensitivity. It was better to 352 correct by means of deprivations and fear, which was children's form of esteem. In order to become familiar with their characters, inclina tions, and the extent of their mental prowess, one had to observe them in their games; if they were steady in play, they would be in study. If they took pleasure in storytelling, in ccsnparing things new to them, they would not lack wit and imagination. Mme de Genlis was one who believed that a woman's education should not resemble a man's. Women had to moderate their tastes and needed resources against boredom. It was important for them to have patience, gentleness, and no unruly passions. Adele possessed several languages and knew how to embroider, draw, dance, paint, sing, and play several instruments; she studied geography, chronology, history, archi tecture, heraldry, geometry, physics, chemistry, natural history, philosophy, and debate. In fact, nothing was foreign to her that could make her stand out in pleasing fashion in society or help her make a husband happy. Necessary to her brother, on the other hand, were vibrant passions, ambition, love of glory, even a well-directed love for women. Theodore read infinitely more than Adele; he learned Italian, English, German and Latin, which he began at fourteen; and mathematics, which he began at twelve and continued for six years. He had no music nor drawing of miniatures, just drawing along with geometry to help him know how to sketch buildings or camps. He could swim, play billiards, and endure fatigue. Legalities and politics were familiar. When he married Constance, he was passionately in love with her, but when Adele married the Chevalier de Valmont, she felt toward him only a slight 353 kindly inclination, although she was ready to refuse any other mate proposed to her in his favor. How dad Mme de Genlis manage to endow her pupils with such prodigious stores of knowledge and good qualities? She had them learn foreign languages by using them, much as we learn a native tongue. They spelled from memory and then had their work corrected. Geography they first studied in pictures; the catechism and Ovid's metamorphoses in a magic lantern; history and chronology on the tapestries which were hung throughout the house; botany in a garden they cultivated themselves; architecture, with cut-outs which represented the five orders of that art and which they could use to make castles for their recreation. Even their leisure hours were employed usefully, since Madame believed that a change of activity sufficed to refresh tired young people. Everything around her students was a fertile source of instruction. She wanted tutors especially to give them experience, by putting moral principles into action and making them feel, in a short period of time, all the temptations to which man is susceptible. To accustom her pupils to self control, she gave them candy dishes full of pralines and made them promise not to touch any until the next day; those who kept the promise obtained esteem and special treatment. Those who weakened received general indignation, feeling the weight of the scorn attached to breaking a promise. In order to drive sloth away from the young prince, his governor took away a whole toy collection that was boring rather than amusing him, and he also got rid of a swarm of servants occupied up to then in foreseeing the prince's every need and in satisfying his slightest 354 whims. Every day he had to tell two or three stories to acquire an ease of speaking in public. Each day the Comte de Roseville also wrote the actions and words of his student and gave them to him to read the next day, accompanied by moral lessons appropriate to his age. Mme de Genlis described all kinds of ways to make the students sensitive, charitable, discreet, modest, and understanding. For example, to exercise Adele in the virtues and intelligence of a wife and mother, she was put in charge of keeping the household accounts, balancing them daily, and of a four year old child to raise (she was herself fourteen). One reviewer of Adele et Theodore spoke of Mme de Genlis' contribution to childhood by the plans she made for their education and by the books she prepared for them. We have not a single book of hours, he said, which does not contain some shocking errors and ridicu lous expressions, and Mme de Genlis has composed a book of prayers one cannot read without being touched. She was contributing every kind of . book that so far had been unsuitable for youth: mythologies, poetry, stories, books of debate, historical abridgments. Without Adele et Theodore, sighed the reviewer, we would not have one good educational treatise. The Emile was full of statements in bad taste and dangerous principles, lacking action and interest, and offering almost on each page the most revolting inconsistencies. Rousseau owed ideas to Seneca, Montaigne, Locke, and Fenelon, while those of Mme de Genlis the reviewer considered original. She showed considerable insight into the charac ters and minds of children. 355 When her course in morality, Les Veillees du Chateau, appeared in 1784, she commented that she was the first author to be concerned about education for the common people. The fourth volume of her Theatre d'Education was meant for children of merchants, artisans, and those even lower than this class. To instruct them it was necessary to please them, and she did this by using the genre she thought was always most interesting, the drama. The very first lesson she tried to instill in these children was to make them feel all the value of an education and the misfortune it was to be deprived of one. There were a few criticisms of her method: that she had failed to do enough about eradicating faults, bad habits, vices of character and the mind; that her thought and writing were not free of incon sistencies; that she encouraged deceit. Her children were so perfect that she might have included advice on how to deal with intractable, obstinate, fretful and sullen children. The prodigious multitude of things Adele and her brother had learned seemed to contradict her advice to teach only what was within the child's capacity. She proposed teaching logic by means of debate, but a critic thought, from his own experiences, that the subjects used were not suited to the child's newly awakening reason. One could not apply the art of reasoning to too simple things; the great defect of the well-known elements of logic was the examples they used, which were not familiar enough, and, in fact, were almost always metaphysical, leaving no enduring impression on young minds. Sometimes she seemed to be for the use of lying in a child's education, sometimes against it. A generally glowing English review 356 of her style and handling of dialogue in Adele and Theodore in transla tion, even though it said she laid the foundation of education on the bases of religion and virtue, objected to the deceptions practiced on a child, as in Rousseau's Emile, by parents, servants, governors, and all who surrounded him: The critic asserted that lies should never replace truth, but Mme de Genlis had allowed deceit all the way through the whole plan. He gave, however, no specific examples of what he objected to. More often, Mme de Genlis received admiration and compliments, as in the short "Vers a Mile...., en lui envoyant l'Ouvrage de Mme de Genlis, intitule Adele et Theodore." 0 vous, dont 1'education Offre, a 16 ans, tout ce que la culture Peut ajouter a la perfection Du plus beau fonds orne par la Nature; Quand vous lirez cet Ouvrage charmant, Ou les Graces, a leur maniere, Ont habilld la morale en Roman, Souvent les pleurs du sentiment Viendront mouiller votre paupiere; Et, parmi les plaisirs de la jeune saison, Quand tout, autour de vous, repete: Qu'elle est belle 1 A l'ecole de la raison Vous voudrez encor suivre Adele, Et prendre pour vous la legon Dont vous nous offrez le inodele. Education for women in the eighteenth century, having received impetus in the seventeenth from the work of Fenelon, Mme de Maintenon, and the Visitandines, was making real progress toward greater substance and practicality. The periodicals described the frivolity of female 18. Ibid., May 25, 1782, pp. 147-148. 357 education and its consequences, the English especially critical of governesses and boarding schools and the French of convent schools. The problem was of interest to the French academies, which tended to propose educating women equally with men, while the majority, including women themselves, wanted a somewhat different upbringing based on sexual role distinctions. The gist of this preference was that the principles of education should not be the same for the two sexes since neither their inclinations nor their duties were the same. The object of education was especially to form the feelings, and it is from natural feelings that it can draw its strength and influence, but each sex receives a multitude of impressions which are foreign to the other. A common but not universal attitude was that women lacked reason and had to be treated with great care in intellectual matters, neces sitating assurances like those of Ambrose Phillips that a little learning would not wrinkle the skin. Special journalism for women tended to be English, while the complete study courses were of French production. Late in the century the French took a special interest in women as educators, possibly because of the work of Madame d'Epinay and Madame de Genlis. The presence of these two women in the chapter swells the French representation to about two-thirds; without them, comment upon education for women was about equally distributed between the English and the French. CHAPTER XI SPECIAL EDUCATION, PART III; THE ENCYCLOPEDIST SPIRIT; ADULT EDUCATION Out for an afternoon stroll or a visit to a coffee house, a French gentleman might decide to drop in to the Cabinet de Lecture, where he could find for his perusal a wide selection of gazettes, newspapers, and periodicals—French and foreign; bulletins from the capital and the provinces; and recent edicts, orders, and declarations, all of which a citizen wishing to stay abreast of the most current news might like to examine. He also had at his disposition ink, pens, and paper so that he could sit down comfortably here in the Hotel de Mouhy any day between seven and eleven, read, take notes, keep his journal, or carry on his correspondence, and generally enjoy the benefits of his subscription. The Periodicals as Educators When Johnson said that knowledge was diffused among the English by the newspapers, he did not overestimate the important role of the periodicals in education. Not only did they talk about it, but they were also part of it, educators themselves, able to examine the problem from within and without and thus standing in a rather unique position to this day. More than any other single force in education, they helped break down class distinctions, because all classes read them. 358 359 I would estimate that their role was about equally extensive in England and in France. In England# for example, there were no country newspapers in 1700, but by the end of 1760 there were 130. The local newspaper had then been established as an essential part of country life. The more powerful papers had a weekly sale of around 2000, but each copy was read by twenty or more people. The paper might in fact be the only reading matter of the more humble public, supplementing for them the meager education of the schools and helping the growth of literacy by serving as libraries. The Gentleman's Magazine had a circulation in 1746 of 3,000. By 1786 the Mercure under Panckoucke had absorbed eight other magazines and had 15,000 subscribers. The printer of the Newcastle Journal announced his intention in 1739 of printing classical sections and an essay on geography and natural history each week, with subjects like the solar system, the poles, the Gulf Stream. The war news by 1745 pushed out sections like these. "The endeavor to provide a really solid education had died a 1 natural death. It had, in fact, been too severe for human frailty." Moral instruction, not too serious, and religious questions continued in the midst of much seduction and sex and novels printed in installments. People did not even read the Journal des Savans at first because they thought it was erudite, only for the savants of its title. One 1. G. A. Cranfield, A Handlist of English Provincial Newspapers and Periodicals 1700-1760 (Cambridge, England: Cambridge Bibliographical Society Monographs, no. 2, 1952), p. 108. 360 might say it remained what the Newcastle Journal started out to try to be. Suivre le mouvement de 1'esprit humain tel qu'il se traduit dans les livres, rester sur les sommets les plus eleves de la science, de 1*erudition et de la litterature, initier le public a tout ce qui se produit d'un peu important dans ces divers domaines, voila le but que c'est toujours proposg le Journal des Savans, au moins dans les prospectus. The periodicals were as diverse as their editors, whose influ ence was as pervasive as might be expected in the many cases in which the magazine or newspaper was virtually a one-man show, the editor seeing to the printing, doing virtually all of the writing, and handling every possible detail of the. business. The editor of the Present State of Europe apologized in May, 1700 that the last month's issue had been deficient, but he had been so violently afflicted with gout in his hands and feet that it had been all he could do to get the edition out at all. Dr. Rush's educational plans included newspapers, which he wanted established in the more populous county towns to contribute to the diffusion of knowledge. His dream was to see a weekly newspaper in every farm house in Pennsylvania. The London Magazine, March, 1733 (p. 106) ran an essay in praise of newspapers and their effect of promoting a universal taste for polite literature in people of all degrees. Not everybody was so favorably impressed. It would seem, by the way certain newspapers present their criticisms, that the journalist is a professor and the 2. Eugene Hatin, Bibliographie Historique et Critique de la Presse Periodique Franpaise (Paris: Librairie de Firmin Didot Freres, fils et cie, 1866), p. 204. 361 readers humble school children whose taste and judgment he has under taken to formf remarked one French reader. Another complained that the mania for periodical works seemed to be a characteristic of the century. They had multiplied ad infinitum, giving rise to a witty and just murmur against this prodigious quantity "d'innombrables journaux, dont de 3 fecond progres changea les ignorans en Savans par Extraits." No one could keep up with them all, and too often bad humor, passion, even hatred animated most journalists' pens, and even the most moderate tended to place too clear a distinction between their friends and their enemies. The editor's personality did have an influence on his choice of articles about education, their tone and quantity. As for the writing in general, X believe the poetry was, alas, generally poor but the prose not as bad as some historians lead one to believe. I come at last to something else that was happening in France in the second half of the eighteenth century which it seemed natural to give the modern name of adult education or continuing education. People from varied spheres of life offered themselves as instructors in all the areas of knowledge then available. Sometimes they were teachers by profession, but often not. Frequently they charged a fee for their services, but there were also free courses. In science, mathe matics, history and geography, business, foreign languages, and the fine arts, Paris especially was humming with the spirit of the encyclopedists. 3. Mercure, June 24, 1780, p. 176. 362 Chemistry, Anatomy, Surgery, Physiology The Paris apothecaries, wanting to contribute to making the study of chemistry easier, offered annually a free chemistry course in their laboratory, rue de l'Arbalete, Faubourg Saint Marceau. They took turns giving their time to these classes and used their own money to meet the expenses necessary for experiments and demonstrations. The first of these courses began on August 17, 1753, and continued every Monday and Thursday at three in the afternoon. Bordeaux owed its public chemistry course to a Monsieur Cazalet. In Paris Bucquet and Fourcroy taught chemistry to the general public, both of them combining it with natural history and Bucquet with anatomy as well. Fourcroy, Docteur-Regent of the Paris College of Medicine, member of the Royal Society of Medicine, and author of a complete course in natural history and chemistry, opened his public course Wednesday, November 15, 1780 punctually at eleven a.m. and continued it Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at that hour in his laboratory, Parvis Notre-Dame, next to the cloister gate. When he realized that each of his lessons contained too much material to be learned rapidly enough by those who had never studied chemistry before, he decided in 1780 to try meeting every two weeks with his class that year to hold a review session. In these special sessions he went over the six preceding lessons; repeated the more important experiments and those which had not entirely succeeded, which sometimes happened during the lessons tmd could not be done over then because of the brevity of the time and the multiplicity of experiments; discussed and expanded on theories he had been forced to pass over lightly; answered 363 questions and helped with problems; and generally explained the work in greater detail. He posted syllabus and outlines of the preceding lessons in his laboratory so that the students could come to consult and examine them one hour before and after each lesson. Bucquet was one of Fourcroy's colleagues in the medical school and taught the same course, his on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays of each week at his home, rue des Fosses Saint Jacques a l'Estrapade. The following fall semester he switched to M-W-F at eleven. Students went to the Widow Herissant's (imprimeur du cabinet du Roi) to buy their textbooks, an introduction to the mineral kingdom for the first part of the course, and in January an introduction to the vegetable. Three years later they bought the combined text from Didot the Younger, bookseller for the medical college on the Quai des Augustins. Bucquet1s anatomy course at noon in his amphitheater rue Basse des Ursins then filled the T-Th-S time. Anyone wishing to dissect could speak to M. Fragonard, in the same amphitheater. Royer, spice and drug merchant of the Grande Rue du Fauxbourg Saint Martin, gave notice in the Mercure that he had opened his botanical gardens and that the public was invited to visit. He also welcomed the public to his private collections of natural history, free on T- Th-F at five. Every Monday anyone who wished could accompany him on field trips into the country. The gardens were free from four to six to boys apprenticed to the druggist trade. M. Rouelle, apothecary to the Due d'Orleans, demonstrator of chemistry at the Jardin du Roi, member of the London Society of the 364 Arts and the Electoral Academy of Erfort, offered a pharmacy course at 3:30 M-T-Th-F in his laboratory rue Jacob. The prospectus of a course on natural history relative to the arts and crafts by Valmont de Bomare described some of the subjects that would be under consideration in the study of the mineral kingdom: clays one used for faience and porcelain, those from which one could make pots of all kinds, bricks, tiles, the uses of sand, chalk and its uses, precious stones and stone for building, diamond cutting, quarries, salts. Studies in the vegetable sector included: woods necessary in cabinetry, in carpentry, plants which yield dyes, glues, resins. And from the animal: wool production (care of the sheep), furs, bird plumes, fish oils. Bomare was also a grocer-druggist, not a teacher, and he modestly asked his students' indulgence: Ce sont la les points principaux que je me propose de traiter. L'essai que je fais, dans la vue d'etre utile, merite quelque indulgence. Des efforts continues me mettront a portee de m'instruire davantage, et de rendre ce cours sur l'histoire naturelle plus complet, plus utile, et plus interessant.4 He began the course Saturday, July 16, 1757 at two o'clock in the after noon in his rooms in the Hotel de Hollande, Old Temple Street, requesting that prospective students enroll ahead of time with him at the White Rose, rue de la Verrerie. His second public course opened Saturday, April 15, 1758. Fourteen years later he was still at it. "Course of Natural History, concerning minerals, vegetables, animals, and the different phenomena of nature, by M. Valmont de Bomare, Censeur Royal, Maitre en Pharmacie {and other titles)," announced the Mercure. He had 4. Ibid., July 1757, pp. 109-113. 365 a new suite of rooms, rue de la Verrorie. This time he was teaching two courses, one M-W-F at 10:30, the other T-Th-S at 11:30. Those who wanted to take part were advised to be present to hear the opening lecture on the spectacle and the study of nature. He continued the same schedule in 1774 and advertised for the last time in 1775. Medical courses offered were anatomy, surgery, childbirth and midwifery, and venereal disease. Felixvicq d'Azyr was a doctor of the Paris medical school who offered his course in anatomy at noon every day of the week except Thursday in the school's amphitheater, rue de la Bucherie. In 1775 he was teaching anatomy and physics, while planning to add elementary surgery after Easter. M. Ferrand, Maitre en Chirurgie of the College de Paris, Royal Professor of operations necessary for survival, re-opened Monday, October 26, 1772, at 4:30, a complete course in anatomy, which was immediately followed by a course in diseases requiring surgery and the operations performed for each. In this same period of the seventies, when public courses in medicine were at a peak, G. R. le Febure gave a free one on venereal diseases M-W-Th of each week at four o'clock at Versailles, in the audience chamber of the Prevote de 1'Hotel. This was followed by another course on childbirth for midwives and students of surgery. Also at Versailles and beginning the same summer as M. le Febure's course, was a public free childbirth series offered by the Compagnie de M. M. les Maitres en Chirurgie Mondays and Saturdays at 4:00 in the assembly room of their association, rue de la Charite. 366 When Brest opened its public anatomy course in 1782, it exhorted students to work well by announcing that at the end of the classes six prizes.would be awarded, three for 300 livres and three of 200 livres each. By order of his Majesty, Aries also established a midwife course in 1787. A society of men who worked in agriculture in the Paris area offered a complete course in theoretical, practical, and economic agriculture and in rural and veterinary medicine, followed by a method to use in the individual study of agriculture. M. Verdier taught the most general of the medical courses, which he called his class in practical physiology, considered the art of perfecting both man's bodily and spiritual faculties, as a follow-up to school studies and an introduction to the sciences and arts of society. His course description said that studies would be of the sensations and movements which are at the same time the effects and the causes of animal functions, the exterior and interior senses, the faculties of voluntary movement, the commerce between soul and body, the functions which put the human body in commerce with exterior agents: the digestion/ the circulation of bodily fluids, the respiration, nutrition, and secre tions of the body, temperaments, manners, diseases of body and mind. He gave the least possible amount of time to metaphysical research. Rather, he emphasized what use the ancient peoples made of physiology, and what could still be done with it for the study and practice of scientific professions and the beaux arts, even in economic and civil life. 367 Each person who took the course received a copy of the first three volumes of the Recueils de Memoires et d'Observations sur la perfectabilite de l'homme, par les agens physiques et moraux. The first contained an essay on history and the renewal of art, education, and morality, the second an analysis of the perfections and vices which could be found in each of man's bodily and spiritual faculties, and the third an analysis of the means which could serve to perfect these faculties and correct their vices. To us this description in the language of the time sounds like pseudo-science or quackery, but Verdier was a trained doctor in medicine, and considered in terms of what the eighteenth century did know about medicine rather than all they did not know in comparison with what we know today, he was doing some very positive things. He was recognizing the psychosomatic nature of much illness, stressing practical applica tions of what he taught, and trying, above all, like these other gentlemen, to share what he had learned with others in order to improve the treatment of the whole man. Physics The Sieur Allard, Maitre de Mathematiques living at the College de Navarre, Montagne de Sainte Genevieve, gave notice to the public that he taught Gallimard's new theoretical and practical method of arithmetic, algebra, and geometry for a very modest fee. He also had a private course in experimental physics and mechanics by M. I'Abbe Nollet of the Royal Academy of Science. 368 In December/ 1771# the Mercure advertised a physics course, and from then on through the early eighties public physics courses were popular, especially as taught by Sigaud de la Fond, mathematics profes sor, demonstrator of experimental physics of the University, member of several academies—the titles were always so important. He invited registration for his course, which ran T-Th-S at six in the evening. Public course times were most commonly set in the early morning, at the midday dinner hours, or in the late afternoon and evenings, so that people could get to them despite their regular work. His first 1772 advertisement was interesting because it said that several people of "consideration" had engaged him to recommence his course, this time M-W-F at noon, registration in the rue S. Jacques, University House near Saint-Ives. The course beginning in December followed the same schedule, as did the one in 1774, the only difference a time change to 11:30. He next exhibited his electric machine and explained its construction in a course on electricity which he began Wednesday, November 18, 1772 at noon in his cabinet de machines in University House and continued oh M-W-F. This class followed all the progress of electricity from its origin to the present day, emphasizing especially the analogies of electrical matter, its application in a quantity of chemical operations, and especially the hoped for advantages in animal economy. In the later years he amplified his treatment of electricity in the experimental physics courses, doing more with its analogies and applications than he had in preceding years. His announcement appeared in 1775 for the last time. 369 Brisson, another teacher of the public physics courses, was a member of the Academie Royale des Sciences, physics and natural history tutor to the royal children, and Professeur Royal of experimental physics at the College de Navarre. He also followed the December opening date, and taught in his cabinet de machines, rue du Jardinet, Faubourg St. Germain, at eleven M-W-F. Those who wanted to take the course came to his house to enroll before the term began. The Mercure announced his courses in 1774, 1775, and 1780, twice in early December, the last in late November. In 1780 he taught at 11:30, and he had moved to rue de Conde, still in the Faubourg Saint Germain, the second porte-cochere past the rue du Petit Lion. For those who could not attend a morning class, he opened a second session T-Th-S at 5:30 in the evening. Each course lasted twelve weeks and cost 72 livres a person, a fee which limited its students to the economic elite. Sigaud de la Fond's nephew succeeded him as demonstrator at the university. Rouland favored a September opening date, but he stayed with the noon hour and the M-W-F schedule, teaching in his uncle's cabinet de machines. Mathematics Dupont, one of the private school headmasters, donated his time Sunday mornings from six to eight (sometimes seven to nine or 9:30) to teaching a free mathematics class for laborers. In addition, there were the regular courses at his school, which the general public could attend as well as his boys: arithmetic and algebra, Bossut's mechanics three times a week, alternating with Camus and Bezoul. Three elementary 370 courses on these then-famous authors were always in progress: arithme tic, geometry, and algebra, separate from the more advanced ones mentioned first. Even after his appointment as a Paris Inspector he continued his elementary mathematics courses and those in higher geometry, the practical lessons he gave in the countryside, and the free course for the working class. Duhamel followed the same practice as Dupont, permitting anyone who had 24 livres to come either to his general course or to the exercises concerning the parts of mathematics that interested them. M. Targe, pensioned by the King, professor emeritus at the Ecole Royale Militaire, commenced, the 19th of December, 1780, at 5:30, a public mathematics course—theoretical and practical. Those who wished to take this instruction were requested to come to Targe's apartment, rue du Pourtour-Saint-Gervais, across from the small Saint-Gervais gate, in the plumber's house. A textbook author, Deck, also invited the public to inquire at his home if they were interested in taking mathematics lessons. Three gentlemen"taught a variety of subjects including mathe matics: Maclot, Blondel, and Dufour de Jumeaux. Maclot was primarily a geographer. Author of the Institutions abregees de Geographie, on November 25, 1760 he began a free course of elementary lessons of geography, arithmetic, geometry, and the part of astronomy which went with geography and continued it Sundays from three to five, rue Neuve S. Mederic, across from the Hotel de Jabac. Monday, January 7th he began another for people who wanted further knowledge of arithmetic than the elementary course offered. This was a class solely in 371 arithmetic. All aspects of arithmetic and their applications, especially in commerce, such as foreign exchange, were explained according to the clearest and most intelligible method he could find. He assured that he would do more than just teach how to do problems mechanically# but would explain the theory behind the steps so that it could be seized and understood by all. These lessons, for which one enrolled at the same address, were presented M-W-F from two until four. Fifteen years later an announcement appeared again for M. Maclot. He would recommence his course in the principles of astronomy Tuesday, November 14, 1775. It would last eight weeks, T-Th-S at eleven. Sunday, November 19, he would open a course in historical geography for Sundays and holidays at ten, continuing until the last Sunday in June. The first lessons would be an historical description of France and then successively of the other European countries. He would give, using accounts of voyages, a sufficiently detailed familiarity with Asia, Africa, and America, with all necessary maps provided in adequate quantities. In his Ecole des Arts, M. Blondel held a practical course in architecture Sundays from eight in the morning until eight at night, and all holidays except the most solemn from two in the afternoon until seven for a period of about nine and a half months. These were drawing exercises useful to all the types of workers on buildings and to people interested in working in the fine arts in general. Registration for the course that ran from November 14, 1756 to September 1, 1757 was • held November 3 from three to five, but no more than 80 could be accepted because of the other public lessons given the same days at 372 the school. Space was limited. People who had previously shown progress and assiduity in preceding courses got preferential treatment. Sunday from nine to eleven was the art of profiles, the orders of architecture/ decoration, proportion, and construction. Practical geometry followed from eleven to one. The three to five o'clock class was a group of practicing architects who had manifested considerable talent. Five to seven was mathematics. No registration was required for the classes that met at nine, three, and five. An hour before and after each lesson the most useful authors were made available for study. Since the school had been criticized for not announcing courses well in advance, it advertised in November, 1756, the fourth and last elementary course on architecture, aimed at amateurs and men of the profession both. The Royal Academy of Architecture scheduled its 1772 public lessons M-W from eleven to one. That year M. Blondel was featuring interior decoration and arrangements. The same days from nine to eleven M. Mauduit taught mathematics. He was reader and Royal Professor at the College Royal, and a member of the Academy. For some years the students at the Academy had been outdoing themselves to such an extent that they increasingly merited the patronage of the Minister of Fine Arts. Before 1782, the Mercure reported in the "Nouvelles Politiques," there had been only one professor of mathematics in the whole city of Bordeaux, and he only gave lessons to a small number of students at the j College de Guyenne. Therefore M. l'Abbe Dufour de Jumeaux solicited i the right to establish in Bordeaux a public free course in mathematics, 373 mechanics, astronomy, optics and hydrodynamics, just as one might seek a chair that would make his fortune. But he chose otherwise, made up a good prospectus of his course, and won plaudits for the example he was setting other men of learning. History and Geography If Philippe de Pretot's students were typical, eighteenth- century students were generally hard-working, assiduous, and cooperative. When he was giving lessons in private homes or in his own three times a week during the three sessions of the public schools, he praised these qualities in the people who relied on him to help them learn history and geography. He had the Mercure run an announcement in December, 1753 that he had recently moved and that one should register at his new dwelling, rue de la Harpe, a big new building across from the rue des deux Portes. A geography course containing general, mathematical, and physical principles of that science had succeeded, said the teacher, M. Bonne, master of mathematics, member of the Military Literary Society, having taught it for the first time the preceding June and July (1760). Several young people of both sexes were coming to him for lessons whose course content he described in detail in the Mercure article: the principal objects of the earth/ the movements of the stars and planets, the layers of the earth and their nature, or physical geography (geology), lakes, seas, maps, political geography, and so on. There were twenty class sessions T-Th-S at the hour the most convenient to 374 the greatest number, beginning Thursday, January 8, 1761, and lasting until the 24th or 26th of February, at a fee of 48 livres. Perravel de St. Beron charged ten ecus in his own home for a month's worth of 24 lessons, and double that if he had to go to the student's house. His geography course, which he called astronomical, political, and historical geography, opened in October and lasted four months. One could find him every day from eleven to noon, in the mass sacristy of the church of St. Germain-l'Auxerrois. A notice for a course in cosmography reported that the sieur de Mornas, geographer to the king and the royal children of France, author of the historical and geographical atlas, had just decided to teach cosmography (astronomical, political, and physical geography). He opened it January 3, 1772 with a lecture on the spectacle of the universe and continued it for three months T-Th-S of each week, holidays excepted. Registration was at his home, rue Saint-Jacques, near Saint-Yves. If enough people indicated interest, he could open a second course M-W-F. Judging from the speed with which the public bought M. de Mornas1 atlas, and from the favorable reviews the journalists had given it, there was evidence that a course he taught probably united the agreeable with the useful/ piquing the curiosity of amateurs, at least if he developed the important material of the first volume of his atlas on the Earth, the oceans, the heavens, and fundamental chronology, which was considered one of history's eyes, so to speak. The second, third, and fourth volumes of the atlas presented the history of mankind from the creation to the Christian era and constituted a complete course in 375 ancient history. Here were set forth the origins of idolatry, of laws, of governments and of all the ancient peoples. He had given in detail what had happened to the Jewish people, and the more striking highlights of secular history, these events almost all accompanied by his own analysis and interpretation. The atlas was composed of 268 maps divided into four volumes on three qualities of paper, depending on how much one could, or wanted to, spend, buying directly from the Abbe himself. The reviewer, turned salesman, said that he could not overdo the invitation to fathers of families to acquire it because of the advantages they could draw from it for their children. It was, besides, a library book to be consulted or read with enjoyment because of the variety of its subject matter, its clarity, precision, and method. Law, Trade, and Business Books and courses of a commercial nature did not proliferate the way those in the modern languages did, but there were a few. Damalis, lawyer to the Parlement, opened a course in consular jurisdiction or jurisprudence September 7, 1775, at the Hotel de Clery for the benefit of commerce. One could take morning or evening lessons by registering at his residence during the month of August. In 1780 the Consular Jurisdiction of Paris established a public free course of lectures on commerce in two parts: (1) an explanation of the laws and procedures of commerce, or commercial jurisprudence for consuls and judges; (2) commerce in general: banking, export and importation, colonies, fairs, and the like. They invited people who 376 might be able to teach the second part well to make themselves known. The sieur Benoit would take care of the first part. The course was opened November 4, 1780 at five o'clock in the Jurisdiction's audience hall and continued Saturdays at that time until Easter. The news from Paris reported that the Deputy of Commerce, the Gardes des Corps des Marchands, and a numerous concourse of distinguished citizens in commerce participated in the inauguration of the course and applauded an institution whose wise, patriotic views could only work to the advantage of the state. I. M. Bouchaud also taught public courses and lessons in law entitled Institutions du Droit des gens M-W-F at 8:30 a.m. at the College Royal. His private lessons in political law he gave in his own home Sundays from ten to noon and Thursdays eleven to one. News from Breslaw (1785) indicated that a public school had just been established there for teaching the theory and practice of rural economics and of commerce, particularly that of Silesia. Most of the announcements.about trade and business were about English books on the subject, from the Gentleman's book sections. There were The Instructor: or, Young Man's best Companion, containing Spelling, Read ing, Writing, and Arithmetick in an Easier Way than any yet published; and how to qualify any Person for Business, without the help of a Master, Youth's Introduction to Trade and Business, A New Introduction to Trade and Business, and Quin's Rudiments of Book-keeping. A student of Quin's manual was supposed to be able to attain the rudiments in six days without the help of a teacher. 377 Mr. Clare* author of Youth's Introduction, was master of the academy in Soho-Square. The advertisement for the book gave a very detailed listing of its contents and praised it as the best book extant of its kind for young gentlemen and the use of schools. The New Introduction, also designed for schools and youth in general, contained samples of a great variety of promissory notes and receipts for money. Besides these, there were several books on shorthand listed in the Gentleman's• Modern Languages The most popular of the public courses were those in the modern languages: French, English, Italian, German, and Spanish. All of these were available from a society of well-known professors in Paris during their series of Cours Publics de Langues beginning November 3, 1780, after a registration period handled by M. Duboc, rue de Viarmes, No. 7 (House numbers were then just coming into use). During M. Toussaint's lectures on French language and litera ture his students concentrated on models from the best authors—all genres—of what should be imitated or avoided in style and thought. They were not, underlined the notice for this course, boring discussions of grammar and literature; rather it was a school for refining the taste where a student learned to despise all expressions whose only merit was novelty, all the belabored phrases full of turgidity and obscurity, all ideas which, though brilliant, were in no real order and without solidity. It was possible to enter the course halfway through and then have the right to attend the first half of the following course. 378 M. Douchet, lawyer in the Parlement and former Royal Professor of the Latin' language, proposed giving lectures on French language and literature by subscription, to be held T-Th-S from 3:30 to 5:00, rue de Conde, in the Passage du Riche Laboureur, at his colleague M. l'Abbe de la Pouyade's residence. The subscription meant simply that if the student signed up initially for the complete six-month course from May 31 to September first, the second part continuing from December first to the first of March, he paid a lower fee (36 livres for each half course, 12 livres per month), whereas if he did not want to subscribe and paid by the month, his fee was 18 livres due at the beginning of each month. Another of the French teachers in 1775 was M. l'Abbe Aubert of the College Royal who taught his public course T-Th-S at eleven a.m. Besides geography, Perravel de St. Beron also taught Italian and French from six to eight o'clock, recommencing November 13, 1772. For French he followed M. Dumarsais' philosophical method, but in a simpler and more concise way, since four complete months sufficed for a student to become perfectly familiar with the diverse states of the French * sentence and all its different forms, the laws of its mechanics and construction, and the art of punctuation by the distinction of relation ships of meaning. He had a method of his own invention for Italian, which also required no more than four full months of 24 lessons to learn to speak passably well, to write correctly, and to understand the most difficult and sublime of the poets, especially if the student were somewhat bright and could give two or three hours a day of his time to it. By 1775 he had been teaching public and private courses for over twenty years and was noted for his "geometric" demonstrations of 379 punctuation and the rules of the sentence. At that time he was teaching geography and Italian. In 1777, his method still an object of curiosity and interest, he had resumed the French course and was teaching it with the geography, nine to eleven in the morning, only changing the name slightly to astronomical, natural, and political. From five to seven in the evenings he taught the same geography course blended with Italian. As he followed the order of the lessons and principles—both general and specific—of Italian grammar, he showed, in examples from Italian authors and on a chart of 36 double selections, each composed in Italian and French, side by side, their different characters and rules of syntax or construction. The price for either set of lessons, morning or evening, was 18 livres at his own home, double that in the city. He was home every morning until eleven, rue S. Honore, across from the rue du Four, Furrier's Alley, second floor, in the back of the courtyard. The public course of French elocution and spelling of M. Villencour, rue Betisy, at the store of the princes, opened free on April 18, 1777 with a lecture in which this grammarian described the origin and variations of languages, particularly of the progress and beauties of the French. This was a daily class which had been popular for some time, at least since 1775. M. Marcade, interpreter of oriental languages and professor of literature, geography, and history, opened a French language course (eloquence fran<£oise) on October 12, 1779 at five in the evening, continued every Tuesday and Friday at that time, and another in May at 380 eleven M-W-F. It included pronunciation, etymology, the rapport between the harmony of human discourse and music. His specialty, however, was Greek, which was unusual for the public courses, which were responding to a need for studies in addition to the classical curricula of the schools, and therefore consisted normally of everything but Latin and Greek. In his Greek class at nine in the morning T-Th-S (February, 1779) he lectured and gave some preliminary notions of Samaritan, Hebrew, Syrian, Chaldaic, and Arabic. Only serious students—des personnes raisonnables—were welcome to attend, duly registered in advance. There was always someone around the house to see to registra tions, rue Saint-Andre-des Arcs, the coach gate across from the rue Git-le-Coeur. He began two September courses with a preliminary lecture in French at ten a.m. One was purely elementary, analytical and synthetical; the other an explication of prose and poetry, in which he developed the analogy of Greek with Samaritan, Hebrew, Latin, and so on. December saw the beginning of the next Greek course, meeting this time M-W-F from nine to ten. Marcade favored the nine or 9:30 morning hour and was also unusual in this, since most of these public courses were early morning, lunch hour, or evening. But he said that the new technical method he had discovered for teaching languages in a very short period of time without tiring the memory was appropriate for all ages. At any rate, there must have been few, if any, working class people in his classes, but Greek would not appeal to them anyway. He could set a time con venient for gentlemen of leisure. Another puzzle arises, however, 381 because in this same period (fall and winter, 1780) he offered two free courses in Greek, one a short elementary course at four in the afternoon, beginning in August, followed by a complete course starting in November at three p.m. Why offer the free courses to people who could not afford to pay if they were not interested in Greek? Obviously, some of them were. He continued to teach his regular classes in language, mathematics, geography and history at the same time. Two successful Italian teachers were CumEino and Amici Romain. The latter established a unique reputation by foregoing his pay if he could not have his pupils capable of getting along without his services in four months. This evidently did not happen frequently, as he had been giving public lessons for a long time. Boisjermain of the complete home study courses taught Italian by means of his notebook series to which one subscribed at the author's, the office of literary subscriptions, rue S. Andre des Arts, across from the Hotel de Lyon, at 15 livres for the eight notebooks which completed the Italian language course as of October, 1783. Distribution dates had been the first and the fifteenth of August and September, 1783, for the four notebooks of Italian prose forming the first part of the course. The last appeared at the end of November. Interest in foreign language study was so strong in the eighties that one anonymous citizen presented to the French Academy a paper in which he insisted on the necessity of establishing an academy of living languages. Boisjermain started responding to this interest in June, 1783, with his home language courses for learning through reading, without a 382 master, Italian/ English, Spanish, Portuguese, and German. Each course lasted four months, the usual amount of time at this period. Soon after Luneau de Boisjermain distributed the announcement of his courses, a free one in foreign languages was opened at the Musee de la rue Dauphine, which was most helpful for those who also wanted practice in pronunciation. For reading alone, Boisjermain's notebooks were considered easy, brief, intelligible, and within the reach of anyone who wanted to undertake this study. The Journal d'Education, Etude des Langues etrangeres, Italian language course, continued with exactitude and met with success. At the beginning of January, 1784 Boisjermain was working on the thirteenth canto of the Jerusalem Delivered. The final notebooks were issued in April, 1784, making in all four notebooks of prose and ten of poetry. Boisjermain's English course cost 41 livres 5 sous. The form filled out by subscribers read as follows: Je m'engage a prendre la totalite du Cours de Langue Angloise, pour lequel j'ai deja paye quinze livres, et a payer les guinze livres second payement de cet Ouvrage dans le courant de juin suivant.5 An Italian himself, a native of Sienna in Tuscany, the sieur Borzacchini, long known in France for having taught Italian, English, and Spanish in that country to a great number of people of distinction, offered his new method to the public in 1774. He assured that it was as simple and short as its principles were clear, a means of learning these three tongues very easily in very little time. He lived rue de 5. Ibid., May 1, 1784, p. 43. 383 l'Arbre-Sec, cul-de-sac de la Bastille, at the perfumer's on the second floor, in Paris. Monsieur Bassi, member of several academies, formerly professor of Italian in London and at the University of Oxford, kept a Paris public course open in the eighties and also gave private lessons in Italian and English, using M. Walter's new method of dividing them into 40 lessons and presenting, by means of tables hanging on the classroom walls, the rules of grammar in a very simple, easy manner. In the second half of his course, he explained phraseology, making comparisons of similarities and differences between the native language and the foreign one under study, carefully analyzing the nature of each. This analysis furnished a small number of principles which sufficed to develop the mechanics of the language and to explain the logic behind its grammatical system. Women found great advantages in this method since the rules were presented without the use of technical terms and metaphysical distinctions, which, Bassi felt, were only a barbarous deception of grammarians, anyway. At the end of forty lessons one could understand a book in prose and write in the language one was studying. L'ortologie, or the art of pronouncing words, was explained and repeated in each lesson. Those who desired to take the public course or have private lessons in his home or in their own were asked to inquire at the Hotel de Languedoc, rue de Grenelle Saint-Honore, at M. Bassi"s. D'Alembert spoke of M. Roberts' special method for teaching English as agreeable and more rapid than others, yet as conforming to the pace nature set. An October, 1772, article announced that 384 unforeseen business had forced M. Roberts to delay his English course until the 26th. As usual, interested parties were advised to enroll in advance, the price two louis for six months of four lessons per week M-T-Th-S at ten. By reading some of the English historians, Roberts would explain the rules of grammar, and he would finish each class session with readings from some of the most famous of the poets. With a little application {an hour of study a day for a month or so: if it took more than a month to overcome any difficulties, Roberts thought the teaching must be poor) one could be sure of becoming thoroughly familiar with this language. For the last two months of the course two days per week were reserved for compositions. M. Roberts promised to neglect nothing that could make the course useful and interesting. He lived rue des Francs-Bourgeois, place St. Michel, across from the marble merchant at M. Tourillon's, but like most of the others, he was willing to teach elsewhere as well as at home. His 1775 class was at 11:30 every day except holidays and lasted four months instead of six, the last six weeks reserved for poetry. This time he did not charge anything, saying that the happiness of being useful would be the only, and the most flattering, recompense which he could receive. Berry, author of the Grammaire generale angloise, taught English courses for merchants and other people who wanted to learn English and were busy in the daytime. He began in the middle of October and again in mid-April and continued lessons for six months three times a week from six or seven to eight or nine in the morning, the earlier times in the spring. Those who could not attend in the morning could 385 come in the evening at the same hours. Since an Englishman was teaching the course (Berry and Roberts were both English), all difficulties in pronunciation could be cleared up in eight lessons, asserted the notice. Berry was often away from home at other times of the day, teaching private lessons at hours of his pupils' choice. His residence was at M. Gautier's, currier, rue des Lavandieres, the seventh house on the right as one entered the street from rue St. Germain l'Auxerrois, fourth floor, in the front of the building. His goal was to facilitate the study of English and its pro nunciation, so that it could be grasped in few lessons. After he had moved to M. Desprez's, merchant of sewing goods and hardware, at the White Cross, rue de la Sonnerie, in 1777, he stayed home more to give private lessons and invited people to enroll or just to let him know at any point if they wanted lessons. Team-teaching was no stranger to the eighteenth century. One pair of Paris English teachers: Bienny, an Englishman, and Guedon combined their efforts in a three-month course beginning in October, meeting three times a week T-Th-S in the evenings from six to eight. It cost two louis, half payable upon enrollment and the other half due at the end of the first six weeks. They also gave private lessons in their own homes or at the student's. Only one teacher of German advertised in the Mercure. M. Junker taught a course of German grammar for three louis M-W-F from nine to ten for six months in his home. He also taught political science from ten to noon at six louis. A full page gave his subject matter in a course for the young nobility, for those who wanted to 386 travel fruitfully, or anybody going into business. Besides the public courses he took in a few pensionnaires for private lessons. Music One example of courses in music was the sieur Massi's. He taught the scale and that elusive taste for vocal music which people generally wanted to possess. He flattered himself that his method permitted teaching anyone who could sing on key to read music and sing with accompaniment in six months, requesting those who wished to honor him with their confidence to send their addresses to Mme Bauvet, rue Montmartre, Maison du Bois de Vincennes, near the rue des Fosses Montmartre, on the third floor in front. All over the city in these many homes and rooms, these varied addresses, and to a lesser degree in the rest of France, experts were sharing their knowledge in a burst of enthusiasm for education the world has infrequently experienced to such a degree. It seemed a French phenomenon. If the English were doing the same, their periodicals are silent about it. Anyone who could pay the fee was welcome to come to courses taught by professional instructors in the schools who opened public courses on their own time, by doctors and scientists, by organizations of those who shared a skill. A laborer who could not pay a fee could still find a dozen courses open to him free of charge. Most class times were set in the early morning, at the lunch hour, or in the evening for the benefit of working students and teachers alike. Outside of the universities, the colleges, the realm of any private tutor or any of the schools, there functioned simultaneously a microcosm of eighteenth-century education. CHAPTER XII CONCLUSION One reason for the English dissatisfaction with education may have been their very pragmatic orientation. It was more disappointing to them than to the French that educational practice could not keep up with new trends in society. The French were better able to theorize and be happy on paper, so to speak, while the English insisted that practice and conditions keep pace with theory. It was this pragmatism which caused the English to theorize in terms of aims: Why an education? What good is it? Of what use is it? We find this stress on practicality among the French too in questions of curriculum and method, but in theory they preferred to define in orderly fashion: What is an educa tion? How do we learn? They stressed right thinking as an important aim for education. It also seems to me that middle class pragmatism accounted for the English preoccupation with middle class education, while the French, influenced by writers like Condorcet, concentrated on equality in education. The basic literacy and trade skills proposed for the working class did not of course constitute real equality. France gave most attention to the education of the nobility because they were the governing class and the kind of training they received had a greater impact on society as a whole. One increased equality for everybody if 388 389 one made sure the nobles were well-educated. At least, this was the way Voltaire and many of the philosophes reasoned. There is much truth in certain stereotypes of national charac ter. French rationalism is even apparent in a study of the kinds of gestures Gallic peoples use, most of them involving the head. I think this is tied in to why they were more positive about education and more likely to suggest solutions when they criticized, just as I think the energy and vigor of the Anglo-Saxon character accounted for the greater activity of their press in publishing periodicals and books of all kinds, as well as their negativism. They expected much of education and complained strenuously—about the boarding schools, for example—when it failed to meet their expectations. Their standard of literacy and salaries for teachers seem to have been high in comparison with the rest of Europe. And yet when they talked about their teachers, it was generally to describe their many vices. The majority of the criticisms of method and curricula are English, but the French.examples also question travel and favor newer, more practical subjects over Latin and Greek. The English were especially conscious of parental failure when citizenship training was left up to mothers and fathers. Despite the importance of the goal of forming a citizen to take his place in society, there was no formal training in law or government for the general population, other than a few textbooks at the end of the century. Both nations stressed giving women a practical education for their role as wives and mothers, but here too, the English were more negative and critical. 390 In keeping with their more generally negative attitude, the English did not seem interested in continental reform. Perhaps the information was simply not available to them or did not appear important enough to print. The reforms may have involved additional expense at a time when the English were attempting to spend le£s on education. In wartime the papers would have been less willing to print the social triumphs of the enemy. France was a more active reformer than England was; however, when the English were dealing with something more concrete than theory—actual practices and curricula and methods, for example, they did propose more reforms. It followed that France also wrote more about education in the periodicals, although the representation for both countries rose dramatically after 1750, when the wave of senti mentality and philanthropy gained impetus everywhere in Europe. The French passion for gambling described in Le Jeu au XVIII * siecle (Aix- en-Provence; Edisud, 1976) directly influenced their educational reform, as enthusiasm for le jeu took the form of games for learning geography, reading, history, and languages. Another reason for the French lead in reform was the encouragement of the national government, for example in subsidizing the Abbe de l'Epee in his work with the deaf and in establishing military schools. National pedagogic movements were more limited in England than on the continent and the state had less influence. Perhaps today in the United States it is a strain of the independent Anglo-Saxon character that makes us retain local control of the schools and resist greater federal authority. 391 I believe that the periodicals give us substantial testimony of John Locke's influence on education in eighteenth-century France and England. They reflect his concern for the discipline of both body and mind—avoiding corporal punishment—and for the establishment of good habits from the outset. By recommending travel as a part of a young man's education he was to start a practice and then a controversy that was to last over a century. He stressed right thinking and practi cality, the two major aims of the time. His belief that the kind of education one provided for the sons of gentlemen was not for everybody had such a grip on both nations that they used it as a guideline even when they were talking about equality. Still, he (and Condillac) warned against denying a child some kind of useful education because he seemed backward, and he wrote a treatise on trade schools for the poor. His emphasis on early childhood education was to gain even greater support from Rousseau. Locke advised that a child study Latin, drawing, arithmetic, astronomy, history, acco/int-keeping, gardening, and shorthand, not Greek, nor fencing, nor, usually, music. The tutor used an empirical method to teach these subjects, giving his pupil much practice and experience and stimulating learning through the sense impressions. Locke's emphasis was life in the social world and his concerns behavioral. These are precisely the matters of curricula and method that receive most treatment in the periodicals. Rousseau, Helv^tius, and Condillac influenced periodical writing to a lesser degree. Rousseau popularized Locke's thinking, especially the importance of teaching by example. Two of Rousseau's ideas that 392 receive attention in the periodicals were the difference between educa tion and instruction and the desirability of permitting a child to make his own choices so that much of the responsibility for his education falls on his own shoulders. Helvetius also shows two major influences, one in the reason versus nature, or heredity versus environment, argument. He believed that man had no innate intelligence and that environment and education molded his soul. Condorcet also believed this. He said that we acquire all of our virtues and all of our vices from our educations. Like John Locke, Helvetius also stressed social experience: the goal of education was to inspire in men a love of law and the social virtues. Condillac's special contribution to theory and method in the periodicals was the pleasure-pain principle. The child's pleasure in his games could motivate him to learn reasoning as he observed and analyzed what he was doing. Even though far fewer textbooks were published in the sciences than in the belles lettres, the empirical method was making gains and we see evidences of the increased importance of science as theorists included it in their plans and many schools actually practiced the teaching of science. Use of the scientific method was especially apparent at the dissenting academies, where the students were taught to question and examine for themselves all evidence. Priestley, whose class is described in Chapter VIII, was a dissenter. Latin remained the object of most comment, but the methodology for teaching it was changing, due to Locke, toward simplification, combination with study of the native tongue, use of translations, immersion, and induction. 393 Mathematics and geography were increasingly popular because they were so practical. Authors boasted of their scientific approach to the subject matter of schoolbooks. School reforms provided for more science. The periodicals, themselves disseminators of knowledge, taught a great deal about science, medicine reigning as the favorite. The greater French zest for reform meant that all the examples of medical education I found were French, just as the new material in geography, which lent itself to visual methods like maps and games, was largely French. In mathematics publication the two nations kept abreast of one another, producing mostly elementary, introductory arithmetic textbooks for children. These were kept simple and generally followed a question and answer method. The English books are for the most part of earlier date, because as the century progressed, a kind of torpor settled over education in England due, I suppose, to the pre vailing English pessimism about education. Art was an exception, however, perhaps on account of the prestige of Sir Joshua Reynolds, who happened to be very interested in art education. Empiricism was also in vogue for teaching morality, and the great importance of moral education was another sign of Locke's influ ence. People used stories to teach morality. The writing of actual moral treatises for children proved too difficult and was unsuccessful. As for religious education itself, the French were still reporting on it, but the English fell silent. The state religion was eroding some what in both countries, but Catholic France kept up a better facade in the press. 394 The eighteenth century was closing the gap of educational lag more than most people realize today. For example, the movement in the teaching of history was from ancient to modern, especially of one's own country. Satire was attacking corruption. I think that the steady population increase after 1740 had something to do with this. As more children were surviving infancy, the middle class especially wanted its children educated and demanded books, teachers, and better methods and schools for them. Some slight gains bettered the teacher's lot. Late in the century France especially tried to raise the master's status and give him greater honor as the period of philanthropy intensified. A few enlightened souls founded training institutions.. The dominant theme of both countries in theory, the reason versus nature issue, was also a healthy contribution to education because it stimulated argument and creative thinking. In methodology France and England were both making an increased attempt to treat children as individuals. The mother language dominated in a growing number of classrooms, although there were still numerous proponents of the classics. Whatever the subject or the language, the greatest emphasis fell on rendering studies more pleasant. Certain of the boarding schools, especially in France, were the leading reformers practicing these methods. They appeared from mid-to-late century to supplement an ordinary classical education and provide a supervised environment. Mathematics was their most popular offering/ followed by history and geography, with little emphasis on the polite arts, perhaps because of Locke's recommendations. 395 The boarding schools tested programmed, step-by-step learning and tailoring studies to the developmental level. They were more career oriented and placed more emphasis on practical subjects. I have given a more detailed description of them than I have found anywhere else. The desire to make learning pleasant for young people resulted in the beginning of production of books for children. Locke had remarked on the dearth of children's books. From the middle of the century on, one children's book appeared every few years. Many of these were readers written with an empirical approach. There were graded readers, activities for reading readiness, phonetics, games, gimmicks like Wandelaincourt's for forming the letters, plays to act in and to read, and above all a concerted effort at simplicity and clarity. X think that some of the advances in education for special groups of people provide the best testimony of what was good about eighteenth-century education. Women, the poor, and the handicapped had a better chance to progress. The great English charity school movement owed its beginnings to religious motives and groups like the Quakers and to the utilitarian motive of promoting social order by teaching the duty of obedience to social superiors. But in between these motives was a genuine kindliness brought about, perhaps, with a softening of human relations as people better understood the causes of suffering and as there grew to be more possibilities for relieving want and suffering. The same motivation was behind the King's foundation of the Ecole Royale Militaire in Prance, or the nobles' creation of the Ecole Nationale Militaire, and it also helps to explain the origins of the 396 Navy schools and the military boarding schools. It gave impetus to work with the handicapped in France and in England. Continental interest in charity education lay chiefly in the fine arts. Perhaps there was less need in France for"the practical English approach of making the poor basically literate and teaching them a trade because this had been the kind of provision all along of the Catholic teaching orders. One of the most helpful contributions of the periodicals is the possibility they give us of visualizing the operation of the charity schools through descriptions and statistics. Fewer reform proposals were directed at charity education than at regular education. People were fairly satisfied with the way it was functioning. The belles lettres and the native language were an important part of a French military school curriculum. The English emphasis was similar but was, as usual, somewhat more utilitarian. In the second half of the century the periodicals reported establishment of military schools first in Spain, then France, England, and Germany. I introduced the chapter on education for women with many examples of upper-class girls and the sometimes disastrous frivolity of their education. The complaints and criticisms were producing results, so that in France and England greater substance became characteristic of female instruction. Increasing numbers of textbooks and periodicals especially for women, interest in women as educators, and the sheer amount of periodical writing on the. subject all indicate progress in education for women. 397 Most exciting of all to me, and the greatest surprise, was the existence of a system of adult education, especially in Paris. The periodicals themselves were the greatest educators of adults in both countries, but in France teachers and courses proliferated. I am not sure why the English periodicals are silent about adult education courses, unless there just were not any. I know that from about 1793 to 1815 friendly societies of laboring men tried to inaugurate adult education classes, but the repressive government forced them to abolish their projects. Perhaps this was true earlier in the century as well. It may be that the French philosophes caused a flurry of activity on the continent. We can no longer know exactly what the reality of eighteenth- century education was because we cannot ourselves open the doors of those thousands of schoolrooms. We cannot look inside to see whether or not a pedantic, gruff old master wielded a whip on his miserable pupils. We can read descriptions and opinions of writers of the time, remembering that their judgments were often colored by their own characters, biases, or the passage of time. But there was progress because of Locke and science and many other factors, even the English negativism. Voltaire knew that it would eventually infect the French too but that it was essentially healthy and would result in reform. The philosophes generally trusted that their hopes for a better world and for the progress of the human race lay in education. They were right. APPENDIX A EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH AND ENGLISH PERIODICALS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA LIBRARY (IN PUBLICATION BETWEEN 1700 AND 1789) English Analytical Review, 1788-1789 Athenian News; or, Dunton's Oracle, 1710 Athenian Oracle, 1703-1710 Bee (Oliver Goldsmith), 1759 The Bee or. Universal Meekly Pamphlet, 1733-1735 Bristol and Bath Magazine, 1782-1783? British Apollo, 1708-1711 British Librarian, 1737 British Magazine, 1746-1751? British Magazine: or, Monthly Repository for Gentlemen and Ladies, 1760-1767 Briton, 1762-1763 Busy Body, 1759 Censor, 1715-1717 Champion, 1739-1740 Compleat Linguist, 1719-1722 The Connoisseur, 1754-1756 Country Journal, 1726-1750? Court Magazine, 1761-1765 Critical Review, 1756-1817 Criticks, 1718 Daily Courant, 1702-1735 Daily Gazetteer, 1735-1748 Delphick Oracle, 1719-1720 Diverting Post, 1704-1705? English Review, 1783-1796 Englishman, 1713-1715 Entertainer, 1717-1718 Examiner, 1710-1714 Female Spectator, 1744-1746 Female Tatler, 1709-1710 Freeholder; or, Political Essays, 1715-1716 General History of Discoveries and Improvements, 1726-1727 The General Magazine and Impartial Review, 1787-1792 •Gentleman's Magazine, 1731-1907 (July 1776 is missing) Gray's Inn Journal, 1753-1754 Grub-Street Journal, 1730-1737 398 Grumbler, 1715 Guardian, 1713 Heraclitus Ridens, 1703-1704 Heraclitus Ridens, 1718? Historia Litteraria, 1730-1734 The Historical Register, 1716-1738 History of the Reign of Queen Anne, 1703-1713 •History of the Works of the Learned, 1699-1712 History of the Works of the Learned, 1737-1743 Jacobite's Journal, 1747-1748 Ladies Magazine: or, the Universal Entertainer, 1749-1752 Lady's Magazine, 1770-1780 Lay-Monk, 1713-1714 Literary Journal, 1730-1731 Literary Magazine and British Review, 1788-1794 Literary Magazine; or, the History of the Works of the Learned, 1735-1736 Literary Magazine; or, Universal Review, 1756-1758 London Journal, 1720-1744 London Magazine, 1732-1785 The London Review of English and Foreign Literature, 1775-1780 London Spy, 1698-1700 Lounger's Miscellany, 1788-1789 Lover, 1714 Magazine of Magazines, 1750-1751 Medley, 1710-1712 Memoirs for the Curious, 1701 Memoirs of Literature, 1710-1714; 1717 Mercator; or. Commerce Retrieved, 1713-1714 Mercurius Musicus, 1699-1702 Methodist Magazine, 1778+ Midwife, 1750-1753 The Monthly Amusement, 1709 Monthly Catalogue, 1723-1730 The Monthly Ledger, 1773-1775 Monthly Miscellany, 1707-1710 The Monthly Miscellany, 1774-1777 The Monthly Review, 1749-1844 The Museum, 1746-1747 Muses Mercury, 1707-1708 New Annual Register, 1780-1825 New London Magazine,-1785-1797 New Memoirs of Literature, 1725-1727 Newcastle General Magazine, 1747-1760 The North Briton, 1762-1763 Northampton Miscellany, 1721 Observator, 1702-1712 Occasional Reverberator, 1753 Old England, 1743-1751 Oxford Magazine, 1768-1776 Penny Post, 1769 Plain Dealer, 1724-1725 Poetical Courant, 1706 Political Register and Impartial Review, 1768 Prater, 1756 Present State of the Republick of Letters, 1728-1736 Prompter, 1734-1736 Rambler, 1750-1752 Records of Love, 1710 Royal Society of London, 1665-1780 Royal Spiritual Magazine, 1771 St. James Magazine, 1762-1764 Sentimental Magazine, 1773-1777? Spectator, 1711-1714 Spectator (Wm. Bond), 1715 Spectator (printed for W. Owen), 1753-1754 The Student, 1750-1751 Tatler, 1709-1711 Tatler Revived, 1727-1728 Tea Table, 1724? Tory Tatler, 1710-1711 Town and Country Magazine, 1769-1796 The Trifler, 1788-1789 Universal Asylum and Columbian Magazine, 1786-1792 Universal Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 1758-1760 Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure, 1747-1803+ Universal Spectator and Weekly Journal, 1728-1746 Universal Visitor and Memorialist, 1756 The Visions of Sir Heister Ryley, 1710-1711 The Weekly Amusement, 1763-1767 Weekly Comedy, 1707 The Weekly Entertainer, 1783-1819 Weekly Register/ 1730-1735? Westminster Magazine, 1773-1785 Worcester Magazine, 1786-1788 The World, 1753-1756 Yorkshire Freeholder, 1780 French Academie des Jeux Floraux, 1710-1948 Les Actes des Apotres, 1789-1791 L'Annee Litteraire,.1754-1790 (Amsterdam) Bibliotheque Ancienne et Moderne, 1714-1730 (Amsterdam) Bibliotheque Britannique, 1733-1747 Bibliotheque Choisie, 1703-1718 (Amisterdam) Bibliotheque Francoise, 1723-1746 Bibliotheque Germanique, 1720-1741 (Berlin, Amsterdam) Bibliotheque Historique de la France, 1665-1721 Bibliotheque Italique, 1728-1734 Bibliotheque Universelle des Romans, 1775-1789 401 Bibliotheque Universelle et Historique de ..., 1687-1702 (Amsterdam) Les Cinq Annees Litteraires, 1748-1752 Correspondance Litteraire, 1774-1789 Gazette Francoise, 1780-1781 Histoire des Ouvrages des Savans, 1700-1709 Histoire Litteraire de la France, 1733-1739? Histoire Litteraire de la France (Pierre Goujet, ed.), 1697-1767 Journal de Musigue, 1770-1777 Journal de Paris, 1777-1840 Journal de Trevoux, 1701^1767 Journal des £tats Generaux, 1789 Journal des S^avans, 1665-17?(sometime after 1764) Journal Encyclopedique ou Universel, 1756-1793 Journal Stranger, 1754-1762 Jugements sur Quelques Ouvrages Nouveaux, 1744-1746 Lettres sur Quelques Merits de ce Temps, 1749-1754 Memoires Secrets de la Republique des Lettres, 1737-1744 Memoires Secrets Pour Servir a 1'Histoire de la Republique des Lettres en France, 1777-1789 (London) *Le Mercure de France, 1672-1820 Le Moniteur Universel, 1789-1799 Nouvelle Bibliotheque, 1738-1743 Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres, 1700-1718 (Amsterdam) Nouvelles Ecclesiastiques, 1728-1781 Le Nouvelliste du Parnasse, 1730-1732 Observations sur les Ecrits Modernes, 1735-1743 Revolutions de Paris, 1789-1794 Revolutions de Versailles et de Paris, 1789 Le Spectateur Frangais, 1728 *The Gentleman's Magazine is complete from 1731 to 1789, with the exception of July, 1776, which has been torn out. It was issued monthly, which means that my research is based on a total of 708 months, as compared to only 120 for the Mercure de France, 85 of those complete and 35 more fragmentary in various degrees. There follows an itemized listing of The University of Arizona's holdings of the Mercure. 1729 Nov. 1753 June vols. 1 & 2 Dec. vol. 1 May April 1739 Sept. vol. 2 July .August 1747 July Sept. Oct. 1749 March Nov. Dec. vols. 1 & 2 1754 July August 402 1756 Jan. 1772 Jan. vols. 1 & 2 Feb. Feb. March March April April vols. 1 s 2 July May August June Sept. July vols. 1 & 2 Oct. vols. 1 & 2 1757 Feb. (fragment: pp. 127-192) Nov. March Dec. April July 1773 April vol. 2 August July vol. 2 1758 March 1774 Jan. vol. 1 April Feb. March 1759 Jan. vols. 1 & 2 Oct. vols. 1 & 2 Feb. Dec. July vol. 2 August 1775 Jan. vol. 1 Sept. Feb. Oct. vols. 1 & 2 March April 1760 Jan. vols. 1 & 2 May Feb. June Dec. July vol. 2 August 1763 Jan. vols. 1 & 2 Oct. vols. 1 & 2 Feb. Nov. March Dec. April July vols. 1 S 2 1777 Feb. August March Sept. April vol. 1 Oct. vols. 1 & 2 May Nov. June Dec. July vols. 1 fi 2 1765 Nov. 1778 Sept. Dec. Oct. 1768 July vols. 1 & 2 Oct. vol. 1 1771 May June Oct. NOV. 403 5, 15, 25 Jan. 1783 4, 11, 18, 25 Jan. 5, 15, 25 Feb. 1, 8, 15, 22 Feb. 15, 25 March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 March 15, 25 April 5, 12 19, 26 April 25 June 3, 10 17, 24, 31 May 10, 17, 24, 31 July 7, 14 21, 28 June 7, 14, 28 August 5, 12 19, 26 July 7, 11, 18, 25 Sept. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 August 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Oct. 6, 13 20, 27 Sept. 6, 20, 27 Nov. 4, 11 18, 25 Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25 Dec. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Nov. 6, 13 20, 27 Dec. 1, 8, 22, 29 Jan. 5, 26 Feb. 1784 3, 10 17, 24, 31 Jan. 4, 11, 18 March 7, 14 21, 28 Feb. 1/ 8, 15, 22, 29 April 6, 13 20, 27 March 6/ 13, 20, 27 May 3, 10 17, 24 April 3, 10, 17, 24 June 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 May If 8, 15, 22, 29 July 5, 12 19, 26 June 5, 12, 19, 26 August 3, 10 17, 24, 31 July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Sept. 7, 14 21, 28 August 7, 14, 21, 28 Oct. 4, 11 18, 25 Sept. 4, 18, 25 Nov. 2, 23 30 Oct. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Dec. 6 r 13 20, 27 Nov. 4, 11 18, 25 Dec. 6, 13, 20, 27 Jan. 3, 10, 17, 24 Feb. 1785 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Jan. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 March 5, 12 19, 26 Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28 April 5, 12 19, 26 March 5, 12, 19, 26 May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 June 14, 21, 28 May 7, 14, 21, 28 July 4, 11 18, 25 June 4, 11, 18, 25 August 2, 9, 16, 22, 29 July 8, 15, 22, 29 Sept. 6, 13 20, 27 August 6, 13, 20, 27 Oct. 3, 10 17, 24 Sept. 3/ 10, 17, 24 Nov. 1, 8, 15, 22 Oct. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Dec. 5, 12 19, 26 Nov. 3, 10 17, 24, 31 Dec. 5, 12, 19, 26 Jan. 2, 9, 16, 23 Feb. 1786 7, 14 21, 28 Jan. 2, 9, 16, 23, <30 March 4, 11 18, 25 Feb. 6/ 13, 20, 27 April 4, 11 18, 25 March 4, 11, 18, 25 May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 June 6, 13 20, 27 May 6, 13, 20, 27 July 3, 10 17, 24 June 3, 10, 17, 31 August 1, 8, 15 (& Supplement) 7, 14, 21, 28 Sept. (& Supplement) July 5, 12, 19, 26 Oct. 5, 12 19, 26 August 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Nov. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Sept. 7/ 14, 21, 28 Dec. 7, 14 21, 28 Oct. 4, 11 18, 25 Nov. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Dec. 404 1787 6, 13, 20, 27 {£ Supp.) Jan. 3, 10, 17, 24 Feb. 10, 17, 24, 31 March 7, 14, 21 (& Supp.), 28 April 5, 12, 19, 26 {s Supp.) May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 June 7, 14, 21, 28 (fi Supp.) July 1, 8, 15 (& Supp.), 22, 29, 30 {just Jour. Pol.) Sept. 3, 10, 17, 24 Nov. 1, 8, 15, 22 {& Supp.), 29 (S Supp.) Dec. 1788 2, 16, 23 Feb. 1, 8 (£ Supp.), 15, 22, 29 March 5, 12, 19 (s Supp.), 26 April 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 May 28 June 5, 12, 19, 26 July 16, 23, 30 August 6, 13, 20, 27 Sept. 4, 11, 18 Oct. 6, 13, 20 <& Supp.), 27 Dec. 1789 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 Jan. 7, 14 (S Supp.), 21, 28 Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28 March April May June 4, 11, 18, 25 July 5, 12, 19 (a Supp.), 26 Sept. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 Oct. Nov. Dec. In addition, I examined November and December, 1756 of the Mercure de France at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. APPENDIX B BOOKS AND ARTICLES ABOUT EDUCATION PUBLISHED IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND (1700-1789)* Chapter II. General Theory An Address to the Educators of Youth in Great Britain. Trye, 1751. Ainsworth, Mr. The Most Natural and Easy Way of Institution, by Making a Domestick Education Less Chargeable to Parents, and More Easy and Beneficial to Children. The second edition, printed for L. Wilford, price 1 s., 1736. Auger. Discours sur 1'Education Prononce au College Royal de Rouen, Suivi de Notes Tirees des Meilleurs Auteurs Anciens et Modernes, Etc., 1775. Ballexferd, citoyen de Geneve. Dissertation sur 1'Education Physique des Enfans, ouvrage qui a remporte le prix de la Societe Hollandoise des Sciences en 1762, nouvelle edition, revue et corrigee par M. David, Docteur en Medecine, in octavo, a Paris, chez la Veuve Vallet-le-Chapelle, Libraire, grande salle du Palais, 1780; Barclay, Mr. James. A Treatise on Education. Vaillant, 1749. Bossuet. An Account of the Education of the Dauphine. Trans. 1743. Brown, Dr. John. An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times. 1757. Buchanan. Plan of an English Grammar School Education. Duodecimo, Dilly, 1770. Burgh, James. Dignity of Human Nature. 1767. Butler, S. An Essay on Education. Owen, 1753. The Capacity and Extent of the Human Understanding, Exemplified in the Extraordinary Case of Automathes, a Young Nobleman. 1744. *James L. MacLeod, Ed.D., Mississippi State University, 1972, submitted a similar catalogue as his dissertation: "A Catalogue of References to Education in the South Carolina Gazettes, Charleston, South Carolina, 1731 to 1770, and Commentary," 240 pages. 405 406 Carpentier, Professeur de geographie et d'Histoire a Paris. Nouveau plan d'education.pour former des hommes instruits et des citoyens utiles. 1775. Chapman, George. A Treatise on Education, with a sketch of the author's method. A. M. master of the grammar school of Dumfries. Cadell, 1773. Charpentier, M. "Lettre morale sur 1'education physique des enfans," Mercure, February 1763, p. 97. Chatelain, H. A. L'Education Mise a la Portee de Tout le Monde. 1787. Clarke, John. An Essay Upon Education. 1731. , master of a grammar school in Hull. An Essay Upon Study. 1731. Deals with content and method of education in general (Mason, p. 193). . An Essay Upon the Education of Youth in Grammar-Schools. London, 1740. Cole, E. The Young Scholar's Best Companion. 1700. (encyclopedic) The Common Errors in the Education of Children, and Their Consequences, with Methods to Remedy Them. Cooper, 1744. Condillac. Cours d'^tude Pour 1'Instruction du Prince de Parrne. 1775, Consideration Generale sur 1'Education, adressee a l'Auteur des Reflexions detachees sur les Traites d'Education inseres dans le Mercure de fevrier de la presente annee 1782. Considerations Generales sur l'Education, et Particulierement sur Celle des Princes, seconde edition, 1783. Coste. Traduction de l'Education des Enfans de Locke. Membre de la Societe Royale de Londres. Nouvelle edition a laguelle on a joint la Methode observee pour l'Education des enfans de France, 1783. Costeker, John Littleton. The Fine Gentleman, 1732. Primarily a work on education. .Not original (Mason, p. 195). Coyer, l'Abbe. Plan d'Education, 1770. Daignan, M. G. Tableau des Varietes de la Vie Humaine, Avec les Avantages et les Desavantages de Chaque Constitution, etc. Sante des enfants, surtout a l'age de puberte, 1787. 407 Defargues. Traite d'Ecriture stir 1'Enseignetnent. 18 livres. For people who lived too far from the cities, where good masters could be found, or for those who lacked money for taking the public courses, 1787, Defoe, Daniel. Of Royall Education. Probably 1728, a fragment. Dialogues on Education. Six shillings, Oswald, 1745. The Duty of Parents and Masters of Families, with Regard to the Good Education and Sober Demeanor of Their Children and Servants. Printed for C. Rivington, price one shilling, 1733. L'Education, Poeme en Quatre Discours. Guillyn, 1757. Premier discours: les avantages de 1*education, second: devoirs des Parens et des Maitres, 3e: la religion, les moeurs et les manieres, 4e: les connaissances par rapport a l'Eglise, a la Robe et a l'Epee. De 1'Education Publique. Amsterdam, 1762. Sometimes attributed to Diderot. L'Eleve de la Raison et de la Religion; ou Traite d'Education Physiguei Morale, et pjdactique, par un Citoyen. 4 volumes, 1774. Elphinston, Mr. Education; in Four Books. Vaillant, 1763. Elphinstone, James. A Finishing Plan of Education. Dodsley, 1776. The English Theophrastus: or the Manners of the Age. 1702, Supposed to have been assembled by Abel Boyer. Not original. Has section on education (Mason). Essai d'Education Nationale. 1763. Essais sur 1'Education des Hommes, et Particulierement des Princes, par les Femmes, Pour Servir de Supplement aux Lettres sur 1'Education. 1782. An Essay on Modern Education. 1747. An Essay on the Education of Children. 1765. Translated from the German of John Gottlob Kruger. The Fine Gentleman, or the Compleat Education of a Young Mobleman. London, 1732. Foote, W. An Essay on Education. Gardner, 1747. 408 de Fourcroy. Les Enfans Elev^s dans l'Ordre de la Nature, ou Abrege de l'Histoire Nationale des Enfans du Premier Age, £ 1'Usage des Peres et Mires de Famille; par M. de Fourcroy, Conseiller du •Hoi au Bailliage de Clermont en Beauvoisis, Paris, Nyon l'aind, Libraire, 1783. Francois, M. De 1'Education de la Jeunesse, avec des notes interessantes: Epitre, Octobre, 1771. Free Thoughts on Education, part I. Cooper, August, 1751. Gaspard Guillard de Beaurieu. L'El^ve de la Nature. 1763. The Gentleman's Library. 1715. Admirer of Locke, whose ideas on education author repeats with qualified approval (Mason). Hare, Thomas. The Advantage and Abuses of Learning Consider'd. A Sermon preach'd at Crewkerne before the gentlemen educated there. Shuckburgh, December, 1747. Helvetius, Claude Adrien. De 1'Homme, de ses Facult^s Intellectuelles et de Son Education. 1772. Illustration of Maxims and Principles of Education, in the Second Book of Rousseau's Emile. The original is much clearer than this commentary, says the reviewer. June, 1786. Jesse's Discourses on Education. Baldwin, May, 1785. Jones's Sermons on Education. Rivington, February, 1787. Jones's Two Sermons on Education. Robinsons, February, 1789. Journal d'Education presente au roi par M. Le Roux, maitre es-arts . et de pension au College de Boncourt, a Paris, 1784. Kippis's Sermon on the Academical Institution. June 1786. Le Mercier de la Riviere. De 1'Instruction Publique. 1775. A Letter to the Reverend Vicar of Savoy, wherein M. Rousseau's treatise on education is humorously examined and exploded. Dodsley, July 1765. A Letter Upon Education. Translated from the French of a royal author. Nourse, March 1777. Letters on Education. Rivington, November 1785. 409 Lettres sur Differents Sujets. A Avignon, 1760. Y compris une lettre a un ami sur 1*education de son fils. L'auteur se dit jardinier, pas auteur de profession. Locke/ John. Some Thoughts Concerning Education, 1692-93. With it, a native English theory of pedagogy is supposed to have made its appearance (Mason). Publication of 2nd edition announced Aug. 1745. Maidwell, Lewis. An Essay Upon the Necessity and Excellency of Educa tion. 1765. Milton, John. Essay on Education, dedicated to the Earl of Harcourt, governor to the Prince of Wales and Prince Edward, July 1751. A Modem Plan for Forming the Minds and Manners of Youth. Cooper, Jan. 1748. The Necessity and Advantages of Education. William Hirst, London, 1728. Nelson, James. An Essay on the Government of Children. Octavo, 420 pages, including an introduction, 5s., Dodsley, 1753. New Maxims Concerning Education. June 1740. A New Method of Educating Children. Thomas Tryon, 1700. Obseirvations on a New Plan for the Education of a Young Prince, by the Chev. Ramsey. In a Letter to the author. Printed for' J. Shugburgh, Sept. 1732. Observations on Rousseau's New System of Education. Nicol, Jan. 1763. Penn, William. The Fruits of a Father's Love. 1726. Children should be educated at home. Useful parts of mathematics: measuring, surveying, navigation. Agriculture. Encouraged to follow natural genius. Studies varied with bodily labor (Mason). Philipon de la Madeleine. Vues Patriotiques sur 1*Education du peuple. 1783. Philpot, Stephen. Essay on the Advantage of a Polite Education. 1767. Picardet. Essai sur 1'Education des Petits Enfans. Dijon, chez L. Hucherot, et a Paris, chez Barois, fevrier 1756. Practical Lectures on Education. Spiritual and temporal, extracted from the most eminent authors on that subject, 2s.6d., Baldwin, June 1757. 410 Principes Generaux Pour Servir a 1'Education des Enfants. Anonymous work of 1763, attributed to Poncelet. Proposals for an Amendment of School-Instruction. Wilkie, April 1772. Ramsey, Chev. A Plan of Education for a Young Prince. Sept. 1732. Stresses ultimate purpose of education rather than any particular system (Mason). The Real Character of the Age. 1757. Remarks on the Academic. Trye, Jan. 1751. Robinet. Dictionnaire Universel des Sciences Morale, Economique, Politique, et Diplomatique, ou Bibliothfeque de 1'Homme d'Etat et du Citoyen. 1780. Dans la liste des principaux articles: Education (de 1*education ancienne, systeme de Locke sur 1'education des enfans; de 1'education, par M. le baron de Haller; de 1'education, par M. Helvetius; analyse du trait£ de 1'education civile, par M. Garnier; Essai sur 1'Education publique, de 1'education des princes, de 1'education des filles, essai sur 1'education angloise, essai d'un cours d'Education liberale). Rollin. Trait£ des Etudes. 1726. Rousseau, J.-J. Bmilius and Sophia; or a new system of education, vol. I and II. Becket, Sept. 1762. —•-The iScholar's .i —— | Instructor. 1700? Serane. Th^orie de 1'Education, ou Institution de la Jeunesse. Nov. 1787. Series of Essays on Education. Dilly, Dec. 1785. Seymour, Mrs. On the Management and Education of Children. Dec. 1753. Sheridan, Thomas. British Education. London, 1756. A new edition, 1769. . A Plan of Education for the Young Nobility and Gentry of Great Britain. 1769. The Student. A newspaper, 1751. Swift. Essay on Modern Education. In The Intelligencer, 1729. Thoughts on Education. By the author of Britain's Remembrancer, Frere, July, 1747. 411 A Treatise of the Education and Learning Proper for the Different Capacities of Youth. Printed for C. Rivington, Nov. 1733. The True Christian Method of Educating the Children Both of the Rich and Poor. Nov. 1735. The True Mentor; or, an essay on the education of young people of fashion, 2s6d. Coote, Nov. 1759. Turnbull, George. Observations Upon Liberal Education. June 1742. Verdier. Memoires et Observations sur la Perfectibilite* de 1'Homme. Paris, Moutard, Nov. 1774. Vues sur 1*Education de la Premiere Enfance. A Amsterdam et a Paris chez Lesclapart, brochure de 42 pages, mars 1783. Waterland, Daniel. Advice to a Young Student. 1730. West, Gilbert, Esq. Education. A poem, Dodsley, March 1751. Whitaker's Sermons on Education. Rivington, April 1789. Williams, David. A Treatise on Education, in which the general method pursued in the public institutions of Europe, and particularly that of England, of Milton, Locke, Rousseau and Helvetius, are considered, and a more practicable and useful one proposed, Payne, Nov. 1773. Wotton, Rev. Henry. Essay on the Education of Children. Waller, April 1753. "A rather appalling account of the intellectual prowess of the author's son" {Mason). The Young Gentleman and Lady Instructed. Probably by Edward Wicksteed, 1747. Chapter III. The Schools School or Tutor?: De 1'Education Publique. In-12, Amsterdam, 1762. Jumigny, M. de. Le Pere Gouverneur de Son Fils. Vol. in-12, prix 2 liv. 10 sols relie, A Bourges, chez l'auteur, et a Paris, chez Lesclapart, Libraire, 1781. 412 Miscellaneous Correspondence; with Essays and Dissertations on Various Subjects. No. VI. Containing: Advantages of education in the public schools, 1746. Discipline: Answers to the Objections Usually Made Against Restoring the Primitive Discipline. 1748. The Benefit of School-Discipline; in Answer to the Shameful Discipline of the Schools Expos'd. 1741. Considerations on the Necessity of an Appeal to the University of Cambridge. Roberts, 1752. A Further Inquiry Into the Right of Appeal from the Chancellor, or Vice- Chancellor, of the University of Cambridge, in Matters of Discipline. Payne and Bouquet, 1752. An Inquiry Into the Right of Appeal from the Vice Chancellor of Cambridge; in Matters of Discipline. Payne and Bouquet, 1751. A Letter to the Author of the Defence of Exeter College. 1 s, Baldwin, 1755. A Letter to the Author of a Farther Inquiry Into the Right of Appeal from the Chancellor of Cambridge University in Matters of Discipline. Cooper, 1752. The Shameful Discipline of the Schools in Relation to Whipping Expos'd. 1741. School Life: The Academick; or a Disputation on the State of the University of Cambridge. 1750. Alma Mater, a Satyrical Poem on the University of Oxford. Printed for R. Wellington, 1733. Brief Account of a Seminary of Learning Established at Margate in Kent. €Td, Murray, 1785. Considerations on. the Expediency of Making, and the Manner of Conducting the Late Regulations at Cambridge. Payne and Bouquet, 1751. 413 The Contest; a Poem; Inscribed to the Heads of Houses and Masters of Arts at Cambridge. Is6d, Williams, 1764. The Defects of an University Education. Dilly, 1762. Exercises Perform'd at the Grammar School at Bristol. 1737. The Expences of University Education Reduc'd. In a Letter to A. B Fellow of E. C. Oxon. The second edition, with a postscript. Printed for G. Strahan, 6d, 1733. An Extract from the Case of the Obligation on the Electors of Eton College, to Supply all Vacancies in that Society with Those Who are or Have Been Fellows of King's College, Cambridge, so Long as Persons Properly Qualified are to be Had Within that Description: 2s6d, Waller, 1771. Fairchild, the Rev. Mr. A Sermon on the Benefits of a Liberal and Religious Education, Preached at St. Paul's on June 29, being the anniversity meeting of the gentlemen educated at St. Paul's. 6d, Davis, 1757. La France Chevaleresque et Chapitrale, ou Precis de Tous les ordres Existans de Chevalerie, des Chapitres Nobles de 1'un et de 1'Autre Sexe, des Corps, Colleges et Ecoles de Noblesse du Royaume, etc. 1785. History of Cambridge. 1753. Kay, Sir James. A Letter to the Governors of the College of New York; respecting the collection that was made in this kingdom in 1762 and 1763 for the colleges of Philadelphia and New York. Octavo, Kearsley, 1771. A Letter to a Young Student. 6d, Dodsley, 1760. Letters Containing a Plan of Education for Rural Academies. Octavo, 2s. sewed, Murray, 1775. A List of Scholars of St. Peter's College, Westminster, as They Were Elected to Christ Church College, Oxford and Trinity College, Cambridge. 1787. Memoirs of an Oxford Scholar. 3s, Reeve, 1755. Newton, R. Rules and Orders for the Government of Hertford College, Oxon. 2 s, J. F. Osbom, 1747. Observations on the Present State of the English Universities. 6d, Cooper, 1759. 414 The Oxonian; or, the Adventures of Mr. G. Edmunds, Student of Oxford. By a member of the university, duodecimo, 2 vols. 5s, Roson, 1772. A novel. Recueil de Toutes les Deliberations Importantes Prises Depuis 1763 par le Bureau d'Administration du College de Louis-le-Grand et des Colleges y Reunis. Vol. in~quarto, A Paris, chez Simon, 1782. Reglement du Pensionnat Etabli au College de la Ville d'Eu, le Premier Octobre, 1779, sous les auspices de M. le Due de Penthievre, a Dieppe, chez Dubuc, 1780. Salmon, Mr. The Present State of the Universities, etc. No. 6, Is, Gardner, 1744. Salmon Beecroft, Mr. The Foreigners Companion Through the University of Oxford and Cambridge. 1751. Watson, Mr., vicar of Leke, Yorkshire. On Occasion of a Brief for an American College. Richardson, 1763. Welch's List of Scholars. 10s.6d, Rivingtons, 1789. Student Writing: Complete Collection of Cambridge Prize Poems from 1750 to Present. 1773. Duviquet, M. L'Education Publique, Ode. 1786. The poet, speaking to the schoolmaster, shows him a judge, one of his former pupils. This judge bases his decisions on love, hate, bribes, and tramples honor, justice, and the law under his feet. He might have been the succor of the just man he oppresses, but the master lost him. His baseness was the teacher's crime and the virtues he lacked forfeits for the master who had failed to teach him properly. . A young rhetorician of the University of Paris (college de Louis-le-Grand). "To M. de la Harpe, on sending him some verses on the Peace." Mercure, 14 fev, 1784. The author speaks rapturously of his masters. The university inspires in its students a taste for healthy literature. . "Verses on the Peace," Mercure, 24 juillet, 1784, p. 167. . "Verses to M. le Comte de Haga, who came incognito to the College Louis-le-Grand," Mercure, 3 juillet, 1784. 415 "Epigram" by an Eton boy, Gentleman's, Feb, 1760, p. 93. He names famous men educated at Westminster or Eton who are having their ups and downs as on a pair of scales. When one sinks, the other rises. These are primarily men of politics, such as Walpole, who is named outright. Others are suggested by the use of letters and blanks, as P ltn y. Hayley, Wm. of Trinity Hall. "Ode from the Cambridge verses, presented to His Majesty on the Birth of the Prince of Wales," Gentleman's, Jan., 1763, p. 39. "An Invitation into the country, address"d to Miss of West Smithfield," by a school boy, Gentleman's, Dec. 7, 1751, p. 568. Lariviere, M., of Falaise, logic pupil under M. Adam, at the College du Bois, University of Caen. "Logogryphe," Mercure, 22 juillet, 1780, p. 165. Luce de Lancival, M. l'Abbe, of Louis-le-Grand. "De Pace Carmen," Mercure, 24 juillet, 1784, p. 167. Morrison, John, of the Grammar-School, Wolverhampton. The Fourth Book of Virgil's Eneid Translated Into English Verse. Wolverhampton printed, 1789. Translator was twelve years old. "On Joseph and potiphar's Wife," poem by a young lad at Oakham School, set him by his master. Gentleman's. May, 1748, p. 231. It includes praise of chastity and a racy description of the enticements of the wife. "Oxon. June 11. Verses by a young Gentleman, on the Expiration of his Apprenticeship to a bad Master," in which he expresses his relief. Gentleman's, July, 1746, p. 376. Part of a letter from an Oxford scholar to his friend in London, Gentleman's, poetry, November 1774, p. 536. A pastoral essay by a young collegian, the plan suggested by the late eclipse, Gentleman's, July 1748, poetry, p. 328. Poetical Blossoms; or a Collection of Poems, Odes, and Translations. By a young gentleman of the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, quarto, 2s.6d. Hawes, 1771. Pye, Henry, Gentleman Commoner of Magdalen College. "Ode from the Oxford verses on the Birth of the Prince of Wales." Gentleman's, Jan. 1763, p. 40. 416 "A Stanza, written by a Scholar of Merchant Taylor's School on his birthday, Feb. 2, 1759, when he was ten years old" plus "To the Author of the Above," by his father, Gentleman's, Jan. 1759, p. 82. The boy's poem consists of four lines on time flying. Three Charades by a pupil of Louis-le-Grand, Mercure, May 17, 1783, p. 103. "To Cornelia," by a seventeen-year-old at Grammar School in South Wales, Gentleman's, Jan. 1780, poetry, p. 37. "To J. D. Esq. On his Gift of Ferguson's History of the Roman Republic, three volumes quarto to the Library of Reading School and obtaining a holiday for the Scholars," Gentleman's, June 1784, poetry, p. 456. "Translation of Dr. Ford's Imitation of Horace's 'Beatus ille,' etc. applied to Fishing. From the first volume of the Musae Anglicanae." By a young gentleman at School. Gentleman's, April 1765, poetry, p. 184. The Trifler, a new periodical miscellany put out by Westminster School, 1787. The reviewer remarks that, ably done, it "excites a degree of wonder," though there was too much poetry, not as good as the prose. Gentleman's, August, 1787, pp. 729-732. "Verses composed by L—D C—LE, in praise of his select school-fellow friends, on leaving Eton," Gentleman's, Feb. 1773, pp. 93-94. "Verses deliver'd by the Boys of Harrow School, to the Rt. Hon. Sr. J-n R-sh-t, for a day of play," Gentleman's, Dec. 1751, p. 16. They need a day off from study and will work even harder after ward when they are refreshed. The Wish; a Poem. By a Gentleman of Cambridge, quarto, one shilling, Dodsley, 1771. "By a butcher of Cambridge," Gentleman's, Sept. 1771, p. 417. Chapter IV. The Schoolmaster Ascham, Roger, revis'd by James Upton. The School-Master. 1743. Duck, Stephen. "Hints to a Schoolmaster," London Magazine, Feb. 1741, poetry, p. 104. 417 An -Essay on Education. A poem in two parts, quarto, 2s6d, Baldwin, 1771. "The tyranny of a Pedagogue and the humanity of a sensible and polite Preceptor, are well contrasted and aptly delineated." Gentleman's, November 1771, p. 514. Fisherman, John. The Teacher. No. 1 (To be con'd weekly), Noble, 1761. Fremont, Monsieur, ancien professeur d'eloquence dans l'Universite de Pont-a-Mousson. "Les Amours en marche vers le Berceau du Dauphin," Mercure, 5 jan, 1782, p. 3. The Governess, in three acts. 1785. H. C. "To Mr. Tho. Bourne, Master of Leek School," poem in gratitude for his fatherly guidance, London Magazine, Nov. 1733, p. 583. R., Monsieur de la. Le Tuteur Trompe, comedie en un acte, en vers libres, 12 sols, 1780. The Reformation of Schoolmasters. Bew, 1775. "Schoolmaster's verses, vol. X, translated by one of his Boys," Gentleman's, Feb. 1741, p. 619. The Schoolmistress, a Poem. 1742. "Stephen Duck's verses to Dr. Freind on his quitting Westminster School," London Magazine, March 1733. Talbott, James. Christian School Master. 1707. Thomas, professeur au college de Beauvais. "Ode a M. de Sechelles, Ministre d'Etat, controleur general de Finances," Mercure, avril 1756, pp. 17-26. "Tom Turdman's Epistle to a School-master in Dublin," London Magazine, Oct. 1734, pp. 549-50. The master was fat, brainless, dirty. This poem is of the Dunciad type. Welch, Joseph, collector. List of Masters of Trinity College, Cambridge and of Westminster School. 1789. Chapter V. Curricula and Methods The Council in the Moon. One shilling, Wilson and Fell,, 1766. The pamphlet is for the bill proposed at Cambridge to take off the prohibition on the fellows to marry. It ridicules the opposi tion. 418 A Defence of the Subscription to the 39 Articles, as it is required in the University of Oxford; occasioned by a late pamphlet, entitled, Reflections on the impropriety and inexpediency of lay subscription to the 39 articles, in the University of Oxford, octavo, 6d. Rivington, 1771. Neve, Tim, D. D. Sermon: Teaching with Authority. At Easter Visitation at Huntingdon. Bathurst, 1747. An Observation on the Design of Establishing Annual Examinations at Cambridge. 16 pages, Cambridge, printed but not published, 1774. Against Mr. Jebb's proposal for annual examinations. See also bibliography for Chapter II. Chapter VI. The Belles Lettres Domairon, Monsieur, professeur royal des Belles-Lettres at the Ecole Militaire, 1785. A collection of lessons of grammar, rhetoric, and poetics which gave examples beside the rules. Moustalon, Monsieur. Le Lycee de la Jeunesse, ou les Etudes Preparees, nouveau Cours d'instruction a 1'usage des jeunes gens de l'un et de 1'autre sexe, et particulierement de ceux dont les Etudes ont ete interrompues ou negligees, 1786. A clear and methodical treatise which could be used as a course in the Belles-Lettres, says the reviewer, Mercure, 26 aout, 1786, p. 180. Rollin, Monsieur. The Method of Teaching and Studying the Belles Lettres. In 4 vols., 1742. Rhetoric; Ferri, Monsieur. De 1'Eloquence et des Orateurs Anciens et Modemes. Paris, chez Merigot le jeune, 1789. Vol. in octavo of more than 600 pages. Price 5 livres 10 sols broche. An eloquence course for the instruction of youth. Hurtaut, Monsieur. Manuale Rhetorices ad Usum Studiosae Juventutis Academicae, etc. 1782. A rhetoric manual for the use of students in the colleges. We do not doubt, says the reviewer, that all rhetoric teachers will rush to get this work into the hands of their pupils. Mercure, 13 nov, 1784, p. 95. Lenoir du Pare, M. l'Abbe. Nouveau Recueil de Plaidoyers Francois, auxquels on a joint plusieurs recherches tres utiles aux jeunes Eleves de l'Eloquence, 1786. These consist of three speeches which he gave as exercises to his pupils while he was teacher of rhetoric at Louis-le-Grand. 419 Recueil de Plaidoyers et de Discours Oratoires Pour Servir de Modeles aux Jeunes Gens, et propres a les former a 1'Eloquence en general, et a celle du Barreau en particulier. Tome I, 1783. ^ Rhetorigue Fran^oise. For the use of colleges. 20 edition. Vol. in duodecimo, Paris, Barbou, 1781. Philosophy: Explanation of Newtonian Philosophy. Lectures read to the youth of the University of Leyden in Latin, 1735. Hauchecorne, M. l'Abbe. Abrege Latin de Philosophie/ avec tine Introduction et des Notes Francoises, 1784. He gives an analysis of what was taught in the various classes. The book was intended to be useful for young people who wished to become Maitres Es Arts. It offered to the boarding schools an elementary text which prepared students for the long study of philosophy in the colleges or could simply serve them as a supplement if they did not go to a college. Logic; le Breton, le Pere, clerc-Regulier Theatin. La Logique Adaptee a la Rhetorique. Paris, chez L. L. Pichard, 1789. Hauchecorne, M. l'Abbe, teacher of philosophy at the College des Quatre-Nations. Logique Fran^oise Pour Preparer les Jeunes Gens a la Rhetorigue. 1785. Penmanship: Picart, Mr. The Young Clerk's Assistant; or Penmanship made easy, instructive, and entertaining. Printed for R. Ware, 1733, 3s6d. A copy and drawing book with poems and copper plates. Languages (General): Lowe, Mr. of Hammersmith. The Whetstone: a Proposal of a new Scheme of Grammar, etc. The Grounds of a language may be learned in a few Hours so as to read an author and write intelligibly, with a specimen of the Design, in a System of French Rudiments, containing a full Account of the Grounds of that language in five Pages. Sold by J. Noon, 6d, 1732. 420 Luneau de Boisjermain, Monsieur. Cours de Langues Etrangeres, a l'aide desquels on peut les apprendre chez soi et sans Maitres, 1785. Anglais, italien. Martin, Mr. of Warminster. An Explication of Accidence and Grammar. Knapton, 1755. La Vraie Maniere d'Apprendre Une Langue Quelconque. Chez Morin, 1786. Classics: Clarke, John. An Essay Upon Education, 1731. Deals with method for mastering Latin and Greek (Mason 193). Heathen Mythology Made Easy, etc. For the use of schools. Small pages. Void of the indelicacies which in general have rendered this species of books unfit for children, says the reviewer. Gentleman's, Jan. 1783, p. 50. Hugon de Bassville, Monsieur. Elements de Mythologie, etc. Avec 1'analyse d'Ovide et des Poemes d'Homere et de Virgile. Work presented to the University of Paris and for the use of the colleges. Second edition, augmented and corrected by the author. One vol. in duodecimo. 2 liv. 5 f. Paris, chez Laurent, 1784. Theses, Greek and Latin. 3s6d, Law? (unclear print), 1785. Xenophontis Oratio de Agefilao Rage, etc. Graece et Latine. Recepsuit Bolton Simpson, A. M. 5s, Hawkins, 1755. Hebrew: Barker, Rev. W. H. A. B. master of the grammar-school, Carmarthen. A Plain Grammar of the Hebrew Language, adapted to the use of schools, with biblical examples, octavo, 2s6d. Wilkie, 1773. Hebrew Grammar, so plain as to be used without a master. 1752. Ladvocat, M. l'Abbe. Grammaire Hebralque, for the use of the schools of the Sorbonne, with which one can teach the principles of Hebrew without need of a master. 1789. Levi's Hebrew Grammar, with Points. 7s6d boards, Parsons, 1786. 421 Greek: Collectanea Graeca. Tome I, 7s6d, Murray, 1785. Graecae Grammaticoe Rudimenta, in Usum Juventutis. J. Rivington, London, and Fletcher, Oxon, 2s, 1747. Greek Particles Translated Into English. Is, Keith, 1755. Le Jardin des Racines Grecques Mises en Vers Francois. New edition, reviewed and corrected by a professor of the University of Paris, 2 livres 10 sols relie, 1774. Port Royal, Messieurs de. Abridgement of Greek Grammar. 1749. Dr. Wettenhall's Greek Grammar. A new edition, 1739. Latin: Adams's Latin Exercises. Is6d, Law, 1789. le Blond, Monsieur. Traduction Nouvelle des Oeuvres de Virgile. 1783. Cooke's Praefectio Canab. Is, Cadell, 1787. Court de Gibelin, Monsieur. Dictionnaire Etymologique et Raisonn^ des Racines Latines a 1'Usage des Jeunes Gens. Vol. in octavo, Paris, 1781. Delectus Sententiarum. 2s, Bathurst, 1786. Dictionnaire Etymologique des Racines Latines. By the author of the Monde Primitif, in octavo, for the use of young people, 1780. Elemens de Poesie Latine. For beginners, 1778. Ellis/ William, M. A. master of The Grammar School at Alford in Lincoln shire. A Collection of English Exercises. Translated from Cicero for Schoolboys to re-translate into Latin. Mr. Ellis makes quite a few grammatical mistakes himself, the critic points out. Gentleman's, Jem. 1783, jp. 55. Entick, John, M. A. A New Latin Dictionary, designed for the use of Schools and private Education. 8 vols. 4s, Dilly, 1771. New edition, corrected and improved, appeared in 1783. Farrar's Cordery. Is6d, Becket, 1787. 422 Gail, M. l'Abbe. Extraits de Lucien et de Xenophon. Translation, 1787. He also had the text printed separately in another volume so as to be useful in the colleges, where translations were not permitted to every, kind of pupil. Gordon's Livy. 2 vol., sewed, 4s, Robinson, 1785. Goullier, Monsieur. Grammaire Latine. For the use of the colleges, followed by a new French grammar and a little book on the art of reading and spelling, 1788. Hay, Mr. Select Epigrams of Martial, translated and imitated. Latin and English, 3s, Dodsley, 1755. Improved Latin Orthography. Is8d, Fielding, 1786. Institutiones Philosophica, etc., for classes. 1778. Kent, N. Excerpta Quaedam ex Luciani Samosatensis Operibus. For the use of Eaton and Westminster Schools, sold by C. Rivington, 1735. Knox's Horace. Octavo, 6s, Dilly, 1786. Lebel, Monsieur, Parlementary lawyer. L'Art d'Apprendre sans Maitre, et d'Enseigner en Meme-Tems le Latin d'Apr&s Nature, et le Francois d'apres le Latin, mis a la portee de toutes les Personnes raisonnables qui savent lire et ecrire. First part, brochure in duodecimo, 1 liv. 4 f, Paris, chez l'auteur, 1780. Luneau de Boisjermain. Cours de Langue Latine, a l'aide duquel on peut apprendre cette langue chez soi, sans maitre, 1787. An inter linear and word-for-word translation of Caesar's commentaries. M***, Monsieur. Les Chef-d'Oeuvres d'Horace. Newly translated into French, with the Latin at the side, and notes, 1787. Nouvelle Methode Tres Courte et Trfes Facile Pour Apprendre aux Enfans Les Premieres Principes de la Langue Latine et de la Pofesie. 2 livres relies, 1729. Nouvelle Prosodie, ou methode courte et facile pour apprendre les premiers elemens de la quantite, et de la poesie latine, a 1'usage de la Jeunesse, brochure in octavo, Paris, Brocas, 16 f. relie, 1760. Owen's Select Phrases of Horace. Is3d, Lowndes, 1785. 423 Paul, M. l'Abbe, former teacher of eloquence. Morceaux Choisis de Tite-Live. Translated into French for the use of the higher classes, 1784. Pitman, Wm. D. D- A Compendious Introduction to the Latin Tongue. Hitch, 1752. . Florilegium Poeticum. Hitch, 1752. A Practical Grammar of the Latin Tongue. 2nd edition, 1742. Les Principes de la Langue Latine. For the use of the colleges, Barbou, 1768. Rudiment de la Langue Latine. For the use of the College Royal of Chalons-sur-Marne, 1789. Saint-Ange, Monsieur de. Second Livre des Metamorphoses en Vers Franpois. Vol. in octavo, 1781. The Satirs of Persius. The original Latin annexed, of especial use to Schools, 1732. Selis, Monsieur, translator. Extrait du Traite de Plutarque. 1781. How one must teach the poets to young people. de Sirven, Monsieur, boarding school master at Toulouse. Fragmens de Morale, d'Histoire Sacr^e, Profane et Fabuleuse, Adapt^s aux Principes de la Grammaire Latine. For colleges and boarding schools, 1779. Smith's Short Introduction to Latin Grammar. For the use of schools, octavo, ls6d, 1775. Stirling, J., master of St. Andrews School, Holborn. Satires of A. Persius Flaccus for use of Schools in a method entirely new. Sold by T. Aftly, Is, 1736. . Virgil's Pastorals. Prose version. Sold at the Author's School in High Holborn, 1733. Thevenot, Monsieur. M^thode El^mentaire Pour Apprendre Facilement la Langue Latine. 1783. Towers, J. A New Edition of Caesar's Commentaries, with an English translation. 4s, for schools, 1755. 424 Traduction Litterale des Oeuvres d'Horace, pour servir a la nouvelle methode d'enseignement. The reviewer notes that the editions of Horace used in the colleges are purged of any licentious ness, supp. au 28 juillet, 1787, p. 12. Villier, Monsieur, Oratorian. Racines Latines, for the Ecoles Royales Militaires and the Colleges of the Oratorians, in octavo. Paris, Barbou, 1779. Vocabulaire Universel Latin-Francois, contenant, etc. Paris, H. L. Guerin, 1 vol. in octavo, 1754. A Vocabulary Adapted to the New Latin Accidence; designed to exercise Children in the application of grammar rules, while they are acquiring a Copia of Words, duodecimo. Is, Lowndes, 1771. Wandelaincourt, Monsieur. Particules Latines. 1779. English; Bentick's Spelling Dictionary for the Use of Schools. 2s, 1785. Bright, Henry, MA. Master of New College School, Oxford, octavo. The Praxis: or, A course of English and Latin Exercises. For the Use of Youth in the lesser Schools, 1783. Collier, S. The General Principals of Grammar, especially adapted to the English Tongue with a method of passing Examination, for the use of Schools. Sold by R. Robinson, Is, 1735. Cours de Langue Angloise. In duodecimo, 1789. Coustell, J. A Grammatical Introduction to the English Tongue, and a supplement to the deficiencies of French grammar. Gibbons, jr, 1752. Davies's English Grammar. Is, Buckland, 1787. Elphinston, Ja. The Principles of the English Language Digested. For the use of schools, 3s, Vaillant, 1766. An abridgment of a larger work published about a year before. English Grammar Reform'd Into a Small Compass. 1737. The English Spelling Book. 5th edition, 1737. A Grammar of the English Tongue. The 6th edition, 1737. Recommended by Sir Richard Steele. 425 Hadley's Collection of Sentences. 2s, Rivington, 1786. Kirby, J. M. A. A New English Grammar; or, Guide to the English Tongue, with notes, together with a brief Latin grammar. 2s, Manby, 1746. Loughton, William, Schoolmaster at Kensington. A Practical Grammar of the English Tongue. Is6d or 16s per dozen, question and answer method, designed for the use of schools, 1734. Luneau de Boisjermain, Monsieur. Cours de Langue Angloise, a l'aide duquel on peut apprendre cette Langue sans Maitre en deux ou trois mois, 22 cahiers, 41 liv. 5s, le deuxieme cours du Journal d'Education, 1784. Owen, J. The Youth's Instructor in the English Tongue. Printed for J.' Oswald/ ls6d, 1732. Palairet, J. The New English Spelling Book. 1743. Perrin's Elemens de la Langue Angloise. 2s6d, Law, 1787. Priestly, J. Rudiments of the English Grammar. Adapted to the use of schools. Is6d, 1761. Rothwell's English Grammar. 2s, Cadell, 1787. The Royal English Grammar. 1737. The Royal Spelling Book and Grammar. Is, Robinson, 1748. Scot's Spelling and Pronouncing Dictionary. Robinson, 1786. Sheridan's Elements of English. Is, Dilly, 1786. Short and Easy Introduction to English Grammar. Is, Buckland, 1786. Siret, Monsieur. El&nens de la Langue Angloise, ou methode pratique pour apprendre facilement cette Langue. New edition reviewed, corrected, and expanded, in octavo, 1 liv. 16 s, Paris, Barrois le jeune, 1781. Spelling New Modell'd. W. Pardon, Is, 1745. Sproson, Philip, S. M. The Art of Reading; or, the English tongue made easy to the meanest capacity; a new spelling book. 1752. Walker's English Classics Abridged. Duodecimo, 3s6d, Robinson, 1786. 426 French: Arnaux, Claudius. Art of Teaching French Without the Help of Any Grammar. Printed for the author, Is, 1733. B***, M. l'Abbe. Histoire Poetique, tiree des Poetes Frangois. Paris, Nyon, 1763. Mythology for the young reader. Blondin's New French Grammar. 2s, Bell, 1789. Chambaud, J. A New French Grammar. 1750. Chambaud, P. Fables Choisies a 1'Usage des Enfans. Nourse, 1751. Chambaud's French Dictionary Abridged. 4s, Cadell, 1787. Cheneau, Monsieur, of Paris, many years professor of languages in London. The True French Master; or, rules for the French tongue. Rivington, 1752. da Costa, Jacob. New French Grammar. French, English, and Latin. Comyns, 1752. Essay on Pronouncing and Reading French. 3s6d, Elmsly, 1787. Exercices Frangois et Anglois Pour les Enfans. Nourse, 1746. Fauleau, Monsieur. El&nens de la Langue Franchise. Paris, in octavo de 285 pages, 3 liv. 12 sols, 1781. Footstep to the French Language. Is6d, Elmsly, 1787. French Rudiments. 1740. French Scholar's Guide. 1755. Gaultier, M. l'Abbe. Lemons de Grammaire. 1788. Taught the principles of language by means of a game. D'Gautier, J. The True Practical French Grammar. 1743. Grammaire Frawgoise. Printed by the order of Mme Adelaide de France for the use of young people who did not know Latin, 1786. Very short and very clear, according to the judgment of the Royal Censor. Grammaire G^n^rale Raisonn^e. Nouvelle edition, Paris, Prault fils, 1756. 427 J.V.D.N.A.D.D.L.M. Bibliotheque des Enfans de la Campagne, Nouvelle Grammaire Francoise, ou Rudiment des Enfans de la Campagne, brochures. 1785. A New Compendious French Grammar. 1741. Le Pr^cepteur. A new paper in French to be con'd once a fortnight, 3d, Willson, 1755. Principles of the French Grammar Abridged. Nourse, 1755. Restaut, Monsieur. Principes G^n^raux et Raisonn^s de la Grammaire Francoise. 1775. Frequent editions proved how useful and popular this text was. Scard, M. l'Abbe. El&nens de la Langue Francoise, pour 1'education de la jeunesse, 1787. Tableau Analytique et Synthetique de la Grammaire Francpise. 1786. Tandon, J. E. A New French Grammar teaching a person of an ordinary Capacity, without the Help of a Master, to read, speak and write that Tongue, in less than half the usual Time, in an entire new and easy Method. Printed for J. Fox, 2s, 1735. Wailly M. de. Grammaire Francoise. In duodecimo, 2 liv. lOf, 1763. . Abr6g6 de la Grammaire Francoise, nouv. edition in duodecimo. Paris, chez J. Barbou, 1 liv. 4 f, 1763. This is the grammar adopted by the university and the Ecole Militaire. Wandelaincourt, Monsieur. Grammaire Frangoise. 1782. German: A German grammar in 1751. Italian: A grammar in 1749. Curioni, M. l'Abbe, teacher of Italian. Grammaire Italienne reduced to 6 lessons, for the use of educated people. Paris, 1781. Graglia's Italian Dictionary. 5s, Davis, 1787. 428 Luneau de Boisjermain. Cours d'ltalien du Journal d'Education. A l'aide duquel on peut apprendre cette Langue chez soi sans maxtre, et en 2 ou 3 mois de lecture, 14 cahiers, 26 liv. 5 sols, 1783. 5 s, Millar, 1755. For schools. Chapter VII. Science and the Arts General Sciences: Abrege de Toutes les Sciences a 1'Usage des Enfans de l'un et 1'Autre Sexe. Nouvelle. Edition corrigee et augmentee, vol. in duodecimo, 1 liv. 4 sols, Paris, chez Valade, 1780. Agriculture: Avis au Peuple de la Campagne Touchant 1'Education de la Jeunesse et relativement a 1'Agriculture, Ouvrage traduit de l'Allemand, vol. in duodecimo. Paris, chez Bastien, 1781. Cours Complet d'Agriculture Theorique, Pratique, Economique et de M&decine Rurale et V^tferinaire, suivi d'une Methode pour etudier 1'Agriculture par principes 1783. An Essay on the Education of Youth, intended for the profession of Agriculture. 2s, Davies, 1778. Contains a plan of education from infancy to sixteen, in order to qualify a lad to make a complete husbandman. Botany: Cours de Botanique, Pour Servir a 1'Education des Enfans de S.A.S. Monseigneur le Due d'Orleans.1788.! Notions El^nentaires de Botanique, Avec 1'Explication, d'Une Carte Compos^e Pour Servir Aux Cours Publics de l'Acad&nie de Dijon, vol. in octavo, Dijon, L. N. Frantin, Imp. du Roi. L'ouvrage est accompagne de quatre planches in-folio et de quatre petites. 1782. Phytonomatotechnie Universelle, c.a. d. l'art de donner aux Plantes des noms tires de leurs caracteres, ouvrage propose par souscription. 1783. 429 Astronomy: Sauri, M. l'Abbe. Precis d'Astronomie, a la portee des jeunes gens de l'un et de 1'autre sexe ... a 1'usage des Colleges et des Pensions des deux sexes. So clear that young ladies and gentlemen of twelve and thirteen can understand it without help. Merits being well-received by all those responsible for the education of youth, Mercure, mai 1777, p. 106. Navigation: Murray, Mungo, school master of the Magnanime. The Rudiments of Navigation, demonstrated and illustrated for the use of the young gentlemen on board His Majesty's ship Magnanime. 2s6d, Cave, 1760. Physics: Saintignon, M. de. Trait^ Abreg^ de Physique a 1'Usage des Colleges. Paris, Durand, 1763. Wandelaincourt, Monsieur. Nouvelle Physique, etc. 1782. Chemistryi Cours Ellmentaire de Chymie Theorique et Pratique, pour servir a 1'education des Enfans de Mgr. le Due d'Orleans. 1787. Elements of Chymestry. 1735. Zoology; British Zoology. 2 pounds, 2s, Whiston, 1764 and 65. The profits were to be applied to the support of the Welsh Charity School, on Clerkenwell Green. Anatomy; Elemens d'Anatomie Raisonne. 1749. Medicine: Annual Lectures of Barman Boerhave, M. D. Professor of Physick, University of Leyden, translated from Latin. 1735. 430 Deleurye, Me Frangois Ange, Conseiller du Comite perpetuel de l'Academie, et Professeur des Accouchemens aux Ecoles Royales de Chirurgie. Traite des Accouchemens en Faveur des Eleves. 2de edition de 1777, 1780. An Essay on the Medicinal Education of Children. 5s, Field, 1755. Natural History; Cotte, le Pere. Lemons Elementaires de Physique, d'Astronomie, et de Meteorologie, by questions and answers, for the use of children, a continuation of the Lecons Elementaires d'Histoire Naturelle. 1789. ' Fourcroy, M. de, Docteur de la Faculte de Paris et de la Societe Royale de Medecine. Legons Elementaires d'Histoire Naturelle et de Chimie. Paris, 1782.2 vol. in octavo.Divided into as many lessons as M. de Fourcroy gives each year in his course of natural history and chemistry. A very useful order for beginners and very convenient for those who are taking this professor's lessons. Introduction Familiere a la Connoissance de la Nature. En 3 vols., 1786. Perrault, Monsieur. Abreg^ d'Histoire Naturelle Pour 1'Instruction de la Jeunesse. 1788. Spectacle de la Nature. 1735. A natural' history for youth translated from French. Viel, Charles-Francjois, architecte. Projet, Plan et Elevation d'un Monument Consacr^. a l'Histoire Naturelle, accompagne d'un Discours en explication, dedie a M. le Comte de Buffon. Paris, chez l'auteur, 4 livres, 1780. Business: A New Introduction to Trade and Business, Wherein is Contained Great Varie£y of Receipts for Money, Promissory Notes, etc., designed for the use of schools, and youth in general. Is6d, Vaillant, 1758. Quin's Rudiments of Book-keeping, comprized in six plain cases, and attainable in as many days, without the Help of a Teacher. 2s, Bew, 1776. 431 Watts, Thomas. Essay on the Proper Method for Forming the Man of Business. 1716. Law: Aguesseau. Oeuvres Completes, Tome XV, Instructions Sur Les Etudes Propres a Former un Magistrat. 1716, publiees 1756. Arts: Wandelaincourt, Monsieur. Histoire des Arts, destinee au Cours d'Education des Demoiselles et des jeunes Messieurs who do not wish to learn Latin, vol. in duodecimo. Durand, bookseller, 1782. Painting J L'Ecole de la Miniature, ou l'Art d'apprendre a peindre sans Maitre, et les Secrets pour faire les plus belles couleurs, nouvelle Edition, in duodecimo, 2 liv. 5 sols relie, Paris, chez Musier, 1782. Drawing: Keith. Complete Drawing-Book. 4s, Sayer, 1755. Polite Education: The Child's Guide to Polite Learning. 6d, 1745. The Polite Academy. 1758. The Polite Student. McCullow, 1748. Dance: An Essay on the Advantages of a Polite Education Joined to a Learned One; with a dissertation on dancing. Russel, 1747. Londeau, the sieur Chevalier de, dancing master. Trait^ du Maintien du Corps, et de la Manifere de se Presenter Avec Grace, pour 1'instruction de la Jeunesse, in duodecimo. Paris, chez l'Esclapart, 1760. 432 . , ^ Music: Azopardi, il Signor Francesco. Le Musicien Pratique, ou Legons qui conduisent les Eleves dans I'Art du Contrepoint, en leur enseignant la maniere de composer correctement toute espece de Musique. Trans, by M. Framery, 1787. Brijon, C. P.. L'Apollon Moderne, ou le Developpement intellectuel par les sons de la Musique, 2e Oeuvre, 7 liv. 16 sols en blanc, with examples, vol. in octavo. Lyon and Paris, 1782. Corrette, Monsieur. Methode Pour Apprendre Facilement a Jouer de la Quinte ou Alto, contenant des Lemons, Sonates, et des Preludes, ou ceux qui savent deja jouer du Violon.apprendront cet Instrument sans Maitre, 4 liv. Paris, chez Mile Castagnery, 1782. Cours d'Education de Clavecin. 1783. Dellain, Monsieur. Nouveau Manuel Musical, ouvrage qui a pour objet de mettre la theorie de la Musique, des agremens du Chant et de 1'accompagnement du Clavecin a la portee des jeunes personnes. Paris, chez la Veuve Ballard et Pils, Imprimeur du Roi, 1781. Lecons de Musique Vocale Propres a 1'Education de la Jeunesse, par l'auteurdu Manuel de Morale. Paris, Edme, 1772. Very useful for boarding schools. Rodolphe, le sieur; musicien du Roi. Prospectus d'Une Nouvelle Methode de Musique, souscription de 12 liv. 1783. Geography; Boutillier, M. I'Abbe, Professeur de Belles-Lettres en l'universite de Paris. Abr^q^ M^thodique de la G^ographie Ancienne et Moderne Pour 1'Instruction de la Jeunesse, avec des cartes de six pieds de hauteur, in duodecimo, 3 liv. relie. Paris, chez l'auteur au College de Louis-le-Grand, chez Brocas, et chez Barbou, 1786. Clerget, Monsieur, Chevalier de 1*Order de Christ. Geographie Pour les Jeunes Gens Dans un Gout Nouveau, ou Abreges de l'Arithmetique, de la Sphere, et de la Geographie. Paris, chez Joseph Barbou, 1756. Cumyn's Geography• 2s, Dilly, 1787. 433 Dictionnaire Interpretatif Manuel des Noms Latins de la Geographie Ancienne et Moderne, etc. 1786. "Utile surtout aux professeurs et eleves," Mercure, 4 mars, 1786, p. 41. Dubour-Leval, geographer, teacher of mathematics and hydrographie at Rennes. Connoissances Preliminaires de la Geographie, dediee a la jeune Noblesse de Bretagne. 1772. L'Enfant Geographe, 3 liv, Desnos, "Si simple qu'on peut apprendre sans maxtre," Mercure, octobre 1778, p. 312. Fairman's Introduction to Geography, the Globes, etc. Johnson, 1789. Gaultier, M. l'Abbe. Leqrons de Geographie, faisant partie du Cours d'Etudes elementaires, destine a instruire les Enfans en les amusant, par le moyen de plusieurs Jeux, Premiere Partie, Jeu de la Geographie de la France, 1 livre, 4 f. With the instru ments of the games, 18 livres, in octavo, Paris, au Cours des Jeux instructifs pour la Jeunesse, sous la protection du Gouvernement, 1789. The Geography of Children. 1737. Geography Reformed. Designed for the use of students, 1739. La Geographie Tres-pltaillee de l'Asie, de l'Afrique, et de l'Amerigue, propre a 1*education. 1786. Grenet, M. l'Abbe. Atlas Portatif a 1'Usage des Colleges, pour servir a 1'intelligence des Auteurs classiques. 1782. Keith's Introduction to Geography. Is6d, Law, 1787. Lemoine, Monsieur, teacher. Traits? du Globe, redige d'une maniere nouvelle, a la portee des Enfans, brochure in duodecimo, 1 liv. 16 sols. Paris, chez l'auteur et chez Belin, 1780. Loto Geog'raphigue. 36 livres at Paris, Fortin's, Engineer-Mechanician to the King for globes and spheres, 1781. Maclot, Monsieur. Institutions Abreg^es de Geographie. 1759. Mentelle, Monsieur, Historiographe de Mgr. le Comte d'Artois, Pensionnaire du Roi, etc. Geographie Compar^e, ou Analyse de la Geographie Ancienne et Moderne de Tous Les Pays et de Tous Les Ages. Paris, chez l'auteur, 1780. Review contains a description of the contents. M^thode Facile et Abregee Pour Apprendre la Geographie. Bruxelles, 1758. 434 Morin de la Baume, M. l'Abbe. Legons de Geographie; Abrege d'une forme nouvelle, propre a l'education des jeunes gens de l'un et de 1*autre sexe, 1 liv. 5 sols, relie en parchemin. Brocas, 1784, 2de edition 1785. Robert, Monsieur. Geographie El&nentaire a 1'Usage des Colleges. 3e edition, 1779. Still advertised in 1786. Mathematics and Geometry: Arithmetick in All Its Parts. 1739. Atwood's Arithmetic. Cadell, 1787. Beguin, Monsieur. Du Calcul Infinitesimal et de la G^om^trie des Courbes. 1775. Bossut, M. l'Abbe, de l'Academie Royale des Sciences, Honoraire, etc. Cours de Math&natiques a 1'Usage des Eleves du Corps Royal du G^nie. 3e edition, revue et augmentee, Tome Ier, Arithmetique et Algebre, Paris,, chez Claude-Antoine Jombert, fils aine, in octavo, 1781. . 'Traite Elementaire de Geometrie et de la Maniere d'Appliquer l'Algfebre a la Gdom^trie. The 3rd part of the mathematics course which the author gives to the public, for the use of engineers, 1775. Carr, Richard. The Young Arithmetician and Algebraist's Guide. Cooper, 1752. Deck, the sieur, Master of Mathematics. Cat^chisme Elementaire d'Arithmetique Demontr^ et Raisonne, qui sera suivi d'un Abrege des Sciences a 1*usage de la Jeunesse. 1787. Dilworth, Thomas. The School-Master's Assistant; or, a Compendium of Arithmatick. Is6d, Kent, 1742. Dupain-Triel pere, Monsieur, Geographer of Monsieur. Letter to M. le Marquis de **, on the Plan of Mathematical Studies Suitcible to Youth. 3rd edition, in octavo, Paris, at the author's and at Cellot and Jombert's, 1779. Elving, Alexander, Teacher of Mathematics in Edinburgh. A Synopsis of Practical Mathematics, etc. For the use of schools and men of business, duodecimo, 4s. bound, Cadell, 1771. Essai d'Arithmetique a 1'Usage Des Enfans. 1784. 435 Institutions Mathematiques a 1'Usage des Universites de France, employe en Prance et dans les pays etrangers. 1777. Lecoquirre, Monsieur, ancien professeur de philosophie. Elements de Mathematiques Pour Servir d1Introduction Aux Lecons de Physique. 1785. Already adopted by six colleges. Luya, M. J., Negociant a Geneve. Amusemens Arithmetiques et Mathematiques•de la Campagne, a 1'usage des jeunes-gens de l'un et de 1'autre sexe. 2 vol. in quarto, 12 livres, Paris, chez Gogue et Nee de la Rochelle, 1780. Martin, M. l'Abbe. Elemens de Mathematiques a 1'Usage des Ecoles de Philosophie du College Royal de Toulouse. Vol. in octavo. A Toulouse, chez Robert et a Paris, chez Laporte, 1781. P. de la F., Monsieur. Lemons Elementaires de Mathlmatiques. 1785. Sauri, M. l'Abbe. Abreg^ du cours Complet de Mathematiques. 1775. Scott, Wm. A New System of Practical Arithmetic in Three Parts, etc. Calculated for the Use of Schools and Men of Business, octavo, 2s6d, Hooper, 1772. Simpson, L. F. R. S. Select Exercises for Young Proficients in the Mathematics. Nourse, 1752. Thacker, A., teacher of the mathematics at Birmingham Free-School, a book on mathematics, 1743. Turner's Geometry. Crowder, 3s6d, 1787. The Tutor's Assistant in Teaching Arithmetic, Engraved on 40 Copper Plates. 4s, Kitchen, 1764. .Young Man's Companion; or, Arithmetick made easy. 15th edition, 1737. Ward, John. Le Guide des Jeunes Math&maticiens, on abrege des mathe matiques, a la portee des commen^ans. Translated from English, the 8th edition: volume in octavo with illustrations, 7 livres, Paris, Jombert, 1757. Chapter VIII. Moral Aspects of Education Books for Children: The Amusing Instructor. 1777. 436 Berquin, Monsieur. L'Ami des En fans. Paris, chez Pissot et Barrois, souscription de 13 liv. 4 sols pour Paris, 16 liv. 4 sols pour la Province, also L'Ami de 1'Adolescence, appeared in install ments between 1782 and 1789. The English published collections of some of the stories in translation: Stockdale in 1786 and 87, Dilly in 1787. Biblioth&que des Enfans, lere partie, 1787. Une correspondance entre un pere et son fils, qu'on a envoye a la campagne. Lemons de morale. The Calendar of Nature; designed for the Instruction and Entertainment of Young Persons, small octavo, Mrs. Barbauld's brother the author, ages 10 to 14. 1785. Carnan. The Little Female Orators. 1770. The Child's Delight; or, little Master and Misses instructing and diverting Companion. The whole beautifully engrav'd on Copper Plates. Is, Robinson and Hodges, 1744. The Child's Entertainer: A Collection of riddles. 6d bound and guilt, Noble, 1757. The Child's First Book. 3d, 1785. The Child's New Play-Thing. 1742. The Child's Week's-Work. William Ronksley, 1712. The Children's Miscellany. 3s6d, Stockdale, 1787. Choix de Petits Contes, Anecdotes, Fables, Comedies, Dialogues, etc., avec un Catalogue interessant d'un choix de Livres propres a 1*education et meme a ceux qui y president. Imitation des auteurs anglais et allemands, ainsi que des ouvrages de M. Berquin, 1788. The Christmas-Box; consisting of moral stories, adapted to the capacities of little children, and calculated to give them early impressions of piety and virtue. By the author of the letters from Felicia to Charlotte, 2 vols, adorned with cuts, Is, Payne and Bouquet, 1750. Collection Interessante Pour la Jeunesse, collection de gravures. 2 liv. 8 sols brochees, 3 liv. reliees, Paris, chez Bresson Mai Hard, 1782. A Collection of Pretty Poems for Children. 6d, Newbery, 1756. 437 Cour Damonville, M. de la. Fables Moralisees en Quatrains, afin que les enfants puissent les retenir plus aisement. Paris, 1753. Couret de yilleneuve, Monsieur. Lecture pour les enfans, ou choix de petits contes. Paris, Fournier, 1778. 4e edition 1786. Emblems for the Entertainment and Improvement of Youth. 2s6d, 1733. Entertaining Fables for Little Masters and Misses, with 20 cuts. 1747. Fenelon, Franqois de Salignac de la Mothe, ler vol. de la superbe edition de Tel6maque, destinee a 1'education du Dauphin, Didot, seulement 200 exemplaires, 1783. Other formats in 1784. In England The Adventures of Telemachus, 1742. Fenn, Lady E. School Dialogues for Boys. c. 1783. School Occurrences. c. 1782. The Festoon; a collection of epigrams antient and modern, 2s6d, Robert son and Roberts. "Innocent and not insipid entertainment for the young, which a tutor can safely put into the hands of his pupil, or a virtuous matron may recommend to her daughter," Gentleman's, Dec. 1765, p. 582. Fielding, Sarah. The Governess; or, Little Female Academy. 1749. The First of All Books for Children. Collyer, 1756. Formey, Monsieur (attribue a). Encyclop^die, ou Abr^gd de Toutes les Sciences, a 1'Usage des Enfans, nouvelle edition pour pays catholiques. 1784. The Happy Family. 6d, Marshall, 1786. The History of a Schoolboy. 1788. The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes. Newbery, 1765. The History of Little King Pippin. 1775? Instructions for Children. 3d, Cooper, 1745. Jacky Nory's Book of Stories; with 62 copper plates. 6d, Corbet, 1745. The Juvenile Tatler . . . under the tuition of Mrs. Teachwell. c. 1784. Juvenile Trials. 1772. 438 Keach, B. Instructions for Children. 5th edition, bound 6d, John Marshal, 1704. Lannoy, M. de, avocat. Etrennes aux Enfans Qui Savent Bien Lire, ou Contes Moraux, traduits de l'anglois. 1789. Little Master's Miscellany. 1746. Le Livre Pes Enfans, par un grand-pere. 1788. M. P., The Rotchfords; or, the Friendly Counsellor, in two vols, octavo. 1787. Magasin des Adolescentes. 1759. Le Mentor des Enfans, nouvelle edition. 1786. Monget, Monsieur. Les Hochets Moraux, ou Contes pour la lere enfance. Paris, Lambert et Baudouin, 1782, followed by Contes pour 1'Adolescence in 1784. Mrs. Morton's Story-Book. 9d, Randall, 1787. Le Nouveau Robinson, traduit de l'Allemand, en forme du dialogue. 1785. The Parent's Weekly Present to His Children. Publishing in numbers, 2d each, 1745. Le Petit Grandisson. 5 vols, 3 liv. 12 f, Paris, au bureau de l'Ami des Enfans, 1787. A Play Book for Children. 1704. For J. Clark in 1732, 4d. Pleasure Improved by Being Made a Guide to Useful Knowledge, Religion and Politeness; or, An Account of Mrs. Wishwell's Scholars. 1777. The Poor Child's Friend; or, Familiar Lessons adapted to the Capacities of all Ranks of Children. 1787. Le Porte-Feuille des Enfans, melange interessant d'Animaux, Fruits, Fleurs, Habillemens, Plans, Cartes et autres objets dessines suivant des reductions comparatives, et sous la direction de M. Cochin, ayec de courtes Explications et divers Tableaux elementaires utiles, a un prix modique. 1784. Le Prince de Beaumont, Mme Jeanne-Marie. Magasin des Enfans. 1756. The Rival Pupils (for boys). John Newbery, c. 1766. 439 Sandford et Merton, du bureau de l'Ami des Enfans. 1787. The School of Wisdom. 1777. Service, John Paterson. Service's Recreations for Youth. 3s6d, Kearsley, 1787. A Set of 50 Squares, with cuts and directions for playing with them, invented for the use of children. Is, Robinson, 1742. Spectacle de la Nature. 1735. The Student's Companion. 1734. T. W. A Little Book for Little Children. Pub. between 1702 and 1714. Tea-Table Dialogues Between a Governess and Mary Sensible. 1771- Time Well Spent; or, instructive amusements for children. 8d bound, J. Nichols, 1765. Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book for Children. 6d, Cooper, 1744. The Trifle; or, gilded toy to please every girl and boy. 6d, Robinson, 1746. Trimmer, Sara. Histoires Fabuleuses, traduites de 1'anglais, pour instruire les enfans dans leur conduite envers les animaux. 1789. The Village School; or, a Collection of Entertaining histories, for the instruction and amusement of all good children. 1785. Visions in Verse, for the entertainment and instruction of younger minds. 2s, Dodsley, 1751. Watt, Isaac. Divine Songs for Children. 1715. Wollstonecraft. Original Stories from Real Life. 1788. Youthful Amusements in Verse. 1757. Reading and Writing: Berthaud, feu Monsieur. Le Quadrille des Enfans, avec lequel, par le moyen de 24 Figures, et sans epeler, ils peuvent, a l'age de 4 ou 5 ans et au-dessous, etre mis a portee de lire en 3 ou 4 mois, nouv. edition. 1784. 440 Bertrand, Monsieur. Grammaire Franqoise Alphabetique, ou Traite complet de la Lecture Frangoise, contenant la meilleure maniere d'apprendre a lire en tres peu de temps. Seems to be a phonetic method. Good for children of all ages and grown-ups too, says the reviewer, Mercure, 15 mars, 1788, p. 143. Boinvilliers, M. F. ..., maitre de pension. Le Manuel des Enfans, Ouvrage contenant des principes pour apprendre a lire, a penser, a parler, et a vivre. 1789. A Description of 300 Animals, viz. Beasts, Birds, Fishes, Serpents and Insects. With a particular Account of the Whale Fishery, extracted out of the best Authors, and adapted to the Use of all Capacities, especially to allure Children to read. Illustrated with Copper-Plates, 2s6d, 1733. Doane, John. The Child's Best Guide; or, the easiest method of teaching to spell and read. Is, Rivington and Co., 1758. Dumas, Monsieur. Bureau Typographigue Pour les Enfans. 1786. Du Mittand's Art of Reading English. 2s, Law, 1787. Essai d'un Traite Elementaire de Morale. 1787. The First Book for Children, being an Attempt to make the Art of Reading English easy and pleasant, by the adapting the matter and manner of Expression to"the Capacities of Children. Printed for A. Cruden, 6d, 1736. Fresneau, Pierre, Instituteur de l'Academie des Enfans a Versailles.. ABC, ou Jeu des Lettres de l'Academie des Enfans, et Recueil de Leurs Etudes, nouvelle edition, in octavo. Paris, chez la Veuve Herissant, 1783. Goullier, Monsieur. L'Art d'Ecrire et d'Orthographier, ou Principes de lecture et d'orthographe. 1782. Hewlett, John. Introduction to Reading and Spelling, written on a new Plan, and designed as a Spelling-book for the Use of Schools. Second edition, 1787. The Infant's Miscellanies; or easy lessons, extracted from different authors, on a new plan. 2s, Beacroft. "This is a compilation of little stories, etc, to please children and make them fond of reading." Gentleman's, March 1778, p. 143. Lettre de M. *** a Mme la Duchesse de ***, sur un Nouveau Systeme de Lecture Applicable a Toutes les Langues. Osmond, 1772. 441 A Little Lottery Book for Children. Containing a new method of playing them into a knowledge of the letters, figures, etc. embellished with cuts. 3d gilt, Newberry, 1756. Mrs. Teachwell's Spelling-Book. Is, Marshall, 1787. Noel, M. ci-devant Instituteur. La Plus Courte des Methodes Pour Apprendre a Lire, ou les Elemens des Syllabes Francoises reduits a leur plus grande simplicite. 1785. Nouvel Alphabet Syllabique, ou Methode pour apprendre a lire facilement. 1789. P** de N...S.S., Mile. Tableau de la Parole, ou Nouvelle Maniere d'apprendre aux Enfans a lire, en jouant, 12 sols. Paris, J. C. Desaint, 1783. A Poem in Praise of the Horn-Book. 6d, 1732. Le Polyglotte, ou Collection des principaux objets qui peuvent etre rendus par la Gravure, avec leurs noms en 13 des principales langues de 1'Europe. 1779. La Premiere Instruction Rendue Facile et Agreable aux Enfans, ou l'art de lire et d'orthographier. 1786. Reybert, Monsieur. Bureau Typographique. 1786. Robertson, Mr. An Introduction to the Study of Polite Literature. Contains the first principles of elocution in about 70 lessons, also an art of reading. 1783. Royer, Maxtre d'Ecriture et de Pension a Versailles. Touches Typographiqfues Pour Apprendre aux Enfans, Par Maniere de Jeu, a Connoltre les Premiers Elemens de LeurLangue.Chez M, Chambert pere, Orfevre, 48 livres, 1783. Rusher's Reading Made Easy. 6d, Bew, 1787. Syllabaires Nouveaux, propres a faciliter l'art de la lecturef tant du fran Traite de la Ponctuation, extrait de divers Auteurs, avec un Essai sur 1'usage des Lettres Capitales, et un modele de la Ponctuation. 1783. 442 V***, Mme de. Ouvrages Pour les Enfans, Historiettes et Conversations a 1'usage des Enfans qui coiranencent a epeler, 2 vol. in-18, 1 liv. 10 s. Aussi Historiettes et Conversations a 1'usage des Enfans qui commencent a lire un peu couramment, Paris, chez M. le Prince, Editeur, au Bureau de l'Ami des Enfans, 1789. Viard, Monsieur. Les Vrais Principes de la Lecture, de 1'Orthographe, et de la Prononciation Franpoise, in duodecimo. Paris, chez Nyon, 1763. Warren's Reading Made Easy. 6d, Lowndes, 1787. History: Abrege de l'Histoire Generale des Voyages. 1786. Abrege de l'Histoire Grecque, a 1'usage des Colleges et de tous les lieux ou 1'on instruit la Jeunesse tant de 11 un que de 1 * autre sexe, in duodecimo. Paris, chez Nyon, 2 liv. 10 f, 1763. Abrege de l'Histoire Universelle, en Figures, etc, destine a 1'instruction de la Jeunesse. 1789. Bellamy, D. Youth's Historical Instructor: Containing a compendium of the most memorable occurrences in the English history. Is6d, W. Owen, 1757. Cavaillon, Monsieur. Exposition de l'Histoire de France Depuis la Commencement de la Monarchie Jusqu'^ la Paix d'Aix la Chapelle Sous Louis XV, en 1748. A good abridgment, very useful to young people beginning their studies, Mercure, juillet 1775, p. 123. Dictionnaire Historique d'Education. 2 vol, in octavo, petit format, relie: 10 livres, Vincent, 1772. Dobbs's Introduction to Universal History. 3s6d, Kearsley, 1789. Dr. Goldsmith's Roman History Abridged by Himself, for the use of schools, duodecimo. 3s bound, Baker, 1773. Elements d'Histoire du College Godran de Dijon. 1784. Les Etrennes de Clio et de Mnemosyne. 1774. 443 Historical Extracts Relating to Laws, Customs, Manners, Trades, Literature, Arts, Sciences, and Remarkable Transactions, Civil, Military, and Ecclesiastical. Trans, from the New History of France, begun by Velly, continued by Villaret, and now finishing by Garnier, 1771. Luneau de Boisjermain, Monsieur. Cours d'Histoire et de Geographie Universelle. Panckoucke, ler vol., 1765. Le Maitre d'Histoire, ou Chronologic Elementaire, Historique et Raisonnee des Principales Histoires, disposee pour en rendre 1'etude agreable et facile a la Jeunesse. Paris, chez la veuve Desaint, in duodecimo, 1777. Milot, M. l'Abbe, des academies de Lyon et de Nancy. Elemens de I'Histoire G^n^rale, lere Partie, histoire ancienne. 4 vol. in duodecimo, 12 liv., Paris, chez Prault, 1773. Montalon, Monsieur. Precis de I'Histoire de France Depuis l'Etablisse- ment de la Monarchie Jusqu'au Rfegne de Louis XVI, a 1'usage des enfans et personnes qui voudront se contenter d'une idee sommaire de notre Histoire. Avignon, 1782. Mortimer, Thomas, Esq. The Student's Pocket Dictionary; or compendium of universal history, chronology, and biography, from the earliest accounts to the present time, in two parts, duodecimo. 3s6d, bound, Johnson, 1778. Ponce, Monsieur. Les Illustres Frangois, ou Tableaux historiques des grands Hommes de la France. 1789. Roman History by Question and Answer for the Use of Schools. 1736. The Student's Companion; being a collection of historical quotations from the best authors. 1748. Tableaux des Anciens Grecs et Remains. 2 vol. in quarto, 1786. Universal History. 3s6d, Robinson, 1787. Vetour, Monsieur. Nouvelles Instructions sur I'Histoire de France a 1'Usage de la Jeunesse. 1787. Wandelincourt, Monsieur. Cours d'Education, Livre de la 3e Classe, contenant un abrege de I'Histoire generale, seconde Partie, Histoire Moderne, in duodecimo. Paris, chez Durand, 1780. 444 Theater: Comedie Italienne. L'Automate: un Tuteur qui veut epouser sa Pupille. 1781. d'Elmotte, Monsieur. L'Anti-Pigmalion, ou 1'Amour Promethee, Scene Lyrique, donnee au Theatre des Eleves de 1"Opera en 1780, i: octavo. 12 f, Paris, chez Desauges, 1780. Nouveaux Proverbes Dramatiques. Plays to be acted by children, 1784. Oeuvres de M. de Saint-Marc. 3e vol. reviewed, 1781. Le Page, Comedie en un acte, propre a etre mis dans les mains de la jeunesse comme un dialogue moral. 1781. Patrat, M. G. La Pension Genevoise, ou 1'Education, Drame en un acte et en vers, represente pour la lere fois a Paris sur le Theatre de l'Ambigu Comique, le 10 sept. 1783. Cailleau, 1784. The School Boys Mask; designed for the Diversion of Youth, and their Excitement to Learning. 1742. The Stage Condemn'd, and the Encouragement Given to the Immoralities and Profaneness of the Theatre, by the English Schools, Universities, and Pulpits, Censur'd. 1700. Theatre a 1'Usage des Colleges, des Ecoles Royales Militaires, et des Pensions Particuli&res. 1789. Civics: Institutiones Juris Canonici, D. Martin. Livre elementaire. On peut s'en servir dans les ecoles comme base d'un enseignement public. 1789. L'Instruction Publigue, Ouvrage demande par le Boi de Suede. 1775. Le Peuple Instruit par ses Propres Vertus, ou Cours complet d'Instructions et d1Anecdotes recueillies dans nos meilleurs Auteurs, et rassemblees pour consacrer les belles actions du . Peuple et l'encourager a en renouveler les exemples. Destine aux enfans du Peuple des deux sexes, 1787. The Schoolboy in Politicks. 6d, Hooper, 1756. 445 Moral Corruption Criticized: Worthington, Hugh/ jun. The Progress of Moral Corruption, preached at St. Thomas's, January 1, 1778, for the benefit of the Charity- school, in Gravel-lane, Southwark, published at the request of the managers, octavo. 6d, Buckland, 1778. Moral and Religious Education: Analyse de 1'Histoire Sacr^e, depuis l'origine du monde jusqu'a la venue du Messie. Paris, chez Debure l'aine, 1780. The Apprentices Faithful Monitor. Is6d or 16s per Dozen bound, 1734. d'Arnaud, Monsieur. Delassemens de 1'Homme Sensible, ouvrage de moral a mettre dans les mains des jeunes gens avant qu'ils entrent dans le monde. 1786. Blossoms of Morality, for Youth. 2s6d, Newbery, 1789. Bury, Monsieur de. Essai Historique et Moral sur 1'Education Francoise. 1777. * Cours de Morale Poetique, tiree des Auteurs classiques, a 1*usage de la Jeunesse des Colleges, par un ancien Professeur de 1'universite de Paris. 1787. Doctrine Chretienne en Forme de Lectures de Piete. 1783. Dodderidge, D. The Principles of the Christian Religion Express'd in Plain and Easy Verses, for the Use of Little Children. 1743. . Sermons on the Religious Education of Children, preach'd at Northampton. Printed for R. Hett, Is, 1732. Duche, Monsieur. Histoires Edifiantes, Pour Servir de Lecture aim Jeunes Personnes de 1'un et de 1'Autre Sexe. Nouvelle edition, Paris, Duchesne, 1756. Education Physique et Morale des Enfans, in duodecimo, relie 2 livres. Paris, Fournier, 1787. Fillassier, Monsieur. Dictionnaire Historique d'Education. Nouvelle edition, 1784. Freville, Monsieur, et dedie a son eleve M. Gaston de Rouvray. Nouveaux Essais d'Education. 1789. 446 Histoires Edifiantes, Pour Servir de Lecture aux Jeunes Personnes de 1'un et de 1'Autre Sexe. 1783. The Historical Mirror, or biographical miscellany, duodecimo. 3s bound, Bew, 1775. Particularly calculated for schools, enlivened by conversations from Xenophon. An Humble Attempt to Assist Parents and Masters in the Religious Education of Youth. 4d or 3s6d a dozen, Whitridge, 1744. Joannet, M. l'Abbe. De la Connoissance de 1'Homme. 1775. Manuel de la Jeunesse Franqoise, ou Modeles de Patriotisme et de Vertu. 1788. le Masson-le-Golft, Mile. Esguisse d'un Tableau General du Genre- Humain, ou l'on apperc^oit d'un seul coup-d'oeil les Religions et les Moeurs des differens Peuples, les Climats sous lesquels ils habitent, et les principales varietes de forme et de couleurs de chacun d'eux. 1786. Miscellanies, Moral and Instructive, in Prose and Verse, Collected from various Authors, for the Use of Schools, and the Improve ment of young persons of both Sexes. Philadelphia, duodecimo, printed in 1787. Compiled by a female, recommended by Dr. Franklin. "Need we go out of English for such compilations?" Gentleman's, June 1789, p. 539. Mistelet, Monsieur. De la Sensibilite, Par Rapport Aux Drames, Aux Romans, et a 1'Education. Paris, chez Merigot le jeune, in octavo, 1777. Moral Instructions for Youth. 1742. La Morale en Action, ou Elite de Faits memorables et d*Anecdotes instruct!ves, etc. Ouvrage utile a MM. les eleves des Ecoles Militaires et des Colleges, 1784. The Paths of Virtue Delineated, or the history in miniature of the celebrated Pamela, Clarissa Harlow, and Sir Charles Grandison, familiarized and adapted to the capacities of youth. 2s6d, Baldwin, 1756. / / The Polite Preceptor; or improving moralist, duodecimo. 3s bound, Snagg, 1774. Precis de l'Histoire Sacre* par Detnandes et par R^ponses. Vol. in duodecimo, 1 liv. 16 sols relie, Paris, Nyon l'aine, 1781. 447 Proyart, M. 1' Abb£. Le Modele des Jeunes Gens Dans la Vie Edifiante de Claude le Pellotier de Souse, Etudiant en Philosophie Dans l'Universite de Paris. 1788. Roy, M. l'Abbe. Collection des Moralistes Modernes, l'Ami Des Vieillards. 1784. • •' »» * Select Passages for the Improvement of Youth. 3s6d, Richardson, 1787. Sermon Preached Before the Incorporated Society for Promoting English Protestant Schools in Ireland. 1738. Six Sermons—Instructions for Youth. 1751. Steele. .'The Christian Hero. Oxford, 1727. Tractatus de Vera Religione and Tractatus de Ecclesia Christi. 5e et 3e edition, 1783. Trimmer's Sunday-Scholar's Manual. Is, Johnson, 1789. Trimmer's Sunday-School Catechist. 2s, Johnson, 1789. Dr. Watts's Hymns and Moral Songs for the Use of Children, revised. Prayers for the use of children added. 1786. Chapter IX. Special Education Charity Education: An Account of the Several Workhouses for Employing and Maintaining the Poor: Setting forth the Rules by which they are governed. Printed for J. Downing, 2s6d, 1732. Compassion to Poor Children, sermon at meeting house in St. Thomas's, Southwark, for the benefit of the charity school there. 1773. Evans, John. An Account of the Welch Charity Schools, and of the Rise and Progress of Methodists in Wales. Baldwin, 1752. Knowles, Thomas, p. D., preacher of St. Mary's in Bury. Objections to Charity Schools, Candidly Considered. A sermon preached at St. Edmond's-bury, for the benefit of the charity schools in that town, on Sunday, October 11, 1772/ published for the benefit of schools, quarto, 6d, Crowder, 1773. 448 A Letter to the Patrons, Trustees, etc. of the Charity Schools, recom mending a more efficacious mode of educating the children of the poor. 1789. Parr, Samuel, LL. D. A Discourse on Education and on the Plans Pursued in Charifcy-Schools. Sermon preached in part at Norwich, 2s, Cadell, 1785. Stebbing, Henry, D. D., Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty, and Preacher to the Hon. Society of Gray's-Inn. Of Charity to the Poor, and the Religious Education of Poor Children; A Sermon preach'd at St. Sepulchre's, April 20, 1732. At the Anniversary Meeting of the Charity-children educated in the Cities of London and Westminster, sold by J. Downing, 6d, 1732. The Trials of James Brownrigg, and John His Son, for confining, and inhumanly scourging, Mary Mitchell, spinster. 6d, Wilkie, 1766. Welch Piety, being an Account of Charity Schools. 1739. Military Education; Cours d'Etudes a 1'Usage des Elfeves de l'Ecole Royale Militaire. 4e division, contenant l'Abrege de l'Histoire Romaine, vol. in duodecimo, 2 liv. relie, Paris, Nyon l'aine, 1782. Essais sur 1'Education Militaire, ou institutions de Belles-Lettres et de Langue Frangoise avec des reflexions et des notes, pour faciliter le cours de ces etudes, et les rendre utiles et agreables. Paris, chez Merigot Pere, 1759. Lochee, Lewis. An Essay on Military Education. Octavo, 2s, Nourse, 1773. Tresseol, Monsieur de. Lettre de M. de Tresseol a M. le Directeur de l'Ecole Militaire, sur 1'Education Militaire. Paris, Colas, 1777. Education for the Handicapped: Deschamps, M. l'Abbe. Cours El&nentaire d'Education des Sourds et Muets. Vol. in duodecimo, Paris, Debure, 1779. de l'Epee, M. l'Abbe. La Veritable Maniere d'Instruire les Sourds et Muets, confirmee par une longue experience. Paris, Nyon, 1784. 449 Observations d'un Sourd et Muet sur un Cours Elementaire d'Education Des Sourds et Muets. Paris, chez B. Morin, 1779. Evaluation of Deschamps' course. Vox Oculis Subjecta. 1783. Chapter X. Education for Women Allen, C. The Polite Lady; or a course of female education. 3s, Newberry, 1762. Barthelemi, M. I'Abbe. La Cantatrice Grammairienne. 1789. Bibliotheque Universelle des Dames. 17.84. Bland, Dr. Essay in Praise of Women. 1733. Dupuy, Monsieur. Instruction d'un Pere ^ sa Fille, in duodecimo. 3 liv. relie, 1787. L'Ecole des Jeunes Demoiselles. Pub. par M. I'Abbe Reyre, 2de edition, 1786. 1*Education Physique et Morale des Feromes. Bruxelles, 1779. Essai sur 1'Education des Hommes, et Particulierement des Princes, Par les Femmes. Paris, chez Guillot, 1783. Essai sur 1'Education des Jeunes Demoiselles, par Mile ***, in octavo. 1 liv. 4 sols broche, 1787. Etrennes Xtaliennes, presentees aux Dames qui desirent d'apprendre l'ltalien par une methode qui leur facilite et rende agreable l1etude de cette Langue. 1783. Reviewer commented that it had more solidity than its title seemed to^promise, Mercure, ler mars, 178.3, p. 43. Fenelon, Messire Francois de Salignac de la Mothe, Archeveque de Cambrai. De 1'Education des Filles. Nouvelle edition, in-16, Paris, chez Guerin et Delatour, 1 liv. 16 f. relie, 1763. A French Grammar for Women, in La. Vraie Maniere d'Apprendre Une Langue Quelconque. 1786. Fromageot, M. I'Abbe. " Cours d'Etudes des Jeunes Demoiselles. 3 liv. le volume in duodecimo relie, 1772. 450 Fute, Mme de la. Eugenie et Ses Sieves, ou Lettres et Dialogues a 1*usage des jeunes Personnes. 1788. Idee de la Grammaire de la Langue Fran^oise. Caillan, 1789. A Letter to a Lady, Concerning the Education of Female Youth. Bathurst, 1749. Lettres de Milady ***, Sur 1'Influence que Les Femmes Pourroient Avoir Dans 1'Education des Homines, 1784. 2e edition, 1788. Lydie de Gersin, ou Histoire d'une jeune Angloise, pour servir a 1'instruction et a 1'amusement des jeunes Francoises de son age. 1 vol. in-18, 1 liv. 4 f, 1789. Mary Wollstonecraft on Educating Daughters. 2s, Johnson, 1787. Moral and Instructive Tales for the Improvement of Young Ladies. c. 1785. Natural History of Shells, for the instruction of the ladies. Magazine series Jan. 1755-June 1755 in the Gentleman's Magazine. R. of L. Les Soupers de Vaucluse. 3 vol, in duodecimo, Buisson, 1789. Reflexions Upon the Moral State of the Nation. 1701, pp. 21-25. Stanhope, C. The New Polite Tutoress; or, Young Ladies' Best In structor. 1786. Strictures on Female Education. 3s6d, Cadell, 1787. Strictures on Female Education. 5s, Murray, 1787. Swift, Jonathan. On the Education of Ladies. 1765. Traite de 1'Education Des Femmes, et Cours Complet d'instruction. Tome I, in octavo, Paris, chez Pierre,.1779. Three more volumes in 1780. Six vols, in octavo, 21 liv. 12 f. broches et 30 liv. relies, Paris, chez Moutard, 1789. Boarding Schools; The Boarding School Rape. Curll, 1741. A Letter from a Father to His Daughter, at a Boarding School. Small duodecimo, 2s6d bound, Robinson, 1774. 451 A New Battle-Dore for Miss in Her Teens, for the Use of the Boarding Schools. Is, Cooper, 1757. Mme d'Epinay: Conversations d'Emilie. Nouvelle edition, 2 vol. in duodecimo, Paris, chez Humblot, 1775. 5th and last edition 1788. Mme de Genlis: Adelaide and Theodore: or, Letters on Education. 3 vols., 1783. English translation. Ad^le et Theodore. 3 vol. in octavo, Paris, Lambert et Baudouin, 1782. Les Annales de la Vertu, ou Cours d'Histoire a 1'usage des jeunes Personnes. Paris, Lambert et Baudouin, 1781. 2 vol. in octavo de plus de 500 pages, 10 livres broches. Theatre a 1'Usage des Jeunes Personnes, in octavo. Paris, Lambert et Baudouin, 15 liv. broches, contenant 17 pieces, 1779. Italian edition 1780. Les Veillees du Chateau ou Cours de Morale a 1'Usage des Enfans. 1784. LIST OF REFERENCES Babcock, R. W. "Benevolence, Sensibility and Sentiment in Some 18th Century Periodicals," Modern Language Notes LXII, pp. 394- 397. Barber, Elinor. The Bourgeoisie in 18th Century France. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1955. Bond, Richmond P. The Tatler. The Making of a Literary Journal. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971. Brandenburg, Alice S. "English Education and Neo-Classical Taste in the 18th Century," Modern Language Queries VIII, pp. 174- 193. Brauer, George C., Jr. "Recommendations of the Spectator for Students during the 18th Century," Notes and Queries n.s. II, pp. 207- .208. Budgell, The Spectator, Volume III, Nos. 313, 353, edited by Donald F. Bond. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Cranfield, G. A. A Handlist of English Provincial Newspapers and Periodicals 1700-1760. Cambridge, England: Cambridge Bibliographical Society Monographs, no. 2, 1952. Cubberley, Ellwood P. The History of Education. Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1920. The Encyclopedia Britannica, Macropaedia, 1973 edition, volume 6. Chicago: William Benton, 1943-1973. Ewen, Frederic. "Criticism of English Literature in Grimm's Correspondance Litteraire," Studies in Philology, XXXIII, pp. 397-404. Fielding, Sarah. The Governess. Facsimile of first edition of 1749 with introduction and bibliography by Jill E. Grey. London: Oxford University Press, 1968. Gentleman's Magazine, London 1731-1789 (except July, 1776). Gossman, Lionel. French Society and Culture: Background for 18th Century Literature. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972. 452 453 Hatin, Eugene. Bibliographie Historique et Critique de la Presse Periodique Fran^aise. Paris: Librairie de Firmin Didot Freres, fils et cie., 1866. Helvetius, Claude Adrien. Oeuvres Completes. Vols. 7-8. Hildesheim: Georg 01ms, 1967. Reprint of 1795 Paris edition (posthumous). Joel, Helmuth W., Jr. "The Theme of Education in the Works of Oliver Goldsmith," DA 28 (1967): 1398A (Pa.). Jourdain, Charles Marie Gabriel Brechillet. Histoire de l'Universite de Paris au XVII et au XVIIIe Siecles. Paris 1862-1866, impression anastaltique. Bruxelles: Culture et civilisation, 1966. Kropf, C. R. "Education and the Neoplatonic Idea of Wisdom in Pope's Dunciad," Texas Studies in Literature and Language, XIV, 4, Winter, 1973.. Lacroix, Paul. XVIII6 Siecle: Institutions, Usages, et Costumes. Paris: Firmin-Didot Etude, 1875. La Harpe, Jacqueline de. Le Journal des Savants et 1'Angleterre, 1702-1789. Berkeley: University of California Publications in Modern Philology, volume XX, no. 6. Lewis, Wilmarth Sheldon. Private Charity in England, 1747-1757. New Haven: Yale University Press, c. 1938. The London Catalogue of Books, with their sizes and prices. Corrected to September MDCCXCIX. London: Printed for W. Bent by M. Brown, 1799. London Magazine, London 1732, 1734-1758. Mason, John E. Gentlefolk in the Making. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1935. Mercure de France, Paris 1700-1789 (fragmented). Miller, Minnie M. "The English People as Portrayed in Certain French Journals, 1700-1760," Modern Philology XXXIV, pp. 365-376. Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres, Paris 1717. Tome X. 1716- 1718. Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1966. Present State of Europe, London 1700-1736 (Huntington Library. Full run is July 1690-January 1736). 454 Sigworth, Oliver F., ed. Criticism and Aesthetics 1660-1800. San Francisco: Rinehart Press, 1971. Stearns, Bertha M. "Early English Periodicals for Ladies (1700-1760)," Publications of the Modem Language Association, vol. 48, no. 1, March 1933. Storer, Mary E. "Information furnished by the Mercure Galant on the French Provincial Academies in the Seventeenth Century," Publications of the Modern Language Association, Vol. L, pp. 444-468. Watson, J. Steven. The Reign of George III. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960. Wiles, R. M. "Further Additions and Corrections to G. A. Cranfield's Handlist," Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, vol. ii, no. 5, 1958.