COMENIUS
The Great Educators
Edited by NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER
COMENIUS
AND
THE BEGINNINGS OF EDUCATIONAL
REFORM
BY
WILL S. MONROE, A.B.
PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY AND PEDAGOGY IN THE
STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT WESTFIELD, MASS.
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
1900
COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith
Norwood Mass. U.S.A.
PREFACE
The present volume is an effort to trace the reformmovement in education from Vives, Bacon, and Ratketo Comenius, who gave the movement its most significantforce and direction; and from him to the laterreformers,—Francke, Rousseau, Basedow, Pestalozzi,Fröbel, and Herbart. A variety of ideas, interests,and adaptations, all distinctly modern, are representedin the life-creeds of these reformers; and, in theabsence of a more satisfactory term, the progressivemovement which they represent has been styled realism,—sometimescalled the “new education.”
It has been well said that “the dead hand of spiritualancestry lays no more sacred duty on posteritythan that of realizing under happier circumstancesideas which the stress of age or the shortness of lifehas deprived of their accomplishment.” Many of thereforms represented by the realists occupy no inconsiderableplace in the platforms of modern practitionersof education; and in the belief that a historyof the movement might contribute toward the ultimatereforms which realism represents, it has seemedexpedient to focus such a survey on the life andteachings of the strongest personality and chief exponentof the movement.
The condition of education in Europe during thesixteenth century is briefly told in the opening chapviter;following are given the traces of the educationaldevelopment of Comenius in the writings of Vives,Bacon, and Ratke; three chapters are devoted to thelife of Comenius and the reforms in which he activelyparticipated; an exposition of his educational writingshas three chapters; a chapter is given to the influenceof Comenius on Francke, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, andother modern reformers; and the closing chaptersums up his permanent influence. The volume hastwo appendices,—one giving tables of dates relatingto the life and writings of Comenius, and the othera select annotated bibliography.
In the exposition of the writings of Comenius, theauthor has made liberal use of English and Germantranslations from Latin and Czech originals. In thecase of the Great didactic, the scholarly translation byMr. Keatinge has, in the main, been followed. Freetranslations of portions of this work had been madeby the author before the appearance of Mr. Keatinge’sbook; and in some instances these have beenretained. As regards the account of Comenius’ viewson the earliest education of the child, the author’sedition of the School of infancy has been followed;and in the discussion of reforms in language teaching,he is indebted to Mr. Bardeen’s edition of the Orbispictus, and to Dr. William T. Harris for the use ofthe handsome Elzevir edition of the Janua, which isthe property of the Bureau of Education.
WILL S. MONROE.
State Normal School,
We