to special conditions. But if it is the result of merely adding together some atomistic elements, then, indeed, will it be necessary to follow it slavishly, so that all be held together; a recipe will not admit of variants. Of course, there are limits to the variations allowed, and in the face of a society that is worshipping at the altar of the material interests, the State should take counsel with the Church and fix a certain amount of the ideal elements of education. But in reference to other elements, particularly the accessory disciplines, the laws should be less rigorous.

8. The elementary school must impart the elements of knowledge and will hence develop a fixed type more readily than any other grade of school. But the scant assistance that it receives from the home and the tender age of its pupils necessitate the individualization of instruction. If the geographical instruction begins, as it ought, with a study of the pupils' actual environment, then each and every village school will have something individual; for each village has its specific character and traditions. But the local conditions will affect, not only the mental horizon, but also, to some extent, the interests and manners and customs; and the peculiarities resulting therefrom must be reflected in the instruction that would remain in touch with actual life. Thus a village school in the mountains must differ from a village school on the plains or on the coast.'

This individualization will, in part, take place spontaneously. But in organizing the schools the fixed elements should be distinguished from the variable. The first work in this field still remains to be done. What is needed is a natural history of the schools, to be written by a writer gifted with Riehl's powers of observation and description; and such a natural history while representing the variants of the village school, would show how the different peculiarities are projected on the school. However, the levelling process is characteristic of the present age, and hence there is evident need for scrupulously preserving even the humblest institution that embodies local traditions. The elementary school can and should preserve to the nation its songs, legends, and myths. Among these it should cherish especially those that are threatened with extinction, and should also revive such as are forgotten. But to carry out this mission, it must remain in close contact with the people, their daily life, customs, manners, and particularly their religion.

1 Supra, ch. LIX, 2.

Modern sociologists are fond of speaking of the folk-soul, a term that is meaningless to many, but which, if rightly understood, expresses a deep truth. We may use it here to state briefly what must be the object of the individualization of the elementary school: the elementary school, to whose care the general intellectual treasures of the race are committed, must so transmit and disseminate these that the spontaneous stirrings of the folk-soul respond to them, and to this end the elementary school must carefully note the peculiarities of the folk-soul.1

9. Once we admit that the system of education must be adjusted to the society and nation that it would serve, we must accept the consequent conclusion that the powers and forces of the respective society and nation must be invited to co-operate in establishing and preserving the educational system. Once we reject uniformity of schools as being opposed to legitimate individualization, we must reject all monopolizing as being opposed to the co-operation of legitimate factors in education. A nation must regard its schools as its schools, as its own property; but it can not so regard them unless it be allowed some share in their operation. The social body will not coalesce with an organ until it nourishes and preserves it with its own powers.

Thus the medieval universities, being the products of society, were notwithstanding their privileges, their special language, and their special customs-never out of touch with the life of the people. The people could well appreciate the value of these studia generalia, for these were intertwined with their own past history. Almost the same may be said of many Latin schools of the Renaissance, and the English people have preserved a kindred feeling for the older colleges of their country.

With regard to the elementary school, the State should not only levy taxes on those directly affected, but should allow them. also a certain share in the management of the school and in the appointment of its teachers. There are certain factors of the community of life which the State has, it is true, incorporated into its own organism, without, however, depriving them of their self-activity, such as the county, township, and all similar auto

1 The rural school has more opportunities than any other institution to coalesce with the place and the people it is serving. In rural districts the school teacher may grow so old in service as to look back upon generations of his pupils. Kutscher, a rural school teacher in Petze, a village near Hildesheim, taught in the same place for 60 years (1827-1887), and Schäfer, his predecessor, had taught in the same school for 48 years (1777-1825).

nomous organs. These factors should, as a rule, be permitted to co-operate in founding and governing schools, and hence the demand for the "school community" is justified in principle.1

But to accede to this demand implies that the State allow other forces to co-operate in the field which it has, at least in part, opened to cultivation, and so there will ever be but few cases of monopolies surrendered voluntarily. But every decentralization will meet with similar difficulties, which, however, are not insurmountable as soon as one can prove that the gain for the public good compensates for a temporary loss. But to make the decentralization in educational matters prove a real gain for the public good, one must guarantee that the decentralization shall not entail the forfeiture of any treasures preserved by the state school system. There would assuredly be no gain, if the State surrendered its control to a society that serves matterial interests, or if it conceded too much to one-sided national tendencies. To safeguard the treasures which the State preserves in common with the Church is more necessary than the freeing of the social forces, for these are not needed unless they can co-operate in preserving and transmitting the intellectual treasures of the race.

1 Cf. Willmann, Über W. Reins Theorie der Schulgemeinde, reprinted in the author's work Aus Hörsaal und Schulstube, Freiburg, 1912, 2nd ed., pp. 349 ff.

III.

OF SCHOOLS.

CHAPTER LXVII.

The Gymnasium.1

1. Historically the gymnasium developed as the preparatory school of the university, and only as such can it be a member of an organic system of education. It has the advantage over modern schools in having a historical character, and that in a double sense: the gymnasium has a history and also represents, the historical elements of education as embodied mainly in the ancient languages. It is distinguished above all other educational institutions for being in full possession of the educational instruments; it can serve the highest ends of education, i. e., the ethico-religious ends, not only by its religious instruction, but also by its courses in literature and history; its language courses offer excellent means for inner formation, and afford, at the same time, an opportunity for acquiring varied knowledge and skill. No other school has so full a command of the educational instruments, and the gymnasium might hence be called the full school ("Vollschule").

But the variety of the gymnasial course of study may readily lead to unmethodical practices of teaching. To counteract this tendency, it is necessary, first, to distinguish the basic subjects from the accessory; secondly, to observe the grading of studies. indicated by the series: philology-mathematics philosophy; and, thirdly, to permeate the whole course with Christian elements and to correlate the latter with the classical.

Latin and Greek, the instruments of higher learning, the A B C of science, constitute the distinguishing feature of the gymnasium, and the man in the street rightly considers only such institutions as gymnasiums as teach both Latin and Greek. The classical studies determine the character of the whole gymnasial course; that is, the higher instruction in religion, the modern

The reader may readily apply the contents of the present chapter to high-school and college conditions in America and England.

languages, history, and even mathematics and the natural sciences can and should show the influence of the classical studies; and if the teaching is truly organic, then the whole institution. will be classical in tendency and spirit. The ancient authors offer the most convenient points for dividing the classes, and to the graduate of the gymnasium they appear as milestones in the way he has covered.

In selecting the school authors we must distinguish between the different significance that the Romans and the Greeks have for us. Both have, one may say, grown into our mental life at different points. Of the various gifts of Rome to the modern world, its language is justly considered the most valuable; and of the achievements of the Greeks, it is their philosophy which has first and most deeply influenced the world view of the Christian peoples. The language of the Romans and the wisdom of the Greeks are, therefore, the most valuable elements for the course of instruction. But to acquire the language of the Romans you must go to the masterpieces of Roman literature; you must read their poets, historians, orators, and select especially those works that possess moral power and are, consequently, truly educative in their influence. And, similarly, if you would imbibe the wisdom of the Greeks, you must read, not only their philosophers, but also their poets and other writers, for to the young the wisdom of these authors appeals more than that of the thinker. And so both the language of Rome and the wisdom of Greece direct us to the same source: literature, perfect in form and moral in content.

Looking over the extensive field of literature, we may select a group of authors to constitute, so to speak, the inner circle; and about them we may group two other classes of authors suitable respectively for preparatory work and for supplementary reading. To the inner circle belong of the Romans: Vergil, Horace, Livy, and Cicero. Vergil's Eneid is "a reflection of the grandeur of Rome, and an echo of its glorious history" (Nägelsbach); and it is truly a world book, for it has been a favorite school text for 1900 years. Horace, the poet-laureate of Augustus, is the most quotable of authors (Lytton), and his verse, though Latin in words and forms, is Greek in beauty and spirit. Livy's theme is the "high mission of the Roman people to rule the world -a mission entrusted to it by the deity and carried out by the virtus of the Romans" (Köchly). Cicero is "the greatest master of composition that the world has seen, ... who imbibed all the grace and splendor which attached to Rome and became what he