teacher," he said, "ought to explain only what is strictly necessary for understanding the author; he ought to resist the temptation of making on every occasion a display of his knowledge. The end of this rule is to concentrate the attention of the pupil upon his author, to bring him into contact with him. Too many digressions break the force of the author, and prevent the pupil from feeling and enjoying that inspiration, so well suited to quicken him who breathes it freely."

RELIGIOUS CULTURE.-Erasmus placed moral and religious culture in the foreground of education. Throughout his writings he advocated a genuine piety of heart as over against theological refinements and religious ceremonialism.

"Unless I have a pure heart," he says, "unless I put away envy, hate, pride, avarice, lust, I shall not see God. But a man is not damned because he can not tell whether the Spirit has one principle or two. Has he the fruits of the Spirit? That is the question. Is he patient, kind, good, gentle, modest, temperate, chaste? Inquire if you will, but do not define. True religion is peace, and we can not have peace unless we leave the conscience unshackled on obscure points on which certainty is impossible.”

The first religious instruction should teach the child to fear and love God, the omnipresent and omniscient Creator and Upholder of all things; who through his Son has given eternal life to those who believe in him and keep his commandments; who dwells through the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the righteous; and who rewards the good and punishes the wicked. Belief in angels and reverence for the Scriptures should be inculcated. The child should be taught to contemplate the splendor of the heavens, the fulness of the earth, the welling fountains, the flowing rivers, the immeasurable sea, the numberless species of ani

mals, and to look on all these things as created for the service of men. The best means of inculcating morality and religion is example, for children have a special aptitude for imitation.

FEMALE EDUCATION.-Erasmus entertained enlightened views about female education. He maintained that girls should have intellectual as well as moral and domestic training. Though most persons thought it foolish, he said, intellectual culture was advantageous in maintaining a noble and chaste spirit. More care should be taken in the moral training of girls than of boys. The first effort should be to fill their hearts with holy feelings; the second, to preserve them from contamination; the third, to guard them from idleness. As innocence suffers most through evil example, Erasmus admonished parents against all unseemly conduct in the presence of their daughters. Mingling in society seemed to him less dangerous for young women than to be kept in monastic seclusion.

2. THE RELATION OF PROTESTANTISM TO EDUCATION

PREVALENT DISSATISFACTION.-The ecclesiastical revolution of the sixteenth century-that great movement which divided the Church and established Protestantism in northern Europe-was not due, as has been sometimes alleged, to insignificant causes. At the beginning of the century and for many years previously, there existed, for various reasons that can not here be examined in detail, a profound dissatisfaction within the Church. The growing intelligence of the people and the development of a strong national self-consciousness tended to bring about a reaction against ecclesiastical authority; meanwhile writ

ers like Erasmus attacked with bitter sarcasm the schools of the church and the lives of the monks, and undermined the confidence and loyalty of a large part of the laity. The times were thus ripe for the religious revolution which almost simultaneously broke out in Germany, Switzerland, and England and changed the subsequent course of European history and education.

3. THE PROTESTANT LEADERS

A. Luther

BIOGRAPHICAL.-The greatest of these leaders, whether we consider his relation to the Protestant Church or to education, was Martin Luther. He was born of humble parentage at Eisleben, Germany, November 10, 1483. His home training was exceedingly strict in its austere piety. At the age of fourteen he was sent to the school at Magdeburg, conducted by the Brethren of the Common Life. A year later he passed to Eisenach, where, in a school conducted by the learned humanist, John Trebonius, his secondary training was completed. In 1501 he entered the University of Erfurt, which, unlike many other universities of the day, had welcomed the study of the Latin and Greek classics. After taking the Master's degree in 1505, he entered the Augustinian convent of mendicant friars at Erfurt, where he passed through a profound religious experience. In 1507 he was ordained to the priesthood, and a year later was called to the newly founded University of Wittenberg, where he lectured first on Aristotle and then on the Scriptures. In 1511 he made a journey to Rome on some mission connected with the Augustinian order. On the 31st of October, 1517, in opposition to John Tetzel, who was distributing indulgences throughout Germany,

Luther nailed his famous Ninety-five Theses to the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg. This event, which led to the subsequent conflict with the papacy, is commonly regarded as the beginning of the Protestant movement.

INTEREST IN EDUCATION.-The necessities of Protestantism gave Luther an intense interest in education. Apart from frequent discussions of the subject in other writings, he prepared two treatises which exhibit great breadth of view and a marvelous energy of expression. The first of these is a Letter to the Mayors and Aldermen of the Cities of Germany in Behalf of Christian Schools, which was written in 1524, and the second a Sermon on the Duty of Sending Children to School, which was prepared in 1530. These treatises touch on nearly every important phase of education, and are admirable in their statement of principles and suggestion of methods. The commendation of Dittes is not unmerited. "If we survey the pedagogy of Luther in all its extent," he says, " and imagine it fully realized in practise, what a splendid picture the schools and education of the sixteenth century would present! We should have courses of study, text-books, teachers, methods, principles, and modes of discipline, schools and school regulations, that could serve as models for our own age. But, alas! Luther, like all great men, was little understood by his age and adherents; and what was understood was inadequately esteemed, and what was esteemed was only imperfectly realized."

METHOD OF INSTRUCTION.-Luther's practical insight led him to discourage ungentle methods of instruction. His attitude toward children was one of tenderness and sympathy. As a means of fixing truth in the childish mind, he recommended simplicity and repetition. In pre

senting a truth or principle, the child should not be confused by a needless variety of expression. There should be no undue haste in teaching. "Allow ample time for the lessons," he says in reference to his catechism. "For it is not necessary that you should, on the same occasion, proceed from the beginning to the end of the several parts." Naturally Luther insisted on thoroughness; and the practical duties of religion were to pass from the memory into conduct. The Seventh Commandment, for example, he would have enforced with the utmost earnestness upon those who might be inclined to theft or dishonesty.

END OF EDUCATION.-With Luther education was not an end in itself, but a means to more effective service in Church and State. If people or rulers neglect the education of the young, they inflict an injury on the cause of Christ and on the weal of the commonwealth; they advance the cause of Satan, and bring down upon themselves the curse of heaven. This is the fundamental thought that underlies all Luther's writings on education. "The common man,”

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he says, does not think that he is under obligation to God and the world to send his son to school. Every one thinks that he is free to bring up his son as he pleases, no matter what becomes of God's word and command. Yea, even our rulers act as if they were exempt from the divine command. No one thinks that God has earnestly willed and commanded that children be brought up to his praise and work-a thing that can not be done without schools. On the contrary, every one hastens with his children after worldly gain, as if God and Christianity needed no pastors and preachers, and the State no chancellors, councilors, and scribes."

In his letter to the mayors of the German cities, Luther