Comenius' School of Infancy/Chapter 5

by Johan Amos Comenius

CHAPTER V.

 

PHYSICAL EDUCATION.

 

1. A certain author advises that we ought “to pray for a sound mind in a sound body.”^[1] But we ought to labor as well as to pray, since God promises the blessings to the industrious, and not to the indolent. Inasmuch, however, as babies cannot labor, nor know how to pour out prayers to God, it becomes the parents to discharge this duty, so as to zealously train up what they have procreated to the glory of God.

2. Above all things it should be the parents’ first care to preserve the health of their offspring, since they cannot train them up successfully unless they be lively and vigorous; for what proficiency can be made with the sickly and the morbid? Inasmuch as this matter depends mainly upon mothers,^[2] it seems requisite to counsel them for their sake.

3. The mother, bearing in mind that God, the creator of all things, began to form the offspring, should devote herself on that account even more to piety than formerly, beseeching God daily, with most ardent prayers, that He will bring to light, perfectly formed and sound, what she bears beneath her heart.

4. Let matrons, therefore, be especially careful of themselves, that they may in no respect injure their offspring. 1. Let them observe temperance and diet, lest by excessive eating and drinking, or unreasonable fasting, by purgations, by blood-letting, by chills, etc., they fall into a condition of depression and liability to injure, or emaciate, or debilitate their offspring: they must therefore be particularly cautious against all excess during the period of carriage. 2. Let them not recklessly stagger, stumble, or strike against anything, or even walk incautiously; because of any and all of these, the yet weak and infirm infant may be injured. 3. It is needful for the prospective mother to hold a tight rein over all her affections, so as to avoid incurring sudden fear, falling into excessive anger, or repining or distressing herself in mind, etc.; for unless she beware of these things she will have an infant timid, passionate, anxious, and melancholy, and, what is worse, from sudden terror and excessive passion, it may be brought forth a lifeless abortion, or at least of very feeble health. 4. In respect of external actions, the mother should be careful not to indulge in excessive sleep, indolence, or torpor, but perform with all agility her usual employment, with all the promptitude and celerity of which she is capable; for as she then is, such will be the nature of her offspring. With respect to other matters, skilled physicians, nurses, and honorable matrons will supply the necessary advice.

5. Immediately upon the birth of the child let it be suitably cleansed and washed: let soft and warm fomentations be applied around it, and let the parent at once prepare suitable food. And here it ought especially to be observed, that the mother herself ought to be the nurse,^[3] and not to repel her own flesh, nor grudge to the infant the sustenance which she supplied to it prior to its birth. Oh, how grievous, how hurtful and reprehensible is the strange conduet of certain mothers (especially of the upper classes), who, feeling it irksome to cherish their own offspring, delegate the duty of nourishing their offspring upon other women. This matter imposes the necessity of showing here the hard-heartedness of such culpability, and of showing how cautiously they ought to proceed in it; for the deeper this custom has spread its roots and diffused itself, the greater the necessity of not passing it by in silence, especially here, when we purpose to show the benefit arising out of good order from the very foundation.

6. I maintain, therefore, that this cruel alienation of mothers from their infants, by handing them over to be suckled with the milk of others (unless in some inevitable case, or when the mother is unable), is opposed, (1) to God and nature; (2) hurtful to the children; (3) pernicious to mothers themselves; (4) dishonorable, and deserving the highest reprobation.

7. That such conduct is strongly opposed to nature is manifest from this: First, that no such thing is found in nature, not even among wild beasts: the wolf, the bear, the lioness, the panther, and other such ferocious animals, nourish their offspring with their own milk; and shall the mothers of the human race be less affectionate than the dams of all these? Does not God himself indicate this very thing in the lamentations of Jeremiah, saying, “The dragons make bare the breast and suckle their young; the daughter of my people is cruel as the ostrich in the desert.” How, I pray, can it agree with nature that they should thrust from themselves that which is a part of themselves?—that they should at last withdraw the milk from their own offspring, which during so many months they bore and nourished beneath their hearts? God certainly gave not the milk for the use of the mothers, but of the children; for those fountains never spring up save when offspring come to life: for whose sake then are they, unless they be for the new guests? They, therefore, who can and do not suckle their own offspring, invert the Divine arrangements and transfer them to a different purpose than that for which they were designed.

8. Secondly, it contributes much to the health of the infants that they suckle the breast of their real mother, rather than of another; inasmuch as before birth they were nourished with the maternal blood, daily experience witnesses that children might approach nearer to the dispositions and virtues of their parents than generally happens. Favorinus, not among the least celebrated of philosophers, shows, that as the milk of animals, by some occult virtue, possesses the power of fashioning the body and mind according to the form of its original; and this he demonstrates by citing the case of lambs and kids, saying, “That lambs, nourished with the milk of goats, have milk much weaker than those sustained by the milk of the mother; on the contrary, kids nourished with the milk of sheep have wool much softer than those nourished by the milk of their dams.” Who, then, unless he be blind, does not observe that infants, with the milk of the foster mother, imbibe morals other than those of their parents? If married people do not permit their gardens to be sown with foreign seed, why do they allow their human plants to be irrigated with foreign water? If the father has communicated his nature to the offspring, why should the mother deny to it her nature?^[4] Why admit a third person to perform that? God, moreover, has united only two persons, as sufficient for producing offspring, and why should we not acquiesce in His will? If this custom can be admitted at all, it can only be in two special cases. First, should the mother of the infant be laboring under some contagious disease, in order to preserve the sound health of the infant and to prevent its contracting any taint of the contagion, it may be entrusted to another nurse. Second, if the mother be of such corrupt morals as to occasion obstruction to the virtue of the infant, providing a nurse of upright morals and piety can be found, I should not deny that in order to secure the graceful endowments of the mind, the infant may be entrusted to her. Inasmuch, however, as in these times even honorable, noble, and pious matrons deliver their recently born offspring to worthless, disreputable, and impious women, sometimes in a much more feeble state of health than themselves, such practice can admit of no excuse; for their beloved offspring becomes thus exposed to certain contagion of both body and mind. Assuredly under such circumstances, parents have no reason to wonder that their children become altogether dissimilar to themselves in morals and the affairs of life, and that they walk not in their steps, since according to a proverb common among the Romans, “Wickedness is imbibed with the milk.”

9. Thirdly, as delicate mothers of this kind are afraid, that if they should take charge of their children, they may lose something of their symmetry or elegance of form. It frequently happens, on the contrary, that they incur the loss, not only of their customary rest and beauty, but also of their health; since, when they reject their own sucking infants, they reject their physicians, who usually free the mothers of superfluous humors and occult diseases,—as the philosopher, Favorinus, has shown at considerable length. Plutarch^[5] deemed it necessary to compose a book for the especial purpose of counselling mothers in the duties to which by God and nature they are destined; and Aulus Gellius has left it upon record “that such women are not worth the name of mothers who decline the fulfillment of what God; and nature enjoined upon them; and for such he anticipates evils of every kind.”

10. Fourthly, it violates maternal honor for mothers to refuse the breasts to their own children.^[6] Didacus Apolephtes calls such not mothers, but step-mothers, saying, that many prefer the burdens of wealth rather than to carry their own offspring in their bosom; and many blush more at carrying their own offspring, than a dog or a squirrel in their arms. What animal, I pray, is so savage as to entrust its own young to others? Nay, a race of animals is said to exist in which the male contests with the female for the privilege of caring for the offspring. Birds, likewise, although they occasionally produce six and more young ones at a time, and God has not supplied them with milk for their offspring, yet they do not desert them, but feed and cherish them with all possible care.

11. As to the evil that may arise if some unsuitable nurse, and not the mother, suckle the infant, I will prove by example from three of the Roman emperors. 1. Titus, having had a diseased nurse, was throughout life subject to illness, as Lampridius avers. 2. Caligula was a ferocious beast in human form. The cause of this, however, was not attributable to his parents, but to the nurse whose breast he had sucked, who, besides being grossly immoral and impious, used to sprinkle her breasts with blood and then present them to him to suck. From this cause he became of a disposition so ferocious, that he not only delighted in shedding human blood, but also, without the least feeling of aversion, he licked it with his tongue when adhering to the sword. He even dared to wish that all mankind had but one neck, in order that they might be cut off with a stroke. 3. Tiberius was exceedingly fond of wine, for his nurse was not only herself a wine-bibbing and drunken woman, but also accustomed him from early life to the use of the juice of the grape.^[7]

12. Hence it is evident that no little depends on what kind of a nurse^[8] one has, not only with regard to the body, but also to the mind and morals; for if a nurse be affected with any manifest or secret disease, the infant will also be subject to it. “If she be unchaste, untruthful, a pilferer, or is drunken or passionate, you can expect no other morals from the infant, which, with the milk, imbibes the seeds of all these evils.”—Didacus Apolephtes.

13. Let the above suffice for the present. Pious and prudent parents, anxious for the safety of their offspring, will know how to use these admonitions.

14. When at length the infants may be accustomed gradually to other aliment, it must be begun prudently with such nutritious substances as approximate to their natural aliment—mainly soft, sweet, and easy of digestion. It is extremely hurtful (as is the custom with many) to accustom infants to medicine; because by this means obstruction is occasioned to natural digestion in the stomach, and consequently to their growth. For medicine and food are in their nature opposites; the latter supplies the body with blood and vital humors, whereas the former opposes, by drying them up and expelling them; besides, medicine taken when not required becomes a habit of nature and loses its power, so as to be useless in the time of need, from being assimilated to nature. Nay, what is still worse, infants used to medicine from their tender years, never attain perfect strength and sound health, being rendered feeble, sickly, infirm, pale-faced, imbecile, cancerous; finally, they anticipate fate and die prematurely.

15. Wherefore, Oh beloyed parents, if you would be numbered among the wise, just as you would avoid giving them poison, so avoid giving medicine to your children except in cases of necessity. Avoid also drink and food warm and acrid in their nature, such as dishes seasoned largely with pepper or salt. He who feeds his offspring with such food, or refreshes them with such drink, acts in the same manner as an imprudent gardener, who, being desirous that his plants should grow and flourish quickly, in order to warm the roots, covers them with lime. No doubt such plants will increase and put forth buds, but they will soon begin to become arid and dwindle away; and, while they seem to be flourishing, perish at the root. If you doubt this, make the experiment, and you will find how insalubrious these nutriments are for children. God has assigned and ordained milk as food for children and other tender creatures; consequently they ought to be nourished on it. As soon, however, as they can be withdrawn from milk, let them have food of a similar nature, duly tempered, bread, butter, pottage, pot herbs, water, and avery light ale; thus they will grow like plants by the running stream, only indulging them in duly regulated sleep, frequent playful amusements, bodily movements, and, above all, commending their health and safety in pious prayers to God.

16. Hence the Spartans,^[9] once the wisest of mortals, surpassed all the nations of the earth in paying special attention to the education of their youth. It was strictly provided by the public statutes that none of their youth should be allowed to taste wine before their twentieth year. Since wine was thus strictly denied to their youth, what, I pray, should we say respecting that maddening drink, recently discovered to the ruin of the human race, namely, wine and brandy, with which both old and young are equally burnt up? It is time, truly, that we learn to be cautious, lest we corrupt and destroy our children.

17. In other respects, also, the health of children should be most carefully watched, since their little bodies are weak, their bones soft, their veins infirm, and none of their members as yet mature and perfect. Consequently, they need prudent circumspection as to the manner in which they should be taken in the hand, lifted up, carried, set down, wrapped up, or laid in the cradle, lest through any imprudence they be injured by falling down, or striking against any thing, whereby they may lose sight or hearing, or become lame or maimed.^[10]

A child is a more precious treasure than gold, but more fragile than glass. It may be easily shaken and injured, and be irreparably damaged.

18. When infants begin to sit, to stand, or to run about, to prevent injury from striking against anything, there is need of little seats, knee-splints, and little carriages, always beginning with the smallest. In some countries the practice prevails of putting upon the heads of infants a little cap padded on the inside with rolls of cotton, so that in the event of falling, their heads may be preserved from injury; a precaution quite applicable to other members also.^[11] Let suitable clothing and warm covering in winter defend them from cold and atmospheric changes. To express the matter in a few words, let their health sustain no damage from bruises, from excess of heat or cold, from too much food or drink, or from hunger or thirst. Observing that all these be attended to with moderation.

19. It is likewise beneficial to observe due order: for example, how often children should be put to rest in the course of the day, and fed, and refreshed with play;^[12] since this conduces much to health and becomes the basis of subsequent regularity of conduct. Although this may appear frivolous to some minds, yet it is certainly true that infants may be sufficiently inured to decorous and agreeable order, as is manifested by example.

20. Inasmuch as our life consists in vital heat, and natural fire, unless it have a thorough draft of air, and repeated agitation, soon goes out, it is in like manner necessary that infants have their daily exercises and amusements. And, for this purpose, before children are able to move themselves and run about, the devices of rocking the cradle, carrying about, transferring from place to place, and being drawn in vehicles, were adopted. But when the little ones are somewhat advanced and begin to take to their feet, they may be allowed to run and do this or that little matter (at the beck of the mother or nurse). The more a child is thus employed, runs about and plays, the sweeter its sleep, the more easily does its stomach digest, the more quickly does it grow and flourish, both in body and mind; care being only taken that it in no way injures itself. Therefore a place should be found in which children may run about and exercise themselves with safety. And the proportion of this exercise that may be allowed without injury must be shown; and guardians of health, nurses, and baby carriers must be procured.

21. Finally, according to the proverb, a joyful mind is half health.^[13] The joy of the heart is the very life-spring of man; in this also parents ought to be especially careful never to allow their children to be without delights. For example, in their first year, their spirits should be stirred up by rocking in the cradle, by gentle agitation in the arms, by singing, by rattles, by carrying through some open place or garden, or even by kisses and embraces. Let all these things, however, be done with circumspection. In the second, third, and fourth years, let their spirits be stirred up by means of agreeable plays with them, or their playing among themselves, by running about, by chasing one another, by music, and any agreeable spectacle, as pictures, etc.^[14] And to express myself in general, whatever is found to be either agreeable or pleasing must, on no account, be denied the child. Nay, if some little occupations can be conveniently provided for its eyes, ears, or other senses, they will contribute to the vigor of body and mind. Such things only ought to be denied as are adverse to piety and upright morals. As to the rest, more will be said in its own place.

 

COLLATERAL READING.

 

Blow’s Symbolic Education, Chap. V.; Edgeworth’s Practical Education, Chaps, I., II., and III.; Malleson’s Early Training of Children, Chap. VIII.; Marwedel’s Conscious Motherhood, Chap. X.; Richter’s Levana, Appendix to the Third Fragment; Rousseau’s Émile, Book I.

 

1. Montaigne in L’institution des Enfants (Paris, 1888) says: “I would have the youth’s outward behavior and mien and the disposition of his limbs formed at the same time with his mind. It is not a soul, it is not a body, that we are training up, but a man, and we ought not to divide him.”
2. Pestalozzi also maintains that the mother is the natural educator of the child. In Comment Gertrude Instruit ses Enfants (Paris, 1887), he says: It is the main design of my method to make home instruction again possible to our neglected people, and to induce eyery mother whose heart beats for her child to make use of my elementary exercises.” Again in Christoph und Else (Berlin, 1869); “A pious mother who teaches her own children seems to me the finest sight on earth.”
3. Vives, with whose educational writings Comenius was familiar, says in De Institutione Femine Christianæ (Basle, 1524): “The mother, like Cornelia, should regard her children as her greatest treasures. Where possible, she should nurse them herself. It is the most natural for mother and child and the surest foundation of the child’s affections.” Rousseau’s injunction in the same connection is well known. He says: “Let mothers only vouchsafe to nourish their children, and our manners will reform themselves; the feelings of nature will reawaken in all hearts.”
4. Marcus Aurelius maintained that he inherited modesty from his father and feelings of piety from his mother.
5. Plutarch’s essay on the training of children is perhaps the oldest authenticated book on infant education.
6. Rousseau is said to have made it fashionable for mothers to nurse their own children; but a century and a half before him Comenius tried to do the same thing.
7. Quintilian remarks in this connection: “New vases preserve the taste of the first liquor that is put into them, and wool, once colored, never regains its primitive whiteness.”
8. Jean Paul Richter says: “If we regard all life as an educational institution, a circumnavigator of the world is less influenced by all the nations that he has seen than by his nurse.”
9. For accounts of Spartan education Mahaffy’s Old Greek Education (N. Y., 1882), Davidson’s Aristotle and the Ancient Educational Ideals (N. Y., 1802), and Compayré’s History of Pedagogy (Boston, 1886).
10. “To be in good health,” says M. Compayré, the distinguished French writer on education, “to be vigorous and robust, to be skillful with the hands and the fingers, and, if we can, to be beautiful and to remedy as far as possible those infirmities which disfigure and deform—such are the demands of physical education.”
11. His two illustrious followers, Locke and Rousseau, in a process of hardening children, took issue with Comenius on this point. But Comenius believed in moderation in all things.
12. “Play,” observes Jean Paul Richter, “is the working off at once of the overflow of both mental and physical powers; afterwards when the school scepter has carried off the mental source of all fire, even till rain comes, the limbs only throw off the fullness of life by running, throwing, carrying. Play is the first poetry of the human being.”
13. Hannah More in her Strictures on Female Education (London, 1799) gives similar advice: “Do not give her a gloomy and discouraging picture of the world, but rather seek to give her a just and sober view of the part she will have to take in it. There is, happily, an active spring in the mind of youth which bounds with fresh vigor and uninjured elasticity from temporary depressions.”
14. Fröbel remarks: The plays of the child contain the germ of the whole life that is to follow; for the man develops and manifests himself in play, and reveals the noblest aptitudes and the deepest elements of his being. The whole life of man has its source in that epoch of existence, and whether his life is serene or sad, tranquil or agitated, fruitful or barren, depends on the care given to the beginnings of existence.”