JOHN
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JOHN
direct its gradual development. A study of the extraor-
dinary religious, social, and educational comlitions,
at the time the institute was founded hy dc la ."^alle. will
show the peculiar character of the diiliculties he had
to encounter and overcome. Jansenism had gained
the ascendency in France and spread broadcast its
pernicious doctrines; it fostered internal dissensions
and promoted Gallicanism, to the great detriment of
the Faith and of loyalty to the Holy See. In the
social order, a spirit of exaggerated independence was
abroad, contemning authority or thrusting it aside.
When such conditions prevailed in the upper classes,
one may well ask, what must have been the condition
of the masses? The incessant foreign and internal
wars, with their consequent evils, told with disas-
trous effect upon the people. Exorbitant demands
on the part of army officials, the violence of the
soldiery, the rapine of supervisors, the wholesale
plunder of crops, followed by famine and ruin, left
whole provinces of France imder the weight of terrible
sufferings and untold misery. The peasants fre-
quently had no bread, and when they hail it the cir-
cumstances were such as to deprive them of any
hope of sustenance for the morrow. Even when the
gloom of intestine turmoil had been momentarily
brightened by the splendid victories abroad, the sad
effect of the glory of the reign of Louis XIV made the
mourning in cottages only the more bitter owing to the
loss of the loved ones on foreign battlefields. Evidently,
morals among the masses under these dire circum-
stances were threatened with ruin, as were the social
and economic conditions; for false doctrines were
spread and took hold among the people, destroying
their faith and stultifying their consciences. Schools
there were, but they were poorly attended and shame-
fully neglected. The children and the people generally
were ignorant, and vice, according to contemporary
authorities, was rampant among all classes. De la
Salle carefully studied these conditions and, moved to
compassion for the poor, resolved to improve their
social and moral status. The founder grasped the
situation and proposed as a remedy, popular free
schools thoroughly graded and supplied with zealous
teachers, who would implant in the hearts of the
children the germs of those virtues that would tend
towards the regeneration of both the pupUs and the
parents. He saw that a religious congregation com-
posed of enlightened men, eager for the salvation of
souls, could alone stem the tide of irreligion, vice, and
ignorance. He clearly perceived that, in the pecidiar
conditions which surround any institute at the period
of its origin, the work proposed to be done shotdd em-
body in its ends the special requirements of the age in
which it originates. He also foresaw that, while the
guiding spirit of such an institute must ever remain
fundamentally the same, its scope, as a permanent
organization working for the welfare of humanity,
should have the character of a social force answering
to the needs and conditions of any age and country.
The various educational reforms which de la Salle introduced prove that he legislated wisely. The courses of study for elementary free schools, technical schools, and colleges are evidences of his broad culture and wide grasp of educational jsroblems. Hence, if the needs of a certain locality called for special branches, or if the times and conditions demanded certain advanced studies, de la Salle was not slow in responding nor in giving these subjects a place com- mensin-ate in importance with their educational value. De la Salle, furthermore, displayed his genius in giving his institute a distinctive character, that of a teaching body, consecrated to the work of popidar education. Thus he became the author of a .system of p.sychologic pedagogy which inohided the essential principles adopted by later workers in the Held <if ediieational reforms, notably by Feslalozzi, l'"riilicl, IIiTliart, and others. In making the vernacular the basis of all in-
struction, de la Salle appealed to the intelligence of the
child, prepared the way for the study of national liter-
ature, and opened up to the grown man those avenues
of real knowledge and delight that had hitherto been
closed against the eager multitude. With true scien-
tific insight he perceived the absurdity of retaining
Latin texts to teach the art of reading. For this
change he gave the following reasons: (1) The teach-
ing of the art of reading, in primary and elementary
schools, through the vernacular, is of greater and wider
utility than by Latin texts. (2) The vernacular is
more easily taught to children, who already possess
some knowledge of it, than the Latin of which they are
wholly ignorant. (3) It requires considerably less
time to learn the art of reading through the vernacu-
lar, than through a foreign tongue. (-1) The boys and
girls attending the primary and elementary schools,
can spend only a few years under instruction. Now,
if they are taught reading from a Latin text, they gen-
erally leave school without being able to read the
vernacular, and with only an imperfect knowledge of
how to read the Latin. Hence, they will soon forget
the little they have learned, and, perhaps, even how
to read the vernacular. (5) Reading is one of the most
efficacious means of acquiring knowledge. With due
care in the selection of books, children who can read in
the vernacular could spread the Christian doctrine in
the family circle, and, on evenings, read some useful
or instructive books to the assembled household;
whereas, if they could read the Latin only, without
understanding it, they would be deprived of many
valuable benefits resulting from the intelligent reading
of a good book. (6) It is impossible for children in
primary and elementary schools to master the reading
of Latin texts, because they are not acquainted with
its subject-matter. It is, therefore, the part of wisdom
to train children thoroughly to the intelligent reading
of works written in the vernacular. Thus, having
mastered the art of reading in the vernacular, a few
months would suffice to make them read the Latin
fluently, whereas, if the traditional method were fol-
lowed, it would require at least several years [Annales
de I'Institut, I (18S3), pp. 140, 141].— This fact proves
that de la Salle was a profound tliiuker, a genius in the
work of popular education. He embraced all classes,
all conditions of society. By making the free schools
popular, he grasped the growing needs of society in his
own day and for all times. No phase of the educa-
tional problem escaped his penetrating vision.
As de la Salle is especially identified with the "Si- multaneous Method" of teaching, an explanation of the method and its liistory wiU prove of interest to the educator. By the " Simultaneous Method " the pupils are graded according to their capacity, putting those of equal attainments in the same class, giving them the same text^books, and requiring them to follow the same lesson under one and the same teacher. This method has best stood the test of time and experience, and is that which the Brothers of the Cliristian Schools employ in all grades of instruction even at the present day. " Like all fruitful ideas, the " Simultaneous Method " is not the exclusive property of any one man. Others besides de la Salle disocrneil it's value, and even partially apphed its essential jirinciijlcs, long before the founder of the Christian Schools made it live in his institute. It had no place in the university system of the Middle Ages. The plan adopted in those times was that which prevails to a great extent in the universi- ties of our own day, namely, listening to lectures, tak- ing notes thereon, and holding disputations upon the subject-matter. The Jesuits organized each class in sulxli visions; each division being headed by an ad- vanced pupil called a decurion, to whom the boys re- cited their lessons at stated times, while the teacher corrected exercises or heard the lessons of particular pupils. The whole class afterwards received explana- tions from the teacher. St. Peter lourier (1565-
