. The American public school; a genetic study of principles, practices, and present problems . nowhere were personal relations quite soartificial, though French fashion and etiquette werecopied everywhere, even in America. Hence Rous-seaus message was almost as influential in other partsof Europe and in America as it was in France. The Unnatural Education of the Period. — Theeducation of the period preceding the French Revolu-tion corresponded to the social system. The commonpeople got practically no instruction at all. Prussiaand New England were two exceptions. In Prussia,this was due to ^^
. The American public school; a genetic study of principles, practices, and present problems . nowhere were personal relations quite soartificial, though French fashion and etiquette werecopied everywhere, even in America. Hence Rous-seaus message was almost as influential in other partsof Europe and in America as it was in France. The Unnatural Education of the Period. — Theeducation of the period preceding the French Revolu-tion corresponded to the social system. The commonpeople got practically no instruction at all. Prussiaand New England were two exceptions. In Prussia,this was due to ^^ benevolent despots, who establisheda system of public elementary schools during the eight-eenth century ; in New England, as we have seen, edu-cation was fostered by a democratic religion. England,during the eighteenth century, educated only a fractionof her common people, and these in schools conductedby philanthropic societies. Everywhere else educationfor the most part was reserved for the privileged andprofessional classes. We have seen what sort of edu- 26 THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL. Active. Passive. Neuter. cation these classes received in America; it was ofthe same sort in Europe. It was traditional, calcu-VERBS. lated to turn mens minds to the interests ofthe day were for themost part excluded;not so much by theintention of rulers asby the weight of tra-dition and the lackof organized mate-rials reflecting theproblems of every-day life. Neverthe-less that suited theintent of rulers, sinceit tended to keepthings as they was disciplinaryand memoriter; cal-culated to train menin obedience, but notto think for them-selves. In France the case Eighteenth Century Childhood. The ^g^g fj^j. worSC thanupper picture is from The Little Gram- manan, published in Boston in 1819; the that. There profcs- lower one is an early eighteenth century . , , . , , fashion plate. sional educatiou had
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