T H E E D U C AT I O N OF

KA R L W ITT E

TH E TR AIN IN G OF TH E C H IL D

ED ITED , WITH AN I NTRO D U CTI ON , BY

H . ADD IN GTO N BR U C E

m ns m mm
u o THE 0 2 mm : BY

LE O WI E N E R
 C O N TEN TS

E DITO R
’
a I NTRODUCTI ON
1 . FOR WH OM I
TH S BOO K Is W RIT TEN
II . WAs MY SON BO RN W I TH ExTR A O R D IN AR Y
ARTITUDEs ?
III . DID MY EDUCATI ONAL WO R K P ROCEED SUC

Is SoN E DUCATI ON FI NI SH ED ?
’
NIY s

E VERY O RD I NA RI LY O RGANIZ ED C H I LD MAY

BECOM E A SU P ERI O R M AN , I F H E Is
PR O P ERLY E DUCAT ED

DID I I NTEND TO M A KE A P R E COCI OU3

SCH OLAR OUT OF MY SON ?
How C AM E MY SON TO B E A PRE C OCIOU s
SCH OLAR ?
V III . DID I P RETEND TO H AVE TH E N EC ESSA RY
SKI LL FOR MA KI NG A SC H OLAR OE MY
SON ?
O EJ ECTIONs TO TH E EA RLY E DUCATI ON OE
NIY SON

! . DID M Y SON P ROFIT F ROM H Is EA RLY E D U

CATI ON ?
 C o n t e n ts

PM

! I
. S H OULD C H I LD REN E E L EFT To T H EM
SELVES U P To T H EI R S EVE NT H O R E I G HT H

Y EAR ?

WHAT W E DI D To G UA RD KARL AGAI NST

FLATTERY O R AT L EAST TO W EAKE N
, , ,

ITS V EN OM

KA RL S TOYS AND THE FI RST STEPS I N HIS

’

M ENTAL E DUCATION
M UST C H I LD REN PLAY M UC H W IT H OTH ER
C H I LD REN ?

! V . KA RL S DI ET
’

! VI . WHAT W E DI D EOR KA RL S M O RAL EDU

’

CATI ON
HOW KA RL L EA RN ED To R EAD AND W RITE
O N T H E S EP A RATI ON OF WO RK AND P LAY
C ONC ER NI NG R EW A RDS
HOW KA RL L EA RN ED THE LANGUAG ES
KA RL S E DUCATI ON I N THE SCIEN C
’

T H E C ULTIVATI ON OP TAST E
KA RL G OES TO C OLLEGE
 E D I T O R S I N TRO DU C T I ON
’

W H EN , than six months a go I suggested

l e ss ,

i n the cou rse o f an article contributed to Th e

O ut l oo k the great desi rabi l ity of an E ng l ish
,
“
translati on of that remarkab l e b ook Kar l ,

W itt e : Oder E rz ie h ungs und B il d un gsge

-

schichte D esselben E i n Buch fur E l tern und

.

E rz iehende I h a d no idea that the o p p o r t u

”
,

n i t y woul d so soon be a fforded of assisting to

carry out this suggestion mysel f There are .

few tasks I have undertaken that ha ve a p

pealed to me so strong l y for the reason that,

P asto r W itte s account of the ear l y home

’

trainin g of his son must unquestionab l y be t e

garded a s one of the most inspi ring and help
ful contributions ever made to the literatu re
o f education I s a y this with ful l a p p re c ia
.

t ion of the fact that nearly a hundred years

h av e passed since it wa s written and that in ,

t h e meantime i t has dropped so completely

ou t of sight that fe w even among the most
e rudite exponents of the modern science of
”
p eda go gy ha v e any acquaintance with it I n
.

V
 E d it o r I n t r o d uc t i o n
’
s

fact so fa r as I am aware and I have made

, ,

diligent inqui ry the copy from which this

,

fi rst trans l ation into E ngl ish has been made

and which I found reposing l ong undistu rbed
in the Treasure Roo mof Ha rva rd University
—
L ibra ry is the only copy in the United
S tates .

There are t wo reasons fo r W itte s book ’

hav ing thus fa ll en into tempo ra ry ob l ivion .

In its o rigina l form it is a book which to em ,

p l oy the quaint but e x tremely e x p ressi ve Ger

“ ”
man ph rase does not a ll ow itse l f to be read
, .

Not only is it e x cessi v ely lo n g running to ,

more than a thousand pages of p rint but it is ,

bu rdened with a mass of disquisitional pas

sages which too often a re of little impo rtance ,

and which in add ition to e x hausting the read

,

er s patience have the e ffect of diminishing

’
,
‘
his app reciation of the v a l ue of the educa
t io n a l me t hod which W itte l abo riously and
disconnectedly details C onsequently it h a s .

been a necessa ry task in connection with the

,

p resent translation to eliminate as fa r as pos

,

sible the superfluous and beclouding material ,

whi l e at the same time endeavoring to omi t

nothing rea ll y essential to an understanding
of the p rincip l es guiding W itte in the educa
 E d i t or I n t r o d uc t i o n
'
s
I

tion of h i s son But even had it not been

.

weighted down by a heavy hand icap of fo rm

a n d style his book wa s foredoomed to be left
,

for many years un read and unheeded because

of the impossibi l ity of reconciling its teach
“ ”
ings with the established educational doc
trines of the age .

W itte s fundamental p rinciple that the

’
—
education of a child should begin with the
d awning Of the child s intelligence c ame —’

into di rect collision with the accepted peda

g go i c a l policy of refraining from anything in
the wa y of fo rmal education until the chi l d
“ ”
reached school age By beginning too soon
.

to teach and train a chi l d the p rev a l ent theo ry ,

ran not only will the chi l d be robbed of the

,

joys of childhood but there will also be grave

danger of seriously perhaps i rreparab l y l n
, ,

juring h is health by overstraining his mind .

I t was in v ain that W itte could and did point

to the success of his daring experiment in the
upb ringin g of his own child Th e outcome .

of that experiment in the opinion of most

,

educational authorities p ro ved not the wis , ,

dom of the cou rse fo ll owed but the exce p ,

t i o n a l innate ab i l i ty of the ch i ld on whom the

exper iment wa s made .
 E d it o r I n t r od uc t i o n
’
s

This i nsistenceon the p rop riety of allow

“
ing the mind of the v e ry young child to lie
”
fallow has continued to b e the dominant
featu re in pedagogical thought to the p resen t
day Th e ine v itable result especially in coun
.
,

tries having a highly de veloped pu b l i c school

system has b een to th row v i rtual l y the whole
,

burden of educat ion on t h e schools And no t .

until recent years has there b een any real a p

p reciation of the fact that the schools are not
able to car ry i t To day however in addi .
-
, ,

tion to widesp read and not altogether he l pful

“
denunciation o f the breakdown of the pub
”
lic school system educato rs are seriously b e,

ginning to ask themselves i f too much has not

“
been e x pected of the schools ; i f thei r failu re
!
to develop really rational men and women ’

is not in g reat pa rt due to the unwo rkabil i ty

—
of the materi al th e boys and girls of the na
—
tion wi th which the schoo l s hav e to deal ;
and i f this unworkabili t y in its tu rn may not
chiefly b e the result of neglecting to begin
‘
As ch a rg ed fo r e am
p le x in Dr Cha r l es W E l i ot
’
s d ec
mm
. .
, ,

la ra t ion : Ou
“
r co l
on s ch oo s h a ve f i
a l e d s i gn a ll y t o cu l
t iva t e g e n e r a l i n t e ll e
i g n c e a s is e v
i n c e d b y t h e a l ure t o fi
em
,

e
dea l a dequa t ly W it h t he liquo r p rob l , by t he pr a l nc ev e e
o f ga mi k m e
bl n g , o f s t ri e s a cco pa n i d by V io lenc , a n d by the e
e
pe rs is t ncy o f t he s poi ls syst e ”
m
.
 E d it o r I n t r o d uc t i o n
’
s

the p rocess of education in the home before

the boys and gi rls are old enough to be sent
to school .

In support of this new v iew stress is laid

on ce rt ain results of recent scientific research ;
results going to show for e x ample that earl y , ,

imp ressions a re the most l asting that ea rly ,

ch ildhood is undoubted l y the time when hab

its good or bad are most readi l y formed and ,

that neglect of a chi l d s menta l ity in ea rly ’

l ife may mean l ifelong mental inferio rity In .

fact notwithstanding the o r thodo x p e d a gog i

,

cal dread o f in fanti l e o verstrain scientific stu ,

dents of the natu re and characteristics of man

a re beginning bold l y to assert that the sooner

a child s educat ion is begu n the bette r it wi l l

’

be for th at child As one ab l e in vestigato r

.
,

D r T A W i l liams of W ashington has re

. . .
, ,

c e n t ly put it :

m
An i p r ess ion p re va ils tha t gr owi n g or ga ns should no t
be subjec t ed t o wor k Th is is a gr oss e rro r ; for orga ns
.

wh ich do not wor k c a n not gr ow well E ve n t he bon es

becom
.

e h a r d , a n d l a rge in p r opor t i on t o t he
t ou h ,g
St r es ses t o wh ich t hey a re s u bjec t ed by fr eque nt a n d
V i gor ou s pu lls where the uscles a re a t t a ched m .

Wha t is t rue o f s t ruc t ure is t rue of func t ion a l power

m m
.

Fr o ba llet d a ncers t o v ioli n v ir t uos i , a r t is ts ust be

t r a in ed fro m
ea rly youth It a y be object ed t ha t th is
. m
 E d it or I n t r o d uc t i on
’
s

is beca use mu ul sc ar a gili t y

b ut t h i s o bjecis
t i o nr equi ed r

m
,

is on ly s u perfici a l ; for dext er i t y o f a n a r t ist is a de p os

s i ble , n o t in v i r t u e of super ior coOr din a t ions of ove m
m m
en t s the selves , but by ea ns of the super ior speed a n d m
a cc u r a cy o f t he gu m
idi n g en t a l p roc ess es wh ich r es ide in
t he b r a i n S i nce in t ellec t ua l a ct i v i t y is a lso a r es ult of or
m
.

de r ly fun c t i on i n g o f e n t a l p r oc esses se a t ed in t h e br a i n ,
it sh ou m
ld be a n i fes t t ha t thes e t oo should r ea ch excel
l ence bes t whe n t hey a re t r a i n ed by a c a p a ble h a n d d ur
m
m
in g t he for a t i ve pe r i od o f ea rly yout h Th is a pr ior i
m
.

ass u ion I b elieve t o be bo rn e out by ex pe r ie nce ‘

.

W riting to the same e ffect another b r ill i ant ,

American medical psychologist D r Boris ,

.

S idis unhesitating l y a ffi rms that in the case

,

of the vast majori ty of chi l d ren the p roper

time fo r beginning thei r education is in the
second or thi rd year of l ife He adds .

It i t th t t im
s a e t h t th Ch ild begi t f rmhis
a a e ns o o

i t e e t s It i a t th t i t i l pe i d t h t w h ve t
n r s s a cr ca r o a e a o

pp t u i t y t guide th h ild f mt ive e e

.

se i ze t h
’
e o or n o e c s or a n r

gies i t h i ght Ch el T del y i m

n e r ann i t ke a d s . o a s a s a n a

w g t th Ch ild We
r on o e t t h t e ly pe i d w ke
. ca n a a ar r o a a n

a l ve o f k wledge wh i h will pe i t t h ugh li fe

o no c rs s ro

Th h ild will as e ge ly pl y i t h g m
.

e c e f k wled ge
a r a n e a o no

as h e no w pe d t h m t f h i e e gi es i m
s n s e ean i gless
os o s n r n n

g a m es d bj
an t l illy p t s
o ec ees s s or

We l imwe a e f id t f e t h hild s m
.

c a r i d
a ra o or c e c
’
n

We l imwe id t t i hi b i p mt u ly
.

c a af a re ra o s ra n s ra n re a re .

Th is is a n e I di t i g t he
rr o r . u f th u
n f r ec n co rse o e se o

t he ch ild s e e gi es w d e t h h ild If we d
’
n r t f e o no o rc e c . o

In Th e P e da g og ica l S e mi na ry , Vol ! V III ,

. p . 85 .
 E di ’
t or s I n t r od uc t i on

not e e ie
d ir ect t he n r g s in t he r gh t cours , t he ch wi e ild ill
wa s t e t h em
in t he wr on g r c t i on di e
In y p r a c m
me
.

t ic e as p y i
h s ic an in n r vous a n d e
n t al is as es , I ca n d e
sa y w t hou i
t hes i t a t ion t h a t I ha v n ot e m i le e
et a s n g ca s

e
o f n rvou s or me n t a l t r ou le ed y
b c a us b t oo uch t h n m ik
e dy
in g or ov rs t u i pi i
Th s is n ow t h e o n on o f t he bes t
.

py p i
s cho a t h ol og s t s W p d e
h a t r o uces n rvousn ss is wor r , e y
em l e i em
.

ot ion a xc t e
nt , a n d ac l k ee
o f i n t r s t in t he wo r k .

p e ely
B ut th a t is r c is wha t we do wi t h our ch r n ild e We .

d o not t a ke e de el p l e k led e
ca r to v o a ov of now g in t h r ei
e ly l e
ar e i j y
i f for f a r of br a n i n ur , a n d t h n wh n it is e e
l e
at to ac u q e e
ir the in t r es t we forc t h e em t o st u , a n ddy
we c ra m em eed em
th a nd f th a n d st q t h emlike ee e
g s
me l
.

Wh a t youoft n ge t is fa tt eg n r a t on of t he
e yd e e i nt a

l iver .

If howe v er youdo n ot n eglec t t he ch ild b e t wee n t he

, ,

secon d a n d t h i d ye a r a d see t o it
r , t h t th
n b a in a e r

s hou ld n ot be s t a rved shoul d h ve it s p oper fu ct ion

, a r n ,

l i ke t he res t of t he bod ily orga ns by developi n g a n in ,

t er es t in i n t ellec t u a l a c t iv i t y a n d l ov e o f k owled ge n o n ,

forc i n g of t he ch ild t o s t udy is a ft e rwa r d r equis i t e The

ch ild will go on by h i m
.

s el f — he will de i ve i t e ns e e r n n

j y en t fromhis i n t el lec t ua l a c t iv i ty as he d es f om
m
,

o o r

h is ga m
,

es a n d phys ical exerc ise Th Ch ild will be . e

s t ron ger hea l t h ie r s t u r dier t h a n t he p es e n t ve a g e r a r

c h ild wi th it s p uely a n i m
, ,

a l a c t i v i t ies a n d t o t a l n e glec t
r

His p hys i ca l a d m e t a l develop m

,

O f b r a in fu nc t ion-
en t
n n

H e will not be a b a b i a n wi t h a i ml
.

w il l go a p ac e . r ar n a

p r ocl ivi t ies a n d a s t r on g dis t as t e fo k owled ge a d r n n

men tal enj oyment but he will be a st ron g hea lthy

m
ki g m
, , ,

th
1
n an.

e
P h il i st in a n d Gen i us , pp 67 68 84-86 Mo ffa t Ya r d
‘ “
In .
-
, , ,

!
N e w Yo rk , 191 1 Th e . i t a l i c s in t h e pa s sa g es quot e d
Dr S idis s
’
a re . .
 E dit o r I n t r o d uc t i o n
’
s

N ow, this is the ve ry position that was take n

b y Karl W itte a hundred years ago In a n .

age when no enlightenment was possib l e to

him from anth ropo l o gy psycho l o gy and the
, ,

allied modern sciences that have for thei r

chief object the study of human ch a r a c te ris
tics ; in an age when tradition and dogma
still ens l aved pedagogica l theory this humbl e ,

country clergyman in a litt l e German vi l lage

a rrived by some mi raculous powe r o f intui
tion at the selfsame conc l usions he l d by the
most advanced educ a tional thinke rs of the
p resent day S ure l y i t is not su rp rising on
.
,

the one hand that his book made no imp res

,

sion on the people o f his own generation ; and

on the othe r hand that afte r having lain so
,

long unnoticed it now challenges attentio n

,

i n the light of the increasing recognition that

t h e education of the school room must be sup

p l e me n t e d and p receded by the education of

the home My own belief is that it o ffers to
.

pa rents p recisely the information and guid

ance indispensable to the p roper performance
of this all impo rtant task
-
.

C ertainly t h e educat ional method adopted

by W itte is so simple that it can be utilized by
anybody ; a nd certai nly t h e resul ts o b ta ined
 E dit or I n t r oduct ion
’
I

in t h e c se o f
a h is so n a e o f a rc h ara c t e r t h at
m ust appea l t o e very r igh t m i nded p ar e nt -

Le t m
.

e b r i efl r e v i e w t h e fa cts a s se t fort h
y ,

a r tl i n t he res en t v o l um e and art l i n the

p y p p y
q
s o n s c ar e e r s u b s e uent t o t h e wr i t i n o f h is
’

g
fa t h er s ac c ount O f h is educat i on
’
.

Th e e l d e r W i tt e a s h a s j u s t b een sa i d wa s
a c l ergy ma n i n a G e rman vil lag e a m
, ,

a n Of ,

s i m l e h a b i ts b ut o f uncom m o n l o r i i na l and
p y g
force ful ways Of t h i n k i n g Lo o k i n g a t t h e
W orld a b out h i mh e sa w i t p eo pl ed l arg e ly
.

w i th m
,

e n and W omen wh o w a s ted t h e i r en er

g i e s i n a ll s o rts O f d i ss i at i on
p A s a m ora l i s t
.

h e wa s s addene d a n d de p re ss ed by t h e drunk
e n n e ss am b l i n s e x ua l i rre u l ar i t ie s t h at h e
g g g
St il l m ore h e m
, , ,

foun d e v erywh e r e . arvel ed

that s uc h t h i n gs c o uld b e a m on g rat i ona l h u
ma n b ei n gs
,

“
T h es e p oor pe o pl e h e r e fl e c t e d d o n o t
,
“
,

reas o n d o not use t h e i r God given i ntell ects

,
-
.

If t h e y di d t h ey w o u l d spe nd t h e i r l ives a l to
eth e r di fferen t l and wo u l d de v ot e th e m
g y ,

s e lves t o t h i n s O f tru e wort h

g T h e trou b l e
.

m ust b e t h at t h e y h ave n o t b ee n educate d

ar igh t T h ey h ave not b een taugh t h o w t o
‘

th i n k and w h at t o th i n k a b out Th ey have .

b e e n s tarted wro n g i n l ife Th e s ch o o ls and .

 E d it or I n t r o d uc t i o n
’
s

unive rsities are to blame b ut thei r parents are ,

far more to blame I f love of the good the .

,

beautiful and the true had b een implanted

,

p roperly in t hem in ea rly youth if they had ,

been trained from th e first really to use

t hei r minds they would not now b e living so
,
”
foolishly .

Holding such views W itte carefully ,

mapped out a p rogram which he p roceed

ed to follow in th e upbringing of his son
Karl wh o wa s bo rn in J u l y of the yea r 1 80 0
,
.

As its foundation it had the theory that since

child ren a re essentially thinking anima l s they
a re certain from the moment they fi rst use
,

t hei r minds to d raw inferences and arrive at

,

conclusions regarding eve rything th ey see ,

hea r and touch ; b ut if left to themselves will

,

inevitably because of thei r inability unaided

,

to form sound c ritical judgments acqui re ,

wrong interests and thought habits which a l l

the education of later life may not be ab l e
wholly to overcome I t wa s W itte s great .
’

’
aim therefo re to di rect and deve lo p his son s
reasoning powers in the plastic form
, ,

ative ,

— “
yea rs of childhood to sta rt him thinking
”
r ight .

He b egan even b efore t h e litt le fellow

,
 E d it or I n t r od uc t i on
’
s

could speak by nam i ng to him di fferent pa rts

,

of th e human b ody t h e objects in his bed ,

room etc As the b oy grew older so that

,
.
,

he coul d toddle up and down stai rs and walk

wi th h is father th rough thei r garden and in
the streets and fields of his native vil l age of
Lochau W itte gradually widened the ho rizon
,

of h is knowledge giving him eve r more i n

,

formati o n about matters of p ractical utility o r

e s t heti c worth .

He encouraged the child to ask questions ,

and i n h is replies went a s fu l ly as he cou l d

into the whys and wherefo res of whatever
wa s unde r discussion Above a l l things he
.

avoided giving superficial answers for it wa s ,

h i s chief object to imp ress upon Karl the de

s i ra b i l i ty of t ho roughness the impo rtance of ,

reasoni n g closely and ca refully of a p p re c i a t ,

ing analogies dissimilarities re l ationships

, , ,

a n d also of b eing able to reason logical l y from

cause to e ffect No r in thei r dai l y wa l ks and

.

con versations did he make any attempt to

“ ”
talk down to his son as so many p arents are ,
“ ”
wont to do . Baby ta l k had no place in
his p rogram S ince language is the too l of
.

thought he arg ued eve ry child shou l d be

, ,

ta u ght a s soon a s possible to exp ress itself in

 I n t r o d uc t i o n
’
E d it o r s

i tsmothe r tongue c l ea r l y fluently pu re l y

, , ,
.

Not the least important element in Karl s ’

education in h is fathe r s opinion wa s the

,
’
,

systematic d ril l ing he received in the correct

p ronunciation of letters and wo rds and in the ,

correct use of the di fferent pa rts of speech .

H is father insisted too that al l others wh o

, ,

—
talked with the child his mothe r the maid ,

—
of all work family visito rs shou l d be care
,

ful h ow they spoke in h is p resence .

Under this system of intensive child cul t ure

Karl soon displayed not on l y a rema rkab l e
degree of inte l ligence but a l so a love of
know l edge rarely seen in boys of any age B e .

fore he wa s seven all wh o knew him were

dumfounded at the p roofs he gave of the
great e x tent to which he had p rofited from
his ea rly training Most imp ressive were his
.

logical habits of mind the fu ll ness and accu,

racy o f the information he even then possessed

o n a number of su b jects and h is linguistic ,

p roficiency .

His study of foreign languages b egan w i th

F rench which h is father taught him in a
,

nove l way ful l y described in the chapte r on

,

his education in the l anguages So successful .

was th is special method that wi thin a year

xv i i i E d it o r I n t r od uc t i o n
'
s

of b ody and mind as is imp ressively testified

,

i n t h e letter from t h e philologist Heyne to

t h e philoso pher and poet W ieland p rinted on ,

a later page I t wa s with reason that in a n

.
,

swe r in g his c ritics W itte indignantly denied

,

Karl s al l eged i ll health ; and justly too he

’
-
, ,

disclaimed t h e p rodi gy making ambitions a t -

tributed to himse l f A ll that he wished to do

.
,

a s he e x plicitly states in his book wa s to make ,

sure that his son would enter adu l t life with

well trained mental a s we l l as physical

-

powers ; i f he thus early displayed marked in

tel le ctua l ability t his wa s in itself p roo f of
,

the great advantages to b e ga ined by begin

ning education a l most at the outset o f e x
i ste n c e .

Nor were Karl s studies as a little b oy con

’

fined to the languages and l iterature Aiming .

to make of him a we ll rounded man his fa -

,

ther strove earnestly to awaken in him a l ove

o f art and science Neither a rtist no r sc ie n
.

t i s t h imse l f he none the less be l ieved fi rmly

,

that if he could on l y inte rest his son su ffr

c i e n t l y in artistic and scientific subjects he

would study them enth usiastica ll y of his own

a ccord To this end he adopted the p l an of
.

taking Karl with him Whenever he journeyed

 E di ’
t or s I n t r o d uc t i o n

to Hal l e Le i ps ic o r a ny other German ci ty

, ,
.

There they would v is i t a rt galleries natural ,

histo ry museums zoological and b otanical

,

gardens and all manner of manufacturing

,

establishments mines shops etc

, ,
Thus ,
.
,

under the guise of entertainment W itte wa s ,

a b le to impart to h is son much elemen

ta ry instruction in zo olo gy botany physics , , ,

chemist ry etc Always he emphasized the

,
.

inte rrelationship of things the impo rtance of ,

grasp ing first p r inciples and of learning

eve rything thoroughly .

And in addition to t hese v is i ts of explora

,

tion he systematically utilized famili a r com

monp l a ce o bjects for the purposes of sc ientific
, ,

educatio n He th rew about them an attra e

.

tive C loak of mystery which piqued the boy s

,
’

curiosi ty and made him eager to p ress for

wa rd to a solution He also devised games
.

t h ro u gh which he contrived to familiarize

Karl with fundamental facts in various de
p a r t me n t s of knowledge Always however
.
, ,

he wa s ca reful to keep well in the background

the educational purposes he had in view To .

q“u ote h i s o w n words

He would have been greatly su rp rised if
t old t hat he had been study i ng geography ,
 E d it or I n t r od uc t i o n
'
s

physics and so forth I had carefully avoid

,
.

ed the use of such terms partly in o rder not ,

to frighten him and partly in order not to

,
”
make him v a in .

By the age of nine i n fact Karl had learned , ,

so much and wa s s o W e l l trained in the u

,
se

of h i s mental powers that h is fathe r deter ,

mined to send him to college S ix months .

later accordingly the b oy matr i culated at

, ,

Leips i c Unive rsity to b egin a scholastic c a

,

reer of ma rve l ous achiev ement It is no t .

n ecessary here to give details of it a s a full ,

account will be found in the clos ing chapter .

E nough to say that in I S I 4 b efore he had ,

passed h is fourteenth bi rthday he wa s granted ,

the P h D distinction and two years later at

. .
, ,

the age of s ixteen wa s made a Docto r of L aws

, ,

b eing also appointed to the teach ing staff of

the Uni versi ty of Berlin !
Instead howeve r of immed i ately b egin
, ,

ning p rofesso rial dut ies Ka rl w i th the aid of , ,

no less a personage than the King of P russia ,

n ow spent a few y ears in fo re i gn travel and ,

i t wa s dur i ng a sojourn in Italy that an event

occu rred wh ich had an impo rtant bearing on
h is after life -
In F lorence where he resided
.
,

for some ti me he chanced to make the a c

,
 E d it or I n t r o d uc t i o n
’
s

qua i ntance of a ta l ented woman wh o Speak , ,

ing one day of the maste rs of I talian l itera

tu re sa i d to h im half in jest and ha l f in
,

, ,

e a rnest :
“
There is one I tal i a n wr i ter t h e greatest of,

all whose b ooks I shou l d advise you to l et

,

a lone .W e I tal ians sometimes try to persuade

o urse l ves that we understand Dante b ut we do ,

not I f a fo reigner sets a b out i t we ca n

.
,
”
scarcely rep ress a smile .

One of Karl s first acts afte r th is e xt r a o r

’

d i n a ry s p eech wa s to b uy an ela b orate edition

“ ”
of the Divine C omedy R eading i t thought .

fully he next read What the commentato rs had

,

to say a b out it and wa s at once imp ressed wi th

,

what he conside red the narrowness thinness , ,

a n d down right error of thei r views F asc i .

’
n ated by t h e mag i c of the great word painter s -

v e rse he p romised himse l f that some day he

,

wou l d institute a campaign for the b etter a p

p reci ation of Dante ; and this p romise he ful
fi l led five years later by the publ ication in ,

Germany of one of the most impo rtant lit

,

c ra ry essays o f the nineteenth centu ry I t wa s .

“ ”
enti tled On M isunderstanding Dante and ,

concern ing it a mode rn autho ri ty on the study

of Da n te M r P hil i p H W ic k st ee d in an i n
,
. .
,
xx n E di ’
t or s I n t r od uc t i o n

t ro d u to a translation of W itte s
c t i on
’ “
E ssays
”
on Dante has thi s to sa y
,

y e
If t he h ist or of t he r viv al o f i n t r s t in Da n t ee e
which has cha r ac t er i e t h is c nt ur shou v r b writ
zd e e y ld e e
K Wi e
t en , a rl ld e
e e e e
t t wou b t h e ch i f h ro of t he t al H
i le m e
.

was l t t or e e e ed
t h a n a boy wh n , in 1 823, he n t r t he
l e i e l dy m
is ts a ga i ns t x s t i ng Da n t scho a rs , a ll a nd sun r , de
ee
ons t r a t ed t h a t t h r em k e
was not one of t h tha t n w h is

k
t as , a n d a nn ou ed ed
nc e em
h is r a i n ess t o t ac h it t o t h
mz mpl ed
.

i
The a a i n g t h n g is t h a t he ful ly a cco ish his
y e e i ed i e e
v a unt His ess a x rc s a gr ow n g in fl u nc in Ger
my
.

e pe
a n , a n d t h n in E u e
ro ; a n d y ye
a ft r fi ve -
a n d -
fo r t a rs

of in de fa t iga b
le l il
a n d fr u i t fu t o , he wa s a b t o oo
le l k
y l em
b a c u on his out h fu a t t
k p p i i em
t as con t a n n g t he g r
o f a ll h is suq e bse u n t wor on Da n t B ut now, ns t a
k e i ed .

d y
o f t he a u a c i ou seei ou e l i i
n g h r t c a n d r vo u t o n s t , he wa s
k led ed m e
t he a c now g m p mi e
as t r o f t he e
os t ro n n t Da n t

l e my
scho a rs in G r el d ly l d
a n , Swi t z r a n , I t a Eng a n , a n d
me i
,

A r ca .

I n fact a s I stated in my Out l o ok artic l e

, ,
‘

The S to ry of Karl W itte of which this ,

summa ry of his career is an abridgment there ,

came from W itte s pen almost to the time of

’
,

h is dea t h a steady succession of essays com

me nt a ries and translations to se rve as a con
, ,

, ,

t in u

m
a l st i mulus to an ever widening ci rcle of -

Dante scholars Yet all t h e while the p ro

.

ga rion of h is v iews on Dante a n d t h e foster ,

The Outl ook, Vol C. pp 2

.11 -218. .
 E d it or I n t r o d uc t i o n xxii i
'
s

ing of a love fo r Dante were but incidental ,

to W itte s real life wo rk That wa s the teach

’
-
.

ing of th e p rinciples of law both in the c l ass ,

room and by the pen I t was in 1 82 1 shortly

.
,

after his return from a b road that he wa s ,

established as a lecturer on ju r isp rudence at

the University of B reslau being appointed to ,

a full p ro fessorship two years later — a t th e

—
age of twenty th re e l and being transferred
-

to Hal l e in 1 834 There teaching and writing

.
,

a n d gaini ng ever greater renown he passed ,

the remainder of his life .

Long before he died honored and lamented , ,

in his eigh ty thi rd year eve ry one of the wise

-
,

acres wh o had so confident l y p rophesied a

short and unhappy e x istence fo r him had ,

p receded him to the grave S till fu rther to .

confound thei r di re p redictions b e retained ,

to the l ast his great menta l powers ; and to the

MM he fond l y cherished the memo ry of the
father wh o had so carefu ll y p l anned and so
faithful l y ca rried out his ear l y education .

Such in rough out l ine is the record of Karl

W itte s inte ll ectua l training and achievement
’
.

Did it stand b y itse l f it might plausib l y be ar

g u e d
,
as the contempo raries of the e l der W itte
a rgued that in the last analysis t h e essenti al
,
 E d it o r I n t r o d uc t i o n
’
s

thing wa s not the tra ining given b y the fath er

b ut the possession of e x trao rdina ry native ta l
ent by the son But the interesting fact re
.

mains to be noted that W itte s experiment does ’

—
not stand a l one S ince his time in some in
.

stances I do not doubt as a di rect resu l t of

, ,

—
the reading of his book i t has been repeated
b y a number of other parents and a l ways with ,

a simi l a r resu l t .

Th e chi l dren thus trained from infancy

have n ot broken down in bodi l y or menta l
hea l th ; on the contra ry they have been if any
thing stronger of physique than the average
chi l d whi l e menta l ly they have like Kar l
W itte developed and retained powers in com
, ,

p a r a b l y superior to those of the average child .

W hen this uniformity of resu l t is taken into

account ; when it is ponde red in the l ight of
the findings of modern psycho l o gy with re
spect to the formative influences of envi ron
ment habit suggestion etc ; when regard is
, , ,
.

had to the demonstrated inabili ty o f the

schools to attain the ends expected of them it ,

mani festly b ecomes impe rative to a c k nowl

edge b oth the ad v isa b ility and the wonderful
developmental possi b ilities of educat ion in the
home and by the parent .
 E d it o r I n t r o d uc t i o n
’
s

six The reafte r he lite ra ll y l ived with these

.

two b oys taking them to s l eep in t h e same

,

room with him making them his companions

,

in l ong walks di l igent l y dri ll ing them in the

,

rudiments of an a ll round education W hen -

.

he wa s eventua ll y ca ll ed from Be l fast to as

sume the arduous tasks and mo re responsib l e
position of p rofessor of mathematics at G l as
g o w Unive rsity he continued
,
the home edu
cation of his sons besides secu ring pe rmission
,

for them at the ages of ten and eight to a t

, ,

tend his universi ty l ectu res and the lectures of

some of the other p rofessors .

In fu l l agreement with h is expectations ,

b oth boys showed an amazing menta l develop

ment while remaining hea l thy vigorous and
, , ,

active fu ll of fun and ever ready for a frolic

,
.

L ike ordina ry boys t hey de l ighted in playing

with toys with this difference that thei r toys
-
,

were in many instances scientific instruments .

Thus when bare l y n ine years o l d W i ll iam

, ,

made with his o wn hands l itt l e e l ectrica l ma

chines and L eyden ja rs wherewi t h to give ,

ha rmless and laughter p rovoking shocks to -

his p l aymates .

S o great indeed were the intellec t u al a t

t a inm
, ,

e n t s of the two brothers that when J ames

 E d it or s
’
I n t r o d uc t i o n xxv u

wa s twel ve and W illiam ten they were a d

mi tte d a s regula r studen ts at the universi ty .

No r child ren though they were did they hav e

, ,

a ny diffi culty in keeping up with thei r studies .

On the contra ry th roughout thei r col l ege ca

,

ree r s and in sev eral depa rtments of knowl

,

edge they stoo d a t the v ery top of thei r classes

,
.

I n his first W inter s wo rk b efore he was eleven

’
, ,

W illiam took t wo p rizes in the humani ty

“ ”

class The ne x t yea r he b ega n the study of

.

n atural histo ry a n d G reek spent his C h rist

ma s vacation” translating Lucian s Di alogues

,
“ ’

of the Gods and in M ay carried o ff the first

,

p rize fo r C re e k The year a fter that as mem

.
,

bers of the junior mathematical class he and ,

his b rother closed a b ril l iant session as fi rst

a n d second p rizemen Again they ranked fi rst
.

and second when members of the senior

mathematical class ; and not content with this , ,

W illi am won an additional p rize for p rofi

c i e n cy in logic The fo ll owing year he won
.

the class p rize in astronomy and a universi ty ,

“
medal fo r an essay On the F igu re o f the ,

E arth the manuscript of which is sti l l in

,

existence He was then not sixteen and

am
.
,

ong his classmates were men of twenty five -

.

As in Karl W itte s time there were not ’

x xviii E d i t or I n t r o d uc t i o n
’
s

wanting p rophets of ev il who watching the , ,

achiev ements of the b rothers mournfully ,

“
shook thei r heads It i s monstrous horri b le
.
, ,
” “
impossi b le they p rotested These boys have
,
.

b een forced by thei r father b eyond the limits

of human endurance N 0 b rain can stand it . .

They wi l l die or else they will go insane

,
.

What actually happened ? J ames Thomson ,

the o l der brother lived to the age of sev enty

, ,

and died l eav ing b ehind him the reputation

of a really great autho rity on engineering .

W illiam the younger did not die until he

, ,

wa s eighty th ree and b ecame ev en more fa

-
,

mous F o r as L ord Ke l vin of L args greatest

.
, ,

of n ineteenth centu ry physicists he won a

-
,

place in the annals of science fai rly compara

ble with that held by Newton F araday or , ,

any o ther of the intellectual giants who have

concededly done most to adv ance mankind in
kn owledge of nature s laws ’
.

J ohn S tuart M ill the illustrious political ,

economist wa s similarly educated by a father

,

who had strong con v ictions as to the impor

tance of ha b i tuating a chi l d to the purposeful
exercise of his mind M ill h i mself says .

I h a ve no r em em b a nce of the t im
r e when I bega n t o
l ea r n Greek . I ha ve be en t old t ha t it was when I was
 E d it or I n t r o d uc t i o n
’
s

e yea rs
t hr e old. l ies t r ecollect ion on the subj ect
My ea r

is t ha t o f com mi t t ing t o mem or y wha t m y f a t h e t e r med r

voca bles be i n g lis ts of com mon G eek words with thei r r

t fo r m
, ,

s i gn ifi c a t ion in E n glish wh ich he wrot e ou e on

O f g am ma r un t il some yea s l a t er I lea ned no

,

c a r ds r r r

mo e tha n t he in fl ec t ions of nouns a n d verbs but a fter a

.

r ,

cou rs e o f voca bles p r oceeded a t once t o t a sl a t i ; a nd I r n on

fa i n t l y r em em be goi n g th rough fEsop s Fa bles th e

r
“ ’
,
”

fi rs t G eek book which I r ea d The An a b a s is which

r
“ ”

I r em em
.
,

ber be t t e r was the secon d I le a n ed no La t i n r

t ill m m m
, .

y e igh t h ye a r A t t h a t t i e I h a d e a d u n de r y r

mbe of Greek p rose a utho s a mon g

.
,

fa th er s t ui t i on a nu
’
r r

whomI r em em
, ,

ber t he whole o f H e odot us a n d of r

! en ophon s Cy op z dia a n d M em o i a ls o f S oc r a t es ;
’ “ ” “ ”
r
r
som e o f t he lives of the philos ophe s by D i gen es r o

La ert iu s ; p a t o f Lu cia n a nd I soc ra t es a d De m on icu m ”

r

Ad N icocl em
,
“ ”1
a nd .

It is safe to s a y that n ine out of ev ery ten

readers of M ill s account of the educational ’

p rocess to which h is fath er su b jected him ,

have b een moved to pi ty fo r the chi l d and con

d em n a t io n of the fathe r But M i l l s a fter ’
.

life especially when v iewed i n conjunction

,

W i t h Ka rl W itte s Lord Ke l vin s and J ames ’

,
’
,

Thomson s assuredly v indicates his father s

’
,
’

policy and emphasizes the unwisdom of the

policy of menta l neg l ect stil l in favo r with
most parents The same I have not the .
,

slightes t dou b t may ultimately b e said of the,

John S tua rt M i ll s Aut o bi og r a p hy , p

‘ ”
Vol I, 5
’
In . . .
 E d it or I n t r od uc t i o n
’
xxx s

more recent experiments of ou r own time and

country in which se veral American fathers
,

and mothers ha ve like the elder M il l and the

,

elder Thomson applied in the education of

,

thei r children much the same method a s that

dev ised b y W itte and with resul ts in the way
,

of unusual intellectual attainment closely p ar

a l l e li n g the results W itte o b tained .

One of these latter day educational innov a-

tors is the p resent translator o f W itte s b ook ’

,

P rofessor L eo W iener of H a rvard Uni v ersity .

Another is the psychologist D r Boris S idis ,

.
,

from whose writings I hav e al ready quoted ,

and whose i nsistence on the impo rtance of

early home training is an immediate out
g rowth o f h is psychological researches Dr
A A Berle formerly pastor of S haw ut
. .
,

C ongregational C hurch in Boston now P ro

.

m .

fe sso r of Applied C h ristianity in Tufts C o l

lege is a thi rd ; while a fourth i s M rs J B
,
. . .

S toner a resident of P itts b urgh

,
All four .

have acted on the theo ry that if one only b e ,

g ins soon enough i t is just a s easy to interest

,

a child in things worth while a s in acti vi ties

which dissipate his energies and tend to the
fo rmation o f loose and harm ful habi ts of
thought and conduct ; and that study will
 E d itor I n t r o d uc t i o n
’
s

ne v e r inju re a child s m ’
ind a s lon g a s the child
i s really interested in what he i s studying .

They hav e therefore taken p ains to gi ve thei r

c hild ren a n en v i ronment rich in cultu ral sug

gesti ons and ha ve labo red by p recept and ex

am
,

ple to inspi re in them a love for inte l lectual

endeavo r In e ve ry case the child ren hav e
.

re sponded to thei r e fl o rts in a n astonishin g

degree .

P ro fessor W iener s oldest b oy No rb ert de

’
, ,

ve l o p e d such intellectu al power in early child

hood that he wa s ab l e to enter Tu fts C ol l ege
a t ten wa s g raduated at fourteen and th ree

months ago at an age when most boys are only

, , ,

be ginnin g thei r col l ege ca reers was granted ,

the P h D degree by H a rva rd University

. . .

D r Si d is s son W illiam wa s admitted to th e

.
’
, ,

B rookline M assachusetts high school at

, ,

e i ght and th ree yea rs ago being e v en then a

, ,

s tudent in H arva rd amazed the members of ,

that un iversity s mathematical clu b by lec’

turin g to them on the fourth dimension D r . .

Berle s daughter L ina matriculated into

’
, ,

R a d c l i fl e C ollege at fifteen while her younger ,

b ro ther Adolf passed the entrance e x amina

, ,

tion s for H arvard when only th i rteen and a

half ; b oth b rother a n d sister have since com
xxx u E d ito r s
’
I n t r od uc t i o n

p l e t e dthei r college cou rses with distinction ,

the b oy in h is sophomore yea r winning a p rize

for historical writing and gaining h is B ach
,

c l o r degree in th ree yea rs instead of the cus

t om a ry fou r F inal l y M rs S toner s d a u

’
.
, g h .

te r W ini fred S ackv ille S toner at six wa s a

, ,

frequent contri b uto r to the poet ry column of

a newsp aper in E v ans v ille Indiana where she , ,

wa s then li v ing with her p arents ; at seven

published a v olume of v erse ; and to day at -
,

eleven b esides b eing p roficient in several lan

,

guages is writing a series of stories for a news

,

pape r syndicate .

W hen it is added that the youn ger brothers

and sisters of No rb ert W iener and o f L ina and
Adolf Berle have also been given the benefit
of early home training along simi l ar lines ,

and ha ve simi l arly displayed e x ceptiona l

mental ab ili ty the difficulty of accountin g
,

fo r this result on the hypoth esis of e x t ra o r

d in a ry innate talent b ecomes insuperable .

As D r Berle i n discussin g the education of

.
,

his four child ren has well said ,

If t h is resu l t ha d been secured wi th one child , t he

usua l ple a of a n un usual ch ild
“ ”
m
i ght possibly be ra ised .

B ut it is un t hi n ka ble t h a t t her e shou ld be four p rodi gies ”

m
in one fa ily ! As a m
a t t e r o f fa c t , a l l such t a lk is
x xx i v E d it o r I n t r o d uc t i o n
’
s

they are altogether likely to do as Kar l W itte

—
did outlive those who so confidently p rop h
e sy disaster fo r them .

But it may be objected the development

, ,

of intellectual power is a fter a ll not the on l y

, ,

end of education ; the development of moral

strength is even more important Undoubt .

e d ly. And in this respect readers of the ,

p resent v o l ume will v ery soon discove r the ,

W i t t e a n p rogram fo r the upbringing of

chi l d ren is fu ll y as he l pful as with respect to
thei r inte ll ectual growth F or p rimari l y let
.
,

me repeat i t was not W itte s object to make ’

”
h is son a l earned man ; what he wished to
do was to make him an all round man strong -
,

mora l ly as well as menta l ly and physica l ly .

I f he b elieved that the boy s reasoning powers ’

cou l d not be p roperly deve l oped un l ess he

were trained from early infancy in the p rin
c i p l e s of sound reasoning he was quite a s
,

fi rmly con v inced that the p rocess of moral

development shou l d likewise b egin at the
ear l iest possi b le moment He be l ieved th is.

b ecause he instinctively app reci ated the force

of a law on which scientific investigators are
nowadays laying ever inc reasing stres s the
- —
so ca ll ed l a w of psychological determinism
-
.
 E d it o r I n t r o d uc t i o n
'

s x xx v

S ta t e d b ri e fl y , t h i s l a w, wi t h wh i c h a ll par
e n ts ought to be acquainted ho l ds that eve ry ,

o ccu rrence in the moral li fe of a man is i n

d i ssol u b l y connected with and determined ,

b y p re v ious occurrences and especia l ly b y

, ,

the occu rrences and influences of early chi l d

h ood . D r P au l Dubois one of the foremost
-
.
,

e x ponents of the philosophy of determ i nism

s ays :

If youha ve t he ha pp i n ess t o b e a well l ivi n g m a n t a ke -

,

ca re n ot t o a tt r i bu t e t he cr edi t o f it t o yous el f Re r

membe r the fa vora ble con di t ions in wh ich youha ve l ived

.

su rr ou n d ed b y r el a t iv es who l oved you a n d se t you a

g o o d ex a m ple ; d o n o t fo g e t t h
r e c l os e fr ie n d s w h o h a v e
t a ken youby t he han d a n d le d you a wa y fr om th e qu ag

m ir es o f e v il ; keep a g a t e fu r l r em em b r nce for a ll t he a

t ea chers who h a v e i n fl u enced you the ki d a nd in t e lli n

m
,

g e n t sch oo l a s t e r t h e de v o t ed p a s t r ; r e a lize a ll
o t h es e
mult iple infl uences which h ve ma de of you wha t you
,

a re Then you will r em em be r t h t s uch a n d s uch a a

lp rit has not in his s a d l ife m

.

cu e t wi t h t h es e f vor ble a a

co n di t ions t ha t he h a d a d r u n ke fa t her o r a foolis h

n

mother a nd tha t he has lived wi thout a ffec t ion e posed

,

t o a ll k i n ds o f te m
, ,

pt a t io s You will t hen t a ke pit y

n

up on t h is d is i nher i t ed m whos e m
.

an i d h as been nour n

m m m m
,

ishod u p o n a l fo ed e t l i g e b e g e t t i g e vi l
t im
r n a a s n sen

ch as im m
,

ent s su ode a t e des i r e or soc i a l h a t red

1
, r .

In th e c a se of the Spo i led child equally ,

w i th tha t of the neglected one the determinist ,

Re o d Se tim e t pp 69 7 1 Fuk Wa g l l
‘ “ ”
I n as n an n n - n na s
York
.
, .

CO , N e w
.
, 1 910.
xxxvi E d it or I n t r o d uc t i on
'
s

sees the implanting of seeds certain soon or

late to r i pen into a ha rvest of mo ral weeds .

And h is c ry consequently is fo r the b egin

, ,

ning of moral education in the first yea rs of

chi l dhood so that b y the time the ch i ld
,

reaches school age he will have acqui red a

V iewpoint and strength of cha racter sufficient
to enable him to resist the allurements o f com
panions of perhaps v icious o r at a l l ev ents ,

mora l ly weak tendenc i es ,

.

In such full agreement was W itte w i th this

modern determinist doctrine of the sup reme
importance of the early envi ronment as a fac
tor in moral development that he even laid ,

down ru l es to b e strict l y o bserv ed by all in

the household in thei r dea l ings with little
Karl . The who l e fam ily life in fact wa s , ,
“ ”
regulated wi th a v iew to suggesting to the
chi l d ideas which taking root in the sub con
,

scious region of h is mind would tend to affect ,

his mora l outlook and exerc ise a lasting in

flu e n c e on h i s conduct Hasty words d is .
,

putes discussion of unpleasant topics all

, ,

such things were studiously avoided F rom .

W itte s statements it is also plain that in thei r

’

relations with one anoth er as with thei r ,

se rv ing maid and all who v isited thei r home

-
,
 E d i t or I n t r o d uc t i o n u
’
s xx xv

W i tt e a nd
w i fe displayed only those char
h is
a c t e r ist i c s with which they wished to imbue

t h ei r son They were unfailingly genial cour

.
,

t eo u s considerate and sympathetic

,
Ove r and ,
.

a b ove a l l this they set Kar l a constant e x am

,

p le of diligence of that earnest activi ty which ,

i s i tself a most fo rceful form of moral dis

c i p l in e .

It also worth noting th at in the walks

is
a n d ta l ks which were so conspicuous a feature

O f W itte s educationa l p rogram he took

’
,

g ood care to cultivate in his boy the p recious

g i ft o f imagination on which the moral a s ,

w ell a s the mental l ife of man so l arge l y de

pe n ds W hen fo r instance father and son
.
1
, ,

went hand in hand along t h e ro ads and across

the fie l ds of L ochau it was not a l one rudi ,

men ts of b otany physics chemist ry natural , , ,

histo ry and the l ike that W itte taught Karl ;

, ,

he deft l y led him to app reciate the beau ty

a nd m yste ry inherent in the workings o f na
‘
Th i s importa nt me as ur e in t h e e duca t ion of the ch i ld is
b ly d i s c us s e d in Dr B e r l e s bo ok ; a l so
in M r E rn e s t Ha
’
ml i
Abbott s s ti m
a n
ul a ti n g l i t t l e vo l um i i
. .

t h e T ra n n g o f P a r
’ “
e On
i
,

en t s
”
Houg ht on , Mifll in Co , B o s t o n , 1 908 In t h s c o n n ec
m id i ll m
. . .

ti on it ig ht a s o b e s a t h a t a r e n t s w fin d uc h h e u
l p lp f l
a dvic e on t h e s ubj ect o f or a e uc a t o n in P r e s e n t W a m l d i id i ll i m
i
De W tt Hy e s Th e Q u
’ “
d
est o f th e Best
”
T h o a s Y Cr owel m l
k
. .

Co , N ew Yor , 191 3
. .
xxxvi ii E d it or I n t r o d uc t i o n
'
s

tu re led h imto feel that th ere was always

,

something beyond and transcending the out

ward actualities W hen he told him stories .

o f the ancient world o r showed him pictu res ,

o f histo ric episodes it was not simp l y with a ,

v iew to interesting him in the Study of histo ry .

The pathos the grandeu r the tragedy the

, , ,

heroism or whatever i t might be e x emplified

, ,

i n the particu l ar sto ry or picture was also ,

b rought out c l early So likewise in famil .

, ,

i a r i z i n g him wi th the quiet life of Lochau

itself in intro duc i ng him to i ts mil l s i ts
, ,

s hops ,
its cottage homes and thei r hum
ble dwe l lers W itte constantly endeavored to
,

make his son perceive beneath the sordid and ,

petty and sometimes repel l ent e x terna l s ,

phases which by appea l ing to his kind l ed

,

i magination wou l d arouse sentiments of true

,

sympathy .

“
R emember dear Karl he would say in
, , ,
“
e ffect these poor people have not had the
,

advantages enjoyed by you I f they do not .

Speak correct l y if they do not a l ways behave,

as they ought it is because they have not been

,

taught p roperly in thei r youth You must .

not do a s they do but neither must you con

de m
,

n th em On the contra ry remember that

.
,
 E d it o r I n t r od uc t i o n xxx i x
’
s

th ey are God s children like you rse l f and that

’
,

i n Spite of t h ei r shortcomings they a re p re

c i ou
”
s to H im .

In short by these and other measu res which

,

t h e reader will find described in his book ,

W itte sought to estab l ish in his son those

mo ral traits which the wor l d unites i n regard
ing a s most desi rab l e His success is evinced
.

— ’
by the nobi l ity of that son s enti re li fe a l ife
which at its close drew from one who knew
, ,

Karl W itte we l l this imp ressi v e tribute

“
He li ved in H a l le fo r near l y fifty years ,

a loved man and hono red teacher a he l pfu l ,

and v alued member of the p rofessori al staff ,

a true p atriot who had bo l d l y stood at the

head of the P russe nve re i n in the time of the
R evolution a loyal C onservati v e a de vout
, ,

C h risti an and e l der of the church a scho l ar ,

o verwhelmed wi th honors and distinctions a ,

tender husband and father ti ll a gentl e death ,

closed h is rich and singular l y happy li fe on

M arch 6 ,

So too the parents who ha v e since W itte s

’
, ,

day made trial of the v i rtues of ear l y home

training have found th ei r chi l d ren growing
,

in mo ral strength e x act l y i n p ropo rtion as

care h a s been taken to su rround them as ,
xl E d i t or I n t r o d uc t i o n
'
s

W itte di d his son Ka r l with en l ightening and ,

ennobling influences A l ways the outcome is .

—
the same the vindication of a method which
cannot too soon be adopted by a l l parents .

No r does this mean a s might be supposed , ,

that in order to make su re of results parents ,

will ha ve to give the greater portion of thei r

time to thei r children s education An hou r ’
.

or so a day is all that will be necessa ry in the

way of fo rmal instruction W hat parents wi ll .

have to do however is so to regul ate thei r

, ,

whole lives that the indi rect the unconscious ,

instruction which thei r chi l d ren wi ll absorb

from them wi l l make for mental and mora l
betterment A l ways they will have to bear
.

firmly in mind that as wise Ol d W itte used ,

“
to say Teaching begins but e x amp l e a c
, ,
”
comp l ishes .

H ADDIN GPON B RUCE .

’
.

M ARLBORO N E W HA M P S H IRE
m
, ,

S ept e b er, 1913.

 Th e IBZi wa u
'

on f
o Ka r l Wit t e
to sto p it; Meanwhi l e the o ffensi v e accusa
‘

m
tions a gainst the honest teachers make them
.

—
i p atient with me who truly against my
—a mthe cause of these accusations
,

-
°
M y whole work Is intended to p rove to the
person that the schoolmaster no ,

matter h ow we l l endowed w i th know l edge

and the a b ili ty to teach is in spite of his best
, ,

wishes unabl e to accomplish anything i f

, ,

others have p revious l y worked against him

or still cont i nue to work against h im
,

Teachers and educators for the above ,

causes a re genera ll y hostile toward me at

, ,

least so lon g as they have not b ecome a c

qu a i n t e d with me o r ha v e not in some w a y ,

from me o r from others learned of my con ,

vic t io n s .

these I write on l y i n so fa r a s they a re

Fo r
also fathers and mo thers who s i ncerely love
thei r children o r the child ren ent rusted to
,

t h em and out of thei r tender lo v e fo r them

,

hav e resol ved to look closer at the educational

e x perime nt of a man who more than once h a s
gi ven them unpleasant moments .

If they do that I shall be wr i ti n g fo r t hem

, ,

a s fo r all well meaning parents who wish to

-

’
get the b es t results fo r thei r child ren s b odies ,
 F or Wh o mt h is B o o k is Wr it t e n 3

minds and souls M any parents hav e atten

,
.

t ive l y followed my methods of education ,

have in writing e x p ressed thei r sympathy for

me or ha ve treated me and mine wi th high
,

favo r The p roofs of thei r nob l e we l l wish

.
-

ings have frequent l y touched me to tears I .

may nay, I must say that they have often

, ,

assisted me as occasiona l ly wi l l appear in the

,

cou rse Of my writing My warm thanks and .

the thanks o f my family will fol l ow them to

thei r graves .

I have been u rgent l y asked by a great num

ber of them to write in a simp l e manner just ,

as at thei r request I have been te ll ing them

about i t an easy simp l e sto ry for the wor l d
, ,

at large a s well as for them As they had

,
.

clea red away a l l the reasonab l e objections

which I cou l d b ring fo rward I was ob l iged ,

to give them my word of hono r that some

day I would do so .

One of my best founded objections wa s this

-
,
“
that some ma l icious persons wou l d s a y Is ,
”
there any real need of such a book P To these
“
my friends answered E ven so ! I f o thers do ,

—
not want it we demand it of you wr i te it ,
,
”
just fo r us l
And so I keep my wo rd I know full well .
 Th e E d uc a t i o n of Ka r l Witt e
that others will not succeed e x actl y a s I have ,

and I be l ieve that it is not necessa ry fo r a ll

children to be educated just l ike my son But .

I am con v inced that much of what I have

done may be repeated and that an inte l ligent
,

application of my method will be of no small

use .

P estalozzi became interested in me a t a

ve ry ear l y time and with his c l ear v ision and
,

warm unp rejudiced mind naturally foresaw

,

the plant and even the fruit whi l e it sti ll was

, ,

in i ts tender bud and so whi l e but ve ry few

, ,

paid any attention to what I was doing e x ,

p ressed himse l f about it with great sympathy

and even emphasis Here a re his words .

DEAR FRI E N D
Le t m
e t el l you o nce m
or e , wh ile you a re s t ill in ou r

n ei gh bo rhoo d , h ow m m
uch I a i n t e r es t ed in t he e t hod m
o f ed u c a t i on wh i ch y ou a r e a p plyi n g t o yo u r ch ild , a n d

how m
uch I fin d our ped a gogi c a l ide as ess e n t i a lly t he
sa m m m m
e Le t e sa y or e t ha n t ha t : I h a ve or e t ha n
m m m
.

o nc e bee n a fr a id t ha t t he ru b r i c o f y for , n u be r
a n d wor d , like t he ex t er n a l for m m m
of y el e e n t a r y b oo ks ,
m m
a t fi rs t s i gh t see s t o le a d fa r a wa y fr o m t he s i p le

cou rs e o f a r t l ess N a t u m
r e a n d it s b es t a d he r e n t s , fr o

m
t he pl a i n for s o f co mmo n se n se . H oweve r , t h is is ce r
t a in ly on ly a n a ppe a r a nc e , fo r in t he exec u t i on ou r a c t iv

it y un i ve rs a ll y a n d m
os t s u r el y r es e m
bles eve r y ed uca
t ion al m
e t hod in which the exper iences of a fa t her ca p a
 F or Wh o mt h is B oo k is Wr it t e n 5

ble of s t r ct i be
o s rva t on i ly lovin g
a n d t he he a r t of a t ru
mother find t hei r pu e exp ress ion Wh a t o f it if th is r

does n ot a ppea r in t he dea d t a bles a n d hea pi ng n um

.
,

er
ic al se r ies ? It ca nnot ppea r t he e ! But if Krues i a r

guided by t hese fo m bec m

,

s es al l child t t he child s
r o o
'

min d a n d t he hild fi ds hi msel f in eve y wo d of

,

c n r r

K ues i a n d fo t he s ke o f h is ed uc a t i n l m et hod m
,

r r a us t o a

fin d h i m e v e n a s he m us t fi d h i m
, ,

s el f t he e r sel f in t he n

S im ples t wo d o f his m whos e se nse h a s b ecom

,

r o t he r e
t o h imt h u
,

c le ar r gh a t h us a d fold e pe ie ce t hen
o o — n x r n

ou r e l a c t i v i t y is i deed so m et hi g qui t e di ffere t f om

,

r a n n n r

wh a t m a y s ee mfr omdec ep t i v e a ppe a a n c es It is t h is r

m
.
,

y fr ie n d t h a t
, y o u h v e s ee n b e t t e t h a
n a n y n e el se r a o ,

ev en bec a use y u ha ve been wo ki ng esse t i l ly in t he

o r n a

sa m e spi i t You did n ot k n w it but a t t he b as e o f

r o

your a ct iv i t y lies t he sa m e m
.
,

a tu r ed n a t u r l feeli n g ou t a

Of wh i ch a ft e r e n dless s eeki n g
, my ped a gogic l forms , a

h a ve evol ved
M y f ien d ! Your wo k is v e ry i m
.

r p t a n t At t h is
r or

t im e we n eed m
.

o e t h a n a y t h i n g e lse t he p ov i g o f t he
r n r n

wor k o f educa t i on by m a t ued ex pe r ie c es a d s u h ex

r n , n c

p er ie n ces a e ca lr
c ul t ed t o ec t i f y aa y v ie w t h rt a r e n s a

h el d in ega d t m r y m re t h o d o U n de r t h es e c i c u m r

s t a n es you m m m
.

c y f ie d u s t feel r h n w i p o t a t i t is o r n

fo m
, ,

r e t h a t you sh u l d con t i nue t he c i rcle o f you e du

o r

c a t io na l expe ie ces a d i f p oss i ble sh uld e p a d it

r n n , , o x n .

You ha ve bee n i n v i t ed t o t a ke up t h i s ca ee i nde r r,

pende t ly f omm
n ry wis hes Perm it m e t he e for e t dd r o a

my wishes t o t hose of your nea rest f iends a nd urgentl y

.
, ,

n i t y t ha t m
,

t o a sk you n ot t o ejec t a n y o p p or t u r y o ff e a r

i ts el f t you M u h m
o . a y be d e by mn like you who
c on e ,

wit h t h e i a s t ut e n ess g a s p eve y t hi g t h t p es e t s i t s el f

r r r n a r n

t o t hei r m i n ds a d wh a e a ble c i s t en t ly t o a t in
n o r on s c

c o n form
,

i t y wi t h wha t t hey t hus h a ve a b t a ct ed as a gr ee s r ,

6 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
in g bot h m
wi t h t he essenc e of hu a n n a t ur e a n d t he c ir
m
cu s t a n ces o f hu a n s i t um a t ions I consc iou sly cou n t you

m m
.

a on g en o f t h is so r t , a n d a t al l ev en t s r ej o i c e in a d

va nce a t t he cha nce o f hea r i n g fro youa bout t he p rogm

r ess o f you r ex pe r ie nc es wi t h t he s i nc e r i t y a n d de fin it e

n ess t h a t cha r a c t e r ized you d u r i ng t he pleas a n t h ou rs

wh ich I p a ssed wi t h you in disc uss i n g t h is subjec t

your j urney a c oss our m
.

M ay o oun t a i ns be h a ppy a n d
r

ma y y u be a ss ured of t he cont i nua nce of my s ince e

,

o r

a n d l as t i n g a t t achmen t .

Your lovin g fr ie n d ,

P E STALoz zr .

Au
gus t 1 804 , .

H e h a s remained in this opin ion for fou r

teen yea rs and has even lately urged me in
,

p rivate to make the sto ry of my son s educa ’

tion a s detailed and universal as possib l e In .

this he wa s joined by h is worthy friends and

by the well known F rench savant Ju l ien of
-
,

P a ris They thoroughly met all my obj e c

.

tions which chiefly arose from t imidi ty and

, ,

P estalozzi wrote to me on the ve ry day of my

departure from Yverdon a s follows

M Y D EAR M R W ITTE
You no doub t r em
.

, ember , ped a gogica l con vers a t ion

t he
wh ich we h a d four t ee n ye a rs a go a t B uchsee You t hen .

ga ve us hope t ha t in a ccor d a nc e wi t h your peculi a r p r i n

ld ca rr y your son s educa t ion m
,

c ip les you wou uch fa r

’

N ow t he excel len t p rogr ess m

,

t he r t han is usu al . a de
 F or Wh o mt h is B o o k is Wr i t t e n 7

by m
hi h a s fa r surp ass ed wh a t you t hen d a r ed t o hope
a nd u t t er
m
.

The ques t io n a r ises , in how uch h as t h is p r ogr ess

m
been p roduced by your et hod of educa t ion , or been
i n d uced by it ? The ques t ion a r ises , whe t he r his p rogr ess
is t he di r ect r es ul t o f h is s upe r ior t a le n t a n d t o wha t
m
,

e x t en t it is t he r es u lt o f ped a gogic a l p r i nc iples a n d e a ns

wh ich , a pplied in t he ca s e o f ot he r c h il d r en , wou l d p ro
m m
d uc e a t leas t a pp rox i a t ely s i ila r r es ults .

M y dea r M r W i t t e , youought t o p ut t he fr i e n ds o f
m
.

ed uca t ion in a pos i t ion t o j ud ge wi t h so e degr ee o f

c e r t a in t y , by gi v i n g t he m a de t a iled a cc ou n t , wh i ch wou ld
defi n i t ely en t er i n t o a ll t he p a r t icula rs of how youha ve
m
,

l e d your son fr o o n e s t ep t o a n o t her The r e ca n be

.

no d ou b t o f your son s super ior powe rs B ut in how fa r

’
.

your ped a gogi ca l skill seized t hes e powers wit h psycho

logica l c e r t a i n t y a nd t hus c a used t hei r r a pid evolut ion,
t h a t c a n be m a de cl e a r o nly b y a v e r y c i rc u s t a n t i a lm
s t or y o f wh a t is pecu li a r a n d dist i n guishi n g in your
m m
et ho d It is i por t a n t t ha t t his be done a n d it is
m
. ,

c e r t a i n ly t he p le as a n t es t bu s i n ess t o wh i ch y ou a y de

vot e yoursel f
m m
.

Good by a n d a y you b e a ss ured o f t he ex t r e e

,

c o n s id er a t i on wi t h wh ich I h a v e t he h on or t o c a l l
m ysel f
m m
Your os t hu bl e se rv a n t a n d fr ien d ,

P E STALoz z r
mb
.

Yvn DON , S ept e er 4 , 1 81 7 .

 C H A PTER I I
WAS M Y SON BORN WIT H E! TRAORDINA RY
APTITU DES P

I H AVE been told so an endless number of

t imes and should let it rest at that for it is
, ,

e x ceeding l y pleasant to be ab l e to say that one

has been particu l arly favored by the Deity ,

o r that one possesses a gift that enab l es him to

do wh at nobody e l se can do But to te ll the
.

truth this is not the case .

There are more than a th ousand persons to

whom I have denied it and I must say that
,

most of my friends and acquaintances were

of this opinion Only one man P asto r G l au
.
,

bi tz who had known me intimate l y in my

,

chi l dhood and who from 1 7 88 to his death

that is for a period of more than twenty years
,

— had been a close friend of mine used to ,

sa y :

I am convinced that Karl has no e xt ra o r

d i n a ry apti tudes and I am not one of those
,

who marvel at his p rogress as at a mi rac l e .

On t h e contra ry I te ll myse l f you and a ll

.
, ,

s
10 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e

The natu ral apti tudes hav e less to do with

i t th an the chi l d s education in his fi rst fiv e o r
’

s ix years Of cou rse t h ere is a difference in

.
,

regard to the aptitudes b ut as a rule that is

, , , ,

with such a s most men are born with in fi ,

n i t e l y more depends u po n education than is

”
usually believ ed .

To hav e a great authority on my s i de I ,

quoted when pushed to i t t h e statement of

, ,
“
Hel vetius C haque homme commun é ment
,

bien organis é peut de veni r grand homme ,

’ ”
suppose qu il soit é levé comme i l faut .

E ve rybody was against me W he n M r . .

Sch rader went home with G l aubitz and me ,

we still discussed the matter and I repeated ,

what I had said mo re than once in the meet

ing where I was ou t voted :
,
“
N ow I natural l y must keep qu iet for t h ere ,

a re th i rteen o r fou rteen of you against me .

But I hope to p rov e to you in fact that I am

r ight I f God grants me a son and if he in
.
, ,

you r own op i nion is not to be called s tupid

, ,

—
which Heaven forfend I have long ago de ,

cided to educate him to b e a superio r man ,

without knowin g in ad v ance what h i s apti

”
t udes may be .

They had taken me at my wo rd in the meet

 E x t r a o r d i n a r y Ap t it ud e s

i ng , a nd
Sch rader did t he same now Glau .

b itz had p rev iously only indicated th at he

wa s not averse from my v iews Now he a t .

t e mpted to convince S ch rader that I wou l d

c e r tainly keep my p romise But the latter
.
,

l ike all h is fri ends asserted that such a thing

,

wa s i mpossible .

S hortl y afte rward S chrader learned from

G lau b itz t h at a son had been bo rn to my wife .

He info rmed h is friends of t he fact and they ,

a ll watched me and my boy E v e ry time I

m
.

ca e to thei r part of the count ry o r Glaubitz

ca m e to se e me I was asked of the state of
,

a ffai rs and heads wagged suspiciously when

,

e ver he o r I gave hopes of fulfilling my old

p rom i se.

W hen Ka rl wa s four or five years old I ,

t ook him to Klein Ottersleben -

M r Sc h r a . .

der sa w him and became ve ry fond of him .

A lthough he felt t hat the boy had no e x t r a o r

d in a ry apti tudes he wa s su re t h at I shou l d
cceed in making much of h im Thus it
,

su .

went on until the year 1 81 0 W ith eve ry suc

.

c e e d i n g year S ch rader convinced himse l f

mo re and mo re that I wa s sol ving my p rob
lem and in the latter year he so e x p ressed
,

h i mself in w r iting to me .
12 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e

The lette r is t he more striking and rema rk

able since his personal obse rv ation and the in
formation recei ved from his and my intimate
friends compe l led him to admit that what I
had p romised and he h ad doubted had s e
tu a ll y taken place although he none the less
,

could not make up his mind enti rely to give

up his p rejudices and that of his friends He .

remained to some e x tent my opponent It .

,

therefore does his inte ll ect and heart honor

,

when he enthusiastica ll y admits what h a s

taken place although he p rev iously c onsi d
,

ered such a thin g to b e impossi b le Here are .

h is own words .

LAN GE N WEDDI N GE N , J une 3, 1 81 0 .

H O N ORED FRI E N D
You ha ve kep t your wor d ! Your Ka rl h as b eco e m
m
wha t you p r o i sed b e for e h is b i r t h he would beco e , m
n a y , he h as d o n e e ve n b e t t e r When , t en yea rs a go you
m
.
,

decl a r ed t o e ecs t a t ic a lly in t he p rese nce o f o ur de

c e as ed fr ie n d Gl a u b i t z t h a t you we r e hopi n g soon t o b e
a fa t he r a n d t h a t you fe rv e n t ly wish ed t o be t h e fa t he r

o f a he a l t hy son , you a dded t h e u n fo r ge t t a b l e wo r d s,

“
m
If y so n will be h ea l t h i ly or ga n i zed I a m m
det er i ned
m m
,

t o ed u ca t e h i t o be a su per ior a n ”
.

I t he n con t ra dic t ed you, s a yi n g t ha t t he success o f

y o u r fa vor i t e p l an did no t depe n d a l on e on t h e h e a l th
o f t he boy you we r e ex pec t i n g b u , t m o r e es pec i a l ly o n

his n a t u r al a p t i t u des TO t his you r eplied : Ch a que “

.
 E x t r a or d i n a r y Ap t i t ud es

m
hom mm m e co uné en t b ien orga n isé peut deven i r gr a n d
m
hom mm
e, suppose quil soi t él evé co e il fa ut I con
’ ”

m m
.

t in n ed t o exp r ess y d o u b t s b u t G l a u b i t z ass u r ed e

m
,

t h a t you h a d a l r ea dy t r a n s for ed a boy in S wi t ze r l a n d

m m mm m
in a short t i e i n t o a or e t h a n co on a n , a l t hou gh
m
h e h a d been gi ve n up b y h is for er ed uc a t ors a s a l os t m
st u m
pid I t hen p ro ised you t h a t I woul d del a y y m
m m m
.

j u d g en t u n t i l y o u r b o y sh o u l d so e d a y a ppe a r h i
sel f a n d s pea k for or a ga i ns t y ou r ass e r t i on H er e he
m m m
.

is , your boy I see h i in a n ly atu r i t y , wi t h ch ild

— m
.

like in nocen ce a n d good ness in a r a re un io , a cha r i n g n

p i c t umr e om f en n o b led h u a n i t y ! 0 le a d e i n t o a mr oo

m mm
fill ed wi t h such e n , a n d I sh a ll dee ysel f t o be t e
m m m
o v ed fr o ea rt h a n d in co pa ny o f h i gher sp ir i ts !
m Yes m y f r ie n d ! Y o u h a v e no t e r e l y kep t y o u r w o r d
m m m
, ,

y o u h a v e a cc o pl i sh ed o r e t h a n y o u h a d p r o i s ed I
m
.

feel ys el f un der obli ga t ion t o decl a r e so in wr i t i n g, in

o r d er t o do y oudu e ju s t i ce . H oweve r , br illi a n t a s t he suc
cess o f you r e n de a vor s h a s bee n , you will n ot b e a ble t o

convi nc e t he ped a gogu es of t he t r ut h o f your fun da en m

t a l t h eo ry They will sa y on a l l s id es , How h a ppy is
“

m
.

t he fa t h er t o who su ch a so n was bo r n l They will

”

a scr i be t h e boy s a d v a n t a ges

’
m o r e t o t he n a t u re a n d a p t i

tu des of t he ch ild t ha n t o his fa t he r s a r t a n d des ert s ’

m
.
,

An d, t o t ell you fr a n kly, I , t oo a , on e o f t hos e who

If Ka r l h a d n ot b ee n for t un a t ely o r ga n ized he

“
sa y :

m
,

would n ot h a v e beco e t h a t wh i ch h e now is I k now

”

m m m
.

y o u r b y n o e a n s s a ll de s e r t s in r e g a r d t o h i I
m
.

kn ow your power , your r a r e p a t ie n ce , t he fir pers is t e n cy

wi t h wh ich you purs ue your p ur p ose I k n ow t h a t t h i s .

boy was t he p o i n t a r oun d wh ich a ll your p r ev ious li fe

wi t h a ll its a ct i v i t y h as gyr a t ed ; t ha t you h a v e k n own
how t o b r i n g ever yt h i n g s peech a n d s ilence , co i n g a n d
, m
g o i n g , w o r k a n d r e s t , e v e r y t h i n g t h a t s ur r o u n d s t h e b o y,
14 . Th e E d uca t i on f
o Ka r l Wit t e
in t o nea rer or m e em
or r el a t ions t o hima n d t o your
ot e r

purpose ; t ha t youha v e for yea rs l a bored un t ir i n gl y n u ,

i n t e rup t edly wi th ever cons t a n t powe rs a n d viva c i t y

r -

B es id es I k now t he m
, .

i ght y power which youexer t wit h

you excep t ion a l pers ist ency on a ll those on whomyou
,

r
—
wish t o ex e r t ir a n d ye t in spi t e of a ll t ha t I ca n not
, , ,

dis a gr ee with thos e ped a gogues

l t but i n deed ent i r ely im
.

It is not only d iffi cu poss ible

t o de t erm
, , ,

in e t he r ela t ive p a r t pl a yed by N a t ur e a n d a r t

in t he ed u ca t i on o f m an bec a use dur in g t he process of
,

educa t ion t hey st a n d in in t err ela t ion wi t h ea ch ot he r.

You will forev er wa n t p r oo f by whi ch t o m a ke it cl e a r

t h a t you h a ve ed u c a t ed a h e l t hy bu t not fa vor a bly or

a

n a t ely or ga n i zed boy b y m

,

for t u ea n s of t he a r t o f t r ea t
ment al one t o become a supe ior ma n N on e the less
,

you exper im en t will in every respect r em r em

.

r ai a r k a ble

a n d im
n

por t a n t for ped a gogy a nd a det a iled a ccoun t of

your m
,

et hod will be a val ua ble gi ft t o t he public N t a

ur ally it will t a ke a W i t t e t o ca r r y t h is m
.

e t h od i n t o
exec u t i on a nd so I wa rr a n t you t ha t you will h a ve
im
,

fe w i t a t ors .

SC H RAD ER,
Prea cher at La n genwedd in gen n ea r M a gdebur g .
 C H A PTER I I I
DID M Y EDUCATION A L WORK P ROCEED
S UCCE SS FU LLY ?

TH E wa y I instructed and educated my so n

must not only have had a good beginning but

must also have p roceeded success fully Since
,

the attention of the cultured and even the a c ,

t i ve pa rt i cipation of di fferent nay mutually , ,

hostile governments have n ow for more than

,

t e n years been bestowed upon me .

W hen my son first became talked about in ,

h is eighth year we were living in a vil l age

, ,

L ochau near H al l e in surroundings which

, ,

certainly we re not calculated in themselves to

di rect the attention of the public upon a child .

S uch a thing may take place more easily i n

a city especially a large city
,
.

Besides Karl s unusual education fell i nto

,
’

a period when E urope was shaken i n i ts v ery

foundat io n and whe n ou r country P russia

, , ,

wa s almost c rushed I am speaking o f the

.

yea rs 1 80 7 and 1 80 8 P eople had then other

.

s ubjects for entertainment G reat te rrible oc

.
,

15
 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
c ur re n ce s, anxieties , hopes , longings for help ,
—
disappointments only such things appeared
,

remarkable Trifles were overlooked

. .

The attainments of a child must have been

ve ry considerable they mus t have been ex
,

t ra o r d i n a ry if they were to pass th rough

,

these epochal events find a place for them

,

selves , and become established An d th is they

-
.

have done .

That point of time wa s pa rticularly un fa

vo ra b l e for there wa s then a distinct p rejudice
,

against early matu rity of l earning Men like .

S alzmann C ampe Trapp had fo r a long

, , ,

time spoke n against i t with emphasis and had

objective l y po inted out the uselessness and
ha rm of earlie r examples and had stigm ,
a
t i z e d them a s p roducts of hot house educa -

”
tion .

As I mysel f considered it an hono r to have

been thei r disciple I am willing to admit that
,

I shared thei r opin io n i n this ve ry matter ,

and that I had my misgivings when I sa w

something taking place under my guidance
of which I wa s afraid .

C onsequently the first news of it in the pub

l ic papers ( th e letter of a n unknown perso n
in the H a m b urg e r C or r es p o n d e n t giving a n
1 8 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
someth i ng since I in no way stood in physical
,

need I had a good parish and the written

.

assu rance of a still bette r one to come I .

lived quite comfortably and enjoyed with my

— —
family e ven in L eipsic all the pleasures
, ,

of my station of life .

Meanwhile my son s education was Sti l l in

’

i ts germ C ountless people feared evil con

.

“
sequences In his tenth o r twe l fth year the
.

”
poo r ch i ld will die o r waste away ! they fre
quently said in a truly an x ious manner
,
.

Neverthe l ess the ci t y and the university of

,

L eipsi c united in a v e ry surprising way and ,

by a c onsiderab l e Stipend for my son and ve ry

kin d and advantageous o ffers for me and my
wife made i t possible for me to give up my
p arish and to m ake up my mind to go to live
in L eipsi c E ve ry sensible person will sur
.

mise that th is wa s not done without most care

ful i nvestigations and repeated tests of my
son .

The F re nch W estphalia n government p ro

in the same manner I t examined my
c ee d e d .

so n repeatedly and w i th susp i cion but ended ,

by o ffering me monetary support which wa s ,

regularly pa i d out to me even on the day ,

whe n the R uss i a ns were firing o n Kassel .

 M y E d uc a t i o na l Wor k

W hen W estphalia collapsed my patrons ,

a nd friends took care of me and my son for ,

P russ i a my fatherland which for seven years

, ,

had methodically been sucked d ry and ex

ha n sted was in the midst of a doubtful war
, ,

while Hanover B runswick and Hesse hast

, ,

ened to make it known that eve ry stranger

from anothe r state should rep ai r home and ,

violentl y rejected any demands made upon

them on the basis of W estpha l ian re com
me nd a tions Yet all th ree States p romptl y
.

and free l y paid to me what I asked of them

on the basis of those recommendations after ,

having most natu rally and reasonab l y first

, ,

convinced themse l ves that the money of ,

which they were very much in need was well ,

spent i n my case .

Then many P russ i ans of the upper class

encouraged me to turn to ou r mona rch The .

times being so unp rop i tious I did not dare do ,

so fo r a long while F inally having been

.
,

u rged anew I made a cautious inqui ry and

, ,

I received a most magnanimous and e n co ur

aging answer Indeed after a close r investi
.
,

ga rio n of the matter I was granted more than

,

I had da red to ask H ow gracious the p roofs

.

o f royal attentio n and favor have be en which ,

20 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
my son and I have for t h e l ast two years e n
j oyed here in Berlin !
S ince all this h a s been mai n tained with out
i nterruption for the pe riod of ten years Since ,

the most di fferent and mutually opposed

,

men savants and statesmen even monarchs

, , ,

have united fo r p rompt and active c oOp e ra

t i on t h e cause fo r which such sacrifices h ave
,

sympathetically been made must be good and

must have succeeded .

A mass of written congratulat ions a n d ex

p ressions of heart felt interest which came ,

chiefly from men whom I did not personally

kn ow a mass of personal p roofs of kindness
, ,

well wishing respect and sincere sympathy

-
, , ,

attest the fact that my undertaking was con

t inu ou sl y successful I t has won for i tself the
.

nob l e ones of our own land and other coun

tries o r my eyes ea rs senses and intellect
, , , ,

must have egregiously deceived me .

 C H A PTER I V
F I N I S H ED ?
’
Is M Y SoN s EDUCATION
So fa r a s I a m
c oncerned , i t i s I hav e lon g
.

w i thstood those who asserted that i t was fin

i sh e d , but n ow I must adm i t it is W hen he .

wa s ele ven years old , se v eral p rofessors at

Goe tt ing e nthought that i t was not necessa ry
fo r me any longe r to accompany my son to his
lectu res that he b eha ved perfect l y well wa s
, ,

a ttentive made the p roper notes and I there

, , ,

fore could Spa re myse l f the troub l e None

, .

th e less I used to go with him made all the,

p reparations fo r the lectu res and a l l the re

v iews together w i th him Later at G oe t t in
.
,

gen and at Heide l be rg I stopped i t all b ut

, ,

I p roceeded v ery Slowly and impercept ibly

b efore leav ing him ent i rely to h i s own
,

act ions
Only a fte r he had m
.

a d e h i s appea rance

several times a s an author in d i fli cul t matters ,

e vo k ing respect and applause only after he

,

had rece ived hono rs such a s a re us ually b e

,

21
 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
stowed upon a real sav a n t of adv anced years ,

only after Ou r M ajes t y the King and h is

mi niste r considered him worthy to undertake
, ,

’
a two years scientific jou rney at the expense
-

of the State and that he then Sixteen years

, ,

old was fully able to take care of himse l f

, ,

did I make up my mind to consider h is edu

cation finished so far a s I wa s concerned and
resolved at last seriously to c onsider m
,

y o wn

health .

Howeve r not t o be too rash and do th ings

,

p rematu rely of which I had constantly been

,

i n fear I wrote to our honored mona rch that

,

from considerations which I adduced I

should like to keep my son another year with
me in order that he might have an op p o rtu
,

n i ty to p repare himse l f as thoroughly for this

d i stinguished mission as he had formerly p re

pared himself for every impo rtant change i n
h is intellectual life H is M ajesty gave the
.

necessary consent with a readiness and lib

e ra l i t y which throw a bright l ight both on

the correct v iew and on the noble heart of t h e

m onarch It wa s only th e n that with the a p
.
,

p roval of my patrons and friends I left the ,

house and c i ty in which my son wa s living

m
.

I have bee n away from h i fo r seventee n

 Is my S ’
on s E d uc a t i o n F i n is h e d ? 23

months and du ring that time I saw him on l y

,

once in Vienna on h i s journey to Switzerland

a n d Italy .

Not to push him out i nto the wo rld all at

once while he wa s still so young and in order
, ,

not to make the change from the considerate

care of both parents to the absolute se l f de -

p e n d e n c e among strangers too sudden I left ,

him during my absence wi th h is mother and

in the ci rcle of noble friends who fortunately ,

belonged to all classes of socie t y and to all

ages and recommended to him that in the
,

p roper season he Shou l d at my e x pense take

trips to L eipsic and D resden and to thei r
cha rming su rroundings F reibu rg C hemnitz
N a um
, , ,

b urg Jena W eima r E r fur t h Gotha

, , , , ,

L iebenstein E isenach Kassel G oe tt i n g e n

, , , ,

B runswick M agdeburg S al zwedel etc

, , ,
.
,

s hould inspect a l l kinds of wo rks o f natu re

and of art and should make use of libra ries
,

and gain personal acquaintance with schola rs ,

—in Short should p ractica ll y p repare him

,

self for h is great jou rney and then should in ,

fou r o r five months retu rn to his mother in

Be rlin i n o rder once more to begin and con
,

finue the theoretical p reparation All that .

he did ad v antageously to himself and in May ,

24. Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
of th is year he actually Started on his greater
jou rney After having been wi th him in
.

Vienna fo r two months I forever told him ,

goodby and he is now l iving beyond the Alps

, .

I obviously can no longer supe rvise him He .

stands alone in the ca re of God and his own

,

conscience I must therefore assume that his

.
, ,

education i s completed in so far as I am ,

concerned .

Of course that education which we all re

,

c e ive until ou r death that perfection which,

we obtain th rough the ci rcumstances of l ife ,

our vicissitudes our acquaintances ou r con

, ,

—
v erse wi th the living and the dead that edu ,

cation h a s naturally not been finished and

cannot be finished .

W hen I Started on my jou rney of seventeen

mon t hs he wa s bodily and spi ritually in per
,

fec t health sound and joy ful and worked

, ,

wi th pleasure and c a se He had never been .

ill and had not even had the diseases of

,

infancy .
26 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wi t t e
p iece of music played on the first will be more
agreeable to the ear than one played on the
other .

’
To spea k w i thout s imiles I f a ch ild s body
or m
.

ind lacks an organ i t will be impossib l e,

even for the greatest educator on earth to

bring out that which it is the p roperty of that
organ to develop But if all the organs are
.

p resent some of them however in a weaker

, , ,

degree and without the p rope r pe rfection ,

a n d in thei r active powe r be i t of a corporal ,

o r Spi ritual natu re a re somewhat behind the

,
—
others the clear sighted educato r but on l y
,
-
,

such may be able by degrees comple tely to

,

overcome these deficiencies o r at least to p ro , , ,

duce results which would startle the man of

reason who has kn own the organ in i ts fo rmer
state and now becomes aware of the greatly
imp roved results .

S uch an educator w i ll be able to raise a

child o f mediocre organization by means of
a very careful treatment to a degree of edu
cation which exce l lently organized child ren ,

under a careless and imp rope r method of edu

cation frequently do not attain Hence it
,
.

must a s a ru l e turn out to be true that a chi l d

, ,

of mediocre organization who has been edu

 E ve r y Ch i ld my
a B eco m S up
e e r or i 27

c a te d with much love cleverness atte n tion

, , ,

and zeal by a v ery skillful and cautious

e duca t o r may in the realm of beings finally
, ,

oc cupy a higher position tha n a highly 0 r

g a n i z e d chi l d who h a s been carelessly and

b adly educated by thought l ess and i n e xp e r i
e n c e d educators On th e othe r hand i t must
.
,

be self evident that the latter coul d and must

-

h ave risen much higher if it had been treated

a s wisely and a s care fully a s the first And .

it is equally clea r that this too frequent l y fails

t o happen i n ou r impe rfect world that i n , ,

deed i t cannot happen under the e x isting ci r

msta nce s I t is therefore obvious that many
,

cu .

well organized child ren go backward and ,

be come un reasoning ign orant and even h a d

, , ,

wh i le some o rdinari l y o rganized child ren

th rough favo rable ci rcumstances rise to a
point reached but by few mortals .

W hat a most fortunately o rganized man

ma y become under the most app rop riate edu
cation and most favorab l e ci rcumstances that , ,

I assert we do not know at all for ou r Ale x

, ,

anders C e sars C harlemagnes Hen rys F red

, , , ,

e ricks ,
had thei r weak o r more correctly, , ,

thei r bad sides C onsequently they came very

.

much short o f that ideal which is possib l e even

28 Th e E d uca t i on f
o Ka r l Wit t e

in ou r imperfect wo r l d I am convinced that .

an exceptiona ll y we ll educated man wou l d be -

greater, Stronge r hea l thier mo re beautifu l

, , ,

gent l er, mo re cou rageous more magnan i ,

mous no bl e r braver w iser wittier more

, , , , ,

earnest more lea rned sensible moderate re

, , , ,

strained ( o f cou rse eve ryth ing in i ts right

,

—
place ) in Short t hat he would b e a man
, ,

who wou l d stand incompa ra b ly nearer to the

highe r b e ings than we do .

I f we were a hund red years ad v anced in the

art of education my p ropos i tion wou l d per
, ,

haps b e wrong P erhaps i t would not b e for

,
.
,

i t would still b e a question whether a l l the

means for awakening and educating a l l the
powers th at are l atent in ev e ry child had b een
found and had b ecome a common p rope rt y ,

and whether there were many parents and

educato rs who had conscientiously used eve ry
opportuni ty for the advancement of those
under thei r cha rge from the i r cradle to thei r
completed education Only then would it b e .

poss ib l e to assert that a fathe r o f an o rdina r

ily o rgan i zed ch ild could not accomp l ish
anything more for him than ten othe r fathers
of ve ry fa vora b ly organ i zed child ren did for
thei r own and so could no t ad v ance h is son
,
 E v e r y C h il d my
a B eco m S up
e i
e r or 29

a ny farthe r and had on the contra ry to l et

h im
, , ,

fall behind the others .

But this is not the case now We are st ill .

ve ry far from being able to assert that others

could not accomp l ish sti l l mo re There will .

h ardly be a sensible Cspecia ll y an e xp e r i

,

e n c e d man who wi l l not in applying a sys

, ,

tem of education discover that he has com

m
,

i t t e d some bl unders which have b een i n

j ur i o u s to h i s pupi l and have visib l y kept him
from b ecoming what he othe rwise might have
tu rn ed out to be .

I f now it is quite certai n that our usual

m
, ,

eth od of education and instruction is sti l l

far b ehind th at which an indi v idual man may
a ccomplish because he exerts al l his powe rs
,

i n th e desi re to obtain resu l ts — then it is quite

,

c omp rehe nsib l e th at such a man would b e

a b le to p romote the lesser aptitudes b etter

t han the greater apti tu des a re genera ll y p ro

moted at p resent : that he the refore may be , ,

a b le to educate a chi l d with ordina ry organ

i za t ion so a s to b ecome a super i or man .

But since my p roposition of which I am ,

a s con v inced as of my existence has b een uni ,

ve rs a l l y attacked ,
a l though a very few per
sons , wi th out my a i d ha ve grasped i t cor
,
 Th e E d uca t i on f
o Ka r l Wit t e
re c t l y and put i t in the c lea rest l ight I am ,

constr ained to b e l ieve that peop l e have gen

e r a ll y misunderstood it a l beit claiming to
,

understand it and as usual have brought fo r

, , ,

ward a mass of objections which frequent l y

destroy one anothe r and frequent l y are so
weak that upon c l ose r exami n ation they col
lapse a s untenab l e .

So I wil l try to explain it at greater length ,

b y rep roducing a s faithfu ll y as possib l e one

o f the many conversations I have in the l ast
twenty five years had upon the subject
- .

“
Mr A . N 0 my friend you cannot con
.
, ,

v ince me of it F o r from this i t wou l d fol

.

l ow that all men are b orn with equal apti

—
tudes and wh o cou l d assume Suc h a thing ?
,

The diversity of human aptitudes is se l f

”
evident .

“
I . T0 me also But you are mistaken i n
.

assuming th at your conc l usion actua ll y fol

”
lowed from my p roposition .

He .
“
W hat ? You mean to sa y th at my
conclus ion is wrong ? Is i t not c l ear that al l
child ren must ha ve equal aptitudes if I can ,

educate eve ry one of them to be a superio r

”
man ?
“
I In the first place I did not say th at
.
,
 E v e r y C h i ld my a B eco m S up
e e r i or 3 1

you cou l d do so with every chi l d fo r I know ,

th at there are cretins who we also call human

,

beings ; I k now very we l l that the gradation

from these to the man who comes into the
world with the highest possible perfection of
o rganization is eno rmous ; I know that we are
unab l e to count a l l the rounds of such a
ladder .

“
He You mean to sa y th at th is wa s not
.

you r idea ? Then I must have m i sunderstood

”
you ve ry much .

“ ‘
I That you have fo r I keep saying from
.
,

e very hea l thi l y o rganized ch i l d and th at ’

,

makes a great di fference .

He I do not find i t so or I d o not un

.
“
,
”
d e rst a n d you .

“
I The l atte r may eas ily b e the cas e So
. .

I will try to make myse l f c l earer I assume .

with you that men s aptitudes are ve ry di ffer

’

ent that if we consider a ll thei r b odi l y men

, , ,

tal and moral aptitudes singl y and in thei r

,

interactions we tru l y may s a y that thei r d i

,

ve rs i t i e s cannot b e counted But for ou r pur.

poses we must consider them capa b le of men

su r a t i on L e t us therefore assume a diver
.
, ,

S i ty grading from one to one hund red The .

above mentioned c retin may b e considered a s

-
3 2 Th e E d uca t i on f
o Ka r l Wi t t e
having an aptitude o f one wh i le th e b est ,

o rganized man possess es one of one hundred .

Th en an o rdinarily organ i ze d child may b e

r egarded a s ha v ing an aptitud e o f

He F ifty That is c lea r B ut of what

“
. . .

”
good i s that ?
“
I You will soon h e a r So I a ssume t hat
. .

many chi l d ren come into t h e world w i th a pti

t udes graded as fi fty fo r what i s mos t o rd i
m
,

na ry i s most frequent Thu s yo ur son ine .

, ,

and th e son of uncounta b le othe rs would b e

”
long to this num b er .

“
He Not at all I wi ll a dm it th is in t h e
. .

”
cas e of my son b ut n ot of you rs
,
.

I Ve ry well To please you I wil l fo r

.
“
.
,

t h e p resent s a y noth ing a b out i t B ut l e t us .

,

p roceed ! Think of ten or a doz e n ch i ldren

whose aptitudes a re fifty b ut i n v ar i ous rela ,

tions Le t two of them b e b rough t up i n the

.

count ry enti rely w i th out any i nstructi o n ; t wo

m
,

o th ers wi th not much ore i nstruct ion in

, ,

th e city employed from earl i es t ch i ld h ood a s

m
,

app rentices in a facto ry ; t wo of t h e e d u

c a t e d in a poo r school t wo i n a b ett er school ;
,

two othe rs carefully and well b rought up i n

,

the family ci rcle ; finally t wo who hav e b een ,

wrongly e ducated a t h om e Youw i ll e as i ly .

34 . Th e E d uca t i on f
o Ka r l Wit t e
ural as they call it O bviously the son of
,
.

the robber the day la b orer and the peasant

,
-
,

wi ll as a rule have su rp risingly greater bod

, ,

ily strength th an the son of the artist th e ,

”
Scho l ar and the minister , .

“
I Ve ry we l l ! But why ?
.

“
He That is clear Because the first three
. .

have natura l ly been developing thei r b odily

Strength and in thei r particular Situations
,

c ou l d not help deve l oping it In the ca se of .

t h e other three th e b odi l y strength wi l l no, ,

dou b t b e exercised b ut litt l e o r not at a l l

, ,

hence it will remain l atent o r d ie o ut com

”
p l e t e l y .

“
I So you admit t hat power say b odi l y
.
, ,

power wi ll increase in p roportion as it is put

,
”
to use .

“
He C ertainly ! I t is th e same as in the
.

case of the magnet The more a magnet is .

—
given by degrees to attract O f course wi thin ,

the extreme l imits of what a magnet can b ear

—th e mo re it wi ll attract ”

I We ll this i s a great gain fo r m

.

“
.
,e for ,

you admit that the inborn powers of man that ,

i s his aptitudes develop only in p roportion

, ,

a s t hey are put into acti v ity and b rought out

by h is ed uc a tors ”
.
 E v e r y C h ild my a B eco m S up
e i
e r or 35

He Wh o could de ny t h is ? But h ow is
.
“

”
t his against me ?
“
. I I t i s not against you b ut i t helps me ,

very much in the establishment of my p ropo

s i t i on fo r i t follows from it that a l l that i s
,

necessa ry is in the most careful and even man

ner from the cradle on to develop a chi l d s
, ,
’

natu ral aptitudes in order to educate a man

,

wh o will Stand muc h higher than all the

o thers wh o a re endowed wi th the same nat
”
u ra l ap titudes .

“
H e You are m i staken The case is mere
. .

l y possible but no conclusion can b e d rawn

,

from w h at i s possib l e to what actua ll y is ”

.

“
. I I b eg your pardon You are mistaken .
,

for we are not yet Speaking of the rea l ity .

You have a l ready admitted the possib i l i ty ,

”
a n d t his i s all I want .

“
He My friend you seem to entangle me
.
,

w i th i n v isib l e th reads and then you wil l a l l

,
‘
of a sudden c ry out C aught ! But that will
,
’

not do ! I f your assertion contains an inner

”
truth you must p roceed open l y with me
,
.

“
. I I have done so a ll along and I intend ,

to p roceed in the same manner Here is the .

p roof of it W e started with your denial of

.

the p roposition that it wa s possib l e to make

36 Th e E d uca t i on f
o Ka r l Wit t e

a s uperior man out of any healthily organ

”
i ze d child p ro v ided he is p roper l y educate d
,
.

“
He F g h t and I still deny i t !
.
i
,
”

“
I So we have come to an agreement that
m
.

e n come i nto the world w i th th e most di

verse aptitudes of b ody mind and heart ; that

, ,

t h e v e ry fa v o ra b ly a s well a s the ve ry un fa v

o r a b l y organized child ren form the minori t y ,

wh i le th e ordinarily organized form the ma

j o r i ty .W e have assumed a scale of aptitudes
f rom one to one hundred placing th ose of th e
,

c r etin at one the most favo rably endowed

,

human natu re at b i rth at one hund red and ,

th e endowment of most chi l dren at fif t y ; and

you have granted to me that among ten chil
dren of t h e latter kind there wi ll soon appear
a n enormous di vers i ty of the growth of th ei r

powers i n p ropo rtion a s t his or that h a s re

,

c e ive d part i cular attention ; th at some powers

would completely stagnate i f they were not ,

used or de ve loped o r we re eve n rep resse d

,
.

”
IS this so ?
“ ”
He Yes yes ! But what follows from it ?
.
,

I W hat I have deduced from it namely

.
“
, ,

th at a ll that is necessa ry is evenly and with

great care to educate the natu ral powers of
 E ve r y C h i l d my a B eco m S up
e i
e r or 37

a child th at is h is aptitudes in order to make

, , ,
”
a superior man of him .

“
He Ve ry well ! I adm i t that such a ch ild
.

will i n ti me stand higher th an those who he

gan with the same aptitudes but who we re ,

later b adly educated But what does this .

p rove against me ? I may assume that among

t hese ten boys five are educated very we ll .

And you will certainly no t deny that such a

”
case is possib l e ?
“
.I I might deny i t for i t is a rare thing ,

fo r o n e to be educated very we ll Howe ver .

,

I will grant you this in the ordina ry sense ,

o f the word But I cannot do so in the sense

.

in which I take it fo r I understand under ,

an especial l y good education one in which

a l ready the chi l d s father has either b y fate
’
,

or by h is parents been educated uncommonly

,

we l l ; in whic h he possesses the needed health ,

time knowledge and e x perience to be able to

, ,

gi ve an exceptiona l ly good education ; in

which he besides brings an inner inclinat ion
, ,

and an i ron will fo r the education o f his

child ; and in which he app rop r i ate l y chooses
his vocation his domici l e his consort his
, , ,

chief and seconda ry occupations h is friends , ,

3 8 Th e E d uca t i on f
o Ka r l Wit t e
h is acquaintances and e ven h is serv ants He
,
.

must be able and wi ll ing to li ve now a s a

herm
,

it n ow in tr aveling now in the g reat

, ,

wor l d now in the country n ow in a p rovin

, ,

c i a l town n ow at the university n ow in the

, ,

capita l Only then can there be an educat ion

.

s uc h a s I have i n mind an enti rely e xce p ,

t i on a l one b y means of which a l l the child s

’
,

powe rs may be developed in th e widest and

most even manner .

“
I t wa s my ideal to b e able to change at
any moment in confo rmity with the ci rcum
,

stances and I am grateful to P ro v idence that

,

I wa s granted the chance at l east to app roach

my goal But I should g l adly have given my
.

so n an education in w h ich I Should have been

ab l e to make these changes with infinite l y

greater rapidity every time they appeared
,

necessa ry to me But you wi l l easily under

.

stand that that far exceeded my powers that ,

is my abi l ity ; and it is on l y under such con

,

d i t ion s that it wou l d ha v e been possible for

me to develop a ll h is apti tudes even l y to the ,
”
utmost l imits of thei r perfectibility .

“
He Ve ry well ! But who can do so ?
.

“
I It is not impossib l e a s you will admit
.
, .

But i f a child we re educated in this manner ,

 E v e r y C h il d my
a B e co m S upe e r i or 39

it would b ecome e v ident that education placed

him abov e all t hose with whom he onc e wa s
e u
qa L
“
He Ye s, i f I Should assume that there
.

ex ists such a wise lea rned ab l e good hearted

, , ,
-
,

and i ron willed father you would be right ;

-
,

h i s education would place h i s child abov e al l

those who fo rmerly were equal w i th him But .

you have gained l ittl e by t his for you r p ropo ,

si t i on says a great deal more A ccording to .

it a chi l d thus educated wou l d also have to

surpass th ose who are born with the aptitudes
rated at sixty seventy eighty and ninety
, , ,
.

You se e I am magnanimous enough to rate

,

you r son at one hundred .

“
I Do not do that ! I shall accept what
.

you hav e to say in so far as i t is true We .

shall soon se e in h ow far you are right I .

‘
said : E ve ry o rdinari l y organized chi l d may
become a superio r man i f he is educated ex ,

ce p t io n a ll y we l l A superior man does not

’
.

mean the first second o r thi rd man in the

, ,

who l e kingdom One may be satisfied i f he

.

towers ove r thousands which he certain l y ,

will fo r the children who are born with apti

,

tudes of eighty eighty five ninety ninety

,
-
, ,

five and one hu n d red are certainly a s r a re

,
 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
as those th ank He a ven who are by N a tu re
, ,

stepmotherly endowed with aptitudes of twen

ty five twenty fifteen ten five and one Co n
-
, , , , ,
.

s i der more especially th at many chi l d ren a re

b o rn and l iv e with excellent aptitudes under

such ci rcumstances as make thei r aptitudes
”
not on l y use l ess b ut even ha rmful to th em
, .

“
He How so ? .
”

“
I The superi or mental power will more
.

e a sily harm T han help the son of the ro b ber ,

be ggar and poor day labo rer It can hardly

,
.

b e p roperly developed on account of the un ,

fo rtunate ci rcumstances under which t hey

l iv e C onsequently it wi l l look for a Side
.

path just as a seed does when it has a stone

,

weighing upon i t A nd th is side path is only.

too often a bad one The more mental apti .

t udes such a man possesses the more I trem ,

ble for him fo r what under oth er ci rcum

,

stances ennob l es th e land and supports the

throne will easily deteriorate into trickiness
, ,

wiles and rascality

,
This wi l l happen the .

more certainly t h e more powerfully a n d t h e

,

quicker his mind asserts itself for the ne ce s ,

sa ry p rops of religion of internal and exter ,

nal mo r a l ity are l acking in him He has not .

b e e n accu s tomed to volunta ry renunciation ,

 Th e E d uca t i on f
o Ka r l Wit t e
h is son a good education a n d i s wise enough
,

to choose a superior educato r from the midd l e

class wh o wil l be a father to h is son in the
,

b est sens e of the wo rd and i f he is fortunate

,

enough to find such a one t hen let him spend ,

—
on him what he can spend on himself he wi l l ,

n o t pay too much for him I assume above.

,

all else that he gives this educator a free

,

han d and t hat the educator does h is duty I f .

’
t h e b oy s apti tudes are excellent so much the ,

better I f they are mediocre such an educa

.
,

tor i s so much the mo re n eeded I f they are .

slight he i s i ndispensa b le But h ow often

,
.

h ave I seen s uch means neglected !

“
In th e choice of an educator they do not
a lways ask W hich i s the better ? but frequent
,

ly W hich i s t h e cheaper ? W hich one h a s

,

th e most Sua v e manners ? o r even F rom what ,

country does he come or to what caste does

,

h
. e b elong ? Othe r parents ci rcumscri b e h i s

free activity in regard to his charge Others .

forget the respect and friends h ip which they

owe him and in a l l th ese c ases hurt th e child
,

without retrieve .

“
A nd where i s the upper cl a ss fam i ly which
-

—
wou l d have the wi l l and strength I w i ll not ,
 E v e ry C h i l d my
a B eco m S up
e i
e r or 43

sa y ! on account of th e i r son to sacr i fice thei r

own connections p rejudices comforts dis
, , ,

t r act ions and the sensuous enjoyments which

, ,

p resen t themse lves eve ry day in another form

—
to t hem but on l y firm l y to remove these
,

from thei r son ? Are not most chi l dren of this

type satiated before they hav e become youths ?
And if the parents have g iven them the in
heritance of pure b l oo d is it not too often ,

polluted in thei r ear l iest years and are not ,

t he i r bod i es so weakened that t hey turn out

to be feeb l e pa l e house do ll s whom the first
,
-

n o rtherner throws to the ground a l though ,

wi th such educational means there shou l d

have resu l ted young Hercu l es w i th the men
t a l powers of an Apo l lo ?
W e do not meet with many youths of th e
l atter kind in upper c l ass socie t y and yet
-
,

t hey shou l d be common there they shou l d ,

th e more Sp l end i d l y increase in mind a s in

years because the Opportuni t y to hear see
, , ,

and experience hence to train and e x ercise

,

the m i nd p resents itse l f to them every day ;

,

and because they are p l aced in o ffi ces wh ich

should be of he l p to them since the acti v ities ,

associ ated with these ought to sharpen t hei r

 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wi t t e

i ntel l ect, i ncrease the i r insight and make ,

th em capab l e of a ct in g and partic ip at ing in

g re a t th ings .

“
W ith a little b it of reflection you will
find my fr iend that I shou l d hav e to fear
, ,

much from th is side but i n real i ty th ere i s ,

nothing to fear In th e upper classes of so

.

c ie t y there are rea ll y not many youths per ,

haps not even chi l dren who betray superior ,

powe rs in body m i nd an d heart Or are , .

”
you of a d i fferent opinion ?
He Unfortunate l y not B ut wha t h a s
“
. .

th at to do with our matter ?

“
I It p roves to you that if a ch i ld with
.

an apt i tude of fif ty is real l y brought up a s

well a s a ch i l d might be b e some day will ,

tower abov e the youth of t h e upper classes ,

even if they were born with aptitude s of

”
e igh ty n i nety and one hund red
, , .

He Very very bad i t i s b ut I c annot

“
.
, ,

find youwron g in it ”
.

“
I Thus we have left only th e c h ildren
.

of t h e we l l to do midd l e class S i nce th is

- -
.

class is the p i th of the nat ion I must dwe l l ,

here a litt l e longer C hild ren from th e wel l .

t o do midd l e c l ass may reach a h igh degree

-

of deve l opment But here there takes p l ace

.
 E v e ry C h i l d my
a B e co m S up
e i
e r or 45

what I ment ioned before : I should be wron g

if t h e art of education had a l ready advanced
so fa r that pa rents or educators usua ll y a c

c omp l ished e v erything which man i s capab l e

of accomp l ishing This is so fa r from being

.

t h e case that I may tru l y s a y th at untold

times t hey fail comp l ete l y I frequentl y .

ma rv el how it i s possib l e for inte l ligent p a r

ents to act so wrong l y and yet th is is a da ily
,

occurrence I te ll them so and they d o

.
,

no t listen to me or they listen and feel i t

, ,

but do not act accordingly .

“
As long a s th e parents lov e one ch i ld
more than anoth er ; a s l ong a s thei r lov e is
more sensuous than inte ll igent more an ima l ,

t han human ; a s long a s thei r money or the i r ,

hono rs in th e state or th e i r pleasures and

,

th e i r soc i ety are more to them than thei r

—
chi l d ren so l ong wil l they never succeed in
developin g to the highest degree a l l the
powers of thei r chi l dren a l ike and so lon g ,

will t h e one who is l ess endowed by nature ,

if everyth i ng h a s been done for him that

can b e done o f a sure t y rise abov e the others
, ,

ev en i f t he i r natural a ptitudes su rpass h is

own .

“
Add to th is th a t a v iv ac iou s m i nd fa i l s
4 6 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
mo re as i ly t han an ine rt one and tha t i t
e ,

w i ll more eas ily transgress and will i ssue

from i ts t ra nsgressions wi th g reater d iffi c ul
ty,
— and you wil l at once se e th at a man who
h a s been educated accordin g t o t h e i dea !
which the perfect educato r h a s i n mind will
not so easi ly find a noth e r one wh o surpas ses
”
him
m
.

He C e rta i nly B ut you u st admi t t ha t

“
. .

another person w i th g reater apti tudes would

ad v ance much farther if he enjoye d t he sa e
”
m
good education .

“ ”
I No doubt about t hat !
.

He W ell how far would he adv ance ?

“
.
,
“
I To a degree of perfectio n which is
.

s t i ll unkn own to u s W hat causes us to make

.

complex calculat io ns such a man would se e

,

t h rough in a moment ; wha t t o u s i s hard

work would be to him easy pl e asant play

, , .

Nothing but th e l im i tations of h uman n ature

wou l d keep h i m
i n bound s
”

m
.

He Do you bel ieve tha t a

“
. a n could
”
b e educated so far ?
I Wh y should I not ? I Should h a ve
.
“

t o deny a w i s e a n d k ind God if I d i d not ,

b e l iev e i t I not only bel i eve i t b ut I am

.
,
”
abso l utely conv inced of i t .
 E v e ry C h i l d my a B e co m S upe i
e r or
47

He W ell I do not b el ieve i t b ecause

.
“
, ,

it wo uld be p roducti ve of m uch unhapp i

”
ness .

I Unhapp i ness ? W hat unhapp i ness ?

.
“

He Much v ery much unhappiness ! Both

“
.
,

i n t h e upper a n d in th e lowe r c lass es of

”
soc i e t y
m
.

I You ma ke e ve ry curi o us b eca us e

.
“
,
”
I do n ot se e it
m urp is
.

“
He I . a s r e d ,
fo r it s e e ms so
”
cl e a r

mm
.

I So I
. b eg you e arn e stl y t o i nfo r e
”
of it .

He Gladly . You a ssume tha t there

“
.

c ou l d be men who would be l ike angels wh o ,

ev erywhere recogn i ze the truth without p rej

ud ice ; who everywhere ask on l y what is

r ight true beautiful good sensib l e p roper
, , , , , ,

i n accordance with du t y and so forth and , ,

wh o final l y consider a s p l ay and do far

, ,

be tter what to us is ha rd work You con .

”
si der this possib l e do you not ? ,
“
I Ve ry poss ib l e I ndeed I hope that in
. .
,

a hund red years there will b e many such

men if un iversal i nstruction and espec i a ll y

,

education continue to adv a n ce in th e r ight

di re ction .
 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
“
He Then I p i ty poor humani ty fo r we
.
,

sha l l have to p as s th ro u g h another revolu

t ion .

.I W h y so ?
“

“
He Ve ry naturally so There wi ll ar is e
. .

— —
men I fo ll ow out you r i deas wh o will
stand infin i te l y highe r than all th e i r fe l
lows
.I I must i nterrupt you Not so very
“
.

much h igher ! Not more than at p resent

our men of superio r educatio n surpass the
others You must not forget that I have
.

added the cond i tion I f uni versa l instruction

,

and espec i a ll y education continue to advance

in the right d i rection I f such is the case
.
,

t h e who l e w i ll r emain i n equipo i se The .

man of super io r educat ion wi ll of course , ,

Stand higher than the man of superior edu

cation at p rese nt ; but the whole human race
of h is time will a l so stand h igher hence ,

w i l l come as c l ose to him as th e p resent race

app roaches the most cu l tu red man of ou r
”
t ime .

“
He Th i s somewhat soften s my o b ject ion
.
,

b ut it does not remov e it I n any case such .

a man wi ll stand startl ingl y higher he nce he ,

will want to d ra g human i ty up to him In .

5 0 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wi t t e

He I ndeed ? .
“

“
I Yes You w il l adm i t that a sharp
. .

knife may be used a s much fo r good as for

ev i l fo r eating a s for ki l ling wi ll you not ?
, ,

Am I to honor and respect l ess the artist

who has made it on accou n t of i ts possib l e
,
”
misuse ?
“ ”
He C ertainly not
. .

“
I My son wa s pe rm itted to d rink wine
.

du ring long walks and before during and , ,

after e x hausti v e e x ertions I a l most en cour .

aged him to do so a l though he did not cus

t om
,

a r i l y drink wine Le t us assume the un .

fortunate case that he wou l d become a

d runkard thus weakening in body and mind
,
.

Shou l d I be b l amed fo r havi n g g i ven him

”
wine a s medicine ?
“
He Not at a ll !
.

“
I The art of wr i ting th e in vention of
.
,

p r i nting powder the discove ry of America

, , ,

and so forth are a ll discoveries which with

, ,

the good which they have p roduced have ,

a l so caused much evi l Are they on th at s e .

,
”
count to be hated or despised ?
,
“ ”
He No no !
.
,
“
I S ha ll we perhaps do the way our
.
, ,

fath ers and mothers did th i rty and forty

 E ve ry Ch i ld my
a B e co m S up
e i
e r or 5 1

years ago when th ey pu rpose l y did not a l

,

low thei r daughters to learn wr i ting so that ,

they would not be ab l e to write l ove letters ,

a nd th us dro v e them into th e nets of l ow

”
cheats lovelaces and pimps ?
, ,
“ ”
He Heaven forb i d !
.

I W ell then let us do what i s good

.
“
,

honestly and with al l our power trusting ,

in God who w i l l p revent th e evil co use

q u e n c e s or will lead to magnificent resu l ts .

S ha l l we wish for no W ashingtons and

F ra n k l i n s b ecause they accomp l ished the
revo l ution which h a s raised North Amer
ica so high l y on t h e th rone of ennob l ed
humani t y and wi l l continue to raise it sti l l
,

more high l y ? I f E ngland the rul er had

‘
, ,

met her subject daughte r ha l fway in a friend

l y manner there wou l d ha v e been no re vol u
,

tion and the happiness intended by th e Dei ty

,

wou l d none the l ess have been attained In .

’

these words lies eve rything that I need to

s a y nay even more than you think
, ,
.

“
H e Oh I understand you and you are
.
, ,

perfect l y right The Heavens grant that

.

this e x pe rience and other e x periences l ike it

may p roduce the result which they cou l d and
”
Should p roduce !
 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
“
I I hope so for humani t y advances in
.
,

cessant l y and thank Heaven toward wh at

, , ,

is better I can think only forty years back

.
,

but i n th ese very for t y years a s you know , ,

a h isto ry of at least fou r hundred years h a s

passed by us I hav e l ived to se e migh t y

.

upheav als ; I have mo re than once su ffered

terr ibly from them ; and yet I aver that the
p resent time is far p referab l e to that of o l d .

As a man ad v anced in years I cou l d eas i l y

foster p rejudices for o l den days ; a s an e x p e
r ie n c e d man I kn ow the thousandfo l d evi l s

t h at have wa l ked the earth —and yet I b l ess ,

th at fate that h a s al l owed me to l ive unti l

now for truth and reason have mighti l y
,

fought thei r way fo rward The rights of .

humani t y are recognized even where it is ,

done with anger The c l asses that once were

.

treated by the laws as herds and were arbi

t r a r i l y c rushed n ow stand up l ike men for
, ,

socie t y h a s demanded and obtained c ons id

”
e r a t i on for t hem .

“
He True ! Good and true ! But this
.

very turn of our con versation reminds me

o f another object ion Le t us se e whether .

”
you a re ab l e to remove this also !
.I Gladly ! O nly let e a sk you first
“
m ,
 E v e ry C h i l d my a B eco m S up
e e r or i 53

th rough whom have those sp l endid resu l ts ,

which you you rse l f recogn ize as such been ,

p roduced th rough better o r through worse

,
”
men ?
He W hat do you mean by that ?
.
“ ”

.I W hat I mean to s a y by it does not

“

belong here a s yet F i rst of a ll we are con

.

cerned with what I say So I ask you again

.
,

are these recognized exce ll ent effects the

work of men who were educated espec i a ll y
we l l o r il l ? M ind you I inc l ude in edu
,

cation everything which time p l ace ci r

mst a nces intercou rse incidents and vicis
, ,

cu , , ,

si tud e s have done thus aiding in the edu

,

cat io n .

He N ow I understand you We ll ye s
. .
, ,

th rough the most cu l tured fo r I am not so ,

foolish as to adduce the i nhuman be ings

of the F rench atrocities against you .

“
.I That you cou l d not do if you wanted ,

to keep your eye on truth justice and equ i ty

, , .

It wa s the superci l iousness stubbornness and

, ,

weakness of the opposite part y wh ich p ro

d uc e d and fostered these a b ominat ions AS .

soon as they came into power they fi rst ,

s truc k at the w iser and b etter men becaus e ,

these always opposed the i r cruelty and un

 Th e E d uc a t i on f
o Ka r l Wil l e
reason Do not forget that wherever there is
.

ta l k about a d ragon there is a l so mention ,

made of a swamp and cave a s producer and

habitat of such a c reature Destroy the two .

from the start and there will be no ev il

,

dragon ! Destroy them later and he will ,

soon disappear and the evi l s which he h a s

,

been doing because th ey did not p roceed

, ,
”
rationa ll y will now at least be destroyed
, .

“
He I understand and you are r ight
.
,
.

But now comes my objection I wish you .

cou l d ov ercome it for it seems to me to b e

,
”
mo re impo rtant than the fi rst .

“
.I You would not have said so perhaps , ,
”
fifteen minutes ago But let me hea r it ! .

“
He You assert that a time cou l d and
.

wou l d come when i ndividua l s wou l d in t hei r

deve l opment rise almost as high as the
higher beings that even the whole human
,

race at l east who l e nations wou l d attain a

, ,
”
much highe r degree of cultu re .

“
.I C erta in l y ! I hope fo r it a s a man .

I b e l ieve it a s a man of experience I am .

con v inced of i t because I am a rationa l

,

b eing and be l ieve in an alm igh t y all w ise

, ,
-
,

and a l l good God -

.

He Very we l l ! I do not deny it it is

“
.
,
 E ve ry C h i l d my
a B eco m S up
e i
e r or 55

a beautifu l e l ev ating i dea But where sha ll

,
.

we then get ou r worker bees from ? Fo r th e -

—
worker bees of the p resent the lowe r strata
-

—
of the peop l e wi ll rise so high l y in edu
”
cation that they wi ll not be wi ll ing to work .

“
.I You are mistaken my friend ! This ,

can never happen in an a ll s ided education -

,

and th e one sided one which n ow is gener

-
,

a ll y ca ll ed en l ightenment is not to be con ,

s i d e re d by us for a s I said a ll the aptitudes

, , ,

of man are to be deve l oped symmetrica ll y ,

consequently the aptitudes o f his heart h is ,

disposition his good wi ll h is mora l his re

, , ,

l ig i ou s sense a re to be equa ll y deve l oped ,

and as high l y as possib l e Vi rtue and fear .

’
of God as we ll as l ove for men for one s
, ,

duties and for God must attain the highes t

perfectio n in one educated in a superior way .

C onsequent l y he wi ll respect h is ca ll ing will ,

l ove his duties and wi ll gl ad l y perform the

,

work of h is vocation in order to please the ,

”
Highmost .

“
He My dear friend ! I do not be l ieve
.

you in this W hat ? You mean to say that

.

a ve ry cu l tured man wi ll be wi ll ing to dig ,

plow harrow mow th resh and so forth ?

, , , ,

IQ eve r P ’
 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
. I You are mista ken There have been .

shepherds who with thei r most meager i n

,

come performed thei r sti ll more l owly work

,

faith fu ll y and honest l y indeed with sincere , ,

love for it a l though they stood in rea l cu l

,

tu re higher than many a general minister , ,

”
o r p rince .

“
He I should like to kn ow of such a
.

shepherd .

“
. I You may eas ily know one R ead .

about David Kl aus the cowherd at H a l ber ,

Stadt whose l ife has been described by Kon

,

si st o r i a l r a t h S treitho rst .

“
A peasant of this kind wa s Kl e inj ogg and ,

I have known sim i lar day l aborers and work

men who rose far above thei r station of l ife
and yet loved it sincerely and carried out
thei r duties joyfu ll y And it h a s to be so .

i f t h e education is of the right kind A .

school teache r and country p reacher are cer

-

t a i n l y abused men i f t hey want to do thei r

,

duties They have a mass of trifling me

.
,

c h a n i c a l l abors to perfo rm hence a mass of ,

v ery unpleasant affai rs to dea l with Th e .

country p reacher h a s even such duties to

perform a s endanger his health and his l ife .

I have known men i n both call i n gs who ,

5 8 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wi t t e
in g for I sa y that i t does do harm for we
.
,

Sha l l soon have no manual workmen There .

will be a lack of work hands to produce and -

p repare th e necess aries of li fe fo r us W e .

shall th erefore go hungry th i rs ty and co l d

, , , , ,

because the lowe r classes hav e b ecome too

well educated too re fined too tender and
, , ,

too much ennob l ed to b e wi l l ing to sti ck

,

to the c l o d of earth and dig in i t .

“
I R est ca l m my friend ! There wi l l a l
.
,

ways be many who will want to remain

worker bees I am assured of this by the
-
.

di versi ty of natural apti tudes which wi l l

pers i st to th e end of th e wor l d and by the ,

frailty of the human race its inborn in ,

c l i n a t i on toward indolence its tendency to ,

do that wh ich i s easiest and our universal ,

love fo r mov i n g acti ve l y in t h e open Hunt .

ing and fishing no matter h ow l ow t h ey

‘

stand in the sca l e of la b or are carried on ,

with p l easu re and with true passion even ,

by the highest men on earth Nor have I .

any fear for wood chopping digging two - —

, ,

sensi bl e occupations of many l earned men ,

i n o rder to save themselves from hyp oc h o n

—
d ria p l owing mowing and th reshing
, , ,
.

There wi l l always be found men who will

 E v e ry C h i l d my a B eco m S up
e e r i or 59

like to do it I am rather afraid th at wi t h the

.
,

highe r perfection we shall hav e too many

,

un employed hands ”
.

“
He H ow curious you are ! I shou l d
.

th ink th at this did not follow from what you

”
s a i d b efore .

“
I Not di rectly but certainly i ndi rectly
.
, .

We all kn ow that there are countries even

n ow where there are too many unemp l oyed

hands because the higher cu l ture p ressed

,
”
th e fi re water and ai r into se rv ice
, .

”
He Oh you mean E ngland
.
, .

“
I Yes and a hund red oth er p l aces a s
.
,

well It wa s only yesterday that I v isited

.

a facto ry where one little steam engine wa s

perfo rmin g the work of th ree or fou r hun
dred person s and wa s pe rformin g it bette r
,

th an they possib l y cou l d But they have a l .

ready bui l t a second one in the same facto ry ,

which will th row out more than one th ou

sa nd persons W h o knows but that in one
'

hund red and fif ty years we shall b e able to

di g harrow plow m ow b ind transport and

so forth b y means of m
, , , , , ,

,
achine ry even a s it ,
”
i s n ow t h e case with p ropelling and pa v ing .

“
He You put the weapons into my hand
.
,

fo r I rightl y a sk you : H ow are we goin g to

60 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e

occupy t h e supe rfluous hands ? There will

be many of them for there are here and,

there even now mo re than needed and h u ,

man culture wi l l sti ll continue to grow and ,

the human race is said to be on an annual

increase Thus fo r examp l e inoculation
against s m
.
, ,

all pox n ow saves the lives of hun

-

d reds who would otherwise have died .

“
I My dear friend this i s God s busi
.
,
’

ness I f He h a s gi ven us th e power and

.

the w i l l to rise higher it is our du ty to do ,

so. I t i s H is business to see to it th at the

who l e does not l ose i ts ba l ance And He .

wi l l certain l y do so A hund red years ago

.

people wou l d have considered it impossib l e

to be happy under the ci rcumstances which
we have li v ed through hence we need no t ,

worry use l essly o ver what may happen in

another hund red years But we should be .

acting i rrationally nay in the strictest sense

, ,

of the word god l ess l y or rather most i rrev

, ,

e re n t l y i f we rejected that which is better

, ,

or did not he l p in ad v ancing it because in ,

ou r short sightedness we see d i fli c ul t ie s heap

-

ing up a hund red years hence My friend .

,

it wi l l take a long time fo r a l l the arab l e

l and in E u rope to be dug up planted and , ,
62 Th e E d uca t i on f
o Ka r l Wit t e
He But when t h e earth wi l l be filled
.

with men which wi l l happen some day what

, ,
”
then ?
“
I My dear friend ! Thi s i s one of the
.

—
secrets o r enigmas as you please which
,
—
the Deity has prese rved for H imse l f even a s ,

the p rese rv ation of the se x es in an equal p ro

p ortion W ith
. ou r present degree of educa
t i on I consider it not only foolish but e v en ,

impudent to try to pass any opinion on the

m
,

atter Th i s is His affai r !

.
”
 C H A PTER VI
DID I I NTEND TO M A KE A P REOOCIOU S
S CH O LAR O U T OF M Y S ON ?

I DID not mean to make a s a v a nt of hi m ,

much less a p recocious scholar This state

m
.

ent is absolutely true but I sha ll not be

,

s urp rised i f it appears strange and e v en un .

b eliev ab l e to most readers

,
.

But let me tell what I wa n t e d t o make

m
.

of hi ; then i t will appear of itself wha t

I d id not want him to beco m e
m
.

I wanted to educate him to b e a a n i n

t h e noblest Sense of the word S o far a s I .

i n my ci rcumstances could do so and wa s

aided in thi s matter by my knowledge and
experience he was fi rst of all to be a hea l thy
, ,

S t rong acti ve and happy young man a nd

, , ,

i n th is a s everybody k nows I hav e su

, c ,

cee d e d .

He wa s to enter manhood w i th this i n v al

n ab l e equ i pment He wa s to develop h is
.

bo dily powers to the utmost extent and yet

as
 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t a

ha rmoniously e ven as he should do with

,

h is inte ll ectual powers It would hav e been

.

in the highest degree unpleasant fo r me to

have made of him p re eminently a L atin -

or G reek scholar or a mathematician F o r

,
.

this reason I immediate l y i nterfered when

ev er I thought th at th is o r that language o r
science attracted h i mmore than any other
at too early a time .

Th e same I did with th e strengthening

and refining of h i s senses which were e xe r ,

c ise d wi th care and de v eloped a s e v enly a s

possib l e .

Aided by my wife I proceeded in the ,

Same manner in the exercise of those powers

which a l as ! are only too seldo mtaken into
,

c onsideration such as common sense power

, ,

of imagination delicacy of feeling etc

, ,
.

E ve ry sensib l e person who has ripely con ,

s i d e re d what I ha v e so far said wi ll himse l f ,

understand that we his parents l aid the chief

, ,

weight on the education of the young heart ,

and that we worked together from t h e time ,

’
he was in his mother s arms to regulate his ,

l ikes and dis l ikes according to the laws of

e x ternal and internal mora l i ty more p a rt ic u ,

l a rl y accord ing to t h e l a ws of t h e purest

66 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
“
p ro verb with them to say He is a s pedantic ,
“
and helpless a s a scho l ar o r You can no , ,
”
tice ten Steps away that h e i s a scholar .

W hat an endless number of ridiculous i n

c i d e n t s ha v e arisen fro mi t ! It would be
easy to fill a whole b ook with them .

The youn g man who wa s considere d a wi t

,

i n society or wh o excelled with h i s gentler ,

refined senti ments and consequently despised

t h e common ,
eternal l y recurring lecture
room passages genera l ly learned b y heart
,

o r cop ie d from somewhere whose ennobled ,

power of imagination made itself known by

well chosen pure l y German refined exp res
-
, ,

s ion s in speaking and writin g at once fell

under susp icion of t hose gui l d m
,

en More .

th an once hav e I heard th em exp ress the

.

“
judgment So and so cannot possib l y hav e
,

learned anything fo r he wri tes v erses and

,
”
shines in soc ie ty .

On the other hand p rolix dry d isserta , ,

t ions w i th long i ntricate peri ods g ained fo r

, , ,

an author especi ally i f he frequently quoted

,
“
the o ld class i cs th e usual p raise He will
, ,

a mount to something for he h a s b ee n trained

,
”
on th e ancients !
The good ancients ! How s a rcasti cal l y
 A P r e c o c i o us S c h o la r

th ey would l augh if they heard that such

a housefly such a bookworm wa s co m
,

,
pared ,

with them whose l ife from morning until

,

evening passed in continuous action in re ,

p e a t e d con v e rsations about t h e business of

thei r father l and o r thei r paternal ci ty in the ,

market or near the city gates !

M ind you they were a ll essentially i n
,

t e rest e d in the rise and fa l l of thei r father

land while those learned artisans frequently
,

k n ew no more about i t than that it existed .

One would hard l y b elie ve it that one of

t h e greatest among those sa v ants used to say
t o h is students that L atin and C ree k wa s
the only thing that a sensible man needed
to study and that th e so ca ll ed sciences ( ex
,
-

c luding the sciences of antiqui t y ) and the

modern l anguages were chi l dish p l ays which
one could convenient l y Study at the tea table -
.

In regard to the heart I need on l y ca ll to

m i nd the we ll known al ost classical ex
“ ” “
-
,
m
p ressions ,
schola rs en vy scholars ’
h augh ,
’

” “ ”
t in e ss,
uni ve rsity cabals to be believ ed ,

that I did not mean to make a p rofessional

scholar out of my son .

However i n so far a s he had to b ecome

,

a s cholar he wa s at least not to be a p re

,
 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e

us scholar, i f I had anyth ing to do wi th

coc i o

it A p recocious scholar a hothouse plant

.
, ,

a sickly child a child corpse all these were

, ,

to me t h rough my own e x perience th rough

, ,

my teachers and through the great p re c ur

,

sors in the art of education identical terms ,

.

I shou l d have regarded it a hea vy trans

re ssi on against God and against my son i f
g ,

I had allowed myself to brin g him up a s a

p recocious scholar .

All I wanted to accomp l ish with my son

wa s that in his se venteenth or eighteenth
year he shou l d be mature for the university ,

but th at he Should then ha ve such a many

sided and thorough education as to be ab l e
to compete with any graduate with the tacit ,

conviction of his power to surpass them .

That wa s a ll I wanted and noth in g more !

,
 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wi tt e

Seen under th e so cal l ed regular instruction

-
.

Th e usual method of education is a large ,

heavy d ray which cannot pu ll itself from its

deep ruts or trave l at a faster pace and
, ,

which considering the many mediocre or

, , ,

to Speak more co rrectly t h e many i l l p re ,

-

pared minds shou l d not attempt to do oth e r

,

wise .

These minds are l ike fee b le i tinerants ,

who wa l k by the side of the d ray and h ave

the more confidence in that d ray the s l ower ,

and the more su rely it ad v ances The poor .

fe ll ows wou l d be f rightened out of thei r

w i ts if it began to trave l more rapid l y and ,

the impotent ones wou l d have to stay enti rely

behind if it rushed away from them
,
.

It i s ve ry di fferent with a l ight comfort ,

able safe vehicle W ithout the use of many

,
.

horses it rushes with lightning rap id ity p ast

,

the creeping cart But both cart and car .

,

r i a g e d ri v er wou l d be ve ry si ll y i f they
, ,

despised one another o r made mutual t e ,

criminations Both paces have thei r purposes

.

and are adapted to ci rcumstances Both .

wou l d act unnatu ra ll y if they did differ ,

ent l y There may occu r reasons why both

.

would change thei r pace but t hese rarely ,

 H ow C a me my S on t o be P r e c oc io us
7 1

happen The d r iver of t h e d ray will travel

.

more rapid l y down a gentl e inc l ine and h is ,

fellow travelers will be able to keep up with

-

him In t h e deep sand in the swamp or

.
, ,

among many rocks the carri age wi ll travel ,

more s l ow l y A l l t hat is a s it Shou l d be and

.
,

only a fool would want it to b e othe rwise .

Karl learned many things in the arms of

'

h is mo t her and in m y own such a s one rare l y ,

t h i nks of imparting to chi l d ren He l earned

to know and na m
.

e a l l the o b jects in the

different rooms The rooms the m . selves th e ,

stai rcase the ya rd the garden the stab l e

, , , ,

t h e we ll ,
—
the b arn everything from th e , ,

greatest to t h e smallest was frequent l y shown ,

and clear l y and p l ainly named to him and ,

he wa s encouraged to name the objects a s

plainly as possi bl e W henever he Spoke cor.

re c tl y he was fondled and p ra ised

,
W hen .
,

however he failed we sai d in a decidedly

, ,
“
co oler manner Mother ( or F ather ) Karl
, ,
”
cannot yet p ronounce this o r that word !
C onsequently he took great pains to know
a n d correct l y name all objects Before lon g .

he p ronounced all words a s we wanted him ,

to do There was no danger of stammerin g

.

o r s tu ttering b ecause he had to speak ve ry

,
 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o K a r l Witt e
slowly and wa s never i ntimidated He .

thought and spoke free l y but he was ob l iged ,

to think and to speak on l y after due con

sideration .

W e did not tolerate that unwisdom of

many parents and nurses who begin by ,

teaching the chi l d a l anguage which they ,

ca l l baby ta l k but which in rea l ity should

,

be ca ll ed gibberish No one was a ll owed .

“ ” “ ” “ ”
to say moo instead of c ow bah in ,
“ ” “ ”
stead of sheep meow instead of cat
, ,
“ ” “ ” “
bow wow instead of dog no r moo cow
-
,
-
,
”
bah sheep meow cat bowwow dog
- -
but -

Th e d im
, , ,

in u
“ ”
on l y c ow sheep cat dog
, , ,
.

t ive s were permitted only in the case of young

and sma l l animals of the same species I f .

“ ”
the word doggy was used the reference ,

was plain l y to a young or v ery sma ll dog .

In the first case we intentionally varied it

“ ”
with the appe ll ation a ve ry young dog ,

and remarked that that wou l d be more co r

rect I f it wa s small but not e x actly p retty
.
, ,

nor ve ry young we p referred to use the

,
“ ” “ ”
words sma l l d og in place of doggy and ,

di rected his attention to the fact that the

diminutive genera l ly inc l uded the idea o f
p rettiness and attractiveness on the part of
74 Th e E d uca t i on o f Ka r l Witt e
he etc b ecause it lies deeply i n the nature
,
.
,

of the uneducated man consequent l y also of ,

th e ch i ld not to be a b le easily to rise above

,

it
. This however took place only so l ong
, ,

a s i t wa s unavoidable whenever we wanted ,

to b e a b solutely c l ear to him Very soon we .

began to make the change b y using now and ,

“ ” “
t hen the words I thou he s h e for father, , , , ,
”
mothe r Ka rl thus e x p l aining one by the
, ,

o ther and p reparing and facilitating the use

,

of what was more correct A little l ater we .

,

jokingly b ut with no bitterness whatsoever

, ,
“
wou l d add If you were more inte ll igent
, ,
‘
I should have said thou ( or ’

S uch a friend l y jest which refers to ign o ,

rance want of inte ll igence etc urges the

, ,
.
,

chi l d on to ma ke an e ffort and learn what he

does not yet know .

In this manner Kar l early learned to know

a n d name correct l y eve ryth ing surrounding

him and what he cou l d pronounce he a l ways

,

Spoke in pure Ge rman a s though he had ,

read i t in a we l l written book especially p re

-

pared for chi l d ren Indeed he cou l d not do .

,

otherwise since he had never heard any b ad

,

German from us He naturally enunciated .

h is words so c orrectly a n d audi b ly th a t t h e

 How
- Ca m my S
e on to be P r e c oc o i us
75

l i ttl e orator frequently evo ked our sm i les and

strangers adm i ration
’
.

I t i s clear that the correct acqu is i t ion of

h i s mother tongue makes the ch i ld intel l igent
-

at an ear l y time for i t puts h is attention a nd

,

h i s sev eral mental powers continuously in

a cti on . He is obliged always to sea rch d i s ,

t i ng u ish compare p refer reject Choose i n

, , , , ,

Short he must work that i s think I f h e

, , ,
.

h a s p roceeded correct l y in this he is p ra ised , .

I f he h a s made a mistake he is jesting l y ,

rep roved o r is given a helpful hint He

, .

then once more goes through his mental p roc

esses is happier and rejoices at his struggl e
and v icto ry a s also at the p a ternal o r m
, ,

, a

terna l app roval .

Besides how useful it is fo r memo ry ! I f

,

the above mentioned activities are to take

-

place there is need of a Supply of words

, ,

hence memo ry must be active to grasp and ,

keep them Le t us assume th at of the enor

.

mous treasure of the German language only

t hi rty thousand wo rds pass i nto the child s
’

m i nd in his first five or si x years and this

m
,

a y b e easily accomplished in the case of

—
an exceptionally wel l brought up child Se e -
.

th e c hance memo ry h a s in that case to b e

 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
e xercised and strengthened ! And h ow the
c hi l d is at the same time u rged on if he
,

h a s b een accustomed to i t and feels th e i n

c l in a t i on to Speak w i th reflection and care !

W ith but ve ry litt l e aid the chi l d sketches

for himse l f a kind of grammar and accord ,

i ng to his a b ili ty l ikes to pick out the v ari

,

ou s chan ges of nouns and v er b s I t is only

.

th en that he invites the b e n e fice n t aid of rea l

g rammar b e it from the mouth of his father
, ,

o r i n a printed b ook if he h a s b ecome accus

t om
,

e d to reading .

A ll this has been v aguely fe l t before henc e,

i nstruction began with the ancient l anguages .

U nfortunate l y it was fe l t on l y vague l y other,

wise the ine x cusa bl e thing wou l d not have

happened of negl ecting the mother tongue
and intimidating the chi l d s mind by the dry
’

dead l anguages and thus choking h is intel

,

lect in the germ .

This ear l y occupation with the mother

tongue introduced Kar l e ve ry day more and
mo re into its inner depths and p repared him
,

for l earning th e fo reign l anguages with g reat

faci l ity
.

W hat under oth er cond i ti on s would have

disgusted or frightened him in th ese l an
7 8 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
GOETTIN GE N J uly 25, 1 810 , .

R EV ER ED VE TERA N
P a s t or
Dr Wi tt e S pok e t o e wi t h gr a t e ful p r a ise o f
. m
your good wishes a n d pla ns for his son s fur t her edu ’

i
ca t on

m pr ecoc ious m
.

Al though I a n ot a fr i e n d
a turit y of

mm
,

a n d r es pec t t he c o o n l a ws o f N t u e I a lso r eco g a r

r e h e s el f m
,

n iz e t ha t N a t u a kes exc ep t i o ns
r n d t ha t it a

becom
,

es our d ut y t o t a ke he r h i n t s a n d fur t he t he e a rly r

developm en t o f a m or e c a p a ble m i n d In th a t respect

a n d in o de r m
.

o e cl os ely t o s t u dy t he boy s a p t i t udes ’

r r

a n d na t u a l b ili t y wi t h a V iew t o a poss i ble wider de

r a

vel op m
,

for t he boy s own s a ke a n d a d v n t a ge I a l

’
nt e a

lowed m ysel f t o b e persua ded t o obs erve himn ea r er a t

, ,

h a n d a n d by a n ex a m i n a t ion t o formm y ow n j ud g m e n t
in depen dent ly f omoth er people s j ud gm en t s a n d from
, ,
’
r

a dm i ers ; not m
r e ely for t he p upose of obser v i ng him
r r

as a p ro d u ct of N a tu re fit for exp er i m e nt s but al so

in or der t o det erm
, ,

i n e whe ther it would be poss ible t o

ma ke of himt hrough a n educa t ion a d a pt ed t o his na t
ur a l a p t i t udes a ha ppy hum lm em
,

a n ly a n d c i v illy u se fu
— which i n deed m
, ,

ber o f soc i e t y ight not be a n eas y t as k

I foun d t he boy ha l e a n d he a r ty in body a n d m
.
, , ,

in d
m I t ied h imwi t h H om
,

or e t ha n I h a d ex pec t ed . er r

a nd V i g il a n d I fou
r n d t ha t h e p oss ess ed su fli c ien t ve r
ba l a nd m a t e r i a l in for m
,

a t i on t o t r a n sl t e r e a d ily a n d a

g e t t he s e n s e — a n a t u r a l a bil i t y gen e r a lly p ossessed b y

ca p a ble m i n d s wi t hout a m o r e ex a c t gr a m ma t ica l or

, , ,

logica l kn owledge t o guess t he con t ext cor r ectly The

mos t rema rka ble t hing t o me was t ha t he r ea d sensibly
, .

O t herwise I foun d in h imno

,

wi t h feeli n g a n d e ffect
ot h er p r epo n de r a t i n g m
.

e nt a l power no s t r ik i ng t a len t :
memo y ima gi na t ion in t elligence were a t a bout a ba l
,

r , ,

a nc e . In ot her t hin gs s u ch as we re n ot d illed in b y

, r
 H ow Ca m my S
e on to be P r e c o ci ous 79

i ns t ruct ion I fo un d h im t o b e a h a ppy h a le b oy n o t

m m
, , ,

ev e n a v e r s e to isch ie f, wh ich wa s a consola t ion t o e .

As t o h is p r edilec t i on for epic poe t s a n d e a r n es t , soul

s t i rr i n g poe m s a n d wr i t i n gs , h is p r e v i ou s ed u c a t i on m ay

a ccou n t for t ha t , — a n o t a ble t est i m on y t o h is fa t he r s wa y

’

of b r i n g i n g h im up .

We sha ll ha r dly li ve lon g en ough t o see t he fi n a l re

su l t s o f t he m m
ethod e ployed , but I hea rt ily hope , like
yours el f, t ha t t he S t a t e , a s we a re won t t o s a y , will
t a ke a d v a n t a ge of t h e u n comm on fa vor o f N a t u re, a n d

t ha t t h e boy m a y so m mm
e d a y a t t a in a co ens ur a t e de
m
gr ee of ha ppi n ess To j ud ge fro a ppe a r a nces , his vo
.

ca t ion , u se ful ness , a n d good for tun e will l ie in the fiel d

of le a rn i n g , pe r h a ps m
o r e es pec i a l ly in t h a t o f h i s t or y

m
.

Pa r don e , r evered fr ie nd , for ha v i n g exp a t i a t ed a t

gr ea t er len gt h tha n I ha d i n t e n ded t o I wa s th er ei n
m
.

isled by t he pleas ure of con ve r s in g wi t h you on ce

m ore .

Devot edly yours ,

H E YN E .

W hen St illsmall child of fou r or five

a ,

yea rs Kar l derived an incredi bl e amount of

,

p rofit from h is thorough knowledge of h is

mother tongue He had not acqui red it from
.

dead books in the manner in which G reek

,

and L atin are usua ll y funne l ed into chi l dren ,

and a l as in the opinion of many men sti ll

, ,

li v ing must be funneled in or rather b eaten

, ,

In

S ixteen hours of L ati n a wee k fo r a t h ir

80 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
teen year old b oy ! That is b ad and I un
- -
,

fortunate l y am Speaking of the year 1 81 8 and

of a famous school at Ber l in .

Kar l l ea rned his pure Germa n rath er in

life in the house in the garden in the
, , ,

meadow field and forest in society on l ong

, , , ,

and Short jou rneys in short under a ll the va

, ,

ri ou s conditions which I in my situation wa s

ab l e to create for him In his first year we .

began to take him with us wherever we went

.
,

and a s fa r a s possib l e he had everything e x

, ,

p l ained to him especia l ly if he seemed to be

,

attracted by anything .

Thus he had in the fi rst two yea rs of his

life accompan ied us to Mersebu rg Ha ll e
N a um
, ,

Leipsic W eissenfels
,
b urg Dessau , , ,

Woe rl i t z W ittenberg etc and in a ll these

, ,
.
,

places he l earned a mass of things which he

wou l d never have seen at home .

In his thi rd and fou rth years he still more

frequent l y visited those p l aces received bet ,

ter imp ressions of what he had seen and heard

there grasped i t more clear l y and e x panded
, ,

h i s ci rcle of know l edge He natu ra ll y s a w .

more important and more interesting things ,

for in h is thi rd year he passed eight weeks

in Leipsic and in h i s fourth and fifth he went
,
82 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
trav eled with me to P otsdam and Berlin ,

through P riegnitz and by many roads

th rough Meck l enburg a s fa r a s R ostock
W a rn e m
,

ue n d e and D obb e ra n that he went

, ,

to se a in stil l weather and in moderate sto rms ,

that he observed commerce and navigation ,

then p roceeded o ver L udwigslust to the A l t

mark and here for weeks l ived in the country
, ,

i n a ll kinds of social ci rc l es and districts ,

ev erywhere considered and treated as a b e

loved child o f thei r own that peop l e took rea l ,

delight in the l ittle questioner and babb l er ,

and readily gave him eve ry desi red informa

—
tion one wi ll easily understand that he thus
,

laid by a treasure o f l inguistic and material

i nformation such as b ut few older persons
,

possess .

I must l ay Special stress on this that he

k new nothing wrong l y nothing in a p re j u ,

diced way in so fa r as we his parents k n ew

, , ,

the objects correc tly I f we lacked the p re

.

c ise information we had ou rsel ves and Karl

,

instructed by the b est trained and b est i n -

s tructed men .

In h is si x th year I passed with him six

weeks in Dresden thorough l y acquainted him
,

with the b eautiful natu re of the place and of

 H ow Ca me my S on to b e P r e c o c io us 83

i ts surrou n di n gs , e s p eci a l ly wi t h i ts m
a ny a n

t re a su res, a n d , b y co n sta n t ob se rva ti o n a n d

rep ea t e d d i sc u s si o n s abo u t the m

which w e

m
,

h a d t h en a n d later, i p rove d h is t a s t e Wh il e
m
.

i n Le i p s ic, P ots da , a n d Ber l in , o r wherev er

a n y thi n g b eauti ful wa s t o b e se e n , I had

b e gu n to gu m
a rd h i aga in s t the c h ildish d e
l i gh t in b ri gh t co lo re d p ictu re s , the d rawin g
-

o f which wa s wro n g He wa s pa rticularly

.

c a u t i o ned agains t i t d u ri n g ou r v isits to the

D resd e n A rt Galle ry, pa rticularly t o t he

m
i nner Itali a n H all , a on g the a ntique s a n d
Mengs c a sts S ince the n I hav e never n o
’

m
.

t i c ed in him a ny silly judgments a b o u t at

t e rs o f a rt , such a s
one to o frequentl y he a rs,
even from g ro wn children !

As soon a s the weath er b ec a m e sett l ed dur ,

i ng ou r Stay in D resden we v isite d th e ,

P l a ui sch e r G rund Th a r a n d a n d the whol e

, ,

S axon Switzer l and S ince I had p rev iously

.

a n d more than once seen eve rything b eautiful

there wi th a book in my hand and a gu i d e

,

a t my side noth i ng wa s then o v erlooked o r

,

carelessly i nspected W hat v ar iety thes e

.

heavenly region s o ffer to the adult a n d sti ll ,

more to a child of six years ! The lo vely sur

roundin gs of S chandau and Lohmen the ,
84 . Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
Lie b e t h a l e rand the O t towa l d e r G rund th e ,

Kuhsta l l and the P r e b isch th or the B astion , ,

the b asaltic co l umns at S tolpe and th e high ,

W interberg fina ll y the Koenigstein Lilien

, ,

stein Sonnenstein and P i l lnitz

, ,
.

All the a b ove o bjects and many more were , ,

c orrectly named to Kar l and we Spoke read , , ,

and passed opinions concerning them Our .

guides friends and acquaintances shared

, ,

thei r sentiments with him and with me He .

to l d i t a l l to his mother and his young and

old friends in Mersebu rg H a l le and L eipsic , , ,

and wrote a b out it to distant acqua intances .

He thus had i t enti rely in his power to ex

p ress himse l f intelli gently and clearly a b out
it .

The useful result of th is i s much greater

than one may think for the more o bjects a ,

man knows correct l y with thei r names and ,

p roperties and the better he can impart that

,

knowledge to others the greater is the mental ,

Supply which he has l aid in and over which

he has command a n d the more frequently he
,
“
finds himse l f induced to seek compare d is , ,

t i n gu ,
—
i sh p refer reject or choose that i s to
, , ,
”
work to think ; and the mo re a man th inks ,
,

the more he learns to think C onsequently .

there is an immeasura b le gain i f we can get ,

 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit te

u
qa i n t e d with many things h a s b ecome famil ,

ia r wi th thei r names and p roperties and h a s ,

with ease and correctness e x pressed himse l f

a b out them will v ery attentive l y listen to the
,

conversation of adults He will not find i t

.

t i resome will not yawn during i t will no t

, ,

behave with stupid chil dish attention that

, ,

i s with thoughtlessness
,
As he understands
.

the greater pa rt of it he wi l l take Sincere

,

i nterest in it I f there is something that he

.

does not understand h is interest will thereby

,

be increased for what is said is new to him

, ,

he wants to and must understand i t and h is ,

ha b i tual activity will not rest unti l t his kn ot , ,

to o h a s been untied
,
.

W hat an immeasura b le amount a ch i ld will

learn in six eight o r ten years that is in
, , , ,

days in
,
hours reckoning the day ,

at ten hou rs if eve ry conve rsation wi th him

,

o r in h i s p resence teaches him someth ing !

I t is on this that my fi rm convicti on is b ased

that even a mediocre child may be a p p rox i
mated to a higher being if one understands ,

how to do it and i s a bl e and wi l ling to try i t

,
.
 C H A PTER VII I

DID I P RETEND TO H AVE TH E N ECESSARY

S KI LL FOR M AKIN G A S CH O LAR
or M Y S ON ?

O H no !
,
I had i ndeed i n schools and uni
, ,

ve rs i t i e s don e a s we ll a s the best around me ,

and a s a graduate I had constantly and most

carefu ll y attended to my higher education a s ,

is attested b y the v arious learned e x amina

tions which I passed before C haplain Kl etzke ,

in the C onsisto ry at M agdeburg and in the ,

Higher C onsisto ry at Berlin No r had I .

ceased instructing others consequently I had

added to m
,

y knowledge I had .b esides been , , ,

with a kindness which put me to shame o f ,

fe re d teaching positions in the i nsti tutions of

the then greatest educators of Ge rmany C c ,

dike S alzmann P fe ffe l Karol ine R ud ol p h i

, , , ,

etc Yet I considered it unthinka b le for a

.

s ingl e person with a ve ry moderate income

, ,

li v ing in the country without possessing any

,

means fo r in struction or being a b le to p rovide

them p romptly to carry the educati on of a
,

87
 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
rapidly and well p rogressing child any far
-

the r than to his eighth or tenth year that —

is as I then thought until he would be able
, ,

to attend the lowest of the upper divisions

of a higher insti tution of learning .

I therefore p l anned before and after

, , ,

Karl s bi rth for men l ike Gedike and S chewe

’
,

to take active part in his upbringing as soon ,

as I shou l d no longer be ab l e to give him the

p roper instruction In thei r insti tutions there
.

were ten o r twe l ve teachers and in the G re y ,

C lo ister at Ber l in there were possib l y even

more W ith the funds at thei r disposa l they
.

cou l d choose the ab l est candidates and a p ,

point them to such branches of instruction as

th ey fe l t them to b e most fitted for I con
si d e r e d a l l that and so I wa s far from i m
.

,
ag

ining that I shou l d be ab l e to take thei r p l ace .

Just as du ring the education of my son

there showed themselves a few evil men who
tried to crush what I and my friends were
p l anting so there wi ll be found some even
,
“
n ow who wi ll say That is nothing but as
,

sumed modes ty ! He certain l y had the c on fi

dence that he wou l d b e ab l e to accompli sh
what he wanted to accomplish and possi bl y , , ,
”
even more .
 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
at the chi l d s b i rth Show that I am
a r a t i on s
’

te ll ing the truth My l ater b ehav i or p roves

.

it sti l l more c l ea r l y .

As soon as my son had made some p rogress

i n L atin and was to b egin G reek I l ooked ,

abo ut for a teacher to he l p me because I fe l t ,

that I cou l d not do what Shou l d be done in

accordance wi t h my ideal .

In Ha ll e in L eipsic in M agdeb u rg in
, , ,

Ber l in eve rywhere I tried at the sacrifice of

, ,

what for me was a very great year l y sa l ary

and e x ce ll ent upkeep to get th e kind of man
,

I wanted to have but fate was against me

,
.

W hat I wanted on l y a very few cou l d do and ,

th ese few had more advantageous situations

o r such as o ffered them b etter p rospects for
the futu re .

I wanted a man who cou l d read G reek a s

easi l y and with as much p l easure as I cou l d
read German L atin Ita l ian or F rench ;
, , ,

who at the same time wou l d b e such a master

, ,

of his mother tongue as to b e a bl e with l itt l e

-

e x ertion to render every G reek e x p ression

into German ; who with just as l itt l e e x ertion
cou l d correct l y trans l ate b ack into G reek and
wou l d k n ow a l l the grammat ica l fo rms even ,

for a l l the dia l ects and cou l d deduce th em

,
 Th e S k i l l fo r M a k i ng a S c h o la r 9 1

—
from one another , i n sho rt , a man wh o, in
company with the boy cou l d Sketch a short ,

G reek gramma r I t was sti ll more important

.

for me that he Shou l d be thorough l y a c

q ua i n t e d with the who l e o f G reek l iterature
and with the peop l e to whom it b e l onged ,

w i t h G reece Magna G r a cia Asi a Minor the

, , ,

i slands with a ll the countries at the di fferent

,

periods of G reek cu l tu re At the same time .

he shou l d know thei r constitutions govern ,

ments customs ha b its usages entertainments

, , , , ,

life in peace and in wa r thei r education , ,

mo rals re l igion l aw po l itics commerce

, , , , ,

arts and sciences I shou l d have been stil l

.

more p l e a sed i f he had b een as we ll a c

q ua i n t e d with R ome and with everything that
goes with i t .

I th ought I had found such a man in my

fo rmer schoo l mate D r B and th rough ou r
,
. .
,

common friend G l aubitz I made p roposa l s

to him which meant great monetary sacrifices
fo r me But as he to l d us he had a l ready com
mit te d himse l f to a Situation which he was
, ,
.

o bl iged to keep as an honest man and which ,

from considerations o f advantage he did no t ,

wish to give up .

M any others had been recommended to me ,

 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
b efore and after him b ut most of th em upon
, ,

c l oser acquaintance appeared useless fo r my

,

purpose ; indeed most did not possess a s much

,

know l edge of th e t wo l anguages as I had .

S ti ll l ess were they capa bl e of fu l fi ll ing the

highe r demands .

I sha ll re l ate one case fo r th e rest are very

,

much alike .

A graduate student from our part of the

count ry returned with much acclaim from the
university He himse l f his pa rents and his
.
, ,

re l atives assured a ll th at he had been the fa

vo r i t e student of one of o ur greatest p h i lol o
gists He was p roposed to me with the a s
.

su rance that I shou l d be v ery fortunate i f he

decided to b ecome my assistant .

H is b oastfu l statements of which I had ,

heard made me distrustfu l I therefore t e

,
.
, ,

p l ied that I was just then undecided as to

what I was going to do b ut that I shou l d be ,

—
ve ry happy if M r W that wa s his name
. .

wou l d for a week l eave his pa rents in order ,

to stay with me and would daily instruct my

,

son fo r ha l f an hour i n G reek according to

my method .

I pu rposely let him the first day watch how

I acted during the instruction after I had ,
 Th e E d uca t io n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
and poured forth a translation in such an im
pure now and then e x ecra bl e German that
, ,

I was simply horrified My poor l itt l e son .

wa s overcome with terror for he thought , ,

from his p revious e x perience that I wou l d ,

demand of him readily to repeat what he had

hea rd .

,
I therefore at once freed him from h is
,
“
fear b y saying with a merry jest My dear
, , ,

b oy you cannot repeat that for it is as yet too

, ,

learned for you ! F o r you to b e ab l e to repeat

it we l l you have to get it trans l ated in com
,

pany with the teacher That cou l d not be .

done here b ecause M r W knows his Homer

,
. .

too we ll and so does not have to look up in

,

t h e dictiona ry and grammar as I do wi t h ,

you I t wou l d be b othersome for him b ut I

.
,

do it g l ad l y out of l ove for you as you know ,

.

That quieted Kar l and did not hurt M r W . .

W hen we were left a l one I asked him to ,

come down f rom h is high p itch because ,

othe rwise Karl wou l d derive no p rofit from

his instruction But b e asserted that that was
.

the p roper way to teach and that he had faith ,

ful l y copied his great teacher .

“ ” “
E xcuse me I rep l ied that is so much
, ,

t h e worse for I am not at a l l su re that t his

,
 Th e S k i ll fo r M a k i ng a S c h o la r 95

wa y is p rope r for youths , and I certainly am

convinced that it i s quite use l ess for a child
”
of seven years .

He insisted he wa s right and he wa s my ,

guest so I su ffered patient l y and mere l y asked

,

him to consider my son s weakness and my ’

s incere wish and to instruct Kar l the next

,

day from one of the G reek readers at hand .

A t last he unwi ll ing l y p romised to do so .

None the l ess the ne x t day he terrified Karl

and me by his Homer .

H aving listened to him in su ffering for

fifteen minutes I interrupted him ve ry earn
,

e s tl y :
“
Kar l , said I do you understand wha t ,

M r W l ectu res to you ? That is do you

. .
,

understand it sufficient l y we l l to be ab l e to
”
recite it to me ?
The poor b oy who had never b een in such
,

a painfu l situation before said wi t h a deep , ,

sigh
“
No dear father I cannot do that ! Much
, ,

of it I do not understand and the rest I have ,

”
no t l istened to .

“
W e ll I rep l ied then I ask you most
”
,
“
,

ea rnest l y M r W to put the I l iad aside and

,
. .
,

to take this reader I thank you very much .

 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
for you r good wi l l b ut Karl a s you see is
, , ,

Sti l l too fa r b ehind to b e a bl e to grasp H o

mer I am su re you wish to be useful to him

.

”
and ob l iging to me .

A fter many o b jection s and assurances that

i t wou l d a l l come out we l l in the end th at
Karl wou l d ev e ry day understand h i mbetter
,

etc he fina ll y made up his mind to do what

.
,

he cou l d not a void that is to trans l ate the first

, ,

l i ttl e sto ry in the reade r with Kar l .

The great superio r lea rn ing at once came

,

to an end There occu rred wo rds and fo rms

.

which em b arrassed him and a s he wa s too ,

v ain to l ook them up he wa s satisfied to guess

,

a t them and to trans l ate the who l e wi t h a p

—
p ro x imate correctness and in b ad German .

A ll that was so contra ry to my intent i ons

t hat I repeated l y requested him to go s l owly
and to rende r wo rd fo r wo rd exhaustive l y .

Kar l too asked him to do so b ut in v ain I

, , ,
.
,

therefo re put an end to the who l e matter by

,

showing him th at Kar l had hard l y unders tood

a thing in the sto ry which he had been read
i n g to him I trans l ated t h e next sto ry to
.

him in my own wa y and Karl wa s agl ow ,

with joy and could hard l y wait to trans l ate

th e sto ry to u s W hen he had to do th at he
.
,
 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wi t t e
ended b y b la bb ing it after h im H is ideas .

a b out studying learning and scho l ars wi l l

, , ,

in consequence remain wrong possibly fo r

, ,

a ll time a s we on l y too often hea r g rown up s

,
-

de l iver such m isjudgments .

Much worse are the evil consequences of

such instruction upon life The b oy does not .

learn anything in a p roper manner grasps ,

no thing clearly receives nothing as his p os

,

session b ut b y degrees a ll ows the ha l f truths

,
-

or even the abso l ute nonsense to b e funne l ed

into him b a bb les the undigested stuff and
, ,

considers himse l f to be a wiseac re i f his su ,

p e r fi c i a l i t i e s can surp rise and perp l ex others

a s h i s teacher perp l e x ed him before Then he .

p roceeds to act in the same way i n a ll t he a f

fai rs o f life .

He conside rs i t common and l ow to i nsist

on c l ear enlighten i ng views o r to respect and
, ,

emu l ate those who have them He can neve r .

master his su bject comp l etely fo r he h a s not ,

been taught how to do this Nor wou l d he .

wish to master it fo r he feels at home in the

,

ha l f da rkness and fears the clear light of

-
,

common sense -
.

Hence the opinion entertained concerning

scho l ars of that type is frequent l y correct ,
 Th e S k i ll fo r M a k i ng a S c h o la r 99

when i t is said of th em that th ey a re not fit

fo r a ffa irs for they sti r up the clea r water
,

until it b ecomes tu rb i d They heap rocks

.

upon rocks i n o rde r to l evel a mo l ehil l b ut ,

th ey only cove r it and make the ev il so much

the worse .

W orst of a l l are th e consequences of such

confusing instruction upon the heart I have .

found that the men of that c l ass are usua ll y

very conceited and e x treme l y superci l ious
—
toward persons with brighter views i f they ,

do not fear t hem o r e x pect something from

them And as the fau l ts of the parents and
.

teachers a re easi l y transferred to the chi l d ren

and pupi l s there is danger th at even these
,

will b e transmitted to the younge r genera

tion.

A fter many fai l u res I fina ll y came to the

conc l usion th at my nearest friends for ex ,

amp l e P rofesso r W P astor G l aubitz and

.
, ,

oth ers might be r ight when they asserted that

,

I possessed the necessary k n ow l edge to a d

v ance my son farther th an I had dared to
hope .

However they we re not enti rely right a l

, ,

th ough the Start seemed to justify them fo r ,

th ey had counted too l ittl e upon the per fecti

1 00 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f K a r l Wit t e
o f human n a ture wh ich is im e a sur
b i l i ty , m
ab l y great .

H ad I b een o bl iged to impa rt eve rything to

my son i n th e usual wa y I should not have ,

been able to b ring him ha l f so far as I actual l y

hav e b rought him and I should have wasted
,

t wo or three times the energy and t i me and

have caused him a considera b le amount of
t orture But I p roceeded in the ve ry oppo
.

si te di rect ion and he wou l d ha v e lea rned a

,

great deal more i f I had known more of the

,

su b ject .

He learned constant l y wi t hout notic i ng it ,

.

H e increased , refined and heightened his ,

mental powers to such an extent th at he soon

s a w th rough e v ery su b ject that p resented itse l f

to him ; or at least did a l l he could in order to

, ,

see th rough i t fo r ,

His wi ngs wi th t he vict ory grew !

Yet he d i d not imagi ne that he wa s do i ng

a nything b ut what any child any o rdina ry
ma n did and should do Bes i des he learned
,

,
.
,

gladly b ecause he experienced manifo l d

pleasures i n doing so and o b se rved the con
,

stant growth of h is a b i l ity to a d v ance sti ll

farther .
102 f
o Ka r l Wit t e
to b as e e uidea upon it which wa s at once re
’
'

c e ived ih L eipsic with universal ap p rova l I .

resolved with th e encouragement of my l ate

,

P rofesso r E rhard to open an educa

,

institution which wou l d give i ts pupi l s

the kind of p reparation my son had received .

I intended to take in this p reparato ry school

no more than ten children at a time in o rder ,

to give them the best persona l attention and ,

I intended to se l ect and educate my own

teache rs and to guide as much as possib l e in
,

person in o rder to minimize annoyances It

,
.

wa s evident what I wanted to accomp l ish ,

and peop l e were quite satisfied with the p rob

a bl e resu l ts and they had confidence in my
,

necessa ry powe r and suffi cient wi l l They .

o ffered me b oys on a l l Sides and as young a s ,

I wanted them and a ll other o ffers were sat

,

i s fa c t o ry to me I cou l d not yet take boarding

.

pupi l s and so wa s to take them a s half

,

bo arders .

My w i fe too wa s requested to do the s a me

, ,

with ten gi r l s and she was a l so o ffe red chi l

,

d ren from the b est fami l ies under the same

conditions But F ate wi l led othe rwise fo r
.
,

t h e W estph a l i an Government orde red me to

go wi t h my son to G oe t t inge n I wa s th us .
 Th e S k i l l fo r M a k i ng a S c h o la r 103

o b liged to reject those offers and the stipend

for my son at L eipsic but I will all my l i fe ,

think grate fully of the p ro ffered kindness .

N ow I kn ow human perfectibili t y stil l bet

te r
. Now I am positive that such a p repara
t ory school would su fli c e to educate the
’
child ren s b odies minds and sou l s to such
, ,

an e x tent th at thei r powers in al l th ree di rc e

tions would soon appear unusua l ly great and
they would be ab l e to withstand evi l influences
from wi t hout ; that the mental powers of chil
d ren so educated wou l d above a l l put them in
a position to work thei r own way and with ,

only mediocre fu rther instruction accomp l ish ,

extrao rdina ry resu l ts in the world Fo r .

,

once the powers of the human soul have had

the p roper incitement they can never be re ,

p ressed a fte rwa rd P ut fetters upon them

.
,

and they wi l l b reak them and come out sti l l

‘

more powerful Men whose mental powers

.

have once been awakened and later rep ressed ,

have o ften une x pected l y trodden n e w paths ,

on which they have a ccomplished incredible

results Decided l y it wi l l l ong remain an
.
,

unso lved ridd l e where human per fectibility

,
—
ends so far are we according to my sincere ,

conviction stil l removed from the goal

,
.
 C H A PTER I X
OB! ECTION S To TH E EARLY EDUCATION or
M Y SON

IT is i mposs ib le to relate all the o b ject ion s

which reason and unreasonableness kindnes s ,

of heart and meanness have brought fo rward

,
.

I touch o nly upo n those that seem to b e sensi

b le and therefore have remained in my mem
, , ,

o ry . I wi ll re fute them as b riefly as possible .

I must distinctly mention here that the

m a i n objections emanated from people who
had not yet met the boy As a rule they took
.

every thing b ack a s soon a s they sa w and Spoke

with him .

W hen he wa s eight years old he became ,

known to the world of scholars .

“ ”
He must be sickl y and feeble they said , ,

and the gain of early matu r i t y is a s no t hin g

’ ”
in comparison w i th the child s health .

E xcel l ent men wh o knew the chi l d inti

,

mately testified over thei r names that he wa s

,

perfectly we l l .

“
He will grow Sick in h is n i nth o r tenth
1 04
1 06 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o K a r l Wi t t e

m
G ut h s ut h sand others went on record as
affi rming that he took active part in a l l the
games of child ren and gamboled about a n d
,

played with children wi th visible joy .

“
He will nev er know h ow to get along with
”
children !
C hildren wh o b ecame acqua i nted wi th h im
o l d rather play with him than with any
other child because he demanded nothing n u
,

reasonable of them did not Spoil t hei r things

, ,

and yielded pleasantly .

He will be p roud vain self w i lled and

, ,
-
,

will look down contemptuous l y upon h is

playmates !
His playmates Stopped envying him h is
kn owledge and tolerated the respect and love
,

which he on that account enjoyed from thei r

, ,

parents and other relatives only because he ,

was so modest and unp retentious and not in ,

frequently tried to learn from them what they

knew better than b e .

He never paraded his knowledge and there ,

could be no thought of boasting .

“
He is being educated just fo r the study
ta b le and so he wi l l feel himsel f out of place
,

in society and w ill not know how to behave

,
”
there .
 Obj e c t i o ns to E a r ly E d uc a t i o n 1 07

But he was liked as much at cou rt as i n

’
peasants cabins in the house of the wea l thy
,

merchant a s of the minister in the socie t y of ,

the refined landed p rop rietor as of the honest

b u rgher all insisted that he fitted into thei r
,

ci rcle a s though he had b een brought up fo r

it
.

In his thi rteenth to fifteenth year when ,

he reaches the age of puber t y he will grow ,

”
weak wi l l fade away and die !
,

All that did not happen but on the con , ,

t r a ry he grew ve ry strong blossomed l ike a

, ,

rose and continued to l ive

,
.

“
I f he su rv ives that c ritical period and car
ri es away no bodi l y harm he wil l none the ,

less be menta l ly affected He wil l stand still .

,

a n d of what use wi l l it then be that he former

ly advanced so rapid l y .

He was not menta ll y affected b ut kept mak ,

ing rapid p rogress as be fore .

He wil l have a mind for nothing but lea rn

ing and d ry languages W hat is beauti ful and
.

pleasing wil l forever remain a matter of i n

di fference to him W hat an i rretrievable loss
.

”
for him !
Indeed indeed i f it were on l y true ! But
, ,

even as a child did he love the beauti fu l in

108 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wi t t e

Natu re in the world of man and b east a s

, ,

well a s in the works of the great authors and

poets and he was quick in finding and poin t
,

ing it out L ater on he recited and read ex

.

c e p t iona lly wel l a s most cultured peopl e

,

asserted F o r that reason and because o f t h e

.

joy with which he took part in social game s ,

o r di rected them he was much sought for in

elegant socie t y and especia l ly by young m

,

, en

and women o f refinement .

N ow he wr i tes both p rose and poetry w ith

i ndescribable ease and a s I am assured not , ,

wi t hout success .

The last objection which I shall ment ion

c ame from S t P e te rsbu rg . I t wa s the only .

on e which for a time perplexed me becaus e ,

i t r eferred to too remote a future for me to be

able to refute i t by anything in the p resent .

An d yet I did not dare to p resent the future

all too favorably to mysel f Besides the oh .
,

j e c t i on came from one whom I respected

equally as a philosopher and as a sens ible ex ,

p e r i e n c e d and well meaning man who -

lo v ed
me and mine and communicated h is m
, ,

,
isgiv
ings to me in confidence without try ing ma ,

l ic i ou sly to se t the world of scholars agains t

me and my work .
1 10 Th e E d uca t i on f
o Ka r l Wi t t e
in his four t een t h ye a r If so, he will in h is t wen t y firs t -

m
.

yea r be no fur t her a dva n ced tha n ot her e n of h is a ge ,

e xcep t , pe rh a p s , t ha t he will h a v e so mm
e or e knowled ge
m
.

Your son would , t hen , b e a d i red up t o h is ei ght een t h

o r t we n t ie t h ye a r , a ft e r wh i ch h e wou ld a ll of a sudden
m
be r eckon ed a on g t he cla ss o f a l l ot her en m
m m
.

I n ow us t sub i t t o your c on s ide ra t ion th e e fiect

m
wh i ch t he con t i n ued a d i ra t i on o f wh a t is ex t r a or di na r y
m
in h i , wh ic h ca n n ot hel p a ffec t i n g h i , mm us t p rod uce
m
upon h i , a n d wha t h is sen sa t i on s will be , if in h is
m
t wen t i e t h or t wen t y firs t yea r he s ees t h e a d i r a t ion va n
-

m m
ish a n d fi n ds h i s el f c oun t ed a on g or di n a ry m en Th is
m
.

con s ide r a t i on wou ld fill e wi th gr ea t a nx iet ies , if I wer e

t he ch ild s fa t he r
’
A m
a n who h as ex e rc i sed p u blic a t
m m
.

t e n t i on fro h is ch ildhood us t feel it h a r d when he

m
,

is no lon ger so h i ghl y r ega r ded Thos e , y de a r fr ie n d,

mm m
.

are y is g i v i n gs in r e ga r d t o t h e e d uca t i o n a l s ys t e
wh ich you h a v e Chose n You kn ow t ha t I a m
in th e
m
.

ha b i t a l wa ys t o ex p ress y t h o ugh t s fr eely a n d O pe n ly

m
,

a n d I es pec i a l ly like t o do so t owa r d person s wh o I

r es pect a n d love .

I answered him b efo re long sayi ng th at ,

what he wa s afraid of might be true but that ,

I for good reasons had no such fear and that

, , ,

I would use the p roper p recaution so that i t ,

wou l d not harm Karl much i f indeed i t , , ,

shou l d happen : that th ree years hence at my ,

son s fou rteenth year I would write him

’
,

( P rofessor von J ako b ) openly a n d honestly ,

as is my wont about fu rther developments I f

,
.

h i s misgivin gs came true I would not hide it

 Obj e c t i ons to E a r ly E d uc a t i on

from him but in the contra ry case he must

, , ,

al l ow me to announce the truth to him in my

name and in the name o f my son .

On J une 2 2 1 81 4 when my son wa s wi t hi n

, ,

ten days of fourteen years I wrote him a s fol ,

lows :
B ut fi s t of
r al l e i g your opin ion of m
con c r n n y so n !
Your i dea t ha t t he de g ee o f h is i t el lec t m
r ight b ecom n e
fixed in h is fourt ee t h yea r a n d he would not a dv a nce
n

a n y fu r t he r t he e for e wou
r ld cea se bei g a d m i ed i h is n r n

ld becom
,

t wen t ie t h or t we t y firs t ye a r a n d so wou

n -
e ill
t em pered is exceedi gly cl ever ; a d I m n us t con fess t o n

m m m
,

y o u t h a t n o o t h e r a a de t h a tn o b je c t i on t o e w h e r e
for e it a t fi s t pe plex ed m e ve y m uch I a mon e o f
,

r r r .

t hos e few who d o not t y t o r e ason a wa y wh a t a t a r

fut ur e d a y m a y ca u s e t h e ma n u n pleas a n t n ess It m ay .

be t h a t t h i gs will ha ppen as you t h i n k but so fa r it

n

does not seemlikely ( I ) M y son will be four t een

,

yea rs old o t he fi rs t o f July a d he is st ill v is i bly ga in

n n

( 2) H e is s t ill ext r em
,

in g in i t ellec t ul powe rs
n a el y
modes t a d does not wish t o be a dmi red or ra t her does
.

is a d m
, , , ,

n o t no t ic e t ha t h e i red
I t h e r e fo e hOp e t ha t h e will no t so soon c om
.

, r , e to a
s t a n d s t ill o r t ha t i f it oc cus h e will g iev e l ess t h a n
r r

would a v a i n y u g m t t he c ess a t i on o f a d m
, , ,

o a na bo u n i ra
t i on so t h a t o t h i g wi ll b e l s t
n n whe rea s m uch wi ll be
o

w n a c a eful ed uca t i o a m
— a ss o f i n fo m
, ,

o r n, a t i on e a rly r ,

e per ie ces k owled ge o f t he w ld a cqua i t a ce wi t h

x n , n or , n n

r efi ed soc ie t y t h ou
n gh h is t a vels a d t hrough t he re
r r n

Sp ec t fu l a n d ki n d rec ep t ion accor ded himin t he bes t

h om es
N ei th e r o f us c a n dec ide t he m —
.

a t t er it li es in t he ,
1 12 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
la p o f t he blesse d gods but p roba b ilit y is m
uh m c or e

my
,

on s ide no w t ha n t hr ee yea rs a go.

Thus this last o bjection wh i ch for the , ,

r easons mentioned caused me more anxiety

,

than any o t her has been happi l y overcome

,
.

Thank Heaven i f I had to answer th at letter

,

t o day I would do it with greater calm and

-
,

with more joyful gratitude toward God for ,

what I wrote on that twenty second of J une i S -

a s fu ll y true t o day as then Indeed it seems

to me that I co u
,
.

l d n ow sa y more for me and

my son .
1 14 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wi t t e
dea r to him quite con t ra ry to th e manner of
,

o rdina ry child ren .

He Spoke with God a s w i th h is friend ,

thanked Him for His gi fts and H is kind l y

guidance asked fo r Hi s further aid in h is a f
,

fai rs and referred eve ry agreea b le occurrence ,

e very pleasu re which he enjoyed to H im , ,

the A ll good the g i ver of joys In the b a r

-
,
.

monica a s i n the b lossoming rose ; in

,

R aphael s painting as in the song of the

’
,

thrush ; in the mountains of S axon Switzer

l and a s i n the blade of grass ; i n Spi ritual man
, ,

a s in the cleverness of h i s dog — everywhere

he s a w a n d felt God .

He p rayed often and eagerly but p re fe ra ,

bly when left alone or in the p resence of only

,

his parents reluctantl y b efore a thi rd person

,
.

That one may b e able to judge h is manner of

p raying I communicate a p rayer which in
, ,

its fundamental idea I have frequently heard ,

him recite But he p rayed di fferently in the

.

different conditions and Situ ations of l ife I f .

we were on the po i nt of traveling he b egged ,

God to p rotect us further and thanked Him ,

for His p revious aid I f we were somewhe re .

v isiting he p rayed God richly to reward ou r

,

fr iends for the i r k i ndness and so forth If ,

.
 P r ofit fr o mE a r ly E d uc a t i on

on e of us h is parents o r h is friends wa s i l l
, , , ,

b e p rayed for h i s reco v e ry Here is the gen .

e r al s cheme o f it :

KA R L H EARTEELT P RAY E R E V E N I N G M ORN

’
S , AN D

I N G, W I T H VA RIATI ON S, ACC OR DI N G TO TI M ES
AN D C I RC U M STAN CES

I thank you O God fo r hav ing given us

, ,

su ch a good night Give us a l so a good day !

.

R eward my parents fo r the good education

which they have gi ven me heretofore ! Help
them to continue to give it to me in the futu re !
P reserv e them fo r me safe and sound for a
long time to come ! Thanks fo r the many
joys which I have daily been enjoying through
them and th rough other men ! Assist me to
day to be wel l behaved obedient and dili
-
, ,

gent ! M ake me choose a vocation which

wi ll be the most usefu l for me and for my
parents !
“
Keep me from avarice p ride impure , ,

thoughts and lying ! Give us the p l easant if

, ,

it is saluta ry fo r us ! Give us also that which

seems evil to us i f it is good for us even if
, ,

we ask you to avert it from us ! Teach us t o

b ear wrongs ! R eward those who have don e
1 1 6 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
much for me ! Be good
”
to all m e n, e spec i ally
to those wh o su ffe r !

Th is p rinc i pl e of a p i ous a n d o ra l educa m

t i on the detailed acqua i ntance with what is
,

most instructive in the Old and especially in ,

the N ew Testamen t mos t of all with the li fe

,

and teachin gs of Jesus in the best extracts ,

and writings laid a ve ry solid foundation for

,

h is future recti tude and kindness of heart .

The contemplation of the D eity in all His

creation s the frequent intimate conversatio n
, ,

with H im kept h is own constant attentio n

,

upon himsel f so tha t he did not easily allow

,

himsel f to do any wrong o r to be led into it b y

anybody else H is heart wa s and remained
.

so innocent tha t v e ry S e nsi b le people called

him a s pu re a s an angel .

F o r that reaso n he would do nothing i n our

a b sence that he was forbidden to do He .

would sa y that God sees it a ll and Should not

b e o ffended Occurrences of the kind I am
.

going to relate were common and i n the na ,

tu re of th ings had to happen ,

.

We were once vi siting P as to r E at L Next . .

mornin g at the coffee d rinking Karl care -

m
, ,

l essly Sp i lled so e of h is m i lk on the tabl e .

1 1 8 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
c hild wh o had a good appetite to decline
, ,

sweet milk with cake because a l a w fo rbade ,

him to do so on account of a l itt l e t ra n sg re s

,

si on .

“
Just go away and he will d rink h is mi l k !
,
” “
Very we ll I rep l ied I wi ll go away in
, , ,

o rder that you may se e that h i s behavior flows

from h is sou l and is not forced by me but on ,

t h e one condition that you l ater te ll me the

who l e truth h ow it h a s a ll happened I p rom
,
.

i se you in advance that I will not rep rov e him

i f he shou l d d rink the milk .

They p rom ised me that they would te l l me

all about it .

N ow Karl wa s called in and I went away ,

under some p retext The E s did the i r best

. .
’

to make him eat and d rink but in vain They ,

.

sweetened h is mi l k still mo re But that did .

no good They to l d him that they would fill

.

up the cup a s before so that I should not ,

notice the di fference and they o fl e re d him ,

“
other cake with the soph ica l remark Th e
, ,

l a w cannot forbid this ! They particu l a rl y

di rected h is attention to the fact that I shou l d
not find out anything about it Kar l re .

mained unpertu rbed and he repeated : ,

“
E ven i f my father does not k now it God ,
 P r ofit fr o mE a r ly E d uca t i on

does and that is the main th ing I t woul d

, .

certainly be a deception i f I should partake

”
of o ther milk and cake .

They reminded him that he had to take

a long walk and that he needed the p rope r
sustenance fo r it He insisted that b read and
.

sa l t made red cheeks and would gi ve h im the ,

requi red strength .

They finally s a w themse l ves o b liged to call

me i n and they to l d me with tears in thei r
, ,

eyes what had happened I acted as coolly

,
.

a s I cou l d kissed Kar l and said to him :

‘

, ,
“
Dear Karl you have accepted the punish
,

ment of you r own free will and you wanted ,

to take it honestly F o r that reason and for

.
,

t h e sake of ou r intended wa l k and the r e

quest of our friends I want you to consider ,

i t finished Go on eating your cake and

.

d r inking you r milk ! You have fu l filled the

”
la w I free you from eve rything
. .

N ow Karl gratefu ll y and gladly par too k

of the o ffered food The E s could not un . .
’

d e rs t a n d h ow i t wa s possib l e for a child of

s ix years to ha v e such self control as to deny -

himself a favorite dish under the abo ve men ,

-

t i on e d ci rcumstances and with h is good app c

t l te .
1 20 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f K a r l Wit t e

They did not know suffi cient l y the high

p owe r of a pu re pie t y and the resulting mor
ali ty fo r with it much more can be done
, ,

without i t but littl e .

A second p rincip l e was the dev elopment

and strengthening of h is body and as much ,

a s possib l e i t s sepa rate powers

,
Here a l so .

natu ra l ly be long the sharpening and strength

e n i n g of the senses .

A thi rd p rinciple was from the ve ry b e ,

ginning the highest deve l opment o f his men

,

tal powers in a ll thei r severa l cap acities

,

reason acute perception wit memo ry fancy

, , , , ,

and so forth I have a l ready said something

.

of this but I will n ow discuss i t at greater

,

length .

Here belon gs the acqu isition of a literary

language with correct thinking questioning
, , ,

answer ing retorting etc which so p l easant l y

, ,
.
,

su rp rised people It wa s for this reason th at

.

h i s company wa s enjoyed even before he had

learned the l east thing about the l anguages o r
s ciences H ow many splendid p l easu res hav e
.

t hus been granted to Kar l and h ow much he ,

has heard seen and learned by i t !

, ,

The most cu l tured men of the regions where

I h appened to sojourn o r to v isit g l ad l y ,
1 22 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
other child re n with the greatest d i ffi cul ty .

He studied ancient and modern geography

natu ra l h isto ry in all i ts b ranches m a th e m
,

at ,

i c s physics and chemist ry and he Studied

, , ,

th em so thorough l y that he received his de

gree of Doctor of P hi l osophy before he wa s
fourteen after hav ing p rev ious l y obta i ned
,

ve ry flattering certificates A year later he .

b ecame a member of the Society of Natu ral

S ciences in the W etterau He wa s then able
.

to li v e in the beautiful reg ion of the R hine ,

and to study jurisp rudence with i ts ancilla ry

sciences so thorough l y that when he wa s b ut
s ixteen he wa s hono ra b ly ad v anced to the
degree of Doctor of L aws Then he traveled .

a great deal l i v ed for a longer time in Berlin

, ,

had a mass of p l easant and some ve ry un

pleasant experiences was treated by many
,

nob l e men w i th lo ve by a few mean ones with

,

malice rece ived from h is king the high favo r

,

of a t wo years scientific journey and cou l d

’
,

use the i nter im to p repare h imse l f theoretic

ally and p ractically for that honorable and
useful commiss ion .
 C H A PTER XI
S H OU LD C H I LDRENL E FT To T H E MS E LVES
BE
UP To T H EIR S EVENT H OR E I GH T H Y EAR ?

“
IT i s v ery natu ral questi on At what period
a ,
”
should we begin to instruct ou r ch i ldren ?

It h a s b ecome fashionable to answer w i th ,

“
R ousseau F rom the seventh or eighth year
,
.

To a l l those who answer thus I have nothing ,

to sa y b ut th is : W atch the chi l dren who hav e

“

so long remained without instruction o r e v en

wi thout an education and se e what h a s b e

,

c ome of them .You wi l l generally find that

t hey have turned out to be self wi l l ed v io l ent
-
, ,

e v en ignorant creatures s l a ves to thei r desi res

,

and v i ces If you wish to have s u

. ch children ,

—
good and well do a s those parents have
,
’
done ?
I once spoke to a man who claimed to know
all about education and who e x p ressed h imself
contemptuous l y about my son who had at
such an early age been trained to e xternal a n d
i nterna l good manners .

123
1 24 . Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
“
N 0 said he that sha l l not happen with
, ,

my son He i s to enjoy his chi l dhood Up to

. .

his eighth year he i s to do a s he p l eases being

left only to h is nurse and to his mother .

“
Then you wi l l have l itt l e to educate i n
h i mlater I quick l y reto rted
,
.

The outcome showed that I was right .

Though the b oy possessed e x cel l ent mental

capacities he tu rned out to be nothing but a n
,

ordina ry man with many fau l ts H a d h e .

been simp l e minded his father through h is

-
, ,

own fault wou l d have made a foo l of him

It may be objected that the re are great m
.
,

en

who must have trave l ed th at same path In .

deed there are but they are rare On l y b e

, ,
.

cause they discovered themselves and attracted

the attention of others they and thei r early
lives became known and the foo l ish conclu ,

sion wa s d rawn that that was th e right way .

But one wi ll always or at l east most frequent ,

l y find in them dark sides as we ll as brigh t

,

ones for the ear l y acqui red and deep l y root

,

ed fau l ts are ve ry hard to get rid of I t wou l d

be an easy matter fo r me to find some h um
.

il i
ating defect in any great man who has bee n
Th i mt h liv d t i ly f
s o i ety s t h h i ld wa s
er e en re or soc o e c
e f ev t
,

l ft i t h
e n e ca r o s r an s .
1 26 Th e E d uca t i o n o f K a r l Wit t e

is a soci al b eing and ch ild ren a s a ru l e p refer

,

child ren s society Then they l i ke to p l ay

’
.
,

a n d play i n the open r i ghtly pleases them

m ost b ecause God h a s b l essed the ai r with so

,

many refreshing strengthening exhilarating , ,

elements Therefore the ch ild fee l s happiest

.

in the open especially i f he c a n there play

,

w i th o ther children .

H ad I to choose I would myself in spite of , ,

the great dangers connected with b eing in

the street p refer i t to the constant staying in
,

the room I am not ta l king of Berli n rooms

. .

These a s a rule are h igh ai ry b right pleas

, , , ,

ant large and i f the p arents do right may

, , , ,

act a s small play halls fo r the children No .

,

I am talking of rooms in small towns o r in the

country where the whole family is usua l ly
,

s tu fi e d together i n a sma ll l ow narrow damp , , ,

basement filled wi th a l l kinds of utensils

,
.

Here the ch ildren waste away the i r power ,

of digestio n i s diminished thei r blood creeps ,

along instead of leaping the i r cheeks grow

, ,

pa l e the i r eyes become dimmed and the fire

, ,

of thei r Spi ri ts slowly goes out S tomach .

,

head and teeth b egin to ache t here fo l low

, ,

i ndisposition and enn ui and in thei r wake , , ,

contrar iness stubbo rnness a sp i rit of opposi

, ,
S h o ul d C h i ld r e n b e L eft to Th e ml
s e v es ? 1 27

tion or even se rv ili ty dul l ness p rejud ice and

, , , ,

short sightedness The hea l thy street urch i n

-

ma y some day do something right Often he

.

ta kes h is own peculiar course and breaks n ew

paths whereas such a dwarfed l ittle man a s
,

t h e room dwe ll er i s general l y good for noth

-

ing but a house savant In that vocation he

-
.

finds the fami l iar surroundings and remains

b odi l y and spi ritually in h is e l ement .

Yet I do not o ver l ook the great dangers that

await the boy amidst h is playmates in the
street How could I over l ook them ? I h ave
.

myse l f obse rved and anxiously watched them .

I wi l l not speak here of the secret temptations

for mastu rbation the most terrib l e of juv en i l e
,

v ices o f the i ncitements fo r disobeying th e

,

parents and showing them disrespect of de ,

c e p t i o n and even thieving and so fo rth They ,

.

occu r indeed only too often and thei r con

, , ,

sequences are appa l ling But I wish to Spea k .

on l y of that which takes place openly dur ing ,

the p l aying in the street .

In some places among o thers at G where

,
.
,

the large stone slabs near the houses fa vor

many chi l d ren s games one constantly sees
’
,

chi l d ren gamb l ing fo r money They are often .

so poor that one would f eel l i ke g i v ing them

1 28 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
alms and yet they play for pennies and th ree
,

pence and win from o r lose dimes to chil

,

d ren whose parents are rich M any a t ime I .

“
hav e called out to them Youthfu l gamb l ers , ,
”
old decei vers o r beggars ! I f i t h a s done
good on l y once ! Besides I have hardly ev er ,

walked th rough the town without seeing two

o r th ree in a fight This at first begins with
.
;

some l itt l e d issension which passes ov er to

,

scolding and cursing and ends in fighting i n

, ,
“
kicking th rowing stones etc
,
F u ry chan ges
,
.

”
everything into weapons says Vi rgil ,
.

W ith mortal fea r I have watched such

fights and ha v e done all in my power to stop
,

them But I have at last become more in

.

different for I thought of myse l f a s of one

,

with weak nerv es who is worried at the ve ry

thought that somebody m ight just then be
strugg l ing in death agony He then h a s not .

a ca l m moment in his life for he must always ,

“
say to himse l f Now some b ody is again stru g
,

gl in g in death a gony J ust the same happens

”
.

to a phi l anthropist durin g a fight He must .

at last become i n d i fl e re n t to i t or he wil l neg

‘
,

lect h is bus iness in his eternal attempts to

make peace .
1 30 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
More than once hav e I seen t he b lood fl ow
freely on such a n occas ion o r the nose o r eye
,

inju red fo r l i fe .

H ow often have I been a wi tness when chil

d ren in a sham battle have accidentally caused
bad injuries o r have been inc i ted to violent
fights from which such inju ries resulted I .

—
sti l l think w i th horro r of a pup i l I will call
h imMue l ler
,

,
— wh o played at H near the .
,

parade grounds close t o the high school with

, ,

h i s compan i ons The grounds a re su rrounded

.

by a wa l l and trees and buildings a re not fa r

,

03 . Mue l ler for a lon g t ime ran deftly

among these objects without hu rting himself .

I wa s afraid for him but he ran too fast and

,

wa s pursued too closely and I wa s t oo far

,

away to stop h im with my v oice

N ow h is pu rsuers were upon h im He
.

wanted to get away from them by running

i nto the school bui ldin g One side of the door
.

wa s open the othe r wa s closed bein g barred

, ,

at the top and b ottom Mueller ran a s fast

.

a s he could and tu rned h is head i n o rder t o

,

get in th rough the open side But he wa s too .

close and so ran with a l l h is m ight against the

p rojecting b a r which wa s Studded with nails .

A t the same moment the b lood ran in streams

S h o ul d Ch i ld r e n b e L eft t o Th e ml s e v es ? 1 3 1

down h is face and h e fell to the ground w i th

,

a c ry of angu ish .

I ha ve Often tried to find out why th is b oy

had h is hand o r f oot maimed why that ,

boy wa s c r i ppled a th i rd one had disfigu rin g

,

tumors o r cuts in his face a fou rth one had a ,

growth on h is eye a fifth was perhaps bereft , , ,

of an eye and I hav e learned that al l th is wa s

,

caused in th e street The child ren had natur .

ally c o n cealed the occurrence from the i r

paren ts and thus had p revented t h e t imely aid
,
’
of a surgeon of whom th rough t he i r parents
, ,

fau l t they a re nearly a l ways in fear

It will b e noticed that I kn ow all the m
.
,

is
chief and th at I do not take it li ghtly but I
, ,

must repeat my conviction : I f I Should have

to choose I would in spite of the a b ov e men
, ,
-

t ion e d g reat dangers wh i ch come from be i ng ,

in the street p refe r i t to the eternal staying in

,

the house All those who a re lucky enough

to su rv i v e are far better o fi than the e ffe m
.

i
nate house dolls who are terrified at t h e v ery
-

sight of a soft snowball and whom a dri zzle ,

or a cool wind puts on the sick bed -

.

I s a y then W o e to the father o r educato r

, ,
“
who is so fool ish a s t o sa y : My son sha l l do
up to h is e ighth year a s h e pleases for up to ,
1 32 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wi tte
t h at time he shall b e left in cha rge of h is
nurse and his mother ( a socie ty woman ) .

F rom a l l that i t follows that we must begin

ve ry ea rl y to educate our chi l dren and not ,

on l y this b ut we ought to endeavor to b ri ng

into the wor l d children a s little hand i capped
a s possi bl e by defects transmitted by us Le t .

us pay attention to ou r bodies our intellects , ,

our wills ( both on the part of the father and

t he mother ) let u s ennoble the fi rst two and

control the latter even at a time when ou r

,

children have not yet been p rocreated A .

simple moderate sparing satisfied h appy

, , , ,

life with much e x ercise in the open ai r fre

, ,

quent use of pure water is a s a rule the best , , ,

means for gett i ng ch i ldren whose bod ies w i ll

be enti rely so und and whose capacities of
,

hea rt and inte ll ect a re equal l y desi rab l e A .

man shou l d train himse l f as much as poss ib le ,

and shou l d choose fo r himself a healthy men ,

tally well developed and wel l intentioned

-
,
-

w i fe and then the child ren wi l l be healthy

, ,

mentally strong and we l l intentioned

,
-
.

Here I hea r a mass of objections .

“
One says In my situation I must marry
,

for money ”
Another says W i thout the d is
.
“
,

t i ng uish e d relatives of my wi fe I should

1 34 Th e E d uca t i on f
o Ka r l Witt a
wa y, b oth may b e assured that the Dei t y w i ll ,
as a rule gi v e them a hea l thy chi l d that i s
, ,

at the v e ry least p ro v ided with average capac

m m
,

i ti es of b ody a n d in d N oth i ng
. ore is re
q ui red
.
 C H A PTER X II
WHAT WE DID TO G UA RD KARL AGAI N ST
F LATTERY, OR, AT L EAST, To W EA KE N
ITS V ENO M

KARL wa s b ut Sp a ri ngly p raised b y us, so

“ ”
m
e

such exp ression a s A ll right my son ! o r

, ,
“
W ell done my boy ! o r You may b e right !
,
”

“
Ye s that is right ! being a l l I u
”
or ,
sed to
exp ress my app robation S ome other stimul i .

were employed for examp l e small reward s

, , ,

wi th which however charitable purpose s

, ,

were inv isibly connected ; the noting down of

h is conduct in a b ook wh ich Ko ns i sto r i a l r a th
D r F unk of M agdebu rg had p resented to
.

him ; a calm yet p l easant reci tal of what he

had accomp l ished to his mother o r one of the
m ore intimate friends of the family But I .

e v e ry time sai d rathe r less than mo re The .

person listening to the account wou l d then

r eply ,
“
W e l l that pleases me Ka rl ! I like
, ,

y o u th a t wa y !
”
o r something of the kind .

135
1 36 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
Karl had to hav e done something e xt ra o r
d i n a ry fo r h is age , b efore he wa s patted o r
k issed That I g l ad l y did , every time he said
.

or did something mora ll y good A fond l ing .

,

a kiss from me wa s therefo re high l y a p p re

,

c i a t e d b y him But nothing had such an e f

.

fe e t with him as the assurance I gave him

Cspecia l ly at a notewo rthy moment of his l ife ,

that he now no doubt was standing higher

, ,

t han eve r in the eyes of God of other spi rit ,

ual b eings and o f the best of men and that

, ,

for some time he had p rofitab l y and success

fu ll y p repare d himse l f to do something rea ll y
good on earth and l ater to be emp l oyed by the
Deity for higher and ore p rofita bl e pur m
poses .

Then h is ch i ldishly pious eye would smi l e

to us as we may imagine the beatitude of an
,

ange l who after a nob l e adventure in the great

kingdom of God returns to the Highest U su .

a ll y Kar l after such a conversation evinced

, ,

sti ll more doci l i ty mo re industry mo re good

, ,

ness of heart than heretofo re There wa s .

t herefo re no need of greater p raise much l ess ,

of flatte ry But most peop l e who l ived out

.

side our ci rc l e did not app reciate this and

m
,

any did not want to comp rehend i t .

1 38 Th e E d uc a t i on f
o Ka r l Witt e
that is not at all r ight of you ! He h a s de
served i t and merited p raise encou rages
,
”
one !
I t made no di fference h ow much I implo red
them to b e careful they knew b etter at least , ,

they thought they knew b etter and they only ,

b roke forth mo re loud l y in Ka rl s p resence ’

.

I t did not take me long to perceive the

wea kness or meanness of many of my friends
and neigh b o rs I wa s therefo re careful to
m
.

ake my arrangements acco rdingly I w i th .

drew complete l y from some to a great extent ,

from oth ers And a s o ften a s against my ex

.
,

p e c t a t i on it b,ecame necessary fo r the good

of my chi l d I had no hesitation to speak
,

clearly and earnestly a b out the dangers of

fulsome p raise Kar l understood me in such
.

c ases completely b ut those silly wiseacres nat

,

ur a l ly became only more wily toward me .

In connection with suga r cake co ffee b eer , , , ,

wine and other dainties the same th ing took

,

place But my close friends partly better

.
, ,

partly more educated men were exceedingly ,

useful to me in this matter They understood .

W hat I wanted and magnanimously o ffered ,

a helping hand I needed only to give them a

.

hint and they worked into my hands

, .
 G ua r d i ng Ag a i ns t F la t t er y

I f my w i fe or I wa s d i ssatisfied with Karl ,

t hey never defended him b ut on the contra ry

treated h imwi t h some coolness If we gave
, , ,

a fr i end l y utterance about him he wa s h e a r t i ,

l y fondled b y them b ut they d i d no t ov erflow

,

wit h p ra i se .

As long a s he wa s Ve ry small and had

lea rned l i ttle o r nothing we accomplished ou r
,

aim by means of our unfailing device the t e ,

cital of sho rt purposely i n vented sto ries w i th

, ,

a mo ral .

But when he could rec i te with exp ression ,

when to the astonishment of many men he

, ,

c ou l d do mental calculations when he could ,

r ead rapid l y and v e ry we ll and even began ,

to understand F rench I had to have recourse

,

t o other means a s we l l .

The highest from the beginn i n g and fo r all

time remained God and H is v isib l e counter
part among men J esu s ,
.

In conversations abou t God I frequently

showed him h ow immeasurably deep we stood
b e l ow H im and b e l ow th ose many mi ll ions of
sp i ritual beings whom we ca l l by the name of
angels : I Showed him that we owed Him our
selves a l l ou r bodi l y and mental powers ou r
, ,

f o rtunes ou r education even the incitements

, ,
1 40 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
to do good On such con vi ct ions i t is i ndeed
.
, ,

easy to found humi l i t y of sp i ri t and modesty

i n a sti l l childishly pure mind .

In the person of J esu s we showed him h ow

infinite l y much a man even of th e highest ,

type may by modesty and humili t y gain of

w i sdom mental power magnanimity firm
,

, , ,

ness k indness of heart justice fair minded

, , ,
-

ness faith in God su b mission to His will

, , ,

obedience to H is commands patience and de , ,

nial of onese l f .

Thus there arose in h is heart the highest

reverence for God the strongest ho l iest love
, ,

for Jesus and the eager desi re to become l ike

,

Him My wife Louise o r I had on l y to men

.

tion an incident in the l ife o f Jesus which i n ,

some way cast a l ight on one of H is v i rtues ,

fo r Ka r l to understand us at once and to t ry ,

i n a touching manner to apply it himself He .

natura l ly found himse l f a l ways fa r b e l ow the

Divini ty consequent l y he was b y eve ry com
,

parison even without any othe r admixture

, ,

u rgent l y l ed on toward modes ty .

Then we to l d him a great deal about emi

nent men If they e x ce ll ed in inte ll ect abi l ity
.
, ,

ta l ents and so forth we accentuated these so

, ,

clear l y and so objective l y that the humi l iatin g

1 42 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wi t t e
were h i s favorite poems , and he knew them
a ll by heart long though they are
N ow I ask any sensible m
,
.

a n a n d e x p e ri

e n c e d educator : C ou l d a b oy with a l l th at b e

c ome p roud v a i n and i mmodest ?

, ,

Not easily ! And of a child that is no t

often flattered I wou l d sa y No t at a ll ! ,

This venom ( flattery ) wa s however gi v en , ,

him more and more a s time went on I t wa s .

given to him in many shapes and so I had to ,

t h i nk of all kinds of antidotes .

We once went to the city o f H alle and I ,

guessed in advance that in the company w i th

whom we were to dine and i n t h e homes ,

where we were to v isit Karl a s usu a l , woul d

, ,

b e showered with p r a is e .

S o after we had se t out fo r Halle I b ega n

wi th Lou i se who understood me at once an
, ,

a pparent l y general con v ersation about com

p l i me n t
,
s laudations and
,
flatte r y W e t a lked .

a s t hough we did not ha v e Karl i n m i nd b ut

m
,

i n reality kept a close watch on h i N ow .

and then I th rew i n a few wo rds wh i ch I ,

expected to affect him more strongly and ,

wh i ch he would u n derst an d a s referr in g to

hi m .
 G ua r d i n g Ag a i n s t F la tt e ry

He comp rehended a s showed i tself soon

,

afterward that some men from a certain

, ,

softness of spi r i t which i s wrongly ca l led

ki ndness of heart like to te l l pleasant t hin gs

,

to another ; that evil men frequently do so in

o rde r to gain advantages fo r t hemse l ves ; that
i gnorant peop l e without being e v i l readi l y
, ,

do the same t hing because they ha ve an ex

a g ge ra t e d idea of what they have not learned

t hemselves ; and that fina l ly there are men

, ,

who t ry to use flattery b ecause they cons ider ,

i t a sign of refinement not to sa y any t h ing un

pleasant to the i r acquaintances o r rather to , , ,

tell them pleasant th in gs even i f t hey a re no t,

true.

True p ra i se I added is not wordy I t

, ,
.

finds i t s exp ress ion rather i n a tender glance ,

a soft p ressure of the hand a few s incerely ,

p ronounced syll a b les at t imes e ven in a mere

,

stroking of the ch ec k o r in a kiss b ut a b ov e

, ,

all e l se in love and k indness o r i n accepta b le ,

actions fo r the good of th ose who have earne d

m
the p raise .

As P asto r J lately d i d w i th
. e I con ,

tin n ed and told a sto ry of h ow a friend of

m m
,

mine instead of maki ng e co pl i ments for

,
1 44 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wi t t e
some mental labo r o r flattering me took par
, ,

t ic ul a r p ains to make such remarks a s would

he l p me to imp rove that work .

W i th such conversation we app roached th e

city . I became jocose and said :
“
You will notice at the very gate that peo
ple for a mere tr ifle make comp l iments that ,

i s s a y something with which they connect no

,

i dea at a ll o r the very o pposite i dea

,
S ince .

I am in the habit of giving the gatekeeper a

few cents he will come l eaping out merri l y
,

and wi l l te l l me that he i s my humb l e se rvant ,

wi l l i nqui re about my hea l th and wi ll assure ,

me that he is extreme l y happy to hear of my

we l l being ; he wi l l ask what my o rders are
-
,

and will add that he i s convinced th at I have

”
noth ing dutiab l e a b out me ( I knew the.

man s ways of ta l king by rote )

’
He wou l d .

” “
be considerab l y surp rised I added if to his, ,
‘ ‘
humb l e servant I shou l d sa y P l ease take o ff
’
, ,

my boots and shine them for me for they ,

hav e become di r ty on the road o r if I asked ,

’

him to swea r to h is assertion that he was ex

t re m e l y happy to hea r of my we ll being ; o r -

i f to h i s quest i on W hat a re your o rders ? I

‘ ’
,

shou l d answer G 0 at once to P ro fesso r W

,
‘
.

and announce our a rr iva l ! or if his superio r ’

1 46 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
c hild ren a re spoiled b y i t fo r they b ecome ,

c onceited and believ e they k now all .

“ ” “
It is strangest o f a ll I continued when
, ,

pa rents want to hear thei r child ren p raised ,

whi l e an honest man cannot make up h is mind

to p l ease t hem by doing so I t may b e that .

he wi l l pay the tribute of customa ry po l ite

ness if the chi l d ren gi ve half an occasion fo r
m
,

it . But t h e honest a n will n ot b e i nduced

t o do more than th a t .

“
Meanwhile these people t ry t he i r utter
mos t t o get at h imto melt the i ce of i nsen
,

Sib i l i t y
. I f th e honest man h a s ch i ldren of
h i s own they expect to ha v e an easy success
, ,

i f they will pra i se them unduly ‘

He will .

certainly b e polite enough t o gi v e something

i n return t hey sa y a n d so they l av i sh p raises
, ,

until one i s nauseated and h a s to remonstrate .

That stops the p ra ises b ut i mmediate l y after

,

ward they say W itte is an uncouth man ! I

‘
,

p raised h is Ka rl so much b ut i t did no t d o,

any good I hoped he would sa y a wo rd

.

about my F ritz or Doroth y b ut no ! Does ,

he imagine he can educate a l l children ?

There is not much to i t anyway ! H i s Karl
l acks a lot of t h ings which he i s much i n
need of .
 G ua r d i ng Ag a i ns t F lo t t e ry

They are ri ght th ere my boy Do you ,

.

”
n ot t h i n k so ?

Karl assented to i t wi th h is wh ol e sou l,

m enti oned som e th i n gs wh ich h e need e d , a n d
named m e n who h a d p ra i sed h im partly ,

wi th out any mer i t of h i s, p a rtl y a w a y a bove

h i s deserts .

“
I hav e seen the c ase I or Louise added , ,

when t wo fa t hers o r mothers car ried on a

r egula r auction s a l e One would outbid th e
.

o t her i n p raises unti l the con v icti on wa s

,

forced upon a p e rson th at th e respective chil

dren we re half an gels when they were noth ,

i ng of the sort Fo r had they b een th e i r

.
,

parents would not have t a ke n th es e useless , '

even ha rmful pa ins ,

.

N ow we were at th e g ate We h a d no .

sooner stopped, th an th e gatekeep e r, wh o

knew the coachman carr i age and ho rses well ,
, ,

rushed out and s ta r ted turn ing th e W heel of

compliments w i th almost the v e ry words
which I had p redicted As none of us could .

help sm i l i ng I gave th e con versatio n a jo ki n g

,

tu rn by sayin g We h a ve noth in g a b o ut us
“
, ,

unless we ou rsel ve s are duti a b le 0 ye s h e re .

,
” “
I have p oi nti ng to Ka rl , a l i ttl e gosl ing !
,
 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e

So have him app rai sed ! Meanwh i le here is ,

”
the money ! I p ressed a little something into
his hand W e p roceeded to t h e c i ty and I
.
,
“
s aid earnestly So all that h a s cost only two
,
”
d imes !
The consequences o f th at con versati on were
o bvi ously good b ut I must make a remark
,

h ere.

One must not i magi n e th at such a con ve r

s ation with Karl or in his p resence would

have had th e des i red result in itself I am .

,

on the contra ry con v inced that w ithout a p re

,

vi o u s long careful education o f mind and

,

heart ; without repeated and continuous p a

ternal efforts ; without the aid of ou r e x cellent
friends ; without deep seated mora l and pious
-

motives all t hat attempt wou l d not have suc

,

c ee d e d in penetrating the hardened shell and

wou l d have p roduced weak effaceable im

,

l -
,

p ress ions upon the intel l ect and the heart I t .

is about the same as with a wagon whos e

freight is calcu l ated for th ree horses I f only .

one were hitched i t wou l d work itse l f to

,

death without moving the wagon an inch To .

make i t move and move with c a se a ll th ree

, ,

horses must b e employed Then i t is su re t o

.

trave l we l l .
1 50 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
l earn i ng someth i ng b ut he must pastu re cattle
,

i n o rder to earn a li v ing for h is father h a s,

nine child ren and is too poor to b e able to

feed him i f he does not take the p l ace o f a
,

h i red hand You know my son how cleverly

.
, ,

t his b oy talks ! W hat could not have been

made of him i f he had b een p roperly b rought
,

up l Then I spoke to the shepherd b oy and

”
,

di rected h is attention to how much he wa s

l osing b y not going more frequently to school
and u rged upon h imto a ttend school more
,

re gu larly i n w i nter
That nev er missed i ts a im Karl s heart
.

’
.

wa s s i ncerely moved to pity and his inte ll ect ,

sa w clearly that he owed t h e little he wa s a n d

k new not to himse l f b ut to h is parents

, ,
.

H ow would it hav e b een possi b le to save

h imfrom the v enom of flatte ry without such
p recautiona ry measures ? I dare s a y b ut fe w ,

chi l dren grow up w i th a s much flatte ry as has

b een showered upon him yet thank Heaven , , ,

i t h a s caused him no ha rm a s all know wh o ,

a re more closely acquainted w i th him .

“ ”
He must b e p roud said the most sensi b le
,

and excellent Konsist ori a l ra t h D r Senf of .

,
“ ”
H a ll e b efore he knew him
,
He must b e ! .

“
he sa i d aga in and again for with his a d ,
 G ua r d i ng Ag a i ns t F la t t e ry

v antages it is against human nature not to b e

” “ ”
p roud ! I kept repeating No he is,
not !,
“ ”
He must b e he finally said with emphasis
, , ,
”
or he is a supernatu ra l b eing I kept si l ent
.
,
“
for to that no answer cou l d b e given You .

”
Sha l l see him I retorted after a while
,
.

I b rought the b oy to him soon afterward .

He immediate l y fond l ed him with much ten

derness had a l ong ta l k with him spoke ever
, ,

i n a more father l y and intimate way to him ,

“
and fina ll y turned to me and said N 0 he is , ,

n o t p roud ! God knows how you have man

”
a ged i t ! After I had sent Karl out I gav e ,

D r Senf an account of the above mentioned

.
-

method He nodded friend l y assent from

.

t ime to time and finished b y saying :

,
“
Yes i t is possi bl e to do so i n that manner !
,

I now b e l ieve myse l f that he i s not p roud and

wi ll never b ecome p roud F o r i f with th es e
.
,

convictions he attains still greater reasoning

,

power he wi l l b ecome what is cal l ed wise

,
.

And a truly reason ing wise man cannot b e

,

p r oud
I pass fo r the p resent over th ose i nn um
.

er

a b le perp l e x ities which were caused to me by

wea l thy and distinguished people of b oth
se x es by regents thei r wi v es thei r c hildren
, , , ,
1 52 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e

the i r entou rage ; and will mention b ut one oc

currence at G oe tt in gen because it best i ll us
, ,

trates my a n x iety and my wa y o f a cting under

s uch conditions .

A di rector of schools at N named H was .

,

v isiting h is re l atives at G oe t t i ng e n He had .

heard and read a great deal about Kar l and ,

he had learned sti ll more afte r inquiries at ,

G oe t t i n ge n especia ll y from his re l atives who

,

were more close l y acquainted with us He .

therefore requested them to invite us to thei r

home when he was with them and to ar ,

range i t in such a way that he cou l d e x amine

Karl They readi l y p romised to do this as
.
,

they knew I shou l d have no objections .

W e accepted the invitation and granted the

request a b out the e x amination H in person . .

had repeated the l atter to me adding that he ,

wou l d gl ad l y e x amine my son in the l anguages

and the various sciences but p referab l y in ,

mathematics b ecause that wa s h is favorite

,

subject I granted him eve rything making

.
, ,

as with eve rybody e l se the one condition that

,

he wou l d not p raise the b oy o r wou l d p raise ,

him on l y moderate l y i f he shou l d b e satisfied

,

with his know l edge .

“
You may l ove him I added ha l f i n jest
, , ,
1 54 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
the su bject more deeply and as they grew to ,

consider each other a s friends who loved and

discussed t h e same science they soon l ost ,

themse l ves in higher mathematics even in ,

such b ranches a s were not enti re l y familiar

to H .

“
Oh you know more of th is than I !
,

escaped his lips in his p l eased surp rise I

,
.

wa s frightened b ut I managed to sound a

,

warning note .

“
My son attended the mathematical lec
“
tures last ha l f year I said and so he h a s
-
,

not forgotten it yet .

H understood me and he l d himse l f in

.
,
.

After a whi l e he sa i d to Karl :

“
Now I wi ll c l ose by laying b efore you
a p roposition o ver which the great E uler
b rooded in v ain for three days I p resume .

”
that you have not heard of it .

I was beginning to feel an x ious in case ,

Kar l should actua ll y so l ve it b ut did not dare ,

to l et this b e noticed b ecause H who did not

-
,
.
,

know me intimate l y might have considered it ,

as a sign of father l y p ride And if I shou l d .

have interrupted the conversation which I—

—
was inc l ined to do h e might have thought
that I wa s a fraid Kar l cou l d not solve it and ,
 G ua r d i ng Ag a i ns t F la t t e ry

that I from p ride wa s ashamed b ecause he

, ,

cou l d not H then went on to p ropound th e

. .

p ro b lem .

“ “
A peasant said he had a field of th i s
, ,

S hape

When he wa s
nea r death he ca l led h is ,

three sons and di rected them so to divide the

fie l d that each shou l d o b tain an equal share ,

e ach of these to b e simi l ar to the whole field .

“
H ave you had this p roposition o r have ,
”
you read about it ? he asked Karl once more ,

wi th emphasis .

Kar l answered No ! and I testified to i t ,

b ecause I had always shared his mathematical

i nstruction with him .

Then we gave him ti me for reflection and ,

'
H ta l king with me in the b ack of the room
.
, ,

declared that it wou l d certainly b e impossi b le

“
for him to sol ve the p ro b lem I p roposed it
.
1 5 6 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Witt e
to him on l y to Show h imthat he did not know
”
eve rything yet .

He had hardly said more than th at when ,

Kar l cal l ed out

“ ”
I have i t !
That is imposs ib le ! H e x cl aimed in per .
,

p l e x i t y .

“
for yourse l f ! Karl said as he d rew
See ,

the l ines which he had on l y sketched b efore .

“
These three fie l ds a re equa l to each other
and simi l ar to the who l e fie l d .

“
You must have known the p roposition !
H e x claimed with v io l ence and bitter con
.
,

tempt .

Karl fe l t deep l y ashamed and repeated ,

“ ”
with tears in his eyes No l ,

I cou l d not remain silent I gave him the .

most so l emn assurances that Karl had not

heard of it b efore and especial l y that Kar l
,

wou l d not be so contemptib l e as to deny any

thing of the sort or to stick to a lie im
, p u
d e n t ly .

“
Then he must b e greater than the great
”
E uler himse l f ! H answered sti ll in dou b t
.
, ,

and staring at Karl .

I an x ious l y ca ll ed out from the b ack of the

“
room where I stood No t at a l l ! Fo r you as
, , ,
 C H A PTER ! III

KARL S TOYS ’
AN D TH E F I RST S TE P S I N H IS
M ENTAL EDUCATION
I AM c onv inced t h at we cannot b egin too early
to play wi t h a c hild and that we may tu rn ,

nearly all o bjects of l ife into toys of great

educat iona l v a l ue i f we on l y go a b out i t i n
,

the right wa y .

P l aying wi th the l itt l e chi l d should b e a n

easy p l easing occupation with which t o
, ,

awaken gui de and strengthen h is dorman t

, ,

powers One should b egin with the coarsest

.
,

most sensuous o b jects for the finer ones woul d ,

as yet b e lost on the chi l d .

F o r examp l e we he l d our fingers close t o

,

Kar l s eyes and moved them now singly n ow

’
, , ,

several at a time H e soon noticed th em and

.
,

gra bb ed at them b ut in the b eginning usually

,

missed them W e did not mind that b ut

.
,

b rought our hand nearer to his or his nearer ,

to ours He seized it happy t o have suc

.
,

c e e d e d and d rew a finge r into h i s mouth and

,

158
 Toy s an d F ir s t S t e ps i n E d uca t i o n 1 59

sucked it Then we p ronounced the wo rd

.

“
finger slowly distinct l y and repeatedly so
, , ,

that the unreasoning b eing might have the

time to hear it c l early and to concei ve i t .

Afte r a few minutes we withd rew our finger

from his mouth and he l d it once more b efore
,
“
his eyes first one saying One finger then
, , , ,
“ ”
t wo in the same way saying
,
Two fingers , ,

and so fo rth .

I f he grabbed the thum b we should have ,

“ ”
s aid as above
,
Thum b At first however
,
.
, ,

we avoided his getting ho l d of it in order not ,

to confuse the sti ll indescri b ab l e short Sighted -

ness of his inte ll ect W hen he actua l ly knew

.

the fingers we gave him the thumb p ro

, ,

n ou n c i n g the word at the same time We .

Slow l y differentiated the pointer the middle ,

finge r the l ittl e finger In eve ry case the

,
.

road was p roper l y p repared and the words ,

were enunciated l oud l y c l early Slowly and , , ,

repeated l y .

L ater on we put the fingers to some use

b efore his eyes from mere mov ing to the
,

raising of h is hand or an object and a l l th e ,

time did and spoke as above .

F o r his hea ring we made use perhaps of

t wo smooth keys which we Struck together
1 60 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e

b efore Karl s eyes and ears a l ternate l y enun

’
,
“ ”
c i a t i n g the word Ke y I f he at last seized
.

i t he ca rried it to his mouth and we by de

, ,

grees p roceeded farther holding more keys ,

b efore him and speaking as mentioned above ,

.

It wi ll b e easi l y o b se rved that with p ru

dence and care one may thus tu rn any o bject
into a toy and I am convinced that one does
,

much better to fol l ow this course than to buy

a mass of toys for the chi l d and l eave him to
an a rbitra ry use of them witho ut any p ru ,

dent guidance The unreasoning l itt l e peop l e

.

may on l y hurt themse l ves with them and ,

learn nothing ; they pass thei r time ha l f sense

less l y b ecome ti red i rrita b le Stubbo rn and
, , , ,

throw thei r toys away or pound at them ; in ,

short they b ecome accustomed to destructi ve

,

ness as one a l as finds only too often

, , ,
.

This habit of destruction is SO b ad that I ,

regretfu ll y reflect upon the fact that it c l ings

to man for a long time frequent l y misguides ,

him and makes i t hard for him to rid him

,

self of it O b serv ant parents wi ll understand

.

me for they must have noticed what a de l ete

,

r iou s influence the destru ction habit has on the

inte ll ectua l conceptions as we l l as on the sen
t im
,

e n t s of children .
1 62 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit te

which Still had a fe w leaves upon i t sayi n g , ,

with clea r enunciation and much emphasis ,

“ ”
One leaf two leaf and quickly correcting
, ,
“ ”
ourselves Two leaves at last with the ex
, , ,
“ ”
p ression of surp rise M any leaves ! ,

W hen the t wig wa s slowly b ared of all

“
leaves we swi tched i t i n the a i r and s a id A
, , ,
”
switch !
“
Se e Karl ! N ow i t i s a switch ! N ow the
,
” “
leaves are all gone po inting to them they , ,

are pul l ed o ff and now it i s not a twig now

, ,
”
i t is a switch !
After a while again we would s a y I cut “
,

t h e twig from a tree C ome and I will Show

m
.
,
”
you where I cut it o ff l Then we took h i
in ou r arms or b y h is hand and l ed him to
, ,

the tree from which we had cut the twi g

, ,

so l ow down that he cou l d easily o b serv e it .

W e fitted on the twig and l ater the switch , ,

“
and said slow l y clearly and distinct l y Do
, , , ,
”
you see ? Here I cut it from the tree point ,
“
i n g meanwhile to the whole tree Th i s i s t h e .

wa y it Stuck to the tree b efore ”

.

Then I would perhaps sa y Shall I cut

, , ,
”
o ff another tw i g ?

He wa s sure to answer Yes ! ,

N ow purposely of cou rse I would loo k

, ,
 Toys a nd F ir s t S t e ps i n E d uc a t i on 1 63

in v ain for a kn i fe in all my pockets t e ,

“
p e a t e d l y saying I have no
,
knife about me ,

and without a knife I cannot cut the t wi g

from the tree ”
.After a few moments : W ait
“
,
”
my child ! I wil l fetch a knife !
After I had fetched it I said pointing to , ,
“
it Here I have a knife ! N ow I can cut a
,

t wig with it from the tree .

I did so significantly raised the t wig and

, ,
“ ”
said : Now the twig is cut o ff the tree ! and
,
“ ”
after a while Se e Karl fitting the t wig
, , ,
“
once mo re to the tree here the t wig was a t ,
”
t a c h e d to the tree Then ho l d ing it up to
.
, ,
“
gether wi t h the one cut o ff befo re N ow we ,
”
have two twigs !
“
At first we used to sa y N ow we hav e one ,
”
t wig and one twig more
,
pointing a ll the ,
“ ”
ti me to a twig so now we have two t wigs
,
.

Only later we directed his attention to th e

v arious sizes of trees W e would fo r exam .
,
“
ple first point to a dwarfed tree saying Th is
, , ,
”
tree is sma ll ! then to a y oung tree with
“
a tal l trunk saying This tree is tal l er
, , ,
“
fina l ly to an old tall tree saying This , , ,
”
tree is ve ry tall E verything was enun
.

c i a t e d with the p rope r intonation and with

t h e app rop riate exp ression and motion of

 64 Th e E d uc a t i o n K l l l i
’
1 o f a r t t c

the ha nds t h i ma s p l a y e n
Th us we ta ug h
te rt a inm
,
.

ent and pastime that ce rtain trees

, ,

( this one here that one the re ) bore,

beautiful
b lossoms and goo d tastin g frui ts whi l e o the r -

trees di d not .

If by chance it happened to be an oak I

, , ,

wou l d sa y a s though wishing to correct a n

,

e r ror :
“
That is an oak ! I hav e not to l d you r ight ,

fo r the oaks bear also fruit only we men , , ,

c annot eat it P igs l ike i t v ery much

. You .

”
shal l see for yourse l f !

I f acorns cou l d be found we p icked up a ,

fe w giving them to Kar l to take along and

,

th row to our pig If it was befo re aco rn .

time I wo ul d hunt for them for a while the n

, ,

act a s though I were deep in tho ught a nd ,

finally sa y
“
Oh ye s I happen to think there a re no
, , ,

ripe acorns now J ust l ook up there in the .

tree ! There are acorns there ! But they are

s til l v ery sma l l In a fe w weeks they will be.

l arge r P erhaps a fe w of th em wi ll then fal l

.

down W e wi l l pick them up then a n d take

.

”
them with us .

I n a simila r manner we p roceeded with a

thousand objects a l l a b o ut us ; fo r example ,

with a rose .
1 66 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l 71 7 1 1 0

Th e above mentioned method was o f impor

-

tance too in rega rd to the ch i l d s mora l ity I f

, ,
’
.

Kar l wa s dissatisfied or c rying because he ,

could not have h is way we only had to say , ,

“ ”
Just se e h ow queer this is ! showing him
something that wa s n e w to him in o rder to ,

tu rn his attention away upon it He forgo t .

h is il l temper and wa s once more the good , ,

merry chi l d H e never went so fa r a s to b aw l

.

and be ll ow .

I ha rdly ever b ought toys in the o rdinary ,

sense of the word This expense I wa s spa red .

,

b ecause e verything wa s a p l aything to him .

Th e best opportunity wa s fu rnished by a

fai rly large space in front of my house which ,

I had co vered two feet deep with c l ear pebbles ,

and faced in with flowers blooming sh rubs , ,

and trees This spot wa s always d ry e ven

.
,
’
after days of rain After an hour s cessation .
,

the rain water disappeared b etween the p e b

-

bles and the p l ace was again quite d ry and

,

healthy .

Here and in the garden when i t wa s no t ,

damp Karl li ved and worked amid fai r N a

,

ture At first his attention wa s di rected to a ll

.

the details around him L ater on he o b serv ed .

them h imself and Showed them to us partly

, ,
 Toy s a nd F i r s t S t e ps i n E d uca t i o n 1 67

with the desi re of instructing us and partly ,

in order to e l icit instruction from us .

W heneve r I on account of o t her business

, ,

wa s not a bl e to b e wi t h him my wife wa s near

,

by W hene ver she had to attend to some

.

housework o r to the garden he stood sa t o r , , ,

wa l ked with he r and b oth discussed what

,

h a d been done what wa s b eing done o r what

, ,

S t i l l had to be done .

And he not only had the perm ission openly

—
to te ll us h is opinion p ro and con O f course , ,

—
with due modesty b ut we urged him on to
,

do so W e sometimes wou l d pu rposely make

.

smal l mistakes o r o ver look something and ,

merri l y b erated him i f he did not notice our

,

fau l ts .

E very littl e work ga v e us chances for th i s ,

t h e cutting of the aspa ragus picking of roses ,

o r fruit and so forth I f we had found some

,
.

good reason fo r not doing a certain thing and ,

he reminded us of it as of some t hing we,

might have forgotten or o verlooked we again ,

“
made good natured fun of him saying 0
-
, ,

you foo l ish boy ! Do you no t understand that

”
I did not do i t fo r such and such a reason ?
S uch discussions sufli c ie n t ly guarded him
—
against th e p resumption fo r which occasions
,
1 68 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
—
often p resented themse lves of knowing b et ,

ter than we .

One o f h is earl iest games wa s w i th sand .

I bought him for the purpose a l itt l e tab l e and

c hai r when he wa s about two yea rs old
,
I .

st ill ha ve them and they wi ll remain dea r to

,

me a ll my life because on that chai r and at

,

that tab l e he ad v anced from the playing wi t h

s and to a ce rtificate of perfect matu ri ty fo r the

uni versity .

E ven into th e common and neglected play

i ng with sand we put much thought and rea
so n
. In educating a second child we wou l d
a rrange many a thing to even better purpose .

Yet I be l ieve that a hint of what we did wi ll

do no harm Mothers who wi ll take the trou
.

b le wi ll be ab l e to surpass us So much th e
,
.

b etter !
S ince occupations of this kind ch iefly fall
upon mothers because p ressing work keeps
,

the father fo r hours at the desk etc I wi ll l et ,

.
,

my wi fe te ll what She did and h ow she p ro

c e e d e d in this matter .

Th e trave l game of which sh e will also re

,

port a Specimen wi ll especia ll y entertain and

,

interest such chi l dren as have a l ready trav

c l ed . And I wish with my who l e soul that
1 7 0 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Witt e

in o rder to gi v e him b etter i nstruction in v ari

ou s things Then we b ought him larger and
.

sma ll e r vessels in which he in the manner of ,

ou r larder kept h i s sand supplies ,

In one of .

the vesse l s he ca ll ed the sand flour in anothe r ,

r ice meal sa l t mi l k etc

, , , ,
.

“
W hen the parts were distr ib uted he could ,

Choose whethe r he wanted to b e mother or

cook I f he rep resented the mother he could

.
,

o rde r what he wanted to be cooked I t hen .

asked a number of questions and if he could ,

not p roper l y answer them he lost his authority ,

and became cook Then I commanded and I .

,

taught him what be l onged to this dish o r to

that F o r examp l e he had to b ring soup
.
,

greens from the garden I f as in the b egin .

,

ning wa s often the case he b rought the wrong ,

greens o r cou l d not remember a thing that

,

he had b een to l d several times he was d is ,

missed a fter getting the reasons for such a

,

dismissa l .

“
After that he could not so soon be coo k
again but had to b e satisfied to b e a kitche n
,

maid .

“
We frequent l y p l ayed a kind of d rama to
gethe r which ga ve him correct ideas abo ut
,

many ci rcumstances of life .

 Toys a nd F i r s t S t e ps i n E d uc a t i o n 171

Fo r example he wa s mother and I t h e

,

child Then he gave h is commands wh i ch I

.
,

at times carried out wrongly or not at all I f .

he missed noticing that he lost h is authority

,
.

But it wa s not often that he failed to se e my

p retended diso b edience On th e contrary he.
,

would make earnest and kind remonstrances .

I promised I would imp ro ve b egged to be ,

pardoned but afte r a while started in agai n

,

to do what I had been forb idden I f he no .

ticed it his dro l l earnestness caused me much

,

pleasure H e threatened wi th severi ty and

.
,
‘
occasiona l ly wou l d say Yes I see you wil l
, , ,

not tu rn out we ll ! I cannot lov e you any

l onger poor mother that I am
,
“
At times he was teacher and I the child .

I pu rposely committed the same mistakes a n d

transgressions of which he was gui l ty He .

noticed them a l most eve ry time and corrected ,

and sco l ded me In this way he fe l t most sen

.

s i b l y the disad v antages of h i s own mistakes ,

and learned h ow to a void them I cou l d b est .

cu re h im of h is misdemeanors by comm i tting

them myse l f when he rep resented me .

“
I f he had b een particu l arly good a n d
b right he wa s a ll owed to rep resent fa t her
, .

He then con ve rsed with me his wife on a l l , ,

1 72 Th e E d uca t i on f
o Ka r l Wit t e

kinds of su bjects even of ou r son and h is edu

,

cation when he would make the most start

,

l ing o b serv ations Now and then I to l d h im

.

that I Stil l noticed many fau l ts in Kar l which ,

I adduced one by one He conso led me and .

,
‘
genera l ly concluded with th e words Do not ,

wo rry my dear ! Karl wi l l tu r n out all right

,
’
yet !
“
I frequent l y asked h is ad v ice a b out how I
could cu re the child of th is o r that and h e ,

p roposed al l kinds of app rop riate means .

But when I rep l ied to him that I had a l ready ,

used them a ll he answered emphatica l ly

, ,
‘
W e l l if all that did not do any good gi ve
, ,
’
him a spanking so th at he may think of it
,
.

“
At other times we p l ayed the trave l game .

He had to te ll me whithe r he was going to

travel what he wished to se e on his journey
, ,

and whom he wou l d v isit At the same time .

he mentioned by name the p l aces th rough

which he wa s trave l ing These were indi .

c a t e d in the winter in the room in the sum

, ,

mer in the garden by some specia l object,

.

Thus fo r e x amp l e i f he was trave l ing to

, ,

M agde b u rg the chest of d rawers rep resented

,

—
H a l le the tab l e Kie n n e rn a chai r Bern
,
— ,

—
burg and the sofa M agdebu rg I not fa r .
,
,
1 74. Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wi t t e

wi t h s l ices of a tu rnip then arr i ved at Koen,

nern where he v isited the fami l y H to stay

,
.
,

the re over night .

“
Th e next dinner he ate at Bernburg where ,

he cal l ed on several families Then an op .

,

p o r t un i t y offering itself he trave l ed to ,

Magde b urg and fina l ly reached Kl ein Otters

,
-

le b en where he to l d me his friend Glau b itz

, , ,

e ve ry notewo rthy ev ent of h is journey Such .

journeys were undertaken in e ve ry di rection .

“
I f he had nothing worth while to tell I ,

wou l d l aughingly say :

“
S en d Pe t er t hrou h th e
g world a wa n der i n g
-

Wha t goo d it does ? He

’
ca n t r eca l l a th n i g! ’

Then I wa s the traveler when I told h i ,

m
a great many inte resting things from the town s
which we had b o th V isited together Thus .

we v a ried the game in eve ry imagina b le way .

“
N ow and then we b oth sa t down at the
ta b le I took the slate and he was allowed to
.
,
‘
te l l me what he wanted me to d raw on i t A
ma n I’‘would b e the first
.

th ing he would call

fo r W hat next ?
.
‘
A house ’
Then a cat ,

a tree a dog a child and a ta b le

, , W hen c v
,
.

e ryt h i n g wa s put on the s l at e a ccordin g to h i s

 Toys a n d F i r s t S t e ps i n E d uc a t i o n 1 75

wish he wanted to know what th e man s

,
’
,

chi l d s and dog s names were and what they

’
,
’
,

were doing there I would then compose a .

story l ike this :

‘ ’
The man s name my child i s P eter , ,

S chultz and he has just had this house bu i lt

,

fo r himself He used to b e v e ry poo r but he

.
,

worked industriously and was saving In th is .

way he earned so much money that he wa s

ab l e to have the house bui l t Th e n he mar . .

ried a good industrious gi rl and after a while

, ,

a chi l d was born to his wi fe and h is name is ,

August H is mother i s just now in the kitch

.

en getting the dinne r ready Do you see the

, .

chimney smoking ? Just a whi l e ago she

ca ll ed her husband asking him since he wa s , ,

done wi t h his work to fetch August who wa s , ,

p l aying unde r a tree fo r dinner wa s ready ,

.

He might a l so bring in the dog and the cat ,

to get thei r dinner too The good father did .

so and a s the weather was fine he to l d mother

, , ,

she might serve dinner in the garden and so ,

he brought the tab l e out As a ru l e he wou l d .

’
,

repeat t h e sto ry to his father at tab l e exp ress

i n g as he had al ready done to me h is m
,

,
is ,

givings about this o r th at especia ll y about the ,

mora l and sp i ritual conduct of t h e peop l e of

1 76 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
the tale more pa rticularly the chi l dren we
, ,

contradicting o r agreeing wi th him .

I t will b e noticed that even poor people

can use this method with all kinds of changes
and imp ro vements in o rde r to gi ve thei r
,

chi l d ren a good time and instruct them .

One of the most p rofitable toys is a b ox of

b uilding b locks Under intelligent guidance
.

such b locks keep chi l d ren busy and amus e

them fo r many years and they a re a bl e to ,

l earn a great dea l by them There are di ffer .

ent kinds some with which to imitate wood

,

en buildings othe rs stone b uildings I f those

,
.

intended fo r wooden bui l dings b arns sta b les , , ,

etc were so arranged that th e y cou l d b e se t

.
,

up in many di fferent ways t hey would b e v ery ,

useful especial l y in the country where one

, ,

sees almost exclusi vely wooden structures for ,

the chi l d would be ab l e more easily to imitate

them But as a ru l e on l y one singl e house
.
, ,

can b e constructed wi t h them and the parts ,

have been too carefu ll y indicated so that a ,

p roperly guided boy who had b een educated ,

to th ink for himse l f to seek and imp rove soon

, ,

gets ti red of them S ti l l they are usefu l in

.
,

that they g ive the b oy an o bjective idea of a

wooden structu re and its component parts .
1 7 8 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
bridge with app roaches Nor wa s there any .

l ack of stones fo r a breastwork .

W ith these Ka r l bui l t eve rything at fi rst ,

wi t h my aid o r the a i d of h is mother then by

hi m
,

se l f : l arge and sma ll houses pa l aces ( par ,

t icu l a r l y such as he had seen ) outhouses , ,

barns stab l es bridges churches towers

, , , , ,

fences arbors etc E v e ry bui l ding wa s p ro

, ,
.

vi d e d with men catt l e or utensi l s ; the barns

, ,

wi t h corn or straw the l ofts with hay the , ,

woodhouse with wood t h e ce ll ar and the l ard ,

e rs with other things .

H ay and straw cou l d b e found in p l en t y ;

the garden fu rnished p ro v isions his mother
gave the mto him o r he himse l f took sand
,

, ,

earth pebb l es and so for t h Men and anima l s

, ,
.

were cut out of tu rnips etc and p rov ided ,

.
,

with wooden l egs Th e utensi l s were gener .

a ll y made of paper .

Ka r l wa s then master of the house He .

had a wi fe chi l d ren and serv ants ; a l so horses

, , ,

cows sheep pigs chickens geese ducks and

, , , , , ,

so forth which he attended to himse l f He

,
.

watched everything wi t h great care and kept .

in mind what wa s wanting .

One may easi l y understand what a wide I

may sa y what an im m
,

easurab l e and yet highly

 Toys a nd F ir s t S t e ps i n E d uc a t i o n 1 79

fru i tful fie l d is thus opened for p arents and

,

chi l dren A p roperly b rought up chi l d wi ll

.
-

pass hours each day bui l ding for he wil l b e

th inking a l l the ti m
,

e t rying to discover some

,

thing n ew and instructi ng h i mse l f in a v ariety

,

of ways .

Thus Karl once d iscov ered t h e art of b uild

ing wi t h i nterstices gaining thereby doub l e
,

and treb l e the use for his stones H is joy at .

t his wa s v ery great and his b uilding opera

,

tions i ncreased i mmensely Natura ll y we .

gave app rop riate app rova l to h is invention .

However fe w th e toys were which Karl

had and however long the winter is in the
,

country Kar l never b ecame weary nor wa s

, ,

he ever t i red of his toys On the contra ry he

was always merry and happy with the m
,
.

Most chi l d ren get such a mass of toys t o

p l ay with t hat they al l become a matter of i n
,

di fference to them F ina ll y they do not p ay

.

the p rope r attention to anything for t hey are ,

satiated keep demanding something n ew

, ,

something more e x pensive on l y in order to ,

have the things b ecause they have seen othe r

chi l d ren w i th them Th e p roper use for
.

these things thei r he l pfu l ness and the pleas

,

u re they should a fford does not concern t hem .

1 80 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o K a r l Wi t t e

They rather b ecome i ndi fferent toward what

they have and greedy for what they do not
own and that is most injurious for thei r fu
ture l i v es Thei r C h ristm
,

. as p resents must
end b y becoming v ery e x pensi v e and remain ,

unused whereas a few t ri fl e s b ut such which

, ,

cou l d b e put to v arious uses gave Karl an i n

c redib l e a m
,

ount of p l easure .

As soon as the weather permitted he l ived ,

in the open unde r th e ci rcumstances descri b ed

,

above In the winter espec i a lly during a

.
,

c l ear frost he p l ayed outs ide wa l king run

, , ,

ning l eaping wi t h a ll kinds o f acrobatic va

, ,

r i a t i o n s riding on a stick pu ll ing his cart o r

, ,

s l eigh as the case might b e

,
.

If the weathe r wa s more p l easant and the

soi l wa s no l onger damp the garden wa s his ,

domici l e He passed h ours in weeding hunt

.
,

ing for asparagus comparing l eaves and b l os ,

soms with one another ; in finding out whether

the p l ants and flowers were coming out and
b l ossoming in order to l et us know about it ;
,

i n observing the number l ess insects the c reep ,

i ng running hopp ing flying ones and to te ll

, , , ,

us a b out them l ater He had no conception .

of fear of them E ven whi l e he wa s an i n .

fant i n our arms we pointed t hem out to him ,

1 82 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wii t e

that h e could not see a th i n g b ecoming green

and blossom ing wi t hout at th e same ti m e
t hinkin g o f God the creator fa t her p reserver , , ,

and p rov ider of a ll b ein gs .

W e therefore at times purposely v aried the

, ,
“
sentences It is growing blossoming bearing
, , ,
” “
fruit with the more correct ones God
, ,

makes it g row b l ossom b ear fru i t W e par

,
”
,
.

t ic ul a rly exp ressed o ursel ves th us in regard

to the weather whe t her i t wa s good o r bad
,

for t h e crop s .

I f Karl was in t h e garden o r anywhere i n ,

t h e open he felt himself to be i n the earthly

, ,

V isib l e kingdom of God where th e all power -

w i sdom and goodness of th e E t e m

, ,

,
a l One wa s

ru l ing and dai l y working n ew m i rac l es most ,

b e n e fic e n t for man and beast How could he .

have been able to think speak or do anyt hing ,

wrong here in the p resence under the eyes

, ,

of h is Heavenly F ather !
“
A child t hat has not yet b een mis gui ded ,
“
I mainta i n w i th fu l l confidence wi l l under , ,

the a b ov e ment ioned ci rcumstances a l ways be

-

and want to b e G od fe a r in g and God loving ,

consequently o b edient respectful and am i a , ,

”
b le g rateful i ndustrious and so forth
, , ,
.
 C H A PTER XIV
M U ST C H I LDRE N P LAY M UCH W ITH OT H ER
C H I LDRE N ?
SI N CE I wa s repeatedly informed that Karl
Shou l d have a playmate fo r otherwise he ,

wou l d not enjoy h is child h ood and would

get ti red i l l humored or even stubborn I
,
-
, ,

fina ll y gave in and with the aid of my wi fe

, ,

chose one after the other two somewhat

, ,

grown gi rls who at that time were apparently

t h e b est b ehav ed chi l d ren in the who l e com
-

munity They sang danced and played with

h imand he natura l ly wa s happy
, ,
.

.
,

But the same chi l d that heretofore had n ev

e r b een stu b born and had never to l d an u n

truth n ow learned both He also b ecame

,
.

accustomed to coarse e x p ressions and grew

arb itra ry and do m
,

ineering because these ,

gi r l s wh o came to us on account of some small

advantage to the mdid not oppose him
,

.
,

Ou r assurances th at we should be happy

i f t hey did not gi v e in to h is will b ut let u s ,

183
1 84 Th e E d uca t i o n o f K a r l W it t e

know of his arbitrariness did no good Thei r ,

.

years t hei r soci al standing thei r education

, , ,

and the p rejudices which are inseparable

from it made the mdeaf against it and we ,

had to b anish them .

I t i s indeed a foo l ish and h ighly injuriou s

i dea that chi l dren cannot be mer ry wi thout
o t her child ren .

It is on l y natu ral for them to wi sh to be

w i th chi l dren fo r with them they need not
,

b e so careful a b out t hei r thoughts inclina ,

tions ta l ks and actions and they a re not

, , ,

guarded and superv ised so constantly But .

one need on l y b e a chi l d with them need on l y ,

take part in merry jests let the chi l dren n ow ,

and then get the upper hand and b e more

c l e ve r b y al l owing t he mto occupy a place of
‘

greater dignity and so fo rth and they wi l l , ,

feel just as happy p l aying with o l de r persons ,

wil l learn to avoid naughty things and will ,

n o t so easi l y take a ny harm .

W orst of a l l i t is to make p l aymates out

of uneducated child ren especial l y without ,

any c l ose observat ion I have constantly .

found the troub l es which I mentioned in re ,

gard to Kar l repeated in other fami l ies a s

,

we ll and even worse trou b les The vi rtues

, .
1 86 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o K a r l Wi t t e

did not make the instruction g iven by each of

t he m in h is special ty so desi ra b le .

One ought to take but a v e ry few child ren ,

s a y two or three under one s charge when

’
, ,

t h e superv ision cou l d b e made successfu l If .

one for financia l reasons wishes to take fif

, ,

teen to twen t y one shou l d keep enough teach

,

e rs to have b ut two or t h ree under t h e charg e

of one .

I f none of these p recautions hav e b een ta k

en th e faults which have b een b rought to
,

gether from a ll the corners of the wor l d must

soon b ecome the common possession to out ,

g ro w and c rush the few v i rtues which are

p resent .

It is ran k stup idity to imagi ne that chi l

dren cannot be agreeab l e and sociab l e unless
they a l l the time go around with other chil
d ren I have repeated l y found the ve ry o ppo
.

site to b e the truth .

Ka r l and every chi l d that was treated in

the same way were b y that very treatment
,

made more yie l ding and it wa s therefore no, , ,

hardship for them to have to yie l d Other .

chi l d ren tease what they want out of thei r

p l aymates in v arious ways and so b ecome ,

accustomed to self assertion F rom this t here

-
.
 P la y i n g wi t h Ot h e r C h i l d r e n

grow shrewdness simu l ation untruth quar l

, , ,
-

re l ing stubbo rnness hatred en vy h a ug h t i

, , , ,
v

ness aspersion fighting ca l umniation etc A

, , , ,
.

chi l d remains quite free from a l l these so ,

long a s he plays on l y with his parents o r with

other sensib l e persons .

N atu ra ll y the opportun i ty for coming to

ge t her with chi l d ren is not e x c l uded but thei r ,

commingl ing shou l d occu r on l y n ow and then ,

and under supervision Such an occasional .

meeting when a l l the rese rve h a s not been

,

th rown off can do no harm Karl has had

,
.

many a chance fo r meeting chi l d ren under

such ci rcumstances during his l onger o r short
e r journeys .

He got a l ong so we l l with them that they

inv ariab l y became ve ry fond o f him and near
l y a l ways pa rted from him with tears in thei r
eyes Having become accustomed to calm
.
,

merriment o rder and sensib l e reason i ng

, , ,

e ven i n his games he observ ed these v i rtues

,

also when with other chi l dren There wa s .

for him no ready cause fo r quarre l ing On .

the contra ry he frequentl y avoided it by c l ear

,

ing away misunderstandings o r put an end to ,

it by p rayers sensib l e arguments and so forth

, ,
.

S ince he nev er quarreled at home wi t h any

1 88 Th e E d uca t i on o f K a r l Witt e
one such act ion appeared to him repuls iv e
,

and unseemly He felt that qua rreling put

.

an end to playing nor was h is b l ood roused

,

b y daily recurring quarrels He consequent .

l y did not so easi l y become e x cited nor did ,

h is bl ood boi l a s easily a s that o f children

c onstant l y quarreling and fighting wi t h one

another He knew nothing of that anger

.

’
which so frequent l y puts an end to chi l d ren s
p l ayi ng He remained calm whi l e others
.
,

grew e x cited Not even the naughtiest of boys

cou l d ever have b rought him so far as to m
.

ake
him swea r or fight .

Nea r l y al l the chi l d ren b oys and gi r l s wh o

, ,

kn ew him more intimate l y became fond of

him There was but one opinion a b out him
.
,

t hat he wa s ve ry amiab l e and cou l d get along

we ll with others I do not know a singl e case
.
,

not even in his mature r years of his having ,

quarre l ed with one of his many youthfu l

friends or of having fa ll en out with them
, ,

a l though many an occasion o ffered itself for it

during his investigation and even l ive l y dis
,

cu ss io n of l earned subjects
,
I may say there
.

shou l d have been such occas i ons because h is ,

opponents were usua ll y considerably older

t han he .
 C H A PTER XV
KAR L S D IET
’

M Y w i fe scarcely changed her usual manner

of life during her p regnancy Sh e at best .

avoided the heavy v egeta bl es o r a re a l ittl e

less of the mthan usual Sh e p roceeded in the
,

same manner al l the time She nu rsed Karl .

P eo p l e knew that we wou l d take no wet

nurse and th at Kar l wa s go ing to have no other
food th an h is mother s mi l k i f She should
’
,

have enough nourishment for him So they .

e x p ressed thei r an x iety for us and for Karl .

F o r they said the mother i s not big and

, ,

strong ; how then c a n sh e gi ve sufficient

, ,

to the child ?
Then there b egan to pou r in ad v ic e wh ich ,

i f I had b een unreasona b le or weak enough to

follow it would have made my w i fe ill and
,

would hav e ki l led my son o r would hav e made

,

a weakling of him .

Imagine a person who a s all the ad visers ,

well knew had never eaten anything but the

,

190
 Ka r l s D i e t
’

ordinary a rticles of food used in ou r station

of l ife ; who never drank anyth ing but pure
water although sh e frequently could have had
,

all costly b e verages for no thing ; whose b rea k

fast cons isted of b read and b utter and a glas s
of water wh ile wa l king with me through the
,

garden ; who neve r d rank tea o r co ffee in the

afternoon and in the evening ate something
,

—
very s imple and mind you had b een
,
—
b rought up in this manner of l ife felt p a rt ic u ,

l a r l y well and happy with it ; imagine a per

“
so n l ike t h is all of a sudden exho rted in the
morning to take in b ed two cups of ve ry strong
co ffee with excellent c ream and to eat a p ret ,
’
zel o r somethin g l i ke i t ; at ten o clock to d rin k
one large cup o r t wo small cups o f strong
chocolate and eat w i th i t a roll toasted in b ut
”
ter.

I f she had any appeti te b efore d inner or if ,

“
it wa s still long to dinner she wa s to ha ve a
,
”
cup or two of good meat bro th A t dinner .

“
sh e should ha v e nothing b ut strengthening

meat soup fine v egetab l es roast of ch i cken

, , ,

duck o r v en ison with something nouri shing

, ,

or refresh i ng a few gl asses of old F rench

,

wine o r v e ry good red wine whose quali t y ,

”
shou l d b e carefully tested wh i le during t h e
,
1 92 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Witt e
whole day sh e should have ve ry strong b eer ,

b est of all M o rseb urg b eer with sugar ”

.

“
A fter d i nner again a few cups of particular
l y good co ffee with cream ; between five and
Six o cloc k a fe w cups of tea with p retze l s or
’
,

good meat b roth ; and i n the evening meat

soup with some roast W ith t his a glass of
.

wine and after it the b eer a s descr ibed Sh e

, , .

“
must a b stain from a l l housework must not ,

run around so much b ut may wal k a b out t he

,
”
g arden n ow and then .

I f my wife had by some kind of a mi racle

, ,

surv ived such a manner of l i fe and remained

i n good hea l th Karl would have b ecome a
,

roly poly keeping h is mother awake at nights

-
,

w i th h is rest l essness su ffering from teething

, ,

and go ing th rough all kinds of chi l dren s d is ’

eases w i th thei r frequently i njurious c on se

q ue n c e s
. But,
wi t h God s aid nothing of t
’
h e ,

kind wa s to happen i f my attending of medi

,

cal l ectu res and later ca reful obse rv ation a n d

experience were to count for anyt h i ng .

However much my inexperienced w i fe may

have felt inc l i ned to follow the manner of life
which had b een recommended to her I must ,

do her the justice of stating t h at relying upon ,

me sh e rejected it in th e whole and in i ts

,
1 94 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e

it and how surely our child would have been

,

sacrificed i f we had paid attention to the

,

ad v ice urged on us i s p rov ed by t h e fol

,

lowing
At a ch ristening at K where my wi fe .
,

was as happy as usual and had a good a p

petite sh e found a meat dish which sh e liked
,

in particular and so ate i n the evening of

i t more t han wa s goo d fo r he r S h e wa s .

perfectl y well the ne x t day b ut her mi l k ,

did not p reserve the customa ry mildness to

which Karl had b ecome accustomed So he .

got a little heat and a slight fever I nstead of .

any med i cine for him h is mother partook th at

,

day of considerably less meat ate light food , ,

’
and too k a longer wa l k under God s free
heaven This cured Karl and t h e n ext day
.
,

he was a s well a s a fish in the water .

H ad we not obse rved h is illne ss and cor

rec t ly judged i t s cause and had we i n c on se
, ,

q ue n c e tried to
,
cure it by means of medicine ,

that is by some k ind of poison whi l e my wife

, ,

continued to feed on heavy meats what then ? ,

But our adv isers did not cons i de r such

th i ngs o r rath er did not want to cons i der
, , ,

them but were sure as so many men are that

, , ,

thei r a d v ice wa s unfailing and t hat we sho uld ,

 Ka r l s D i e t
’

have to follow it if we had any respect fo r

,

them I n t hei r shortsightedness t hese people

.

” “
confused th e concepts advice and com
”
mand with one another I have Often oh .

served and painfu l ly fel t such confusion in

p rofessional s cholars .

I have never understood the a rt of saying

” “
Ye s ! a n d doing No So I tried at first
to persuade my advisers that i t would be bet
ter t o follow a d i fferent course from that
which they ad vocated But I failed com .

p l e t e l y in convincing them Immediately a s .

,

usua l ca l umnies began to scatter from Dies

,

kau over H al l e in a ll di rections where I wa s

, ,

known accusing me of b eing qua rrelsome

, ,

haughty vain stingy mean to my wi fe and

, , , ,

asserting that I p retended to know everyt hing

b etter than anybody else Open l y indeed .
, ,

my detractors voiced thei r b elief that my wife

would grow weak and that my son wou l d thus
die But when neither happened when all
.
,

secret and public inqui ries p ro ved to my a n

t a gon i s t s to thei r regret t hat I was right
, , ,

they became even more p rovoked against me ,

and now condemned me in general where b e ,

fore they had condemned me in r elation to

pa r ticula r t hings .
1 96 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Witt e
F rom that time dates the statement wh i ch ,

fo r many years has b een made in re gard to me

at Halle t hat I wa s a favori te of F ate fo r t h e
, ,

critics would not admit t hat the success of t his

or that plan wa s the result of r i pe experi ence ,

much thought and i ron pers istency

, .

Karl wa s nursed for n ine months getting ,

no other food du ring th at ti me Only once .

did I from human weakness su b m i t to the gen

eral assurance that the mother would b e too
much a ffected by it W e tried carefully to
.

feed Karl add i tionally but mo t her and child

,

at once b eg an to su ffer from i t and we re ,

tu rned to ou r b etter ways .

W hen he wa s to be weaned we gave ,

him n ow and then a little soup of powdered

toast wi th water and a l i ttle b utter By de .

g rees we repeated t h e e x peri ment more fre

quently wh i le my wi fe kept more and more
,

away from t h e child After a few days he

.

forgot a bout the nursing and h is mother lost

,

t h e milk without knowing h ow

,
.

N ow the a b ove mentioned soup b egan more

-

frequently to alternate with oatmeal gruel

and occas ionally my wife b o iled the oatm
,

eal
with fresh milk A l ittle later he now and
.

then go t a l i ttle meat soup wh i ch we thinned,

1 98 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wi t t e
the i r love Once he might have b een greatly
.

harmed in this way for M rs P G at R had

, . . . .

fed him wi t h blood sausage while he wa s ,

sti l l b eing nursed W e found th at out next

.

day from the se rvant who had taken him there ,

when Ka rl had become ill .

Beginning with his t h i rd year his food wa s

p recise l y the same as ours After h is simple
.

breakfast and constant motion in the open ,

b e generally had an exce ll ent appetite for h i s

dinner He was taught to eat e ve rything
. .

W e here united l ove with earnestness and rea

son as in his who l e educational scheme Our
,
.

dishes were cooked fresh eve ry day and they ,

were we ll p repared If there was one which

.

he did not particu l ar l y like we made th is ,

concession that we did not force him to eat

much of it At the same time we di rected h is
.

attention by representations o r a sto ry invent

,

ed for the occasion to the fact that b y his dis

,

like he dep rived himse l f o f a great enjoyment ,

Since the particula r food was ve ry much liked

b y us and by a l l o t her men W e rejoice .

” “
every time i t comes we wou l d say and you
, ,

fee l grieved ! Get used to eating it and you ,

”
wi ll not be grieved but will rejoice with us l
,

S ince we his parents ate anything we cou l d

, , ,
 Ka r l s D i e t
’

so much t h e more easily get him to do l ike

wise by di recting his attention to our e x amp l e
,
.

In fact in a ve ry short time he ate eve ryt hing

,
.

At fou r o c l ock he got h is b read and b ut

’

ter and drank a sma l l pot of water

,
.

F requent l y he would do without the butter ,

because our stories had taught him the use

fu l ness of reducing one s wants In the eve ’
.

ning he recei ved his soup as a ru l e before ,

our supper so that he could go to bed in

,

good season .

We cannot recall a case when he had an

attack of indigestion whi l e living at home .

E ven when away from home that happened ,

b ut rare l y and was not of much importance .

His hosts wou l d stuff him from so cal l ed ,

-

love But as soon as he had come to h is

.

senses he refused to accept such mani festa

,

tions of l o ve and even when the most a t t r a c

, ,

tive dainties were offered him wou l d say to , ,

“
thei r astonishment and even a nger I t hank ,
”
you I have had enough !
,

I aver most so l emn l y that t h e sil l y love fo r

Ka rl went so far that peo p l e of that t ype b ore
me a rea l grudge because they cou l d not see
, ,

and therefore cou l d not admit t hat Karl s ,

’

refusa l s came from h is soul .

200 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
“
It is against natu re they would s a y for
, ,

a child not t o like dainties You must have .

forbidden him with great severity to eat them ,

o r you must have signaled to him and the

poor b oy obeys you implicit l y !
S uch forsooth were the wo rds t hat were
, ,

uttered in my p resence and that of Karl It .

was a settled t hing wi t h them that I was a b ar

b arian .

The dear people natu ra l ly spoke of nature

as viewed from their standpoint and did not ,

even suspect that it is the business of the edu

.

cator to ennob l e the lower sensuous natu re , ,

that it is his duty to elicit what is highest in

man b y means of reason and habit to strength ,

en i t and to make it occupy a commanding

,

position S ti ll less did they know that it was

.

an easy matter to accomp l ish and that in a ,

chil d p roper l y brought up from the start the

resu l t came of i ts own accord .

H aving been in a hund red di fferent ways

instructed in the matter Karl considered ,

health and good spi rits to be two invaluable

possessions W e se l dom o r never a ll owed an
.

Opportuni t y to pass without l auding them and

“
regretting thei r absence He who eats too
.

” “
much we would often s a y later loses h is
, ,
20 2 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wi t t a

future and on such occasions th ink of our in

,

junction ! O r do you b elieve that they kn ow

b etter t han we ? Do you imagine they love
you mo re than we do ? Dear boy how cou l d ,

that be possib l e ? We you r parents who give , ,

you eve ry day so many p roofs of ou r love and

care ! No my chi l d you cannot imagine that !
, ,

The food which you ate e l sewhere does not

—
cost us anything then why do we so earnest
,

l y wish you had not eaten it ? Because i t hurts

”
you !
Deep l y touched he would embrace us and
,

give the most so l emn p romise that he would

in the future watch himse l f mo re c l ose l y .

As a ru l e we to l d him afterward a story o r

two invented for the occasion and these never ,

failed in th eir pu rpose W e a l so drew e x am .

ples from life for which a l as on l y too m a ny

, , ,

cases offered themsel v es Among the peasant .

chi l dren overeating is unfortunate l y a com

'

mon occu rrence for these peopl e c l ing to

,

sensua l ity because the higher enjoyments a re

,

unkn own and unattainab l e by them W e p re .

fe r a b l y d rew his attention to simi l ar incidents

in more cultured fami l ies especia l ly if they ,

referred to some young f r iend or acquaint

ance .
 Ka r l s D i e t
’

The son of a pastor not far away wa s

named F The chi l d wa s one year old when
.

I entered the house of his parents for t h e first

t ime He was such a p retty boy t hat on my
.

“
way home to Lochau I said to my wife That ,
”
child cou l d be trained very high l y !
“
But t h e boy was soon named go l d son ,
“ ” “
father s treasure
’
mother s treasure and
,
’
,

so forth ( he certainly was the last two but

, , ,

not the first ) and before long I came to t h e

,

conviction that the child could not b e trained

so high l y after all The child wa s so stu ffed
.

that he became big and fat H i s mother fre .

quently showed him to us with a certain p ride ,

because he was such a butterba ll I felt rea l ly .

an x ious about him and so I cou l d not keep

,

from explaining to her the dangers which

awaited such a we l l fed b a by -
.

But she smi l ed wi th a knowing mien and ,

t h e father with self satisfaction pointed to -

his remaining n Ine chi l d ren who i t is true , , ,

“
had grown . As I cou l d not discuss this
particular po int I kept silent
,
.

W hat I feared actua ll y happened The .

chi l d su ffered from time t o time from his ex

c e ss i ve feeding grew dai l y more homely suf
, ,

fe re d excruciatin g too thaches got al l kinds ,

20 4 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wi t t a
of chi l d ren s diseases and wa s often nea r
’
,

dea t h But as h is parents were very hea l thy

.
,

he too had much vitali t y ; so he went on suf

, ,

fe t ing and su rvi ved

,
.

W hen t h e boy was eight or nine years old ,

I cou l d never look at him without sorrow ,

h e wa s smal l bloated repe l lent in shape with

, , ,

an uncommon l y large head t h e face pitted ,

from sma ll po x his features i rregul a r h is eyes

, ,

dimmed h is e x p ression dull

,
.

It is to be l amented that men so frequently

tread humanity under foot The litt l e crea .

—
ture had no time for reasoning he wa s all ,

the time busy with his digestion His mental .

ity was therefore in a most pitiable condition .

But he did not know it In the vi ll age school .

,

which he attended o ff and on he was far b e ,

hind the peasant chi l dren but these respected ,

him as the pasto r s chi l d and so he felt h is dis

’
,

tance from them in an in verse sense .

I was so fu ll y convinced th at he gorged

himse l f at every holiday that once soon afte r , ,

C hristmas I asked h is elder b ro t her whom

, ,

we met on a wa l k :
“
How i s eve ryb ody at home ? Al l are
”
well ?
“
Thank you yes ! ,
20 6 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wiffe

hi m a l i ttle warning whenever we went out ,

cal l ing and even this co uld after a while b e

,

dispensed with
W hat cou l d I have done wi th h imi f he had
.

not been brought up in t hat manner ? E ven in

his fourth fif t h and si x th yea r he used to s i t
, ,

in Magdeburg Leipsic Dresden Berlin and

, , , ,

R ostock but especi al l y in sma ll citie s and vi l

,

l ages at well fil l e d tables and frequently a

,
-
,

great distance away from me some person o r ,

o t her having asked for h is company at tabl e .

W hen in h is se ven t h eighth and ninth yea r

, , , ,

he b ecame well known he would have per ,

i sh e d for we were t hen i nvited to the ta b le s

,

of the rich On such occasions Karl was se p

.

a r a t e d far from me in o rder to b e under oh ,

serv ation and they con fessed to me more th a n

once that they had in vain tried to tempt h im
,

At first this caused me anxiety b ut later on ,

I only smiled and r emained ca l m b ecause ,

from his fifth year he had b een eating at hom e

without restraint according to h is i nc l in a t ion,
,

a n d yet had nev er o v ereaten

In regard to sugar and all sweetm

.

e a ts we ,

had taught him f rom the start to eat b ut l i ttl e

o r nothing at all of them Suga r and sweet .

meats gi ve the child ren a sweet tooth a n d ,

 Ka r l s D i e t
’

th en they become indi fferent toward s imple

dishes This is bad enough but they soon
.
,

hanker fo r the sugared dainties which they ,

b uy for themsel ves That is wo rse I f they

. .

cannot b uy any more they become d issa t is

,

fie d with thei r parents and thei r ci rcum

stances and perhaps stea l the sweetmeats o r
,

the money for t hem W hic h decidedly is

.

worst of all .

Besides I b el i eve that the frequent use of

,

swee tmeats coats the stomach and since th e ,

sweetmeats are genera ll y also rich ruins i t ,

.

This creates o r rather breeds w o rms p rod o

, , ,

cing untold annoyance even horrible cramps ,

.

No r can the sugar taken in great quanti t y and

b itten into as children always do help bein g
, ,

injur ious to the young teeth since i t contains ,

a strong salt which di rectl y inju res the enam

,

e l and the tooth itself with its ne rves

,
E ven .

i f th is were not the case the exhalations of ,

t h e stomach coated and ruined by the sweet

,

meats a re enough to Spoil the child s teeth

,
’
.

I have always found it so and I have observed ,

the benefic i al consequences o f a contra ry treat

ment .

I wi l l als o mention that sweetmeats a re

genera l ly gi ven to children when thei r hunger
20 8 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
has a l ready been satisfied and that co use
,

quent l y this a l one must be injur i ous causin g

a spoi l ed stomach because sweetmeats s t im
,

, u
late one to eat more than one otherwise wou l d .

In any case I have found the popu l ar p rej u

“
d i ce justified . Sweetmeats give the chi l d ren
“
b l ack teeth and S ugar makes the teeth fall
,
”
out .

S o Kar l wa s never a ll owed to fa ll into t h e

hab i t of eating either much sugar o r many
sweetmeats .Others p ressed them on him but ,

i n va i n .

In a H a ll e fami l y i t wa s the custom to give

t h e chi l d ren o ff and on a cone of candy I .

begged them not to give one to Kar l but it ,

did no good I e l abo rated my reasons but

.
,

they were l aughed away I wa s thinking of

.

ceasing to v isit this house o r at least l ettin g

, ,

Karl appear there l ess frequent l y but this ,

p roved unnecessary Kar l understood us so

.

we l l that he divided the cone among us and

other persons p resent and with the sugar of
, ,

which they a l so gave him large pieces b e fed ,

a dog who was v ery fond o f it

,
Th e surp r i s
.

i ng thing was that he never gav e the sugar to

a human being as though he considered i t
,

unworthy of a man to eat sugar .

210 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
c rease he ight was not i cea b le every time I f
in .

i t wa s greater than usua l we gave him a littl e

,

more meat .

I t needs no p roof that much meat i s i nj u

r io u s to the stomach and the intestines of chi l

d ren I t p ut re fie s with the least disorder to

.

which they are subjected and ruins the pu ri t y

,

of the juices from which v arious troubles nat

,

ura l l y resu l t .

E ven i f the child ren digest i t a l l and de

ve l o p no v isib l e bodi l y ai l ment i t sti l l injures ,

th em for they become v iolent arbitrary stu b

, , ,

b orn c ruel an d so forth

, , .

This lies in the natu re of th ings and is ,

Shown by the wi l dness of the pure l y meat

eating animals and the greater mi l dness of th e
pure l y plant eating animals I have found
-
.

the same to be the case with men as wel l and ,

a ll the information we have of distant peop l es

agrees wi t h my personal obse rv ation W e .

had a convinc i ng example in the case of Karl

, ,

that an ent i re l y vegeta bl e diet made a chi l d

a l most too meek and yielding I consider i t .

my duty to report the case especia ll y as the,

contra ry deduction in t h e opposite case may

th us be safe l y made .

By means of careful treatment and diet

 Ka r l s D ie t
’

Karl , i n h is th i rd year , as ever afterward ,

wa s nei ther too v io l ent , nor too meek At tha t .

t ime I decided for suffi cient reasons to make

, ,

a V i sit to H amburg with my wife Our grea t .

question wa s not what would in the meanwhil e

b ecome of ou r p roper ty b ut what we sho uld ,

do with Karl .

M any perso ns e x p ressed the wish to take

Karl to thei r house while we were away B ut .

we were afraid here of the sugar there of t h e

, ,

meat o r of too great ind ul gence and so wa

, ,

vered fo r a l ong time At l ast we decided to .

i ntrust him to ou r now deceased friend a nd

re l ative Merchant J H Heintz in Leipsi c
,
. . .

He had p roved that he knew h ow to b ring up

chi l d ren for his th ree sons and two d a ugh
,

ters a l l grown did him the greatest honor

, ,
.

Besides he wa s the one perso n who mos t

,

c l osely agreed with my method of education .

In h is house where we visited frequently

, ,

Karl wa s never tempted to a ny of the a bo ve

ment ioned indu l gences .

He i ntz wa s perfect l y wi l l ing to ta ke Karl

i nto h is house b ut demanded deta i l ed written
,

i nstructions as to h ow he and his family shoul d

treat the chi l d I gav e them to him but per
.
, ,

haps dwelt too much on the po i nt that Karl

,
21 2 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Witt e
Should get b ut litt l e meat o r else he and h is
family from noble conscientiousness took m
,

,
e ,

too closely at my word Anyway Karl i n thos e

.
,

ei ght weeks that he wa s with them out of ,

am i a b le p recauti on di d not get enou gh mea t .

When we called for him we were mov ed a l ,

most to tears b y h is e x cess ive meekn ess Th e .

formerly lively kindly yet drol l rogu ish nay

, , , ,

a t times e v en wanton b oy had comp l etely d is

a ppeared .Before us stood a soft y ieldin g , ,

gently smiling b eing who at first did not rec

,

ogn i z e u s and then doubtfully and weak l y re

,

Sp on d e d to ou r ardent em b races with a tea r

i n h is eye .

That very day whi l e still i n L eipsic I

, ,

g ave him a litt l e more meat than customa ry ,

and we went back to Lochau In two weeks .

he was tumb l ing about merrily in the house ,

i n the yard and in the g arden ; was a s much o f

,

a rogue a s b efore ; and ag ain knew h ow in jest, ,

t O te a se.
214 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit te
if they were sti ll unknown to him I f he .

seemed to ha v e forgotten those which he

knew we qu i zzed him to bring them back to

, ,

h is memo ry .

E ven i n h is first year we used to say loudly , ,

“
clearly and earnest l y N
, ,
Then perhaps , ,

wou l d ratt l e with two keys or Show him ,

“
someth ing n e w saying with emphasis Look
, , , ,

Kar l He genera l ly l ooked at what we held

b efore him l istened to our words and th us
, ,

fo rgot what he wanted .

I t is se l f understood that such a helpless

-

creatu re cou l d not be a ll owed to su ffer any

want in food and d rink in c l ean l iness and
,

order for otherwise he wou l d not have b een

,

satisfied with the ratt l ing of the keys fo r the

b odi l y want wou l d have re t u rned the m
,

ment the cu riosity wa s satisfied But I dare .

s a y that our child never s u ffered i n tha t

di rectio n .

After a short time we hardly needed to d o

anythin g mo re than turn h is attention to some
“ ”
other thing for he soon noticed that Yes !
,
“ ” “ ” “
with us meant Yes ! and No meant N 0 !
whether he afte rward cried o r laughed Thus .

he imperceptib l y became accustomed to obey

imp l icit l y and I can aver that we had noth
,
 Ka r l s M or a l E d uc a t i o n
’

i ng to des i re in th is respect until we took ,

some boys to ou r house to educate

m
.

Imp l ici t obed ience i s infinite l y more i

po rtant tha n one woul d usual l y think, fo r a
chi l d is again and again on the po i nt of doin g
s ometh i ng by which he may hurt h i mse l f .

To the o b edient child y ouneed only call out ,

“ ”
Do not do that my chi l d ! o r simply call
,

him by name and he will sto p at once will

, ,

s tand still will pay attention and so forth

Then you can impart to h imthe reasons fo r
,
.
,

the p roh i b i tion in order to safeguard the

,

chi l d in a future S imi l ar situation You may .

ca l l to a disobed ient chi l d a s loud l y a s you

wish Not being i n the hab i t of obeying he
.
,

wi l l go on doing what he wanted and then ,

i t i s too late fo r the damage h a s been done

,
.

One incident w i ll serve a s an example a n d

p roof of the freedom of acti on which Karl
enjoyed and in which he wa s p rotected
against ev eryb ody In the nature of th i n gs .

h i s mother wa s in the first t wo or th ree yea rs

of h is life dearer to him than I I wa s m uch
m
.

i n my study out on b usiness o r away fro

, ,

th e house . W hen I wa s in h is p resence I ,

earnestly nay severely ins i sted upon order

, , , ,

cleanli ness , o b ed ience etc and thus o b ta i ned

,
.
,
216 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Witt e
th ings wh i ch h is mother a s a fem inine b e i n g
, ,

either was not able to obtain or from mother l y ,

love or even care l essness had ov erlooked , .

The litt l e fe ll ow cou l d not grasp my atti

tude yet no r recognize the justice and pater
,

na l amiabi l ity in it a l l Hence he l oved h is

.

mother more than me I had long noticed .

it but I wa s satisfied for i t seemed natu ra l

, ,

to me Once we were sitting a ll th ree on a

.

sofa and Karl was p l aying most tenderly

,

with my wife But she in the goodness of

.
,

her heart kept pointing to my side and the

chi l d turned to fond l e me a l so but im me d i
, ,

ately went b ack to h i s mother Sh e shoved

m
.

hi once more over to my s i de whisperin g

to him to be mo re tender toward me I i m
,

me .

d i a t e ly add ressed her with much earnestness

“
F o r the L ord s sake l et him fond l e whom
’
,

soever he wishes for it is right so ! He n ow

,

loves you more than me and he must if I am , ,

not to rep rove him He cannot he l p mani

.

festing it un l ess he is a hypocrite But the .

time wi l l come When I wil l do mo re for him

,

than you Then he wi l l certainly hono r me

.
,
”
i f not l ove me more ,
.

My wife understood me S h e gave him hi s .

wil l and that time has actua l ly come

,
.
21 8 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
alone to ask me the W h y ? of it Then I
,
.

had a good oppo rtunity to show him the p ros

and cons of the case and to get him used to
,

better manners without narrowing his intel

,

lect or doing his heart any injury Above a ll .

I tried whenever possible to refer it to a

, ,

higher mora l ity and to true pie ty In such a .

case I wou l d ca l mly say

“
You r judgment was strictly correct but ,

though I must acknowledge this it was not ,

good or kind of you to utter it Youshou l d .

hard l y have spoken it in the p resence of you r

pa rents and never in the p resence of others
,
.

Did you obse rv e h ow embarrassed M r N . .

wa s ? He could not or wou l d not contradict

, , ,

perhaps from l ove and respect for us but he ,

was much hurt to have a child te l l him some

th ing unp l easant I f he is out of sorts to day
.
-

o r others make fun of him you are to be ,

”
b l amed for it !
Kar l was certainly mo v ed by this deeply ,

and was truly sorry fo r hav ing pained him .

But let us suppose Karl did not see h is mis

“
take and instead answered But he was
, , ,

friend l y with me al l the time I should then ,

have replied :
“
P erhaps from pity for you because my ,
 Ka r l s M o r a l E d uc a t i o n
'

‘ ’
wo rds He is a vil l age boy showed him the
, ,

rea l state of a ffai rs You have certainly not

.

gained respect l ove and gratitude for your

, ,

se l f by your embarrassing judgment You .

do not seem to have noticed th at the persons

p resent an x iously watched n ow you n ow me , , ,

n ow him and the conversation woul d have

,

halted if I had not tu rned i t to somethin g

,
”
e l se that attracted them vividly .

I again assume the tru l y unth in k a b le case

that Karl was sti l l not ashamed b ut would ,
“
have answered But i t was true ! I would
have co rrected h immo re earnest l y
,

“
Are you sure about that ? It may v e ry
we ll be that you are mistaken How if he .

‘
had answered A reason with which you are
,
’
not acquainted compe ll ed me to act th at way .

How then ? Or i f he had said to you Are ‘

,

you my judge ? You a litt l e unreasoning , ,

child ? E ven if i t wa s true uncond i tionally

’
,

true h is statement being wrong which I

,
— , ,

,
—
however still doubt ought you not have ,

kept si l ence from consideration for him ? D id

you not Obse rve th at we were al l s i lent ? Or
are you so simp l e a s to be l ieve th at youalone
noticed the mistake in h i s actions ?
“
Tell me my chi l d h ow would you like
, ,
2 20 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
it ,
if
he and a hund red others should take
, ,

y ou up fo r you r o v ersights weakn esses care , ,

lessness b l unders and so forth and Shou l d

, , ,

even lay them before the eyes of strangers ?

And that wo uld be a mere trifle for it wou l d ,

be a g rown man who wou l d rep ro v e a child ,

which wou l d be perfect l y p roper and un

questionab l y right Th e ch i l d wou l d not b e
.

harmed by such a rep roof fo r from an n u ,

reasoning being like you peop l e e x pect a l ot

of things which are not just right and they ,

pass over them lightly o r p ardon them alto ,

gether .

“
Or do you imagine that other people d o
not obse rve you r mistakes ? You are wron g
there ! Out of kindness toward you or per , ,

haps toward others as we l l they pass o ver

, ,

them in si l ence and do not embarrass you by

mentioning them to you But several of my .

friends who l ove you s i ncerely have often

, ,

told me o r your mother of incidents which

do you no honor They did not te ll about them
.

to any one e l se and they to l d them to us only

,

because they wished to imp rove and ennobl e

you .

“
This no b le kindness pleases you does i t ,

not ? Ve ry well then you must act i n the

,
2 22 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
of all that All you hav e to do is to keep
.

quiet I t would indeed be a sa d l i fe fo r

you for m
.
, ,

,
e and fo r a ll men if everybody
, ,

were to search out the faults or fo i b les of h is

acquaintances and ruth l essly tell of them b e
,

fore others That wou l d be an eternal wa r

.

of all against all fo r no man is without faults

,
.

No one would be at rest E verybody would .

have to b e constant l y on the watch in order ,

to strike or to p rotect himse l f W ould that .

be li v ing with each other as men as C hris ,

tians a s chi l d ren o f one father a s rep resenta

, ,
”
t ive s of the highest Good ?
But I do the poor boy an injust i ce It may .

be th at I hav e told him a l l that b ut I am , ,

su re never at one time for so much was not

, ,

necessa ry to cause him to perce ive reg ret and , ,

mend faults against mora l i ty or p iety I have .

,

however forgotten to mention that I wou l d

,

a l so have told him some app rop r i ate Story

m
,

which indeed the reader wil l surm i se , fro

p rev ious hints .
 C H A PTER ! VI I

How KARL L EARN ED TO READ AN D WRITE

ON E of Karl s favor i te amusements wa s t o
’

look at pictu res We natura ll y exp l ained t o

.

him ev erything wo rth knowing in a p icture ,

and afte rward we had him describe it to us ,

n ow a s his teachers n ow a s h is pupils ,

So .

long as he cou l d not read we used to sa y ,

regretfully
Oh i f you on l y knew h ow to read ! I t is
,

a most i nterest ing sto ry b ut I have no t im e ,

”
to te l l it to you .

I f we then went away he loo ked at the ,

sto ry in the p ictu re b ook a s at a tal isman -

whose secret powers were use l ess to h imb e ,

cause he lacked the magic word wi t h which

to un l oc k it At t imes he would c reate for
.

himse l f another sto ry from the picture which ,

he re l ated to us in o rde r that we might gi ve

him the rea l story Thus we roused in hi
1
. m
by degrees the des i re for read i ng .

‘
Th t ell i g f t i e w i d eed es e t i l p rt f
uffi i e tly ecom me d
e n o s or s as n an s n a a o
K l
ar
’
ly e du t i
s ea r d I ca t on , an ca n n o s c n r n
2 24 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wi t t e

Meanwh ile I bought Basedow s elementa ry ’

work with the exp l anato ry te x t then a num

, ,

ber of o the r app rop riate readers w i th etch

ings I must remark here that many of these
.

unfortunately were borrowed from Basedow ,

and often were inferior to those in his book .

Howev er s ince I myse l f had a fai r l y l arge

,

co ll ection of etchings from wh i ch I from ,

time to time se l ected what wa s app rop r i ate

for Karl s o b servation he generally had a suf
’
,

fic i e n t supply of pictures during the rough

season In goo d weather Nature or what
.
, ,

we saw on ou r journeys and in the evening ,

the Starred heav ens were h is p icture book ,

-
.

This turning from one to another from books ,

to l ife wa s of inca l cu l ab l e v alue to the ch i l d

,
.

W hen we got so far as to have Karl ex

—
p ress a desi re to l earn reading h e wa s then
it t o pa r ent s —pa rt i cul a r ly t h e i nven t i on a n d t ell i n g o f
o t h er
s t o r i e s t o i n cu lca t e s peci a lly n ee d e d l e s son s S uch s t or ies
pro pe r ly t o ld a re not r ea di ly forg o t t en by a ch i ld At t i m
.
,

es
i f Ka r l a ct e d l i k e s om e b a d bo y o f W h o mh e h a d h e a r d a
, .
,

s t o ry we o n ly n e e d e d b r i e fl y a n d e m ph a t i ca lly t o s a y Ma r “
, ,

a n d h e u d e r s t o o d p e r f e ct l y I wou ld a l s o
” “ ”
t in P et e r
men d t he lea rn i ng by h ea rt o f s hort poe ms wh ich
or n

r eco m
.
, ,

ld b e r e d i ly c o m pr e h en s ibl e On e m
,

h o weve a y b eg i n
,

s h ou r, a .

wi t h Ch i ld r en h ow g r e t a l l t h e P l ea s ur e s wi ll be o r wi t h
“ ”

Wh e I a mg oo d a n d by g r dua lly g i vi ng m
a
o r e d i fficu
, , ,
“ ”
lt
s on e m
n

po e m
a

a y in a s h o rt t i m e re a c h S c h i ll er
,

Th e c h i ld
wi ll un d e s t a n d eve ry t h i n g a n d h is m in d m
.

o ra l i t y pi et y
ct a n d m em
r , , , ,

t a s t e co d u
, n o ry wi ll t h u
, s be t r a i n e d .
226 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Witte

my wi fe asked me now I my wife now Karl , ,

one of us to l ook carefully at the cap i tal

,

and te ll how it di ffered from th e corre

sp o n d i n g sma ll l etter Th is may b e v ar ied
.

at wi ll .

W hen he had mastered b oth kinds of let

ters I secretl y th rew in a few of the L atin
,

sma ll l etters I f one of them made its a p

.

p e a r a n c e it,
was admi red and ridicu l ed i n

common for hav ing l ost its way among the

German l etters Kar l had to l ook for the
.

co rresponding German l etter and to compare

the two In this way he very soon l earned
.

the L atin sma ll letters after which the next ,

step to the L atin capitals was very easy

, , ,

especia l ly as he began to play with th e letters

b y himself .

As soon as he had l earned the letters we ,

b egan to put togethe r syllab l es and words .

W e naturally chose as funny ones a s we cou l d '

,

or let him choose them At othe r times some .

,

friend of ours would ask Kar l to teach him

the l etter game p retending that he did not
,

kn ow it o r as a reward for some good action

, ,

o f the child he offered to play t h e game with

,

him Thus we rearranged the instruction in

.

many ways and in a short and easy manne r

,
 L ea r n i ng t o R ea d a nd Wr it e
attained what we wished w ith out really ,

teaching him reading .

He k new a l l t h e letters perfectl y ; he

formed syll ab l es and words from them quite
correctly and without any l abo r ; he even com
posed sentences He had a l so l earned the
.

marks and the numbers and knew how to ,

use th em That wa s a ll I wanted for t h e

.

time being a s I wa s afraid of p recocity N ow

,
.
,

when Kar l wa s four years o l d I V isited with , ,

my friends G l aub i tz and Til l ich the P esta ,

l ozzi Institute and trave l ed at th e same time

th rough Switzer l and and Upper I ta l y My .

wife wh o wa s a l ways a fraid that Kar l on a c

, ,

count o i his mediocre abi l ity wou l d not l ea rn ,

much and who sa w with anxiety h ow l itt l e

,

I apparentl y wa s doing fo r him used my

l ong absence to teach h imto read a s She
, , ,

wished to su rp r ise me w i th h is accomp l i sh

ment .

W hat I had feared actua l ly happened .

Th e chi l d who heretofore had lea rned eve ry

,

thing from Natu re from h is surroundings , ,

and from illustrations using the l ittle objec ts

, ,

such a s building b l ocks and letters on l y a s a

-

game became considerab l y embarrassed and

,

discou raged when he had to busy himse l f with

228 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
mere p rinted wo rds of which fou r s ix o r
, , ,

even eight in a row made no sense at all o r

no attracti ve sense whatsoever .

Th e l etters from which Ka rl had been in

the hab i t of fo rming his own words o r those ,

funny ones which we made fo r him to p ro

nounce had been th ree inches in height
, ,

while those which were not at a l l entertaining

were on l y a l ine in size A l l that displeased
.

him and made his mother s instruction ve ry

,
’

hard Thank Heaven that it did not enti re l y

.

discourage Kar l .

W hen I returned L ouise had by dint of

,

hard work gotten him to read l aborious l y I .

ac know l edged her good wi ll grate fu ll y but

-
,

i n rea l i t y put l itt l e va l ue upon what Sh e had

accomp l ished because Kar l was not to have
,

such instruction as yet part l y because I had

,

not yet noticed in him any l i ve l y desi re to

read in books I was afraid that general i n
.

struction wou l d annoy him when I heard him ,

refuse to read a Short story even though we ,

assu red him that it wa s funny and would

“ “
amuse him . I thank you he said I do not , ,
”
want to read i t I know i t al ready
,
.

I wou l d easi l y have been persuaded into

a ll owin g him to forget the who l e laboriously
2 30 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
the most necessa ry thing ( 3 ) to make the i n ,

struction as comp rehensib l e and easy a s p os

sib l e After a ll that had been obtained we
.
, ,

his parents with the occasiona l he l p o f ou r

,

friends mere l y encouraged furnished the op

, ,

p o r t u n i t y,
p raised and rewa rded
,
him He .

did the rest himse l f .

I shou l d have indeed had too much to do

, , ,

i f with my offi cia l duties with the many

, ,

things which I then had to p repare fo r the

p rinte r and with the frequent journeys de
,

vo l ving on me I had tried to carry to com

,

p l e t i on t h e chi l d s education
’
That wou l d .

have by fa r surpassed my time strength and , ,

desi re and besides wou l d have been enti re l y

, , ,

against my p l an .

F o r the same reason I did not forma ll y

teach Ka rl writing W e frequent l y spoke to .

one another to him and to others in his p res

, , ,

ence of the great usefu l ness of writing and

, ,

we frequent l y gave him inducements for the

desi re to write But we did not help him out
.
,

at l east not fo r any l ength of time and on l y ,

after his repeated requests At first he d rew .

the p rinted l etters W hen after a whi l e we

.
, ,

jested him about them and at his request , ,

gave him the wr i tten l etters he began to d raw ,

 L e a r n i ng t o R e a d a nd Wr i t e
th ese 10 0 and fina l ly wa s ab l e to do eas i ly
,

what others obtain on l y after laborious Study

— that is he wa s ab l e to c ow and put do wn
,

whatever b e pleased .

How much time both he and I hav e thus

saved ! How much more he has been ab l e
to enjoy the fresh ai r ! How much more
rarely he has been sco l ded and how much ,

easier it has been fo r him to keep h is hands ,

face and garments c l ean I f he wants to

,
.

write c a lig ra p h ic a l ly he can acqui re th is a rt

, ,

as I have i n his nineteenth or twentie th year

,

in a period of fou r weeks without having ,

wasted much of his p revious time .

One important reason why I did not teach

h imwriting in t h e usua l way wa s this th at , ,

I did not want him to train h is attention fo r

writing and then for depending on the written
word Th is is so fr equent l y done espec i a l ly
.
,

at uni versi t y l ectu res and all it p roduces i s

,

heroes of memo ry I f such writing machine s

.

do not repeat e x actl y what has been com

mi tte d to paper they do no t tu rn out to be
,

even heroes of memo ry But my son always .

paid attention to what was said and made ,

but the ra rest use of notes hence he was able

,

to master the who l e of a l ectu re which he ,

 Th e E d uc a t i o n K l l l i
'

2 32 o f a r t t c

s oo n d i d to the comp l e t e sati s fa ctio n o f his

academic teachers as we l l a s my own as thei r
, ,

testimonies certify .

I here commun i cate stil l another letter

g ame which we l earned l ater in W il d e c k at
,

the court of Hessen R othenbu rg Th e p l aye rs

-
.

seated themsel ves about a round ta b le Upon .

i t we re th rown a l arge mass of letters ciphers , ,

etc ( about an inch in height and pasted on

.

cardboard ) N ow each one i n the company

.

took a few of them and formed one two three , , ,

o r more syllables with them Then he mixed .

them up and gav e them to his neigh b o r There .

a re five words he wou l d say Th e first begins

,
.

with k the second with p the th i rd with v

, , ,

the fourth w i th h the fi fth with 1 At the

,
.

same time the letters were placed v ertical l y

be l ow one another so that the person sea rch
,

in g cou l d more easi l y observe them al l and

form the wo rds desi red This may lead to an .

i ncredib l e facil i ty The ve ry b eauti ful and

.

inte ll ectual Klotilde P rincess of Hessen ,

R othenbu rg guessed a l most anything i n a few

,

moments no matter whether it was German

, ,

F rench or Ital i an
,
Th e players may tease
.

on e a noth e r b y quest i ons and answers and a ,

2 34 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Witte
ful AS soon however a s I not i ced that he
.
, ,

b y h is abil i ty in i mitation acqui red what in

t h e end is a use l ess a rt of winning admi ratio n
a n d applause espec i ally from t h e fai r sex I
, ,

a voided such occasions and fa v ored b y ci r

m
mst a nces I let h i fo rget h is tricks and
, ,

cu ,

h is ski l l i n them . C onsequently the rich

,

s p ring of b u bb lin g a p p lau se ran d ry e v en a s

,

I wi shed .
 C H A PTER ! VI I I

ON THE S E P ARATION OF WOR K AN D PLAY

—
A BBE GA U LTIER is right o ne may accomplish
an unusual amount with child ren by means
of a sensi b ly d ev ised and guided game I .

di ffer from him only in this th at I se t aside ,

every day a small amount of time for fo rmal

instruction which is not gi ven p l ayfu l ly
, ,

th ough merrily A t first I wa s moved to do

.

t his by my natural instinct L ater I pondered .

i t care fully Here are the fruits of my re

.

fl e c t io ns :
S ince Gaulti er h a s been p ract ic ing his
method for thi rty years ha v ing wo rked it out
,

in marvelous detail his pupils Should ha v e

,

become not only possessed of much k nowl

edge but Shou l d a l so have tu rned out to be
,

men of great and particu l arly qu i ck mental

powers One Shou l d hear in F rance of a num
.

ber o f superio r men wh o h ave come from

,

Gau l tier s school whereas th is is not the case

’
,
.

What is th e cause of it ? I sa y : The b oy who

2 36 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wi t t e
in h is ear l y years h a s learned everyth i ng p l ay
ful l y will continue to wish to l earn in that
,

manner I f he cannot do so he w i ll l ose the

.
,

desi re for lea rning I f he enters business l i fe

.
,

where there can be no th ought of play ing ,

where he will find eve rything determined a c

cording to o rder in p l ace time and ci rcu
, , m
s tances ; where i ron necessi t y demands n ow ,

th is acti v ity now that ; and where the questio n

,

is a l ways of work then he fee l s out of sorts

, ,

hankers for his former p l aying and lif e a p ,

pears ti resome and annoying to him He .

wi ll consequent l y accomp l ish b ut l ittle no

, , ,

matter what may be e x pected o f him .

Therefore I stuck to my meth od which wa s ,

carefu ll y to separate work from p l ay E ach .

of th ese had and retained its Specific manner .

F o r examp l e i n a game I l iked to have Karl

,

put his mental powers to fu ll acti v ity and we ,

tried to stimu l ate them but that wa s not a

,

requisite If he did di fferent l y we wou l d

.
,

perhaps act as though we did not notice it ,

“
o r we wou l d l augh at him saying Oh you , , ,

litt l e goose ! is that a ll you know ? I f h is

answer wa s not app rop riate not incisive ,
“
enough we wou l d again jest him You are
, , ,

indeed sti ll a ve ry foo l ish l itt l e creature

,
.
2 38 Th e E d uca t i on o f Ka r l Witt e
b ut also with a s much v igor and rapidity a s
he cou l d I wa s impatient i f he worked S l ow
.

l y e ven though he did h is work we ll

,
Th i s .

h a s been o f ve ry great use to him ; it h a s give n

h is mind an unusua l quickness of perception .

Things are often mere t rifl e s to him though ,

they are ve ry hard for others He is done .

,

when we on l y get ready He thus gains ve ry

.

much time for other matte rs for rest society

, , ,

and mov ement in the open yet he does thin gs

,

b etter and more thorough l y than we do .

In h is l ater years he came p roper l y to se e

and hono r this inva l uab l e gain In Vienn a .

b e thanked me for it wi th tender emoti on ,

a ssuring me that whi l e he had not always

understood why I demanded that he should

work not on l y we ll but a l so fast he wa s now
,

deep l y gratefu l to me for the great a dvantage

h e h ad der ived from my i ns i sten ce .
 C H A PTER XIX
CON CERNI N G REWARDS
WE never rewarded Karl with money o r
thin gs of value for a good deed H is pu re .

joy at the success of an act ; h is p l easure at

having overcome himse l f and ou r fond l ing ;
,

the noting down of the occu rrence in h is

“ ”
Book of C onduct ; the greater attachment
of ou r friends ; the firm conviction th at God
loved him so much the more a n d th at he now
,

had the power of making one more step in the

di rection of goodness ; fina ll y ( wherever i t
was possib l e to p l ace them before him ) t h e
who l esome consequences of h is good deed
that wa s a l l h is reward Fo r he wa s con
.

vi n c e d that e v ery good act made him more

like God and h is highest w ish h is most e arn

, ,

est endeavor was to become like God

,
.

We acted in the ve ry opposite wa y in th e

case of bad acts Thank Heav en he did not
.
,

commit any but even m issteps were by us

,

re p rove d v e ry e a r nestly a n d wi th a n e x p re s
239
2 40 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
s ion of sorrow W e spoke with the greatest
.

contempt of a man no matter who he may ,

hav e been who was the cause of an o ffense

,
.

I am sure th at a mill i on dol l ars cou l d not

have moved my son to o ffend any one know
i ng ly .

But we had no compunction about making a

monetary reward for his labo rs to acqui re
know l edge On such occasions we pointed out
.

to him that his e fforts wou l d sharpen h is wits ,

but his wits were in a ll our conversations, ,

p l aced fa r be l ow his heart especi a l ly his spi rit ,

of piety W e assu red him and he e x perienced

.
,

it in himse l f that one cou l d gain men s respect

,
’

by kn ow l edge and menta l powers But b e t e .

s p e c t e d the best more than the many : the lov e

of the best men of h is parents and of God

, ,

wa s worth infinite l y more to him than the

respect of the masses He knew a l so that the .

latte r was unstab l e the former stab l e ,

.

When he had worked hard we on l y said , ,

That is right ! You have done your du ty ,

”
and I am satisfied with you ! and so forth .

Then I to l d h is mother or a friend about it

in near l y the same wo rds A good action of .

his howeve r wa s mentioned to him to h is

, , ,

mother o r to an intimate fri end with a joyou s

, ,
24 2 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
he used to receive such money ! I am sure
th at many a person i s not so happy when t e
c e ivi n g dol l ars !

W herever it was possible I kept an e n ,

no b led civic l i fe in view Our fami l y wa s for

.

him the S tate I its regent and he a servant

, ,

of state I demanded of him that for the wea l

.

of a ll consequently o f himself as we ll he
, ,

shou l d e x ert h is who l e strength that is shou l d , ,

do h i s duty and shou l d make himself more

,

fit for doing useful work in the future C on .

sequent l y a l l that wa s written down in h is

“ ”
Book of C onduct wa s that he had done
what he should th at is his du t y But I a c
, ,
.

c e p t e d eve ry piece of work done by him di l i

gently and earnestly a s something done fo r

my benefit And so I rewarded it with money
. .

This view cou l d be maintained the more easily

s i nce we — —
the S tate p rovided for him It .

wa s easy afterward fo r us to gi v e and for him

to grasp the more di rect instruction of h ow
matters were done in t h e S tate sinc e i t fol ,

lowed from my rep resentation .

The money which he col l ected on i ts si de , ,

gave an opportuni ty for p reparation fo r t h e

futu re He l earned h ow to manage it and
.

do good with i t I f he had spent it on swee t

.
 C o n c e r n i ng R e wa r ds

m e a ts it would hav e disappeared very soon

, ,

and w i th h is manner of education he would

, ,

not have deri v ed any rea l pleasure from this .

Instead he saved h is money until he had a

,

su ffi c i ent amount wi th which to buy some

thing lastingly useful This we app roved of .

and we even secret l y added enough money to

make up t h e needed amount and frequent l y ,

di rected h is attention to h is possessions to ,

thei r usefulness and durabi l i ty In the end he .

often made a p resent o f what he had b ought

to another child and thus gained th e grati
,

tude of chi l d ren and the lov e of their paren ts .

Whenever there wa s some misfortune in

the neighborhood we he l ped alo ng according
,

to ou r means a n d we neve r neg l ected th e

,

th ree six or n ine pennies which he o ffered

, ,

under such ci rcumstances On th e co ntra ry .

,
“ ”
we accepted them with sincere thanks in
t h e name of the unfortunates and I sent them ,

to them even i f the case demanded that I

,

should change the pennies into so many dimes .

His eight or twe lve pennies for the organ

stood i n my p r ivate account close to my twenty
do l lars and I e x plained to him that he had
,

gi ven at l east a s much a s I referring him to ,

the e x cellent wo rd s of C hrist a bout the poo r

2 44 . Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
widow s mite ( Mark x ii 4 2
’
which he ,

had l ong ago learned from the B iblical

Stories .

If however he had done h is v e ry b est work

, ,

b ut at the same time had transgressed against

t h e laws of a higher morali t y he received ,

no money I f th e trans g ression wa s small I

.
,

would sa y
“
I f to mor row you will be a s diligent as
-

to day and at the same time wil l be good you

-
, ,
”
s ha l l recei v e to day s portion a l so
’
-
.

He wa s usually h is own sev erest judge He .

never became dissatisfied with the punish

ment but rather me l ancholy at h is fau l ty con
,

duct at the worry which he thus had caused

,

us and at the l oss of love a n d respect from

,

the H ighest .

Very often he p ronounced his own se n

tence No I cannot get anyth ing to day b e
, ,
-
,

cause I did not conduct myse l f in th e p roper

manne r God knows how hard it was for
.

me then fo r e x ample in the case of ve ry small

, ,

transgressions not to give him anything I ,

.

wou l d glad l y have given him double the

amount and kissed him be sides I b rave l y
,
.

rep ressed the tear o f joy and ca l m l y s aid to ,

“
him That is so I did not think of i t ! But
, , ,
2 46 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Witt e
th e feast te ll someth i ng f rom the b ook just
studied and thi s gave him much pleasure
, .

G ratitude toward God for the powe r a n d

health gi ven us for the work successfully com
p l e t e d w a s ne v er forgotten on such occasions ,

and h is mother wou l d remind him that he a l so

owed th anks to h is teache r for the p a ins taken
with him .
 C H A PTER XX
How KARL L EARNED TH E LA N GU AGES

I N Kar l s sixth year we made a long jou rney

’

to Ber l in and R ostock and on ou r wa y b ack

,

visited our brothe r in l a w P reacher S eide a t

- -
,

S tendal H is youngest son Heinrich wa s

.
, ,

t wo years o l der than Karl a p retty lovely , ,

boy H is stepmo ther and her sister who both

.
,

loved him tender l y had taught him so much

,

F rench that he read and trans l ated ve ry we l l ,

and spoke and wrote it to l e ra bl y well That .

caused me so much p l easure that I wa rmly

exp ressed my respect and love for th e ch i ld
and for his teachers .

L ouise too was heart i ly glad for her

, ,

nephew but at the same time wa s p rovoked

,
“
at me because Karl did not yet know any
t hing .I laughed at her and assured her ,

th at Karl knew quite a lot just as all ou r ,

relati v es and friends had asserted in her p res

ence Of course he c ou l d not know what I
.
,

had not taught him .

“
Wh y do you not teach him ? She repl ied .

247
24 8 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Witt e
You know i t and it is real l y a shame for us
,
”
that he is sti l l so ignorant I reminded her
.

t hat the time wa s not yet ripe for i t Sh e .

“
retorted I t wi ll not ki l l him n ow and you
, ,

cannot tell h ow l ong you may l ive consider ,

i ng the state of you r health It wi ll certa i nly

.

—
take a long time so wh y should you be
afraid ?
I smi l ed and stuck to my i dea But when
,
.

we went away from S tendal and I on the ,

way once more mentioned Heinrich with

g reat p l easure my wife again began to urge
,

upon me F inal l y I b ecame annoyed and

.
,

sa id :
“
My dear please do not make my journey
,

unp l easant ! I p romise you I wi ll teach Karl

a foreign language as soon as we are back

home But I te ll you I wi l l not give him

.

more than fifteen minutes each day for in

struction I wi l l teach him on l y to Show you
.

”
that he can l earn when he is taught .

“ ”
You wi ll not forget wil l you ? ,

H ave I not a l ways kept my word when I ,

”
have made a p romise ?
We we re si l ent and I thought of Heinrich
,

and of Kar l and of the manne r of the in

,

s truction I was going to gi v e .

2 50 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
nouns etc conjugate th e verbs build up th e
,
.
, ,

sentence compound wo rds and so forth

, ,
.

But who speaks o r writes G reek ? W here i s

n ow the ancient G reece ? H ave we a G reek
chi ld ren s wor l d ? In what way are we to
’

Stimu l ate a child s desi re to study G reek or

’
,

Show him its use fu l ness ? And fina ll y a l , ,

t hough I read G reek wi th ease and p l easure ,

I was far better acquainted with F rench and

Ita l ian And a l l t his is in teaching l an
.
,

guages of far more importance t han most

,

peop l e wou l d b e wi ll ing to admit .

In t h e end I chose a fter matu re reflection

, ,

to start by teaching Karl the F rench lan

guage Here are my reasons for it :
.

I conside r it a duty to teach a chi l d on l y

that with which he has fo rmer l y become i n
di rect l y acquainted This was e x act l y t h e
.

case with Karl as regards F rench I both .

Spoke and read that l anguage He was ft c .

quent l y in company where I had to speak it .

Those with whom I conversed in it he re

sp e c t e d and l oved on account of thei r e x ten

sive know l edge but it pained him to l isten

,

wi thout being ab l e to te ll what they were

laughing about My friends and I general l y
.

chose F rench for intimate conversations He .

 L e a r n i ng the L a ng ua g es

had a l so noticed that we were sometimes talk

ing about him I f he l ater inqui red about
.

what had b een said I purposely gave him

,

such answers as on l y roused h is curios i ty

sti ll more and then I wou l d add
,
“
I f you only understood F rench ! I t would
gi ve you much pleasure and gain respect for
you .

It i s true that a boy who has mastered L atin

may with ease pass ove r to the daughter l an
guages I talian F rench and so forth But it
, , ,
.

is equally true that instruction in Latin b e

fore instruction i n the foreign languages must
appear as something stupid and noisome to
a German b oy especia ll y if by t hat time h is
,

Spi rit has been p roper l y trained Othe rwise .

,

to be sure he patient l y accepts ev erything

,

like an empty bottl e .

They s a y that he who knows the mother

we l l may easily become acquainted with her
daughters I s a y to this that he who knows
.

the daughters we ll wi l l more certain l y and

more quickly b ecome intimate with the i r
mother F o r a younger person it is besides
.
, ,

easier to make the acquaintance of th e d a ugh

ters before th at of the mother .

And to t h e asserti on that he who knows

252 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
L atin wil l find it easier to learn Ital i an ,

F rench , etc I fu rther answer

.
,
“
Very wel l ! I f I am on the roof of a
b ui l ding it is not hard for me to get to th e
,

thi rd second fi rst story and fina ll y to the

, , ,

b asement But h ow sha ll I get on the roof ?

.

—
I t wou l d su re l y be more sensib l e as it is
—
easier and safer first to enter the basement ,

then to ascend to the first sto ry the second , ,

the thi rd and so forth In this manner I can

,
.

fina ll y reach the roof and that too in such , , ,

an easy way th at I scarce l y notice it The .

difficu l ty connected with this is as noth ing

in comp arison with the attempt to reach the
top from the outside Besides I can p roceed .
,

with l ess danger because I p roceed in a nat

,

u ra l way and it wi ll hard l y take a s much

,

time on my wa y up a s on the much p raised

”
o l d way .

W hen I say to a b right chi l d pater he

“
,
“
wi ll immediate l y rep l y That means father ,
‘
.
’

“
But where is If I say It is con ,
‘
t a in e d in the word pate r he wi ll l augh ,
’

“ ”
and retort That is impossible or more
, , ,
“
l ike l y stupid
, I f assuming that he a l ,

ready knows the Ge rman dec l ensions he ,

“ ”
hears that of the father is translated by
2 54 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Witt e

th ings which he w i ll p rejudge in a short

,

sighted and co arse manner demanding that ,

others should accept his inco rrect V iew only ,

b ecause he calls himse l f learned .

“
Or take the past tense for e x ample I
, , ,
”
have b ui l t ae d i fic a vi
,
Th e child must feel
.

quite uncomfortab l e with it How much .

more natu ral it is j e I ; have ai ; bui l t

, , , ,
” “ ”
b ati . S o wi th Thou hast b uilt etc S ti l l ,
.

more perplexing is the subjunctive In t e ll i .

gent chi l d ren are in th e customa ry manner

,

of instruction tormented for a long time b y

,

i t with out eve r gaining a clear insight into

,

it I marv e l h ow this can even fo r a moment

.

b e dou b ted I may add that in the p ast twen

.

t y years a num b e r of bright young men have

grasped my idea and t hat many children
have since been taught in accordance with it .

I first searched out that which coincided

most c l ose l y with the German and rendered
it exhaustive l y into German words That .
‘

may genera ll y be accomp l ished and t he ,

chi l d retains it at once thinks of i t at a n ,

other juncture and then trans l ates the words

,

co rrect l y I f some i rregularity turned up I

.
,
“
said for e xample N ow th at i s nice ! Here
, ,
 L e a r n i ng t h e L a ng ua g es

‘ ‘ ‘
di re does not mean te l l b ut to tell ( that
’
,
’ ’

‘
is in the e x p ression pour me di re )
,
Th e ’

chi l d does not mind a thing like that if i t ,

recurs regularly because he has b een finding

,

and removing d ifli c ul t i e s before Th e se n .

“
tence J ai entendu qu on m a a p p e l l é E st
,
’
,
’ ’
.

i l vrai ? I treated in t h e fo l lowing manner .

“ ” “ ” “ ”
I resolved j ai into j e and ai and jest
’
,

i n g ly remarked that the F rench considered

“ ’ ” “
j ai as more agreeab l e to the e a r than j e
”
ai and th at they were not enti re l y wrong in
,

this After a while Kar l began to fee l the

.

same way himse l f and he took the part of ,

the F rench J e ai o r
. j ai ‘
means I have
’ ‘ ’ ’ ‘
,
’

‘ ‘
and entendu means heard ’
I t was not .
’

necessary to say anything about He

“
may have asked himse l f IS this not the ,

same as in the case of j e and Simi l ar l y‘

“ ”
he wou l d say that m a was contracted from ’

me a ” “ — — —
Me me a has a p p e llé c a l led
.
, ,
.

—
E s t is i l
”
he immediate l y understood the
( ,

d rawing over of t to est because it was b ased ,

“ ”
on a simi l a r p rincip l e ) he o r it At th is ,
.

“
point I interposed You must fin d out for ,

yourse l f which of t he two i s to b e used All .

‘
I wi l l te l l you for th e purpose i s th at v rai ’
256 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wi t t e
‘
means true No sooner had I said th i s
.

‘
than he answered correct l y Il here means ,
’

‘ ’ 1,
it .

It will b e objected that this is a kind of

crippled translation and that the pupil would ,

thus get used to a poor German But I can .

assure the reader from long experience that

such is not the case It may b e true to some .

extent of L atin b ecause the sentence st ruc ,

ture differs too much from th at of the Ger

man But it does not ho l d in the case of
.

F rench I f b esides th e pupil has b ecome

.
, ,

accustomed to speak a pu re and fluent Ger

man he wi l l it is true at first translate as
, , ,

mentioned above But as soon as the se n .

tence is finished he will repeat it in correct ,

German Le t us however assume the almost

.
, ,

unthinkable case that he would not do so I ,

shou l d sti l l by far p refer his p recise and e x

ha u s t i ve word for word trans l ation to giving
- -

the sentence in good Ge rman as is usually ,

done without clearly understanding each

,

wo rd .

“
But what will you put in place of a n a ly
sis ? I a masked W hy I let Kar l fi rst mas .
,

ter common sense and the German l angua ge ,

derive decline transpose and substitute the

, , ,
258 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wi t t e

of these b ecause a chi l d should from th e start

,

b ecome accustomed to the grammar which he

is to use later Habit is of e x treme impor
.

tance here and the finding of the particular

,

references may be made easy b y marks stuck

b etween the l eaves thus making extracts from
,

them unnecessary .

Karl neve r translated without hav i ng an

exhausti ve idea of eve ry exp ression and with
out b eing ready to render it into German He .

was therefo re all the time deeply concerned

, ,

in knowing h ow the troub l esome word wa s de

c l in e d whether i t was in th e si ngula r o r in
,

the p l u ral whether a noun or adjective

, .

whether masculine or fem inine etc , .

One wi ll o b serve that he too analyzed , , ,

but ( 1 ) he himsel f had the desi re to do so ,

and this is as in a l l instruction the impo rtant

, ,

point ; ( 2 ) he analyzed for a particular pur

pose and that was in o rder to grasp the con
, ,

te x t comp l etely C onsequent l y he was neve r

.

satisfied until he found out at fi rst with my ,

aid later by himse l f eve rything which would

, ,

clear up his doubts At the same time he paid

.

attention to everything that stood in close t e

lation with the particu l ar case and since he , ,

was used to regularity clearness etc he wa s , ,

.
,
 L ea r n i ng t h e L a ng ua g es

sure not to look anything up in the dictiona ry

o r grammar wi thout purpose l y noticing many
o ther things connected with it thus e x ercising ,

his memo ry and reason ; 3 ) he analyzed sen

s i b ly with a clear consciousness of what he
,

wa s doing M anifest l y such an investigation

.

of th e words in a sentence is infinitely mo re

useful than the usual mode of analyzing .

I frequently said with due conside ration

, ,

If you want to know this p recise l y you wi l l ,

do well to look i t up in the grammar in the ,

dictiona ry and thus I l ed him deepe r

,

into the subject than he had anticip ated .

But there a re othe r important reasons why

I purpose l y taught him F rench b efo re L atin .

In F rench we are dea l ing with th e p resent

wor l d instead of one dead for mi l lenniums
,

a n d therefore foreign to the child The little .

reader finds in h is b ook ou r customs ou r ha b ,

its our c l imate ou r b uildings rooms utensils

, , , , ,

ou r society our cultu re ou r social in tercourse

, , ,

ou r garments our entertainments amuse

, ,

ments and so forth He consequently always

,
.

feels at home whereas R ome and G reece

, ,

especially with the usua l method of in st ruc

tion remain an a l ien and less attractive world
,

to him Nearly all t he incidents i n an autho r

.
2 60 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wi t t e

of modern times seem to have happened in th e

boy s v icinity while stories from ancient
’
,
°

R ome and G reece all t h e time remind him

fo rci b ly of the great difference b etween thei r
world and h is su rroundings This in i tself .

would b e sufli c ie n t to characterize the in st ruc

tion which b egins with L atin and G reek as
putting the cart b efore the ho rse But my .

ma i n reason is still to come .

I am indeed con v inced that a c hild will b e

glad to learn reading any language and will ,

acqui re it p rofitab l y only if he is given easily

,

understood writings b est of a ll such as have

,

b een written with care fo r chi l d ren The .

child is to find in them a child ren s wo rld ’

,

i f poss ib le The a rena the actions and the

.
, ,

persons should be child l ike ( not ch ildish ) and ,

we in Germany are particularly fo rtunate in

possessing many e x ce l lent books of the kind .

The F rench and th e E ng l ish even the Ital ,

i ans have for this reason translated the b etter

,

German books fo r child ren al though they are ,

wary in translating our other lite rary works .

W e rejoice in this adv antage and we make ,

use of i t i n ou r lan guage S hould we not do .

the same in a foreign that is a mo re d i fli c ul t

, , ,

l an gu age ? Shou l d we here pu rposely push

2 62 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o K a r l Wi t t e

juvenile story with wh i ch he wa s al ready s e

q u a i n t e d He . wo uld read ten pages of i t
without b eing asked to do so and soon lea rned ,

so much from i t th at I had to pass to more

d i fli c ul t writings He was attracted b y the

.

childlike d roll w i tty material d rawn from

h is ci rcle that wa s so simple for c om
, , ,

, p r e h e n

sion and appea l ed to his reason and heart .

This made h i s no n e t oo hard labor pleasant

for him .

I t would hav e been quite another thin g i f ,

I had b egun with L atin and had at once gi ven

him C ornelius Nepos as generally happens ,
.

I will mention only a few of the resultant di f

fic ul t ie s as compared with Berquin
,
The .

language of Nepos h as long b een dead N 0 .

man Speaks it I t is not native to any country

. .

Hence the chil d foresees no reward for h is

efforts and yet any chi l d no matter how n u
, ,

reasoning it may he must always have that

,

clearly placed b efore its eyes Besides that .

,

language has no article ; it declines and c onj u

gates differently from ou r language ; i t places
the wo rds in the sentence so differently so ,

bluntly and often with such intricacy that

,

even grown persons find it hard to ma ke out

the sense .
 L e a r n i ng t h e L a ng ua g e s

A l l that refers only to t h e e x ternal s ide .

The internal side is much wo rse ofl Books ’

.

such a s I requi re a re made fo r children Cor .

ne l i u s Nepos J uliu s C e sar

, C i cero and so , ,

forth , wrote for men for republicans hence, ,

fo r statesmen and for men who lived two

,

thousand years ago C ornelius , more espe

.

c i a l ly wrote for g rown u

, p R omans who ruled
-
,

o ver G reece partly studied there and there

, ,

fore were more o r less acqua i nted with G reek

language literatu re and manners He wanted
, ,
.

to b e helpful to them b y a terse and succinct

account of the deeds of great G reek generals
and thei r campaigns for they needed mere ,

hints a s to names p l aces time and so forth

, , ,
.

I t did not harm them when he mentioned

vi ces o f every kind even the most unnatu ral
, ,

with out any sense of shame Acco rding to .

thei r code of morals th ei r religion it wa s , ,

pe rmissible o r at least e x cusable if Alcibi ades

, ,

honorab l y distinguished himself among the

P ersians and Th racians a s a debauchee and
winebibber .

But what imp ression will all that p roduce

on an innocent C hristian child ? W hat is
,

such a little creature to do with the master

piece o f military tactics which C e sar und e r ,
2 64 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o K a r l Wi t t e
special ci rcumstances invented anew or modi
,

fie d and which he described i ndeed in a

, , ,

master l y way b ut one which is almost too

,

much abb rev iated even fo r an ad v anced wa r

rio r ? W hat is he to do with the legal and
political writings of C icero ? Or with his
G re co R oman philosophical works by which
-
,

he wanted to win the best men of R ome over

to the most p rofound in vestigations of G reece ?
Of what good to a b oy of ou rs are C ice ro s ’

”
letters to h is intimate friends since C icero ,

all the time takes for granted much they ve ry

well knew but which ou r b oys neither guess
,

at no r want to guess at and of which nine

, ,

tenths of thei r teachers know p recious little ?

I f a boy has pain fu l ly plowed his way th rough
C orne l i us ev en as I did what has he gained
, ,

from it ? I know but fe w useful results from

it and a great mass of h a rmful ones
,
.

On the other hand how rich the gain is fo r

,

the intellect imagina t ion wit and heart i f

, , ,

the boy h a s attenti vely read and finished a

Ge rman or F rench book app rop r i ately writ
ten fo r German o r F rench children ! I am
su re I Shall be wasting time and la b or and
underv aluing my readers intelligence i f I s a y
’

a nything more a b out this I will only a d d

.
266 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Witt e

p ronunci ation of what they have written .

S o he looked upon it as b eing funny and it ,

even gave him pleasure to b usy himse l f wi th

the senseless stu ff b ecause he treated it now
, ,

a s a trick now as a puzzle n ow as a maze in

, , ,

dealing with which he had to b ring light and

clearness I ave r a s an honest man that in
.

this way he learned F rench wi t h incredib l e

rapidity W hat differed most from the no rm
.

was mentioned to him with the greatest ridi

cule and U pon occasion in a farcical man
, , ,

ner ; o r he wa s reminded of i t at ta b le or du r
“
ing a wa l k b y saying for example Oh th is
, , , ,

i s almost as sensib l e as th e F rench p ron u n

c i a t i on of

I should like to mention here in general

that ou r chi l dren would learn a great deal
more i f we looked less imposing during ou r
lectu res I am Opposed to the method of
.

teaching who ll y th rough play yet I consider ,

‘

it necessary to combine jest with earnestn ess .

My beloved and honored teacher Gedike a l , ,

ways did so .

Karl frequent l y learned d i fli c ul t things eas

ily because I offered them to him in a merry
,

and a light way whi l e s l ight d ifli c ul t i e s fright

,
 L e a r n i ng t h e L a ng ua g es

ened him i f I or som e one else assumed a n

o ffi cial mien or p resented th e su b ject in a
,

co l d sti ff anxious indisti nct or confused

, , , ,

manner .

W hat is b ad I might s a y what is a b omina

,

ble is th at much is taught which the teacher

,

himself does not master Just as most Ger .

man actors do not know thei r pa rts we l l hence ,

an x ious l y look and l isten to the p rompter and

speak in long d rawn out and incorrect p a s
- -

sages not thinking of the correct e x p ression

, ,

p roper action and easy playing and thus a n

, ,

noying and ti ring out the spectator ; so do th e

teachers fail in thei r purpose who do not m as

ter the subject of instruction do not know i t ,

from all sides do not p resent i t lightly to th e

,

child Instead of joy th e heare r will e x p e ri

.

ence a sense of b u rden instead of active p ar ,

t i c i p a t i o n ennui and disgust

,
He who teaches .

children stopping to think a b out h is subject

, ,

o r sticking to what h a s just b een read o r fre ,

quentl y l ooking into th e te x t boo k will not -

,

be ab l e to impart much to them I have e x .

p e r i e n ce d th is i n my own case and in the case

of others at first a s a pupi l and l ater a s a
, ,

teacher b ut fortunately I have had also t he

,
2 68 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t c
opposite before my eyes F o r th is reason I.

taught my son only what I could in the high

est degree call my own mental p roperty .

If I had wanted to hurry I should hav e ,

gi ve n Karl an hou r s instruction each day in

’
,

stead o f fi fteen minutes or s hould have had

,

recou rse to the conversational method But .

I wa s a fraid of p rematu rity and did only

what I had to at L ouise s request In a few
,
’
.

months I joy fully observed th at the chi l d wa s

gaining and wanted to study more ; so I gave
him ha l f an hou r a fter a whi l e a little more
, ,

and toward the end o f the year an hou r each

day Karl got on l y p l easant things for h is
.

“
reading He was given fo r e x amp l e R obin
.
, ,
”
so n C rusoe which he knew a l ready from the
German and which he later trans l ated fro m
,

near l y a ll the languages In a year he wa s

.

so fa r advanced that he could with pleasure

read an easy F rench book without my aid I .

then began speaking F rench with him and ,

passed on to the study of Italian This wa s .

so easy fo r him that he made a s much p rogress

in it in si x months as he had made in F rench
in a yea r The l ongest study peri od now
.

lasted an hou r and a ha l f .

Karl had learned to know and to overcome

2 70 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wi tte
L atin was important and necessa ry I also .

frequent l y spoke in h is p resence of the beau

ties o f the l E n e id and of separate works of
C icero .F o r what honest man who is not ,

a se l f sa t i s fie d scholar can recommend to h i s

-
,

son the works of Ovid Terence S uetonius , , ,

Horace and SO many other L atin and G reek

,

c lassics without tremb l ing for h i s morali t y ?

,

Only a lea rned e s trip l e x ci rca pectus can

“ ”

a ssuage conscience i f the boy shou l d becom e

,

a d runkard a debauchee or gi v en to unnatural

, ,

v ices fo r have not the most shame ful incite

,

ments towa rd it and the most vio l ent Stimu l i

,

fo r his passions been given into his hands a s

,

something e x treme l y p raiseworthy ?

According l y when Kar l had command of

,

h is L atin I did something quite unusual

,
I .

used to speak of some author for example ,

Horace with high respect as a poet man of

, ,

the world and philosopher and with the ut

, ,

most contempt as a d runka rd and debauchee .

I never said in such a case that he drank but ,

that he was a d runkard a sot F o r exp res ,

.

“ ” “ ”
sions such a s to app rop riate fo r to steal ,
“ “ ” “
not to te l l the truth fo r to lie not indus ,
” “ ”
trious fo r l azy do an incredib l e amount,

of harm in common l i fe and much mo re i n ,

 L e a r n i ng t h e L a n g ua g es

education Vice is most dangerous in an a t

.

tractive ga rment My judgments of the a u

.

tho rs had a good effect on Ka rl though they ,

might have been harm ful in the case of hun

d reds of other boys He had faith in me and
.

judged l ike me for he respected and loved me

,

devotedly Besides he had been accustomed

.
,
“
no t to want to read a thing if I said It is not ,
”
good for you ! but especial l y if my face indi
ca t e d contempt o r disgust C hi l dren b rought
.

up in the ordina ry wa y strive so much the

mo re to read what is p rohibited o r to talk ,

about i t with others Un fo rtunately such pas

.

sages are as a ru l e the on l y ones which a re

, ,

app rop riated by them to the fu l l extent .

Yet in spite o f all I have said abov e I

, ,

could not overcome my misgivings and so I ,

chose an edition of Horace which at that time

wa s expu rgated a s regards the vilest matter ,

and I l iked i t we l l Of cou rse the re were not

.
,

wanting those who asserted that in that way

he cou l d not become a great L atin scholar ,

and that those passages did less harm than

usua ll y supposed and so forth I listened to
,
.

thei r ba l derdash and pitied the i r pupils since ,

thei r innocent minds could not help be i n g

ruined by those shameless a troci ties .
27 2 Th e E d d c a t i o n o f Ka r l Witte
I mentioned above wh y I could not re co m
mend C e sar to Karl L i vy is for a child t oo
.

earnest too dry E speci a l ly h is introduction

,
.

i s much too d i fli c ul t I shou l d have chose n

.

the fab l es of P h e d rus least of al l because I ,

myse l f had to su ffer the torture of beg innin g

with them .

A happy ci rcumstance helped me out of my

perp l e x i ty as to h ow to l ead Karl over to
L atin I wa s frequent l y at L eipsic with Kar l
.
,

attending the theater the concert in sho rt , , ,

eve rything worth seeing Once they played .

“ ”
the S tabat M ater and at the entrance they
,

gave me the tex t for it Ka r l had been accus

t om
.

e d to having the contents of this k ind read

or trans l ated to him During the symphony

.

we were sitting in a side room and I said to -

,
“ ”
him Do trans l ate th is !
,
He took i t then ,

looked fo r a moment perp l e x ed l y at it and ,

“
said This is neither F rench nor Italian It
,
.

” “
must be L atin I rep l ied l aughin g L e t i t
.
, ,

be what i t may i f on l y you can translate it

,
.

”
Try at least ! He tried and I he l ped him , ,

Cspecial l y by p ronouncing the harsh L atin

sounds somewhat so fter a l most like Italian , ,

“ ” “ ”
for e x amp l e ,
mader do l orosa , ,
“
etc C om ing to words li ke juxta I helped
.
,
2 74 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Witt e
p repared the wa y to a ve ry considerab l e ex
tent A number o f deviations from the Ge r
.

man were a l ready known to him and they ,

seemed natu ral to him Other deviations he .

did not mind because he had been brought

,

by degrees to these for a German chi l d un

, ,

natu ra l forms .

At the end of the time menti oned I lived

with him for s ix weeks at my quarters i n
H a l le staying there fo r several days each
,

week and I emp l oyed the services o f an ex

,

pert teache r o f l anguages fo r the p ronuncia

tion of E ng l ish Du ring the hou r Kar l stud
.

i e d together with me A fter it we repeated

.

the o l d and p repared the n ew lesson together .

E ng l ish n ow became so easy to him that he

understood a s much o f it in th ree months a s
o f the others in si x or nine month
H ow d i fli c ul t however the G reek langua ge
, ,

is fo r a German chi l d I found in my own ,

case in the case of number l ess friends and

, ,

especia ll y in that of Kar l He wanted to lea rn .

i t ; I had told him so much about Home r ,

Xenophon P lutarch and most of a l l about

, ,

a mass o f l ove l y flowers from the G reek world

which a re co ll ected in ou r best reade rs that ,

he wa s an x ious to acquire them Yet a l .

,
 L e a r n i ng t h e L a ng ua g e s

though G ree k is an e l der sister of German ,

the two siste rs have through time and ci rcum ,

stances developed such di fferent idioms that

it is very d i fli c ul t for a Ge rm
,

an chi l d to lea rn
G reek “
.G re ca sunt nec l egun tur h a s b e
”
,

come especially clear to me Since my last ex

p e r i e n c e .

E ven before beginn ing G reek with Karl I ,

had given him at his u rgent request two or, ,

’
—
th ree mo nths instruction in it in secret that
—
i s from h is mother and other friend s e ach
,

lesson lasting fifteen minutes and he had ,

worked hard at it I then somewhat inc reased .

the l essons to please him or I gave him an a d

, ,

d i t ion a l lesson of fi fteen minutes say i n the , ,

evening when he asked for it in pa rticular

,
.

And yet a fter th ree months he was discou r

, ,

aged and thou ght he would never learn it and ,

it took him nine months to be a s far in G reek

a s he had been i n the other langu ages in a
shorter time But a s soon a s these first d iffi
.
,

cu l t i e s were overcome h e made v e ry good ,

p rogress .

I think I can hea r two objections F i rst .

,

peop l e wi ll sa y How many hou rs did you ,

use to keep a ll the languages mentioned go

,

in g ? The ch i l d must have been Sitting a l l

276 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wi tt e
day at the desk hence he must have becom
,
e
st u
”
p e fi e d l E xperience has shown the r e

verse and with my meth od of instructi on

, , ,

must p rove it abso l utely But these people .

are abso l ute l y right i f they have in mind th at

,

which is taking pl ace at p resent If I h a d .

begun with L atin or G reek or if I had not ,

’
ca re fu ll y p repa red the chi l d s intellect ; i f I
had neg l ected to teach Ka rl to Spea k e x cellent
German in the first five years of his life ; i f I
had not roused h is love for the foreign lan
guages in many ways and had not laid thei r
,

great usefu l ness clear l y before his eyes ; i f I

had not gotten him used to work rap i dly ,

whi l e Sparing him from those abominable

“
versions which take away hou rs at a ti m
”
e
and accustom a boy to di l ly dallying ; the i n -

struction in fou r o r five l anguages a l l at on c e

wou l d have been a sheer impossib i li t y i f fo r ,

nothing e l se than l ack o f time .

AS it wa s everything went excellently Th e

,
.

moment Karl had b rushed aside the chief d i f

fic ul t ie s I ga v e him only fifteen minutes a d a y
,

in which for example to continue his F renc h

, ,
.

Du ring that period he had to read for himsel f

a considerab l e passage lookin g up eve ryth i n g
m
,

he did not know in the dictiona ry and g r a

27 8 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Witt e
instruction before we went to G oe tt inge n
,
.

But we frequentl y read together o r he by ,

himself i n the long winter evenings or in th e

, ,

afternoon of a rainy day n ow a Germa n book

m
,

for chi l dren now some se l ect p assa ges fro

,

foreign languages which he ( more rarely I )

,

had found and wanted to read o r we recited ,

some especia ll y fine poems to one another .

“
S econd objection : You r son must have c on
”
fused the various langua ges S ince the gre a t .

schoo l man nob l e F unk of M agdeburg ex

, ,

p ressed the same fear I am not su rprised ,

when others do so But F unk like many

.
,

others became convinced of the contra ry

, ,

hence I do not need to p rove that it is p os

sible or has been accomp l ished but need only ,

to tel l h ow it wa s done This of cou rs e goe s

.
, ,

once more back to Karl s earliest yea rs Karl ’

.

had to do eve rything correctly had especially ,

to Speak good Ge rman wa s not allowed ex , ,

cept in actual nec essi t y to introduce foreign ,

words and so forth I demanded the same

,
.

of him in h is translations I admitted noth .

ing but pu re Ge rman absolutely nothing else

,
.

Besides he had to be perfectly at home in a

,

l anguage before I began th e next That i s .

a l l I did and e v en envy has not been able to

,
 L e a r n ing t h e L a ng ua g e s

find any fau l t w i th h is translati ons whi l e ou r

,

greatest phi l o l ogists have p raised him highly ,

both orally and in writing .

I wish once more to decry that disastrous

blunder people make who assert that with out
beginning with grammar without th at sense
,

less analyzing and without written e x ercises ,

it is not possi b l e to learn to speak and write

per fect L atin I had so much faci l i ty in b oth
.
,

that Gedike wa s perfect l y satisfied with me ,

a n d yet I never did any of those things But .

I had read so much the more in the two lan

guages and made thei r contents my own I f .
,

however I shou l d ha v e Sta rted b y teachin g

,
“ ”
my so n to speak and write elegant L atin ,

I do not be l ieve I cou l d hav e attained my

pu rpose without crippling h is i ntel l ect .
 C H A PTER XXI
KARL S EDUCATION IN
’
THE S CIE N CES

IT seems ridiculous to ta l k of th is for Ka rl ,

could not receive any formal instruction in

the sciences at L ochau In the first place .
,

this be l ongs to the universi ty and in the sec ,

ond a p reacher in the count ry lacks the n e ce s

,

sa ry means for it I had the requi red i n

.

formation o r I could get it out of books but

, ,

not the mass of newer works the necessa ry ,

etchings the cost l y instruments the facili t y

, ,

in e x perimentation etc I was there fore ,

.
, ,

g l ad to forego i t but I none the less di rected

,

Ka rl s attention to a mass of scientific facts

’
,
“
w i thout say ing to him Th is b elongs to nat ,

ura l histo ry this to chemistry this to physics

, , ,

to ancient or to modern geography and so

, ,
”
forth .

He b ecame acquainted with natu ra l h is

tory in a l l its parts the moment he cou l d think .

The much imp roved edition of R aff wa s one

of h is playth i ngs and in Halle Leipsic and
m
, , ,

2
2 82 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Witt c
for the othe r v isible villages on eve ry sid e
W e at the same time wrote down thei r nam
.

es .

Th e rive rs S aale and E lster the forests mead, ,

o ws and fie l ds were indicated upon it in red

,
.

W hen this wa s done we showed it to h is

,

mother and she made her remarks up on i t

,
.

Then we went a second time to the tower and ,

made a good d rawing of the map which for , ,

us at least wa s sufli c i e n t ly correct Then we

,
.

compared it wi th Specia l maps of the S aa l e

District and co rrected i t in the light of t h e
,

latter That wa s a ll I did in order to gi ve

.

Karl a correct idea of geography and to rous e ,

his inc l ination toward it He never after .

ward returned from a jou rney but that he wa s

ab l e to give and indicate upon pape r the a p
proximate distances o f the places W hen h e .

wa s nine years o l d he owned a col l ection of

,

maps such as I have se l dom seen in the p os

session of wealthy young men W e bought a s .

many of them a s we could and many were ,

given to him as p resents

He had bes i des the m
.

, ,
aps of d An vi lle and ’
,

he never read anything from ancient histo ry

but that he had them near at hand I intro .

d uce d him to histo ry during ou r wa l ks o r

upon ou r journeys by stories and employe d
, ,
 E d uc a t i o n i n t h e S c i e n c es

for the same purpose historical paintings ,

etchings etc M r K v S at Merseburg

,
. . . . .

taught him a great deal of astronomy by ,

means o f h is e x ce ll ent instruments I had .

p rev ious l y done a ll that cou l d be done with

out a te l escope He wa s rea ll y quite a d
.

va n c e d in these things when he was nine yea rs

old but he wou l d have been great l y su rp rised

,

i f he had been to l d that he had been Studyin g

geography physics and so forth
, ,
.

I had carefu ll y avoided th e use of such

terms part l y in o rder not to frighten him
, ,

part l y not to make him v ain He learned .

them and a l l other technical terms quick l y

enough a fter he mastered that which t hey
,

meant I t was with these a s with p l ural

.
,

nominati ve subjunctive etc I did as th ough

, ,
.

he was not to l earn th em but a s soon a s th e ,

t hings were his the names followed easily

,
.
 C H A PTER ! ! II
T HE C U LTIVATION OF TASTE
I TOL ERATED a s far as possible noth ing in y m
house ya rd garden etc that was not taste
fu l especia ll y nothing that did not h a rm
, ,
.
, ,

,
o

nize with its su rroundings If anything wa s .

not harmonio u s I was uneasy about it unti l

,

it was removed A ll my rooms were papered

.

with wa ll pape r of one co l or the fields bein g ,

su rrounded by p l easing borders I n eve ry .

room there was but l itt l e furnitu re but su c h ,

as there was was carefu ll y se l ected On a ll .

the wa ll s hung paintings o r etchings but no ne ,

of these was taste l ess l y g l aring in co l o rs o r ,

rep resented an unp l easant subject Ou r ya rd .

and garden were in b l oom from ea rli es t

Sp ring to ve ry l ate in the fa l l Snowbe l ls a n d
.

crocuses sta rted the p rocession and winte r ,

asters were on l y c rushed by the snow or a se

vere frost W e ourse lves were always dress e d
.

c l ean l y but simp l y

I never bought anything that wa s too m
.

ag

n i fic e n t for my ci rcumstances nor a ny p i c ,

2 86 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
tures etc but that we d i rected each other s
,
.
,
’

attention to them and discussed them favo r

ab l y or unfavorably .

Karl l earned very early to love and p rop

er l y to judge poetry W e began with the sim
.

p l e st poems and by degrees rose to t h e mo st

sub l ime The ve rs i fic a t ion rhym
. e language , , ,

contents gent l e hints or allus ions in thes e

,

formed the subject of ou r common judgmen t .

The most beautiful of these Kar l learned by

heart ve ry rapid l y if we recited t hem to h i
, m
a few times on our wa l ks o r journeys .

W hat was the case with German soon a l so ,

happened with F rench and I aver that in a ll ,

the l anguages which he learned he soon knew

a mass of exce ll ent poems by heart becaus e ,

he read them several times for t he i r beau t y

and thus retained them in his mind I Shal l .

on l y mention F l orian Metastas io V i rgil , , ,

Horace and Homer M any a time when I

,
.
,

wa s particu l ar l y busy he tor t ured me by read,

i n g o r reciting to me l ong passages from th e

most beautiful poems But I listened p a .

t i e n t l y in o rder not to Spo i l h is pleasure

,
.

Heyne wou l d not hav e written to W ie l and the

way he did i f Kar l had not even then trie d
,

to penetrate the Spi rit o f th e ancients .

 C H A PTER ! ! III
KARL GOES To C OLLEGE
KARL wa s n ow seven and a half years old , and
h is attainments appeared v ery striking to men
of know l edge One man told another about
.

it. P eop l e wanted to examine h im and I a l ,

lowed this to be done The abo ve mentioned .

-

K v S i n Merseburg wa s among these and

m ,
. . .

he soon beca e Kar l s father l y friend He ’

.

did eve rything he cou l d with touching zeal , ,

to instruct Karl for that meant gi v ing him

,

pleasure He did not va l ue e ven the rarest

.

wines of his ce ll ar too high l y to let Karl ,

taste of them in o rder that he might get an

,

i dea of what t hey were l ike H is superb li .

b ra ry etchings instruments
,
—,
all these Karl ,

cou l d use as his own E v ery time we two had

.

to pass the night with him on account of ,

astronomica l observ ations he in v ited high l y ,

cultu red men to his house Thus sev eral .

schoolmen became acquainted with Ka r l .

One o f these M r T L asked permission

,
. . .
,
2 88 Th e E d uca t i on o f Ka r l Witt e
to examine him before h is students i n o rde r ,

to stimu l ate the latter I hesitated for a l ong

.

time but fina ll y I consented under the fol

,

lowing conditions : ( 1 ) Kar l wa s to know

nothing in advance of the examination ; hence
( )
2 L was
. to come fo r me the fo ll owing day ,

under the p rete x t that I shou l d pass judg

ment on his pupi l s and Karl was then to com e
,

with me ; 3 ) the pupi l s were not to exp ress

thei r app robation ; ( 4 ) we wou l d sit down on
a back bench and l isten Then a book might .

be handed to us and SO forth A l l that wa s

,
.

p romised and kept to the l ette r

, .

A few weeks l ater there appeared in the

H um b a r g e r Ko r r e s p o n d e n t the fol l owing a n
n ouncem
’
ent It was decisi v e for my son s
who l e later ca reer and so it is of great im
.

portance fo r every thinking man Th e writer .

has never become known but I be l iev e that ,

the nob l e man wi ll su re l y be rewarded in a

better wor l d for his beautiful pu rpose .

ME RSEE URG M a y 10
, ,

A few d a ys a go t her e h a ppe n ed h er e so et h i n g ve r y m

rem a r k a ble fo r ped a gogy The excellen t t ea cher of our
m
.

pl a ce , M r Te r t i us La n dvogt , b rought t o t he school roo ,

m m
.

for t he s t i ul a t i o n o f h is p upi ls a s a ll ch ild o f s even

m
,

yea rs a n d t e n ont hs The li t t le fellow list ened a t t en

.
2 90 Th e E d uca t i o n f
o Ka r l Wi tt e
well known in ed uca t ion a l c i cl es U n fortuna t ely Dr
r

Wi t t e doe n t exp a t i a t e on his m

. .

s o et hod o f i ns t r uc t i on

by wh ich t h is p odi gy who wi dely difl e rs f omt hose of

,

r , r

H ei eke a n d B a a t i e r who wer s poil t p a r t ly in bo dy

n r

mi nd has bee n brought up a nd educa t ed in

, e ,

a n d p a r tl y i n

na te m
,

su ch a n i n d escr ib a bly for t u a nn er .

This news soon sp read in all newspapers .

“
E ve rybody read it eve rybody asked IS i t
, ,
”
true ? C a n it be true ? M any doubters came
to see me others in v ited me to thei r houses
,
.

They a ll e x amined Karl Suspicious l y But .

e ve rybo dy l eft us with the conviction that th e

boy cou l d do even mo re than the newspapers
had to l d about him On l y jea l ous people nea r
.

by and far away passed judgments withou t ,

even wishing to see him to the effect that i t ,

was not true b ecause i t cou l d not b e true

,
.

S uch peop l e usua ll y wait until they find o ut

which wa y the wind is bl owing In this wa y .

they a re a l ways swimming on top and they ,

have the adv antage that no one can deny what

they fina ll y admit God save us from suc h .

narrow minded educators ! They would like

-

to supp ress what is unusua l and would ,

fu rnish us c l ever rather than nob l e minded -

pupi l s But men who do not mere l y ski m

.

o ff from the top of what is fu rnished to

 Ka r l G oes to Co l leg e

them b ut enter i nto matters w i th thei r own

,

minds acted qu i te differe nt l y They not in

, .

frequent l y wro te to me and asked to hav e the

chi l d shown to t hem and I never refused such
,

a request
Some of th e b est m
.

en of the c i ty and the

university of Leipsic urged me to have my

so n examined fo r t h e university by the R ecto r

of th e Thomas Schoo l P rofessor R ost As I ,

.

did not know the man I was afraid that he ,

wou l d consider th is step a bit of p resumption ,

and so forth So I flat l y refused saying that

.
,

a large number of p rofesso rs had al ready ex

am i n e d my son F ina ll y I yie l ded P rofesso r
. .

R ost unites great l earning w i th much sound

sense and kindness o f heart He i ntroduced .

my son into the a rcana of th e languages and

sciences whi l e he thought that he wa s merely
,

hav ing a pleasant conversat ion He re is h is .

testimony
Th is d a y t hey b ugh t be fore ro e t he mi e ye a r-old n n -

boy , J H F Ka r l W i t t e , fr o m
Locha u, in or der th a t
m m m
. . .

I ight exa i ne hi a nd p ass on h is i nt ellect a nd in

m
fo r a t i on I p ut b e for e h i m m
by n o e a ns eas y p assa ges
m
.

t he I li a d , t he IE n e id , G u a r in i s Pas t or F i do,
“ ”
fr o
’

a n d a F r e n ch wor k , fro m
wh ich h e t r a nsl a t ed so well
m
t h a t h e c o ple t ely j u s t ified t he con t i n u ous a ss ur a n ces of

m en who a r e ca p a b le o f p ass i n g j u m
dg ent , as well a s the
292 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Witte
co m
m on r eput a t ion of his s k ill For in t he t r a n sl a t on i
p ass a ges chosen by m e a t r a n d om he n ot onl y
.

of t he ,

showed a gr e a t s kill in t he v er b a l kn owled ge o f t h e v a r i

ou s l a n gu a ges bu t he a lso ev inc ed a deep i ns i ght i n t o t he

ity a m d gm
,

sc i e nc e of a n t iqu a tu r it y of j u en t a sel f pos -

per ior powe of al l i he ot h er m

, ,

sess ion a n d a su
, r en t a l fa c

ul t ies such a s I ha ve n ever be for e seen in so youth ful

I t he e for e a mfi rm
,

a bei ng r ly convinced t ha t t he su
p t i tudes of t he boy a n d t he m
.
, ,

p e r i o r a os t exc elle t e du n

c a t ion a l m et h d of h is fa ther who has t r a i ned his son

o

all b y h i m
,

sel f des e r v e t he a t t en t i on of schol a r s who

ld ca e fully i nves t i ga t e a n d weigh t hese m
, ,

shou a tt e rs I
am
r .

con v i n c ed t h a t it is v e y n ec ess a ry for t he good o f

r

t he sc i e c es i gen er a l a d for t he a d va n cem

,

n n n ent of ped a
m
,

g gy
o i n p a t irc ul a r t o giv e t h i s bo y o f e x t r a o r di n a r y i n d
who is bor n for eve ryt hi n g gr ea t pe rm
, ,

iss ion t o a t t e n d
,

a l l t he le c t ues of t he p o fessors
r for wh ich he is un
r ,

ques t ion a bly p ep a r ed ; a d th a t no hi n dr a nce t hrough

r n

p r ej udice should be pla ced in his wa y les t t he hope of

everyt h i n g goo d for wh ich G od seem
,

s t o h a v e p r ep a r e d
h imshou
, ld be crushed .

M AO F W E ROST
Professo of Ph ilosophy a nd Rect or of the Thom
. . . .
,

r as
School .

LEIP S IC D m , e ce b 1 2 1 809
er , .

P rofessor R ost s statement wa s sent to th e

’

Un i versi ty of Leipsic , where consent wa s

g iven for his admission a s a regu l ar studen t .

This took p l ace on J anua ry 1 8 1 81 0 th rough , ,

the then R ector of the uni v ersi ty M r Kuehn ,

. .

His exce ll ent speech to Ka rl and me touched

2 94 Th e E d uca t i o n of Ka r l Witte
whos e ha ppy p roperly em
an d ployed gift of inst ruct ion
is n o l ess r em a r ka ble t h a n t h e ea r ly e d u ca t ion o f h is son

Wh a t wi t ha l em
.

ov es t h e v er y sh a d ow o f a su
r s pic i on

t ha t a ll t h is is t he wor k o f a n i nj u r i ou s a n d des t r u ct iv e

effo t of t he child is h is hea l t h a nd ch ildlike m

r er r im en t

a n d t h e com
, ,

plet e a bs enc e of a n y of the for wa r dness an d

i n t ole a ble a r oga nce d is pl a yed by wron gly educa te d
r r

yout h ful p odigies His f t he who in co j unct ion wi th

r . a r, , n

his excellen t wi fe has b ought t he ch ild so e a ly t o th is

, r r

degr ee of knowled ge h a s t he ver y n a tura l a n d j ust de

ca t i n g h im
,

s i e of fu
r rt he r ed u un der h is own guida nce in
a m a n ne p opor t iona t e t o h is al rea dy a cqui ed i nform
r r a r

t io ; a n d t h e e c a n be n o d ou
n r bt t ha t if t he child is
fu t he r ed u
r ca t ed u de r t h e h ppy m et hod a n d sur ve il
n a

l a nce of his fa t he t he e should esul t t her e fr omsom

r, r e r

t h in g u n iqu e a nd gr ea t a nd wi th out inj ur y t o the ch ild s ’

,

li fe a n d h ea l th
In the S im ple v illa ge wher e t he fa m
.

ily now l ives it is

f t he fa t he s m ea ge i ncom e im
, , ,

o n a c cou nt o poss i ble t o

r
’
r ,

ob t a i n t he pp p i a t e ins t uct io in t hose bra nches of

a ro r r n

knowled ge which t he f t her does not h im s el f m

a a s t er It .

is t he e fo e t he fa t he s s i nc e es t wish t o con t i u e his

’
r r r r n

in som
, ,

so n e l ge c i ty n t he p a th o wh ich h has bee n

ar o n e

s t a t ed for a t le a s t t h ee m
r , or e ye a r s a d u n der h is p er
r n

so n a l s u pervi i N r ca
s on it be d oubt ed t h a t he t he
o n

lov i n g fa t her of his only so who has done so m

.
,

uch for n,

h is ch ild i fou yea rs wi t hout t h e leas t i nj ury t o h im

n r ,

will a lso be a ble t o use t o good a dv a t a ge t he t h re e n

ye a rs t o com e But t he m a nn e r i wh ich t h i is t o be n s

a ccom plished ca n n a t u a lly not be det er m

.

i ned by t he
r

v iews a n d p esc r ip t i ns o f thos e who ha v e no concep

r o

t i on o f t he n a t u ral a s well a s p u r e a n d t h orou gh edu

ca t ion al m
, ,

et hod of Dr Wi tt e . .

D W i tt e n eeds for t he execut ion o f his pl a n t he

r.
 Ka r l G oes to C o ll e g e

ass ured su mf o at lea s t hun d red a nd fi ft y dolla rs a

t wo
yea r for t he period of t hr ee yea rs If t hese t wo hun dred
.

a n d fi ft y d oll a rs c ou ld be gua ra n t eed , his pa r ents would

for t hr ee yea r s s t a y in Leip s ic , wh ile h is fa t he r s p a r is h
’

would m m
ea nwhile be a d i n ist e red a n d kep t for h i by m
m
so e bo dy el se , o r he wou m
ld he p ro ised a not her , or e m
p rofi t a ble on e by t he roya l Wes t ph a li a n Govern en t H e m .

cou ld use h is S t a y in Leips ic , outs ide of i ns t ruct i ng his

so n , p a r t ly for li t er a r y l a bo rs , p a r t ly a n d m
or e es pec i a lly

for t he i ns t ruc t ion of ot her people s ch ild r en , per h a ps

’

i nc ident a lly in or der t o i ns t ruct fut ur e ed uca t ors in h is

m et hod ; hence he coul d ev en in th is inci den t a l wa y ul m
t ip l y t he u s e ful ness o f h is s t a y her e .

The ques t i on is now whet he r our fell ow-c i t i zens will

re m a i n i n di ffer e n t a n d i na c t i ve l oo ke rs-o n o f t h i s p he

no m e n on , a n d will b e wi lli n g t o be a r t he a cc u sa t i on t h a t

t hey h a v e knowi n gly n e glec t ed t he cu l t i va t ion of such a

ra r e pl a nt.

m
In t he fir conv ic t ion t ha t such a t hi n g 13 un t h i n k a bl e
in t he c a s e o f t he n oble i nh a b i t a n ts o f Leips ic , we her e
m
wi t h i n v i t e t hos e who P rov iden ce ha s pl ac ed in a pos i
t i on t o fu r t he r s uch a bea u t i fu l wor k, t o a ss ur e by sub
sc r i p t i on t he su m o f a t le a s t t wo h u n d r ed a n d fi fty dol

l a rs fo r t hr ee yea rs t o youn g Wi tt e, for t his is t he only

con di t io n u n de r wh i ch h is p a r e n t s c a n p r op e rly con t i n ue
t hei r wor k her e in Le ips i c S i nce t he boy is now a ble,
m
.

o f cou rs e a cc o p a n ied by his fa t he r , t o a tt en d p rofi t a bly

se v e r a l m
a c a de ic lect ures, t he un ivers i ty has t o-da y
gr a n t ed t he young W i t t e t he r i ght of a ca de ic ci t i zen m
sh i p , fo r wh i ch , a ft er a s t r i c t exa m
ina t ion , he was found
m
en t i r el y a t ur e a nd c a p a ble .

KARL GOIT LOE KU E H N ,

Rect or of the U n ive rs i t y .

LE IP S IC, J a n ua r y 1 8, 1 81 0 .
2 96 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wit te
Instead of two hund red and fifty dollars t h e
generous peop l e of L eipsic soon su b sc ribe d
five hund red b esides offering me free qua r
,

ters and two stipends not counting what the,

King was going to do The condition wa s

.

t hat we shou l d stay in L eipsic I went wi th .

Kar l to Kasse l in o rder to obtain there the

,

necessa ry consent But the King was not there

. .

Th e ne x t mo rning I ca ll ed on M r von Leist . .

He had great p rejudices against me and my

son but soon became fond of him He ex
am
.
,

i n e d him for three hou rs and marv e l ed at ,

his know l edge and asked me about my meth

,

o d of instruction Above al l he decided that

.

the boy shou l d not go to L eipsic but shou l d ,

stay in the country Then he in v ited us to

.

dinner fo r the ne x t day and invited th e min ,

i s t e rs and counci l o rs o f state th en p resent i n

Kasse l to e x amine Kar l a few hou rs before
,
.

Both the Germans and the F rench were

high l y satisfied and a fter ho l d i ng counci l
, , ,

decided unanimous l y that the King should

supp l y me with what Leipsic had p romised ,

and that I shou l d with my son go to attend

the universi ty at Ha l le or G oe t t ing e n I flat l y .

r efused to go to H a l le and did not e v en agree

,
2 98 Th e E d uc a t i on f
o Ka r l Wit t e
I can repo rt m y son s p rogress
’
a s a uni v e r
s i ty s t udent in a fe w words : He continued

eve rything which he had b egun with me and

attended lectures at G oe t t ingen in company ,

with me In the first semester I took up only

.

two for him ancient histo ry with Hee ren and

, ,

natural sc ience with M aye r I b elieved t hat i n

.

connection with t h e latter he would soon se e

the necessi t y for studying mathematics a s i n , ,

spite of all the p repa ration and repetition ,

there occurred occasions in the lec t u res when ,

on account o f insu ffi cient mathematical train

in g he wa s not able to understand something
,
.

“
Afte r a lec t u re he once sa i d to me I d i d not ,

—
understand it I must study mathematics !
,
”

I p rovided fo r this at once The e x cellen t .

mathematic i an P rofessor F came t h at ve ry

,
.
,

evening and e x pl ained to him the di ffi cult

passage and immediately started to give him
,

a lesson in pure mathematics My son and I .

wi l l all ou r l ives respectfully and gratefully

remember this true friend .

It is we l l known that a l l the p rofesso rs were

very much satisfied with my son s indust ry ’

and p rogress I wi l l therefore quote only a

.
, ,

fe w of thei r testimonials although I ha ve t h e

,

o rigina l s of them al l
 Ka r l G oes to C ol l eg e 2 99

The youn g K Wi tt e has this win ter a tt en ded m

.
y lec
tu res in a n c ie n t hi st or y a n d geogr a phy I t est i fy t ha t he
n o t on ly has dil igen t ly a tt en ded t hem in com
.

p a n y wi t h
his fa t her but t ha t I ha ve a lso obs e rved in hima n a t
t e n t ion wh i ch p roceeded fr om
,

h is i nt e r es t in t he s ubj ect
a n d a powe r of conc ep t i on wh ich is r em a r k a ble for his

a ge . Woul d t ha t t hese m uch p rom is in g a p t i tud es m ay

be dev el oped in t he i r p rope r p r opor t i on s .

A H
. . L Ha nne x
. .

It gives m th
gre a t est ple asur e t o t es t i fy t o t he fact
e e

t ha t M r K a r l W i t t e n ot only a t t en ded m
.
y le c t ur es o f
n a tur a l sc ien ce wi t h u n a b a t ed ze a l a n d i n d u s t ry bu t t ha t
he a lso h as a cqui red s uch com plet e i nform
,

a t ion in a ll

t he t e a ch i n gs o f t h is sc ien ce a s fa r as I h a ve cove r ed it
in t hese lect ures t ha t a ft e r s eve r a l ex a m
,

in a t ions I ha ve
becom
, , ,

e fully con vinced o f t he a b il i ty wh ich t h is hope ful

yout h has a l rea dy shown in so m a n y ot he r t r i a ls of h is

s k ill .

J . T . M a ve n .

The e x cellent cond i t ion of h is health is

p roved b y the fact that he did not fall i l l tha t
winter fo r instead of two o r th ree hou rs h e
, , ,

had frequently to pass five and six hou rs i n

success ion at h is desk F ormerly he lived .

chiefly in the o pen n ow he worke d in th e ,

room After six months of trav el there fol

.

lowed six months of a b solute rest I did i n

deed take da ily walks wi th h imbut the win
,
.

, ,

ter wa s unusually ra i ny and stormy Ofte n .

30 0 Th e E d uca t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
we had to wander about in a terr i ble snow
sto rm i n order to get any exercise at all On
,
.

such days we used to be t he only pro menade rs

“
on the Rampart I f I can br in g him safely
.

“
th rough the winter I would sa y I shall , ,
”
have no further fear for his health Than k .

Heaven I succeeded in t his

,
.

As soon a s the E aster vac a ti on came we ,

both seized the wande r staff That sta rtled -

.

th e people for they expected th at I would u

,
se

the inte rm ission in o rde r to rev iew the l e e

tures with Karl and p repare him for th e com
ing lectu res but especially in order to v is i t
,

frequently the treasu re of Goe t ti nge n i ts l i ,

b ra ry Ou r friends were ki nd enough to

.

recommend that to me but they were also ,

sensib l e enou gh to l is te n to my counter re a -

sons .

“
I f it were my pu rpose to make an exh ib i
t i on of Karl I would stay he re But I do not
m
.
,

want to make a p rodigy of h i I want to .

take care of h is body th e expans ion of his ,

ideas and t he p reservation of h is good spi ri ts

,
.

”
He will have t ime to lea rn a lot .

In the second semester Karl attended Sch ra

’
der s lectures in botany and Thibaut s in
’

m a t hematics Here is the latter s test imonial :

.
’
 Th e E d uca t i on of Ka r l Wi i t e
vi s i ted t h e Bota n ical Garden My son wa s .

there with other students of bota ny Le ist no .

’
ticed him an d di rected t h e k i ng s a tte n t ion t o
him . The king wanted to speak with hi m
.

Morio quickly picked him out of the crowd

—
and p resented him and soon afterward me
,

,
—
also to b o t h of the royal personages The .

king con versed with us graciously for a long

time encouraged my son to fu rthe r indust ry
, ,

a n d assured him with t his condition of h i s

, ,

constant active p rotection No sooner had t h is

,
.

happened than the first ladies and gentleme n

,

of the court began to k iss the boy a s though ,

he had become another person Two general s .

led him be tween them as in a triumph until

m
, ,

the king stepped into his ca rriage Men fro .

his entou rage encou raged me now to ask fo r

t wo o r th ree hundred dollars of additional
stipend which would certainly not be refused
,
.

But I did not do so because I p referred

,

th roughout my life to retrench my wants ,

rather than b ecome t ro u b lesome by requ ests

of money o r o ffi ces .

In the t hi rd semester Karl took appl i ed

mathematics from Thibaut and na t ural h is
to ry from Blumenbach and if I am not m , ,
is
taken i t wa s that sam e wi n te r th at M r von
,
.
 Ka r l G oes to C oll eg e

Se ckendorf gav e lectures on m im i cry wh ich ,

we als o attended .

In th e four th semeste r chem istry from

S t rom
,

e i e r and w i th Thibaut s exp ress wish

’
, ,

mathematical analys is Here follows the testi .

monial in regard to this science which is ve ry ,

d i fii cul t for a boy not yet twel ve years old .

Mr Ka rl Witt e in the sum m er sem es t er o f 1 812 has

a t t e n ded m m
.

y le c t u es n a n a lyrs i s a nod h i g h e r ge o e t r y .

In s pi t e o f t he cons i dera ble d ifficu lt ies wh ich t he in

c e a se
r bot h in volum e a nd dep t h in the in ves t i ga t ion
f t hes e b r a nch es of t heor et ic a l m a t hem
, ,

o a t ies i nevi t a bly

b i ngs wi th it he has evi nced t he sa m

r e con t i n uous ih
s t ry t he s a m e const a nt a tt en t ion a s in his fo m
,

du er s tudy r

of t he elem en ts S peci a l exa m

,

i n a t ions bas ed on t hese

lec tures ha ve a fforded h ima dd i t iona l oppor t uni t y t o
.
,

give conclus i ve p oofs excl udi n g every doubt o f t he d ea r

r

ency a n d t horoughn ess o f t he i n form

,

n ess , flu , a t ion a c

qui ed as a lso of his a b il i t y t o give a clever expos it ion

r

f t h e sa m
,

e
mu
o .

B . Fa . T sa r .

In the fifth Karl attended M ayer s lectu res ’

on gon iometric instruments S t ronm

,

e i e r s on
’
,

reagents and the chemical apparatus Haus ,

mann s on mineralogical termino l o gy and sys

’

te m a t ol ogy and Thibaut s on d i fferent i a l a nd

’
,

i ntegral calculus .

During this w i nter my son w rote h is fi rst

 0
3 4 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wit t e
littl e work on higher mathemat i cs Th i b a ut .

had chosen the p roblem a nd had even c o n

c e a l e d the name of the resultin g cu rv e so th a t

Kar l could not find any informat i on about i t .

Yet the l i ttle work wa s everywhere recei ve d

favorably Many persons were pa rticularly
.

happy to get the instrument invented a n d ,

d rawn by my so n for the mechanical draw

,

i ng of the cu rv e because it p ro v ed most clea rl y

,

his quickness of perception h is know l edge o f ,

mechanics and his abil i ty in rep resentation

,
.

In the s ixth semester my son took p ractica l

geomet ry from Thi b aut theo ry of light and
colo rs from Ma ier F rench literatu re fro m
,

V i llers and mineralo gy from Hausmann In

,
.

the seventh semester he took political histo ry

from Heeren and reviewed anc ient h isto ry
w i th him .

Du ring the p rev ious summer Th ib aut h a d

declared to me that my son could lea rn n 0 th
ing more of him I had fo rmerly wished that
.

Kar l might repeat some of his mathematic a l

s t udies b ut Thibaut i nsisted that he knew
,

from the frequent tests that Karl had com

p l e t e l y mastered his mathemat i cs I had als o .

been opposed to his hav ing studied the ma t he

ma t ic a l b ranches especially the hi gher one s
, ,
30 6 Th e E d uca t i on o f Ka r l Witt e
trembled for Karl was only th i rteen years old
,
.

“ ” “
But P ro fessor I said there is much whic h
, , ,
” “
he will not understand ! Much ? No P os
s ib l y a litt l e in which case I can he l p h i m
.

.
,
”
But he will not have occasion to ask often .

Gaus too wa s right My son understood

, ,
.

nearly eve rything C agnoli he grasped com

.

p l e t e l y; the fe w passages I believe there were ,

“
th ree of them in P oisson s H igher Me
,
’

ch a n ic s ,
which he found obscure Gaus found
important enough to give him a written ex
p l anation o f them E ven this great schola r
.

has taken sympathetic interest in my son .

A l t hough Karl no longer studied unde r

Thibaut the latter did not lose sight of him
,
.

“ ”
L e t him do what he p l eases he once said ,
“
to me I am curious to se e what he will hit
,
”
upon . I then revealed to him that my son
wa s working on a plane trigonometry but this ,

was to be kept secret because he was no t yet ,

su re whether time and ci rcumstances would

a l lo w him to finish the wo rk Thibaut wa s .

“
ve ry g l ad to hear th is saying Le t him do , ,

what he pleases W hen th e work was fin

i sh e d he read it and app roved the whole but
, ,

censured a fe w things which Karl was grate ,

fu ll y an x ious to co rrect My son h a s perhaps .

, ,
 Ka r l G oes to C o ll eg e

never before worked w i th such joy powe r , ,

and e n du rance a s upon thi s self imposed tas k

,
-
.

The work appeared in 1 81 5 when we we re ,

l iving at Heidel b erg To my astonishme nt

.

I soon found a review of it by Thi b aut in ,

which he e v inced a totally d i fferent Sp i r i t

than before Instead of love th ere wa s hatre d
.
,

instead of fr iendly censu re harsh cr i ti cism in ,

stead o f a humane cons i derat ion fo r t h e

’
author s youth ( th i rtee n and a half years ,
“
which Thibaut pu rposely stated a s a b out s ix
”
teen ) b itter I may s a y b iting condemnat io n
, ,
.

Instead of rep resentation of its c l ear me a n

—
ing malicious perversion of it Thibaut h a s .

harmed us much by h is onslaught but we sh a ll ,

not forget h is fo rme r love .

I received from H is M ajesty a continuat ion

of th e pens ion fo r fou r mo re years with t h e ,

gracious pe rmission to use it wherever I found

it e x pedient to b e fo r t h e sake of my son In .

orde r to obtain th e a rrears of t h e last seven

mon ths we had to go to B ru nsw i ck where we
, ,

were introduced to t he duke although h e wa s ,

on the po int of leav i ng He spoke graciously

.

to us for a long time He tried to i mp re s s

.

upon my so n th e desi rabili t y of going to

E n gland where he would recommend h i
,
m
30 8 Th e E d uc a t i o n o f Ka r l Wi t t e
u rgently to his relati ves in order th at by th e i r
,

aid he might learn eve rything worth le a rnin g .

The part of t h e money which wa s d ue in

B runswick wa s paid out to me that ve ry day .

They were not l ess kind to me at Hanove r ,

b ut justl y wanted to have a p roof of my son s

, ,
’

kn owledge He had lately lec t ured to t h e

.

seniors at S alzwedel on mathematics and h is ,

lectures had there been recei ved with gre at

app roval b y the most e x cellent men He of .

fe re d to do something like it here and merely ,

asked for the themes These were given to

.

him from ( 1 ) alge b ra ( 2 ) geometry ( 3 )

, ,

ana l ytics ( 4 ) analytical tr igonometry ( 5 )

, ,

differential ca l cu l us ( 6 ) integral calculus

,
.

He gave his l ecture on the thi rd of May 1 81 4 , ,

in the great auditorium of the Gymnasium .

The greatest scho l ars of the ci ty were p res

ent They knew that my son had received th e
.

themes on the p rev ious day and that he had

been out in society until late at night He .

spoke with perfect ease and yet so clearly and

,

in such exce ll ent German that several persons

p resent wa l ked back of the desk because it ,

seemed impossible to them that he should b e

ab l e to speak so we l l without reading it off a
paper They smiled when t hey found they
.
3 1 0 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
ch em ica l Oper a t ions a n d a n a lyses en tr ust ed to mi hi n th e
lect ures a s well a s by t he el a bo a t ion of r chemi l ca ub
s
j ect s given himfor hom
,

e in ves t iga t ion .

Du Fa . . Sn ow m a n.

D ur i ng th is semeste r we talked togeth er te

g arding what he was to study in the future .

I f it had been my intention to make him fa

m ous in a b rief time I would have allowe d
h imto continue to wo r k i n mathemat i cal
,

physics chemist ry natural h isto ry and mine r

, , ,

alogy for in all these sciences he was equally

,

far advanced But I wa s afraid that the deep

.

in v estigations connected with these might not

b e good for h is tender years Moreover i f h e .
,

p roceeded on the path on wh i ch he had be gu n ,

he would have to become a p rofessor and ,

that was not in confo rmity w i th my wish So .

I dec ided th at he should culti v ate o ther fields

of h is mind wh i ch heretofore had been lying
,

fallow and that later in his e ighteenth year

, , ,

he shou l d choose h is vocation for himself Ac

co rd in g l y I p roposed diplomatic s to hi m
.

where he would have to beg in w i th law His .

fo rmer studies had p repared him excellently

for diplomatics hence eve rybody agreed with
,

me as to this plan Only Thi b aut wh o for

.
,
 Ka r l G oe s to C ol l eg e

merly had urged me on to this mo ve now wa s ,

sorry that h is sc ience wa s going to lose my

“
so n
. He can return to i t later I replied , ,
“
fo r he is sti l l ve ry young I f he is dissatisfied
.

”
with law he will certainly retu rn to i t
,
.

During a jou rney to W etzla r several mem

bers of the ph i losophical faculty at Giessen
had a long and thorough con versat ion with
my son Then we were inv ited to dinner by
.

the then Dean the well know n P rofesso r

,
-

S chaumann and here we found a se l ect com

,

pany S uddenly all raised thei r glasses d ran k

.
,
“
my son s hea l t h calling him doctor noster
’
, ,

and the Dean w i th a hearty em b race handed

, ,

him the following paper si gned by h imself .

All persons p resent wept tears of joy .

I H F r C arolo W itte Docto ri Nostro !

. . .
,

My b eloved young fr iend !

L ike all the pu b lic I ha v e long known of
,

you But it is only in these happy days t hat I

.

have l earned objectively h ow able you are ,

what you have b ecome al ready I have .

learned it with sincere joy God h a s blessed .

the rare e ffo rts of your worthy father He is .

a father who rejoices in h is son !

“
My esteemed colleagues and I share this
3 1 2 Th e E d uc a t i o n f
o Ka r l Wit t e
paternal joy W e wish publicly to honor you
.
,

my friend and you r father through you

,
.

Hence I give you the o ffi cia l notice that

the philosophical facu l ty yesterday voted
unanimous l y to bestow the degree o f doctor of
phi l osophy upo n you and to send you the
,

dip l oma as soon as i t is p rinted .

“
It gi ves me rare p l easu re to be the first to
‘
ca ll to you S a l ve doctor noste r l S al ve salve
doctor c a r issim
, , ,

el

Here are the words of the d i ploma

“
To the youth who is al ready a man by
,

e ducation of amiab l e modesty

,
— i n orde r at ,

the same time to honor with the son the father ,

to whom the son owes eve rything the degree ,

and rights of docto r of philosophy and so ,

forth to the honor of our un ivers i ty e tc

, ,
.
,

Ap ril 1 0 ,

In M a rbu rg Ul l mann the e l der and h is col

,

lea gues were ve ry happy a t the honor con

ferred on Kar l Ul l mann assu red me that if it
.

had not happened at Giessen the Universi ty ,

o f Marburg would have given him t h e same

degree .