Vigor of the Early Romans — their Virtues and Vices; their Rigorous Laws; their Defective Education; their Contempt of Labor. — Slavery: its Horrors and Brutalizing Influence. — Education Confined to the Arts of Politics and War; it transformed Courage into Cruelty, and Fortitude into Stoicism. — Robbery and Bribery. — The Vices of Greece and Carthage imported into Rome. — Slaves construct all the great Public Works; they Revolt, and the Legions Slaughter them. — The Gothic Invasion. — Rome Falls. — False Philosophy and Superficial Education promoted Selfishness. — Deification of Abstractions, and Scorn of Men and Things. — Universal Moral Degradation. — Neglect of Honest Men and Promotion of Demagogues. — The Decline of Morals and Growth of Literature. — Darwin’s Law of Reversion, through Selfishness to Savagery. — Contest between the Rich and the Poor. — Logic, Rhetoric, and Ruin.[263]
CHAPTER XXIII.
EDUCATION AND THE SOCIAL PROBLEM — HISTORIC.
THE MIDDLE AGES.
The Trinity upon which Civilization Rests: Justice, the Arts, and Labor; and these Depend upon Scientific Education. — Reason of the Failure of Theodoric and Charlemagne to Reconstruct the Pagan Civilization. — Contempt of Man. — Serfdom. — The Vices of the Time: False Philosophy, an Odious Social Caste, and Ignorance. — The Splendid Career of the Moors in Spain, in Contrast. — Effect upon Spain of the Expulsion of the Moors. — The Repressive Force of Authority and the Atrocious Philosophy of Contempt of Man. — The Rule of Italy — a Menace and a Sneer. — The work of Regeneration. — The Crusades. — The Destruction of Feudalism. — The Invention of Printing. — The Discovery of America. — Investigation. — Discoveries in Science and Art.[278]
CHAPTER XXIV.
EDUCATION AND THE SOCIAL PROBLEM — HISTORIC.
EUROPE.
The Standing Army a Legacy of Evil from the Middle Ages. — It is the Controlling Feature of the European Situation. — Its Collateral Evils: Wars and Debts. — The Debts of Europe Represent a Series of Colossal Crimes against the People; with the Armies and Navies they Absorb the Bulk of the Annual Revenue. — The People Fleeing from them. — They Threaten Bankruptcy; they Prevent Education. — Germany, the best-educated Nation in Europe, losing most by Emigration. — Her People will not Endure the Standing Army. — The Folly of the European International Policy of Hate. — It is Possible for Europe to Restore to Productive Employments 3,000,000 of men, to place at the Disposal of her Educators $700,000,000, instead of $70,000,000 per annum, and to pay her National Debts in Fifty-four Years, simply by the Disbandment of her Armies and Navies. — The Armament of Europe Stands in the Way of Universal Education and of Universal Industrial Prosperity. — Standing Armies the Last Analysis of Selfishness; they are Coeval with the Revival during the Middle Ages of the Greco-Roman Subjective Methods of Education. — They must go out when the New Education comes in.[289]
CHAPTER XXV.
EDUCATION AND THE SOCIAL PROBLEM — HISTORIC.
AMERICA.
An Old Civilization in a New Country. — Old Methods in a New System of Schools. — Sordid Views of Education. — The highest Aim Money-getting. — Herbert Spencer on the English Schools. — Same Defects in the American Schools. — Maxims of Selfishness. — The Cultivation of Avarice. — Political Incongruities. — Negroes escaping from Slavery called Fugitives from Justice. — The Results of Subjective Educational Processes. — Climatic Influences alone saved America from becoming a Slave Empire. — Illiteracy. — Abnormal Growth of Cities. — Failure of Justice. — Defects of Education shown in Reckless and Corrupt Legislation. — Waste of an Empire of Public Land. — Henry D. Lloyd’s History of Congressional Land Grants. — The Growth and Power of Corporations. — The Origin of large Fortunes, Speculations. — Old Social Forces producing old Social Evils. — Still America is the Hope of the World. — The Right of Suffrage in the United States justifies the Sentiment of Patriotism. — Let Suffrage be made Intelligent and Virtuous, and all Social Evils will yield to it; and all the Wealth of the Country is subject to the Draft of the Ballot for Education. — The Hope of Social Reform depends upon a complete Educational Revolution. [307]
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE MANUAL ELEMENT IN EDUCATION IN 1884.
The Kindergarten and the Manual-training School one in Principle. — Russia solved the Problem of Tool Instruction by Laboratory Processes. — The Initiatory Step by M. Victor Della-Vos, Director of the Imperial Technical School of Moscow in 1868. — Statement of Director Della-Vos as to the Origin, Progress, and Results of the New System of Training. — Its Introduction into all the Technical Schools of Russia. — Dr. John D. Runkle, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, recommends the Russian System in 1876, and it is adopted. — Statement of Dr. Runkle as to how he was led to the adoption of the Russian System. — Dr. Woodward, of Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., establishes the second School in this Country. — His Historical Note in the Prospectus of 1882-83. — First Class graduated 1883. — Manual Training in the Agricultural Colleges. — In Boston, in New Haven, in Baltimore, in San Francisco, and other places. — Manual Training at the Meeting of the National Educational Association, 1884. — Kindergarten and Manual-training Exhibits. — Prof. Felix Adler’s School in New York City — the most Comprehensive School in the World. — The Chicago Manual-training School the first Independent Institution of the Kind — its Inception; its Incorporation; its Opening. Its Director, Dr. Belfield. — His Inaugural Address. — Manual Training in the Public Schools of Philadelphia. — Manual Training in twenty-four States. — Revolutionizing a Texas College. — Local Option Law in Massachusetts. — Department of Domestic Economy in the Iowa Agricultural College. — Manual Training in Tennessee, in the University of Michigan, in the National Educational Association, in Ohio. — The Toledo School for both Sexes. — The Importance of the Education of Woman. — The Slöjd Schools of Europe.[328]
CHAPTER XXVII.
PROGRESS OF THE NEW EDUCATION — 1883-1899.