Methods of Jesuitical schools
On the subject of emulation, as made use of in the schools of the Jesuits, Painter gives us these thoughts: “The Jesuits made much of emulation, and in their eager desire to promote it they adopted means that could not fail to excite jealousy and envy. Says the Plan of Studies: ‘He who knows how to excite emulation has found the most powerful auxiliary in his teaching. Let the teacher, then, highly appreciate this valuable aid, and let him study to make the wisest use of it. Emulation awakens and develops all the powers of man. In order to maintain emulation, it will be necessary that each pupil have a rival to control his conduct and criticise him; also magistrates, questors, censors, and decurians should be appointed among the students. Nothing will be held more honorable than to outstrip a fellow student, and nothing more dishonorable than to be outstripped. Prizes will be distributed to the best pupils with the greatest possible solemnity. Out of school the place of honor will everywhere be given to the most distinguished pupils.’”[142]
As the Colossus of Rhodes stood astride the Greek waters, so the Jesuit schools spanned the gulf of education. One foot stood in Greece amidst its classics (for “Aristotle furnished the leading text-books”), the other on Christian soil, having the form of godliness; but like the demigods of Greece, it was neither human nor divine. The results of the educational system of the Jesuits are well summed up in another paragraph from Painter:—
“The Jesuit system of education, based not upon a study of man, but upon the interests of the order, was necessarily narrow. It sought showy results with which to dazzle the world. A well-rounded development was nothing. The principle of authority, suppressing all freedom and independence of thought, prevailed from beginning to end. Religious pride and intolerance were fostered. While our baser feelings were highly stimulated, the nobler side of our nature was wholly neglected. Love of country, fidelity to friends, nobleness of character, enthusiasm for beautiful ideals, were insidiously suppressed. For the rest, we adopt the language of Quick: ‘The Jesuits did not aim at developing all the faculties of their pupils, but merely the receptive and reproductive faculties. When the young man had acquired a thorough mastery of the Latin language for all purposes; when he was well versed in the theological and philosophical opinions of his preceptors; when he was skillful in dispute, and could make a brilliant display from the resources of a well-stored memory, he had reached the highest points to which the Jesuits sought to lead him. Originality and independence of mind, love of truth for its own sake, the power of reflecting and of forming correct judgments, were not merely neglected, they were suppressed in the Jesuits’ system. But in what they attempted they were eminently successful, and their success went a long way toward securing their popularity.’”[143]
Wherein Jesuit schools worthy of imitation
One can not condemn without reserve the Jesuitical system of education; for all false systems contain some points of truth, and the strength of all these systems lies in their close counterfeit of the true. Hence we can agree with these words: “Whatever its defects as a system of general education, it was admirably suited to Jesuit purposes, and in some particulars it embodied valuable principles.” As the progress of the papacy through the Jesuitical schools is followed into one country and then another, one admires the constancy and self-sacrifice of those who have committed their lives to the order. Had Protestants been one half as diligent in advocating the principles of Christian education as the Jesuit teachers have been in counteracting the influence of the Reformation, far different results would to-day be seen in the world.
Spread of Jesuit schools
In tracing the growth of the schools of the Jesuits we begin with Germany, the heart of the reform movement, and follow quite carefully the history as given by Ranke: “Bishop Urban became acquainted with Le Jay and heard from him, for the first time, of the colleges the Jesuits had founded in several universities.
Jesuit college in Vienna