“Let us ordain,” he says, “that all children, girls as well as boys, girls from five to eleven, and boys from five to twelve, shall be educated in common, at the expense of the State, and shall receive, for six or seven years, the same education.”
In order that there may be complete equality, their food, like their instruction, shall be the same; even more, their dress shall be identical. Does Lepelletier then desire, in his craze for equality, that girls shall be dressed like boys?
460. The Child belongs To the Republic.—The idea of Lepelletier is that the child is the property of the State, a chattel of the Republic. The State must make the child in its own image.
“In our system,” he says, “the entire being of the child belongs to us; the material never leaves the mould.” And he adds, “Whatever is to compose the Republic ought to be cast in the republican mould.”
Lepelletier imposes on all children, girls and boys, the same studies,—reading, writing, numbers, natural morality, domestic economy. This is almost the programme of Condorcet. But he adds to it manual labor. All children shall be employed in working the soil. If the college has not at its disposal enough land to cultivate, the children shall be taken out on the roads, there to pick up stones or to scatter them. Can we imagine, without smiling, a system of education, in which our future advocates and writers are to spend six years in transporting material upon the highways?
461. Absolute Gratuity.—The colleges in which Lepelletier sequesters and quarters all the children are to be absolutely free. Three measures were proposed for covering the expense: 1. tuition paid by parents in easy circumstances; 2. the labor of the children; 3. the balance needed furnished by the State. But is there not just a little of the chimerical in counting much on the work of children of that age?
462. The Rights of the Family.—Lepelletier takes but little account of the rights of the family. However, notice must be taken of that idea which Robespierre thought “sublime,”—the creation, at each college, of a council of heads of families, entrusted with the oversight of teachers and their children.
463. Saint-Just.—Saint-Just, in his Institutions républicaines, maintains opinions analogous to those of Lepelletier. He admits that the child belongs to his mother till the age of five; but from the age of five till death he belongs to the Republic. Till the age of sixteen boys are fed at the expense of the State. It is true that their food is not expensive. It is composed of grapes, fruit, vegetables, milk-diet, bread, and water. Their dress is of cotton in all seasons. However, Saint-Just did not subject girls to the same régime. More liberal on this point than Lepelletier, he would have them brought up at home.
464. The Romme Law (Oct. 30, 1793).—Romme was one of the most active members of the committee on public instruction. He was the principal author of the bill which the Convention passed in October, 1793, the principal articles of which were conceived as follows:—
“Art. 1. There are primary schools distributed throughout the Republic in proportion to the population.