I paid a visit also to the Albergo de’ poveri, or Reclusorio, as it is sometimes called. It contains a deaf and dumb school, not confined to those in the poor-house, but receiving other pupils labouring under these deficiencies. The number is about forty. Others perhaps could, but only one lad did actually speak to me. The instruction seems to be good, but perhaps a little metaphysical. Thus, in order to show that spongia and gialla form but one idea, the pupil is directed at times to mix the letters, writing them s g p i o a n, l g l i a a. The Lancasterian school here is not good: the master scolds and threatens. The monitors beat the negligent pupils with a bat, on the hand, and they seemed to do it with thorough good will, the master paying no sort of attention to their proceedings. The same bat is also frequently applied to their posteriors. The number of the school is 360, but the actual attendance falls short of 300, although all the pupils reside in the house. It is a great disadvantage, that as soon as a boy has made some progress, he is transferred to a superior school, of which there are four within the house. In the second school (which, on the usual plan of the Italian schools is in reality a single class), one lad was called out to me, who read very well a portion of sacred history, but he did not know to what nation Samson belonged, and it seems that they are never questioned at all as to the meaning of what they read. One pupil, who was I suppose, at least eighteen, understood the rule of three and fellowship, but he was shown me as something wonderful, and was sensible of the extraordinary proficiency he had made. Another lad of about the same age was sent here by his father as incorrigible at home. Neither master nor pupil seemed to think much of this, till some observations of mine made the latter ashamed of himself. After all he was a quiet, modest looking lad, and the accusation against him was of impertinence, so that I cannot help suspecting his father might be as much in fault as himself. In the third school there was a similar offender of perhaps twenty years of age, who told me that it was only a colpa di gioventù, and that he was not at all ashamed of it. Formerly there were other schools “fin alla filosofia,” but the upper branches are now lopped off. One for drawing is still retained, and there is a theatre in the establishment.
From the Lancasterian schools, I will proceed to those of the Frati Cristiani, which is, I believe, an order similar to that which has been denominated in France Frères Ignorantins. I am told that there is a very good school of this sort at Orvieto, but I did not call upon the master at a time proper to see it in action. The school of this nature of which I have seen the most, and the one also which appears to have attained the highest reputation, is that at San Salvadore in Lauro, at Rome. On my first visit, the superior received me rather kindly than politely, and seemed pleased with the interest I took in the establishment. There are four schools, or classes, each in a separate room; the lowest contains about one hundred and twenty boys under one master; they were all occupied in reading the same thing in succession, the master frequently interrupting the regular order, in order to keep alive the attention; just as in the class of a good Bell’s school. Nothing but reading is here taught, and the children must at least know their letters before they come. There are about eighty pupils in the second school, who are learning reading, writing, and the four first rules in arithmetic, in their simple forms. I saw only the writing, which is good. The pupils of the third class are about eighty or ninety. The subjects of instruction are the same, with the addition of the compound forms of these rules. In the fourth class there are about eighty lads of from fourteen to eighteen. Arithmetic is carried farther, and some idea given of geometry. The writing is far better than any thing I saw at Florence. There is also a school of architecture, or at least a room for that purpose, but it is not in operation. In all these schools the boys are divided into two parties in order to excite emulation. This practice is almost universal in Italy, and emperors, consuls, and dictators, are appointed among the leading boys, and in this school there are also decurions, whose business it is to correct the errors of the others. The two parties are here called Romans and Carthaginians; and the master did me the favour to fix a day on which I might be present at a contest between them. It was merely in reading; indeed the practice here does not seem to be extended to other branches of instruction. The conditions at first were easy, and gradually became more strict, when the omission or insertion of a stop, or the repetition of a word was fatal, the culprit being considered as a dead man. On the whole I was much pleased, but rather surprised to see lads of eighteen or nineteen at a school of this sort. It appears that this institution has a high reputation for teaching writing and arithmetic; and boys frequently come here for a year on that account, after they have received the rest of their education elsewhere. The dictator too, I suspect to have been one who had left the school, and that the master engaged him to come in order to make a better exhibition.
On another occasion the master directed the repetition of certain pieces which the pupils had learnt by rote. Those who were prepared with any such, were requested to hold up their hands, and many were immediately raised. The pieces were short, and after each, the number of candidates seemed to increase. The subjects were various; history, natural history, wonders, morals; no poetry. In general the repetition was too quick, but in other respects very fair.
There are three Scuole Pie at Rome, i. e. not three separate establishments, but three large classes, each having its own room and its own master, but forming altogether what we should consider as one school. It is required that every child should be able to read and write before he comes. In the first class they are improved in reading, and taught the first rudiments of Latin grammar. In the second, Latin grammar to the end of the accidence. In the third, syntax, and construing in writing, Cicero’s letters. The instruction at this establishment used to be carried to a greater extent, but the French appropriated the site and the means, and these have not been restored to them, nor are, I suppose, likely to be, as the Jesuits grasp at everything relating to education, and those who desire further instruction are referred to the Collegio Romano, which is under the direction of that society. The master in each school, having no other assistance, does sometimes avail himself in a small degree of that of the elder boys, but the separation into distinct schools renders it impossible to make this very effective. The pupils are also sometimes set to question one another, but these are book questions and book answers. The whole number of pupils falls short of two hundred.
The Scuole Pie at Florence form a much more important establishment. The number of pupils is between eight and nine hundred. There are six schools of “lettere,” that is, of Latin and Italian grammar and composition; one of writing; two of arithmetic; besides which there are lectures or lessons (something between the two) on geometry, natural philosophy, the higher branches of mathematics, and their application to mechanics and to astronomy; and also on rhetoric and the belles lettres, the text book for which is our Blair. One cannot see such an establishment at a glance, nor can one very well, at least without forming a decided intimacy with some of the professors, poke one’s nose into every corner, and examine all the good and bad details and results of the system. As it was, I thought while I was cross-questioning the Padre Rettore and four professors, on various points of instruction and discipline, what some of the Dons of our own great schools would have replied to similar interrogations. Here is sometimes a professor of theology, but they had lost one some time ago, and had not yet supplied his place. These professors have lodging, food, and clothing, as monks, but they are not paid for teaching. On the contrary, Padre Georgi, professor of natural philosophy, applied some time ago for an allowance for the expenses of his course, and the purchase of instruments, &c., and an annual sum of ten pounds was assigned him, while his expenses are forty or fifty. Inghirami, the mathematical professor, is considered as one of the first mathematicians in Italy. I will not however, enter into the detail, even of the comparatively small part of the establishment which I personally examined, but give you an account, on the authority of the Padre Rettore, of a practice in use here, which with some modifications, seems to be very general in Italy, and at which I have already hinted. The scholastic year begins in November; the pupils then, poor things, come into the school, as they did into the world, naked and without honours or dignities. During the first month they gain diligenze, for saying their lessons well, which are noted in a book, and a boy who has obtained any of these, may immediately begin to play with them, betting as many diligenze as he pleases with another boy, that he will perform a task or a lesson better or in less time than the other; and of this the master is the judge. On the 1st of December, he who has most diligenze becomes emperor of the Romans; the second is emperor of the Greeks; the third Roman consul; the fourth Greek consul, and so on through the names of many other offices. After this the individual bettings still continue in some degree, but the great contest is between the two parties. On one occasion the poor Greeks lost all their diligenze; they then staked their titles, and were reduced to the condition of privates; the last resource was their seats in the school; and losing these, they were obliged to perform all their lessons standing. They were however so much excited, that they soon acquired new diligenze by their lessons, and renewing the contest, regained in about two months all they had lost. The first thing that strikes one here is, that it must form a set of gamblers; but by fixing the result of each contest to the loss and gain of a small number of diligenze, or in a struggle of parties, to the loss or gain of a fixed number of diligenze to every member of each party, this would I think be obviated; and perhaps if not for a permanency, yet it might in a degree be occasionally imitated with advantage. A young lad from the Conte Bardi’s school, whom I had engaged to copy some writing for me, had previously been in a school where these parties were called Romans and Carthaginians. He had been principe Romano, and his imagination was evidently much excited. He preferred this school to the Lancasterian, and thought he learnt more rapidly. The merit of this plan seems to me to consist in this, that it interests the elder boys in the improvement of the younger.
As my object has rather been the schools of the poor than the rich, I have not paid much attention to those of a more finished character. In the Collegio Romano, the two parties are called Romans and Carthaginians; and my informant (for I did not visit it) had been emperor of the latter. There is an examination every month, generally depending on the translation of some Latin author. The first boy is princeps principum; the second, princeps senatûs; the third, princeps juventutis. Then come five or six principes designati; as many principes majorum gentium; then principes minorum gentium. The studentes primæ notæ, classis prima follow, the same classis secunda and classis tertia; and in like manner those secundæ notæ and tertiæ notæ. At last come the pupils nullius notæ, which is a great disgrace, and a distinct seat in the school is assigned them, as being unworthy to mix with the rest. Any boy may challenge any other of the class immediately above him, and a princeps designatus may challenge any one of the three superior principes, and these challenges are frequent, and keep up a strong emulation in the school. After a lad has occupied for a certain time the situation of one of the superior principes, he becomes a dictator, in order to leave an opening for the younger students. A dictator may be challenged, but does not lose his rank till he has been twice defeated.
A society of young men, who themselves undertake the various branches of instruction, have lately formed a new institution at Florence, for the purpose of education. The object is perhaps partly to provide for themselves, but partly also from a sincere desire to introduce a more perfect method. The director questioned a little boy eight years old on the metaphysics of grammar, and he answered in a manner which I should not have thought possible in such a child. The replies were doubtless from memory, for it was impossible he should understand so abstruse a subject; but the questions were very much varied, and his answers were not by rote, or in a set form of words, but the subjects of the lessons he had heard, must have been combined by the boy himself. Notwithstanding this successful display, I thought the mode of instruction too abstract and metaphysical. Natural history and natural philosophy were at first included in the course, but these have since been abandoned, because the Florentine mothers were alarmed at the idea of their children becoming materialists. I will not trouble you with the details, but I rather mention this establishment as one which exemplifies the present Italian, or rather Tuscan, system of education. It fixes a high standard of excellence, and in part attains it. It loves to see the tree flourish in a good soil, to grow large and strong; but it must not take its natural form, but that which man gives it. The Italian teacher is eager to adopt and explain the improvements in every science and every art; but even in so doing he is not without perhaps an unconscious tendency towards his own power and consequence. He would enlarge the premises in order to diminish the desire of rambling; he would lengthen the chain, that the impatience of his pupils may never break it; but still there must be a chain or a boundary. He guides the thoughts in every direction towards which they shew a decided tendency, in order that the pupil may never trust to his own sagacity, or find out the way for himself. I multiply my comparisons, because I feel that I do not yet fully explain myself. Nor is it very easy to make myself understood on the subject. If I were to state this to an Italian, he would plead that young people are taught to reflect and to think for themselves; and I in return should say that this is the very thing of which I complain. They are taught to think, in order that their thoughts may never wander from the beaten track. Yet I must confess that at the age of ten or twelve, we are all so much creatures of imitation and instruction, that it is difficult to determine any deficiency on this head, and still more difficult to prove it; and one cannot examine the older pupils so freely, even if the professor permitted it, and the order of the schools were such as to give us an opportunity. Is this at all intelligible to you? and does it seem in any degree to account for the want of originality in the present Italian character?
LETTER LXI.
LUCCA—GENEVA.
Geneva, 3rd July, 1818.
I left Pisa for Lucca on the 19th of May. The road is very good, and I may add very pleasant, entering the plain of Lucca through the pass by which the Serchio quits it. The valley of Lucca is very flat, looking like a lake which has been filled up; and in fact, if the Serchio breaks its banks, great part of it is overflowed. There are in the city, some vestiges of a Roman amphitheatre, which has determined the direction of some of the present streets; but the principal architectural objects are the churches. Many of these are very curious buildings. All of them more or less imitations of the cathedral of Pisa; smaller indeed in size, but some among them are decidedly superior in the proportions and disposition of the parts. The architects are supposed to have been disciples of Busketus, and we must fix their dates in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. To begin with the Cathedral dedicated to St. Martin; the body of which is said to have been built in the eleventh century (Trenta, Guida del Forestiere per la città e il contado di Lucca), while the portico was added in 1204 and 1233, and the choir completed between 1308 and 1320. There are two inscriptions on the front, one in the portico ‘Hoc opus cepit fieri ab Elenato et Aldibrando operariis, A. D. MCCXXXIII; and one among the ornaments of the part above the portico, ‘Condidit electi tam pulcras dextra Guidecti, MCCIV.; from which you may conclude if you please, that the upper part was erected before the lower. I give the honour of the design to Guidectus, and suppose the operarii to have been employed on the sculpture and ornament, some of which was executed by Nicola da Pisa. In front, there is a porch of three large, semicircular arches resting on piers, which are adorned with small shafts. Within this porch, against the wall of the church, is a range of smaller arches, three of which are occupied by as many doorways. Each doorway has an enormous architrave enriched with figures, and a cornice. Over the three large arches of the porch are three ranges of smaller arches resting on little columns variously ornamented; the upper range extending only as far as the front of the clerestory. It was probably intended to add a gable ornamented in the same manner with columns and arches; but this has not been executed, and the building at present terminates abruptly. Perhaps on the whole, if completed, it would have formed the finest example of any in which this style of architecture was fully displayed. There is a great deal of carving, and of inlaying of black and white marble over the whole. On the inside, pilasters grouped together, make a bundled pier. Some obtusely pointed arches are introduced; but in general, the arches are semicircular. Each arch of the nave supports two well proportioned arches above, forming a very lofty triforium; these arches are now filled in with tracery, but this is an addition: there was no tracery in the original design. The windows of the aisles are very small; they are narrow and pointed. In the clerestory, a small, circular window occurs over each pair of the arches of the triforium. This sparing introduction of light I have noticed to you on various occasions, both in Italy and the South of France. The transept is badly managed, the upper part being separated from the nave, as in the cathedral at Pisa. This perhaps may be considered as a proof of antiquity, yet in other places we find the transept fully displayed in the twelfth, and perhaps in the eleventh century. An inscription at the back of the choir gives us the dates of 1308 and 1320, but this can only apply to some alterations and repairs, which may be distinguished without difficulty; for the whole of the outside is otherwise of the style of the front, but more simple.