8. But the greatest lesson that Pestalozzi taught is embodied in the word love. He loved little children, he loved the distressed and lowly, he loved all his fellow-men. By the spirit which actuated him, by the methods of instruction employed, by a life of disappointment and apparent failure, by the appreciation of his service after he had gone to his rest, by the accelerated growth of his teachings throughout the world, he more closely resembles the Great Teacher than any other man that has ever lived. Dr. Harris says, "He is the first teacher to announce convincingly the doctrine that all people should be educated,—that, in fact, education is the one good gift to give to all, whether rich or poor."[148] Hence there is no character in educational history more worthy of study and more inspiring to the teacher than Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi.
FOOTNOTES:
[133] In regard to the criticisms made against him at Burgdorf, Pestalozzi says: "It was whispered that I myself could not write, nor work accounts, nor even read properly. Popular reports are not always entirely wrong. It is true I could not write, nor read, nor work accounts well."
[134] "Life, Work, and Influence of Pestalozzi," p. 17.
[135] Both Quick and Krüsi give this letter in full.
[136] "Schoolmaster in Literature," pp. 83-110.
[137] See Krüsi, p. 28, for an account of his appointment.
[138] "Pestalozzi," p. 36.
[139] "Encyklopädisches Handbuch der Pädagogik," Vol. V, p. 315.
[140] "Encyklopädisches Handbuch," Vol. V, p. 319.