While corporal punishment was allowed, it was generally administered by an official disciplinarian. It was seldom used, however, the discipline being mild and humane.
Criticism of Jesuit Education.—As to the efficiency of the instruction in the Jesuit schools, opinions widely differ. Bacon and Descartes indorse it in highest terms, while Leibnitz, Voltaire, and others are equally strong in its condemnation. Bacon remarks, "As to whatever relates to the instruction of the young, we must consult the schools of the Jesuits, for there can be nothing that is better done." Leibnitz, on the other hand, says, "In the matter of education, the Jesuits have remained below mediocrity." Ranke, in speaking of the success of the Jesuit schools, says, "It was found that young persons learned more under them in half a year than with others in two years."
Mr. Quick says: "I have said that the object which the Jesuits proposed in their teaching was not the highest object. They 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 point to which the Jesuits sought to lead him."[72] Some critics of the Jesuits claim that they lack in originality of thinking, and that they neglect training in the power of forming correct judgments. They have produced, however, many great men.
Summary.—Summarizing the educational work of the Jesuits, the following would appear to us to be just:—
1. Their educational system was by far the most efficient and successful of any during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries.
2. This, however, applies only to higher education, as primary education was not undertaken by them.
3. They made their schools interesting, and learning pleasant. Their work was thorough, their consecration complete, their success as teachers marvelous, they being the greatest schoolmasters of their time.
4. They produced a course of study, the Ratio Studiorum, which lays principal stress upon the humanities and religious instruction.
5. They taught the necessity of trained teachers, and developed a remarkable power and tact in the work of instruction and school management.
6. They made use of emulation as a means of stimulating ambition,—a principle that tends to arouse the baser motives, and which is therefore to be used guardedly.