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direct its gradual development. A study of the extraor- dinary religious, social, and educational comlitions, at the time the institute was founded hy dc la ."^alle. will show the peculiar character of the diiliculties he had to encounter and overcome. Jansenism had gained the ascendency in France and spread broadcast its pernicious doctrines; it fostered internal dissensions and promoted Gallicanism, to the great detriment of the Faith and of loyalty to the Holy See. In the social order, a spirit of exaggerated independence was abroad, contemning authority or thrusting it aside. When such conditions prevailed in the upper classes, one may well ask, what must have been the condition of the masses? The incessant foreign and internal wars, with their consequent evils, told with disas- trous effect upon the people. Exorbitant demands on the part of army officials, the violence of the soldiery, the rapine of supervisors, the wholesale plunder of crops, followed by famine and ruin, left whole provinces of France imder the weight of terrible sufferings and untold misery. The peasants fre- quently had no bread, and when they hail it the cir- cumstances were such as to deprive them of any hope of sustenance for the morrow. Even when the gloom of intestine turmoil had been momentarily brightened by the splendid victories abroad, the sad effect of the glory of the reign of Louis XIV made the mourning in cottages only the more bitter owing to the loss of the loved ones on foreign battlefields. Evidently, morals among the masses under these dire circum- stances were threatened with ruin, as were the social and economic conditions; for false doctrines were spread and took hold among the people, destroying their faith and stultifying their consciences. Schools there were, but they were poorly attended and shame- fully neglected. The children and the people generally were ignorant, and vice, according to contemporary authorities, was rampant among all classes. De la Salle carefully studied these conditions and, moved to compassion for the poor, resolved to improve their social and moral status. The founder grasped the situation and proposed as a remedy, popular free schools thoroughly graded and supplied with zealous teachers, who would implant in the hearts of the children the germs of those virtues that would tend towards the regeneration of both the pupUs and the parents. He saw that a religious congregation com- posed of enlightened men, eager for the salvation of souls, could alone stem the tide of irreligion, vice, and ignorance. He clearly perceived that, in the pecidiar conditions which surround any institute at the period of its origin, the work proposed to be done shotdd em- body in its ends the special requirements of the age in which it originates. He also foresaw that, while the guiding spirit of such an institute must ever remain fundamentally the same, its scope, as a permanent organization working for the welfare of humanity, should have the character of a social force answering to the needs and conditions of any age and country.

The various educational reforms which de la Salle introduced prove that he legislated wisely. The courses of study for elementary free schools, technical schools, and colleges are evidences of his broad culture and wide grasp of educational jsroblems. Hence, if the needs of a certain locality called for special branches, or if the times and conditions demanded certain advanced studies, de la Salle was not slow in responding nor in giving these subjects a place com- mensin-ate in importance with their educational value. De la Salle, furthermore, displayed his genius in giving his institute a distinctive character, that of a teaching body, consecrated to the work of popidar education. Thus he became the author of a .system of p.sychologic pedagogy which inohided the essential principles adopted by later workers in the Held <if ediieational reforms, notably by Feslalozzi, l'"riilicl, IIiTliart, and others. In making the vernacular the basis of all in-

struction, de la Salle appealed to the intelligence of the child, prepared the way for the study of national liter- ature, and opened up to the grown man those avenues of real knowledge and delight that had hitherto been closed against the eager multitude. With true scien- tific insight he perceived the absurdity of retaining Latin texts to teach the art of reading. For this change he gave the following reasons: (1) The teach- ing of the art of reading, in primary and elementary schools, through the vernacular, is of greater and wider utility than by Latin texts. (2) The vernacular is more easily taught to children, who already possess some knowledge of it, than the Latin of which they are wholly ignorant. (3) It requires considerably less time to learn the art of reading through the vernacu- lar, than through a foreign tongue. (-1) The boys and girls attending the primary and elementary schools, can spend only a few years under instruction. Now, if they are taught reading from a Latin text, they gen- erally leave school without being able to read the vernacular, and with only an imperfect knowledge of how to read the Latin. Hence, they will soon forget the little they have learned, and, perhaps, even how to read the vernacular. (5) Reading is one of the most efficacious means of acquiring knowledge. With due care in the selection of books, children who can read in the vernacular could spread the Christian doctrine in the family circle, and, on evenings, read some useful or instructive books to the assembled household; whereas, if they could read the Latin only, without understanding it, they would be deprived of many valuable benefits resulting from the intelligent reading of a good book. (6) It is impossible for children in primary and elementary schools to master the reading of Latin texts, because they are not acquainted with its subject-matter. It is, therefore, the part of wisdom to train children thoroughly to the intelligent reading of works written in the vernacular. Thus, having mastered the art of reading in the vernacular, a few months would suffice to make them read the Latin fluently, whereas, if the traditional method were fol- lowed, it would require at least several years [Annales de I'Institut, I (18S3), pp. 140, 141].— This fact proves that de la Salle was a profound tliiuker, a genius in the work of popular education. He embraced all classes, all conditions of society. By making the free schools popular, he grasped the growing needs of society in his own day and for all times. No phase of the educa- tional problem escaped his penetrating vision.

As de la Salle is especially identified with the "Si- multaneous Method" of teaching, an explanation of the method and its liistory wiU prove of interest to the educator. By the " Simultaneous Method " the pupils are graded according to their capacity, putting those of equal attainments in the same class, giving them the same text^books, and requiring them to follow the same lesson under one and the same teacher. This method has best stood the test of time and experience, and is that which the Brothers of the Cliristian Schools employ in all grades of instruction even at the present day. " Like all fruitful ideas, the " Simultaneous Method " is not the exclusive property of any one man. Others besides de la Salle disocrneil it's value, and even partially apphed its essential jirinciijlcs, long before the founder of the Christian Schools made it live in his institute. It had no place in the university system of the Middle Ages. The plan adopted in those times was that which prevails to a great extent in the universi- ties of our own day, namely, listening to lectures, tak- ing notes thereon, and holding disputations upon the subject-matter. The Jesuits organized each class in sulxli visions; each division being headed by an ad- vanced pupil called a decurion, to whom the boys re- cited their lessons at stated times, while the teacher corrected exercises or heard the lessons of particular pupils. The whole class afterwards received explana- tions from the teacher. St. Peter l''ourier (1565-