The Great Didactic of John Amos Comenius/The Great Didactic/Chapter 23
CHAPTER XXIII
THE METHOD OF MORALS
1. So far we have discussed the problem of teaching and learning the sciences and the arts with greater readiness. We should, however, bear in mind the remark of Seneca (Epist. 89): “We ought not to learn these things, but rather to have learned them.” They are, indeed, nothing but a preparation for more important matters, and as he says, “our beginnings, and not our completed works.” What then is our true work? It is that study of wisdom which elevates us and makes us steadfast and noble-minded—the study to which we have given the name of morality and of piety, and by means of which we are exalted above all other creatures, and draw nigh to God Himself.
2. We must therefore see how this art of instilling true virtue and piety may be elaborated on definite system, and introduced into schools, that we may with justice be able to call them the “forging-places of humanity.”
3. The art of shaping the morals is based upon the following sixteen fundamental rules:
(i) All the virtues, without exception, should be implanted in the young.
For in morality nothing can be omitted without leaving a gap.
4. (ii) Those virtues which are called cardinal should be first instilled; these are prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice.
In this way we may ensure that the structure shall not be built up without a foundation, and that the various parts shall form a harmonious whole.
5. (iii) Prudence must be acquired by receiving good instruction, and by learning the real differences that exist between things, and the relative value of those things.
A sound judgment on matters of fact is the true foundation of all virtue. Well does Vives say: “True wisdom consists in having a sound judgment, and in thus arriving at the truth. Thus are we prevented from following worthless things as if they were of value, or from rejecting what is of value as if it were worthless; from blaming what should be praised, and from praising what should be blamed. This is the source from which all error arises in the human mind, and there is nothing in the life of man that is more disastrous than the lack of judgment through which a false estimate of facts is made. Sound judgment,” he proceeds, “should be practised in early youth, and will thus be developed by the time manhood is reached. A boy should seek that which is right and avoid that which is worthless, for thus the practice of judging correctly will become second nature with him.”
6. (iv) Boys should be taught to observe temperance in eating and in drinking, in sleeping and in waking, in work and in play, in talking and in keeping silence, throughout the whole period of their instruction.
In this relation the golden rule, “Nothing in excess,” should be dinned into their ears, that they may learn on all occasions to leave off before satiety sets in.
7. (v) Fortitude should be learned by the subduing of self; that is to say, by repressing the desire to play at the wrong time or beyond the proper time, and by bridling impatience, discontent, and anger.
The principle which underlies this is that we should accustom boys to do everything by reason, and nothing under the guidance of impulse. For man is a rational animal, and should therefore be led by reason, and, before action, ought to deliberate how each operation should be performed, so that he may really be master of his own actions. Now, since boys are not quite capable of such a deliberate and rational mode of procedure, it will be a great advance towards teaching them fortitude and self-control if they be forced to acquire the habit of performing the will of another in preference to their own, that is to say, to obey their superiors promptly in everything. “Those who train horses aright,” says Lactantius, “first teach them to obey the reins,” and he who wishes to instruct boys should commence by accustoming them to obey his orders. We may indeed cherish a hope that the turmoil with which the world is overwhelmed will be replaced by a better condition of affairs, if, in early youth, men learn to yield to one another and to be guided by reason in all that they do.
8. (vi) The young should learn to practise justice by hurting no man, by giving each his due, by avoiding falsehood and deceit, and by being obliging and agreeable.
Boys must be trained to act in this way, as we said above, by the method prescribed in the following canons.
9. (vii) The kinds of fortitude that are especially necessary to the young are frankness and endurance of toil.
For since life must be spent in intercourse with others and in action, boys must be taught to look men in the face and to meet honest toil without flinching. Otherwise they may become recluses and misanthropes, or idlers and cumberers of the earth. Virtue is practised by deeds and not by words.
10. (viii) Frankness is acquired by constant intercourse with worthy people, and by behaving, while in their presence, in accordance with the precepts that have been given.
Aristotle educated Alexander in such a manner that, when twelve years of age, he could suit himself to every kind of society, to that of kings, of the ambassadors of kings and of nations, of learned and unlearned men, of townsmen, of countrymen, and of artisans, and could ask suitable questions or give suitable answers on any subject that arose in conversation. In order that the young who are subjected to our comprehensive scheme of education may learn to imitate this, rules for conversation should be written, and the practice of them, by daily intercourse with tutors, schoolfellows, parents, and servants, should be insisted upon; masters also should take great care to correct any tendency to carelessness, forwardness, boorishness, or coarseness.
11. (ix) Boys will learn to endure toil if they are continually occupied, either with work or with play.
It makes no difference what is done, or why it is done, if only the boy be occupied. Much can be learned in play that will afterwards be of use when the circumstances demand it. It is by working, therefore, that we must learn how to work, just as we learn how to act by acting (as we saw above); and in this way the continued occupations of mind and body, in which, at the same time, all over-pressure must be avoided, will produce an industrious disposition, and make a man so active that sluggish ease will be intolerable to him. Then will be seen the truth of Seneca’s words: “It is toil that nourishes noble minds.”
12. (x) The cognate virtue of justice, or promptness and willingness to serve others, must be diligently cultivated in the young.
The abominable vice of selfishness is inherent in our corrupt nature, and through it each man thinks of nothing but his own welfare, and troubles his head about no one else. This is a great source of confusion in life, since all are occupied with their own affairs and neglect the common good. The true object of life must therefore be diligently instilled into the youth, and they must be taught that we are born not for ourselves alone, but for God and for our neighbour, that is to say, for the human race.
Thus they will become seriously persuaded of this truth and will learn from their boyhood to imitate God, the angels, the sun, and the more noble of things created, that is to say, by desiring and striving to be of service to as many as possible. Thus will the good fortune of private and of public life be assured, since all men will be ready to work together for the common good, and to help one another. And they actually will do so if they have been properly taught.
13. (xi) Virtue must be inculcated at a very early stage before vice gets possession of the mind.
For if you do not sow a field with good seed it will produce nothing but weeds of the worst kind. But if you wish to subdue it, you will do so more easily and with a better hope of success if you plough it, sow it, and harrow it in early spring. Indeed, it is of the greatest importance that children be well trained in early youth, since a jar preserves for a long time the odour with which it has been imbued when new.
14. (xii) The virtues are learned by constantly doing what is right.
We have seen in chaps. xx. and xxi. that it is by learning that we find out what we ought to learn, and by acting that we learn to act as we should. So then, as boys easily learn to walk by walking, to talk by talking, and to write by writing, in the same way they will learn obedience by obeying, abstinence by abstaining, truth by speaking the truth, and constancy by being constant. But it is necessary that the child be helped by advice and example at the same time.
15. (xiii) Examples of well-ordered lives, in the persons of their parents, nurses, tutors, and school-fellows, must continually be set before children.
For boys are like apes, and love to imitate whatever they see, whether good or bad, even though not bidden to do so; and on this account they learn to imitate before they learn to use their minds. By “examples,” I mean living ones as well as those taken from books; in fact, living ones are the more important because they make a stronger impression. And therefore, if parents are worthy and careful guardians of domestic discipline, and if tutors are chosen with the greatest possible care, and are men of exceptional virtue, a great advance will have been made towards the proper training of the young in morals.
16. (xiv) But, in addition to examples, precepts and rules of conduct must be given.
In this way imitation will be supplemented and strengthened (on this point the reader may refer to our remarks in chap. xxi. canon ix.) Rules of life should therefore be collected from Holy Scripture and from the sayings of wise men, and should deal with questions such as: “Why should we strive against envy?” “With what arms should we fortify ourselves against the sorrows and the chances of life?” “How should we observe moderation in joy?” “How should anger be controlled?” “How should illicit love be driven out?” and similar questions, according to the age of the pupil.
17. (xv) Children must be very carefully guarded from bad society, lest they be infected by it.
For, owing to our corrupt nature, evil clings to us readily. The young must therefore be carefully shielded from all sources of corruption, such as evil society, evil conversation, and worthless books (for examples of vice, whether they make their entrance through the eyes or through the ears, are poison to the mind). And finally, sloth should be guarded against, lest through idleness the young be led to evil deeds or contract a tendency to indolence. The important thing is that they be kept continually employed either with work or with play. Idleness should never be permitted.
18. (xvi) Since it is impossible for us to be so watchful that nothing evil can find an entrance, stern discipline is necessary to keep evil tendencies in check.
For our enemy Satan is on the watch not only while we sleep, but also while we wake, and as we sow good seed in the minds of our pupils he contrives to plant his own weeds there as well, and sometimes a corrupt nature brings forth weeds of its own accord, so that these evil dispositions must be kept in check by force. We must therefore strive against them by means of discipline, that is to say, by using blame or punishment, words or blows, as the occasion demands. This punishment should always be administered on the spot, that the vice may be choked as soon as it shows itself, or may be, as far as is possible, torn up by the roots. Discipline, therefore, should ever be watchful, not with the view of enforcing application to study (for learning is always attractive to the mind, if it be treated by the right method), but to ensure cleanly morals.
But of discipline we will treat more particularly in chap. xxxi.