p. 60Appendix

Frederick Ii., or the Great, King of Prussia in the middle of the eighteenth century, was an unbeliever, and the friend of Voltaire and other unbelievers. Nevertheless he had no confidence in men of his class, for he frequently said that he would not trust himself to servants who had no religion, since he could not consider his life secure in their hands. He was well aware that a thoroughly religious training is necessary to make virtuous men and good citizens. He therefore promulgated a school law for the whole kingdom of Prussia on Aug. 12, 1763, under the title of General Landschul-Reglement, i. e., a “General School Law for the Land.” This remarkable law remained in full force until the year 1872, and may be considered as one of the chief causes which raised Prussia so high among the great powers. Since its partial repeal in 1872 the Protestant portions of Prussia have been invaded by Socialism, which threatens sooner or later to disrupt the Prussian Empire. We will now give a few extracts from this excellent law of Frederick the Great, to show in what consists religious training in school.

Throughout the whole of the aforesaid document Frederick insists on the necessity of a Christian education. Before all else, he says, “the true fear of the Lord must be cultivated in the heart of the child. Other useful things,” such as reading, writing, and arithmetic, “are to hold only a secondary place in the school.” “The children are bound to go to school so long as they do not know the essentials of the Christian religion.” After leaving school they shall still be obliged to “assist both in the church and in the school at the repetitions which the teachers and the pastors are to make to them on Sundays.” There shall be daily six hours of school—three in the morning and three in the afternoon. The first morning hour shall be devoted to religious instruction. The teacher shall open school by making the pupils sing a hymn, and then shall follow “the morning prayer, which shall be recited by the teacher himself or by a pupil appointed by him. All the children shall recite devoutly, in the presence of God, the formulas of the prayers which they have learned by heart. The pupils who come late shall remain at the door lest they disturb the others in their prayers.” The prayers being over, the teacher shall explain a passage of the catechism, and shall show the children how they should put into practice the truths which they have learned. At the end of the morning session he shall again exhort the pupils to prayer, and after the prescribed prayers and the monthly psalm have been recited he shall dismiss the pupils for dinner.

The afternoon session, like that p. 61of the morning, shall begin with a hymn and the monthly psalm. The first hour shall be devoted to the explanation of the Bible, the second hour to the study of the Christian doctrine, and the third hour to reading and arithmetic. On Saturdays during the first hour the children shall repeat the sentences, psalms, and hymns which they learned during the week; then the teacher shall relate some biblical anecdotes, and read to the pupils the epistle and gospel which the pastor is to explain on Sunday in the church during divine service. In fine, “he shall exhort them to employ the Sunday well, to be quiet and respectful in church, and to listen attentively to the Word of God.”

This ordinance furthermore requires that “the teacher shall strive to be by his whole conduct a model for the parish, and shall beware of destroying by any misconduct on his part the fruits of his teachings. He shall cultivate true piety, and shall carefully shun whatever might scandalize his pupils or their parents. He should, before all, be careful to acquire the science of God and of Christ. Thus will he lay the foundations of an honest life, and become competent to discharge all his duties as teacher; and he will, both by his zeal and example, greatly contribute to his pupils’ welfare in this life, and to their endless happiness in the next.”

“Before opening their classes,” continues the ordinance, “the teachers shall prepare themselves by fervent prayer, beseeching the Dispenser of all divine gifts and blessings to grant them wisdom and patience. Moreover, they shall pray the Lord to give them a paternal heart, in which severity is tempered with love. Thus they shall cheerfully fulfil all the obligations incumbent on Christian teachers. They shall bear in mind that without the aid of Jesus, the Friend of children, they can effect nothing, and cannot even win the hearts of their pupils. They shall also during class raise their hearts to God, that He may bless their zeal and grant the increase to what they sow and water, for in children all good is achieved only through the grace of God and the agency of His Spirit.”

“The teacher,” says the ordinance in another place, “shall cause the children to understand that p. 62selfishness is the source of all sin. He shall point out the deformity of sin; he shall crush stubbornness and obstinacy, punish lying, insults, disobedience, anger, etc., as often as he shall be convinced that such faults have been committed. In punishing the pupils he shall carefully avoid getting into a passion and uttering violent language; on the contrary, he shall then proceed with quite a paternal moderation, shunning equally effeminate leniency and excessive severity. In serious cases he shall not inflict punishment without previously consulting the pastor. On Sundays the teacher shall assemble the children and lead them to church; there he shall watch over them. He shall note the absentees, and cause all present at divine service to behave respectfully, sing piously, and listen attentively to the sermon, so as to be able to give an account of it in school on the following day.” It was in this admirable manner that Frederick the Great intended the school-teacher to complete the work of the parents, and to help the clergy in the Christian education of the children.

The foregoing ordinance was drawn up for the Protestant schools of Prussia. On Nov. 3, 1765, Frederick II. published a similar ordinance for the Catholic schools of his kingdom, with, of course, the necessary changes to suit the Catholics. In it he, among other things, speaks as follows: “We designedly enter into no details concerning the Christian doctrine which the priest and the teacher shall teach the children: we refer this point to the directions which the Vicar-General of Breslau will publish.” Thus the great Frederick, though an unbeliever himself, intended that the statutes of the ecclesiastical authority regarding Catholic schools should have the force of law, and that the education of the children should, above all, be Christian in its very nature. Some Catholic parents would do well to reflect seriously on this.