children, that he did not have recourse to them through anger, but that their use occasioned no less distress to him than to themselves.

His mode of instruction partook of the character of his discipline. Both were marked with the simplicity of nature. He had none of the ordinary apparatus of teaching, not even books. Himself and his pupils were all. The result was, that he abandoned the common, artificial systems of instruction, and gave his whole attention to the original elements of knowledge, which exist in every mind. He taught numbers instead of ciphers, living sounds, instead of dead characters, deeds of faith and love instead of abstruse creeds, substances instead of shadows, realities instead of signs. He led the intellect of his children to the discovery of truths, which, in the nature of things, they could never forget, instead of burdening their memory with the recollection of words, which, likewise, in the nature of things, they could never understand. Instead of building up a dead mind and a dead heart, on the ground of the dead letter, he drew forth life to the mind and life to the heart, from the fountain of life within; and thus established a new art of education, in which to follow him requires, on the part of the teacher, not a change of system, but a change of state.' 'In the midst of his children, he forgot that there was any world besides his asylum. And as their circle was a universe to him, so was he to them all in all. From morning till night he was the centre of their existence. To him they owed every comfort and every enjoyment; and, whatever hardships they had to endure, he was their fellow-sufferer. He partook of their meals, and slept among them. In the evening he prayed with them, before they went to bed; and from his conversation they dropped into the arms of slumber. At the first dawn of day, it was his voice that called them to the light of the rising sun, and to the praise of their heavenly Father. All day he stood amongst them, teaching the ignorant, and assisting the helpless; encouraging the weak, and admonishing the transgressor. His hand was daily with them, joined in theirs; his eye, beaming with benevolence, rested on theirs. He wept when they wept, and rejoiced when they rejoiced. He was to them a father, and they were to him as children.'

The views of Pestalozzi were enlarged and matured by the experience which he thus acquired. He verified the effects of sincere love in subduing the most rebellious, and reducing his almost savage pupils to regular discipline and habitual order. Seventy or eighty children, whose dispositions were of the most unpromising character, were converted, in a short time, into a peaceful and happy family circle. Their tempers were meliorated, their manners softened, their health improved, and their whole appearance so changed, that it was almost impossible to recognise them as the same persons, whose haggard and stupid faces had formerly been noticed by every visiter at the asylum. These good effects, however, were not produced at once. At first, he made his pupils feel the advantage of order and obedience; and then led them on, step by step, to adopting it in their own conduct. Nothing was imposed as a task; nothing was bound down by fixed rules; no slavish submission was required. He taught the reasons of his plans as he went along. If some disorder arose from inattention to little things, he he would say to them, ،، You see now how all this great disorder has come upon us by a trifling neglect. Does not this show that in so large a household every little matter should be carefully attended to?" At other times, if it became necessary to correct a child for some bad habit, he would say to him; "It is not on your account only, that I must desire you to leave off this practice, but on account of the other boys also, who might learn it from you, and so might acquire a habit, which it would be very difficult for them to conquer. And do you not think, that you yourself would not get rid of it so easily as you now may, if you saw others doing the same thing, so that you would be constantly tempted by their example?"

He wished to give to his establishment the character of a family, rather than of a public school. He often related to his pupils naratives of a happy and well-regulated household; and endeavoured to awaken their hearts to a sense of the blessings which men may bestow upon each other by the exercise of Christian love. He taught this, whenever he could, by examples taken from real life. Thus when Altorf, the capital of the canton of Uri, was laid in ashes, having informed them of the event, he suggested the idea of receiving some of the sufferers into the asylum. 'Hundreds

of children,' said he, are at this moment wandering about, as you were last year, without a home, perhaps without food or clothing. What should you say of applying to the government, which has so kindly provided for you, for leave to receive about twenty of these poor children among you?' 'Oh, yes!' exclaimed his pupils, yes, dear Mr. Pestalozzi, do apply, if you please.' 'Nay, my children,' replied he, 'consider it well first. You must know I cannot get as much money as I please for our housekeeping; and if you invite twenty children among us, I shall, very likely, not get any more for that. You must, therefore, make up your minds to share your bedding and clothing with them, and to eat less and work more than before; and if you think you cannot do that readily and cheerfully, you had better not invite them.' 'Never mind,' said the children; though we should be not so well off ourselves, we should be very glad to have these poor children among us.'

But the prosperity which Pestalozzi here enjoyed, proved to be of short duration. Before the expiration of a year from the commencement of his undertaking, Stantz was taken by the Austrians, and he was obliged to abandon his experiment at the very moment of its greatest success. This took place in the summer of 1799. He was now exposed to the ridicule of many, who had always derided his plan as visionary and enthusiastic; and to whom he was prevented, by this untimely removal, from giving the evidence of facts in demonstration of its excellence. His disappointment and sufferings on this account were severe. Depressed and unhappy, he retired into the solitude of the Alps, and amidst the rocks and steeps of the Gurnigal, sought rest for his weary soul, and health for his exhausted nerves. But he could not long remain inactive. The enjoyment of the majestic scenes of nature among which he was placed, and the kindness and sympathy of a friend named Zehender, soon restored him to a cheerful state of mind; and he descended from the mountains, determined to resume his experiment, from the point where it had been cut short at Stantz. The Helvetic government at this time made him a grant of about £30 a year, which, in 1801, was raised to £100, but was stopped entirely in 1803 by the dissolution of the government. This was barely sufficient for his own subsistence, and the small remains of his private fortune were absorbed in the maintenance of his family.

In the autumn of 1799, by the advice of his friends, Pestalozzi removed to Burgdorf, an ancient Swiss city, in the canton of Berne, where, after several unsatisfactory attempts, on a small scale, to carry his plans into execution, he at last succeeded before the end of the year in opening an establishment, which, in 1800 numbered twenty-six pupils, and, in 1801, thirty-seven. About one third of these were sons of representatives of different cantons in Switzerland, a part belonged to wealthy tradesmen and agriculturists, and the rest were children of respectable families reduced in their circumstances, who were placed by their friends under the care of Pestalozzi. The expenses of this undertaking were defrayed, at first, by a loan, which he was afterwards enabled, with great difficulty, to repay. But it would have been impossible to continue the institution, had not the Helvetic government voted him, in addition to the grant before mentioned, an annual supply of fuel, and a salary of £25 each, to two of his assistants, Kruesi and Buss, who, however, generously declined receiving it themselves, but devoted it to the general funds of the institution, from which they received nothing but their board and lodging.

At this time, Pestalozzi published a work at the request of his friend Gessner, at Zurich, under the title of 'How Gertrude teaches her Little Ones,' in which he gave an historical account of his experiments up to that period, and a general outline of his principles of education. This book made a very favorable impression upon the public; it excited a greater attention to his plans; confirmed the hopes of his friends; and convinced many of the soundness of his ideas, who had heretofore regarded them as wild speculations. The current of popularity now set so strong in his favor that he was chosen in 1802 as one of the deputies to Paris, pursuant to a proclamation of the French consul, to frame a new constitution for Switzerland. He now made his appearance again as a political writer, and presented his views on the state of the country, and the means of improving it, in a pamphlet, entitled View of the Objects to which the Legislature of Switzerland has chiefly to direct its Attention.' The moderate and liberal opinions expressed in this publication, and the wisdom of the proposals which it suggested, conciliated the best men of all parties, and offended none but the few who cherished an extravagant and bigoted attachment to the ancient order of things.

In the mean time, the fame of his establishment had spread itself throughout Switzerland, and attracted the attention, among others, of several young men, who came to Burgdorf, some with the intention of becoming more thoroughly acquainted with the system, that they might turn it to account in their own purposes, and some to aid Pestalozzi in the accomplishment of his plans. Among the latter, was a young clergyman, named John Niederer, who had long venerated the character of Pestalozzi, as the author of 'Leonard and Gertrude'; and who, after a personal acquaintance with him of about a year, became so much interested in his views, that he gave up his living, and a small boarding-school which he had formed in his house, and devoted himself entirely to the promotion of Pestalozzi's designs. The assistance of this person was of the greatest service to Pestalozzi.

'Niederer possessed qualities which rendered him eminently fit for participating in so important a work. His mind, early accustomed to soar above the systems and creeds of men, had penetrated through the clouds of learning, and through the veil of the letter, to the brightness of true wisdom, to an apprehension of the substance. He was distinguished by universality, clearness, and precision of ideas, and by an uncommon power of abstraction. Facts had no value, in his estimation, but so far as they led to principles; and he distinguished, with eagle eye, the hollow metaphysics of the sophist, from the plain, though emblematic, language of truth. The assistance of such a man was essentially necessary to Pestalozzi, whose genius was, like the dark summer-cloud, pregnant with light, but incapable of emitting it except in sudden flashes, separated by intervals of deep obscurity. With all the anxiety of one who carries an unborn universe within his bosom, Pestalozzi was never able, often as he attempted it, to explain himself fully and clearly to others, or even to himself. His language, especially on abstract subjects, resembled the wavering glimmer of a lamp through the gloom of the forest, which, while it presents to the eye a few objects in a transient light, harasses the imagination by a thousand changeable shapes and shades, moving to and fro through the nightly mist. Niederer, on the contrary, who was not endowed with that creative genius which would call a world of new ideas into existence, possessed, in an eminent degree, steadiness of vision, depth of thought, acuteness of judgment, and perspicuity of expression. Pestalozzi discerned and appreciated in him these gifts; he saw at once that Niederer was the man, who, like a miner, would