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Leader (1850-1860), 16th June 1860, Edition 1 of 2, Page 571, GODWIN'S HISTORY OF FJIANCE.*

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    • M. GUIZOT'S MEMOIRS.*
    • GODWIN'S HISTORY OF FJIANCE.*
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      Untitled Article

      faeturin" - and commercial country , must in future do so by increasing ' and perfecting herself in steam power , and mechanical as well as artistic skill j—and this she is doing . . V .. ¦ , „ . The direction in which these powers must be applied will in future be most readily ascertained by periodical exhibitions , in which lier productions will be ranged side by side with those of her foreign competitors . But our intention is not now to enter upon the discussion of the question of whether Exhibitions are wanted , and how far England would be able to compete with her rivals in trade , but rather to inform our readers that the Society , having already secured the necessary funds to cover the costs of the proposed Exhibition , has taken the next step for ensuring the holding of future Exhibitions . The Society has , we understand , applied to the Itoyal Commissioners for the necessary site upon which to erect the

      building , a portion of which it proposes shall , be of a permanent character ; and in order to justify the necessary expenditure , it requires , and will no doubt obtain , a ninety-nine years' lease of the sixteen acres of land which appear to be reserved by the Commissioners for the purpose of exhibitions , a reservation most judicious , for , unless the land purchased by them out of the surplus funds of the Exhibition of 1851 is thus applied , it is difficult to see in what way they could publicly justify themselves before the contributors of the £ 67 ? O 00 of money subscribed and paid by the public in 1849 to 1850 , and which forms a portion of the surplus of which they are the trustees , in entering" upon a land speculation .

      The Society of Arts , in 1851 , forbore ' . to press its claims for a portion of the profits to which , as the originators of the 'Exhibition , they were in equity fully entitled , and the Royal Commission bearing in mind that fact , will doubtless be most anxious to co-operate with and assist the Society in carrying to a successful issue the plans which ifc has now put forward .

      Untitled Article

      IN dealing with the subject of public instruction , M . Gnizofc insists much cm its laic character , as qualifying the existing state of intelligence and science / The clergy no longer possess undisputed control of individual minds . Lay-students now cultivate-the field of moral science not less effectively . M . Guizot states that in France' they h = ivo almost , entirely appropriated mathematics and natural philosophy . Eeaifliing has become secular . Greater liberty has been required and acquired by the masters of thought in return for- the new powers they had placed" at the disposal of society . It is thei opinion of M . Guizot , that intelligence and science will never again become essentially ecclesiastical .. IsTever again can they be subjected to direct and positive authority . Governments must trust to simple influence , and should seek to draw towards them the powers devoted to literary labour , with tlxe leaders of science and literature .

      . The possibility of establishing in England a minister ofPublic Instruction was debated in IS 18 . Our public seminaries , elementary schools , colleges , and universities were passed in review . These were so many accomplished faqls , —existing things . The proposed institutions are as yet only organized on paper , aiid might never rise above it . The question whether they would increase , fructify , md . liv-ft , cijuUl wt-. be satisfactorily answered . The variety and isphttion of our existing establishments ensures the liberty to which thej r owe their origin . The religious element in them was also defended , on the ¦ ground that the excellence of intellectual instruction consisted in its intimate connection with moral development . In France

      historical documents which . tlie ' student will find eminently useful . The translation is well accomplished by Mr . Cole , whose style has all the elegance of the original .

      assured of maintaining their suitable and elevated character , ' —the worship of the Beautiful , and its manifestation in the eyes of men . If Leonardo da Vinci and Michael-Angelo had not been scholars , passing their lives in the learned world" of their age , their influence , and even their genius could never have , displayed themselves with such pure and powerful effect . " ' M . Guizot has an entire chapter devoted to " Elementary Education . " A force is comprised in national education which will not suffer itself to be strangled , and which , therefore , the Government sought to turn to its own advantage . Between 1821 and 1826 , eight royal decrees , countersigned by M . Corbier , minister of tlxe Interior , authorized in fourteen departments religious associations , honestly devoted to elementary instruction , and thus established , in point of fact , a certain number of new schools . The great question

      at last was , whether such instruction should be compulsory , should be an obligation imposed by Jaw on parents , and supported by specific penalties in case of neglect , as adopted in Prussia and in the greater portion of the German States . In England no such compulsion is even thought of ; it is , however , practised in the United States of America . M . Guizot adhered to the English practice . Then came the question of free primary instruction j but on this there could be no doubt . The State , says M . Guizot , is bound to offer elementary instruction to all families , and to give it to those who have not the means of paying for it . Within certain limits the sentiment of ambition should be encouraged , aspiring spirits should be honoured . The ambition for intelligence should be provided for ; but the education of the teachers themselves is an important point . Hence the svstern of primary normal schools .

      In elementary schools , the sentiment of religion ought to be habitually present . The public , however , dreaded above all things the influence of the priests and of the central power . But M . Guizot adheres to his proposition , that direction is required for instruction , and a restraint within due bounds , which only the Church and State can impose . The education of the people has become an absolute necessity ; the more expedient therefore , in his opinion , that it should be regulated by constituted authority . He was resisted by Count de la Montalembert and the Abbe Lacordaire , whoopened a public school without requiring any authority from the minister of Public Instruction , the head master of the "University , They were accused and condemned for their presumption , but their trial and defence miade a sensation—vjjry inconvenient to M . Guizot , who has no very gracious ., terms'for the Abbe , whom he suspects of having been possessed by an . 'inward- demon . It is somewhat amusing to see how heartily a man of talent can abuse a man of genius . Tliere are also some interesting remarks pnM . AugusteComte .

      As minister of Public Instruction , ihere can be no doubt that M . Guizot pursued fin-upright and conscientious course , as became a Protestant and saccm . One of his merits consists in the importance which he attached to historical studies . Special professors were named in the University for history and geography . Though security was taken against the introduction of politics , historical teaching nevertheless became suspected . M . Guizot , however , pursued his object with ardour , and gave his influence to all similar undertakings . Thus he ¦ lent his assistance at once to the Society of the History of France , whose labours have been of immense importance to the archse ^ lo' -ist . The . latter half of ' this volume is occupied with .

      no such argument is possible ; for there the ancient establishments of public instruction have disappeared;—the donors and the property , the corporations and the endowments .- There , . accordingly , a general system , founded and supported by the State , is an absolute necessity . The legislators of France regard public instruction as M . de Talleyrand regarded it , —as " a power which embraces everything , from tlie games of infancy to the most imposing fetes of the nation ; everything calls for a creation \ n this brunch ; its essential dharactorintio ought to bo uniccrsitlUy , whether in persons or things . The State must govern theological studios as wollaa all others . Evangelical morality is the noblest present which the Deity has bestowed on man;—the French nation does honour- to itself in rendering this homage . "

      Such are the distinctive traits which distinguish France and England in this particular . This subject of public instruction , and the question of education , continues to be debated in the present volume . They run like golden threads through the entire fabric of tho book . We shall , therefore , select them for the topics of this article . It was found difficult in France to replace the departed establishments . It is true tho Institute was founded , but thero was no great and effective combination of public teaching . Napoleon , notwithstanding tho creation of Lyceum * , recognised the difficulty . Ho felt that , in tho present day , tlio educational department should bo

      laical , social , connected with family interests and property , and intimately united , save only in thuir special mission , with civil order and the nuiss of thoii follow-citizwiiH . With thin sentiiiKmt , ho founded tlie university . It , was once connected \ vitli tUe Church ; but when J \ l . Guizot accepted the Ministry of Public Instructinii , ho required , m a Pn . testunt , that it should bo separated from that of worship , . and domnnded for it . its natural privileges and limits . But tho Fine Arts were not aufliciontly regarded . ' * Art and litoruture , " my a M . Guizot , " ore naturally and necessarily linked together . It is only by this intimate and habitual intercourse that they can bo

      Untitled Article

      HERE we have a History of France written by an American , sucli a work being- more wanted in tlie United States thiin in this country , where the French language ia better cultivated . Tho work is projected on an extended scale . The large , closely printed volume of nearly five hundred pages before us , is occupied exclusively with Ancient . Gaul , and each future volume will have its own period or evele , thus dealing fully and scientifically with its own peculiar topic . Tiio style of the writer is eloquent and semiphilosophic , and suggests sometimes where it does not express tlie rationale of the facts that he relates . One of these glimpses into the reason of things is contained in the statement ., ' thut while ancient Gaul whs well organized within and well defended outriver

      wardly , yet " it was not wholly secured by the mountain and barriers of its eastern lin .-s from the two mighty find opposing forces of the ancient world , Italy and Gci-mimy . " In this fragmont ot a sentence , we have the history of France foreshadowed . Mr . Godwin adds in a note , thnt " it is not mere national vanity in the French , I think , which leads them to consider their country as thofocus ot Europe . History will quite justify everything that is claimed by Guizot on this head . " Tims , also , in regard to the extent of territory , we find that ancient Gaul was one-fourth larger thnn modoru France . " From the old geographical Gaul , we must deduct n part of Sardinia , formerly the Duchy of Suvoy , tho Cantons of SwiUurland , the llhonish provinces , went of tho . Ithino . the wholu oiJUolgnun , and nart of Holland , iii order to forin Franco . For - . a while , under limits ot

      the Empire of Napoleon , tlie French recovered the ancient their fathers , with something boyond , but they have novur succeeded inuoh an they yearn for it and talk about it , m waking tlie Ithino a iiormuneut boundary . " Hero wo have the pust tux future of tho French empire significantly indicated . Unosc stufementa

      Untitled Article

      ? Memoirs to Illustrate tho Wntor >/ of nn / Time By P . GUIZOT . Translated by J . \ V . Ooj , rc . Vol . III . ltiohard Bcntley .

      Untitled Article

      * The History of France . By Tauk Godwin . Vol . I . " Anoiont Gaul / ' iStdii : S . Lw , Son , and Co . ; New York : Harper and Brothers .

      M. Guizot's Memoirs.*

      M . GUIZOT'S MEMOIRS . *

      Godwin's History Of Fjiance.*

      GODWIN'S HISTORY OF FRANCE . *

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 16, 1860, page 571, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2352/page/15/