I asked the concierge if the general methods of Pestalozzi were still used in the schools of Yverdon, "Mais certainement!" she replied as we went into a room where twenty to thirty girls of ten years were studying. There were three pleasant windows looking out into the street; the ordinary platform and ordinary teacher's table, with the ordinary teacher (in an extraordinary state of coma) behind it; and rather rude desks and seats for the children, but not a single ornament, picture, map, or case of objects and specimens around the room. The children were nice, clean, pleasant, stolid little things with braided hair and pinafores.
The sole decoration of the apartment was a highly-coloured chart that we had noticed on the walls of all the other schoolrooms.
Feeling that this must be a sacred relic, and that it probably illustrated some of the Pestalozzian foundation principles, I walked up to it reverently, "Qu'est-ce-que c'est cela, Madame?" I inquired, rather puzzled by its appearance.
"C'est la methode de Pestalozzi," the teacher replied absently.
I wished that we kindergarten people could get Froebel's educational idea in such a snug, portable shape, and drew nearer to gaze at it. I can give you a very complete description of the pictures from memory, as I copied the titles verbatim et literatim.
The whole chart was a powerful moral object-lesson on the dangers of incendiarism and the evils of reckless disobedience. It was printed appropriately in the most lurid colours, and divided into nine tableaux.
These were named as follows:-I--LA VRAIE GAITE
Twelve or fifteen boys and girls are playing together so happily and innocently that their good angels sing for joy.
II--UNE PROPOSITION FATALE!
Suddenly "LE PETIT Charles" says to his comrades, "Come! let us build a fire!" LE PETIT Charles is a typical infant villain and is surrounded at once by other incendiary spirits all in accord with his insidious plans.
III--LA PROTESTATION
The Good Little Marie, a Sunday-school heroine of the true type, approaches the group and, gazing heavenward, remarks that it is wicked to play with matches. The G. L. M. is of saintly presence,--so clean and well groomed that you feel inclined to push her into a puddle. Her hands are not full of vulgar toys and sweetmeats, like those of the other children, but are extended graciously as if she were in the habit of pronouncing benedictions.
IV--INSOUCIANCE!
LE PETIT Charles puts his evil little paw in his dangerous pockets and draws out a wicked lucifer match, saying with abominable indifference, "Bah! what do we care? We're going to build a fire, whatever you say. Come on, boys!"
V--UN PLAISIR DANGEREUX!
The boys "come on." Led by "LE PETIT VILAIN Charles" they light a dangerous little fire in a dangerous little spot. Their faces shine with unbridled glee. The G. L. M. retires to a distance with a few saintly followers, meditating whether she shall run and tell her mother. "LE PETIT Paul," an infant of three summers, draws near the fire, attracted by the cheerful blaze.
VI--MALHEUR ET INEXPERIENCE
LE PETIT Paul somehow or other tumbles into the fire. Nothing but a desire to influence posterity as an awful example could have induced him to take this unnecessary step, but having walked in he stays in, like an infant John Rogers. The bad boys are so horror-stricken it does not occur to them to pull him out, and the G. L.
M. is weeping over the sin of the world.
VII--TROP TARD!!
The male parent of LE PETIT Paul is seen rushing down an adjacent Alp. He leads a flock of frightened villagers who have seen the smoke and heard the wails of their offspring. As the last shred of LE PETIT Paul has vanished in said smoke, the observer notes that the poor father is indeed "too late."
VIII--DESESPOIR!!
The despair of all concerned would draw tears from the dryest eye.
Only one person wears a serene expression, and that is the G. L.
M., who is evidently thinking: "Perhaps they will listen to me the next time."
IX--LA FIN!
The charred remains of LE PETIT Paul are being carried to the cemetery. The G. L. M. heads the procession in a white veil. In a prominent place among the mourners is "LE PAUVRE PETIT Charles," so bowed with grief and remorse that he can scarcely be recognized.