The princes and magistrates to whom Luther appealed for establishing new schools, were slow in following these admonitions, whereas they had been most docile when told to confiscate the rich abbeys and monasteries which had maintained many educational institutions. Luther himself complained that so little heed was paid to his words. In 1528 a new "Order" for the cities of Saxony was prepared by Melanchthon. In 1559 appeared the "Church and School Order of Württemberg."[1] Very different from the attitude of Luther was that of Melanchthon towards higher studies. Luther saw in humanistic studies only a weapon for theological purposes; but Melanchthon was himself a humanist and believed that study of the ancient languages and literature offered immediate educational benefit to the student.[2] Melanchthon has been called Praeceptor Germaniae, and this he was for the Protestant part of that country. His system was an adaptation of the humanistic principles of Erasmus, and especially of Rudolph Agricola,[3] who was prominent among the earlier conservative humanists.
It is evident that Luther's merits in regard to education have been exaggerated. The words of the Protestant Hallam deserve to be more universally
- ↑ On the development of the Protestant schools see Paulsen, l. c., p. 145 foll. (I, 209). – Ziegler, l. c., p. 61 foll.
- ↑ Dr. Nohle, in Rep. of Com. of Ed., 1897-98, vol. I, p. 30.
- ↑ Ziegler, Geschichte der Pädagogik, p. 69.
"The separation of religious training from education as a whole is the outgrowth of Protestantism and democracy." Educational Review, December 1899, p. 427. – Why democracy should be a cause of this separation is not clear to me, nor are the arguments, adduced by President Butler, convincing.
