Many precepts, beautiful indeed in intention, were crammed into the
pupil, the process being repeated until they often became irksome, and
he was expected to become moral and religious. I saw that precepts were
of little use unless those whom they were meant to benefit were
educated, fortified, and disciplined in the practical means of observing
them.
It was at that time painful to see children, with many good natural
tendencies, leave school with bad habits, and vices so marked and
developed, that even the exertions of the most skilful physicians, the
discourses of the most learned of our clergy, failed to effect a cure.
The first thing necessary was to devise effective--it may be said
unerring--means to search out the characters and dispositions of
children.
I created the office of "character-divers," and selected for the
discharge of its duties eminent men of great sagacity and gentleness,
skilled in the knowledge of the mind and heart, their sole occupation
being to discover the qualities, tendencies, and incipient faults of
children, and act accordingly; to dive, as it were, into the secret
imaginings of the child; to detect the early germ of evil, and note the
presence of good; to indicate measures for eradicating the one and
developing the other.
These character--divers, called in our language "Djarke," are distinct
from the masters, called "Zicche," or fathers of knowledge, able men,
who have charge of the boys' studies.
The qualities which enable a preceptor to impart literary and scientific
knowledge differ widely from those fitted for searching out,
discriminating and correcting faults of character, interpreting the real
qualities that nature has implanted in the youthful aspirant, and
devising the measures to be taken for correction or development.
Even if the necessary qualities for both duties were united in one
master, there would be many objections to the duties being entrusted to
the same person.
The character-divers are as it were moral physicians, skilled in the
detection and cure of the hidden germs of mental maladies; for, as you
will see hereafter, I was not content to wait till a disease, whether of
the mind or body, had developed itself, spreading contagious poison
through the veins and arteries of society, and propagating evil without
end; the germ was destroyed before it had acquired force to injure.
In our planet neither the faults nor the good qualities of children show
themselves in the same way; the indications vary in each child according
to his temperament and the circumstances in which he may be placed.
Faults and qualities are often of a kind seemingly opposed to what they
actually demonstrate to the character-diver--particularly in children
endowed with genius.
Fair and even beautiful outcroppings are sometimes indications of
noxious weeds hidden below the surface. Weeds are not unfrequently born
from the very richness and exuberance of the soil, whilst many a dark
and seemingly sterile stem conceals the embryo of fruit and flowers
which a genial sunshine will call into life and beauty.
These and other considerations demand great--almost constant--attention
on the part of the Djarke.
Another reason for separating the two offices of fathers of knowledge
and character-divers is that the child's peculiarities are generally
shown out of school-hours. Hence, for the purpose of detecting or
tracing their real cause, and suggesting the remedy, the character-diver
is often obliged to enter into terms of intimacy with the children,
particularly those of tender age, to obtain their confidence, perhaps to
be their playmate and friend, that the little ones may be at their ease,
conceal nothing, and almost look upon him as they would upon some tame
animal.
The younger children with us require more watchfulness and skill in
their treatment than those of maturer age. The defects of the young,
like incipient disease, are less obvious, and their intelligence is less
developed.