There was during the last winter great excitement in Germany, concerning
a new school-bill proposed by the chancellor Caprivi, and the late
Prussian minister of cultus, Zedlitz-Trützschler. This school-bill
proposed to take the direction of the public schools out of the hands of
scientific men and transfer it to the clergy. The idea of the Emperor
was to let the education of the young be guided in a religious spirit. He
intended to wage a war against atheism.
Among the pamphlets which were written during the crisis, is especially
noteworthy the monograph of the late minister of cultus, Herr von Gosler,
whom we should count among the most conservative of Prussian officials.
His opposition, accordingly, is the more remarkable, and his objections
had much weight with the Emperor.
The Emperor has withdrawn the bill. Nevertheless, the spirit of
ultra-conservatism, which shows itself in an outspoken hostility against
science, still remains strong enough, and new onslaughts upon the
progressive policy in school and church, may be expected in the future.
The question is timely still and will remain timely until there be a
common agreement concerning the principles of education, so that our
school politics may no longer be decided by and subjected to partisan
strife.
Attacks that are made upon the very spirit of the institution of our
civilisation and the political crises following thereupon are beneficial
in one respect. They make people pause; they make them reconsider the
principles by which they allow their conduct to be regulated. They make
men conscious of the maxims that ought to underlie their lives and which
generally are accepted by the majority without much reflection. The
Prussian school-bill has indeed exercised a wholesome influence, for it
called attention to the importance of principles and roused the German
nation from religious indifference. During the conflict many scientists
and professors of universities, who as a rule interfere little with
politics, have raised their voice in warning, and many valuable ideas
were expressed that found a strong echo in the heart of the people.
There are two articles written by German professors which have commanded
very wide attention inside and outside of Germany. The one article
was written by Professor Haeckel of Jena, in the _Freie Bühne_, the
most important passages of which appeared at the time in _The Open
Court_, No. 243. The other article was written by Friedrich Jodl, of
Prague. It appeared first in the Augsburger _Allgemeine Zeitung_, and
was republished in pamphlet form by Cotta, in Stuttgart. The former
is an enthusiastic appeal to let science, which is the basis of our
civilisation, remain the basis of our educational maxims in schools and
universities. The latter discusses the philosophical principles of the
conflict.
We are greatly in sympathy with the spirit in which Professor Jodl
has treated his subject. Nay, more, we substantially agree with him
concerning all main facts, and also concerning the sense in which our
future development should be directed. Nevertheless there are points of
disagreement, which we consider of sufficient importance to point out and
explain.
The ultra-conservative party stands upon the platform that there can be
no morality without religion, and no religion without dogmatism. For this
reason dogmatism should rule supreme in the schools, and science should
be subservient to religious creed. That this means curtailment of the
freedom of investigation, and the suppression of the liberty of science,
is understood by all the parties concerned. The liberals so apprehend it,
and the ultra-conservatives do not deny it. In the face of this situation
Professor Jodl proposes the question, “Is there a humanitarian morality
possible?” (p. 8 of the pamphlet “Moral, Religion, und Schule.”) He says:
“A mere glance into the numerous anthologies of the moral
wisdom of all times and centuries, shows that the agreement
concerning moral ideas and norms is much greater, and it
recedes much more into the dim past than is usually assumed.
The writings of Laotse and Confutse, the popular literature
of Buddhism, the fragments of old Egyptian law, the didactic
poetry of Islam, contain a great wealth of moral wisdom, and
treasures of the noblest ethical sentiment which the Christian
Occident likes to regard as its own exclusive property.
Especially the ancients, whose civilisation, in spite of much
opposition, is still the basis of our civilisation, furnish us
with a series of the most beautiful moral types and ideals,
and there we find, beside many valuable features of Christian
ethics, other no less valuable gems which we seek for in vain
in the old Christian morality, and which were not recognised
until Christianity came into contact with the Teutonic nations
of northern Europe. Our ultra-conservatives argue that without
catechisms humanity would stand helpless before the question of
what is right and wrong, and what the growing generation should
be taught in order to make them useful and honorable members of
society.”