ter that scientific earnestness and honest conviction force him to do so? He is stigmatized with the fatal epithet of 'Ultramontane' and thus made harmless. I ask my honorable opponents to keep one fact clearly before their eyes: The truth and indispensability of an idea or method for culture and civilization do not become null and non-existent just because that idea is upheld by the Roman Catholic Church. Or is it so absolutely impossible to conceive that this Church during the centuries which she has been engaged in caring for souls, has discovered one and the other essential truth of pedagogy and civilization, truths that must be admitted even from a nonCatholic stand-point as soon as the searcher digs into the psychological and ethical depths of the problem in question?" No wonder that the victims of this magnificent excoriation stigmatize their chastiser as a "Romanist.' In point of fact, of course, Dr. Foerster is not a Catholic. Neither is his attitude towards our position one of unmingled admiration. His eloquent plea in our favor must move us to listen with more than idle curiosity to the accusation he raises against the methods still widely prevalent in religious instruction. "On the other hand many representatives of ecclesiastical pedagogy are also one-sided. The dignified gesture wherewith they repudiate the ethical efforts of freethinking circles does not do justice to the importance that undeniably belongs to these efforts in the gigantic social upheaval of our days. The ethical movement is the beginning, full of promise, of a return to the cultivation of the inner man. This fact should be neither ignored nor condemned. In many modern centers of culture the numbers of those who have fallen away from the Church are gradually growing into majorities. And their spiritual maladies cannot be remedied, either by obligatory relig ious instruction, or by abstract references to the meagreness of irreligious moral teaching and to the surpassing fulness of Christianity. For it is just the absence of this fulness of life in religious instruction, just the appalling want of contact with reality, that is responsible for the great number of those who fall away. Let then the upholders of religion first of all revise their own methods. Let them give living proof of the soul-winning, soul-moulding power of religion. Then they will look upon the ethical efforts in question as first steps of a return from the outer world into the inner. They will look upon them, further, as neutral methods, as the only methods at the disposal of such institutions and societies as cannot side with any party in matters of Faith. Only then do such methods become a legitimate object of attack when their advocates, starting from the fact that they are forced by conditions to rest their moral appeals on motives merely ethical, proceed to argue that religion is not necessary for education, and thus put themselves in contradiction to the experience of ages." Dr. Foerster's theory of the purpose of life, his entire pedagogical system, both in itself and in its relations to Catholic truth, is a problem that lies beyond the present paper. We must rest satisfied with having introduced this remarkable man to the readers of this Review. We give below a list of his principal works, recommending in particular the Jugendlehre. For those desirous of wider acquaintance with European views, Catholic and non-Catholic, on Foerster's chief educational publications, we would recommend a little pamphlet entitled Lebensbuecher (George Reimer, Berlin). But we would emphasize a remark passed by more than one Catholic critic, that the reviewer feels more like pressing Foerster's books into the hands of his readers than attempting to give them a satisfactory description. FOERSTER'S PRINCIPAL WORKS 1. Jugendlehre. Ein Buch fuer Eltern, Lehrer und Geistliche. 2. Lebenskunde. Ein Buch fuer Knaben und Madchen. 3. Lebensfuehrung. Ein Buch fuer junge Menschen. All three published by George Reimer, Berlin. 4. Schule and Charakter. Contribution to the Peda gogy of Obedience and the Reform of Discipline. Schulthess and Co., Zurich. 4. Schule und Charakter. Contribution to the Peda Schulthess and grundung alter Wahrheiten. Jos. Kosel. Kempten. 7. Autoritaet und Freiheit. Jos. Kosel. Kempten and Munich. 8. The Art of Living. Sources and Illustrations for Moral Lessons by Dr. F. W. Foerster. Translated by Ethel Peck. B. Herder, St. Louis. This last work (No. 8) is a translation of Lebenskunde (No. 2). Lebenskunde itself is the abbreviated Jugendlehre. It contains the direct discussions of the teacher with the pupils. The English translation reads well, but it does not re-echo Foerster's warm, living tone, and, still more unfortunately, leaves untranslated some of the author's deepest discussions, as, for example, that on Voluntary Obedience. Yet it is, as far as I know, the only attempt so far made to introduce Dr. Foerster to English readers. PATRICK CUMMINS, O. S. B., D. D. INTELLECTUAL QUALITIES OF THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATOR Soundness and pliancy of faculties, methodically and patiently trained, are intellectual qualities of the educator. It is essential also that he possess sufficient knowledge, supported and increased by constant study, as well as a thorough acquaintance with the best methods and the tact of applying them. Happily in Religious Orders whose special object is the education of youth, the members receive a pedagogical and intellectual training, lasting one, two, three or four years. During this period of formation, the young educator devotes his hours of study, under competent guides, to the development of his faculties and the attainment of knowledge needful in his future field. It may be asked: What knowledge should an educator possess? He ought to have a comprehensive idea of the branches taught in our schools, embracing those subjects demanded by circumstances and locality. He should, moreover, have exact data concerning the true principles of education, and a profound knowledge of the specialties included in the curriculum. The necessity of study is, therefore, apparent. There are many reasons which urge the religious educator to devote all his free moments to attain knowledge and broaden his ideas. "It is incredible," says Rollin, "how much one or two hours devoted to study will amount to at the end of a year." The teacher should give his pupils a complete course in all the branches, suited to their age and future avocations. But to do this efficiently, he ought to be master of the subjects he teaches. He should have solid and varied information. Hence, if after his period of formation he be still lacking thorough knowledge, he is in duty bound to acquire it. He need not allege multiplicity of occupations, or the mere elementary character of the lessons to be given, or the long years devoted to the teaching of that special study. The hours that we can devote to study seem to be parsimoniously distributed; therefore, a stronger reason to husband them with jealous care. Moreover, the teacher should remember that the pupils are very young. This will be an incentive to devise ways and means of bringing the subject-matter clearly before their undeveloped intellects. A well-known adage has it that great knowledge is requisite to give a little. If we desire to impart knowledge successfully and to teach with good results a determined program, it is essential not only to be perfectly familiar with the branches, but we should not be ignorant of kindred subjects. These furnish data, arguments, comparisons, and correlations, and these make the lessons more intelligible and interesting. There are teachers who claim that long years of teaching the same branches exempts from study. Experience, however, has taught that study is all the more needful in order to prevent routine and intellectual idleness. We should bear in mind that teaching the same subject for a long time is apt to become monotonous and engender disgust unless the teacher keeps refreshing himself at living fountains of knowledge. Moreover, the intellectual tendency of promotions varies from year to year, and it is necessary for the teacher to adapt his lessons to the actual needs of the pupils. Lastly, new discoveries are daily made in the sciences which must needs modify our teaching, or, at least, the methods of presenting the subject-matter. The learning of the teacher lends a wonderful influence to his virtues. "Piety in a man," " pertinently remarks St. de la Salle, "is ordinarily useful only to himself, but |