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himself, and these I have allowed to speak for themselves. I owe a certain amount of direction, and a few dates and references, to Mr. Morley's Rousseau. THOMAS DAVIDSON.

"GLENMORE,"

KEENE, ESSEX Co., N.Y.,
January 31, 1898.

ROUSSEAU

INTRODUCTORY

THE Educational System of Rousseau forms an integral part of a complete theory, or philosophy, of human life, individual, domestic, social, economic, political, and religious. This theory, again, is compounded of elements mainly derived from two sources, (1) a somewhat incoherent body of ideas and aspirations current in Rousseau's time and in the centuries immediately preceding him, and (2) his own character, as formed by native endowment, education, and experience. The latter source makes a very large contribution; for among all writers of influence there is hardly one whose personality, that is, whose feelings, emotions, and tastes, enter for so much into his writings, as Rousseau's. He is, above all, subjective, and, indeed, the apostle of subjectivism. This is what he stands for in history.

In order, then, to understand the pedagogics of Rousseau, we must begin by making as clear as possible to ourselves that body of ideas and aspirations which gave form and direction to his thought, and then consider his experience and character, as furnishing the matter of the same. Having done this, we shall be in a position to account for his theory of

human life, and to see how his system of education is conditioned by it. We shall then find little difficulty in expounding that system itself, or in distinguishing what is objective and, therefore, permanent in it, from that which, being due to transitory notions or personal tastes, is subjective and temporary. Finally, and with this distinction in our minds, we shall be able to trace the effect of Rousseau's thought, as a whole, upon subsequent theory and practice, and to show how his educational teachings have influenced later systems, for good or for evil, down to the present day.

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