Chapter xviii. of “The Great Didactic.” Keatinge’s translation.

NATURE never remains at rest, but advances continually; never begins anything fresh at the expense of work already in hand, but proceeds with what she has begun, and brings it to completion.

  For instance, in the formation of the embryo, it is the feet, the head, and the heart that come first into existence, and these organs are not discarded, but are perfected. A tree which is transplanted does not cast the branches that have previously grown upon it, but continues to provide them with sap and vitality, that with each successive year they may put forth more shoots.

  Imitation.—In the schools therefore

  1.  All the studies should be so arranged that those which come later may depend on those that have gone before, and that those which come first may be fixed in the mind by those that follow.

  2.  Each subject taught, when it has been thoroughly grasped by the understanding, must be impressed on the memory as well.

  For since, in this natural method of ours, all that precedes should be the foundation of all that comes after, it is absolutely essential that this foundation be thoroughly laid. For that only which has been thoroughly understood, and committed to memory as well, can be called the property of the mind.

  Truly does Quintilian say: “The acquisition of knowledge depends on the memory. Instruction is in vain if we forget what we hear or read.” Ludovicus Vives also says: “The memory should be exercised in early youth, since practice develops it, and we should therefore take care to practice it as much as possible. Now, in youth, the labor is not felt, and thus the memory develops without any trouble and becomes very retentive.” And in the “Introduction to Philosophy” he says: “The memory should not be permitted to rest, for there is no faculty that acts with greater readiness or develops more through action. Commit something to memory daily, for the more you commit to memory the more faithfully it will be retained, and the less the less faithfully.” The example of nature shows us that this is true. The more sap a tree sucks up, the stronger it grows, and, conversely, the stronger it grows, the more sap it pours through its fibres. An animal also develops in proportion to the strength of its digestion; and, conversely, the larger it grows the more nourishment it requires and the more it digests. This is the characteristic of every natural body that develops. In this respect, therefore, children should not be spared (though of course no over-pressure should be applied), for the foundations of unfailing progress will thus be laid.