n almost irresistible necessity to me after each actively-spent day.
As I wandered on the sunlit, far-stretching hills, or along the still
shore of the lake, clear as crystal, smooth as a mirror, or in the shady
groves, under the tall forest trees, my spirit grew full with ideas of
the truly god-like nature and priceless value of a man's soul, and I
gladdened myself with the consideration of mankind as the beloved
children of God. There is no question but that Pestalozzi's general
addresses, especially those delivered in the evening, when he used to
delight in evoking a picture of noble manliness and true love of mankind
and developing it in all its details, very powerfully contributed
towards arousing such an inner life as that just described.

Yet I did not lose myself in empty fancies; on the contrary, I kept my
practical work constantly before my eyes. From thinking about my dead
parents my thoughts would wander back over the rest of my family,
turning most often to that dear eldest brother of mine, who has now not
been referred to for some time in these pages. He had become the
faithful watchful father of several children. I shared in his unaffected
fatherly cares, and my soul was penetrated with the desire that he might
be able to give his sons such an education as I should feel obliged to
point out to him as being the best. Already, ever since I was at
Frankfurt, I had communicated to him my thoughts on education and
methods of teaching. What now occurred to me out of my new knowledge as
applicable to his case, I extracted, collected together, and classified,
so as to be able to impart it to him for his use at the first
opportunity.

One thing which greatly contributed to the better consideration and
elucidation of the Pestalozzian mode of teaching was the presence of a
large number of young men sent from various governments as students to
Yverdon. With some of these I was on terms of intimacy, and to the
exchange of ideas which went on amongst us I owe at least as much as to
my own observation.

On the whole I passed a glorious time at Yverdon, elevated in tone, and
critically decisive for my after life. At its close, however, I felt
more clearly than ever the deficiency of inner unity and
interdependence, as well as of outward comprehensiveness and
thoroughness in the teaching there.

To obtain the means of a satisfactory judgment upon the best method of
teaching the classical tongues, I took Greek and Lati