mind.
He could scarcely brook discussion, never contradiction. This is most
characteristically shown by a fragment of Froebel's dated 1st April,
1829, as follows:--

"I consider my own work and effort as _unique_ in all time, as
_necessary_ in itself, and as the _messenger of reformation_ for all
ages, working forwards and backwards, offering and giving to mankind all
that it needs, and all that it perpetually seeks on every side. I have
no complaint to make if others think otherwise about it; I can bear with
them;[122] I can even, if need be, live with them, and this I have
actually done; but I can share no life-aim with them, they and I have no
_unity_ of purpose in life. It is not I, it is they who are at fault
herein; I do not separate myself from them, they withdraw themselves
from me."

To get a view of Froebel's work from the practical side, so as to
supplement the account we have received from Froebel himself as to the
origination and development of the principles upon which that work was
based, we have selected a sketch by Barop entitled "Critical Moments in
the Froebel Community;" written for Dr. Lange's edition by Barop (then
the principal and proprietor of Keilhau) about the year 1862.

CRITICAL MOMENTS IN THE FROEBEL COMMUNITY.

Under this heading Barop writes as follows:--

About 1827 we were in an unusually critical position. You know how
little means we had when we began to create our Institution.[123]
Middendorff had sacrificed his entire inheritance from his father, but
the purchase of the ground and the erection of necessary buildings
called for considerable sums, so that Middendorff's addition to the
capital had disappeared like drops of water falling on a hot stone.
My father-in-law, Christian Ludwig Froebel, had later on come forward
and placed his entire fortune unconditionally in the hands of his
brother,[124] but even this sacrifice was not sufficient to keep away
care and want from the door. My own father was a man of means, but he
was so angry at my joining the Froebel community at Keilhau[125] that he
refused me any assistance whatever. Mistrust surrounded us on all sides
in these early years of our work; open and concealed enmities assailed
us both from near and far, and sought to embitter our lot and to nip our
efforts in the bud. None the less for this, the institution blossomed
quick and fair; but later on, through the well-known persecution
directed against associations of s