ring a course of study. Their work, called the _Ratio
Studiorum_,[70] completed in 1599, has remained, with some
modifications, the guide of Jesuit institutions of learning.

=Emulation=.--Emulation was employed to stimulate pupils to work and to
secure good conduct. Prizes, decorations, rewards, titles, were offered
as a means of attaining desired ends. Emulation is a natural instinct in
mankind, and it may be utilized to stimulate endeavor and "foster
ambition." The principle ever to be kept in mind should be _excellency
without degrading others_. Schwickerath thinks that such was the spirit
in which the Jesuits employed this incentive.[71] He admits, however,
that there are dangers connected with prizes, and, on the whole, that
certain methods of fostering emulation recommended by the _Ratio
Studiorum_ are less suitable to northern countries and less in
accordance with modern taste.

While corporal punishment was allowed, it was generally administered by
an official disciplinarian. It was seldom used, however, the discipline
being mild and humane.

=Criticism of Jesuit Education.=--As to the efficiency of the
instruction in the Jesuit schools, opinions widely differ. Bacon and
Descartes indorse it in highest terms, while Leibnitz, Voltaire, and
others are equally strong in its condemnation. Bacon remarks, "As to
whatever relates to the instruction of the young, we must consult the
schools of the Jesuits, for there can be nothing that is better done."
Leibnitz, on the other hand, says, "In the matter of education, the
Jesuits have remained below mediocrity." Ranke, in speaking of the
success of the Jesuit schools, says, "It was found that young persons
learned more under them in half a year than with others in two years."

Mr. Quick says: "I have said that the object which the Jesuits proposed
in their teaching was not the highest object. They did not aim at
developing _all_ the faculties of their pupils, but merely the receptive
and reproductive faculties. When the young man had acquired a thorough
mastery of the Latin language for all purposes, when he was well versed
in the theological and philosophical opinions of his preceptors, when he
was skillful in dispute, and could make a brilliant display from the
resources of a well-stored memory, he had reached the highest point to
which the Jesuits sought to lead him."[72] Some critics of the Jesuits
claim that they lack in originality of thinking, and that they negl