, flooded the
country with foreign words and expressions, the use of which soon became
an affectation with the nobility, who did their best to destroy their
native tongue.

"Politically, the change was no less disastrous. The ambition of the
house of Hapsburg, it is true, had brought its own punishment; the
imperial dignity was secured to it, but henceforth the head of the 'Holy
Roman Empire' was not much more than a shadow.... As for the mass of the
people, their spirit was broken; for a time they gave up even the
longing for the rights which they had lost, and taught their children
abject obedience in order that they might simply live."[84]

=The Educational Situation.=--These political conditions had a marked
influence upon education. Schools were abandoned, colleges gave up their
charters, and people were content to allow their children to grow up in
ignorance. Indeed, it was not to be expected that, in the midst of their
poverty and sorrow, parents should care for education. And yet, some
most important and wise school laws were enacted and put into force,
which form the basis of the present German school system, as well as the
school systems of many other countries. In 1619 the Duke of Weimar
decreed that all children, girls as well as boys, should be kept in
school for at least six years,--from six to twelve. This is the first
efficient compulsory education law on record intended for all classes of
children.

Besides Weimar, Wuertemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt, Mecklenburg, Holstein,
Hesse-Cassel, and other provinces were active in school work. They
organized schools, appointed teachers, and formulated school
regulations. In 1642, Duke Ernst of Gotha adopted a new school
regulation which was a century in advance of the time, and this action
was taken when the Thirty Years' War was at its height and in a
territory sadly devastated by contending armies.

This law required every child to enter school at the beginning of his
sixth year, and to remain in school until he could read his mother
tongue, had mastered Luther's catechism, and was well grounded in
arithmetic, writing, and church songs. A course of study was marked out,
the schools were graded, and methods of instruction were outlined. The
greatest defect in the system was the lack of competent teachers.
Discharged soldiers, worthless students, and degraded craftsmen who
could read and write, and who possessed a little knowledge of music,
continued for many year