1793,
the teachers, dispersed throughout Germany, carried the new gospel
wherever they went, arousing fresh interest in education and doing much
for its advancement.

Quick thinks that Basedow's system possessed great merits "for children,
say, between the ages of six and ten." Kant was greatly disappointed at
the result. Rousseau's "Emile" had awakened his interest in education,
and he looked to the experiment at Dessau for an exemplification of the
new ideals. His estimate of the work accomplished is as follows:
"Experience shows that often in our experiments we get quite opposite
results from what we had anticipated. We see, too, that since
experiments are necessary, it is not in the power of one generation to
form a complete plan of education. The only experimental school which,
to some extent, made a beginning in clearing the road, was the Institute
at Dessau. This praise at least must be allowed, notwithstanding the
many faults which could be brought up against it--faults which are sure
to show themselves when we come to the results of our experiments, and
which merely prove that fresh experiments are necessary. It was the only
school in which teachers had liberty to work according to their own
methods and schemes, and where they were in free communication both
among themselves and with all learned men throughout Germany."[132]

=Writings.=--Basedow's chief educational writing is the book called the
"Elementary." The "Book of Method" was the first to appear, and was
really the first part of the "Elementary." Concerning the "Book of
Method," Lang says, "This famous manual was undoubtedly the greatest of
Basedow's educational writings.... It was full of valuable suggestions.
It set educators to thinking, and has been a powerful motor in bringing
about a change in school instruction."

The "Elementary," containing Basedow's complete scheme of education, has
been called the "Orbis Pictus of the eighteenth century." The general
opinion is that Basedow obtained the root ideas of this work from
Comenius, Locke, and Rousseau. There is but little that is original in
his pedagogical principles, but he made an effort to carry out the
progressive teachings which had entered into the theories of advanced
thinkers but had not been worked into practice. Still, the problem of
education became through Basedow better understood, and he is deserving
of a place among the great educators of the world for his experiment at
Dessau to