Moreno on Education
Selection from Garcia Moreno: President of Ecuador 1821-1875 (1889) from the French of the Rev. Fr. Augustine Berthe
Text from Internet Archive
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Third Part: A Christian State
Chapter V: Public Education (1869-1875)
Nothing could be so lamentable as the state of education in Ecuador when Garcia Moreno found himself raised to supreme power. His first efforts were directed to the primary education of children, and for that purpose he summoned from Europe a number of teaching Congregations, such as the Christian Brothers, the Sisters of Charity, the Nuns of the Sacred Heart, and of Providence; and installed them in all the great towns, such as Quito, Cuenca, and Guayaquil. But this was not enough. In 1871 he brought forward a new Education Bill, which made education compulsory for all children from eight years old; and imposed a fine on such parents as neglected to send their little ones to school. Every hamlet that contained fifty children from six to twelve years old, had the right to claim a primary school, to be established by the Government; and as the number of Christian Brothers was insufficient for such a multitude of parishes, Garcia Moreno opened a Normal College for lay teachers to assist them, especially in the country districts, and placed this College under the direction of the Brothers. These measures succeeded admirably. In 1873, the number of primary schools had been raised to upwards of five hundred: and whereas, when Garcia Moreno first took office, there were only eight thousand children receiving instruction in the primary schools, in 1875 their number amounted to thirty-two thousand. These were chiefly boys, as there were great difficulties in the country districts in finding sufficient mistresses; while the dangerous nature of the roads often precluded the girls from frequenting the schools with safety.
Garcia Moreno also opened special schools for the native Indians, in spite of the dread (which had been put into their heads by the Radicals), that if they sent their children to school they would be liable to the conscription, from which they had always been exempt. But at last, the President contrived to disabuse them of that idea. Special schools were also opened for soldiers' children and prisoners: so that no class was excluded from these benefits. It is needless to add that Garcia Moreno allowed of no education without religion, and his one great joy was to see these thousands of children, under really Christian teachers, growing in piety as much as in science. "With these children," he would exclaim, "we shall regenerate society."
If primary education be necessary for the masses, equally important is secondary instruction for the training of the governing classes. For this purpose, Garcia Moreno claimed the assistance of the Jesuits, the Congress authorizing them to open Colleges throughout the country with full liberty to follow their traditional methods as explained in the Ratio studiorum.
The Jesuits gladly acceded to Garcia Moreno's proposals, only stipulating that in case of their expulsion by any future Government, they should not be exiled or dispersed for eight months after the day of their suppression had been notified: so that they might have time to dispose of their property before their departure.
The President built a magnificent College for them in Quito, which he wished to dedicate to St. Joseph, but which the Archbishop, out of gratitude to the great Founder, christened St. Gabriel. Upwards of two hundred Professors were sent from this College to open schools throughout the different provinces, and soon had upwards of a thousand young men under their care. Both the Church and the State rivaled one another in the development of this great work. In the first distribution of prizes at the College of Quito, the Rector explained the course of instruction, in which religion held the first place. In conclusion, he quoted these words of Quintillion, which it would be well for all parents to consider: "If schools, while giving a scientific education, corrupt the morals of the students, I do not hesitate to say that virtue is to be preferred to knowledge."
The President was not unmindful of the educational needs of girls belonging to the higher classes of society: and persuaded the Nuns of the Sacred Heart to establish convents in Quito and various other towns, in which they opened schools, both for boarders and day scholars. Nothing that he had ever attempted was received with more joy and gratitude than this, both by parents and children, who were never weary of testifying their thankfulness for his fatherly care and consideration.
To these educational establishments must be added a professional College, which was opened by some Brothers from New York, under the name of "The Catholic Protectorate." It was intended for the training of boys as artisans, and a large building was opened, with workshops for carpenters, cabinet makers, mechanicians, and a multitude of other trades. By thus creating native industries, Garcia Moreno saved his countrymen from the expense of freight and transport, besides giving the lads the means of earning a respectable livelihood. The same thing was done for poor girls under the Sisters of Providence from Belgium, who thus were saved from the corruption inevitable to idleness and misery.
Nor did Garcia Moreno shrink from creating a still higher branch of education, by reopening the University of Quito, which he had dissolved, and placing it in the hands of men not only learned as Professors, but thoroughly Christian. All religious and historical books were to be selected by the Bishops, or have their approbation, while at the head of the Faculty of Rights he placed Father Tereuziani, an eminent Jesuit: and from Germany obtained other Jesuit Fathers, [1] as Professors of Chemistry and Natural Sciences, and as physicians and mathematicians. In the building adjoining the old University, he organized a Polytechnic School to form future engineers, land agents, mechanicians, chemists, and other exact sciences, so as to open out careers for the youth of Ecuador, who hitherto had had no choice but between the priesthood, the magistracy, or the army. To teach all these sciences, however, an immense number of instruments and machines of various kinds were needed; and Garcia Moreno did not hesitate to send for the newest and best of all these things from Europe, regardless of expense; so that in a few years, the installation was complete. Of course, he had to bear the usual outcry against his operations from the Radicals and Freemasons: but the brilliant future prospects that opened out to the more studious among the youth who frequented the University disarmed, at last, all opposition; and Garcia Moreno had the joy of seeing the development of that scientific education, based on religion, on which he had reckoned for ensuring the material and permanent prosperity of the country. The faith of the students was shown in 1873, when, under the direction of Father Menten, they enrolled themselves bodily in a Congregation of the Blessed Virgin; and thus, treading under foot all human respect, lifted up once more the flag of Christ and His Church within the University walls. The Faculty of Sciences gave birth to the Faculty of Medicine. In truth, medical science in Ecuador was at its lowest ebb. To reorganize it, Garcia Moreno obtained from the Montpellier School two excellent Professors (Prof. Guayraud and Prof. Domec), one of surgery and the other of anatomy, whom he furnished with all the instruments and apparatus needful for their courses of study. It only took him a few years to organize this department, to which he attached a hospital containing three hundred beds, provided with every clinical resource. We may give our readers some idea of the difficulties to be overcome in this matter when we consider that the Catholic University of Paris, after fifteen years of existence, has not yet been able to inaugurate its Faculty of Medicine.
So that nothing should be wanting to complete his work, Garcia Moreno also founded a School of the Fine Arts, in which sculpture, painting, and music were taught. He brought Professors from Rome for this purpose and sent the most distinguished of the students to the Eternal City to perfect their studies, and become masters in their turn. Thus Velez, the great sculptor, was trained; Carillo and Cadena, the eminent painters; and especially the artist Manosalvas, whom he made Director of the Academy. He established also a Conservatory for Music, both sacred and profane, whose regular concerts were always given gratuitously every week. To close this rapid summary of Garcia Moreno's educational works, we will mention the last and greatest of his undertakings — the building of an observatory in the neighborhood of Quito, which had long been earnestly desired by astronomers. Garcia Moreno went into the whole question and found, like Humboldt and Secchi, that an Observatory at Quito would infallibly become the first in the world, "by its position, ten thousand feet above the level of the sea, the admirable purity and transparency of the air, its situation under the equinoctial line, and the healthy and delicious nature of the climate, where one enjoys a perpetual spring." He tried to make it an international work: but failing to interest France, England, or the United States, in the undertaking, he resolved to do it himself. In 1870, a contract was entered into for the building; the best and newest apparatus was ordered in Munich; a telescope of enormous power was set up, which cost six thousand piastres, and in four years the whole was completed. Father Menten, the illustrious associate of Padre Secchi, was about to be installed there, when the crime of the 6th of August caused the destruction of the whole scheme. A few months later, the bust of Garcia Moreno's successor was set up in its place, to the indignation and surprise of the people.
Two evident truths may be gathered from this story: the first, that in half a century the Revolution created nothing in Ecuador; the second, that in six years, the Catholic, Garcia Moreno, raised his country from a state of complete ignorance to one of extraordinary progress in every species of learning and science. A third still more significant fact is, that after his assassination, the Revolution once more plunged the country into its primitive chaos. The keystone of the edifice being taken away, the whole building crumbled into dust. The name and acts of Garcia Moreno will be an eternal protest against a lie which has become almost an historical axiom, i.e., that the Church stops the progress and development of science, while Revolution favors it.
[1] Their names deserve to be remembered. They were [besides Father Menten, Dean of the Faculty], Fathers Kolberg, Wenzel, Mülendox, Epping, Elbart, Grünewald, Dressel, Wolf, Brugier, Bætzkes, and Sodiro.
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