[CCCXCV.] No date.
Dear sister, I do not know whether I shall have time to write more than a few words, and I will, therefore, begin with the most important. It relates to your boys. I can by no means agree in your views, when you speak of keeping them under your own roof until they are seventeen; and I earnestly wish that I could give you the lively conviction which I myself entertain, that the very opposite is right. Unfortunately, these matters can only be thoroughly discussed face to face, when each has an opportunity of expressing himself fully. But I am firmly persuaded that a boy ought by all means from his fourteenth year already to be brought up in a large community, and to enjoy public instruction, which is always conducted on a much grander scale than it is possible to attain to at home. Boys who live in large cities are indeed best off, as they may combine these advantages with home life. But when that is not possible, I am convinced that all the benefits which are supposed to be derived from a longer stay under the parental roof cannot by any means outweigh the disadvantages. First of all as regards the acquisition of knowledge, it has been sufficiently proved that at home the strict order and regularity which rules in schools can never prevail. Secondly, the very best of tutors cannot accomplish as much as is accomplished in even a moderately good school, where the various branches of instruction are judiciously divided among several teachers, who work into each other’s hands. And if between the ages of fourteen and seventeen a solid foundation be not laid, and a certain extent of knowledge acquired, what has thus been lost can never be regained. Viewed from this side, indeed, the matter is self-evident and beyond dispute; but, perhaps, it will be less evident to you that the same holds good in regard to the formation of character. It is believed that in their homes boys are better secured against temptation, and are made more religious. As far as regards religion, you need not be alarmed. Even without having done much towards it directly, you must have laid a foundation of piety in your children, and even at a distance your influence in this direction will continue, and may indeed be greater if the boys feel themselves leading a life conducive to their progress, and consequently most satisfactory to you, than it would be at home if they felt themselves out of place there. One invaluable advantage afforded by schools is, that there the sense of right is developed, and the boy acquires a feeling of self-dependence. It is these two qualities that make the man. And observe, that almost all men who have remained too long in the paternal home prove themselves in some way or other wanting in manliness—they are either irresolute, or incapable, or deficient in public spirit. Now at seventeen it is too late to acquire the two qualities in question; at that age the youth will always feel himself a stranger among those who have gone through this schooling at an earlier age, and will also be deprived of that support, which early intimacies and friendships would afford him… …
In August, 1816, Schleiermacher’s wife and daughters went to Pomerania and Rügen, on a visit to Mrs. Schleiermacher’s brothers and sisters, and somewhat later he himself made a trip to Hamburgh, Kiel, &c., and ultimately to Rügen, to bring back wife and children. The following letters are from this period:—