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CHAPTER 1

From VMs to Containers

In this chapter, we will explain the benefits of deploying an application via containers vs.
the traditional method of using VMs while observing the benefits containers offer over
the VMs for solving the same problem set.
In a large-scale environment, such as is typical in an enterprise setting, with
hundreds, if not thousands, of applications to be hosted and supported, the problem of
deploying and managing those applications via VMs can be categorized into two main
categories, namely:

1. Dependency hell: Of shared libraries, the OS, and application

packages

2. Efficiency and cost control: Efficient use of compute resources

Dependency Hell
Anyone who has installed Microsoft runtime libraries on a Windows VM running
multiple applications or had to upgrade a package system in Linux can tell you how
complex this can be.
Ever since computers made it into the business applications’ world, supporting
real-world applications and problem solving, there has always been the problem of
dependencies among the various components, both hardware and software, that
comprise the application stack.
The technical stack the application software is written on, for example, Java, has
versions; this Java version is designed to run on top of a specified set of runtime libraries,
which in turn run on top of an operating system; this specified operating system runs
on top of a specified hardware device. Any changes and updates for security and feature
enhancements must take into account the various interconnects, and when one breaks
compatibility, we enter the dependency hell.

1
© Shiva Subramanian 2023
S. Subramanian, Deploy Container Applications Using Kubernetes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-9277-8_1
Chapter 1 From VMs to Containers

This task of updating system components was even more complicated when IT
systems were vertically scaled, where there was one underlying operating system and
many applications that ran on top of it. Each application might come with its own runtime
library requirements; an OS upgrade might not be compatible with the dependencies of
some applications running on top, creating technical debt and operational complexity.

Efficiency and Cost Control

One way a system admin can alleviate the first problem is by creating a separate
VM for each application, then scaling it, so the dependency of packages is reduced
in complexity. Virtual machines, with each virtual machine running an individual
application, were common in the days of virtualization. They still are.
The major drawback of such solutions is they essentially waste a lot of resources and
increase operational complexity of running large-scale systems. Imagine you are serving
a static website that gets millions and millions of hits during peak hours. How do you
quickly scale from 1 VM running a web server to 100 VMs running the same application?
Even if you did, now you have to apply patches and maintain the web farm of 100 VMs.
This decreases efficiency and increases the maintenance function as well as
increases the overall cost of providing the solution.
To illustrate the problem in finer detail and to allow us to compare solving the same
problem using containers, let us first deploy a simple static website using a VM.

The VM Way
Task: Suppose the developers have developed a static website which they have asked
you to host in your production environment.
As a seasoned systems engineer or administrator, you know how to do this. Easy!, you
say. I’ll create a VM, deploy a web server, and voilà! But what’s the fun in that? However,
let us still deploy the static website the traditional way and the container way. This way,
we will learn the similarities and differences between the two approaches. Thus

1) We will run a simple static website using virtual machine

technology.

2) We will run the same simple static website using container

technology.

2
 Chapter 1 From VMs to Containers

We will then build increasingly complex container applications as our journey

progresses.
Set up a static website using a virtual machine.
Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Note There are several virtual machine technologies available, such as the cloud,
ESXi host, VMware Workstation, Parallels, KVM, etc. Instructions for installing the
Linux operating system will vary widely depending on the virtualization software in
use; thus, we assume that the systems engineer/administrator is familiar with their
workstation setup.

The typical process involves the following:

1. Install the operating system.

2. Install the nginx (web server) application.

3. Deploy the application data (the web pages).

1. Install the operating system.

In my case, I’ve installed a vanilla Ubuntu 22.04 LTS operating

system, which we will be using.

It is a typical virtual machine with 1 or 2vCPUs with 2GB of

memory and ~10GB of HDD. The user shiva is an admin on the
VM; since we will be installing many packages later on, ensure
that the user you are using has admin rights on the VM via sudo,
etc. The installed OS is Ubuntu 22.04 LTS as shown in Listing 1-1.

We confirm the OS by running the following command:

lsb_release -s -d

Note The author has chosen to list plain command(s) only at the top of the listings
and the executed output and results right below it, making it easy to differentiate
between the command and the author’s illustrated outputs as shown in Listing 1-1.

3
Chapter 1 From VMs to Containers

Listing 1-1. Version confirmation and output

lsb_release -s -d

shiva@wks01:~$ lsb_release -s -d
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
shiva@wks01:~$

2. Install the nginx (web server) application.

Now that the OS is ready, we need to install the nginx application;
again, there are many ways to install the nginx application per
nginx’s documentation website at https://nginx.org/en/linux_
packages.html – we can download the source code and compile
it, or we can utilize the packages that are readily available for our
operating system. In our case, we will install the package from the
package repo.

We first update our repos by running the command shown in

Listing 1-2; depending on your location and the mirror closest
to you, the output may slightly differ; as long as the repos are
updated, we should be good.

Listing 1-2. Package repo update and output

sudo apt-get update

shiva@wks01:~$ sudo apt-get update

Hit:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy InRelease
Hit:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates InRelease
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports InRelease
[99.8 kB]
Get:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security InRelease [110 kB]
Fetched 210 kB in 0s (521 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
shiva@wks01:~$

The package name for nginx is just nginx; thus, we will install
nginx using the standard package manager command as shown in
Listing 1-3.

4
 Chapter 1 From VMs to Containers

Note <SNIP> in the output section indicates the sections of the output snipped
out of the listing to maintain brevity; it does not impact the concepts we are
learning.

Listing 1-3. Installing nginx and abbreviated output

sudo apt-get install nginx -y

shiva@wks01:~$ sudo apt-get install nginx -y

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  fontconfig-config fonts-dejavu-core libdeflate0 libfontconfig1 libgd3
libjbig0
  libjpeg-turbo8 libjpeg8 libnginx-mod-http-geoip2 libnginx-mod-http-
image-filter
<SNIP>
Setting up libnginx-mod-http-image-filter (1.18.0-6ubuntu14.4) ...
Setting up nginx-core (1.18.0-6ubuntu14.4) ...
* Upgrading binary nginx                                            [ OK ]
Setting up nginx (1.18.0-6ubuntu14.4) ...
Processing triggers for ufw (0.36.1-4build1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.10.2-1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.35-0ubuntu3) ...
Scanning processes...
Scanning linux images...
Running kernel seems to be up-to-date.
No services need to be restarted.
No containers need to be restarted.
No user sessions are running outdated binaries.
No VM guests are running outdated hypervisor (qemu) binaries on this host.
shiva@wks01:~$

5
Chapter 1 From VMs to Containers

Please note that your mileage may vary with respect to the
output messages due to variations in installed editions of the
operating system.

Confirm the nginx process is running as shown in Listing 1-4.

Listing 1-4. Confirming nginx is running

ps -ef | grep [n]ginx

shiva@wks01:~$ ps -ef | grep [n]ginx

root        2125       1  0 03:23 ?        00:00:00 nginx: master process /
usr/sbin/nginx -g daemon on; master_process on;
www-data    2128    2125  0 03:23 ?        00:00:00 nginx: worker process
shiva@wks01:~$

This marks the end of step 2, which is installing the web server;
now on to step 3.

3. Deploy the application data (the web pages).

Luckily, nginx comes with its own default index.html; thus, we do

not have to deploy anything special just to test the package. To
test, we can use curl and confirm the web server is returning the
web content as shown in Listing 1-5.

Listing 1-5. Browsing to the nginx default website using the command line

curl localhost

shiva@wks01:~$ curl localhost

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Welcome to nginx!</title>
<SNIP>
<body>
<h1>Welcome to nginx!</h1>
<p>If you see this page, the nginx web server is successfully installed and
working. Further configuration is required.</p>

6
 Chapter 1 From VMs to Containers

<p>For online documentation and support please refer to

<a href="http://nginx.org/">nginx.org</a>.<br/>
Commercial support is available at <a href="http://nginx.com/">nginx.
com</a>.</p>
<p><em>Thank you for using nginx.</em></p>
</body>
</html>
shiva@wks01:~$

We have successfully deployed our static website using a VM.

The VM Way – Problem Summary

From a time-to-deploy an application perspective, we have taken ~30 minutes to install
the operating system and another ~5 minutes to update the package manager data and
install the actual package.
From a resource perspective, we have taken 2GB of memory and 10GB of HDD space.
Suppose we have to scale this horizontally to ten VMs; that would have required
20GB of memory (10VM×2GB/VM) and 100GB (10VM×10GB/VM) of HDD space, which
is an enormous amount of resources just for serving a static website.
Along comes the system administration overhead of managing these VMs, patching,
user management, IP addresses, and such.
Is there a better way?

Enter Containers
Welcome to the wonderful world of containers.
Containers solve both of the major problems associated with the VM way:

1. Dependency hell – no more

Containers provide us a way to package an application and all

its dependencies including the underlying operating system in
an automated way, which can then be run on top of a container
runtime and be scaled up or down horizontally quickly. Patching?
No problem. Build a new image; deploy the new image; let the

7
Chapter 1 From VMs to Containers

container management system (Kubernetes) take care of the rest.

New app release? No problem. Build a new image; test; deploy the
new image via Kubernetes. You get the idea.

Self-contain the application and its runtime, build an image,

deploy the image, and manage the image using K8S.

Here, container is a generic term capturing the essence of the

technology underpinning, which is to say the application and
related dependency components are all self-contained and won’t
impact the contents of another application in another container,
like a physical container where the contents of one container
cannot impact the contents of another container and the
container as a whole can be lifted, shifted, and moved easily.

Here, the term image refers to the binary format or artifact of the
technology container.

2. Efficiency and cost control

Unlike a traditional VM which contains a plethora of components

to enable general-purpose application development, a container
is purpose built and includes only the minimum needed OS
components such as the kernel and necessary shared libraries
to run the application process, no more, no less – meaning the
container images are compact both at the disk image level as well
as the memory footprint level.

Just like how a hypervisor is capable of running many VMs, the

container host (node) is capable of running as many container
images as its CPU, memory, and disk would allow, except,
instead of running full-blown VMs, containers run only the bare
minimum processes needed for the application.

FUN FACT: Google launches several billion containers per week.1

Expert advice: There are almost little or no technology controls that will prevent you
from building a container with two applications running within the same container. Be
aware, that’s bad design and breaks the basic tenant of a container. Don’t fear running

1
https://cloud.google.com/containers

8
 Chapter 1 From VMs to Containers

each application in its own container as the resource required to run a container is
very minimal; you will not be conserving any resources and will be reintroducing the
dependency management complexity that got us here in the first place!

Summary
In this chapter, we learned about two of the major problems associated with deploying
and managing an application and how containers promise to solve both the problems,
enabling systems engineers to reduce complexity while increasing efficiency, scalability,
and reliability of hosting applications via containers.
In the next chapter, we will deploy a simple static application via container
technology, realizing for ourselves how easy it is to deploy and manage applications
deployed via containers.

9
CHAPTER 2

Container Hello-World
Continuing from where we left off in the VM world, the goal of this chapter is to set up
container technology in our workstation and run our first container, hello-world, and
nginx web server, using docker with the intent to learn the basics of containers.

Docker Technology
When we say containers, for many, Docker comes to mind, and with a good reason.
Docker is a popular container technology that allows for users and developers to
build and run containers. Since it is a good starting point and allows us to understand
containers better, let us build and run a few containers based on docker technology
before branching out into the world of Kubernetes.

Setting Up Our Workstation for Docker

Prerequisites
VM with Ubuntu 22.04

Container runtime (docker)

Container images (Docker Hub)

Notice that we said container runtime. Why is a container runtime needed? A

container is just a saved image that includes, among other things, the core OS, any
shared libraries, and application binaries – this container is then read by the container
runtime and launched as a running process, exposes the necessary ports so the
application can be accessed from outside the container, etc. – more on this later. For
now, go along with installing the CRI.

11
© Shiva Subramanian 2023
S. Subramanian, Deploy Container Applications Using Kubernetes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-9277-8_2
Chapter 2 Container Hello-World

The astute reader will notice and ask: Why do we need a VM still? I thought we were
going with containers. The short answer is, yes, we still need a host machine to provide
compute, that is, the CPU, memory, and disk, for the containers to run; however, the
VM can be replaced with special-purpose host OSes that can be stripped down to a bare
minimum; we will learn more about compute nodes and observe these in later chapters.
First, let us install the docker package onto our workstation as shown in Listing 2-1.

Listing 2-1. Installing Docker via the CLI

sudo apt install docker.io -y

shiva@wks01:~$ sudo apt install docker.io -y

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  bridge-utils containerd dns-root-data dnsmasq-base git git-man iptables
less liberror-perl libip6tc2
  libnetfilter-conntrack3 libnfnetlink0 libnftnl11 netcat netcat-openbsd
patch pigz runc ubuntu-fan
Suggested packages:
  ifupdown aufs-tools cgroupfs-mount | cgroup-lite debootstrap docker-doc
rinse <snip>  libip6tc2 libnetfilter-conntrack3 libnfnetlink0 libnftnl11
netcat netcat-openbsd patch pigz runc ubuntu-fan
0 upgraded, 20 newly installed, 0 to remove and 55 not upgraded.
Need to get 71.8 MB of archives.
After this operation, 312 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/universe amd64 pigz amd64
2.6-1 [63.6 kB]
<SNIP>
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.35-0ubuntu3) ...
debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Dialog
debconf: (No usable dialog-like program is installed, so the dialog based
frontend cannot be used. at /usr/share/perl5/Debconf/FrontEnd/Dialog.pm
line 78.)
debconf: falling back to frontend: Readline

12
 Chapter 2 Container Hello-World

Scanning processes...
Scanning linux images...
Running kernel seems to be up-to-date.
No services need to be restarted.
No containers need to be restarted.
No user sessions are running outdated binaries.
No VM guests are running outdated hypervisor (qemu) binaries on this host.
shiva@wks01:~$

The Docker package is installed; to confirm the same, run the command shown in
Listing 2-2.

Listing 2-2. Confirming the docker package is running

dpkg -l docker.io

shiva@wks01:~$ dpkg -l docker.io

Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/
Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name           Version           Architecture Description
+++-==============-=================-============-========================
=========
ii  docker.io      20.10.12-0ubuntu4 amd64       Linux container runtime
shiva@wks01:~$

Confirming Docker Service Is Running

Since the docker.io package is installed, we can now start the docker service and confirm
it is running by the commands shown in Listing 2-3. Note that you might have to press
<q> at the end of the service docker status command to get back to the prompt.

Note Highlights in the output show the key elements we are looking for in the
output section.

13
Chapter 2 Container Hello-World

Listing 2-3. Verifying the Docker daemon is running

sudo service docker start

service docker status

shiva@wks01:~$ sudo service docker start

shiva@wks01:~$
shiva@wks01:~$ service docker status
● docker.service - Docker Application Container Engine
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/docker.service; enabled; vendor
preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Thu 2023-01-19 03:34:56 UTC;
1min 42s ago
TriggeredBy: ● docker.socket
       Docs: https://docs.docker.com
   Main PID: 2637 (dockerd)
      Tasks: 7
     Memory: 29.8M
        CPU: 226ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/docker.service
             └─2637 /usr/bin/dockerd -H fd:// --containerd=/run/
containerd/containerd.sock

Jan 19 03:34:56 wks01 dockerd[2637]: time="2023-01-19T03:34:56.06639110

4Z" v<SNIP>
Jan 19 03:34:56 wks01 dockerd[2637]: time="2023-01-19T03:34:56.334554201Z"
level=info msg="API listen on /run/d>

NOTE - if needed, press <q> to get back to command prompt

shiva@wks01:~$

Notice docker is in active (running) state; this is good. We can now set this user up
for using docker.

14
 Chapter 2 Container Hello-World

Setting Up Our User for Use with Docker

Since we installed docker as root via sudo (and it needs root), we need to grant our
regular user, shiva in my case, permissions to use the service. We do that by adding
ourselves to the group docker. Execute the command shown in Listing 2-4.

Note Unless noted otherwise, remarks starting with # are NOT part of the system
output; it is used by the author to highlight something being present or not present
as a form of explanation.

Listing 2-4. Adding a regular user to the docker group

sudo usermod -a -G docker shiva

shiva@wks01:~$ sudo usermod -a -G docker shiva

shiva@wks01:~$ # No output to show, next command confirms the group
addition

For this to take effect, you can log out and log back in or add the newly added group
to the current session by using the command shown in Listing 2-5.

Listing 2-5. Changing the acting primary group for the regular user

newgrp docker

shiva@wks01:~$ newgrp docker

shiva@wks01:~$ # No output

Before proceeding, we need to verify the group docker shows up in our session; we
can do that by executing the command shown in Listing 2-6.

Listing 2-6. Verifying the docker group is added to the session

id

shiva@wks01:~$ id
uid=1000(shiva) gid=112(docker) ­groups=112(docker),4(adm),24(cdrom),
27(sudo),30(dip),46(plugdev),110(lxd),1000(shiva)
shiva@wks01:~$

15
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
each name mentioned has a story of its own. Two publishers at the outset
attract our regard; except for them, much would have been lost to English
and American children.
As early as Elizabeth’s time, Rafe Newberie, Master of Stationer’s
Company, published Hakluyt’s “Voyages.” From him, John Newbery
(1713–1767) was descended. Given an ordinary schooling, he was
apprenticed to the printer, William Carnan, who, dying in 1737, divided his
worldly goods between his brother Charles, and his assistant John. The
latter, in order to cement his claim still further, married his employer’s
widow, by whom he had three children, Francis, his successor in the
publishing business, being born on July 6, 1743.
Newbery was endowed with much common sense. He travelled
somewhat extensively before settling in London, and, during his
wanderings, he jotted down rough notes, relating especially to his future
book trade; the remarks are worthy of a keen critic. During this time it is
hard to keep Newbery, the publisher, quite free from the picturesque career
of Newbery, the druggist; on the one hand Goldsmith might call him “the
philanthropic publisher of St. Paul’s Churchyard,” as he did in the “Vicar of
Wakefield,” which was first printed by Newbery and Benjamin Collins, of
Salisbury; on the other hand, in 1743, one might just as well have praised
him for the efficacy of the pills and powders he bartered. Now we find him
a shopkeeper, catering to the captains of ships from his warehouse, and
adding every new concoction to his stock of homeopathic deceptions. Even
Goldsmith could not refrain from having a slap at his friend in “Quacks
Ridiculed.”
He made money, however, and he associated with a literary set among
whom gold was much coveted and universally scarce. The portly Dr.
Johnson ofttimes borrowed a much-needed guinea, an unfortunate privilege,
for he had a habit of never working so long as he could feel money in his
pocket. This generosity on the part of Newbery did not deter Johnson from
showing his disapproval over many of the former’s publications. We can
well imagine the implied sarcasm in his declaration that Newbery was an
extraordinary man, “for I know not whether he has read, or written most
books.” Between 1744 and 1802, records indicate that Newbery and his
successors printed some three hundred volumes, two hundred of which
were juvenile; small wonder he needed the editorial assistance of such
persons as Dr. Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith.
 One of the first pieces the latter let Newbery have, was an article for the
Literary Magazine of January, 1758. Then there came into existence The
Universal Chronicle, or Weekly Gazette in April, 1758, for which Johnson
wrote “The Idler.” In 1759, The British Magazine or Monthly Repository for
Gentlemen and Ladies, by T. Smollett, M.D., and others was announced,
Smollett then taking a rest cure in jail. As though magazines could be
launched in a few hours without sinking, a daily sheet called the Public
Ledger was brought into existence on January 12, 1760, for which
Goldsmith wrote his “Chinese Letters.” Between this date and 1767,
Goldsmith resided in a room on the upper floor of Newbery’s house at
Islington, and the publisher’s son declares that while there Goldsmith read
to him odd parts of “The Traveller” and the “Vicar of Wakefield.” This has
not so much evidence to support it as the fact that bills presented at the front
door for Goldsmith, usually found their way to Newbery for settlement.
How much actual suggestion Goldsmith gave to his publisher-employer,
how far he influenced the character of the books to be printed, cannot be
determined; he and Griffith and Giles Jones assuredly encouraged the
juvenile picture stories. An advertisement of 1765 calls attention to the
following: “The Renowned History of Giles Gingerbread, a little boy who
lived upon learning” [the combination is very appropriate in its
compensating qualities of knowledge and “sweets”]; “The Whitsuntide Gift,
or the Way to be Happy”; “The Valentine Gift, or how to behave with
honour, integrity and humanity”; and “The History of Little Goody Two
Shoes, otherwise called Margery Two Shoes.”
Though he could not wholly escape the charge of catering to the moral
craze of the time, Newbery at least infused into his little books something
of imagination and something of heroic adventure; not sufficient however to
please Dr. Johnson, who once said: “Babies do not want to hear about
babies; they like to be told of giants and castles, and of somewhat which
can stretch and stimulate their little minds.” A thrust at the ignorance of
grown people, regarding what children like, is further seen in Johnson’s
remark that parents buy, but girls and boys seldom read what is calculated
for them.
There are many to praise Newbery’s prints; they were more or less
oddities, even in their own time. Their usefulness was typified in such
books as the “Circle of Sciences,” a compendium of universal knowledge;
their attractiveness was dependent not only upon the beauty of their make,
but also upon the queerness of their format; for example, such volumes as
were called the snuff-box series, or ready references for waistcoat pockets.
Then there was the combination plan, indicated in the announcement: “A
Little Pretty Pocket-Book, intended for the Instruction and Amusement of
Little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Polly, with an agreeable letter to read
from Jack-the-Giant-Killer, as also a Ball and Pincushion, the use of which
will infallibly make Tommy a Good Boy, and Polly a Good Girl.... Price of
the Book alone, 6d., with a Ball or Pincushion, 8d.”
The variety of Newbery’s ideas resulted in every species of book-
publishing, from a children’s magazine (The Lilliputian), with Goldsmith as
the reputed editor, to a child’s grammar. Interested one moment in a
machine for the colouring of silks and cloths, at another he would be
extolling the fever powders of Dr. James, a whilom schoolfellow of
Johnson. He was untiring in his business activity. His firm changed name
many times, but always Newbery remained the dominant figure. After his
death, the business continued for some while to be identified with its
founder, and for a long period his original policy was continued. Francis
Newbery, the son, left an autobiography of historic value.
Newbery’s real genius consisted in his trading ability. Modern
advertising is not more clever than that practised by this shrewd man of the
eighteenth century. Not only was he in the habit of soliciting puffs, and of
making some of the characters in his stories proclaim the excellencies of his
books, but the personal note and the friendly feeling displayed in his
newspaper items were uncommonly intimate. Witness the London
Chronicle for December 19–January 1, 1765:
“The Philosophers, Politicians, Necromancers, and the learned in every
faculty are desired to observe that on the first of January, being New Year’s
day (oh, that we all may lead new lives!), Mr. Newbery intends to publish
the following important volumes, bound and gilt, and hereby invites all his
little friends who are good to call for them at the Bible and Sun, in St.
Paul’s Churchyard, but those who are naughty to have none.”
Thomas in later years adopted the same method of advertising.
The most thorough piece of research work done by Mr. Charles Welsh is
his “A Bookseller of the Last Century.” Had he aimed at nothing more than
preserving the catalogue of Newbery’s books, he would have rendered a
great service to the library student. But he has in addition written a very
complete life of Newbery. When it is noted that this printer was brought
into business relations with Robert Raikes, and was further connected with
him by the union of Newbery’s son with Raikes’ sister, it is safe to believe
that some of the piousness which crept into the publisher’s wares was
encouraged by the zealous spirit of the founder of Sunday-schools. Raikes
will be dealt with in his proper place.
Newbery was what may be termed an enthusiastic publisher, a careful
manufacturer of books of the flower-and-gilt species. As a friend he has
been pictured nothing loath to help the needy, but always with generous
security and heavy interest attached; he was a business man above all else,
and that betokens keenness for a bargain, a keenness akin to cleverness
rather than to graciousness. In his “Life of Goldsmith,” Washington Irving
is inclined to be severe in his estimate; he writes:
“The poet [Goldsmith] has celebrated him as the friend of all mankind;
he certainly lost nothing by his friendship. He coined the brains of authors
in the times of their exigency, and made them pay dear for the plank put out
to keep them from drowning. It is not likely his death caused much
lamentation among the scribbling tribe.”
One difficulty Newbery had to contend with was the piracy of his books;
there was no adequate protection afforded by the copyright system, and we
read of Goldsmith and Johnson bewailing the literary thievery of the day.
By some it was regarded as a custom to be accepted; by others as a
deplorable condition beyond control. Early American authorship suffered
from the same evil, and Irving and Cooper were the two prominent victims.
The book list of Isaiah Thomas (1749–1831), the Worcester,
Massachusetts printer, shows how freely he drew from the London
bookseller. Called by many the Didot of America, founder of the American
Antiquarian Society, author of one of the most authentic histories of early
printing in this country, he is the pioneer of children’s books for America.
He scattered his presses and stores over a region embracing Worcester and
Boston, Mass.; Concord, N. H.; Baltimore, Md.; and Albany, N. Y. Books
were kept by him, so he vouched, specially for the instruction and
amusement of children, to make them safe and happy. In his “Memoirs”
there is found abundant material to satisfy one as to the nature of reading
for young folks in New England, previous to the Revolution.
Emerson writes in his “Spiritual Laws” regarding “theological
problems”; he calls them “the soul’s mumps and measles and whooping-
cough.” Already the sombre sternness of Colonial literature for children has
been typified in the “New England Primer.” The benefits of divine songs
and praises; the reiteration of the joy to parents, consequent upon the
behaviour of godly children; the mandates, the terrible finger of retribution,
the warning to all sinners lurking in the throat disease which was prevalent
at one time—all these ogres rise up in the Thomas book to crush juvenile
exuberance. Does it take much description to get at the miserable heart of
the early piety displayed by the heroines of Cotton Mather’s volumes, those
stone images of unthinkable children who passed away early, who were
reclaimed from disobedience, “children in whom the fear of God was
remarkably budding before they died”? Writers never fail to say, in
speaking of Thomas White’s “Little Book for Children” (reprint of 1702),
that its immortality, in the face of all its theology, is centred in one famous
untheological line, “A was an archer who shot at a frog.”
What Thomas did, when he began taking from Newbery, was to change
colloquial English terms to fit new environment; the coach no longer
belongs to the Lord Mayor, but to the Governor instead.[29] The text is only
slightly altered. We recognise the same little boys who would become great
masters; the same ear-marks stigmatise the heroines of “The Juvenile
Biographer,” insufferable apostles of surname-meaning, Mistresses
Allgood, Careful, and Lovebook, together with Mr. Badenough. Oh, Betsey
and Nancy and Amelia and Billy, did you know what it was to romp and
play?
The evident desire on the part of Miss Hewins, in her discussion of early
juvenile books, to emphasise the playful, in her quotations from Thomas’
stories, only indicates that there was little levity to deal with. Those were
the days of gilded “Gifts” and “Delights”; the pleasures of childhood were
strangely considered; goodness was inculcated by making the hair stand on
end in fright, by picturing to the naughty boy what animal he was soon to
turn into, and what foul beast’s disposition was akin to that of the fractious
girl. Intentions, both of an educational and religious nature, were excellent,
no doubt; but, when all is estimated, the residue presents a miserable,
lifeless ash.[30]
So far no distinctive writer for children has arisen. The volumes issued
by Newbery represent a conscious attempt to appeal through form to the
juvenile eye. If the books were addressed intentionally to children, their
amusement consisted in some extraneous novelty; it was rarely contained in
the story. Action rather than motive is the redeeming feature of “Goody
Two Shoes.” As for religious training, it was administered to the child with
no regard for his individual needs. He represented a theological stage of sin;
the world was a long dark road, through the maze of which, by his birth, he
was doomed to fight his little way. Life was a probationary period.
It is now necessary to leave the New England book, and to return to it
through another channel. The viewpoint shifts slightly; a new element is to
be added: a self-conscious recognition of education for children. The
sternness of the “New England Primer” possessed strength. The didactic
school, retaining the moral factor,—several points removed from theology
—sentimentalised it; for many a day it was to exist in juvenile literature
rampant. And, overflowing its borders, it was to influence later chap-books,
and some of the later publications of Thomas and Newbery. Through
Hannah More, it was to grip Peter Parley, and finally to die out on
American shores. For “Queechy” and “The Wide, Wide World” represent
the final flowering of this style. In order to retain a clear connection, it is
necessary to watch both streams, educational and moral, one at first
blending with the other, and flourishing in this country through a long list of
New England authors, until, in the end, the educational, increasing in
volume, conquered altogether.

Bibliographical Note
The Babees Book—Ed. Frederick J. Furnivall, M.A. Published for the
Early English Text Society. London, Trübner, 1868.
In the foreword, note the following:
Education in early England:
1. In Nobles’ Houses; 2. At Home and at Private Tutors’; 3. At English
Universities; 4. At Foreign Universities; 5. At Monastic and Cathedral
Schools; 6. At Grammar Schools. Vide the several other prefaces.
This collection contains:
1. The Babees Book, or a ‘Lytyl Reporte’ of How Young People
Should Behave (circa 1475 a.d.); 2. The A B C of Aristotle (1430 a.d.);
3. The Book of Curteisie That is Clepid Stans Puer ad Mensam (1430
a.d.); 4. The boke of Nurture, or Schoole of good maners: For Men,
Servants, and children (1577); 5. The Schoole of Vertue, and booke of
good Nourture for chyldren and youth to learne theyr dutie by (1557).
 Vide Vol. iv, Percy Society, London, 1841:1. The Boke of Curtasye, ed.
J. O. Halliwell. 2. Specimens of Old Christmas Carols, ed. T. Wright. 3.
The Nursery Rhymes of England, ed. J. O. Halliwell, 1842: a. Historical;
b. Tales; c. Jingles; d. Riddles; e. Proverbs; f. Lullabies; g. Charms; h.
Games; i. Literal; j. Paradoxes; k. Scholastic; l. Customs; m. Songs; n.
Fragments.
Vide Vol. xxix, Percy Society, London, 1849. Notices of Fugitive
Tracts and Chap-books printed at Aldermary Churchyard, Bow
Churchyard, etc., ed. J. O. Halliwell.

Ashton, John—Chap-books of the 18th Century.

Ashton, John—Social Life in the Time of Queen Anne.
Bergengren, R.—Boswell’s Chap-books and Others. Lamp, 28:39–44
(Feb., 1904).
Chambers, W.—Historical Sketch of Popular Literature and Its Influence
on Society, 1863.
Cunningham, R. H.—Amusing Prose Chap-books. Glasgow, 1889.
Faxon, Frederick Winthrop—A Bibliography of the Modern Chap-books
and their Imitators (Bulletin of Bibl. Pamphl. No. 11), Boston Book Co.,
1903. [A “freak” movement, beginning with the publication of Chap-
book, at Cambridge, May 15, 1894.]
Ferguson, Chancellor—On the Chap-books in the Bibliotheca
Jacksoniana in Tullie House, Carlisle. Archaeolog. Jour., 52:292 (1895).
Fraser, John—Scottish Chap-books. (2 pts.) New York, Hinton, 1873.
Gerring, Charles—Notes on Printers and Booksellers, with a Chapter on
Chap-books. London, 1900.
Halliwell, James Orchard—A Catalogue of Chap-books, Garlands, and
Popular Histories in the Possession of Halliwell. London, 1849.
Harvard College Library—Catalogue of English and American Chap-
books and Broadside Ballads in 1905 (Bibl. contrib. No. 56).
Nisard, Marie Léonard Charles—Histoire des Livres Populaires ou de la
Littérature du Colportage, depuis l’origine de l’imprimerie jusqu’ à
l’établissement de la Commission d’examen des livres du Colportage (30
Nov., 1852) [2 vols.]. Paris, Dentu, 1864.
Pearson, Edwin—Banbury Chap-books and Nursery Toy Book Literature
of the 18th and Early 19th Centuries. London, 1890.
Pyle, Howard—Chap-book Heroes. Harper’s Monthly Magazine, 81:123
(1890).
Sieveking, S. Giberne—The Mediæval Chap-book as an Educational
Factor in the Past. The Reliquary and Illus. Archaeolog., 9:241 (1903).

The student is referred to the following invaluable reference for matter

relating to New England literature: Catalogue of the American Library of
the Late Mr. George Brinley of Hartford, Conn. (5 pts.) Hartford: Press of
the Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Co., 1878–97. Not completed.
Comprising a list of Books printed at Cambridge and Boston, 1640–
1709.
Pt. I.—The Bay Psalm Book, No. 847; Almanacs, 1646–1707; The
Mathers, Special Chapter of References.
Pt. III.—Bibles, 146; Catechisms and Primers, New England Primer,
158; Music and Psalmody, 163; Psalms and Hymns, 172.
Pt. IV.—Continuation of Psalms and Hymns; Bibl. Ref. to
Denominational Churches, Law, Government, Political Economy,
Sciences, etc.; Popular Literature: Jest Books, Anecdotes, 131; Chap-
books, 135; Books for Children, 139; Mother Goose, 140; Primers and
Catechisms, 141; Educational, 143; Almanacs, 163; Theology, 177.
Pt. V.—Newspapers and Periodicals, 137.
Ford, Paul Leicester—The New England Primer (ed.). N. Y., Dodd,
Mead, 1897. (Edition limited.) [Vide excellent bibliography.]
The New England Primer. Bookman, 4:122–131 (Oct., 1896).
Johnson, Clifton—The New England Primer. New England Mag., n.s.
28:323. (May, 1903.) [Some essential data, but written superficially.]
Marble, Annie Russell—Early New England Almanacs. New England
Mag., n.s. 19:548. (Jan., 1899.) [Vide also Griswold’s Curiosities of
American Literature; Tyler’s History of American Literature; Thomas’s
History of Printing. A collection of Almanacs is owned by the Am.
Antiq. Soc., Worcester, Mass.]

Collin de Plancy—Memories of Perrault.

Dillaye, Frédéric—Les Contes de Perrault (ed.). Paris, 1880.
Lang, Andrew—Perrault’s Popular Tales; edited from the original
editions, with an introduction by. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1888. [A
concise and agreeable introduction to the study of folk-lore in general,
and of a few noted tales in particular.]
Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales—Madame D’Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, etc.
Little, Brown, $1.00.
Old French Fairy Tales—C. Perrault, Madame D’Aulnoy. Little, Brown,
$1.00.
D’Anois, Countess—Fairy Tales, Translated from the French of. (2 vols.)
London, 1817.
D’Aulnoy, Comtesse—Mémoires de la. [Vide Collection pour les jeunes
filles.]
Hale, Edward Everett—Reprint of the Monroe and Francis Mother
Goose.
Green, P. B.—History of Nursery Rhymes. London, 1899.
Headland, J. T.—Chinese Mother Goose. Chicago, 1900.
Halliwell, J. O.—Nursery Rhymes of England; collected principally from
oral tradition. London, 1842. [The Percy Society, Early English Poetry.]
Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales. A Sequel to Nursery Rhymes.
London, 1849.
Ritson, Joseph—Gammer Gurton’s Garland; or, The Nursery Parnassus.
London, 1810; reprint 1866.
Welsh, Charles—An Appeal for Nursery Rhymes and Jingles. Dial
(Chicago), 27:230 (1 Oct., 1899).

Father of Children’s Books—Current Literature, 27:110.

Welsh, Charles—A Bookseller of the Last Century. Griffith, Farren & Co.
London.

Batchelder, F. R.—Patriot Printer. New England Mag., n.s. 25:284 (N.

‘01).
Evans, Charles—American Bibliography. A Chronological Dictionary of
all Books, Pamphlets, and Periodical Publications Printed in the United
States of America. From the genesis of Printing in 1639 Down to and
Including the Year 1820. With Bibliographical and Biographical Notes.
Privately Printed for the Author by the Blakely Press, Chicago. Anno
Domini mdcccciii. Thus far issued: Vol. I. 1639–1729; Vol. II. 1730–
1750; Vol. III. 1751–1764.

Livingston, L. S.—American Publisher of a Hundred Years Ago.

Bookman, 11:530 (Aug., ’00).
Nichols, Charles L.—Some Notes on Isaiah Thomas and his Worcester
Imprints. Am. Antiq. Soc., 1899–1900, n.s., 13:429.
Thomas, Benjamin Franklin—Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. By his
Grandson. Boston, 1874.
Hewins, Caroline M.—The History of Children’s Books. Atlantic, 61:112
(Jan., 1888).
Welsh, Charles.—The Early History of Children’s Books in New
England. New England Mag., n.s. 20:147–60 (April, 1899).
Yonge, Charlotte M.—Children’s Literature of the Last Century. Liv.
Age, 102:373 (Aug. 7, 1869); 612 (Sept. 4, 1869); 103:96 (Oct. 9, 1869).

FOOTNOTES
[15] In “The Child and His Book,” by Mrs. E. M. Field (London: Wells
Gardner, Darton & Co., 1892), the reader is referred to chapters: Before
the Norman Conquest; Books from the Conquest to Caxton; The Child
in England, 1066–1640. Her researches form an invaluable contribution
to the history of children’s books, furnishing sources for considerable
speculation. Much is included of interest to the antiquarian only.
[16] Thomas Newbery was the author. Vide Fugitive Tracts, 1875.
Hazlitt and Huth.
[17] As early as 1262, the macaronic style of delivering sermons was
customary. The gradual substitution of the vernacular for Latin is dealt
with in the introduction to the present author’s edition of “Everyman,”
1903, xxvii.
[18] Chap = An abbreviation of Chapman, which seems to have come
into vulgar use in the end of the 16th c.; but it is rare in books, even in
the dramatists, before 1700. It was not recognised by Johnson. 1577
Breton Toyes Idle Head (Grosart). Those crusty chaps I cannot love. a.
A buyer, purchaser, customer.
Chap-book = f. chap in Chapman + Book. A modern name applied
by book collectors and others to specimens of the popular literature
which was formerly circulated by itinerant dealers or chapmen,
consisting chiefly of small pamphlets of popular tales, etc. 1824 Dibdin
Libr. Comp. It is a chap-book, printed in rather neat black letter. 1882 J.
Ashton Chap-books, 18th Century in Athenæum 2 Sept. 302/1. A great
mass of chap-books.
Chapman = [OE. Céapmann = OHG. Choufman (OHG., MHG.
Koufman), Ger. Kaufmann.] A man whose business is buying and
selling; a merchant, trader, dealer. Vide 890 K. Ælfred Bæda. Vide
further, A New English Dictionary. Murray, Oxford.
[19] “The History of Tom Hickathrift” is regarded as distinctively
English; its literary qualities were likened by Thackeray to Fielding.
Vide Fraser’s Magazine.
[20] The notice ran as follows: “Advertisement: There is now in the
Press, and will suddenly be extant, a Second Impression of The New
England Primer, enlarged, to which is added, more Directions for
Spelling; the Prayer of K. Edward the 6th, and Verses made by Mr.
Rogers, the Martyr, left as a Legacy to his Children. Sold by Benjamin
Harris, at the London Coffee-House in Boston.”
[21] Three typical examples of later reprints are: The N. E. Primer,
Walpole, N. H., I. Thomas & Co., 1814; The N. E. Primer Improved for
the More Easy Attaining the True Reading of English. To which is added
The Assembly of Divines and Episcopal Catechisms. N. Y., 1815; The
N. E. Primer, or an Easy and Pleasant Guide to the Art of Reading,
Mass. Sabbath School Soc., 1841.
[22] Another writer of Contes des fées was Mme. Jeanne Marie Le
Prince de Beaumont (1711–1780), author of “Magasins des Enfans, des
Adolescens et des Dames.”
[23] The Original Mother Goose’s Melody, as first issued by John
Newbery, of London, about a.d. 1760. Reproduced in facsimile from the
edition as reprinted by Isaiah Thomas, of Worcester, Mass., about a.d.
1785. With Introductory Notes by William H. Whitmore. Albany,
Munsell, 1889. [Vide N. E. Hist. and Geneal. Regist., 1873, pp. 144, 311;
Proceed. Am. Antiq. Soc., Oct., 1888, p. 406.]
[24] Lang says the term Mother Goose appears in Loret’s “La Muse
Historique” (Lettre v., 11 Juin, 1650). Vide also Deulin, Charles—Les
Contes de Ma Mère L’Oye, avant Perrault. Paris, 1878; and Halliwell, J.
O.—Percy Society.
[25] He was the author also of a “History of Animated Nature.”
[26] A list of his publications is owned by the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
[27] Vide Notes and Queries, June, 1875, 5th series, iii, 441. Prof.
Edward F. Rimbault.
[28] Gentleman’s Magazine, 1826, Pt. ii, 467–69.
[29] Nurse Truelove’s New Year’s Gift; or, the Book of Books for
Children. Adorned with Cuts; and designed for a Present to every little
Boy who would become a great Man, and ride upon a fine Horse; and to
every little Girl, who would become a great Woman, and ride in a
Governour’s Gilt Coach.
[30] An interesting field of investigation: Early New England Printers.
Mr. Welsh mentions a few in article referred to, p.60. A full list of
Printers and Publishers (North and South) given in Evans’s American
Bibliography.
 III. THE OLD-FASHIONED LIBRARY
A child should not need to choose between right and wrong. It
should not be capable of wrong; it should not conceive of wrong.
Obedient, as bark to helm, not by sudden strain or effort, but in the
freedom of its bright course of constant life; true, with an
undistinguished, painless, unboastful truth, in a crystalline
household world of truth; gentle, through daily entreatings of
gentleness, and honourable trusts, and pretty prides of child-
fellowship in offices of good; strong, not in bitter and doubtful
contest with temptation, but in peace of heart, and armour of
habitual right, from which temptation falls like thawing hail; self-
commanding, not in sick restraint of mean appetites and covetous
thoughts, but in vital joy of unluxurious life, and contentment in
narrow possession, wisely esteemed.—John Ruskin, in an
introduction to Grimm’s “German Popular Tales,” illustrated by
Cruikshank.

I. The Rousseau Impetus.

Mr. E. V. Lucas has compiled two volumes of old-fashioned tales for
modern readers. In his introductions he analyses the qualities of his selected
stories, and it is generally the case that, except for incidental detail, what is
said of one of a kind might just as appropriately be meant for the other. If,
at moments, the editor is prone to confuse quaintness with interest, he
makes full amends by the quick humour with which he deals with the moral
purpose. Perhaps it was part of the game for our great-grandfathers to
expect didacticism, but simply because children were then considered “the
immature young of men” is no excuse, although it may be a reason, for the
artificiality which subserved play to contemplation. Wherever he can
escape the bonds of primness, Mr. Lucas never fails to take advantage; the
character of his selections indicates this as well as such critical remarks as
the following:
“The way toward a nice appreciation of the child’s own peculiar
characteristics was, however, being sought by at least two writers of the
eighteenth century, each of whom was before his time: Henry Brooke, who
in ‘The Fool of Quality’ first drew a small boy with a sense of fun, and
William Blake, who was the first to see how exquisitely worth study a
child’s mind may be.”
Mr. Lucas brings together a number of stories by different persons,
treating them as a group. Should you read them you will have a fairly
distinct conception of early nineteenth century writing for children. But
there is yet another way of approaching the subject, and that is by tracing
influence from writer to writer, from group to group; by seeking for the
impetus without which the story becomes even more of a husk than ever.
Let us conjure up the long row of theoretical children of a bygone age,
painfully pathetic in their staidness, closely imprisoned. They began with
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), the iconoclast, who attacked civil
society, the family, the state, the church, and from whose pen the school did
not escape chastisement. His universal cry of “back to nature” frightened
the conservative; even Voltaire could not refrain, on reading the essay
dealing with the origin of inequality among men, to write him: “Never has
any one employed so much genius to make us into beasts. When one reads
your book he is seized at once with a desire to go down on all-fours.”
Rousseau’s “Émile, or Treatise on Education” (1762) was wholly
revolutionary; it tore down ancient theories, such as those practised by Dr.
Isaac Watts upon his “ideal” boy and girl; all existent educational strictures
were ignored. Rousseau applied to childhood his belief in the free unfolding
of man’s nature; however impracticable his methods, he loosed the chains
that held fast the claims of childhood, and recognised their existence. He set
the pendulum swinging in the human direction; he turned men’s minds upon
the study of the child as a child, and, because of this, takes his place at the
head of modern education. He opened the way for a self-conscious striving
on the part of authors to meet the demands of a child’s nature, by furnishing
the best literary diet—according to educational theories—for juvenile
minds. Revolutionary in religious as well as in political and social ideals,
Rousseau’s educational machinery was destined to be infused, by some of
his zealous followers, with a piousness which he never would have
sanctioned.
Training should be natural, says Rousseau; the child should discover
beauty, not be told about it; should recognise spontaneously what he is now
taught. Education should be progressive; at the same time it should be
negative. This sounds contradictory, but Rousseau would keep his child a
child until the age of twelve; he would prevent him from knowing through
any mental effort; he would have him grow like “Topsy” in animal spirits,
his mind unbridled and imbibing facts as his lungs breathe in air. Yet
inconsistency is evident from the outset: the child must observe, at the same
time he must not remember. Is it possible, as Professor Payne challenges, to
form the mind before furnishing it?
Rousseau’s precepts are wise and brilliant. We hear him exclaiming: “It is
less consequence to prevent him [the child] from dying than to teach him
how to live;” “The man who has lived most is not he who has numbered the
most years, but he who has had the keenest sense of life;” “The best bed is
that which brings us the best sleep.” These aphorisms are as apt as those of
Franklin; but in their exercise it is necessary to consider the concomitants
brought into play.
Émile is made an orphan; thus Rousseau gives himself full sway; thus
does he free himself from the necessity of constant consultation with
parents. He is determined to love the boy, to encourage him in his sports, to
develop his amiable instincts, his natural self. Émile must not cry for the
sweets of life; he must have a need for all things rather than a joyful desire
for some. Instead of teaching virtue to him, Rousseau will try to shield him
from a knowledge of all vice. Where Plato recommends certain pastimes, he
will train Émile to delight in himself—thus making of him something of a
youthful egoist. This amœba state, endowed with all physical liberty,
deprived of all dignity of childish memory, is to be the boyhood of Émile.
He “shall never learn anything by heart, not even fables and not even those
of La Fontaine, artless and charming as they are.” Though he does not
possess the judgment to discriminate, he must be told the bare facts, and he
must discover for himself the relations which these facts bear to each other.
At the age of twelve, he shall hardly know a book when he sees it.
Rousseau calls books “cheerless furniture.”
So much for the boy; the girl Sophie fares as ill. Being of the woman
kind as well as of the child brand, she is to develop in even a more
colourless fashion. Fortunately all theory is not human actuality, and Émile
must have peopled his world in a way Rousseau could not prevent. We are
given natural rights and hereditary endowments; even the savage has his
standards and his dreams. Rousseau’s plan of existence ignored the social
evolution of history. Yet Émile might by such training have been saved
many wearisome explanations of the Mr. Barlow type, and it is ofttimes
true, as Mr. G. K. Chesterton claims, that the mysteries of God are
frequently more understandable than the solutions of man.
There was much in Rousseau’s book to rouse opposition; there was
equally as much to appeal to those whose instinctive love of childhood was
simply awaiting the flood gates to be opened. Like the Grimm fairy tales of
suspended animation, on the instant, the paternal instinct began to be active,
the maternal instinct to be motherly. Rousseau—emended, modified,
accentuated—overran England, France, and Germany. Children were now
recognised as children; it remained to be seen whether they were to be
children.
The didactic era is in no way more fitly introduced than with the names
of Madame de Genlis and Arnaud Berquin in France, together with the
Edgeworth and Aikin families and Thomas Day in England. To each, small
space may be allotted, but they are worthy of full and separate
consideration.
Stéphanie Félicité [Ducrest de St. Aubin], Comtesse de Genlis (1746–
1830), is represented upon the library shelves by nearly a hundred volumes.
They were written during the course of a varied existence, at the court of
Louis XV and at home. Her Mémoires are told in a facile and delightful
style, and indicate how she so thoroughly balanced the many conflicting
elements in her duties that she remains for those days a rare example of
wife, mother, society woman, and student. Her discernment of people, as
revealed in these pages, was penetrating and on the whole just; and, though
a typical product of her time, her nature was chastened by a refined and
noble spirit.
The first glimpse she affords of herself is as a child of six, when she was
taken to Paris. There, her brother was placed at a seat of learning, where the
master guaranteed within six weeks’ time to teach him reading and spelling
by means of a system of counters. The little girl’s teeth were shedding—not
a prepossessing phase of growth at best. But, in addition, she was encased
in whalebone stays, her feet were squeezed into tight shoes, her curls done
up in corkscrew papers, and she was forced to wear goggles. The height of
cruelty now followed. Country-bred as she had been, her manner was not in
accord with the best ideas; her awkwardness was a matter of some concern.
In order to give better poise to her head, a thick iron collar was clapped
upon her supple throat. Here she was then, ready for regular lessons in
walking. To run was to court disfavour, for little girls, especially city ones,
were not allowed to do such an improper thing; to leap was an unspeakable
crime; and to ask questions was an unwarranted license. It is small wonder
that later on she should utilise the memory of such abject slavery in “The
Dove,” one of the numerous plays included in her “Theatre of Education.”
Her early years thus prepared Madame de Genlis for the willing
acceptance of any new educational system, especially one which would
advocate a constant companionship between parents and child. For she had
been reared with but exceptional glimpses of her father and mother; during
one of these times she relates how the former, in his desire to make her
brave, forced her to catch spiders in her hands. Such a picture is worthy a
place by the side of Little Miss Muffet.
Like all children, Madame de Genlis was superior to her limited
pleasures; she possessed an imagination which expanded and placed her in
a heroic world of her own making. There is peculiar pleasure in discovering
under narrow circumstances the good, healthy spirit of youth. Madame de
Genlis seemed proud to record a certain dare-devil rebellion in herself
during this period. The pendulum that is made to swing to its unnatural bent
brings with the downward stroke unexpected consequences. And so, when
she married De Genlis, it is no surprise to read that she did so secretly—a
union which is most charmingly traced in the Memoirs.
She developed into a woman with deep religious sensibility; with
forceful personality; with artistic talent, well exemplified by a masterly
execution on the harp. Living in an atmosphere of court fêtes, the drama
occupied no small part in her daily life. Whether at her Château Genlis or
elsewhere, she was ever ready for her rôle in theatricals, as dramatist or as
actress. She played in Molière, and was accounted excellent in her
characters; naught pleased her better than a disguise; beneath it her vivacity
always disported itself.
Her interest in teaching began early; no sooner was she a mother than she
hastened to fix her opinions as to the duties that lay before her, in a written
treatise called “Reflections of a Mother Twenty Years of Age,” views which
in their first form were lost, but which were rehabilitated in the later “Adèle
et Théodore,” consisting of a series of letters on education.
After her mind had been drawn to the style of Buffon—for Madame de
Genlis was a widely read woman—she determined upon improving her own
manner of literary expression. She burned her bridges behind her, and fed
the flames with all of her early manuscripts. Then she started over again to
reconstruct her views, and in her study she made careful notes of what she
fancied of importance for her future use. She was on intimate terms with
Rousseau, took him to the theatre, and conversed with him on education
chiefly, and about diverse matters generally. If she did not agree with him,
Madame de Genlis was told that she had not as yet reached the years of
discretion when she would find his writings suited to her. But Rousseau
enjoyed the vivacious lady, who was kind-hearted and worth while talking
to, notwithstanding the fact that she had the courtier’s love of banter. She
writes:
“Not to appear better than I am, I must admit that I have often been given
to ridicule others, but I have never ridiculed anything but arrogance, folly,
and pedantry.”
Madame de Genlis was not a hero-worshipper; on first meeting
Rousseau, his coat, his maroon-coloured stockings, his round wig suggested
comedy to her, rather than gravity. We wonder whether she asked his advice
regarding the use of pictures in teaching history, a theory which she
originated and which Mrs. Trimmer was to follow in her Bible lessons. Full
as the days were, Madame de Genlis, nevertheless, seems to have been able
to give to her children every care and attention. This must have won the
unstinted commendation of Rousseau, who preached that a boy’s tutor
should be his father, and not a hired person.
Madame de Genlis created her own theatre; she wrote little comedies of
all kinds, which met with great success. Often these would be presented in
the open air, upon platforms erected beneath the shade of forest trees; by
means of the drama she sought to teach her daughters elementary lessons of
life; the stage to her was an educational force. Through the plays her
popularity and reputation increased to such an extent, that the Electress of
Saxony demanded her friendship. She became instructress to the children of
the Duke and Duchess of Chartres, and she prided herself upon being the
first in France to adopt the foreign method of teaching language by
conversation.[31] The rooms for her royal pupils were fitted according to her
special indications. Rough sketches were made upon a wall of blue,
representing medals, busts of kings and emperors of Rome. Dates and
names were frescoed within easy view. Every object was utilised, even to
the fire screens, which were made to represent the kings of France; and over
the balustrades were flung maps, like banners upon the outer walls.
 Up and down such staircases, and through such rooms wandered the
cultivated flowers of royalty. They did not suffer, because their teacher was
luckily human as well as theoretical; because she had a vein of humour as
well as a large seriousness. Her whole educational scheme is described in
her “Lessons of a Governess” and “Adèle et Théodore.” When she engaged
a tutor to attend to the special studies of the young prince in her charge, she
suggested the keeping of an hourly journal which would record the little
fellow’s doings—each night she, herself, to write critical comments upon
the margins of every page. In addition, she kept a faithful record of
everything coming within her own observation; and this she read aloud each
day to her pupils, who had to sign their names to the entries. But much to
the chagrin of Madame de Genlis, the Duke and Duchess refused to take the
time to read the voluminous manuscripts; they trusted to the wisdom and
discretion of the teacher.
Not a moment was lost during these busy periods; history was played in
the garden, and civic processions were given with ponies gaily caparisoned.
Even a real theatre was built for them. Royalty was taught to weave, and
was taken on instructive walks and on visits to instructive places. But,
through all this artificiality, the woman in Madame de Genlis saved the
teacher.
The latter part of her eventful life was filled with vexations, for the
thunders of the French Revolution rolled about her. A short while before the
storm broke, she went on a visit to England, where she came in contact with
Fox and Sheridan, with Walpole and Reynolds; and where she paid a
special visit to the House of Commons and was a guest at Windsor.
All told, here was a writer for children, self-conscious and yet ofttimes
spontaneous in her style. She is interesting because of herself, and in spite
of many of her literary attempts. She is little read to-day, in fact rarely
mentioned among juvenile book lists; education killed a keen perception
and vivacity by forcing them along prescribed lines. One glimpse of
Madame de Genlis in old age is recorded by Maria Edgeworth, who called
on her in 1803.
“She came forward, and we made our way towards her as well as we
could, through a confusion of tables, chairs, and work-baskets, china,
writing-desks and inkstands, and bird-cages and a harp.... She looked like
the full-length picture of my great-great-grandmother Edgeworth you may
have seen in the garret, very thin and melancholy, but her face not so
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