Western Civilization_ Volume B_ 1300 to 1815 - Jackson J. Spielvogel [263]
An important aspect of the growth of publishing and reading in the eighteenth century was the development of magazines for the general public. Great Britain, an important center for the new magazines, saw 25 periodicals published in 1700, 103 in 1760, and 158 in 1780. Although short-lived, the best known was Joseph Addison and Richard Steele’s Spectator, begun in 1711. Its goal was “to enliven Morality with wit, and to temper Wit with Morality…. To bring Philosophy out of the closets and libraries, schools and colleges, to dwell in clubs and assemblies, at tea-tables and coffeehouses.” In keeping with one of the chief intellectual goals of the philosophes, the Spectator wished to instruct and entertain at the same time. With its praise of family, marriage, and courtesy, the Spectator also had a strong appeal to women. Some of the new magazines were aimed specifically at women, such as The Female Spectator in England, which was also edited by a woman, Eliza Haywood, and featured articles by female writers.
Along with magazines came daily newspapers. The first was printed in London in 1702, but by 1780, thirty-seven other English towns had their own newspapers. Filled with news and special features, they were relatively cheap and were provided free in coffeehouses. Books, too, received wider circulation through the development of public libraries in the cities as well as private circulating libraries, which offered books for rent.
EDUCATION AND UNIVERSITIES By the eighteenth century, Europe was home to a large number of privately endowed secondary schools, such as the grammar and public schools in England, the gymnasiums in German-speaking lands, and the colléges in France and Spain. These schools tended to be elitist, designed to meet the needs of the children of the upper classes of society. Basically, European secondary schools perpetuated the class hierarchy of Europe rather than creating avenues for social mobility. In fact, most of the philosophes reinforced the belief that education should function to keep people in their own social class. Baron d’Holbach said, “Education should teach princes to reign, the ruling classes to distinguish themselves by their merit and virtue, the rich to use their riches well, the poor to live by honest industry.”
The curriculum of these secondary schools still largely concentrated on the Greek and Latin classics with little attention paid to mathematics, the sciences, and modern languages. Complaints from philosophe-reformers, as well as from merchants and other middle-class people who wanted their sons to have a more practical education, led to the development of new schools designed to provide a broader education. In Germany, the first Realschule (ray-AHL-shoo-luh) was opened in Berlin in 1747 and offered modern languages, geography, and bookkeeping to prepare boys for careers in business. New schools of this kind were also created for upper-class girls, although they focused primarily on religion and domestic skills.
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The Punishment of Crime
Torture and capital punishment remained common features of European judicial systems well into the eighteenth century. Public spectacles were especially gruesome, as this excerpt from the Nocturnal Spectator of Restif de la Bretonne demonstrates.
Restif de la Bretonne, “The Broken Man”
I went home by way of rue Saint-Antoine and the Place de Gr eve. Three murderers had been broken on the wheel there, the day before. I had not expected to see any such spectacle, one that I had never dared to witness. But as I crossed the