/t(&*^-*^^ [{[I ..,..-.,, .rmulll"HlliLlUt:|!Ullili 
 
 O 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 GIFT OF" 
 
 Accession 96809 Class 
 
Charles Ibolls 
 
 A MEMOIR 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY BARNARD, LL.D., L.H.D. 
 
 Late Editor of Barnard's American Journal of Education 
 First United Slates Commissioner of Education 
 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED 
 

preface 
 
 THIS memoir of my father was prepared by 
 the late Dr. Henry Barnard in 1888, and 
 was intended by him to appear in what was 
 to be the final number of his great American 
 Journal of Education. It was, in fact, 
 printed, as pages 403 to 414 of that number, 
 and the present edition is a reprint of ad- 
 vance sheets kindly furnished to me, with a 
 few manuscript corrections, by the author. 
 So long as there was the slightest hope of 
 completing the final volume of his Journal, 
 Dr. Barnard preferred that this memoir 
 should not appear in separate form. His 
 death, on July 5, 1900, has removed the 
 last reason for hesitation or delay, and the 
 memoir is now offered to the friends of my 
 father, exactly as it was written. 
 
 [3] 
 
 96809 
 
Those who know the numerous writings 
 of Dr. Barnard in many respects the fore- 
 most American educator of the nineteenth 
 century are aware of the fact that he was 
 not given to groundless eulogy or perfunc- 
 tory commendation. In consequence, this 
 most generous and affectionate tribute has 
 an interest which may perhaps appeal to a 
 wider circle than those who knew my father 
 personally. It is, at all events, a noble and 
 enduring memorial to the sincere friendship 
 between two men, who, differing widely in 
 most respects, were united in their self-sacri- 
 ficing devotion to the same lofty ideals. 
 
 FEEDEEICK W. HOLLS. 
 
 Algonak, Yonkers, New York, 
 February 26, 1901. 
 
(Beoroe Charles Ibolte 
 
 the history of education in the 
 United States under the Constitu- 
 tion, the secular element largely 
 preponderates, and the pioneers in organiza- 
 tion or administration have generally been 
 connected either with the puhlic-school 
 system, or with the higher educational and 
 charitable institutions maintained by muni- 
 cipalities or States, and, in consequence, 
 entirely independent of any church or de- 
 nomination. But, on the other hand, in the 
 ranks of Eeligion, closely identified with 
 particular denominations, there have been 
 
 [5] 
 
(Beorge Cbarles Ibolls 
 
 not a few to whom doctrines and dogmas 
 were subordinate to the active work of edu- 
 cation, and especially of charity, and whose 
 influence, while to a certain extent circum- 
 scribed by the bounds of their own church, 
 has yet extended far beyond these limits, 
 and who are entitled to by no means the 
 least honorable positions in the roll of honor 
 of American educators. 
 
 Among Protestant denominations in this 
 country, the Lutheran Church has risen most 
 rapidly to prominence, at least in the num- 
 ber of its adherents. It is now the third 
 in this respect and bids fair to maintain this 
 position. Modest and unassuming, so far as 
 self-advertisement and self-assertion is con- 
 cerned, it has done and is doing a great 
 work in educating millions of our naturalized 
 citizens and their descendants, and it has 
 been the means of acquainting this country 
 with much that is best in German educa- 
 
 [6] 
 
a fIDemoir 
 
 tional thought and the organization of char- 
 ity. No one man has contributed more to 
 this end than the distinguished philanthropist 
 whose portrait precedes this necessarily brief 
 sketch, and who, by his powerful thought 
 and active and untiring labor in his chosen 
 field, has won for himself a prominent place 
 in the history of American education and 
 charities. 
 
 George Charles Holls was born in Darm- 
 stadt, Germany, on February 26, 1824, and 
 belonged to an old and highly respected 
 family. His father served with distinction 
 in the German war of liberation against 
 Napoleon, but the moderate fortune of the 
 family was lost in the financial distress at- 
 tendant upon the war. The father was 
 afterward appointed superintendent of gov- 
 ernmental charities for the city of Darmstadt 
 and province of Starkenburg, and thus the 
 earliest impressions of the son were asso- 
 
 [7] 
 
(Beorge Cbarles Ibolte 
 
 ciated with the dispensation of charity. The 
 father died in 1830, and the task of educat- 
 ing his three children devolved upon his 
 widow, a most remarkable woman, to whose 
 loving influence and energy alone Dr. Holls 
 was wont to ascribe his further success. He 
 was educated in the excellent schools of his 
 native city, and volunteered, in order to bear 
 part of the cost of his education, to work as 
 an apprentice with a friend of his father 
 who was the owner of a large printing-house 
 and bookbindery. The practical bent of 
 his mind led him to seek a scientific rather 
 than a classical education, with a view ulti- 
 mately of teaching in the Eealschule, or sci- 
 entific school, at Darmstadt. 
 
 To this end and with the further object of 
 perfecting himself in French, he entered the 
 
 r 
 
 Ecole Poly technique at Strasburg, in 1841; 
 but it was here that he felt what we should 
 call a religious awakening, and a strong de- 
 
 [8] 
 
a fIDemoir 
 
 sire to contribute liis mite to the alleviation 
 of human suffering. He left the school 
 against the counsel of friends, and volun- 
 teered as an assistant to Inspector Becker, 
 the head of the "Neuhof" Institution, a 
 well-known house of refuge about six miles 
 south of Strasburg. Here he remained more 
 than three years, and was so successful that 
 at the age of twenty he became first assis- 
 tant to the Inspector, and often, for long 
 periods of time, had entire charge of the 
 Institution. Charles Henry Zeller, the cele- 
 brated educator and pupil of Pestalozzi, 
 heard of the young man, and at his invita- 
 tion Holls spent several months at Zeller's 
 great institution at Beuggen, studying the 
 history and theory of education under that 
 great teacher. Meanwhile the experiment 
 of the " Rauhe Haus," near Hamburg, had 
 been going on for ten years and was 
 watched with intense interest by young 
 
 [9] 
 
(5eor0e Cbarles 
 
 Holls. He was powerfully attracted by the 
 plan of a brotherhood of Christian workers, 
 and after considerable correspondence, in 
 1846, he decided to join, and was thus 
 brought into contact with one of the most 
 remarkable men of the age, and one who 
 was to exert a determining influence upon 
 his whole future life, Johann Heinrich 
 Wichern, 1 who has often been called the 
 Howard of Germany, but who was even 
 more. At a time when all Germany was 
 given over to rationalistic theology Wichern 
 succeeded in awakening an interest in Home 
 Missions and Charity which has not yet sub- 
 sided, and under the influence of which hun- 
 dreds of great and important institutions 
 were established in all parts of the German 
 Empire, and an untold quantity of human 
 misery was relieved. In 1833 he had es- 
 
 1 For Memoir and portrait of Dr. Wichern, and description of 
 the Rough House, with ground-plan of the institution, see Bar- 
 nard's Journal of Education, vol. iii., pp. 5-20, 603-648. 
 
 [10] 
 
a flDemoir 
 
 tablished that most celebrated of German 
 houses of refuge, the Rauhe Haus, near 
 Hamburg, and a few years later he intro- 
 duced into it what has since become famous 
 as the " family system." This consisted in 
 dividing the inmates into so-called "families" 
 of from twelve to twenty in number, each in 
 a separate building, and under the care of 
 one or more " brothers," and the latter con- 
 stituted the " Brotherhood of the Rauhe 
 Haus." In this way the influence of the 
 teacher or educator was brought as closely 
 to the child as possible, and the latter was 
 taught to consider the institution, not as bar- 
 racks or a house of detention, but as a con- 
 gregation of families of unfortunate children 
 bound together by natural affection and 
 under one common head. The "brothers" 
 were young men of approved habits and 
 ability, who, without taking any vow or 
 making any pledge to that effect, had freely 
 
 en] 
 
(Beorge Cbarles 
 
 devoted themselves to the relief of the un- 
 fortunate and who, in their position as 
 " brothers," served an apprenticeship, as it 
 were, fitting themselves to take charge, later 
 on, of independent institutions. Thus the 
 Rauhe Haus was not only a house of 
 refuge for destitute children, but also a 
 training school for charity workers. Wichern 
 was the ideal head of such an institution. 
 A strong personality, fully equipped with 
 learning and ability, he was born to impress 
 his views and his enthusiasm upon others; 
 and long before the late President Garfield 
 made a similar remark concerning Mark 
 Hopkins, Dr. Holls, in an address before 
 the Charities Convention in New York, in 
 1858, described " a common schoolroom with 
 Wichern at the desk " as " almost a com- 
 pletely equipped university." A strong 
 friendship immediately sprang up between 
 the two men, although Wichern was the 
 older by sixteen years. 
 
 [12] 
 
flfoemoir 
 
 Holls entered into the spirit of the Eauhe 
 Haus with the enthusiasm of youth and 
 religious conviction, and when, during the 
 great famine of 1849, the Prussian Govern- 
 ment applied to Wichern for " brothers " to 
 take charge of the temporary governmental 
 charities established to relieve the terrible 
 distress in the province of Upper Silesia, 
 Holls, though only twenty-four years of age, 
 was selected as the chief of those sent. He 
 established four orphanages, which contained, 
 before the winter was over, upward of 4000 
 children, and he was indefatigable in his ef- 
 forts to relieve what was probably the most 
 disastrous famine of this century upon the 
 Continent. At the same time he was actively 
 preaching, and he learned the Polish lan- 
 guage in order to be able to communicate 
 more readily with the objects of charity, most 
 of whom understood no German. His ser- 
 vices called forth the highest encomiums from 
 the Ministry of Public Worship and the Gov- 
 
 [13] 
 
(Beorge Cbarles Ibolte 
 
 ernor-General of Silesia, but on account of 
 failing health he was obliged to resign in 
 1850. He returned to Darmstadt and took 
 up the scientific course in the highest classes 
 of the Realschule at the point where he had 
 abandoned it in Strasburg, supporting him- 
 self meanwhile by teaching, and helping to 
 create an interest in Home Missions by lec- 
 tures and the organization of societies for the 
 purpose in the vicinity. He also visited 
 Friedrich Froebel at Blankenburg, and was 
 ever after a warm admirer of the kinder- 
 garten, though by no means blind to its de- 
 fects, especially in the form originally pro- 
 posed by its author. 
 
 A sudden impulse came to him in 1851 
 to emigrate to America, whither a younger 
 brother had preceded him, and being con- 
 vinced that he would find in the new world 
 a larger field for his energies, he came to this 
 country in June of that year. He traveled 
 
 [14] 
 
H flfeemoir 
 
 via Liverpool, where he closely inspected 
 the Harbor Mission, then in successful opera- 
 tion there, and this gave him the first ideas 
 of the Emigrant Mission, of which he after- 
 ward became so active a promoter in New 
 York. He settled in Pomeroy, Ohio, and 
 engaged at once both in learning the Eng- 
 lish language and in teaching German and 
 French at the academy established there. 
 In the following year he returned to Ger- 
 many and was married to Miss Louisa Burx 
 at Darmstadt. The newly married couple 
 settled at Pomeroy and remained there until 
 1855, when that eminent Lutheran philan- 
 thropist, Eev. William A. Passavant, having 
 heard of Mr. Holls, extended to him a call 
 to organize a large orphan asylum which 
 was to be established at Zelienople, Butler 
 County, Pennsylvania. It was the first 
 Lutheran orphan asylum in this country, and 
 the intention of the founders was to intro- 
 [15] 
 
(Beorge Cbarles Ibolla 
 
 duce, if possible, the family system and the 
 idea of home into such an institution in this 
 country. Holls accepted the call and re- 
 mained at the head of the institution for 
 eleven years. 
 
 At this time the question of juvenile re- 
 form and the methods best adapted for the 
 successful administration of reformatories and 
 houses of refuge occupied the public mind in 
 this country to a considerable extent. 1 The 
 success of the family system and of the 
 Brotherhood of the Eauhe Haus led many 
 to hope that the same results would follow 
 from their introduction here, but the circum- 
 stances were different, and Holls saw from 
 the start that, unless certain fundamental dif- 
 ficulties could be overcome, any attempt to 
 reproduce the German experiment on Amer- 
 ican soil would be a failure. In a letter 
 
 i "Preventive, Correctional, and Keformatory Institutions and 
 Agencies." Kepublished from the American Journal of Education, 
 edited by Henry Barnard, LL.D., 360 pp., Hartford, 1857. 
 
 [16] 
 
H fIDemoir 
 
 which was published in the American Jour- 
 nal of Education for March, 1858, vol. iv, 
 p. 824, he discussed the question at some 
 length. Theoretically he expressed a strong 
 preference for the family over the congre- 
 gated system, saying: "From what I have 
 been able to observe within the last fourteen 
 years, during which time I have become ac- 
 quainted with the practical working of the 
 family system in such institutions as the 
 Rauhe Haus, the Neuhof, near Strasburg, 
 Beuggen and Czarkow, in Prussian Poland, 
 I am prepared to say that I am, in theory, 
 decidedly in favor of the family system, be- 
 ing convinced that it is the system by which 
 houses of refuge and all smaller institutions 
 of a preventive, correctional, and reforma- 
 tory character ought, if possible, to be 
 managed. The natural ground for the de- 
 velopment of youthful life is in the family. 
 If we were able to trace back each case of 
 
 [17] 
 
(Beorge Cbarles Ibolls 
 
 degradation and crime to its original cause, 
 we would find it to be, in almost all cases, 
 the want of that kind, genial, winning influ- 
 ence and discipline which parental govern- 
 ment alone affords. All the children that 
 fill our reformatory institutions have been 
 more or less destitute of a family life, family 
 relations, and family discipline as it ought 
 to be according to the divine law. Our in- 
 stitutions, therefore, ought to restore to these 
 poor children, as far as it can be done, that 
 of which they have been deprived, or at 
 least that which they never enjoyed, a home, 
 a family, with all its endearments." But he 
 well understood the peculiar difficulties here. 
 He observed : " There are elements of char- 
 acter in the vicious and unfortunate youth of 
 this country which are different from those 
 found in Germany. That spirit of indepen- 
 dence which is growing up with the one, 
 which exerts such a powerful influence over 
 
 [18] 
 
H fIDemoir 
 
 his character, and which, when wrongfully 
 applied, leads him not only to defy the laws 
 and regulations of society but also to repel 
 all efforts made by others to correct him, is 
 at least to a considerable degree, unknown to 
 the other, who is sooner taught to submit. 
 It would, therefore, require greater efforts to 
 exercise that influence over the youth in this 
 country which should lead him to a truly 
 religious reformation; but, believing in the 
 almighty power of the Word of God, the 
 happy effects produced by a kind, just, and 
 firm treatment, by continual personal inter- 
 course with these children on the part of the 
 house father, the elder brother or sister, I 
 believe that these efforts might be crowned 
 with equal success here as elsewhere. But 
 the most important difficulty that presents 
 itself to my mind in introducing the family, 
 as existing in the Eauhe Haus, into this 
 country, is the great want of competent per- 
 [19] 
 
(Seorge Cbarles Ibolls 
 
 sons to take charge of these families. . . . 
 Without these the system must necessarily 
 prove a failure. Classes of fifty or more 
 children are no families. If we intend to 
 produce the greatest amount of good to our 
 children individually by the family system, 
 these families must be small say from twelve 
 to fifteen each. Are suitable persons obtain- 
 able here, and if so, how ? Can it be done 
 without paying high salaries ? These ques- 
 tions have occupied my mind for a long time. 
 Persons in view ought to be truly religious 
 in sentiment and character, who would con- 
 sider it to be their duty to devote their life- 
 time and talents to this particular work. We 
 must, therefore, waive the idea of enlisting 
 persons into this service who would do it for 
 the sake of a temporary employment, or in 
 order to make a living. We must have mis- 
 sionaries to labor among the heathen in the 
 midst of our Christian community. You 
 
 [20] 
 
a fIDemoir 
 
 will have noticed that in my letter to the 
 Hon. 0. S. Strong of New York I suggested 
 the idea of establishing a normal school in 
 connection with one of the larger houses of 
 refuge where the family system was to be 
 introduced. My plan would be, that either 
 the State government or a private society 
 (the latter would be preferable) should fur- 
 nish the means to pay for the instruction, 
 boarding, and simple raiment of such young 
 men as would be willing to enter under the 
 proper conditions. . . . One of the main con- 
 ditions, upon the happy realization of which 
 the whole success of the Rauhe Haus de- 
 pends, does not consist in having a number 
 of competent persons, some of whom are 
 teaching, others superintending, others again 
 directing the technical affairs of the house, 
 but it consists in having men, every one of 
 whom unites all those faculties within him- 
 self, and who, thus prepared, work together 
 
 [21] 
 
(Beorge Cbarles Tbolls 
 
 in the same spirit, having always in view 
 the one main object of the w^hole and the 
 particular question which has to be solved in 
 and by each individual. Neither of the two 
 institutions, the House of Eefuge nor the 
 Brotherhood, could exist without the other. 
 . . . This field of labor is comparatively new 
 in this country ; it ought, therefore, to be dis- 
 cussed on all sides. The veil which yet con- 
 ceals the great dangers threatening from 
 below should be lifted, and the Christian 
 community aroused to meet those dangers, 
 not only with dollars and cents, but by giv- 
 ing the heart and at least part of a lifetime 
 to this great cause before it shall be too 
 late." 
 
 The difficulty of finding proper men as 
 brothers or helpers proved insurmountable 
 at Zelienople. Holls even made the experi- 
 ment of sending for six young men from the 
 Rauhe Haus to form the nucleus of a new 
 [22] 
 
a flDemoir 
 
 brotherhood, but not one of them proved 
 competent or willing to continue the work 
 here under the same conditions as in Germany. 
 
 The idea of a true home for the unfortu- 
 nate, on the other hand, was established by 
 Dr. Holls in this institution and in one of 
 which he subsequently was the head, near 
 New York, perhaps more successfully than 
 has ever been done before. At his sugges- 
 tion a rule was adopted permitting discharged 
 inmates of the institution to return at any 
 time in after life, if unfortunate, ill, or out of 
 work. This gave to every child the idea of 
 a permanent home, and it was reinforced by 
 the homelike character of the discipline and 
 house government. 
 
 In 1866 Dr. Passavant, in connection 
 with the late Peter Holier of New York 
 City, established the Wartburg Orphan 
 Farm School near Mount Vernon, New 
 York, and Dr. Holls, who had meanwhile 
 [23] 
 
(Seorge Cbarles Tbolle 
 
 entered the Lutheran ministry and risen 
 to a position of high honor and command- 
 ing influence in the Church, was called 
 to organize the new institution. This he 
 did, having succeeded in finding assistants 
 whom he imbued with his own spirit and 
 principles, and thus the Wartburg became 
 the best example of his practical work of 
 charity. It was in the true sense of the 
 word a home for the friendless and destitute, 
 on the idea that small institutions of not more 
 than from seventy-five to eighty-five inmates, 
 and imbued with the family spirit, are far 
 more important and ''successful" in the true 
 sense of the word in the general work of 
 charity than large institutions with perhaps 
 hundreds of children under one general drill. 
 Great stress was laid upon the cultivation of 
 a taste for music and for innocent games and 
 amusements on the part of the children. Dr. 
 Holls was himself a thorough master of vocal 
 
 [24] 
 
H fIDemoir 
 
 and choral music, and never neglected an 
 opportunity of impressing its importance as 
 an educational agency upon his assistants. 
 In the judgment of the best authorities upon 
 the subject, both the farm school at Zelie- 
 nople and the Wartburg near Mount Vernon 
 were model institutions. 
 
 Thoughtful men came from afar to study 
 the working of these charities, and the writer 
 does not hesitate to say that in the days of 
 Dr. Holls' administration the Wartburg was 
 the most admirable and perfect institution of 
 its kind of which he has ever known. Dr. 
 Holls was, of course, aware of the difficulty, 
 in the face of the pressing needs of the day, 
 of multiplying similar institutions, and in- 
 deed of the practical impossibility of continu- 
 ing the Wartburg system indefinitely. The 
 true and permanent value of the latter was 
 in fixing a standard, indirectly even for 
 larger institutions, as well as in affording the 
 
 [25] 
 
(Beorge Cbarles Ibolte 
 
 best possible training-school for charity 
 workers. 
 
 Dr. Holls came to this country in advance 
 of the great tide of German immigration 
 which for the last quarter of a century has 
 had such a determining influence upon our 
 national characteristics. He foresaw the re- 
 sult of so great an influx of foreigners into 
 this country, and, as early as 1858, raised 
 his voice in favor of the speedy Americani- 
 zation of immigrants by education as the best 
 and only possible remedy for the manifold 
 evils which would otherwise ensue. No 
 adopted citizen has loved this country more, 
 and few have become so thoroughly imbued 
 with the spirit of its institutions and its pecu- 
 liar civilization. In impressing his views 
 upon his countrymen, he was, however, far 
 in advance of German-American popular 
 sentiment, and he often suffered under the 
 insinuation of having too little pride in the 
 
 [26] 
 
a flDemoir 
 
 land of his birth, and no regard for the in- 
 terests and language of his own people. This 
 charge was, of course, absurd. For a person 
 of his very strong American sentiment, Dr. 
 Holls was most active in seeking to impress 
 the good characteristics of German thought 
 and German civilization upon the social, 
 and especially upon the religious, life of 
 this country. In an address before Ger- 
 man-American teachers, speaking of paro- 
 chial schools in Columbus in 1858, he said : 
 " We hear much of the so-called mission 
 of the Germans in America. In my opinion, 
 the first mission of the Germans in this coun- 
 try is to become Americans, and by that I 
 mean that it is their duty, as well as their 
 privilege, to enter deeply, heartily, and with 
 all the fervor and steadfastness of Teutonic 
 manhood into the current of American reli- 
 gious, political, and social life. There is no 
 room in this country for a German nation 
 [27] 
 
Cbarles Tbolte 
 
 besides the American nation, and, if there 
 were, neither this country nor the Germans 
 would be the gainers by the establishment 
 of one. It is the greatest possible mistake, 
 and one which I regret to say is often made 
 in the fatherland, to think that by the emi- 
 gration of so many of her sons Germany is 
 weakened, and vast numbers are lost to Ger- 
 man thought and feeling. That which is 
 best in German thought and feeling is, on 
 the contrary, rejuvenated and strengthened, 
 and receives a new lease of life in a wider 
 and grander sphere by being absorbed in and 
 becoming part of the thought and feeling of 
 this nation, which is the people of the future 
 as certainly as European nations may be 
 called the people of the past. I would even 
 go further, and maintain that the only ground 
 upon which the establishment and spread of 
 German churches, German schools, and Ger- 
 man periodicals in this country can be justi- 
 
 [28] 
 
/- r> 
 
 # 
 
 H flfcemoir (( UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 fied is that they accelerate, instead 
 ing, the process of absorption, which is as 
 useful as it is inevitable, whatever may be 
 said to the contrary." He then proceeded 
 to prove the necessity of this absorption, and 
 the hopelessness of all ideas of a separate 
 permanent German community in this coun- 
 try, by showing how every nation, in order 
 to retain its national characteristics, requires 
 the exclusive possession of a country. He 
 claimed that only by constant reinforcement 
 from abroad, by further immigration, could 
 the German language be maintained even 
 for daily intercourse among Germans them- 
 selves, because all experience showed that 
 the second generation knew little or nothing 
 of their fathers' language, while the third 
 was thoroughly American. We regret ex- 
 ceedingly that no complete report of this 
 able address has been published, in which 
 the soundness of the arguments advanced is 
 
 [29] 
 
(Beorge Cbarles Tbolte 
 
 no less remarkable than the foresight dis- 
 played for the problems which then were 
 only in the future, but which are now present 
 and of vital importance. 
 
 Dr. Holls strongly opposed the custom, 
 which even now exists in many German 
 parochial schools in this country, of teaching 
 European and especially German history 
 more thoroughly than the history of the 
 United States, and of using school-books 
 published in Germany and imbued with the 
 monarchical spirit of that country. Of the 
 American public-school system he was a 
 warm friend and unflinching advocate, in 
 spite of much narrow-minded opposition 
 within the boundaries of his own Church. 
 At a meeting of the Lutheran Synod, to 
 which he belonged, held in Brooklyn in 
 1877, a committee representing the fanatical 
 sectarian view presented a report denouncing 
 public schools as " pagan," and speaking of 
 
 [30] 
 
H fIDemoir 
 
 them in terms no less harsh than those em- 
 ployed by Jesuits. This called forth deter- 
 mined denunciation and opposition from Dr. 
 Holls, who took the bold ground that, how- 
 ever beneficial parochial schools might be in 
 many localities, and especially in view of the 
 necessity of hastening the transformation of 
 Germans into Americans, the public-school 
 system, as such, was more important for the 
 welfare of this country and for the welfare of 
 all the churches themselves than all parochial 
 schools could ever be. The narrow and ex- 
 treme views at the time prevailed, but the 
 agitation against the public schools has 
 greatly waned since that time, and may 
 almost be said to be extinct. 
 
 Dr. Holls was equally in advance of his 
 time, so far as German- Americans are con- 
 cerned, in his opposition to the teaching of 
 the German language in the public schools. 
 His reasoning was the same as that advanced 
 [31] 
 
(Seorge Cbarles Ibolls 
 
 in favor of the rapid absorption of the immi- 
 grants into the body politic. But at the same 
 time he urged all Germans to continue the 
 use of their native tongue at home so as to 
 give the second generation the enormous ad- 
 vantage of the perfect command of two lan- 
 guages. His own son was thus taught 
 German before he learned English ; but the 
 German language was used to convey the 
 lessons of United States history and of the 
 principles of this government into the child's 
 mind, thus carefully distinguishing between 
 useless foreign prejudices and the acquire- 
 ment of a foreign language of incalculable 
 practical value. 
 
 In all his endeavors in this direction Dr. 
 Holls was prompted and greatly assisted by 
 his wife, to whom this passing tribute is 
 justly due, even in so brief a memoir. Her- 
 self a woman of unusual intellectual power, 
 Mrs. Holls clearly saw the duties of educated 
 
 [32] 
 
a flDemoir 
 
 German- Americans, especially of such as oc- 
 cupied conspicuous positions in the Church, 
 and the charm of her conversation was such 
 that her influence was felt by a very wide 
 circle of acquaintance, and her example was 
 of the highest value. Adding the motherly 
 element to the great charity work of her 
 husband, with all the grace and sweetness of 
 sincere and unassuming piety, it may indeed 
 be said of her: "Give her of the fruit of her 
 hands ; and let her own works praise her in 
 the gates." 
 
 Upon his removal to New York, Dr. Holls' 
 field of labor was, of course, greatly enlarged. 
 He was a constant contributor to the re- 
 ligious journals of his Church at home and 
 abroad, and for some years occupied the po- 
 sition of secretary for foreign correspondence 
 of the American Christian Commission. As 
 such he was in constant communication with 
 the leaders of charity work in England, 
 [33] 
 
(Beorge Cbarles Ibolls 
 
 France, Germany, and Scandinavia, and his 
 influence was largely instrumental in assist- 
 ing the late Dr. E. C. Wines in organizing 
 the International Prison Congresses. To- 
 gether with Dr. Wines, Horatio Seymour, 
 Francis Lieber, and Louis D. Pillsbury, he 
 was active in the work of prison reform in 
 the State of New York, and the only political 
 work of his later years consisted in his efforts 
 to secure the passage of the constitutional 
 amendment which, by abolishing elective 
 superintendents of State prisons, wrought 
 such a beneficial change in prison manage- 
 ment. He was a regular contributor to 
 Barnard's American Journal of Education, 
 and, together with the late Dr. Linus P. 
 Brockett, translated several German educa- 
 tional classics, notably Eaumer's " Geschichte 
 der Padagogik," for that periodical. It was 
 his intention to write a comprehensive work 
 on " Inner Missions," treating of the various 
 
 [34] 
 
H flDemoir 
 
 problems of charity work in America from 
 the religious point of view, but in a scientific 
 and practical manner; but the steadily in- 
 creasing demands on his time prevented the 
 carrying out of this idea, and thus deprived 
 our literature of a work which is greatly 
 needed, and which no man was more com- 
 petent to write. 
 
 This is not the place to enlarge upon Dr. 
 Holls' activity as a preacher and theologian. 
 He steadily emphasized the sociological fea- 
 tures of religious activity, and the results of 
 his labors in this direction may be seen 
 throughout the country in numerous hospi- 
 tals, orphanages, homes for the aged, and 
 asylums for various classes of unfortunates, 
 established largely through his influence and 
 the force of his example. In his Church he 
 occupied various positions of dignity and in- 
 fluence, and his activity was largely instru- 
 mental in establishing the Emigrant Mission 
 
 [35] 
 
(Beorge Cbarlee Ibolla 
 
 in New York, which, in its various branches, 
 is now one of the glories of Lutheranism in 
 America. Holding active works of charity 
 in far higher esteem than dogmatical ac- 
 curacy and niceties of doctrine, his last days 
 were embittered by offensive and distasteful 
 theological disputes ; but he courageously up- 
 held his own views, the influence of which 
 is even now felt in every direction in the 
 Church of his adoption. In 1883 he had a 
 stroke of apoplexy, and after that time his 
 health failed rapidly. The trustees of the 
 institution urged him to postpone his resig- 
 nation as long as the physician held out any 
 hopes of convalescence, but in August, 1885, 
 the case was seen to be hopeless, and, as it 
 was aggravated by an equally serious and 
 painful illness of his wife, he resigned and 
 moved to Mount Vernon, to the house of 
 his only son, Frederick William Holls, Esq., 
 of the New York bar, where everything that 
 
 [36] 
 
H flDemoir 
 
 filial piety could do for his comfort and medi- 
 cal skill and nursing for his relief was done. 
 He lingered for more than a year, but the 
 end came on August 12, 1886. His wife 
 survived him less than five months, dying 
 January 6, 1887. 
 
 Dr. Holls' general character and worth 
 are seen in his life-work, and little more need 
 be said. Dr. Passavant, who knew him 
 most intimately, in an obituary sketch says : 
 " To do justice to the character and life-work 
 of the deceased in brief limits is simply im- 
 possible. For nearly thirty years it has been 
 our privilege to be associated with him in the 
 most intimate relations of friendship and offi- 
 cial intercourse, and we know not which to 
 admire most, his goodness or his greatness, 
 as evinced in his absolute submission to the 
 authority of the Divine Word, his renuncia- 
 tion of all personal merit, and his implicit 
 trust for salvation in the righteousness of 
 
 [37] 
 
(Seorge Cbarlee Ibolls 
 
 Christ Jesus his Saviour. A great reader 
 and thinker, a scholar, a teacher, a philan- 
 thropist, who, while he gave his first thought 
 to the care and instruction of the orphans, 
 was yet alive to every form of rescuing 
 mercy, and withal an able Christian minister, 
 who fed the flock which Christ had pur- 
 chased with His own blood in all these 
 aspects and relations Dr. Holls was a most 
 unusual and superior personage. His growth 
 in thought and general knowledge was ex- 
 celled only by his familiarity with Christian 
 doctrine ; and strength and manliness, with 
 the grace of charity, were the adornments 
 of his character." 
 
 He was a bitter enemy of cant, and of the 
 airs of sanctimonious unction which are so 
 often connected with the dispensation of 
 charity. Uniting gentleness and firmness to 
 a rare degree, and never, in his days of 
 health, losing for a moment his perfect self- 
 
 [38] 
 
flDemoir 
 
 control, it may be truly said that he was 
 "an educator by the grace of God." 
 
 His memory will be blessed by thousands, 
 and we deem it a great privilege to include, 
 in the closing volume of the American 
 Journal of Education, this tribute to the 
 beneficent labors of an educator and a most 
 valued friend and adviser, with whom we 
 became acquainted, by correspondence, near 
 the time the first number went to press 
 now forty years ago. 
 
 [39] 
 
YC 03428