Herbart, like Comenius, emphasized the necessary effect of all instruction on character. “The circle of thought,” says Herbart, “contains the store of that which by degrees can mount by the steps of interest to desire, and then, by means of action, to volition. Further, it contains the store upon which all the workings of prudence are founded—in it are the knowledge and care, without which man cannot pursue his aims through means. The whole inner activity, indeed, has its abode in the circle of thought. Here is found the initiative life, the primal energy; here all must circulate easily and freely, everything must be in its place, ready to be found and used at any moment; nothing must lie in the way, and nothing like a heavy load impede useful activity.” Indeed, as Kern suggests, in Herbart’s scheme interest is the moral monitor and protector against the servitude that springs from passions and desires. The doctrine of interest, but vaguely suggested by Comenius, is perhaps the most noteworthy contribution of Herbart to modern pedagogy; but to summarize Herbart’s views on interest would be to summarize his whole theory of education. He recognizes two groups of interests—intellectual and social. Two phases of intellectual interests are distinguished: (1) empirical interests, or the pleasures occasioned by disinterested curiosity; (2) speculative interests occasioned by the impulse to search out causal relations; and (3) æsthetic interests aroused through beauties in nature, art, and character. The social interests are likewise threefold: (1) sympathetic or altruistic; (2) social and fraternal; and (3) religious. Herbart’s contribution to empirical psychology, although important, was second to his application of direct pedagogic problems to actual school practice—the working out of his doctrine of many-sided interest, the selection and adjustment of materials of instruction, and the reform of school government and discipline.[53] CHAPTER X PERMANENT INFLUENCE OF COMENIUS General neglect of Comenius during the eighteenth century—Causes—Intrenchment of humanism—Summary of the permanent reforms of Comenius—Revived interest in his teachings—National Comenius pedagogical library at Leipzig—The Comenius Society—Reviews published for the dissemination of the educational doctrines of Comenius—Conquest of his ideas.