religious and moral education. That is how the hearts of the young are trained to good behaviour and to keep away from the dangers to which they are exposed by human passions.
The people’s work often produces abundant revenues, far above their present needs. If there is no incentive to save what is superfluous by putting it into ‘savings banks’, in view of future needs, these extra revenues are uselessly wasted in debauchery, excessive vices or at least in useless expenses.
‘Savings banks’, Life insurances, stocks in mutual aid societies or in productive industrial enterprises are so many useful ways to save extra revenues. They should be promoted, fostered and protected, because they guarantee that the already mentioned revenues not be uselessly wasted or harmfully used. It must however be remarked that is necessary for the government to intervene in such speculations in order to protect the private interests of those who put their revenues in such institutions...70
The magazine L’educatore primario (The primary school teacher) was a definite propaganda tool for popular culture from a similar perspective.
The instruction of the masses, though not necessary as some people think, should be
considered inevitable in our times. The instruction should be given according to the needs
of those who receive it, and according to the needs of the country in which it is given; the
government should direct it according to these needs; children should be prepared to
become adults; in the schools there should be a training period for a civic way of living. All
of these are truths which leave no room for doubt.71
5. Religion as prevention
Religion is universally recognized as an irreplaceable ingredient of personal and social prevention, a guarantee of order and prosperity. Naturally, Morichini is convinced of this as he underscores that only religion can establish the required link between scholastic instruction and an authentic education: to reach moral perfection it is essential that instruction should be joined to education.
Now religion is the basis of education, since it provides light for the mind and trains the heart to pursue virtue: and this is the most important feature of all. It stands to reason then, that the most important subject to be taught in the schools should be catechism and next to it, reading and writing. In many schools, the four arithmetic operations should also be included; and finally, in some schools Italian, Latin, French, Church and civil history, geography and drafting should be included.72
De Gerando, too, is a convinced supporter of this idea when he states that “religion offers the most sublime and valid influence which is particularly evident in Christianity, which in turn is the highest expression of religion.”73 “Bright minds have produced great havoc. Today’s minds seem more open to reflection, and religious morality is, almost generally, recognised as one of the most outstanding goods of humanity.74
Pettitti, in particular, is at pains to underscore the importance of the religious element in the corrective
70 C. Petitti di Roreto, Della condizione attuale delle carceri, in Opere scelte, . I, 562-563.
71 V. Troya, “Proposta di alcuni mezzi onde la pubblica istruzione compia il suo ufficio”, in L’Educatore primario, 1
(1845): n. 2, Jan. 25-26.
72 C.L. Morichini, Degl’Istituti di pubblica carità, 34.
73 J.-M. De Gerando, Della pubblica beneficenza…, . 5, 245-249 Potere speciale del cristianesimo sul miglioramento de’
popolari costumi.
74 J.-M. De Gerando, Della pubblica beneficenza, 5. 273.