Part II, Chap. X, and Part III, Chap. XIV (clear and interesting);

Phillips, Modern Europe, Chap. XV; Cesaresco, Liberation of Italy; Cesaresco, Cavour; and Stillman, Union of Italy, 1815-1895. The two authors last mentioned represent somewhat different points of view. The Countess Cesaresco waxes eloquent as she unfolds her story. Stillman is inclined to take a less roseate view of the manner and means whereby Italy won her place among the nations. Marriott, “Makers of Modern Italy,” will also be found very helpful and suggestive. The list might be increased materially, but the books which have been cited will not only be found helpful, but may readily be secured from most libraries.

FOOTNOTE:

[2] Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI., Preface.

Ancient History in the Secondary School

WILLIAM FAIRLEY, Ph.D., Editor.

Choice of Material.

There remain to us but two of these studies of the Roman world; but two short months of school in which to cover tragic centuries of European development. A stern self-restraint in the choice of topics to be treated is necessary therefore, both for the articles and for the school. The welter of detail is all but overwhelming; and the teacher must select a few salient features of these eight centuries. For the present month we may consider what is worth while down to the so-called “fall of Rome.”

The Two Good Centuries.

From the time when the new empire settled down into peace under Augustus to the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 A.D. there came a period, when, as has been well said, the Mediterranean basin was probably more prosperous, more happy and better governed than at any time before or since. This is not always understood and accepted. The evil side of Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Domitian, the turmoil under Galba and his two successors, have been unduly emphasized. Probably there has been too much “muck-raking” even by eminent historians. Under the worst of the rulers named it is to be remembered that tyranny and cruelty were almost totally confined to the capital and its cliques. The provinces were on the whole well administered, especially in comparison with the corruption of later republican times. Within this period, too, fall the Golden and the Silver Ages of Roman literature.

The Disastrous Third Century.

From Marcus Aurelius to Diocletian stretches an evil century. The rocks upon which Rome was finally to be shipwrecked began to show their heads. Government again became a prey instead of a service. The “barrack emperors”--“the thirty tyrants” cursed the imperial chair. The German barbarians began to press hard upon the borders of the empire. Pestilence, imported from the East, thinned the already weakened population. The army came to be almost wholly recruited, and in a large degree officered by Germans. It was almost as if Great Britain depended solely for her defense upon Hindoo troops, for lack of men and mettle among the English themselves. Then came the spasm of reform under Aurelian. And meantime the barbarians by scores of thousands at first, and soon by hundreds of thousands, came drifting down from the north and east. Their comings were quiet enough at the first. They simply moved in where Romans had largely died out. We might compare it in some ways to what would happen if our country should allow a free immigration of Orientals into our Pacific slope.

Reorganization.

The fourth century saw the great reforms under Diocletian and Constantine. The empire was reorganized and, for the time being, strengthened. But the new vigor was vicious in type. It was oriental despotism thinly disguised, as shown by the strange new garb of the emperors, no longer great generals and first citizens; and by the horde of office-holders with novel, high-sounding titles fitted to the various grades of the new bureaucracy.

A line of cleavage was developed by the establishment of the double capital and the joint emperors. East and West began to separate. The division was in part dictated by the difficulty of administering the vast empire from one center in a period when communication was incredibly slow as compared with our modern facilities of steam and electricity. And in this division was a double seed. From one kernel was to spring disaster for Italy and the West. From the other was to germinate the Eastern Empire, destined to be the fortunate and stupid conservator of culture and learning throughout the dark ages.

Christianity.

With the fourth century the Christian faith began to assert itself as never before. Its persecution, off and on, for three centuries, and its triumph need a little study. Why was it that the Roman system could tolerate the excesses of the licentious Eleusinian and Bacchic orgies and the foul superstitions of Egypt, but could find no charity for a pure and gentle faith? Because Christianity was itself righteously intolerant. Very early in the history of the empire it became the fashion and then the law that the genius of the emperor should be adored. To the already polytheistic citizen of the empire this was no added hardship. One god more made no difference to him, and the cynical Roman magistrate could not understand why the wretched Christian was so stubborn about a pinch of incense in honor of the emperor. It meant so little to him religiously--but everything to the Christian. And so the Christians died by thousands. Yet the persecuted faith spread apace, drawing into its fold of hope and inward peace the wayworn travelers upon the cruel road of life in those weary years. Then came the conversion of Constantine and the gradual disintegration of paganism. For a study of the brighter side of pagan life and a proof that the whole Roman world, as so often taught, was not thoroughly rotten, read Pater’s “Marius, the Epicurean,” and Dill’s “Roman life in the Fourth Century.”

The Barbarians.

It is surprising to the judicious what can be the effect of a word or phrase. Probably the term “barbarian” has caused as much confusion in the minds of young students of history as any other term. It signifies to him at least a semi-savage. Yet we know that to the Greek it meant only a non-Hellene. In the later Roman times it meant Goth or German. And yet, long before these people finally disrupted the Western Empire, they had ceased to be barbarian in any common conception of the term. If we substitute for the word migration the longer word immigration, it will give a better idea of their earlier comings, to which allusion has already been made. Humbler neighbors from without the pale, they slowly crept into the southern space and glow out of their crowded and unlovely north. With no ideas of conquest at first, but seeking betterment for themselves, as to-day come the peoples from the same Russia; or, pressed out of their own hunting grounds by the atrocious Hun, they poured steadily in. And long before they became a menace, most of them had become at least half civilized by contact with the finer south. Their men had many of them served in the Roman legions. And Christianity had early made way among them. And at length, when the weakness of the West made it an easy prey to their greater vigor, it was not as bands of whooping savages falling upon a peaceful white settlement that they came, but they simply took up the scepter of destiny which nerveless and unworthy hands had let fall. Emerton’s “Introduction to the Middle Ages,” and the early chapters of Adams’ “Civilization during the Middle Ages,” furnish the best of reading for topics like these just suggested.

The Fall of Rome.

There never was such a thing. That is putting it bluntly. But no contemporary historian uses such a phrase. It is another of the fables of history which need correction. To the Italian the sending of the imperial insignia from Rome to Constantinople meant no more than the Rhode Islander understood when Newport ceased to be one of the capitals of his State. There was no longer need for an emperor at Rome; that was all. The Goth who was in control there had been so for a generation, and considered himself just as good a subject of the emperor at Constantinople after the deposition of Augustus as he had been before.

In teaching children it will be hard to treat the subject in the way just indicated. Probably a little analysis of the causes of this “fall of Rome” will seem logically necessary. Some such outline as the following might be tolerated. But let the teacher bear in mind that no historian has yet succeeded in giving such a set of reasons for this fall as will satisfy any other historian. The child mind, however, is not critical, and may be helped by a catalogue of forces.

A. As political causes:

Failure to govern justly.

Growth of militarism.

Lack of home rule, and of representation.

The administrative division of the empire.

B. As social and economic causes:

Steady decline in population, resulting from vice, war, pestilence and Christian asceticism.

Slavery, as depicted in the preceding article, and now grown still more dreadful.

Taxation, so oppressive that a Christian writer says there were more collectors than payers of taxes.

C. As military causes:

The cessation of military service by Italians and the use of Germanic soldiers.

D. As moral and religious causes:

The vice fostered by a corrupt court.

The general decline of morals among a weakened and disheartened people.

Over against all these are to be set the numbers, the virility, the comparative freedom from civilized vices, of the sturdy barbarians; and most of all their capacity for absorbing the worthiest things among the people whom they conquered.

American History in the Secondary School

ARTHUR M. WOLFSON, PH.D., Editor.

RECENT AMERICAN HISTORY.

The New Era.

By the year 1876 or 1877, the period of Reconstruction may be said to have come to an end. From that time on the people of the United States were busy developing new ideas and attempting to settle new problems. Only gradually, however, did they recognize this fact; not till the end of the nineteenth century did the country awake to a full realization that the old order was no more, that a new order had come into existence. Just because this new order has been so recently born, however, because so many of its elements are so imperfectly understood, the teacher will probably find special difficulties in teaching it to his classes.

The Age of Extra-Continental Expansion and of New Economic Development.

To begin with, the student must be taught that this last generation in America has witnessed two almost entirely new developments: (1) the extra-continental expansion of the United States, and (2) the growth of enormous combinations of labor and of capital. The first reached its climax in the Spanish-American War, the acquisition of the Philippines and of Porto Rico, the assumption of a quasi-protectorate over the republics of Central America, and the interference in the affairs of China and Japan. With the details of this movement we shall not attempt to deal in this article. Instead we shall devote all of our space to a consideration of the second series of events.

The history and the results of the growth of these large combinations of labor and of capital present themselves in three more or less distinct phases: (a) the struggle of the laborer for his full share in the distribution of wealth; (b) the development of capitalistic enterprise through the large corporations; and (c) the effort of the consumer to keep from being crushed by the weight of the two contending forces.

Though the interest of the consumer in these new economic problems is destined, in the opinion of many students, to become the paramount one, up to the present time it has received but little direct attention from constructive statesmen, and it does not, therefore, properly belong among the subjects to be discussed in the history class room. The teacher may, nevertheless, call the attention of his students to the evidences of the beginning of the definite movement to protect the interests of the consumer: the recent Pure Food Acts, the legislation of the various states designed to limit the profits of railway and other public service corporations, and the widespread agitation of the present day over the high cost of living.

The Labor Problem.

In studying the labor problem, our investigations must begin as far back as the middle of the last century when the first trade unions were organized in the United States. Since then they have grown steadily till to-day they number their members in the millions. In the beginning, these unions were limited to one locality and to men who were working in the same trade; gradually, however, they broadened their scope till they became national in their limits and universal in the class of workmen who were eligible to membership. In presenting the movement, it will be well for the teacher to select some thoroughly typical trade union, such as the Brotherhood of Railway Engineers, some thoroughly typical amalgamated union, such as the American Federation of Labor, for purposes of illustration. To get the class to investigate the history of these unions as far as possible, and to confine the discussion to their activities will be the teacher’s duty, else the study will result in hopeless confusion.

The principal weapons of the unions have been the strike and the boycott. The history of the use of both of these should be followed briefly. Then should come the consideration of the counterblast which the corporations and the consumer have recently called to their aid: the judicial injunction (study the history of the Debs case and the more recent Bucks Stove Case), and the application of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 to the labor unions as associations in restraint of trade (study the Danbury Hatters’ Case, in which the decision of the Court was issued only a few months ago).

The Railroad Problem.

In studying the history of the large corporations, it pays in the beginning to indicate clearly the difference between (1) public service corporations, those which enjoy partial or complete monopoly under franchises granted by the government, and (2) industrial corporations, whose operations do not differ essentially from the enterprises of single individuals, except in the amount of capital which they command. Public service corporations may again be divided into two classes: (1) the interstate railroads, and (2) those corporations whose business is local in its nature, such as the street railroad, the water companies and the gas companies.

Attacking the problem of the interstate railroads first, the class must begin its work by studying the history of the growth of the great trunk lines, like the New York Central and the Pennsylvania, and of the transcontinental railroads, like the Union Pacific and the Northern Pacific. Next in order will come the story of the vicious practices which grew out of the excessive competition among these railroads: rate wars, unfair discriminations against localities and against individual shippers, overcapitalization, etc.

Early in the ’80’s the railroads themselves attempted to remedy these evils by forming the famous pooling associations, but these pooling associations were later prohibited by law. Next the individual states attempted to improve conditions by passing special railroad codes and by creating state railroad commissions. Finally, in 1887, the national government, by the Interstate Commerce Act attempted to better conditions, but improvement came but slowly. Since then, by numerous Court decisions, the most important of which was the decision in the Northern Securities Case, and by at least two amendments to the Interstate Commerce Act, the Elkins Act of 1903 and the Hepburn Act of 1907, the national government has attempted to improve the situation. Conditions to-day are much better than they have ever been in the past, but there is still room for much improvement.

Municipal Public Service Corporations.

In discussing local public service corporations, it is well for the teacher to develop in the beginning the fact that there are two possible ways of dealing with them: (1) municipal ownership, and (2) state regulation. Even in this country the first method has been tried to some extent; most of our largest cities now own their own water supply, and some of them are in possession of their own gas and electric light plants. Thus far, however, most American states and cities have been content to confine their activities in dealing with public service corporation to regulating their functions and privileges by special legislation and by establishing special commissions. Still, the history of the regulation of public service corporations in this country is as yet in its beginnings; the teacher can therefore go but little farther than to set his students thinking upon the question as to which is the better method of dealing with the problem.

Industrial Corporations.

Like the trunk lines and the transcontinental railroads, the great industrial corporations had their origin in the years following the period of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Among these corporations, the Standard Oil Company is, of course, the most famous; still, the teacher will do well to attempt to follow with his class the history of some other industrial corporation as well--if possible, some corporation whose operations have not stirred up so much opposition as the Standard Oil Company. In estimating the effect of these corporations upon the economic history of the country, one should attempt to bring out the benefits which they have bestowed upon the people as well as the evils which have resulted from their operations.

In attempting to regulate the activities of these corporations most states have passed special laws and established special commissions. In consequence, the newspapers are full of accounts of prosecutions under these laws and by these commissions and the student should be encouraged to read them. The national government, too, has passed at least one law, the famous Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, with a view to regulating these great corporations. More recently still, the Bureau of Corporations was established, while at the present time new legislation on this subject is pending in Congress. Yet with all the agitation and with all the legislation, it cannot be said that the problem is even on the verge of being settled. That will take, in all probability, at least another generation.

The Literature of the Subject.

To recommend one or two, or even half a dozen books on this period of American history is impossible. Most of the discussion is evanescent, and books are antiquated almost before they have been printed. For much of the subject matter to be discussed the student should be sent to such manuals as (1) the American Annual Cyclopedia, and (2) the Statesman’s Year Book. Much valuable material can also be gleaned from (3) the annual almanacs published by many of the larger daily papers. For statutes and government regulations, the student should consult (4) MacDonald’s “Select Statutes,” 1861-1898.

Comprehensive and comparatively recent discussions of these subjects will be found: (a) on trade unions, in (1) Ely’s, “The Labor Movement in America;” (2) Adams and Sumner’s “Labor Problems,” and (3) Commons’ “Trade Unionism and Labor Problems;” (b) on railroads, in (1) Hadley’s “Railroad Transportation;” (2) Haines’ “Restrictive Railroad Legislation,” and (3) Ripley’s “Railroad Problems;” (c) on municipal public service corporations, in (1) Bemis’ “Municipal Monopolies,” and (2) Foote’s “Municipal Public Service Industries;” (d) on industrial corporations, in (1) Jenks’ “The Trust Problem;” (2) Ely’s “Monopolies and Trusts;” (3) Ripley’s “Trusts, Pools and Corporations,” and (4) Tarbell’s “History of the Standard Oil Company.” Beside all these the student will find much that is valuable in the current reviews and journals, at least one of which should be in every school library.

English History in the Secondary School

C. B. NEWTON, Editor.

VIII. THE LATER HANOVERIANS.

The Industrial Revolution.

“The period which opened with Arkwright’s mechanical inventions has been the commencement of a new era in the economic history, not only of England, but of the whole world”--a new era indeed! The mind stumbles over the multitude of forms which this introduction of new agencies into human endeavor took, the infinite ramifications of influences set in motion by machinery. The young of to-day, satiated, glutted though they are with machinery, take an interest they could hardly be expected to feel in more remote matters in the genesis of the age on whose still advancing crest we ride: an interest, however, which is very superficial, very unconscious of the deeper significance of the industrial revolution. Some of the “leads” of that significance are surely to be established as we approach the subject in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Text-books vary greatly in the amount of information they give as to the first inventions and the spread of water power devices, followed by the still greater developments in the stationary steam engine. In fact much of the history of invention is obscure, and the details are entirely too numerous to give in a school history. Nevertheless I think the teacher may improve on the accounts in most of the school books, both in the way of lucidity and of vividness. Try a careful study of pp. 505-519 of Beard’s Introduction (which will take comparatively little of a busy man’s time), and see how lively and realistic a tale you can weave out of it--you will surprise yourself at the improvement you can make on your text-book! I say this not that I honor the text-book less, but the freedom of oral expression more. Then, too, one may lead naturally from a sketch of the changed face of the land to the changes these new factories wrought in old England, so stable since the days of the Conqueror, invaded at last by a ruthless force irreverent of tradition, triumphing in disturbing the established order.

But let us beware of resting on generalizations. “A new era in economic history” is perfectly worthless as an entrant into the youthful mind. As well speak of the cosmic forces in conflict with new physical entities, or other “Olympian” abstractions. No, we must descend to the hard pan of concrete things--the massing of population, the rise of a new kind of commerce and a new kind of market, the making of roads and canals to serve that commerce and that market, the changed conditions of the laborer, and so on. Here, too, is a chance for “vivid narration,” as the old rhetorics used to call it, and of all the wiles of a _wise simplicity_ in instruction.

The Political Revolution.

From all of which the next step takes us to the revolution in politics which made England for the first time a really democratic country. I suppose it is more than possible to exaggerate the influence of the industrial changes upon these political changes, but the tendency does not seem to be in that direction. The Wilkes episode with all its significance, the influence of the French Revolution pro and con, the general trend of the age, are factors usually well built upon. The agitations which shook the nation in the early nineteenth century, the focussing of great areas of population in the new centers of manufacture, the combination of the sense of industrial injustice such as was evidenced in the excesses of the “Luddites,” with the sense of political injustice of which the Manchester riots were a symptom--all this not only wrought profound differences in the social fabric of England, but was, I believe, the greatest single factor in bringing about the great reform bill. Whether superlative or comparative there is room for difference of opinion; but unquestionably this effect of the actual machine upon the political machine is to be made a point of in presenting to the class the drama of that peaceful (compared with that of other countries) and salutary transition from a government altogether of the land holders to an aristocratic democracy.

This revolution, which crowned the slow evolution of the British Constitution, which was so unlike the cataclysm across the narrow seas, was caused by a series of events stretching over the backward centuries. That is a mere truism to our mature “grown-up” mentality which has a taste for poking its nose into the roots of things and for generalizing therefrom.

But not so with the fledgling mentalities before us--enough for them that the very old time struggles helped along; that seeds of a free spirit were not lacking in the teutonic blood; and that the events of the seventeenth century did much to down the pride and power of royalty. With this much for a foundation, the ultimate effects of the new order of industry are comparatively simple to comprehend, and easy to view, like the superstructure of the building which the unseen base supports.

The Napoleonic Era.

There is a fascination which all of us feel, I suppose, both in the French Revolution and in the looming figure of Napoleon. It is natural enough, and needs no apology, but does need some curbing. I should say, judging from my own experience, when one must keep sternly in mind that English history is after all the prescribed route one is pursuing, and to wander from it is as reprehensible as for the tourist to deviate a hair’s breadth from his itinerary. The temptation to digress is only heightened by the fact that English matters were quite nearly concerned in the former, and might have been said to have been thoroughly involved in the career of Napoleon. Then, too, none of the class know anything worth speaking of about European history, and here for once, at least, the various streams of national histories melt into one river, and Europe becomes a vast theater for a single drama. All very plausible, but nevertheless we must not dwell on the alluring prospect too long or we shall be lost. The “Continental System,” with its direct bearing upon England, is less interesting but perfectly legitimate food for the English historian or historée. A fairly full account of it taken from an article by Professor Sloane is quoted pp. 520 to 537 of Beard’s Introduction. Much is of course available on the Peninsular campaign and Waterloo, not to mention Aboukir Bay and Trafalgar. Creasy’s account of Waterloo in the “Fifteen Decisive Battles” is of course good; but for a bit of reading to the class for purposes of ignition, nothing that I know of can equal Victor Hugo’s fiction (somewhat adorning fact!) in Les Miserables.

A fascinating book on this period if one can get hold of it (it is expensive, alas, so I advise borrowing) is Lord Broughton’s “Recollections of a Long Life,”[3] which covers a considerable stretch of time, for a single life, from 1786 to 1822, and is delightfully intimate and realistic. I refrain from suggesting anything concerning Napoleon having in mind the afore-mentioned temptation. Nelson and Wellington, on the other hand, deserve portraits. The later appearance of the “great Duke,” when he made so poor a hand at statesmanship is one of the not infrequent examples of the soldier out of place in the councils of state. The extracts pp. 656 to 662 of Cheyney’s Readings are interesting in this connection.

Personalities.

The later eighteenth century teems with personalities, so that it is difficult not to crowd the canvas and to nullify all individual impression by the force of numbers. George III himself, much blackened by American semi-traditions of thought is not as uninteresting or as stupid or as objectionable as your pupil probably thought him. A just view of King George is a worthy aim to set up for at least one lesson. Lord North, too, always has an interest for Americans. But far above these are Pitt and Burke and Fox. O for the chance to deal with these men as we ought in the class room; to read what they said and to examine what they did! Green has drawn William Pitt the younger in his best style, pp. 790-791. For Burke one should go to Augustine Birrell’s “Obiter Dicta” for an essay that is light in its touch but keen. Trevelyan gives us Fox, though at too great length for busy men, and Macaulay--well, no class has entirely received its due unless it has heard the passage from “The Impeachment of Warren Hastings,” beginning “The place was worthy of such a trial. It was the great hall of William Rufus,” etc.

Time and space fail us, and the age of reform must wait for discussion until next number, as well as the methods of review pertinent to the otherwise pleasant month of May.

FOOTNOTE:

[3] Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1909.

Reports from the Historical Field

WALTER H. CUSHING, Editor.

HIGH SCHOOL RALLY DAY.

An interesting instance of the influence of universities upon state high schools is to be seen in Louisiana. The Louisiana State University has arranged for an annual high school rally which this year will be held on April 29th and 30th. At the rally there are literary contests in English composition, in debating, in declamation, in vocal music, in spelling, in English composition for the eighth grade, and in history. There are also many athletic events. Prizes offered for the literary contests are usually scholarships in the University. The following is a description of the exhibit in history:

“Exhibit of Work in History. The exhibits may consist of any or all of the following: Individual notebooks (containing topical outlines or summaries based upon the text or upon collateral reading); papers or reports to be read in the class; illustrations (pictures and maps); map work of students (single maps traced or based on outline maps, or atlases or wall outline maps filled in).

“No prescribed notebook or map work is suggested. It is desired that the teacher use his or her own judgment as to the kind of work suited to the class.

“The contest is limited to the tenth grade in each high school. The work of the entire class is to be exhibited. The grade must contain not less than five pupils. The teacher’s certificate as to the number in class should accompany the exhibit.

“Neatness, accuracy, and good English will be considered as well as evidence of proficiency in historical studies.

“It is advised that loose-leaf notebooks be used. Each should bear the owner’s name and that of the school. The exhibit should be in place in the University Library not later than 10 a.m. of the first day of the rally.”

For the best exhibit of work in history a set of Woodrow Wilson’s “History of the United States,” five volumes, published by Harper & Bros., will be given to the school by Dr. Walter L. Fleming, Professor of History in the Louisiana State University.

HISTORY TEACHING IN LONDON.

A committee of university and training college instructors and school teachers is now preparing a report on history teaching in the London elementary schools. One chapter of the report, “Aims and Scope of History Teaching,” has already been prepared by the sub-committee of which Mr. E. Bruce Forrest is chairman. The report, when completed, will be published by the London County Council.

HISTORY TEACHERS’ EXAMINATION.

On May 21st there will be held at the Barringer High School Building, Newark, N. J., an examination for high school teachers of history. The subjects included will be Ancient history, American history, Medieval and Modern European history, English history, and the principles and methods of teaching history. Graduates of approved colleges and universities will be required to take examinations only in these subjects. Those not college graduates will be required to pass examinations for the highest grade elementary certificate. Examinations are open to both men and women. The schedule of salaries for positions are for men $1,400 to $2,500, and for women from $900 to $1,800, according to experience and fitness.

INDIANA ASSOCIATION.

The annual meeting of the History Section of the Indiana State Teachers’ Association will be held at Indianapolis on Friday and Saturday, April 29th and 30th. The program will begin on Friday afternoon with a discussion of the Teaching of History in the Elementary Schools. Professor H. E. Bourne, a member of the Committee of Eight, will explain the principles of the committee’s report. Criticisms of present methods in teaching history will be made by City Superintendent Charles F. Patterson, of Tipton, and by County Superintendent, Mr. Jesse Webb, of Franklin. On Friday evening will be a joint meeting of the Teachers’ Association with the Indiana Historical Society. Professor Bourne will speak upon “Our Early Republic as French Travelers Saw It.” Mr. D. C. Brown, of the Indiana State Library, will give an address upon “An Early Indian War.” On Saturday morning the following problems of history teaching in the high school will be discussed:

1. What can be done with the sources? Miss Minnie Blanche Ellis, Bloomington High School.

2. Shall a history note book be required? Mr. W. C. Gerichs, principal, Elwood High School.

3. How secure results with the collateral reading? Mr. W. O. Lynch, Department of History, Indiana State Normal School.

4. Preparation and use of maps and charts. Mr. J. R. H. Moore, Manual Training High School, Indianapolis.

This will be followed by the regular business meeting of the Association. On Friday evening a subscription dinner will be given at the Claypool Hotel.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NORTH CENTRAL HISTORY TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION, CHICAGO, APRIL 1 AND 2, 1910.

REPORTED BY ALBERT H. SANFORD.

It is impossible to convey to one who was not present an adequate idea of the spirit that pervaded the first session of the Twelfth Annual Meeting of the North Central History Teachers’ Association; this was the dinner at Reynolds’ Club, University of Chicago, in honor of Professor Frederick J. Turner. The menu was simply “Food--a la Hutchinson Café.” The “Refreshments” were talks given by Professors James A. James, Albion W. Small, Guy S. Ford, James A. Woodburn, Thomas F. Moran, and Dr. Reuben G. Thwaites, closing with remarks by Professor Turner. The printed program was besprinkled with quotations from the writings of Professor Turner, beginning with “The true point of view in the history of this nation is not the Atlantic Coast; it is the great West.”

Professor Andrew C. McLaughlin, the presiding genius of this occasion, pitched the key at a point somewhere between gay and sad, running readily from one extreme to the other. It was, of course, Professor Turner’s departure from Wisconsin to enter upon duties at Harvard that called the one hundred guests to assemble about this table. Among them were some who had been students with him in Johns Hopkins’ University, many who had been students under his instruction, and still others who are his colleagues in the field of history throughout the Central West. Here was spontaneous testimony to the force and charm of Professor Turner’s personality, and to the inspiration of his teaching. Underneath the gayety of the after-dinner sentiments ran the note of deep regret that the Central West loses the presence of this master mind. No more fitting theme for a session of the Association could have been selected.

Following the dinner came an address by Professor Paul S. Reinsch, of the University of Wisconsin, upon “The Life of the State and the Teaching of Government.” Preparation for the duties of citizenship is less effective in the United States, said Professor Reinsch, than in other advanced countries; hence the duty of placing more emphasis upon the proper teaching of government. Local government should receive fuller treatment. There should be more concrete study of the actual operations of government and less committing to memory of the clauses of constitutions that are only vaguely comprehended. Civil government should be taught separately from history, else some of its most important topics will never be reached; for instance, problems of city and state organizations. Such, briefly stated, were some of the points made in this interesting address.

The session on Saturday morning, April 2d, was fully attended, and interest in the program which had been arranged by the president, Carl E. Pray, of the State Normal School at Milwaukee, held the audience until a late hour. Miss Lillian Thompson, of the Englewood High School, Chicago, gave a spirited and practical talk upon “The Use of Pictures in History Instruction.” That Miss Thompson has made a study of child nature, as well as of pictures, was evident. She said, the teacher must put herself in the pupil’s attitude and must realize his poverty of ideas and mental images. She must be tactful and sympathetic in satisfying the pupil’s curiosity, and in leading him to see the essentials in pictures. Besides, the teacher must study the pictures and plan carefully the presentation of them. Not the lecture but the question method is the best for lower high school classes.

Much wisdom, drawn from experience, was packed into a brief paper read by Professor G. C. Sellery, of the University of Wisconsin. This paper cannot be adequately summarized in a few words. The old method of teaching history insisted upon the learning of certain facts by force of memory. Now we have a higher ideal--we ask pupils to understand, rather than to remember. But we have gone too far in this direction: pupils gain much discipline, but little knowledge. What is the remedy? Treatment that will yield discipline requires time; hence, teach fewer topics and teach them in detail, but emphasize the essentials. Then by reviews drill upon the facts that should be remembered. Discipline and knowledge are the two sides of the shield of history teaching.

“The Use and Abuse of Note Books” was the subject of a paper thoroughly worked out by Professor Albert H. Lybyer, of Oberlin College. A well-balanced position was maintained between the proper use of note books as a means to certain ends, and their abuse in the hands of pupils. No more use of them was recommended than could be properly supervised by the teacher. There should be no note book requirement in the grammar grades.

Not the least attractive of the topics presented at this session was “The Value of History Pageant Work from the Viewpoint of the English Teacher,” by Miss Charity Dye, of Indianapolis. Miss Dye’s conception of the pageant is not that of a mere exhibition; it should rather be the natural expression of school interests and activities that have been thoroughly worked out in a serious way by students in various grades. When so conducted, the school work that precedes the presentation of a pageant has many valuable features. It arouses the spirit of investigation, when students hunt out, organize, and build up historical materials; it gives opportunity for the co-operation of departments; it encourages in pupils self-identification with school and community interests; it cultivates imagination and encourages continuity of thinking. Pupils concentrate attention upon a growing idea, and their work has cumulative force. This preparation gives to classes in English occasion for exercises in narration, description, argument, and the writing of letters, diaries, and ballads. This is one method of overcoming the fragmentary nature of our school work and engaging in activities that are socially and psychologically sound and beneficial.

The final topic of the program was “Supplementary Reading in History Instruction,” discussed by Professor Oscar H. Williams, of the School of Education, Indiana University. Many sensible and practical ideas were presented. Professor Williams recommended that striking passages from original or secondary sources be copied and duplicated by the mimeograph for class use; that pupils be encouraged to bring to the school magazines from which valuable articles could be extracted and bound separately in manila paper covers; that pupils be encouraged to purchase for themselves certain reference books, especially historical fiction. It was especially urged that the best results of collateral reading appear when pupils become sufficiently interested to do this work spontaneously.

In the business meeting preceding this program, it was voted to accept the recommendation of the executive committee, that a special supplementary meeting of the association be held in connection with meetings of other associations interested in history teaching at Indianapolis during the meeting of the American Historical Association next winter.

Professor James A. Woodburn was elected president of the North Central Association for the ensuing year, and Professor Earl W. Dow was made vice-president. The association loses the valuable services of its secretary-treasurer of the past four years, Professor George H. Gaston, of the Wendell Phillips High School, Chicago; his place is taken by Miss Mary L. Childs, of the Evanston (Illinois) Township High School. The following were elected members of the executive committee: Dr. O. M. Dickinson, Western Illinois Normal School, Macomb; Professor W. E. Dodd, University of Chicago; Miss Victoria Adams, Calumet High School, Chicago; Miss Ellen G. Foster, Evanston, Ill.

MISSOURI ASSOCIATION.

Program of Meeting at Kirksville, May 14, 1910.

MORNING SESSION.

1. President’s (H. R. Tucker) Address--“The Doctrine of Interest and Instruction in the Social Sciences in the High School.” Discussion.

2. “The Use of the Library in High School History Classes.” Miss Elizabeth B. Wales, secretary Missouri State Library Commission, Jefferson City. Discussion opened by Miss Sadie Connor, McKinley High School, St. Louis; H. W. Foght, State Normal, Kirksville.

3. “What Topics in English Constitutional History are Not Too Difficult for Secondary History Courses?” F. B. Smith, Savannah. Discussion.

4. “New View-points in Ancient History.” Dr. A. T. Olmstead, State University, Columbia.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

1. “A Pilgrimage Through Italy”--An illustrated lecture. Miss Clara L. Thompson, Mary Institute, St. Louis.

2. Reports of Committees: (a) Committee on History in High Schools of Missouri, E. M. Violette, State Normal, Kirksville; (b) Committee on History in the Elementary Schools of Missouri, Superintendent O’Rear, Boonville.

3. Election of Officers.

4. General Business.

NEW ENGLAND ASSOCIATION MEETING.

The annual spring meeting of the New England Association was held in Boston on Saturday, April 16, 1910, in the lecture hall of the Boston Public Library. The morning session was devoted to Roman history and to the report of the Committee on Historical Material. The opening address was by Professor Henry A. Sill, of Cornell University, who spoke on “Some New Points of View in Roman History.” Just one hundred years ago Niebuhr began the epoch of modern critical historiography, and for the first time applied the test of modern criticism to the mass of tradition which passed current as Roman history. Forty years later Mommsen took up the task, and in 1854 published his first volume. The works of both writers were rapid and bold, but they were works of genius and of intuition. The speaker then considered certain characteristics of Mommsen’s work, among others specifying his comprehensiveness, his thorough use of the sources, and especially his modern tone. Mommsen did not make direct references to modern politics, but through indirect references sought to make the Romans step down from their pedestals and become real. We owe it to Mommsen’s history that Rome does not seem a land of fancy.

Although Mommsen made over one thousand contributions with a total of more than twenty thousand pages, he did not speak the final word. Recently several attempts have been made to sum up the result of the numerous special investigations which have been made since Mommsen’s time, the speaker making mention of Pais, Ferrero, and especially of Edouard Meyer, whom he termed the master of all. Of American writers Professor Botsford has made a notable contribution in his “Roman Assemblies.” Among the periods of Roman history which are being rewritten are the Foreign Wars, the history to the fourth century B.C., and the Revolution. Among the new points of view, Professor Sill enumerated the influence of imperialism, war and its effects on domestic policy, sea-power, international arbitration, capitalism, and added that we might even have a pathological view of Roman history! In conclusion, he cautioned against pushing analogy too far.

Professor Sill’s paper was discussed briefly by Professor H. B. Wright, of Yale University, and Professor W. S. Ferguson, of Harvard University, the latter citing an interesting dissertation by a Roumanian teacher on the nationality of the business men of Rome and the light it threw on certain problems of Roman history.

Historical Material.

An extensive exhibit of historical material, comprising maps, charts, pictures, casts, atlases and models had been procured and displayed by a committee of the Association consisting of Prof. Arthur I. Andrews, of Simmons College, chairman; Prof. W. S. Ferguson, Miss Ellen S. Davison, Mr. L. R. Wells, Miss Mabelle Moses and Mr. W. H. Cushing. In his brief report Professor Andrews acknowledged the debt due Teachers’ College both for the idea and for many models and pictures loaned for this exhibition. The watchword of the committee has been: “Show the attainable.” We have aimed, said Professor Andrews, to place on exhibition articles and samples of articles that can, at a reasonable expense, be introduced into any class-room. In addition to the loans from Teachers’ College, much was imported for the exhibition by Messrs. G. Stechert & Co.; other articles were loaned by the publishers, and some were bought outright by the Association. A special feature of the exhibit was the large number of the Hensell and Rausch models, probably the largest collection ever displayed in this country. As at the Teachers’ College exhibition, one of the most helpful features was the collection of mounted pictures illustrative of various phases of life and conditions, showing the possibilities in this line where the expense is trifling. It is the intention of the committee to prepare lists of typical collections of maps, charts and models costing twenty-five, fifty, one hundred, two hundred and five hundred dollars. After referring to the cost of various portions of the exhibit, Professor Andrews summed up as follows: “It will be seen, then, that two things are fairly clear; first, that a collection of the best material, up-to-date in every way and including samples of the best models, the best series of maps, the latest charts, and the best pictures of every kind, could be got together by this Association at a very moderate cost; secondly, such a collection, showing the exact cost of each article, would be valuable to the teacher who has a limited appropriation and who needs to see for herself in the easiest possible way just what she wants and just what she can pay for.”

The enthusiasm of your committee has been aroused by the contemplation of great ideas as to the permanency of this collection. We hope to arrange for the proper housing of these exhibits, making it accessible to teachers and classes visiting Boston, and we also hope to arrange for transporting it to other parts of New England where it may be on exhibition in connection with educational meetings. Undoubtedly it will be a feature of the forthcoming meeting of the N. E. A. in Boston in July.

Miss Ellen Scott Davison, of Bradford Academy, spoke briefly on some practical uses of pictures, and told of the practices in German schools which she visited last summer.

The guest of the Association at its luncheon was General Edward Anderson, who spoke most entertainingly of his recollections of Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, John Brown and other leaders and incidents of the Civil War period. As President Evans characterized it, it was the genuine source method of instruction by an accomplished speaker.

* * * * *

Before ordering for the fall be sure to inspect the

McKinley Historical Note-Books

These note-books consist of the McKinley Outline Maps combined with blank leaves to constitute an historical note-book of 104 pages; the back of each map and every other sheet being left blank for class notes or comment upon the maps. Many teachers have required their scholars to paste or bind McKinley Outline Maps in their note-books; the new arrangement furnishes the maps already printed in the book, at a price about the same as that asked for a note-book of blank leaves.

=Four Books in the Series=: For American History, for English History, for Ancient History, and for European History.

=Price: 22 cents (net) each=

The note-books are made from a clean, strong, and heavy _ledger writing_ paper, well suited to the use of ink or colors. Size about 8 x 11 inches.

Samples cheerfully furnished upon request to

McKinley Publishing Co.

PHILADELPHIA

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_COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS APPROACH_

Are your Pupils prepared for them in History?

Why not secure copies of questions asked during last five years in eighteen of the leading colleges and universities?

As review tests covering the entire field, they are invaluable. Such a compilation can be secured by addressing

ALLEN HARMON CARPENTER, Head Master, College School KENILWORTH, ILL.

Four pamphlets: Grecian, Roman, English, American, 40 cents each. Sample copy, half price. Liberal discount for class use, with desk copy free.

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Correspondence

COLLEGE CATALOGUE REQUIREMENTS IN HISTORY.

As a member of the Catalogue Committee in one of our smaller colleges, it has been my privilege the past two years to study catalogues from all parts of the country--perhaps sixty or more. Besides the various general matters noticed, I have naturally turned for information and help to the history courses offered and to the college entrance requirements in history. This survey has given me several definite impressions.

The requirements in history are generally not organised as are the departments of English, Latin and Mathematics. Frequently they are not definite in their statements as to just what they wish done. One of our best northern colleges gives four lines to History; over one page to Science; over five pages to English.

Several colleges prepare their requirements with care, although few are above improvement. That is, one college will enlarge on the text-books and supplementary reading, but say nothing of the methods of work; another will do just the opposite. Among the best requirements noticed in the South are those of the University of Mississippi, the University of the South, and Tulane University. The most satisfactory one is from Leland Stanford Junior University, which gives a trifle over two pages, and includes both books and methods. Probably half a page would be more than the average length in the catalogues examined.

Two articles in THE HISTORY TEACHERS’ MAGAZINE for October, 1909, “Lessons Drawn from the Papers of History Examination Candidates,” by Miss Briggs, and the editorial on “Method the Need,” have stimulated thought. The following paragraphs are offered as suggestions in one direction.

It would seem that we might claim two or three pages in the catalogue; they could easily be filled. The following is one plan that might be used:

The courses allowed as units.

[Then something like the following which is adapted from the catalogue of Leland Stanford Junior University.]

Ancient History.

TEXT-BOOKS[4]--Goodspeed, “History of the Ancient World” (Scribners); Morey, “Outlines of Ancient History” (American Book Co.); Myers, “Ancient History,” Revised Edition (Ginn); West, “Ancient World” (Allyn and Bacon); Wolfson, “Essentials in Ancient History” (American Book Co.); or an equivalent.

For supplementary reading and reference, work in some of the following is suggested: Botsford, “Story of Rome;” Cox, “General History of Greece” (Student Series); Fling, “Source Book of Greek History;” Munro, “Source Book of Roman History;” Pelham, “Outlines of Roman History;” Shuckburgh, “History of Rome,” and Ginn & Co’s “Classical Atlas,” or Kiepert, “Classical Atlas;” Tozer’s “Primer of Classical Geography.”

This is carried out for the four groups.

Then give general suggestions at the end: the work required of students in definite statements; a few helps for the teachers preparing students for the college, as “Report of the Committee of Seven,” HISTORY TEACHERS’ MAGAZINE, a few _syllabi_ and _map books_.

Those suggestions may seem entirely unnecessary to the colleges and universities in the northeastern part of the country, but they are greatly needed elsewhere, as in many parts of the South where the high school movement, though growing rapidly, is yet in its formative period. Even with the splendid school system of California Stanford gives details, and I fancy such help is needed in many of the smaller high and private preparatory schools throughout the country. Furthermore, if the best known colleges and universities wish to draw their students from all parts of the country, they should make their requirements so plain that they can be used in any section.

MARY SHANNON SMITH.

Meredith College, Raleigh, N. C.

THE TOPICAL METHOD.

EDITOR HISTORY TEACHER’S MAGAZINE:

The college entrance examination seems to be a contest between the man who makes out the questions and the teacher who aims chiefly or solely to get his pupils by the examination. The teacher who desires mainly to teach history and how to study it, and to whom the examination is only an incident, is the “innocent third party.” The examiner and the examination-crammer alike search the papers of previous years in the attempt to outwit each other. It would never do to ask questions only on the most important parts of the subject; the candidates would surely know all about such questions, a most undesirable state of affairs! A teacher who, perchance, would try to teach some of “the glory that was Greece” and, to save time for some first-hand acquaintance with Greek literature cuts off the Peloponnesian war with a single lesson may be doing right, but his pupils may suffer when asked to describe the Peloponnesian war after the failure of the expedition to Syracuse. He may dwell on the spread of Greek civilization over the East, and his pupils be asked to describe, with dates, Alexander’s battles. He may emphasize the civilization of the Empire and his pupils be examined on the lives of insignificant emperors.

In mathematics the topics to be treated in algebra are specified in detail; and a syllabus of required or book propositions in geometry is issued. In physics a list of experiments is furnished. In English a definite list of books for reading and another for careful study are prescribed years in advance.

It is in the air that certain objections to the field of ancient history as stated by the Committee of Seven will be met by providing a list of topics representing the desirable subjects for study in the pre-classical and early medieval periods. Why not go further and make it safe for a teacher who would subordinate the passing of an examination designed to beat the crammer, to a sound knowledge of essentials and substantial preparation in methods of historical study? The worst that could happen would be that an increasing number of candidates would know the essentials so well that most of them would pass good examinations. But better still would be the possibility of using the time thus gained for a thorough and intensive study of a very limited portion of the field, whereby, to some degree, a right method of historical study could be inculcated, thus securing better work in history in college.

This plea is put forth not with a desire to make easier the work of college preparation, but from a feeling that the efforts of the conscientious pupil and teacher should reach out to a higher and more enduring purpose than “beating the examiner.”

W. H. C.

FOOTNOTE:

[4] Any one text-book of the group is accepted.

* * * * *

West Virginia University

SUMMER SCHOOL

Six Weeks--June 20th to July 30th, 1910

The courses in History will be given by Albert Bushnell Hart, head of the Department of History in Harvard University, and James Morton Callahan, head of the Department of History in West Virginia University.

Entire Fee for Six Weeks--$2.50

The University is charmingly situated on Monongahela River and among the Allegheny foothills.

Write for detailed announcements to WAITMAN BARBE or to the President, D. B. PURINTON, LL.D., Morgantown, W. Va.

* * * * *

DR. OSCAR GERSON’S

“History Primer,” and “Our Colonial History”

Amply cover the history requirements of the first five years of school life.

_Send for Catalogue._

HINDS, NOBLE & ELDREDGE

1412 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa.

* * * * *

The Grafton Index OF Historical, Genealogical and Biographical Books and Magazine Articles

A Quarterly Index of all American Material of Great Value to the Librarian, Genealogist and

Teachers of History

Issued in The Grafton Magazine of History and Genealogy.

$2.00 per year

THE GRAFTON PRESS, 70 Fifth Ave., New York

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AGENTS WANTED

Liberal inducements offered to persons who will represent “The History Teacher’s Magazine” at

Colleges and High Schools, Summer Schools, Normal Schools, Teachers’ Institutes, etc.

Samples and advertising material sent free. Apply to

McKINLEY PUBLISHING CO.,

Philadelphia, Pa.

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* * * * *

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Nineteenth Summer Session, July 6 to August 16, 1910. Courses specially designed for students and teachers of History are offered as a part of the instruction given in twenty-five departments. The libraries are well-known. The situation is delightful. There is a single tuition fee of $25.

Full information upon request to

THE REGISTRAR, Ithaca, N. Y.

* * * * *

Summer School of the South

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE

Ninth Session--Six Weeks

June 21 to July 29, 1910

22 courses in ancient history, general European history, English history, American history, civil government, sociology, and methods of teaching history. 12 of these courses offered this year. For announcement containing full information in regard to these and 400 other courses, address

P. P. CLAXTON, Superintendent

* * * * *

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

Offers, besides the regular College Courses, Mechanical, Electrical and Civil Engineering, Architecture, Music, Painting, Law, Medicine, Sociology and Pedagogy.

=COURSES IN AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY= will be given with the opening of the next College year.

SUMMER SCHOOL

July 5-August 16

College entrance conditions may be removed and college credit given to those doing satisfactory work. The instructors are University professors. Ample facilities for library and laboratory work. The location is cool, healthful and easy of access. Living inexpensive. Tuition, $15 for single course; $25 for two or more courses. Send for circulars.

THE REGISTRAR

Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.

* * * * *

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* * * * *

Transcriber’s Notes:

Footnotes have been moved to the end of each article and relabeled consecutively through the document.

Advertisements have been moved to the end of the article where they appear in the original text.

Punctuation has been made consistent.

Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have been corrected.