3. Political Geography; Globe with National Flags.

Equal in importance to a knowledge of the physical constitution of our globe is an acquaintance with the various races of men who cover its surface, and the numerous political communities into which they are formed. A complete course of geography should comprise these different subjects of consideration. When children have clear notions of the extent, form, composition, and external configuration of the earth, they may with profit be told of the different countries into which it has been subdivided, and be informed of their resources, and of every thing relating to the nations by which they are inhabited. This information constitutes political geography, which is the foundation of political science; for, unless we know the condition of a country and its inhabitants, we cannot reason correctly on their wants, customs, and means of prosperity.

The elements of the condition of a country are either natural or artificial. The natural elements are its geographical position, its climate, its boundaries, its coast-line, the character of its rivers, and the quality of its soil, its mineral, vegetable, or animal productions, and lastly, its population; the artificial elements consist of the civil and political institutions of the people, their agriculture, manufacture, and commerce; their progress in the arts and sciences; their language, literature, religion, and mode of life. The attention of the learners should be directed to all these subjects in turn, as circumstances afford opportunities of entering upon them. They should, especially, be shown how the natural elements of a country, by determining the character and peculiar energies of the people, influence their industrial, social, moral, and intellectual habits.

As an introduction to the first elements of political geography we would recommend the use of a globe containing only the terrestrial and aqueous configuration of the earth, with the national boundaries of the different countries and an indication of their capitals. The child, who has to learn these first notions, can, with this globe, easily attend to them without the confusion which, in using the ordinary maps and globes, arises from the numerous names and lines of rivers with which they are covered, and which are not needed at the outset. But to render this first study more impressive and more interesting, we connect it with another branch of information, which, although most useful

through life, has been totally overlooked in the education of youth. We allude to those emblems which, floating in the breeze, proclaim all over the globe the existence and power of the nations which they represent.

An acquaintance with national flags is indispensable to naval and military men, and useful to all the members of a commercial community; for they serve to distinguish the different nations in their political, military, and commercial relations. The distinctive flags of the numerous ships which crowd our harbours and docks are to him who is acquainted with them the source of much valuable information. They exhibit in one view our commercial intercourse with foreign nations; they lead the mind to an inquiry into the nature of our imports and exports, and hence into an investigation of our agricultural and manufacturing produce.

The child, having been told the names of the nations to which the flags belong, is desired to place these in the capitals of the countries to which they belong, and which are indicated by small holes into which the ends of the flag-staffs are made to fit. It may be easily conceived how amusing and instructive he will find the occupation of planting these standards in their proper places. When they have been distributed all over the globe, the pleasing effect which their variegated colours and their different emblems present to his eye powerfully fixes his attention: he sees at one glance, and in a striking manner, the relative positions of all nations, and their various possessions abroad.

In order to extend still farther the utility of this geographical apparatus, the size of the flags should vary with the degree of political power of each nation, and the length of the staffs with the extent of territory of each country. On the staffs may be inscribed the amount of population of the respective countries, their superficies in square miles, and the names of their capitals. In addition to these fundamental notions, the instructor could, now and then, as any flag engages the attention of his young pupils, associate with it much useful information concerning the people to whom it belongs. He may speak of their mode of government, their customs, national character, and degree of civilisation; of the pursuits in which they are most remarkable, and the discoveries and inventions with which they have benefited humanity; of their standard works, and the advantages to be derived from a knowledge of their language.

With this apparatus, and in the case especially of young persons of the upper ranks, a well-informed teacher may highly

entertain his pupils with interesting narratives relating to the veneration of people for their national flags, the honour attached to their defence, or to the taking of one belonging to an enemy, and the deeds of valour to which both gave rise in ancient and modern wars. A description of the armorial bearings of nations and noble families, which originated in the crusades, and are emblazoned on their different banners and coats of arms, as also an account of the origin of feudal distinctions, and their emblematic mode of transmission to posterity through the devices of heraldry, would excite in high-spirited youths a lively interest in the chivalrous exploits of their ancestors, and in the history of the middle ages: the inquiries might be continued down to modern times, in following the traces of these distinctions still perceptible in the military uniforms of nations and the liveries of private families.

In concluding these suggestions on the mode of introducing young persons to the study of geography, we will extract from an American writer a short and lively description of a lesson on this subject, delivered in his presence by a German professor to an elementary class. We feel the more inclined to do so, as it shows the value of linear drawing in teaching, and presents a new feature in geographical instruction.

"The teacher stood by the black board with the chalk in his hand. After casting his eye over the class to see that all were ready, he struck at the middle of the board. With a rapidity of hand which my eye could hardly follow, he made a series of those short divergent lines, or shadings, employed by map-engravers to represent a chain of mountains. He had scarcely turned an angle, or shot off a spur, when the scholars began to cry out, 'Carpathian Mountains, Hungary, Black Forest Mountains, Wurtemberg,' &c.

"In less than half a minute, the ridge of that grand central elevation, which separates the waters that flow north-west into the German Ocean, from those that flow north into the Baltic, and south-east into the Black Sea, was presented to view, executed almost as beautifully as an engraving. A dozen crinkling strokes, made in the twinkling of an eye, represented the head waters of the great rivers which flow in different directions from that mountainous range; while the children, almost as eager and excited as though they had actually seen the torrents dashing down the mountain sides, cried out 'Danube, Elbe, Vistula, Oder,' &c. The next moment I heard a succession of small

strokes, or taps, so rapid as to be almost indistinguishable, and hardly had my eye time to discern a large number of dots made along the margins of the rivers, when the shout of 'Lintz, Vienna, Prague, Dresden,' &c., struck my ear. At this point in the exercise, the spot which had been occupied on the black board was nearly a circle, of which the starting-point, or place where the teacher first began, was the centre, but now a few additional strokes around the circumference of the incipient continent extended the mountain ranges outwards towards the plain, the children responding the names of the countries in which they respectively lay. With a few more flourishes the rivers flowed onwards, towards their several terminations, and, by another succession of dots, new cities sprang up along their banks. By this time the children had become as much excited as though they had been present at a world-making. They rose in their seats, they flung out both hands, and their eyes kindled as they cried out the names of the different places, which, under the magic of the teacher's crayon, rose into view. Within ten minutes from the commencement of the lesson, there stood upon the black board a beautiful map of Germany, with its mountains, principal rivers, and cities, the coast of the German Ocean, of the Baltic and the Black Seas, and all so accurately proportioned, that I think only slight errors would have been found, had it been subjected to the test of a scale of miles. A part of this time was taken up in correcting a few mistakes of the pupilsfor the teacher's mind seemed to be in his ear as well as in his hand and, notwithstanding the astonishing celerity of his movements, he detected erroneous answers, and turned round to correct them. The rest of the lesson consisted in questions and answers respecting productions, climate, soil, animals, &c., &c."

"Compare," the author adds, "the effects of such a lesson as this, both as to the amount of the knowledge communicated and the vividness, and, of course, the permanence, of the ideas obtained, with a lesson where the scholars look out a few names of places on a lifeless Atlas, but never send their imaginations abroad over the earth, and where the teacher sits listlessly down before them to interrogate them from a book, in which all the questions are printed at full length, to supersede, on his part, all necessity of knowledge."*

Horace Mann, Report of an Educational Tour. See Quarterly Journal of Education, Nos. XIII. and XIV., for very judicious strictures on the study of Physical Geography, by G. Long, and of Political Geography, by A. Vieusseux,

4. History and Chronology.

Connected with political geography and the subdivisions of the globe is the history of its inhabitants at different periods. Children may be made acquainted with the most celebrated characters of various nations, and the most remarkable events of their history, as particular countries are brought to their notice in the course of the conversation, the instructor taking care always to associate with the historical fact the time and place at which it occurred. It is particularly from sensible objects, from engravings, pictures, statues, bas-reliefs, and ancient monuments, that they should incidentally receive their first notions of history and chronology. Pictorial illustrations, which so generally accompany the text of modern publications, may easily be procured; they will, from the vividness and permanency of visual impressions, be a useful auxiliary, in fixing historical facts on the memory.

Some regularity, however, may be introduced in this branch of instruction by means of synoptical tables of events and kings, arranged chronologically and synchronically. With one of these tables, a well-informed teacher will be enabled to impart to his pupils a large amount of interesting information on the history of the nation, which is, at the time, the object of their consideration. This instruction should, at first, be purely narrative, the teacher confining himself to memorable events, heroic actions, remarkable sayings, and all those beautiful traits, which, while they interest young persons, tend to elevate their minds, and excite in them a taste for historical studies.

It needs scarcely be observed that children should at first be introduced to the history of their own country in preference to that of any other; their attention should next be directed to sacred history, which, going back to the origin of the world, is the best preparation for the study of ancient history and for the reading of the Holy Scriptures. With those who are destined to receive a classical education, Rome, Greece, and their mythology may be made occasionally subjects of conversation: and, in general, the history of any nation, whose language is being or is to be learned, should be made an object of instruction, either orally or through books, earlier than would otherwise be desirable.

In alluding to dates, the children should be led gradually from the present time, through a series of epochs not very distant from