various subjects; for in some respects they resemble encyclopædias, in which a complete and perfect treatise is expected under each principal word. But the case is far different with school books, which ought not only to contain full and accurate instruction respecting our own countries, but information of a much more general kind respecting the other divisions of the world. Thus a schoolboy, in England, ought to know Middlesex, Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Kent, at least as well as our very best school books treat of them; but it is by no means necessary that he should be equally familiar with Kentucky, the Deccan, Hesse Cassel, or Dalmatia. To use the illustration of a popular writer, he should know his own country as the twopenny postman knows his own district; he should know the other countries as an intelligent stranger knows London from occasional visits. The want of attention to this distinction is a prominent objection to our ordinary school geographies; and instances are not wanting, in which the pages that treat of the British Isles are decidedly the most inaccurate and the worst written in the whole book. Difficulties of But perhaps the main difficulty with the schoolboy is, that the study. the book is little else than a catalogue of names. To him, the learning of a hundred localities is just a hundred separate acts of memory: each one is as isolated as the separate words of a dictionary; indeed, even more so, as in that case the alphabetical arrangement is still some guide. The learning of mere positions, then, especially those of a country in which he is not immediately interested, is to the ordinary pupil what the learning of the alphabet is to a child-one of the most difficult tasks that he is ever called upon to perform. Accordingly, we are not to be suprised that this kind of knowledge is retained in so few instances; the wonder is, that it is retained so well, or in so many. Again, it has been a favourite practice with navigators and others for many centuries to appropriate familiar names to new places, instead of giving them new names, derived either from their history or their characteristics. Thus, there was not only an ancient as well as a modern Troy, and a Sicilian as well as a Peloponnesian Messene, but there are at this moment three or four Yorks, nearly half a dozen Liverpools, with perhaps a similar number of Santiagos, Granadas, and Valladolids. This, as any one will see, is adding confusion to difficulty; and as the information which would enable us to remove either, is rarely given in the text, when given at all, it is the more incumbent on the teacher to produce it in the proper quantity, kind, and manner, as far as it is in his power to do so. General prinThe great general principle, which I have found extremely ciple of the useful, and which recommends itself by its very nature, is— remedy. to make the judgment subservient to the memory; and this may be done in various ways. We may lead the mind of the pupil, for iustance, into the way of cause and effect, so that many important results may be reached independently à priori; we may introduce rational comparisons, so that the circumstances of one country will always suggest those of another, and thus give rise to important general ideas; or we may diminish the intellectual labour of the very youngest, by pointing out obvious inferences, which render several of the statements of the book unnecessary. For example, what is more natural than to infer that the English language is spoken in the United States, that French is common in the Mauritius, or Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope, when the most meagre outline of these colonies is known? By simple inferences, I mean such as the climate, and natural productions, animal or vegetable, of which every one can form some idea, from the latitude and general situation. And to take an example of comparison, let us place side by side the two facts, that England proper contains 15,000,000 of population, and that Spain, which is twice as large as the whole island of Great Britain, contains only 15,000,000. The most indolent and stupid boy is roused to ask, either of himself, or his teacher, or his book, why is this?" And he then begins to think, for the first time, of the effects of peace, intelligence, and varied industry in the one country, or of bloodshed, ignorance, and national habits in the other, though he may have heard the separate facts stated twenty times before. But to show the application of this principle a little more in detail, I shall follow it out in one or two divisions of the subject. tures. 1. The physical outlines of a particular country-which Physical feamay be examined on the map, or on an outline sketched for the purpose before the book is opened-present great facilities for teaching the boy to think. The mountains, for example, by their rise and situation, determine the courses of rivers; the extent of country to be drained is the main element in determining their size; and both are connected, more or less, with agriculture and commerce, and with the positions of the principal towns. Thus, Spain has its various sierras or ridges running across it in an east and westerly direction; therefore its large rivers must drain the country in that direction, the tributaries from the hills flowing north and south. In Italy, again, the peculiar situation of the Alps and Apennines leaves no egress for the drainage of the northern division but the eastern side of the valley of the Po. In America, North or South, the large rivers must flow in a direction more or less easterly, the short and rapid mountain torrents flowing westward. In Asia, the elevated table land in the centre directs the rivers east, north, and south, to the ocean. And in England, the elevation on the west, and the depression on the east side, induce us to look for the principal rivers, the alluvial deposit, and the flourishing agriculture on the east ;. while the lakes, the scenery, the minerals, and of course the important manufactures, lie more towards the west side. Names. 2. The derivation of the names of places should be pointed Derivation of out as often as the teacher has opportunity; and thus a term which was as utterly unmeaning to the pupil as a word of Hindostanee or Arabic, becomes the link of a pleasing association, and suggestive of whole trains of ideas. In some words, the meaning lies quite on the surface, and yet it is not always seen: as, for instance, New Holland, and New Zealand, tell us that the countries which they represent were named by the Dutch, while New South Wales is suggestive of an English colony. Again, Mexico is otherwise known as New Spain; Canada, as New France; and the north part of the United States as New England-every one of which names leads us back to the early history of the country which it represents. Similar remarks apply to Nova Scotia, New Hebrides, New Orleans, New York, New Guinea, New Ireland, New Granada, and many others. In very many instances, it is only necessary to translate the name of the district or town from one language into another; and it is wonderful what a limited knowledge of language will enable a teacher to understand almost every word he meets. Thus, Terra del Fuego, is the land of fire; Cabo del Tormentoso, the stormy cape; Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, the rich town of the true cross; Mesopotamia, the country between the rivers, equivalent to Entre Rios, in South America; Stamboul, it was a city; Constantinople, the city of Constantine; Rio de la Plata, the river of silver, Gibraltar, the mountain of Tarifa, &c. Sometimes the name refers to a peculiar circumstance, as Florida and Botany Bay, which were named from their plants; the Pacific Ocean from its temporary placid appearance; and the Ladrone Islands from the robbing propensity of the people. Sometimes it refers to physical phenomena, as the White Sea, the Red Sea, the Yellow Sea; and again it throws us back into past ages, as Ebro, which tells of the land of the Iberians, and the river which bounded Hannibal; Batavia, which tells of the people from whom the Hollanders are descended; and Palestine, derived from the ancient Philistines. In almost every instance, the names occur in classes, as may be shown by a reference to our own country. Thus, in England, we have Plymouth, Falmouth, Exmouth, Yarmouth, Dartmouth, Eyemouth, Wyemouth, and others, each of which is situated at the mouth of a river; Chester, Ilchester, Manchester, Doncaster, Exeter, Leicester, and others, the positions of Roman encampments; with an immense number ending in ford, ton (i.e. town), don (down, or hill), ham (hame or home), leigh, and field (which are nearly equivalent), croft, thorpe, bridge, bury, &c., which are all easily explained. In Scotland, holm means low meadow land by a river's side, as Langholm, Branxholm, Dudholm. In Ireland, kil is a burying place, as Kildare, Kilkenny; and bally means the village of, as Ballymena, Ballyshannon. Association. 3. It is also important to associate every place with some fact, which may be historical or not. This is easily done in the case of battle fields, towns that have been besieged, places noted for convulsions of nature, or for being the birthplace or the burial-place of some distinguished individual. Thus, Gibraltar will never be forgotten, if once its famous siege be alluded to; every schoolboy knows about the burning of Moscow; and an obscure speck on the map of Africa, Cape Coast Castle, is sought for with eagerness, from its melancholy association with her who was once Miss Landon. A similar association might be formed with a thousand other places, in which the great historical facts would present themselves at once. But even in minor matters, what an interesting thing does a map of the world become, when a boy can show where Byron died, where Falconer was wrecked, where Captain Cook was killed, where Lander terminated his labours, where Stoddart and Conolly were put to death, or Wolff imprisoned, where Howard became a martyr to his benevolence, where Park was encouraged by a flower in the desert, or where Napoleon was an exile. It is no longer a couple of circles, with printing and scratches, or with blotches of colouring, but a living, speaking picture, which he bears in his mind as long as me mory exists. Nor is this all: the spirit of inquiry has been stirred within him, and "the intellectual appetite," curiosity, must be supplied. He searches for a copy of Park's Travels, to ascertain more on a subject of which he knows something already; he is led by reference and association to Lander, Bruce, Salt, and others; he reads Falconer's poem, which he would never have thought of opening; he refers to a biographical dictionary for particulars concerning Howard or Byron; and some friend is obliged to yield to his importunity, and get him Cook's Voyages to read. And if it be true, as it undoubtedly is, that "all knowledge is money laid out at compound interest "-since every fact enables us to understand others, that without it would remain unknown -these suggestions, however trite they may appear, rise in magnitude and importance. Connected with this part of the subject, there are two auxiliaries which demand a passing notice. The one is a historical map of England, showing merely the positions of all the remarkable occurrences in our history, with their dates.* The other is a series of small maps, suitable either for a schoolroom or a study;t and each giving the scene of some important event in modern times. One is the plan of Acre, with Commodore Napier besieging it; another the French conquests at Algiers and Constantine; another the isle of Chusan; with plans of Ghuznee, Tangier, the mouth of the Yang-tse-Kiang; the Khoord, Cabool, and Bolam passes; the Isthmus of Darien, and the surveys for the projected canal; the overland mail route, &c. It is very important to have such things, and to have them while the interest is fresh, so that the lessons of the schoolroom may tell upon every newspaper article read at the breakfast table, and that boys and men may not only be enabled, but to some extent obliged, to keep up with the spirit of the age. 4. A particular part of this subject, which will recommend Travels. itself at once, is tracing the routes of particular travellers, and reading interesting passages from their works. Geography is thus turned to a practical account at once; and information and enjoyment are united. The pictures of scenery, costume, and incident rise in the mind as correct associations; and there is no danger of a pupil, who has been taught in this way, imagining that sledges travel in Nigritia, that elephants are found in New Holland, or that palm trees grown on the mountains of Sweden and Norway, The books which commonly exist in schools for this purpose, are such as Grecian Stories," and Winter Evening Conversations," by Maria Hack: they contain a great deal of matter of this kind; and the teacher, from his own reading, can supply a great deal more. For example, he can travel with Xenophon and his 10,000 Greeks, he can follow Mr. Borrow through Spain, he can trace Bruce to the source of the Nile, or can accompany any conqueror, Alexander, Napoleon, or Wellington, through his various campaigns. 5. There are other means of producing the same effects, Quotations, apparently unimportant, but really not so. Such, for instance, Phrases, &c. is the simple quotation of a line of poetry bearing upon any particular * Harris, St. Paul's Church-yard, London. Wyld, Charing-cross, London. place, which, as it is more easily retained than any other description, gives more marked and vivid ideas. Thus, if the first line of Heber's Missionary Hymn were explained to a boy, he could never lose sight of the local characteristics :— Or, again "From Greenland's icy mountains, From India's coral strand, Roll down their golden sand." "From Lapland's woods, and hills, and frost, Or Macaulay's line "Thou, Rochelle, our own Rochelle, proud city of the waters !" Or that of Watts "I would not change my native land For rich Peru and all her gold. 66 In some 66 modern instances," as in Murray's Continental Hand Books, poetical quotations are often given with great appropriateness. The writings of Byron, Scott, Rogers, &c., abound with allusions to localities, of the kind suggested here; so that a reading teacher could have no difficulty in finding enough. The peculiar turning of an expression has often a most marked effect upon our associations, as "sunny Italy," "the pleasant land of France,' the beautiful Rhine;" and there is an entire class, which are all particularly useful in particular countries, like “from Dan to Beersheba,' 'from Eddystone to Berwick bounds, from Lynn to Milford Bay," "frae Maidenkirk to John-o'Groats." The reason why any imaginative association of this kind is seized with such avidity, is, that it gives a more tangible existence to the place. The recollection is no longer a mere idea, an abstraction; but its use is apparent, as means to an end; it is connected with literature, and associated with genius. Additional It is evident, from this, that the subject of Geography is remarks. not taught when all the facts contained in a meagre text-book are elicited by cross-examination. But what must be taught to a pupil besides? The use of his own intellect, we reply, to retain what he has got and to acquire more; the inclination to do so; the pleasure connected with knowledge; the classification and connection of various kinds of it; and last, and not least important, an additional number of facts. It is evident that no two teachers would go over the same ground in the same way; but each, in the independent exercise of his own mind, might do it well, and answer the end fully. So far as my own experience goes, I find that by far the most convenient plan is to give the association-whether fact, illusion, or anything else—when we are actually treating of the place; on a separate day, the interest is gone, and the prolixity of a tale, or narrative of travels, with many useless digressions -when at best it is not so pointed as one requires-fails to fix the attention, if indeed it does not occasionally dissipate it. When once these pictures are placed in the mind, they are indelible, or may be revived in their full colouring in an instant. For example, the single application of the term " New France" to Canada, awakens the recollection of its |