ESSAYS 139 



Perhaps 20 million years ago the first living thing appeared. Later came the 

 deposition of the chalk cliffs, the uplifting of the mountain chains, and the coming 

 of the man-like apes, say a million years ago. The first lecture would end with 

 a simple sketch of palaeolithic and neolithic man, showing the place " tools " had 

 in their development, aud the growth of pastoral and agricultural life on the 

 steppes of Central Asia, Africa and Europe. 



If this lecture were all, the effect upon the child mind would, doubtless, be 

 fleeting. But the first impressions can be deepened by a visit to the Stone Age 

 Gallery at the British Museum, and, above all, by the other English lessons 

 dealing with cognate subjects. Thus the Bible lessons in the first fortnight 

 might be the first chapter of Genesis and the thirty-eighth chapter of Job. The 

 literature lesson might be Raphael's " Story of Creation " in the seventh book 

 of Paradise Lost, or such poems as Kipling's The River's Tale, and The Story 

 of Ung. The English history lesson would deal with such subjects as " London 

 Before the Houses," or England in the Stone Age." Instead of a map selected 

 at random from the atlas, why should not each student construct a chart of 

 the solar system and a chart of the geological epochs ? Finally, the weekly 

 essays would also be suggested by the theme for the fortnight's study— let us say 

 "The Poetry of Creation," and " England in the Stone Age." 



Every essay should be carefully filed and preserved. It should also be 

 illustrated by pictures. Thus " The Poetry of Creation " might include the Sistine 

 Ceiling designs of Michelangelo, the " Creation Series " of Burne-Jones, while 

 " England in the Stone Age " could be illustrated by postcards of museum objects 

 which can readily be secured at the British Museum. If the essays are preserved 

 for a year, each child will possess a series recalling the main course of universal 

 history, and illustrated by some hundreds of pictures and thirty-six maps. He 

 will also be familiar with a number of illustrative poems and passages from general 

 literature, which will surely not have lost in value by association with a fitting 

 historical setting. 



Let us test the method by applying it to another epoch — say " The Golden 

 Age of Greece." The previous fortnight closed with the story of Marathon, which 

 placed Athens at the headship of the Greek city-states, and saved Europe from 

 the domination of the Eastern conquerors. Surely a child can be taught to 

 visualise the building of the Parthenon, and see the difference between a Greek 

 temple, the shrine of a tribal god or goddess, and a great Gothic cathedral where 

 a Christian community meets for prayer and praise. And, from the greatness 

 of the Greek sculptors, it is an easy transition to the greatness of the Athenian 

 dramatists, philosophers and historians. Declaim a passage from Pericles' 

 address, as set out by Thucydides, and then pass on to the tragedy of Melos. 

 Recall that the very qualities which made for the wonderful art and literature 

 of Greece did not make for political wisdom and sobriety. After a short century 

 the passion for liberty was lost. At last, in spite of the call of a Demosthenes, 

 Athens fell before Alexander of Macedon. 



Here, again, the first sketch of Athenian history may seem so general as to 

 be almost useless. But remember the effect of the collection and possession 

 of such photographs as the "Delphi Charioteer," Myron's "Discobolus," the 

 " Theseus " and the " Three Fates," from the Parthenon ; the " Demeter," the 

 Praxiteles' " Hermes," the Trentham " Mourner," and the " Venus " of Melos. 

 Moreover, the Bible lesson would deal with St. Paul's visit to Athens, or even 

 consist of a reading of the death of Socrates as told in the Phcedo. The maps 

 of the fortnight would be the " Siege of Syracuse " and Alexander's conquests, 



