TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 713 



to carry about a rough idea of the four quarters of the glohe, the principal countries 

 and capitals in them, and a sufficient amount of preliminary instruction to under- 

 stand Bradshaw and Baedeker. A third, and perhaps the largest category among 

 educated people, consists of those who are indifferent to the whole question, and 

 are content to find in geography either an honoured branch of science, or a mere 

 nominal study, according to the views of the latest speaker, or most plausible 

 reasoner. If it be allowable to apply things holy to things profane, no truer illus- 

 tration of this class can be given than the Scriptural definition of men who receive 

 seed ' in stony places.' 



To the first of the above I would say that the place which geography holds 

 among school studies is not that which it ought to hold if its uses were understood 

 and appreciated. Primers and elementary books already published are good 

 enough in their way, but the instruction they contain is not seriously imparted ; 

 and it may be that something titter and more attractive to the beginner could be 

 produced. At present all school-books on geography may be said, as a rule, to be 

 consigned to the shelf of secondary subjects ; and this is not the treatment which 

 should be reserved for a study of such real magnitude. By-and-by it will be my 

 endeavour to establish by argument aud example the indisputable character of its 

 importance. 



For those who look upon geography as a profession which needs rather separate 

 training than general education, and would prefer to leave its acquirement to 

 travellers aiming at distinction, specialists in Government employ, and the more 

 zealous aud scientific Fellows of the Royal or any other geographical society, I 

 can only express my regret that the delusion under which they lie unfits them so 

 thoroughly to understand and much less satisfy the wants of a rising generation. 

 By denying the universal character of the study they clearly misapprehend its true 

 scope, and are dwarfing it to within the narrow limits of a conventional school task, 



As a matter of State or public school education the science of geography should 

 in truth be elevated, not degraded. In my humble opinion it should be placed on 

 a par with classics, mathematics, and history, with each and all of which it has 

 affinity. Undoubtedly there are accomplishments which come, as it were, of them- 

 selves, or are the outcome of lightly-sown seeds in the home. These for the most 

 part are rather mechanical than mental, though some may have advocates to claim 

 for them intellectual honour. But a knowledge of geography is not to be so acquired : 

 it will not come like handwriting with incidental practice, nor is it to be gained 

 by mere travelling. To move from place to place, whether across seas or conti- 

 nents, or both, to go round the globe itself and visit every important country and 

 capital in the track chosen, even to prefer byways to railways and search into 

 obscure and hidden spots rather than those which are more generaUv frequented — 

 all this process affords admirable matter for the note-book of the man of the world 

 and observer, but will not educate in geography, unless the student himself has a 

 serious purpose to turn his wanderings to the account of science. The cursory 

 description which would apply to men and women, cattle and conveyances, hotels 

 and caravansaries, restaurants, coffee-houses, and the like, in a moving panorama, 

 is not always suited to brmg out in bold relief the physical aspects of a country. 



To the indifferent and wavering, to those who would wish to promote the study 

 of geography if they could feel persuaded that it needs promotion, but who would 

 leave to the better judgment and experience of others the decision on the whole 

 question ; to those who are content to accept the institution of a professorial chair 

 in honour to the science, or to leave geographical study to the primitive teaching 

 of their own childhood, whichever course be most in accordance with the temper 

 or fashion of the times — I can perhaps do no better than appeal on the grounds of 

 urgency — in other words, of the real importance of the cause for which, in common 

 with abler and worthier advocates, I would now most earnestly plead. The open- 

 ing verse of the Bible, in imparting to us the first great act of creation, at once 

 establishes the high position, among the lessons to be taught mankind, of astronomy 

 and geography ; and the description of the garden of Eden, and the river dividing 

 into four heads— two of which, the Hiddekel and the Euphrates, still mingle their 

 waters in one, after a long separate course from the highlands of Armenia — is an 



