TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION L. 741 



this second purpose the student ought to cover all Englisli history, economic 

 history, the history of the colonies and dominions, and the general history of 

 Europe. This range is far too wide to make any solidity of knowledge possible, 

 and the pupil is apt to be fed on formulae and dead (because disorganised) facts. 

 What is the result of the ordinary school curriculum upon even an intelli- 

 gent boy ? (1) He knows the traditionally emphasised facts about English 

 political history, but seldom for any period later than the seventeenth century ; 

 and he has no such grasp of (say) mediaeval civilisation as his predecessor 

 sometimes had of classical ; (2) he knows, as disconnected facts, a few episodes 

 of English economic history, but has no sense of the organic development of 

 a society; (3) he knows as a rule nothing at all about India or the self-govern- 

 ing colonies ; (4) in a few cases he has been through a very slight outline 

 survey of European history, ibut has no sense of the ' personalities ' of the 

 nations, the character of their civilisation, and the nature of their aspirations. 

 He has 7iot been equipped with a body of knowledge that in any real sense 

 makes the world more intelligible to him ; and on the other hand he has not 

 enjoyed the kind of training that would cultivate the mental qualities already 

 described. 



The two things that make English history worth studying are (1) the develop- 

 ment of self-government, and (2) the expansion of the British race and of their 

 ideas over the face of the globe. The first of these involves a study of consti- 

 tutional history, which is too difficult to be successfully undertaken bv immature 

 minds. Our pupils in this field usually know only formulae and disconnected 

 scraps of ' antiquities,' which (when divorced from their context) have in them 

 no mental nutriment, and stand in no intelligible relation to the world which 

 the pupil knows. Of the second theme, as has been already said, he knows 

 nothing. 



Is there any means by which the two aims of historical study can be recon- 

 ciled and combined ? I suggest that we have, in the story of British expansion 

 during the last four centuries, a theme which would make this possible. (1) The 

 theme has a strong narrative interest, which will appeal to boys. It has both 

 unity and variety. It remarkably illustrates the geographical factor in history. 

 (2) It introduces the political problem in the simplest and clearest form, and 

 illustrates the ideas and mtethods of self-government in a way far more 

 intelligible to young minds than any narrative of the thirteenth or seventeenth 

 century struggles. The essential character of British civilisation shows itself 

 most unmistakably, and in clearest contrast with the civilisation of other 

 countries, in the field of extra-European expansion. (3) Large blocks, at any 

 rate, of the subject lend themselves to study in contemporary narratives, and 

 an excellent source-book could easily be made, consisting not of snippets, but 

 of long chapters by contemporary writers. (4) The development of the economic 

 position of Britain, and, indeed, the general development of Western civilisa- 

 tion in its economic aspect, comes out more clearly in this story than it can 

 easily be made to do in a narrative of English history on the ordinary lines, 

 because colonisation and trade have been closely related throughout. ' (5) All 

 the principal nations of the world, European and other, appear on this great 

 stage, and express their national characteristics in their colonial activities. 

 As Britain has been not only their rival but often the inheritor of their work, 

 some understanding of that work becomes necessary; and this means the 

 appreciation of the nations as personalities. 



Such a scheme of studies, limited in its range in one way, of world-wide 

 range in another, having a central thread and at the same time a great variety, 

 could be so handled as at once to help the student to understand not merelv the 

 British Empire, but the world of to-day in all its interrelations, and to 

 appreciate that conflict of national interests and national ideals which is the 

 stuff of modern history. But it could also be used (because some intimacy 

 of study would be possible) as a means of realising the intellectual aims of 

 historical studies. 



The obstacles in the way of such a scheme are considerable, but they are 

 merely practical difficulties about text-books, examinations, and the like, 

 capable of being overcome. 



