466 REVIEWS — MODERN GEOGR.APUY. 



In Morse's Geography a larger space is devoted to some single 

 States of the "Onion than to the whole British Isles; and while the 

 glories of " Bunker Hill," and the feats of arms of the "Green 

 Mountain Boys" of Vermont, in the Revolutionary AVar, find a 

 prominent place, the most characteristic feature that this American 

 trainer of the young idea can discover in relation to the geo- 

 graphy (!) of Ireland is " distraining for rent," which is accordingly 

 illustrated by means of a wood-cut representation of a policeman 

 driving off a poor peasant's cow ; his wife on her knees, his son, 

 nearly naked, and all vainly imploring mercy from the stony-hearted 

 embodiment of British law ! Yet this book is to be found in use, 

 we believe, throughout the majority of our Canadian schools. Or, 

 taking into consideration the less objectionable feature of the pre- 

 dominance naturally given by the geographers of the Union to 

 their own Republic, we find in Mitchell's " Manual of Geography" — 

 another American school book, which has displaced that of Morse in 

 some of our Provincial schools — nearly forty pages devoted to the 

 United States, while one page and a half suffices for all British 

 North America. In the same work more than one State of the 

 Union monopolises a larger space than England, and the whole 

 Geography of Europe actudly occupies less than two-thirds of the 

 amount of room devoted to the Great Republic ! The object held 

 in view in such teaching is abundantly apparent, so far as Ameri- 

 cans are concerned; and its influence on the character and idiosyn- 

 cracies of the people of the States has already developed itself in a 

 very unmistakable manner. Its true wisdom, as an element of 

 national mental culture, even for them, may well be questioned ; but 

 for us, there can be no doubt that such a system of Americanising 

 our youth is the very last thing which any wise or patriotic Cana- 

 dian would advocate as the training calculated to make them either 

 well instructed geographers, or useful citizens. 



"We are informed that it is in contemplation to prepare a special 

 edition of Anderson's " Modern Geography " for the use of Canadian 

 and other Colonial Schools : we shall hail such as a contribution of 

 no slight value to the educational materials required to complete the 

 Provincial system of education which already reflects so much credit 

 on Upper Canada. 



D. W. 



