C. J. A., author of “Good Fight of Faith”. In Palace and Faubourg (French Revolution). Nelson. 5/-.
Author of “Atelier du Lys”. A Child of the Revolution. Longmans. 2/6.
F. M. Peard. Mother Molly (Threatened Invasion of Napoleon). Bell. 5/-.
Conan Doyle. Uncle Bernac (Napoleon). Smith, Elder. 6/-.
— Brigadier Gerard (Napoleon). Newnes. 6/-.
Tolstoi. War and Peace (Napoleon’s Russian Campaign, for teachers). W. Scott. 4 vols. 2/6 a vol.
THE TEACHING OF ANCIENT HISTORY.
By Mary Hanbidge, M.A. (Lond.).
General scope.The importance of history as a school subject has been fully discussed in an earlier section. But “history,” as taught in schools, too often connotes merely English, or, at best, modern history. Hence the necessity of asserting separately the claim of ancient history, though in the very fact that it is not a separate subject, lies its importance.
The progressive development of the human race is a scientific axiom. If we ignore the continuity of history, we tend to base our teaching only on facts, rather than on the laws which form the bond of sequence between them. Thus the sense of historical proportion is never awakened; and the girl so trained may know in detail the history of England, and the history of the Israelites, but has little idea of their relation to the rest of the modern or ancient world. The child of to-day cannot attain to a true understanding of the history and culture of her own nation unless she has some ideas of the civilisation we inherit. The Renaissance is a fact which every text-book emphasises, and every schoolgirl knows; but what does she know of its spirit? How little can she realise the enthusiasm that stirred those “spacious times” if she is an utter stranger to the “glory that was Greece, and the greatness that was Rome”! Again, in neglecting ancient history, we lose sight of the homogeneity of the human race, that oneness which Thucydides felt would make his history not merely a passing record, but a prophecy ες το αει. And in truth the ancient city states grappled with many of the social and political problems of to-day. They are set before us in miniature, we see them in their entirety, and their solution guides or warns us. The influence of capital in politics, the depopulation of country districts, the dangers of a foreign corn supply, the drifting of democracy to socialism, and the treatment of subject races, were questions of as vital importance for Greece and Rome as they are to-day. So true is Dr. Arnold’s paradox that the ancient world is the most modern of all. Thus regarded, ancient history forms a valuable mental training for upper forms, a training which, in the case of girls, is especially useful, since women too often do not realise the modern problems in which they are unconscious factors. A further advantage is the accessibility of the original authorities, even to a school class. Here at least they are not dependent on retrospective theories, but can see how the history of the day impressed the men who made it—a result not so easily obtainable in other branches of history.