General suggestions.To turn to the practical teaching of the subject. From the beginning, the child must be trained to realise that the history of the world is a whole. Throughout the school, ancient and mediæval history should be taught side by side with that of England and Palestine. English history may with advantage be taught in less detail, and time thus secured for the sister subject. In French and German schools this system is definitely adopted; we append a German scheme. If possible, the subject should be in the hands of the same teacher, that the correlation of interest may be duly emphasised. In classes where reading lessons are given, poems, plays, etc., which bear upon the history, should be chosen, and may suggest subjects for composition. A geography lesson should precede the history course, and the importance of geography throughout cannot be overestimated.

Graduated scheme.
Course A.
Ages 9-10.With young children history proper is an impossibility, but an interest in the life of the past may be awakened very early. The mental development of the child epitomises that of the race, and in the record of a nation mythology precedes history. In the lowest classes of the Cheltenham Ladies’ College a course of stories from Greek mythology has met with marked success. Quite little children know Jason, with his one sandal, as well as they do Cinderella, and Athene is a familiar friend, whose picture they recognise. Cavillers may say that we are only teaching fairy tales, but the same children grown a little older see their Athene the central point of all the glories of Periclean Athens, and find themselves in a world they know.

Such a course will begin with a talk about the Greeks and their Gods, pass on to the heroes, and end with the “Tale of Troy Divine,” the wanderings of Odysseus, and the story of Thebes; of course these will be stories pure and simple, not vehicles for any ætiological theory, and the success will depend entirely on the descriptive power of the teacher.

Course B.
Ages 10-12.We are now on the threshold of history, and since a child is naturally anthropomorphic, the personal element must be made the most prominent. This course will therefore consist of a series of biographies, but biographies introductory to history. The men therefore whom we choose must be men who make or mark a period, and their lives must be closely connected. For this Greek history offers greater facilities than Roman, where the personal element is weaker.

The following series is suggested:—

1. Lycurgus (the dawn of history); revive knowledge of Atridæ; new Peloponnesus, cf. Heptarchy; Lycurgus and his laws; rise of Sparta. 2. Solon, lawgiver of Athens. 3. Pisistratus, the tyranny; rise of free Athens. 4. Crœsus, Cyrus, Cambyses; Asiatic Greece, connection with Bible history. 5. Darius and his wrath against Athens. 6. Miltiades and Marathon. 7. Themistocles and Salamis. 8. Pausanias, victor of Platæa; his insolence and fall. 9. Cimon, expulsion of Persians from Ægean. 10. Pericles and his Athens; Sparta’s jealousy; the war. 11. Brasidas and Demosthenes. 12. Nicias and the Sicilian expedition. 13. Lysander and fall of Athens. 14. Socrates and degradation of Athens. 15. Agesilaus and the fall of Sparta. 16. Conon and the rebuilding of the walls. 17. Epaminondas, the humbling of Sparta. 18. Philip of Macedon and his plans. 19. Demosthenes and how he failed to stop them. 20. Alexander.

In these two courses no text-books need be used or notes taken, but the children should be required to tell the tale of the last lesson, either viva voce or in writing. The appended [chart] should be used throughout this course, and will show the connection with Jewish history.

Course C.History of Rome to B.C. 31. We now come to history proper, necessarily in outline. This must not be mere chronology, but a series of connected pictures of events. Such dates as are given must be the dates of a century. We suggest that Rome should form the subject of this course, since in the story of the nations Rome follows Greece. Rome touches the world the children already know, as mistress of Britain, and heir of Alexander, while Pyrrhus and Philip V. of Macedon are connecting links with the Hellenistic age, as a rule a terra incognita. Antiochus and the Maccabees will connect it with Jewish history. For [chart] of connection with Course A see end.

Course D.
Ages 13-14.Augustus to Charlemagne. The Germans recognise the importance of this period. In England, forming as it does the link between ancient and modern history, it is taught with neither, and yet it is the key to the race question of modern Europe. We suggest a scheme whose two connecting links are: the rise of Christianity and the barbarian migrations. 1. Augustus; Tiberius; Claudius. 2. Nero; the Christians. 3. Vespasian; Titus; fall of Jerusalem. 4. Roman life; Pompeii. 5. Britain and the expansion of the empire under Trajan. 6. Marcus Aurelius; Christianity and Paganism; death of Oracles. 7. Diocletian; last persecutions of Christians; barbarians; inroads. 8. Constantine, first Christian emperor; Constantinople. 9. Julian; reaction against Christianity; Franks; Strasburg (357). 10. Alaric and Visigoths (410). 11. Attila and Huns (450). 12. Fall of empire. 13. Alexandria. 14. Theodoric and Ostrogothic kingdoms. 15. Clovis and Frankish kingdoms. 16. Descendants of Clovis; Brunhilda and Fredegond; extension of Frankish kingdom. 17. Monastic age, Celtic and Roman; Gregory the Great; rise of Papacy; Gregory and Brunhilda; Augustine. 18. Mahomet. 19. Caliphs; spread of Mahometanism in Asia, Africa, Spain. 20. Saracens repulsed (732); Charles Martel. 21. Fainéant kings; mayors of palace. 22. Charlemagne. 23. Holy Roman empire.

History for higher classes.In the higher classes of a school we may assume a fair knowledge of outline history. Periods bearing on the classical reading should be selected and read in detail. Typical periods as “The Empire of Athens and the Age of Pericles,” and “The Age of Augustus”.