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II. The Puritan Movement:
1. Its beginning under Elizabeth
2. Its growth under James I
3. The struggle and victory under Charles I
4. Triumph and decay under the Commonwealth
5. Its dissolution under Charles II
6. It was the root of the resistance offered to the misrule of James II.
FOR TEACHERS' REFERENCE
THE STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION
CORRELATION OF HISTORY AND SCIENCE
The purpose of these notes, which are condensed from the article on "Civilization" in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (latest edition), is to provide the teacher with some interesting material, by the use of which he may impress on the pupils the far-reaching effects of certain inventions and discoveries, which are in such common use to-day that they are very likely to be underestimated. The number of lessons must be left entirely to the discretion of the teacher.
NOTES
The close relation between the progress of civilization, as told in history, and scientific inventions and discoveries is shown by Lewis H. Morgan, who has indicated nine stages in the upward march of mankind from the earliest times to the present. There are three stages of savagery, three of barbarism, and three of civilization, the close of each stage being marked by an important discovery or invention. The problem method may be used, by asking what each invention or discovery would enable the people to do that they could not do before.
1. The savages in the first stage were developing speech, lived on raw nuts and fruits, and were restricted to places where they could have warmth and food. This stage was ended by the discovery of fire.
2. With the use of fire, their food now included fish and perhaps flesh; they could migrate to colder climates. This stage ended with the invention of the bow and arrow.
3. With the bow and arrow, the savage was safer from fierce animals; he could kill also to get food, and skins for clothing and tents; with stronger food and better protection he could and did migrate into more distant, colder countries. This stage ended with the invention of pottery.
4. Hitherto man had had no cooking utensils that could withstand fire. Now he could boil his food, and his diet was extended to include boiled meat and vegetables. The next stage was reached by the domestication of animals.
5. The dog, the sheep, the ox, the camel, the horse were rapidly domesticated; some of these provided man with food independent of the chase; others gave him better, swifter means of travel and transportation. Distant peoples were thus brought into contact and commerce began. New ideas were gained from each other. Larger communities were formed, and towns and cities began. Property became individual, instead of being communal.
6. This stage began with the invention of iron-smelting. Immense progress was now possible in the various arts of peace: house-building, road-making, construction of vehicles, the making of all sorts of tools. By these tools man was now able to express his aesthetic nature as never before. Implements of war also became more numerous and more deadly.
7. The human race was now lifted from the highest stage of barbarism to the lowest stage of civilization by one of the most important inventions that man has ever made—writing. This made possible the recording of man's deeds and thoughts for posterity, thus securing the gains of each generation for all succeeding generations, and making history possible.
8. The next stage of progress is marked by a group of inventions,—gunpowder, the mariner's compass, and paper and the printing press. The Middle Ages, as we call them, were now ended, and the human race found itself on a stage as wide as the world.
9. The next invention, which came quickly after the preceding ones, and placed mankind in the present stage of civilization, was the steam-engine. The revolution which this brought about is so recent as to need no details here. (See lesson on the Industrial Revolution, p. 87.) What is to be the invention that will mark the entrance of the race on a higher stage still, when Tennyson's dream of a "Federation of the World the Parliament of Man" may be realized? Is it the airship, giving man the conquest of the last element still unmastered?
THE NEW LEARNING
1. The aim of this lesson is to make the pupils familiar with one of the most important movements in English history, by having them study the meaning, causes, tendencies, and effects of the New Learning.
2. As an introduction, a lesson or two should be given on the conditions prevailing in Europe during the latter part of the Middle Ages, because a knowledge of these conditions is essential to a right understanding of many of the causes of the New Learning.
The New Learning was a phase of a greater movement called the Renaissance, which arose in Italy during the fourteenth century. The Renaissance marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern history. It meant re-birth, a new life. People took a new interest in living. The influence of the monk and of the knight was passing, and the man of affairs, with his broader sympathies, his keener vision, his more varied interests, and his love of liberty, was coming into prominence.
How to enjoy life, how to get the greatest value out of it, became the great problem. In their attempt to solve this problem people turned their attention to the ancient literature of Greece and Rome; for it was believed that the ancient Greeks and Romans had a fine appreciation of the meaning and beauty of life. They began to seek out the old literature and to study it. This new study has been called the Revival of Learning or the New Learning. The influence of these two great literatures soon made itself felt. Every province of knowledge was investigated, and people everywhere were influenced by this great intellectual awakening.
3. The following were the chief causes of the movement:
(a) The Crusades
(b) The Fall of Constantinople, 1453
(c) The introduction of the mariner's compass
(d) The invention of gunpowder
(e) The invention of the printing press
(f) The overthrow of the feudal system
(g) The desire for knowledge stimulated by the universities
(h) The failure of the schools of the Middle Ages to meet the demands and needs of the times
4. The relation of each of these causes to the New Learning must be shown. In dealing with the Crusade movement as a cause, it will be necessary to help the children to see the effect produced on the people of northern Europe by their coming into contact with the more highly cultivated people in southern Europe; and the effect produced on the people of Europe by their mingling with the nations of the luxurious East—the Greeks of Constantinople and the brilliant Mohammedan scholars of Palestine. The Crusades made the people dissatisfied with the conditions that had prevailed so long in Europe, and this fact alone gave an impetus to the New Learning.
The relation of printing to the spread of the movement is evident. The introduction of printing meant the cheapening of books, their more general use, and the spread of education. This was followed by a growing independence of thought, and a desire for greater political and religious freedom.
The other causes may be similarly treated.
5. The New Learning was represented in England by a group of scholars of whom Erasmus, Colet, and More were the chief. The great churchmen, too, were its patrons. Men of every rank were interested, and the movement affected the whole life of the people. A new interest was taken in education, in art, in religion, and in social reform. Old methods of instruction were superseded by more rational ones. Hundreds of new schools were established for the benefit of the middle classes. The whole tendency of the New Learning was toward a higher intellectual and more moral life.
6. Its effects:
(a) It awakened a desire for an intellectual life and for social reform;
(b) It made possible the Reformation;
(c) It led to the establishment of schools and libraries and to the extension of the usefulness of the universities;
(d) It aroused the desire for liberty and the spirit of enterprise, and encouraged commercial activity;
(e) It inspired some of the world's greatest artists in painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, and music.
(f) It implanted the seeds of freedom of thought and fostered the spirit of scientific research;
(g) It supplied higher ideals of life and conduct, a fact which became responsible to a large extent for the great improvement made in the condition of the people, and in the development of Europe since that time.
NOTE: References to the discoveries made by Copernicus, Columbus, and the Cabots should be made. Pupils should read or hear short accounts of Erasmus, More, and Colet. A careful development of the causes and meaning of the movement should aid the pupils to anticipate its chief results.
It is assumed, of course, that the study of this topic will occupy several lesson periods.
THE FIGHT FOR CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY IN CANADA, 1759-1867.
In the struggle for constitutional liberty in British Canada, there are several distinct stages:
I. 1760 to 1763—Military Rule:
1. Amherst the nominal governor; Canada divided into three districts
2. Little disturbance of French customs; the habitants content
3. Influx of "old" subjects—their character. (See Ontario Public School History of Canada, p. 109; History of Canada, Lucas and Egerton, Part II, pp. 4 and 7.)
II. 1763 to 1774 (Quebec Act):
1. Period of Civil Government under General Murray
2. Unrest owing to demands of the "old" subjects
3. Conditions of government:
(a) Governor and Advisory Council of twelve all appointed by Crown
(b) Assembly permitted but not feasible; depended on will of Governor
(c) British law, both civil and criminal, prevailed
(d) All money matters in hands of Council.
4. At this time the French greatly outnumbered the British, and the fear of the Revolution of the American Colonies led to the French being favoured in the Quebec Act, 1774.
III. 1774 to 1791—Quebec Act to Constitutional Act:
1. Both "old" and "new" subjects dissatisfied—the French with British Court procedure, the British with French feudal customs.
2. Provisions of the Quebec Act:
(a) Change of boundaries (See text-book.)
(b) Governor and Legislative Council appointed; no assembly called.
(c) French Civil Law; British Criminal Law
(d) No oath required, as before, hostile to the Roman Catholic Church—beginning of religious liberty
(e) Legislative Council had no control of taxation
IV. 1791 to 1841—Constitutional Act to Act of Union Provisions of Constitutional Act:
1. Upper and Lower Canada divided, because French and British could not agree on many points.
2. Each Province had a Governor, a Legislative Council, a Legislative Assembly, and an Executive Council. The Legislative Council was composed of the highest officials, appointed practically for life, and responsible to no one. Many of these were also members of the Executive Council. The Legislative Assembly was elected and was yet without control of the whole revenue, as the Home Government still collected "all duties regulating colonial navigation and commerce."
3. The Clergy Reserves were established; later to become a bone of contention.
V. 1841 to 1867—Act of Union to British North America Act.
The demands of the people for responsible government, that is, for control of the Executive and of taxation, became so insistent that the Act of Union was passed, following Lord Durham's report on the Rebellion of 1837.
Provisions of the Act of Union:
1. Legislative Council appointed (20 members)
2. Legislative Assembly elected (42 from each Province, later 65 from each)
3. Executive Council selected from both Houses
4. A permanent Civil List of L75,000 was granted
5. The Legislative Assembly controlled the rest of the revenue. Money bills were to originate with the Government. This was really Responsible Government, as it was developed under Elgin.
VI. 1867 to the present:
The British North America Act was the statement of a complete victory of the people for Responsible Government. The Executive Council (Cabinet) is wholly responsible to Parliament, in which the members of the Executive must have seats; the raising and the spending of revenue is wholly in the hands of the people's representatives. For a clear summary of the concessions won by Canadians, see Bourinot, How Canada is Governed, page 34; see also Ontario Public School History of Canada, pp. 267 et seq.
DEVICES
MAPS
1. Wall maps for general study, especially of modern history.
2. Outline or sketch maps drawn on the black-board by the teacher or the pupils for use in the study of earlier history, or explorations, etc. For these purposes the details of a wall map are not only not needed, but are rather a hindrance.
3. Relief maps of plasticine, clay, or salt and flour, to be made by the pupils to illustrate the influence of geographical facts in history, and to make events in history more real to the pupils.
PICTURES
1. Many good historical pictures of persons, buildings, monuments, and events may be collected by the pupils and the teacher from magazines and newspapers, and pasted in a scrap-book. (See Educational Pamphlet, No. 4, Visual Aids in the Teaching of History.)
2. The Perry Picture Co., Malden, Mass., publishes pictures in different sizes, costing from one cent upward. Many of these are useful in teaching history. Similar pictures may be obtained from the Cosmos Picture Co., New York.
3. Good picture post-cards can be easily obtained.
4. Lantern slides and stereopticon views may be used. (For lists of dealers and publishers of 3 and 4, see also Visual Aids in the Teaching of History.)
MUSEUMS
These often contain relics of earlier times in the form of implements, utensils, weapons, dress. A visit to one will interest pupils.
SOURCE BOOKS
Some source books for illustrating earlier conditions in Ontario are:
1. The Talbot Regime. By Charles Oakes Ermatinger, St. Thomas.
2. Pioneer Days. By David Kennedy, Port Elgin. Sold by author, 50c.
3. United Empire Loyalists. By Egerton Ryerson. William Briggs.
4. Canadian Constitutional Development. Selected speeches and dispatches, 1766-1867. By Egerton and Grant Murray. $3.00.
5. Pen Pictures of Early Pioneer Life in Upper Canada. William Briggs, Toronto, $2.00.
GENEALOGICAL TABLES
Those needed to illustrate special periods may be found in the larger histories. Pupils should be instructed how to interpret them.
CHRONOLOGICAL CHART
This may be made by the class, on the black-board or on a slated cloth as the work advances. On the left hand of a vertical line are set down the dates, allowing the same space for each ten years, the close of each decade being shown in larger figures. On the right side are set down the events in their proper place. For example, in studying the career of Champlain, the Chart will be begun as follows:
CHAMPLAIN
1600
1603 First visit, when 36 years old, with Pontgrave.
1604 With De Monts and Poutrincourt he undertakes to colonize Acadia; forms a settlement at Port Royal.
1608 Founds Quebec.
1609 Explores Richelieu River and Lake Champlain; forms an alliance with the Hurons and Algonquins against the Iroquois.
1610 Marriage.
1611 Establishes a trading station at what is now Montreal.
1613 Ascends the Ottawa River, expecting to find the way to China; deceived, returns to France.
1615 Brings out the Recollet Fathers to Christianize the Indians; explores the country of the Hurons.
1620
A useful chart which shows the growth of Canada is to be found in Taylor's Cardinal Facts of Canadian History, reproduced in Duncan's The Canadian People. An Illustrated Chart of Canadian History is published by the United Editors Company, of Toronto.
NOTE-BOOKS AND CLASS EXERCISES
In the Fourth Form, pupils should copy into a notebook the black-board work—topical outlines, time chart, etc., as a basis for review and for class exercises in composition. Such a topical summary, the joint work of teacher and class, is the best means of review for examination purposes, when one is held.
Pupils may occasionally be asked to make from the text-book, without preceding class work, a topical analysis either of a subject which is treated consecutively in the book, such as the War of 1812-14, or of a subject that requires the pupil to collect his material from various parts of the book, or even from several books. In the latter case the teacher should direct the pupil to the proper sources.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. FOR TEACHERS
I. Histories:
(a) English:
1. A Short History of the English People. Green. $1.50. The Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd., Toronto.
2. Ontario High School History of England. 65c. The Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd., Toronto.
3. A History of the British Nation. A.D. Innes. $1.25. E.C. & T.C. Jack, Edinburgh.
(b) Canadian:
1. A History of Canada. Roberts. $1.00. The Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd., Toronto.
2. Story of Canada (Story of the Nations Series). Bourinot. $1.50. G.P. Putnam's, New York.
3. A Historical Geography of the British Colonies, 10 vols. Canada: Part I, $1.60; Part II, $1.10. Lucas and Egerton, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
One of the best histories of Canada; on a geographical basis.
4. Ontario High School History of Canada. Grant. 19c. The T. Eaton Company, Ltd., Toronto.
5. A Short History of the Canadian People. Bryce. $2.00. William Briggs, Toronto.
(c) Civics:
1. Canadian Civics. Jenkins. 35c. Copp, Clark Co., Ltd., Toronto.
2. How Canada is Governed. Bourinot. $1.00. Copp, Clark Co., Ltd., Toronto.
(d) General History:
1. General Sketch of European History. Freeman. $1.00. The Macmillan Co. of Canada, Ltd., Toronto.
2. History of Our Own Times. McCarthy. $1.25. Crowell and Company, New York.
3. The Nineteenth Century—A History. MacKenzie. $1.00. T. Nelson and Sons, Toronto.
For help in preparing lessons every teacher should possess one book of each of the above classes, in addition to the Ontario Public School Histories.
II. On Methods:
1. Teaching of History and Civics in the Elementary and Secondary Schools. Bourne. $1.50. Longmans Green and Company, London, England.
The best book on general method.
2. Methods in History. Mace. $1.00. Ginn and Company, New York.
3. Special Method in History. McMurry. 75c. The Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd., Toronto.
B. MATERIAL FOR CLASS WORK
ESPECIALLY IN CORRELATED SUBJECTS
1. Reader's Guide to English History. Allen. 25c. Ginn and Company, New York.
(Contains a list of historical authorities for the various periods; and lists of historical poems and fiction to illustrate these periods.)
2. School Atlas of English History. S.R. Gardiner. $1.50. Longmans, Green and Company, London, England.
3. Atlas of Canada. Published by Department of the Interior, Ottawa.
(The Department of the Interior also publishes maps giving the latest information concerning railways, distribution of minerals, etc., which can be had by asking for them.)
4. Atlas of Ancient and Classical Geography. Everyman's Library. 25c. Dent & Co., Ltd., Toronto.
5. Literary and Historical Atlas of Europe. Everyman's Library. 25c. Dent & Co., Ltd., Toronto.
6. Literary and Historical Atlas of America. Everyman's Library. 25c. Dent & Co., Ltd., Toronto.
C. HISTORICAL READERS AND SUPPLEMENTARY BOOKS
Group I.
1. Highroads of History. 13 Vols. T. Nelson and Sons, Toronto.
Well illustrated; a great favourite with children.
2. Gateways to History. 7 Vols. 9s. 1d. Edward Arnold, London, England.
3. Longmans' Ship Historical Readers. 7 Vols. 9s. Longmans, Green and Company, London, England.
4. The Little Cousin Series. 25 Vols. 60c. each. The Page Co., Boston, Mass.
Get list of titles and select.
5. Peeps at many Lands and Cities. 50 Vols. 50c. each. The Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd., Toronto.
Get list of titles and select.
Group II.
1. Stories from Canadian History. Marquis. 50c. Copp Clark Company, Ltd., Toronto.
2. Brief Biographies. Supplementing Canadian History. J.O. Miller. 35c. Copp Clark Company, Ltd., Toronto.
3. Stories of the Maple Land. C.A. Young. 25c. Copp Clark Company, Ltd., Toronto.
4. Heroines of Canadian History. W.S. Herrington. Cloth 30c., paper 18c. Wm. Briggs, Toronto.
5. Ryerson Memorial Volume. J.G. Hodgins.
A graphic sketch of the old log school-house and its belongings, and the life of a pioneer teacher.
6. Stories of New France. Machar and Marquis. $1.50. Briggs, Toronto.
7. Martyrs of New France. Herrington. 60c. Briggs, Toronto.
Group III.
1. Fifty Famous Stories Retold. Baldwin. 35c. The American Book Company, New York.
2. Thirty More Famous Stories. Baldwin. 50c. The American Book Company, New York.
3. Book of Legends. Scudder. Riverside Literature Series 15c. Copp Clark Company, Ltd., Toronto.
4. Legends Every Child Should Know. Ed. H.W. Mabie. 90c. Doubleday, Page and Co., New York.
Group IV.—Miscellaneous:
1. Heroes Every Child Should Know. Ed. H.W. Mabie. 60c. Doubleday, New York.
2. Famous Men of Greece. 50c. The American Book Company, New York.
3. Famous Men of Rome. The American Book Company, New York.
4. Famous Men of the Middle Ages. 50c. The American Book Company, New York.
5. Famous Men of Modern Times. 50c. The American Book Co., New York.
6. Stories of Great Inventors. Macombe. 40c. Wm. Briggs, Toronto.
7. Calendar Stories. M.P. Boyle. 30c. McClelland, Goodchild, & Stewart, Toronto.
8. Ten Boys Who Lived on the Road From Long Ago to Now. Jane Andrews. 75c. Sch. ed. 60c. Ginn and Company, New York.
9. Seven Little Sisters. Jane Andrews. 75c. Sch. ed. 50c. Ginn and Company, New York.
10. The Romance of Canadian History. Selections from Parkman; edited by Pelham Edgar. 75c. The Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd., Toronto.
11. English Life 300 Years Ago. Trevelyan. 1s. Methuen and Company, London.
12. Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Reformers, Great Orators, Great Teachers, English Authors, Good men and Great. Hubbard. 10c each. The Roycrofters, East Aurora, N.Y.
In Group I the first, and any of the others may be read. The first are very interesting and great favourites with children.
In Groups II and III one of each may be taken as they, to some extent, cover the same ground.
All of those in Group IV are useful, and may be added as opportunity permits.
APPENDIX
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE
Did you ever hear the story of the first Christmas tree? This is the way it was told to me: Martin Luther was a good man who lived in Germany long ago. One Christmas Eve he was walking to his home. The night was cold and frosty with many stars in the sky. He thought he had never seen stars look so bright. When he got home he tried to tell his wife and children how pretty the stars were, but they didn't seem to understand. So Luther went out into his garden and cut a little evergreen tree. This he set up in the room and fastened tiny candles all over it, and when he had lighted them they shone like stars.
One of Luther's neighbours came in that night, and when she saw the tree she thought how one would please her children. Soon she had one in her house, too. And the idea spread from one house to another until there were Christmas trees all over Germany.
Queen Victoria of England was married to a German prince, and the German custom of a Christmas tree for the children was followed in the royal palace. Of course after the Queen had a tree other people must have one, too. So the Christmas tree came to England.
The little French boys and girls have not had them so long. Not very many years ago there was a war between France and Germany. At Christmas time the German soldiers were in Paris. They felt sorry to be so far from their own little boys and girls on Christmas eve. But they knew how to have something to remind them of home. Every soldier who could got a little evergreen tree and put candles on it. The French saw them, and were so pleased that now, every year, they too have Christmas trees.
So many people from England, and from Germany, and from France have come to our country to live, of course, we too have learned about Christmas trees. And that is why you and so many other little girls and boys have such pretty trees on Christmas eve.
THE ORIGIN OF THE EASTER BUNNY
Childish voices are asking why the rabbit is seen with the eggs and the chickens that fill the shop windows and show-cases at Easter. The legend that established the hare as a symbol of the Eastertide is not generally known. It is of German origin and runs as follows:
Many years ago, during a cruel war, the Duchess of Lindenburg with her two children and an old servant fled for safety to a little obscure village in the mountains. She found the people very poor, and one thing that surprised her much was that they used no eggs. She learned that they had never seen or heard of hens, and so when the old servant went to get tidings of his master and of the war he brought back with him some of these birds.
The simple village folk were greatly interested in the strange fowl, and when they saw the tiny yellow chickens breaking their way out of the eggs they were full of delight. But the Duchess was saddened by the thought that Easter was drawing near and that she had no gifts for the little mountain children. Then an idea came to her. The spring was beginning to colour the earth with leaves and flowers, and she made bright dyes out of herbs and roots and coloured the eggs. Then the children were invited to visit the Duchess, and she told them stories of the glad Easter day, and afterwards bade each make a nest of moss among the bushes. When they had all enjoyed the little feast provided in their honour, they went back to the woods to look at their nests. Lo! in each were five coloured eggs.
"What a good hen it must have been to lay such beautiful eggs," said one child.
"It could not have been a hen," said another. "The eggs that the hens lay are white. It must have been the rabbit that jumped out of the tree when I made my nest."
And all the children agreed that it was the rabbit, and to this day the mystic Bunny is supposed to bring eggs and gifts at Easter to the little children of the "fatherland" who have been loving and kind during the year.
THE STORY OF ST. VALENTINE
Once upon a time, there lived in a monastery across the sea a humble monk called Valentine. Every brother save himself seemed to have some special gift.
Now there was Brother Angelo, who was an artist, and painted such wonderful Madonnas that it seemed as if the holy mother must step down from the frame and bless her children.
Brother Vittorio had a wonderful voice, and on saints' days the monastery chapel would be crowded with visitors, who came from far and near just to listen to that wonderful voice as it soared up among the dim old arches.
Brother Anselmo was a doctor, and knew the virtues of all roots, herbs, and drugs, and was kept very busy going about among the sick, followed by their tearful, grateful blessing.
Brother Johannes was skilled in illuminating, and Valentine often watched the page grow under his clever hand. How beautiful would then be the gospel story in brightly-coloured letters, with dainty flowers, bright-winged butterflies, and downy, nestling birds about the borders!
Brother Paul was a great teacher in the monastery school, and even learned scholars came to consult him. Friar John ruled the affairs of the little monastery world with wisdom and prudence. Indeed, out of the whole number only Valentine seemed without special talent.
The poor man felt it keenly. He longed to do some great thing. "Why did not the good God give me a voice like Vittorio or a skilled hand like Angelo?" he would often inquire of himself bitterly. One day as he sat sadly musing on these things, a voice within him said clearly and earnestly: "Do the little things, Valentine; there the blessing lies." "What are the little things?" asked Valentine, much perplexed. But no answer came to this question. Like every one else, Valentine had to find his work himself.
He had a little plot where he loved to work, and the other monks said that Valentine's pinks, lilies, and violets were larger and brighter than any raised in the whole monastery garden.
He used to gather bunches of his flowers and drop them into the chubby hands of children as they trotted to school under the gray monastery walls. Many a happy village bride wore his roses on her way to the altar. Scarcely a coffin was taken to the cemetery but Valentine's lilies or violets filled the silent hands.
He got to know the birthday of every child in the village, and was fond of hanging on the cottage door some little gift his loving hands had made. He could mend a child's broken windmill and carve quaint faces from walnut shells. He made beautiful crosses of silvery gray lichens, and pressed mosses and rosy weeds from the seashore. The same tender hands were ready to pick up a fallen baby, or carry the water bucket for some weary mother.
Everybody learned to love the good Brother Valentine. The children clung to his long, gray skirts, and the babies crept out on the streets to receive his pat on their shining hair. Even the cats and dogs rubbed against him, and the little birds fluttered near him unafraid.
St. Valentine grew old, loving and beloved, never dreaming that he had found his great thing. When the simple monk died the whole countryside mourned, and hundreds came to look for the last time on the quiet face in the rude coffin.
A great duke walked bare-headed after that coffin, and one of the most noted brothers of the church spoke the last words of blessing to the weeping people.
After his death, it was remembered how sweet had been his little gifts, and the villagers said: "Let us, too, give gifts to our friends on the good Valentine's birthday." So ever since has the pretty custom been carried out, and on St. Valentine's day we send our friends little tokens of remembrance to say we love them.
THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
It is nearly three hundred years since the first Thanksgiving Day. Though we have even more to be grateful for, I think that there are not many of us who feel quite so thankful as the little handful of people who set apart the first Thanksgiving Day.
There were not very many of them, just one little village in a big forest land, and by the edge of a great ocean. Here, on the map, is where they lived. It is on the north-eastern shores of the United States and is called Plymouth. The people I am telling you about gave it that name when they came to it, nearly two years before they had their first Thanksgiving Day. It was the name of the last town they had seen in England. Here, on the map, is the English Plymouth, and you see what a long trip they had in their little vessel, called the Mayflower, to their new home.
You still wonder why they travelled so far to make new homes for themselves. It was because they wanted to worship God in their own way that they left England. They were not afraid of the long voyage and all its hardships; for they felt sure they were doing as God wished them to do. They arrived safely, too, and built their little village by the sea—the new Plymouth. One of the first buildings they put up was a little log church.
The first year was very hard for everybody. The winter was colder than any they had ever known in England, and their houses were small and poorly built. They could not get any letters or news from their friends in England for many months. Food was not scarce, for there was always plenty of game and fish. But it was such a change from their old way of living that many people became ill, and in the spring there were many graves. But the worst thing about the new land was the Indians. These English people were afraid of them—and with good reason, too, for they were very fierce and sometimes very cruel. They tried not to let the Indians know how few they were, and even planted grain about the graves in the churchyard so that the Indians could not count how many had died.
But one of the Indian Chiefs was friendly to the English and kept the other tribes from making war on them, and the second summer they had a great harvest and everything was more comfortable. It was in that autumn, just after the grain was gathered, that the minister spoke to them one Sunday about having a Thanksgiving day. "It seemeth right," he said, "God hath granted us peace and plenty. He has blessed us with a dwelling-place of peace. He has held back the savage red man from bringing harm to us. Therefore let us appoint a day of Thanksgiving."
After that all the people, even the boys and girls, were busy getting ready. The men took their guns and fishing-rods and went into the forest, and brought home fowl, fish, and deer, and perhaps bear meat as well. The boys and girls gathered wild plums, and grapes, and corn, and brought in pumpkins from the gardens; and the women made pies, puddings, cakes, and bread, and baked the meat and corn. They had great piles of cakes, and rows and rows of pies, and loaves of bread and platters of meat, for they all expected company. You could not guess, I am sure, who was coming! They had sent word to the Indians near to come and spend Thanksgiving Day with them.
Do you suppose they came? Indeed they did. They came before breakfast and stayed until long after supper, and had a good time, and tasted everything the white women had cooked, and nodded their heads and said, "How" a great many times, to say it was good. Some of the little girls and boys were half afraid of them, but they need not have been; for that day the Indians felt very kindly toward the English.
Ask pupils to mention things for which they are thankful.
LETTER FROM MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, TO QUEEN ELIZABETH
Believe, Madame (and the doctors whom you sent to me this last summer can have formed an opinion), that I am not likely long to be in a condition which can justify jealousy or distrust. And this notwithstanding, exact from me such assurances, and just and reasonable conditions as you wish. Superior force is always on your side to make me keep them, even though for any reason whatever I should wish to break them. You have had from observation enough experience of my bare promises, sometimes even to my own damage, as I showed you on this subject two years ago. Remember, if you please, what I then wrote you, and that in no way could you so much win over my heart to yourself as by kindness, although you have confined forever my poor body to languish between four walls; those of my rank and disposition not permitting themselves to be gained over or forced by any amount of harshness.
* * * * *
In conclusion, I have to request two things especially; the one that as I am about to leave this world I may have by me for my consolation some honourable churchman, in order that I may daily examine the road that I have to traverse and be instructed how to complete it according to my religion, in which I am firmly resolved to live and die. This is a last duty which cannot be denied to the most wretched and miserable person alive; it is a liberty which you give to all foreign ambassadors, just as all other Catholic kings allow yours the practice of their religion. And as for myself, have I ever forced my own subjects to do anything against their religion even when I had all power and authority over them? And you cannot justly bring it to pass that I should be in this extremity deprived of such a privilege. What advantage can accrue to you from denying me this? I hope that God will forgive me if, oppressed by you in this wise, I do not cease from paying Him that duty which in my heart will be permitted. But you will give a very ill example to other princes of Christendom of employing towards their subjects and relatives, the same harshness which you mete out to me, a sovereign queen and your nearest relative, as I am and shall be in spite of my enemies so long as I live.
INDEX
Aims of Study, 13
Amount of Material, 18
Appendix, 136 First Christmas Tree, The, 136 First Thanksgiving, The, 140 Letter of Mary Queen of Scots, 143 Origin of the Easter Bunny, 137 Story of St. Valentine, 138
Bibliography, 130
Black-board Work in Teaching History, 27, 31, 40, 47, 50
Capture of Quebec, The, 66
Characteristics of a Good Text-book, 24
Chronological Chart, 128
Chronological Method, 21
Civics, 20, 51, 52
Civilization and Inventions, 119
Clergy Reserves, The, 36
Colours of the Flag, The, 73
Combination of Methods, 25
Comparative Method, 22
Concentric Method, 22
Confederation of the Canadian Provinces, 107
Constitutional Liberty in Canada, 124
Correlation of Subjects, 39, 40, 50
Course of Study, 1
Current Events, 49
Dates, 47
Devices for Teaching, 127
Dramatization of History, 46
Drill and Review, 31
Empire Day, 75
Feudal System, 100
First Christmas Tree, The, 136
First Thanksgiving, The, 140
Flag, The, 68
Flag Days, 72
Florence Nightingale, 62
Genealogical Tables, 37, 128
Historical Sense, The, 17
History and Art, 45 " " Chronology, 47 " " Composition, 26, 46 " " Constructive Work, 44, 67 " " Geography, 40, 108 " " Literature, 41 " " Oral Reading, 26 " " Science, 43, 119
How to Make History Real, 34
Illustrative Lessons, 60 Type Lesson in the Story Stage, 60 First Thanksgiving, The, 61 Florence Nightingale, 62 Postmaster, 65 Capture of Quebec, The, 66 Coming of the United Empire Loyalists, The, 67 Flag, The, 68 Suggestions for Empire Day, 75 Egerton Ryerson, 78 The Intercolonial Railway, 82 The Industrial Revolution, 87 The Road to Cathay, 92 The Armada, 97 The Feudal System, 100 Seigniorial Tenure, 103 Confederation of the Canadian Provinces, 107 Influence of Geographical Conditions on History, 108 The St. Lawrence River, 112 Relations Between England and Scotland, 114 Analysis of Secs. 160-170 in Ontario P.S. History of England, 116 Outlines for Reviews, 118 The Development of Civilization, 119 The New Learning, 121 The Fight for Constitutional Liberty in Canada, 124
Importance of Facts in History, 19
Industrial Revolution, The, 87
Influence of Geography on History, 108, 110
Information Stage, The, 18
Interest, 16, 19, 34, 38, 44, 58, 78
Intercolonial Railway, The, 82
Inventions and History, 43, 87, 119
Letter of Mary Queen of Scots, 143
Local Material, 51
Maps, 35, 40, 68, 127
Memorizing History, 38
Methods for Forms I and II, 25
" " Form III, 26
" " Form IV, 28, 78
Moral Value of History, 14, 28, 53
Museums, 128
New Learning, The, 121
Newspapers, 49
Note-books, 31, 129
Oral Method, The, 23, 25, 27, 28, 34, 58, 60, 62, 64
Origin of the Easter Bunny, 137
Patriotism, 13
Pictures, 35, 45, 127
Postmaster, 65
Problems in History, 14, 33, 36, 41, 66, 67, 68, 76, 78, 83, 119
Reflective Stage, 18
Regressive Method, 22
Relations of England and Scotland, 114
Reviews, 23, 31, 39, 92, 112, 118
Road to Cathay, 92
Ryerson, Egerton, 78
Scope of Study, 15
Seigniorial Tenure, 103
Source Books, 37, 128, 143
Spanish Armada, 97
St. Lawrence River, 112
St. Valentine, 138
Stages of Study, 15
Story Stage, 15
Story Telling, 1, 15, 17
Taxation, 11, 55, 56, 57
Teacher of History, 57
Text-book Method, 24
Topical Analysis, 21, 78, 87, 97, 107, 114, 116, 124
Topical Method, 21
Training in the Use of the Text-book, 29
United Empire Loyalists, 67
Union Jack, 68, 74
Use of Problems in History, 14, 33, 36, 41, 66, 67, 68, 76, 78, 83, 119
Where to Begin the Study of History, 19
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