Chapter XI: Part I: Humanities (5)

Here is a specimen of a chart with a key of the sixteenth century.[19] It will be seen from this how events in contemporary history can be introduced. Thus the first year, 1500, reminds us of the discovery of America, and of the great jubilee, the precursor of the Papal downfall; the _fleur de lys_ standing for the French kings and the cross for the German Emperors, tell of the accession of Francis I. and Charles V. Portraits are given of English sovereigns. We have later the massacre of St. Bartholomew with daggers, a ship for the Armada, etc., etc.

[19] It may be well to add that I am not ignorant of the discussions
respecting the proper beginning of a century. Is the year 1800 the
last year of the eighteenth or the first year of the nineteenth
century? Our dates have been translated from the Latin ordinals,
and we ought to say the eighteen-hundredth year, instead of the
year eighteen-hundred. I have deliberately preferred to conform the
chart to the vulgar tongue. If I did not, the numbers in the first
line would contain nine units and one ten, instead of all units; the
second line of tens would contain one twenty, and so on. If we are
content to use the inaccurate language of daily life, bearing in mind
that it requires correction, and making such corrections when we are
engaged in important historical or astronomical calculations, we may
well be content to do the same with the chart. I shall, therefore,
consider the life of a century as that of a centenarian. We say of
a child that he is in his 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., year, when he is
0, 1, 2, etc., years old; so, also, a person is in his 100th year
when he is 99 years old; and he has lived a century at the close of
this year, for the cardinal marks the number of completed years,
the ordinal the number of the year in progress. So 1799 is regarded
as the closing year of the last century, 1800, 1801, as the first
and second of this. For a learned and elaborate discussion on the
subject, and a list of authorities for the view adopted, see _An
Examination of the Century Question_, George Bell, Fleet Street, 1850.

KEY TO SIXTEENTH CENTURY CHART.

+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------++
| 1500. | 1501. | 1502. | 1503. | 1504. ||
| Columbus | | | Julius II. | ||
| prisoner. | | | | ||
| Jubilee. | | | | ||
| | | | | ||
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------++
| 1510. | 1511. | 1512. | 1513. | 1514. ||
| | | | Flodden. | ||
| | | | Leo X. | ||
| | | | | ||
| | | | | ||
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------++
| 1520. | 1521. | 1522. | 1523. | 1524. ||
| Soleyman. | Diet of | | | ||
| | Worms. | | | ||
| | | | | ||
| | | | | ||
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------++
| 1530. | 1531. | 1532. | 1533. | 1534. ||
| Death of | | | Anne | ||
| Wolsey. | | | Boleyn. | ||
| | | | | ||
| | | | | ||
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------++
| 1540. | 1541. | 1542. | 1543. | 1544. ||
| Jesuits. | |Cath. Howard| Catharine. | ||
| Anne | | beheaded. | Parr. | ||
| of Cleves. | | | | ||
|Cath. Howard.| | | | ||
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------++

++------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
|| 1505. | 1506. | 1507. | 1508. | 1509. |
|| | | | | Henry VIII.|
|| | | | | |
|| | | | | |
|| | | | | |
++------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
|| 1515. | 1516. | 1517. | 1518. | 1519. |
|| Francis I. | | | | Charles V. |
|| | | | | |
|| | | | | |
|| | | | | |
++------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
|| 1525. | 1526. | 1527. | 1528. | 1529 |
|| Prussia. | Baber. | | | |
|| Teutonic | | | | |
|| Order | | | | |
||secularised.| | | | |
++------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
|| 1535. | 1536. | 1537. | 1538. | 1539. |
|| Fisher and |Anne Boleyn | | | |
|| More | beheaded. | | | |
|| executed. | Jane | | | |
|| | Seymour. | | | |
++------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
|| 1545. | 1546. | 1547. | 1548. | 1549. |
|| Council of | | Edward VI. | | |
|| Trent. | | Henry II. | | |
|| | | | | |
|| | | | | |
++------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+

KEY TO SIXTEENTH CENTURY CHART.

+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------++
| 1550. | 1551. | 1552. | 1553. | 1554. ||
| | | | Mary | ||
| | | | Spenser | ||
| | | | born. | ||
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------++
| 1560. | 1561. | 1562. | 1563. | 1564. ||
|Charles IX. | | | Guise | Max. II. ||
| | | | assass. | Shakspere ||
| | | | | born. ||
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------++
| 1570. | 1571. | 1572. | 1573. | 1574. ||
| | |Massacre of | | Henry II. ||
| | | St. Bar- | | ||
| | | tholomew. | | ||
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------++
| 1580. | 1581. | 1582. | 1583. | 1584. ||
| | | | | Orange ||
| | | | | assass. ||
| | | | | ||
| | | | | ||
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------++
| 1590. | 1591. | 1592. | 1593. | 1594. ||
| _Faerie_ | | |Shakspere’s | Hooker’s ||
| _Queene_, | | | Poems. | _Eccles_. ||
| 3 books. | | | | _Polity_. ||
| | | | | ||
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------++

++------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
|| 1555. | 1556. | 1557. | 1558. | 1559. |
|| Persecu- | Cranmer. | | Elizabeth. | Francis II.|
|| tions. | | |Ferdinand I.| |
|| | | | | |
++------------+------------+-------+----+------------+------------+
|| 1565. | 1566. | 1567. | 1568. | 1569. |
|| | | | | |
|| | | | | |
|| | | | | |
++------------+------------+-------+----+------------+------------+
|| 1575. | 1576. | 1577. | 1578. | 1579. |
|| | Rudolph II.| | | |
|| | | | | |
|| | | | | |
++------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
|| 1585. | 1586. | 1587. | 1588. | 1589. |
|| | | Mary | Armada. | Henry IV. |
|| | | Queen of | | |
|| | | Scots | | |
|| | | beheaded. | | |
++------------+------------+-------+----+------------+------------+
|| 1595. | 1596. | 1597. | 1598. | 1599. |
|| | | Bacon’s | Edict of | |
|| | | Essays. | Nantes. | |
|| | |Shakspere’s | | |
|| | |first Play. | | |
++------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+

In the charts I have published,[20] I have given only English kings; when these are fixed in the memory, events of general history can be gradually introduced, and paper ruled on any scale required.

[20] _Students’ Chronological Maps_ (Bell & Sons, 3s. 6d.).

If the chart is studied as a whole, either in reference to English or modern history, it is convenient to divide it into four periods, of five hundred years each, corresponding to four lines in the chart, and to characterise each century. Then on a larger scale, for which we have sheets of paper ruled, we put in gradually certain landmarks, whilst giving lessons on modern history, such matters being written in as the teacher directs. The writer’s text-book of English and general history, in which are given the sovereigns of the principal European countries, notable persons and events, etc., can be used for lessons in connection with the chart.[21]

[21] For more complete lists of sovereigns and a selection of the
more important dates, Beale’s _Student Text-book of English and
Modern History_ may be referred to, and _Students’ Chronological
Maps_ (Bell & Sons).

I subjoin a syllabus of a course of lessons on modern history:--

+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|Christianity| Good | Military |Constantine |Fall of Rome|
| | Emperors | Despotism | | |
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| Barbaric | Mahomet | Charlemagne| Alfred | Feudalism |
| Wars | | | | |
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th |
|Hildebrand | Crusades | Schoolmen | Rise of | Renaissance|
| | | |Middle-class| |
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
|Reformation | Religious | Political | Revolution | |
| | Wars | Wars | | |
+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+

I.--In the first century we see Rome at the height of prosperity, victorious on all sides. During the second, she maintains her position fairly under the good emperors. The third is a period of trouble and confusion, the empire is struggling for existence. In the fourth, the firm government of Constantine maintained, for a short time after his accession, comparative peace; but the removal of the seat of government, and the subsequent division of the empire, facilitated the barbaric triumphs of Radagaisus, Alaric, Attila and Genseric in the fifth; and before its close, the Western empire had fallen, and Theodoric the Ostrogoth was king of Italy. This line embraces in Britain the 400 years of the Roman occupation, and a small portion of the Anglo-Saxon period.

II.--In the second line we have the period of barbarian settlements--tribes are changing into nations. The Anglo-Saxon invasions, the unceasing contests amongst the numerous petty kings, have terminated, by the middle of the tenth century, in the union of the country under Athelstane, the first who can properly be called King of all England. In France we have the union of the Franks under Clovis, the constant civil wars, interminable divisions, and _fainéant_ kings of the Merovingian period, the union of the country under Charlemagne, the renewed civil strife, subdivisions, and _fainéant_ kings of the Carlovingian line, and the accession of the third, or Capetian Dynasty.

In Germany, too, order is being developed out of confusion, and, in the tenth century, the different nations have agreed to choose one king; barriers are opposed to further invasion from without, free cities are rising, feudalism is being rapidly developed, the spirit of chivalry is felt, and the idea of a united Christendom, subject to the emperor as temporal, to the pope as spiritual head, may be traced most distinctly in the schemes of the Othos, and the attempt of Sylvester II. to rouse the European nations for a crusade.

In Italy, so long a battlefield, the great republics are rising, and the pope from time to time asserting his independence. In the East, in Africa, in Spain, the Mahometan kingdoms have been established. During so turbulent a period, we must expect to find many heroes, and from these we may select Mahomet, Charlemagne and Alfred, as the central figures of the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries.

III.---In the third line we have the formation of the states of modern Europe. The great nations of the West are no longer isolated units, for they have joined together in crusades against the East, they acknowledge one head in the popes. The popes, mighty in the person of Gregory VII. in the eleventh century, in Innocent III. in the thirteenth, have sunk to the lowest depths of ignominy in the person of Alexander VI. The Albigenses are almost exterminated in the thirteenth, but Wickliffe has preached in the fourteenth. Huss and Jerome of Prague have been martyred at Constance early in the fifteenth, but Luther has begun to study the Scriptures. The middle classes, too, have been growing in importance, citizens have triumphed over warriors. The power of a turbulent chivalry has been destroyed by civil wars, the people have risen to power. The invention of gunpowder has changed the aspect of war, and the introduction of printing brought about a vast change in education; great writers, as Chaucer and Dante, are beginning to produce their works in the vulgar tongue. America has, at the close of the period, been just discovered.

IV.--In the last line we have a period marked first by struggles for religious, afterwards for political liberty, the long religious wars of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The oppression of the aristocratic and papal powers during the preceding period led, in some instances, to the exaggeration of the monarchical authority, and to this are opposed the revolutions of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which have in some instances produced a reaction in favour of despotism. The discovery of America has given an extraordinary impulse to naval enterprise, to colonisation and commerce; this, together with the diffusion of knowledge by printing, has greatly stimulated intellectual activity, and the mathematical and philosophical studies of the sixteenth century have prepared the way for the practical triumphs of our own day.

Only a few leading dates have been marked in the published charts, which are coloured for different periods, but these may be added to indefinitely--sometimes by writing in additional signs or words to mark contemporary sovereigns, etc., but it is better not to multiply these too much; for many things no signs need be used, as persons and things of minor importance will become associated in the memory with the more important. Or again, suppose a special subject is taken up, as English literature or the history of painting, the name of a leading author or painter can be written across that portion of the century in which his chief works appeared, and all who belong to his school of thought will be easily remembered in connection with him. A chart of English literature has been published on this plan by Baker, Clifton.

In the Chart of Ancient History, the numbers are read upwards and backwards. Thus:--

++----+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+----++
|| 99 | 98 | 97 | 96 | 95 || 94 | 93 | 92 | 91 | 90 ||
++----+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+----++
|| 89 | 88 | 87 | 86 | 85 || 84 | 83 | 82 | 81 | 80 ||
++----+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+----++
|| 79 | 78 | 77 | 76 | 75 || 74 | 73 | 72 | 71 | 70 ||
++----+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+----++
|| 69 | 68 | 67 | 66 | 65 || 64 | 63 | 62 | 61 | 60 ||
++----+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+----++
|| 59 | 58 | 57 | 56 | 55 || 54 | 53 | 52 | 51 | 50 ||
++====+====+====+====+====++====+====+====+====+====++
|| 49 | 48 | 47 | 46 | 45 || 44 | 43 | 42 | 41 | 40 ||
++----+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+----++
|| 39 | 38 | 37 | 36 | 35 || 34 | 33 | 32 | 31 | 30 ||
++----+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+----++
|| 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 || 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 ||
++----+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+----++
|| 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 || 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 ||
++----+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+----++
|| 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 || 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 ||
++----+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+----++

We give, in conclusion, photographs of two charts prepared for the Victorian Exhibition (1897) with a key.

The first gives the chief events of the Queen’s reign, the second the chief scientific discoveries.

KEY TO CHART No. I.

CHART OF THE QUEEN’S REIGN.

1837. The Queen’s Accession. 1838. First Electric Telegraph.

1840. Queen’s Marriage--Penny Postage. 1841. Birth of Prince of Wales.
1842. Capture of Shanghai. 1846. Repeal of the Corn Laws. 1848.
Death of Lord Melbourne--Chartist Revolt.

1850. Death of Wordsworth and Sir Robert Peel. 1851. First Great
Exhibition. 1852. Death of the Duke of Wellington. 1854. Crimean
War. 1857. Indian Mutiny.

1860. Death of Lord Aberdeen. 1861. Death of the Prince Consort. 1863.
Prince of Wales’ Marriage. 1864. Birth of the Duke of Clarence.
1865. Birth of the Duke of York--Death of Lord Palmerston. 1869.
Death of Lord Derby.

1871. Disestablishment of the Irish Church. 1876. Queen Proclaimed
Empress of India. 1878. Death of Lord John Russell. 1879. Zulu
War.

1880. Lord Roberts’ Relief of Candahar. 1881. Death of Lord
Beaconsfield. 1884. Soudan War. 1885. Death of Gordon--Bible
Revised. 1887. Queen’s Jubilee. 1889. Death of Browning.

1892. Death of Duke of Clarence. 1893. Marriage of Duke of York--Death
of Tennyson--Home Rule Bill Rejected. 1894. Birth of Prince
Edward. 1896. Jameson’s Raid. 1897. Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

KEY TO CHART No. II.

SHOWING PROGRESS IN SCIENCE DURING THE QUEEN’S REIGN.

1837. First Telegraph. 1839. Photography--Daguerre.

1841. Sewing Machine. 1842. Nasmyth’s Steam Hammer. 1843. Ross’
Telescope. 1848. Planet Neptune Discovered. 1849. Joule’s
_Mechanical Equivalent of Heat_--Anæsthetics.

1851. The Great Exhibition. 1852. Ophthalmoscope. 1854. Armstrong Gun.
1856. Tyndall’s Investigation of Glaciers. 1857. Atlantic Cable
from Valentia to Newfoundland. 1858. The _Great Eastern_. 1859.
Darwin, _Origin of Species_--Brunel’s Death.

1860. Stellar Spectroscopy--Huggins. 1861. Aeronautic Experiments.
1864. Clifton Suspension Bridge. 1865. Lister, Antiseptic
Treatment. 1867. Death of Faraday. 1868. Suez Canal.

1870. Torpedo. 1871. Huxley, _Anatomy of Vertebrates_. 1872. Daily
Weather Chart first begun. 1876. _Challenger_ at
Portsmouth--Bell’s Telephone. 1878. Electric Light on the
Embankment. 1879. Phonograph.

1880. Pasteur’s Cure of Hydrophobia. 1882. Sir W. Siemen’s Steel
Process. 1885. Maxim Gun. 1888. Stellar Photography--Sir Isaac
Roberts. 1889. Bicycles, The Pneumatic Tyre.

1890. Forth Bridge. 1892. Tower Bridge. 1894. Argon, by Lord Rayleigh
and Professor Ramsay. 1895. Röntgen Rays. 1896. Lord Kelvin’s
Jubilee.

ECONOMICS FOR GIRLS.

By MARGARET BRIDGES.

[Changed attitude of public towards economics.]

Nothing strikes a student of economics more forcibly than the change which has come over public opinion with regard to this subject during the last few years. Until quite lately, it has been regarded, except by scholars, with suspicion and dislike, accused of setting forth material wealth as the supreme object of human desire, and of ignoring all that is generous and disinterested in human nature. To-day things are very different: indeed it might be said we are all economists now. Some vestige, however, of the old prejudice still lingers in the minds of those who ask: “What is the good of teaching economics to _Girls_?”

[Training given in accuracy.]

(1) The student of economics is trained to think exactly, to reason closely, and to express herself clearly. No one surely would maintain that such training is _less_ needed by girls than by boys. On the contrary, we are often assured that women are less accurate than men, and are constitutionally illogical. In any science, vagueness of thought and looseness of expression are fatal to success, but the student of economics has a peculiar difficulty to overcome, for he finds no special vocabulary ready for his use. The terms used are for the most part those familiar in everyday language, employed however in a very definite and sometimes peculiar sense. Great care is needed in distinguishing between the ordinary and the economic meaning of such terms as utility, wealth, capital, value, and many others. And the training in scientific precision of language thus given is no small gain in these days of slip-shod English.

[Reasoning powers developed.]

(2) The study of economics tends to stimulate independent thought, and to develop “mental muscle”. We take it for granted that the questions set for home work require an application of the principles given, and not a mere reproduction of notes. The girls _must_ think out the problems for themselves, for, as they truly remark sometimes: “We can’t find the answers in our books”. Political economy certainly does not lend itself to cribbing or cramming--and we are thankful that our text-books supply no ready-made solutions of problems.

[History rendered more interesting.]

(3) We find that the study of the industrial conditions of our country gives an additional interest to history. To read it with economic eyes is to read it afresh, whilst to study it _without_ them is to leave out a very important factor.

[Interest shown by pupils in subject.]

[Diagrams supplied by pupils.]

(4) I would urge the great importance of giving our girls, especially those engaged in philanthropic work, some knowledge of those economic principles upon which such work must be based to do real good. We have learnt that this is not easy, and that incalculable mischief may be done by thoughtless benevolence, which is too often cruelty in disguise. Mr. Loch, in speaking of charity organisation, has said: “It is likely that we shall in the future draw our women secretaries from the ranks of those who have taken the trouble to study political economy”. Of course, there must be the training of the heart as well as the head. Our theories, however perfect, will avail us little without the sympathetic insight that love alone can give, but perhaps women specially need to remember that sympathy itself must be guided by reason. Still it may be asked: “Can political economy, dealing as it does, for the most part, with dry abstractions, be made interesting to girls?” My experience is, that in no branch of their studies are the pupils more responsive or more ready to do their part of the work, and indeed to give often more than is actually demanded. They particularly enjoy the making of original diagrams (very original sometimes!), and occasionally so elaborate as to cost the teacher some anxious study. Much amusement may be got out of such seemingly unpromising material as even the _Law of Diminishing Returns_ or Ricardo’s _Theory of Rent_, when they are touched upon by an imaginative or artistic girl. To past generations of pupils I owe many apt illustrations and ingenious diagrams, which have been stored up for future use, because they were much better than any I had thought of myself. I think our lessons fail sometimes, because we work so hard ourselves, that we leave our pupils nothing to do! Now in economics we are dealing to a great extent with facts that are already familiar to them, so that we can constantly appeal to their own experience and observation, and the teacher will find that “interrogative lessons on the Socratic model” are particularly suited to this subject. The daily newspapers will furnish her with plenty of illustrations, and economic laws can be shown to be working themselves out before our eyes. What better comment on the Laws of Demand and Supply could we wish for than that supplied by the recent “boom” and subsequent “slump” in the bicycle trade, or the speculation in seats during the late Jubilee! The illustrations furnished by the girls themselves, from their own experience, are specially valuable. The daughters of Indian officers can testify to the diminished purchasing power of the “vanishing rupee,” whilst Irish girls are eloquent on the system of Land Tenure in their own country; a banker’s daughter will supply us with skilfully forged bank notes and bills of exchange, and on one occasion an Austrian pupil gave us some interesting information on the working of the Metayer system abroad.

[Judicious use of text-books.]

[Economics as an examination subject.]

In teaching younger girls--say from fifteen to seventeen--a sparing use should be made of text-books for home reading: paragraphs, exemplifying or enlarging on the lesson given, may be selected, but indiscriminate reading, for the average girl, at that age, is pretty sure to result--as she will candidly tell you--in her getting “hopelessly muddled”. Jevons’ _Primer of Political Economy_ is an admirable introduction to the subject, but avowedly does not cover the whole ground, and I regret to say that Professor Gonner’s very helpful text-book is now out of print. To a great extent indeed the teacher will find it necessary to form her own text-book, that is, to collect her materials from many sources, and adapt them to the use of her pupils. One feels in this, as in other subjects, that one cannot hope to do much more, in the limited time at our disposal, than awaken interest, and show what a wide field there is to be explored. We are glad to know that the subject is often continued after school days are over. Many of our pupils are preparing for the Senior Oxford Examination, but economic lessons are given in non-examination classes as well.

Some take up the subject again later for the Cambridge Higher Local, and have to make themselves acquainted with Adam Smith, J. S. Mill, and a host of more modern writers, hardly any of whom could have been placed in their hands with advantage at an earlier age, although they will unconsciously have imbibed much of their teaching and will find that their year’s training in elementary economics will have helped them a long way on their road.

[Ethical considerations. Enlarged sympathies.]

In conclusion, we would advocate the study of economics for girls, because we believe that it helps them to live in a larger world, and to take a more intelligent interest in the lives of those around them.

[Wealth an element in well-being.]

The “sordid science” is lifted into a higher plane when we regard it as “a part of the study of man”--and look on wealth as a means to an end, not an end in itself--valuable only so far as it facilitates a “growth towards that higher and purer condition of society, for which alone we care to strive”.