REVIEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6984, 5 April 1884, Page 1 (Supplement)

REVIEWS.

■. ■ ■ ■ ' c "THE GREAT GIANT ARITHMOS."* In the- preface to this little book x the authoress makes the just observation that "iii the present day the tendency of legislation and custom is in the direction of taking away the sense of parental responsibility in relation to the education of the young." It is not, however, with the view of checking this growing indifference on the part of parents that "The Great Giant Arithmos" is written. The object of ' the -book'is rather to provide some help to those mothers who " still'wish to retain some portion of that influence which Nature intended them to have in the training of their ohildren, and. who refuse to abandon it wholly . either to ■ the schoolmaster or the Stite." There are many mothers of this kisad, and;>until all natural affection is driven out of the heart of woman, such mothers will continue to exist. These good mothers are willing and anxious to teach their little .people, but they hardly know how to set about the task. They: have had no experience in teaching;, and there are no books in which they can rind suggestions or help. It is, this want which Mrs. Aldis has attempted to supply ; and we hasten to sny that, 'in our opinion, that the attempt has been, on the whole, successful. At brat sight, and before we had well opened it, "The Great Giant" seemed to be one of that pestilent crowd of cheap and nasty handbooks by which, in late years, education has beers very seriously injrired. Under the pretence of. making learning easy, these mischievous books have only encouraged idleness, and made ignorance inevitable. "The Great , Giant Arithmos," however, is not a book of this.sort at all.. The: authoress is evidently of opinion that there is no royal road to knowledge,- and, therefore,- has treated.her subject in a complete and exhaustive manner. . The book, it must be understood, is meant :to*;be read only with very young children, who are beginning to. use numbers for the '■ first time. It consists of . a series. of .conversations between mother, and child ;on the' simplest questions of arithmetic, the '.'riddles" of "The Great >Giont," who'.ia our friend or foe according as nre treat him :properly >or not.. The . answers : touthe •'riddles" are found out by -the true So--,cratic method of questions and" answers. The book is written in a very chatty manner; and, at the same time, the subjects ifcv deals with are sifted; arid searched to the bottom. Not that the .book

~. • "The Great Giant ArittimosV , ' A Most Elementary Arithmetic. By Mary Steadman Aldis. London: MucmUlan and Co. -

is all powder ana .dulnees whiehv eo- much : disliked<by many, .children is touches of fancy, as in the lesaoa? where theylearn ''Nought;" byslight digressions, in which words belonging to, the Subject are 'explained,., as Bomati, I in which the use of signsia rilluatrated ; or, again, by passages which Veeema to show that: the authoress, understands chilereu, ae the following:—?.' We shall wantaoinetjimg else,-too,: because yon most learn t», -ijfrite the figures. : : Some children nee,' slates,-bet. I think it will be much better for yon -to. learn .to. write ,lik,e a grown-up person ;at. once, with pen and; ink,";&o. rThzeVis.a, very fair sample of the style in which the book ia written. ' The. sort .of ; questions aaked, and the general .method pursued throughout the book, show that: Mrs. Aldia understands : what constitutes::: education. The mind is not here overloaded with. a multitude oi facts not understood, .andthen left to digest .them as it csd, bat one truth is dealt with at a time, and dealt with in such a way that it seems to be. elicited from the pupil's mind rather than forced into it. We advise all persons' who really .care)-for their children to bay this, little'book.-"The eolation of the giant's, riddles may be a new, but it will prove also a delightful sensation t6 them. We also recommend them, to read the lessons over beforehand and "get them up." The book is not designed to make all labour on the part of the teacher, unnecessary, bat to make that labour more easy and more profitable. A mother, who will not take the trouble to prepare her lesson will not succeed in teaching her children, though never so many "giants" were to.help her.';.

"THE EXPANSION OP ENGLAND/'* This work, from which-we. have'already given some extracts, is a compilation of two courses of lectures upon .the: growth.vof England and her colonies, in which-Mr. Seeley impresses upon historical' students the importance of keeping steadily in'view', the progress made by the English race" as a whole, and treats of the tendency., of .historians to content themselves''principally with a narrative of events in Europe, without endeavouring to forecast the future of our country from the records of the past. The successful endeavours of our forefathers to secure constitutional liberty during the' seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are,' of course, fully described, but their, resistance against the encroachments-of George Hl.' are but a pale, reflex of the great struggles of the seventeenth century, and ; the reader finds his attention flag when, the more-stir-ring inoidents of the strife have been recorded. Wβ think with Mr. Seeley that the possession of North America was the main cause of the Ion;; wars between England and France between the reign of Louis XIV. and Napoleon. lie gives an interesting sketch of the growth of colonial empires, belonging to the . western : countries .of Europe — England, France, Spain, Portugal, and Holland —and says :—" Of these,. Spain and Portugal had the start by a whole century, and Holland was in the field before England. Afterwards, -for about a century, France and England contended for the New World on tolerably equal terms. Yet'now, of all these States, England remains in possession vof a great' and commanding colonial power." !. . ; ' . .'-•

In bis remarks upon the success of England, Mr. Seeley points out that Holland and Portugal were too small, and did not possess the naval resources at the, command of England, to. whose power they finally succumbed. The decadence -of Spain is still more difficult to account for. He thinke that both Franoe and Spain were too ambitious, and too much mixed up in European politics to enable them to reserve their principal efforts for the support-and'exten-sion of their colonies. He saya \-—"- Epgland has not-had to maintain an European ascendancy, as Spain and France have nad. Hence nothing has interrupted or interfered with her to draw her' off from the quiet progress of her ■colonial settlements,"' These causes no doubt contributed to the result,' but we think that' Mr.' Seeley .has hardly done justice to the energy and perseverance of English, colonists, or to. the : immense efforts made-by England in withstanding the- ascendancy of -Napoleon—a struggle which resulted in the loss by France of her remaining colonies. ■ ■.. ;■'/,':. -•'. :'^ : .

The - influence .whioh colonisation' ha9;had. upon the manufacturing greatness'and carrying trade of England is most marked. '.It has snpplied her at once with raw> materials and customers for her manufactures. In the time of the Plantagenets Flanders manufactured English wool. The geographical position of Italy gave her cities in the Middle Ages the commerce, of the Mediterranean. Upon the discovery .of America, the Atlantic succeeded to the Mediterranean as the great highway of commerce/ and the western countries of Europe reaped- the advantages from their position- which had previously accrued to Italy, and the final Buoceas of England has given her.-the carrying trade of the world. - " '-■'.■.■ ■■■■-■•

. The most instructive lecture ie, perhaps, that dealing with the secession of the American Colonies. The little importance attached to this event at the time by'the English public is very curious. "It is well, known," says Mr. Seeley, "that the Stamp Act passed at first without notice. A Parliament which discussed one night the Address, another night listened to : declamations on the backstairs influence, of Bute and covert attacks on tho Princess Dpwager, another night excited itself over Wilkes and General Warrants, found on the Order of the Day a proposal for taxing the colonies, and passed it as a matter of 'course with as little attention as is now given to the Indian Budget." • V\..."',,' .''."'','.''" Mr. Seeley quotes the old saying of Targot before the American Eeyolntiori : "Colonies are like fruits, which cling to the tree only till they ripen," and, "As soon as America can take care of herself, she. will do what Carthage did." He adds, " What wonder that, when this prediction wae'so signally fulfilled, the proposition from" which it was deduced rose, especially in the minds of tho English, to the rank of a' demonstrated principle. This is no doubt the reason why we have regarded the growth of a second empire with very little interest or ~ satisfaction." ■'■ ,• '.. .'.

The "second empire, "hem alluded touel those colonies which England acquired contemporaneously with and. since the -acquisition of the seceded States; They are: The Dominion of Canada,-the West Indian Islands, the South African Possessions, and the Australasian Group. Mr. Seeley finally discusses the probable future of Great Britain and her colonies. He says:—" We ■ have had two colonial empires, the first we created and lost, the seoond has grown up almost in our own despite. ,Is the aeoond empire to go the way of the'firsts" Mr. Seeley points out that the religions fervour which induced many of the American settlers to take refuge in a new country ■ from persecution at home went far to weaken, it it did not altogether extinguish, the attachment which colonists of the : present day entertain for. England. . This embittered' feeling, combined with. mal-administration by the English Government under a system, which is now happily extinct, "brought about the American Revolution. These causes no longer exist, and the spell binding "the '■■, emigrant to his native land remains unbroken. . There.are two schools;of opinion', in "England regarding the. colonies. .Mr;,v Seeley calls them the bombastic and the. pessimiatic. With the latter Mr. Seeley" feels no sympathy, but he "makes "no concessions to the, vifionary schemes of the, former, and shows a<wisp scepticism ia considering the' effect of. matters appealing, to the imagination. He. says',:—"The; , mother: country having once for all ceased -'to. be a step-mother, and to make unjust claims and. impose annoying restrictions, and since sho wants, her colonies as au outlet both for population and trade, and "since, oh the. other hand, the colonies must .feel there is risk, not to say intellectual impoverishment, in independence; since, finally,, intercourse is ever increasing, and no alienating force: at work to counteract it, it seems; possible that' our .Colonial Empire, so-called, .inayirmbre and more deserve,to, Britain, andJthat the;7.tie stronger and stropger." ; With/thia-modeVate expression of opinion,'Mr.:Seeley;,-dismißse¥ the : .sabjeo^' l an~d' ; -thenrvye^;,^.]i^t£eb^y J that historians; in general : mia37the; object which they should hold steadily.in.view,?'by';, subordinating the .expansion . oE. England abroad to a record of events in Europe; and, he exhorts the student, of :history:to study of Graat Britain -and. Her .colonies'as' one nation -and . one State. ;vW,e rhaye.'.npt' space to follow Mr. Seeley in his account of the Crown Colony.of India. C ; "lFwill; bo,fq'ond. well worthy : of perusal.■TlnVDnef.^therei.is much in this little book that will interest the,historical student as well as the colonist.

' • The BxpanaJen of England;-" By j> B-vSeeleri 11. A. London; Macmillaa and Co» \ : ';?