Historical

[From Modern England, 1603 to the present. Reader No. IV. London. George Philip & Son. 16°. pp. 271. Philips' School Series.]

The chief causes of this long and disastrous conflict are to be sought in the high notions of prerogative held by George III, his infatuated and stubborn self-will, and in the equally absurd self-conceit of his English subjects. In her colonies England then acted on what was called the colonial system. According to it they existed for the benefit of the mother country, could export their chief products only to the British Dominions, and could import nothing from Europe which had not passed through England. A great deal of smuggling went on; but there had as yet been no serious quarrel, because the Imperial Government had for the most part hitherto left the colonies to themselves. Grenville, the English prime minister, now determined not only to put down the smuggling of the American colonists, but to tax them for the benefit of the Empire-the mode proposed for raising the revenue being to require that certain documents should be on stamped paper. The colonists at once took alarm, and the colonial assemblies declared against the measure. The descendants of the old soldiers of the Parliament began to repeat the grand lesson of the long struggle of their English forefathers against the crown, and "Taxation without representation is tyranny" became the watchword of the brave patriots who were to fight in America for the selfsame rights that the Englishmen of old had wrung from the tyrant John, the haughty Edward, and the reluctant Charles I. So strong was the feeling, that riots took place at Boston and elsewhere; and the colonists

determined to do without English goods, so as to escape the hated imposition. All was in vain, for the King and people at home were deaf to their remonstrances; and in 1766, although the stamp act was repealed, the English Parliament passed a bill declaring the legislative supremacy of England over her colonies. Shortly afterwards a new scheme of taxation was introduced, by which the revenue was to be raised by port duties, not by internal excise. The feeling on both sides now became more and more bitter; and when the other duties were removed, that on tea was retained, more to mark the superiority of the English Parliament than as a matter of finance. A circumstance in itself trifling brought matters to a crisis. great stock of tea in its warehouses, and it was The East India Company had a allowed to export this to America free of English duties, so that in the colonies it could be sold at a very low rate, but the hated colonial duty had still to be paid. Three ships laden. with tea arrived in Boston. A band of men dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded them and flung the chests into the sea.

When the news reached England the commercial classes were eager for reconciliation, and Chatham wished to withdraw all the recent measures and restore things to their old condition. But the King, the governing classes, and the great body of the people maintained that the time for conciliation was past and that America must be subdued. Accordingly, measures for this purpose were carried without difficulty through Parliament.

On the other side of the Atlantic there was as yet no regular outbreak, but the people were arming everywhere. A congress assembled at Philadelphia, and to this the colonists looked as the real governing power.

They

still professed loyalty to the King and mother country, but refused to pay taxes imposed by imperial authority, and entered into a rigid agreement neither to consume British goods nor to export a single product of their own. At home one last effort for conciliation was made; Lord North proposed that, as long as a colonial legislature paid a reasonable sum toward imperial expenses, it should be exempted from all imperial legislation. Had this wise concession come earlier all would have been well, but it now came too late. In America the proposal was simply disregarded. Two months later General Gage sent a party to destroy a quantity of stores collected at Concord, but it was attacked and badly treated on its return. The whole population at once rose in arms, and Gage was shut up in Boston. He then fought and gained the battle of Bun

ker Hill; but his troops reached the height only after being twice repulsed. Congress met on May 10th, agreed on various measures for resistance, and made a last effort for peace in a petition to the King which was never even considered. They then ordered an attack on Canada, which failed, and their next important step was the appointment of George Washington as commander-in-chief. The war was now fairly begun, though it was not till 4th of July, 1776, that the States declared their independence; and even then their action was hurried by England's employment of German mercenaries and their desire to obtain French assistance. To Washington was mainly due the success of the colonists, and he has ever since been hailed by his grateful fellow-citizens as "The Father of his Country." This noble patriot might be described as the type of an English gentleman; a man without eloquence and of great modesty; but having great administrative powers, moderation, and selfcontrol. Further, a certain nobleness of thought and lofty elevation of character distinguished him from his fellows. His character, great in itself, seems greater when placed in contrast with the men that surrounded and the opponents that confronted him. Many of them were barely honest; nearly all were selfish and greedy; even the better class of them were commonplace. Thus George Washington stands preeminent as the one great figure of the American war of independence. chief events of that war may be briefly told.

The

France now joined in the war, and was soon followed by Spain and Holland; Lord North wished to resign, but the King was as firm as ever, and he was supported by popular feeling in England. There were still many variations in the fortunes of war before the end came. The closing event of the conflict was a movement by Lord Cornwallis into Virginia. He expected to be supported from the sea, but in this he was disappointed and was forced to surrender at Yorktown with an effective force of 4,000 men. This really terminated the war as far as America was concerned, although it was not till January, 1783, that the independ. ence of the United States was acknowledged.

CHILD-STUDY.

CHILDREN'S DRAWINGS.

The discussion in the following article is based on Sully's Studies of Childhood, Barnes' studies of children's drawings appearing in his Studies in Education, and Herman T. Lukens' article as appearing in the Ped. Sem. for Nov. 1896.

In the study of children's drawings it has been found that a process of development, of evolution is involved in the drawings. This development undoubtedly characterizes the gradual unfolding of the child's mental imagery. At first the drawing is but a vague mass, a scribble, then begins to appear localization of parts. It is possible to trace in children's drawings evolutionary stages. These stages are named by Sully as follows: Ist. Vague formless scribble. 2nd. Primitive design characterized by the moon face.

3rd. Sophisticated stages.

The child seizes a pencil and makes upon paper a series of aimless scratches. Accidentally he has made something which suggests to him an object with which he is familiar, as cat. His mental image of cat has been brought into prominence by this vague mass. This scribble fails to call up the image cat in our minds. A representation is meaningless to us unless its similarity to our mental image is sufficiently great to call up that image. It might suggest animal to us, this animal ranging anywhere between a crocodile and a horse. Thus it appears that there is a correspondence between the child's mental image cat and the scribble which he has made. From the fact that tomorrow he calls the representation dog or horse, it is evident that the child makes no discrimination between these various animals. He sees the common characteristics but does not see differences. His knowledge is as yet an unorganized whole characterized by the scribble. As previously stated, the activity of the child in producing this mass of lines is not controlled by the consciousness of any image. The movement of the hand is purely a motor element having no connection with a mental image.

As soon as the child connects his mental image with the hand movement the result is no longer an accidental representation but becomes intentional. There is then a co-ordination of mind and muscle. The motor element is subjected to the mental element and by degrees the motor element is eliminated. The chance, the accidental movement, however, still clings to many who have long since emerged from the years of childhood. They are a sort of vestigial remain.

It is a question whether the mental image is perfectly clear until there is an entire subordination of the motor element. "I am inclined to attach a good deal of importance to the complete clarification of the mental image by the entire elimination of all motor elements from the visual image."-Herman T. Lukens.

The drawings from Dr. Lukens' collection.

as represented in the Ped. Sem. and various other collections, seem to justify this statement. As the motor element or scribble decreases, there is a gradual increase in definiteness. The parts are gradually analyzed. The child's later representations no doubt bear the same relation to his first representations as the corresponding mental images bear to each other.

The child having emerged from the scribble stage enters upon the stage of primitive design. This is of short duration, being a mere station at which to take another train. The child is just entering into a world of reality. Everything about him is increasing in distinctness, and he is seized with a desire to reproduce the reality upon which he has so recently entered. Humanity ever gives prominence to the new. The child being no different from his kindred, the reality which has just dawned upon him and the fact that he can represent that reality take complete possession of him. He has entered upon the sophisticated stage of representation. He is now a magician, one touch of whose hand makes the invisible become visible. At this stage it makes very little difference to the child whether or no his representations express relations of time or place, or whether the proportion expressed is conceivable.

His interest is centered on facts

and in order to represent these facts all characteristics of art must suffer. The attitude of the child towards the drawing is that it shall tell a story, and is not this what art aims to do? The child's ideal of telling the story is different from that of the adult, however. The child doesn't want any of the story left untold. He wants it all there. With children drawing is not "broken light upon the depth" of

the undrawn.

Since the child projects his mental pictures in drawings by means of these drawings we may get a glimpse of his mental imagery. By the scribble we ascertain that vague wholes is characteristic of the child's mental pictures. By his intentional representations we ascertain in part, at least, his interests and misconceptions. 2 The following incident given by Dr. Lukens plainly shows that a child's misconceptions may be disclosed by means of drawing.

'In the view of preparing this paper I secured from the first and second grades of the model department of the Milwaukee normal school drawings illustrating the two stories The Three Bears" and "Tommy-Hop-o'-my-Thumb." Although these children have had a considerable instruction in drawing 15% per cent of the drawings received were thus diaphranous.

2 Among the illustrations of "Tommy-Hop-o'-my-Thumb'' one little girl represented gas jets in the house of the giant. This child evidently pictures the house of the giant with all the modern appliances although we begin the story with once upon a time" which suggests remoteness of time.

The Old Oaken Bucket had been read to the children and then explained to them very carefully, and as busy work they were asked to copy the first stanza from the black board and illustrate it with a drawing. One little girl handed in her verse with several little dots between two of the lines, a circle, half a dozen dots and three buckets. 'Lizzie, I don't understand this,' said the teacher. 'What is that circle?' 'O that's the well.' 'And why have you three buckets?' 'One is the old oaken bucket, one is the iron bound bucket, and the other is the bucket that hung in the well!' Then what are all those little dots?' 'Why those are the loved spots which my infancy knew.'

Thus the child's drawing may become a source from which the teacher may learn to fit his instruction, not only in drawing but also in other subjects, to meet the demands of the child. A child if left to himself usually draws those things which have life. It has been found that three-fourths of such children draw human figures associated with action. Instruction in any subject should lead to a "voluntary out-of-door practice." This cannot be attained unless the child's spontaneous activity is reached-unless the instruction is based upon the activity of the child. Hence it is evident that in drawing instruction must be "suggestive helps" to the child's spontaneous representation.

"The object of art education in the common schools is to train up a public that will appreciate and enjoy art; not to make artists nor artisans, but to make dilletants, lovers of art and appreciators of culture. Technique, therefore, should not be a prominent feature, and nothing should be allowed for a moment, that tends to destroy a natural interest in art, to develop which is the end and not merely the means of all art instruction in the common elementary schools."-Herman T. Lukens. IDA LEEGSON,

Student in the Milwaukee
State Normal School.

Milwaukee, Wis.

OFFICIAL DEPARTMENT.

OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF THE WISCONSIN TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION-FORTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING.

The Woman's School Alliance Section.

Mrs. C. P. Cary, Chairman.

The session of the Woman's School Alliance was called to order at 2:10 P M. by the chairman, Mrs. C. P. Cary. Reports of delegates from various cities.

Mrs. C. A. Miner, Fond du Lac. opened with a repor from the Fond du Lac Woman's Alliance. She spoke o

the poorly ventilated rooms and the slowness on the part o

the school board to appropriate money for new buildings. The condition became apparent to mothers, and a few ladies decided to call a meeting. In answer to the call, twenty ladies met early in February, and a permanent organization was favored. Canvassing was then begun, and the twenty ladies who engaged in the work, obtained in three and one-half days the signatures of 1,281 women.

The first regular meeting of the Fond du Lac Alliance was held March 10th. Four departments were agreed upon: educational, supply, household economics, and childstudy. The study of parliamentary law occupies a few minutes of each regular meeting. For some time past, a Saturday afternoon industrial school has been conducted by a few ladies, and 190 children presented themselves for instruction, but there is not room for all. Mrs. Miner said she wished to emphasize the need of manual training in schools.

Mrs. S. R. Graves gave reports from Portage, Eau Claire, Racine, and West Superior. The Portage Alliance was established as a direct result of the work of the Milwaukee School Alliance. One of the teachers of the city schools was obliged to take a year's rest, and while at her home at Portage, she heard the ladies deploring certain conditions in their schools. She said to them, "I will write to Milwaukee and find out what I can about the alliance." result of her writing, the Portage Alliance was organized and is doing good work.

As a

In Racine the ladies do not call themselves an Alliance and have not yet decided to do so, but they are doing work similar to our own. They took up first the work of the kindergarten and maintained them until the school board saw their benefit and took them under their care. This year they are working to put music and drawing into the public schools.

At West Superior and Green Bay the ladies are doing similar work.

At Madison the work is done by the Civic Federation. Music was then furnished by Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Sheridan

This was followed by an address by Charles H. Thurber, Associate Professor of Pedagogy, University of Chicago, on the "Social Aspects of Child-Study as Related to the Work of the School Room."

Professor Thurber said that he found that the interest in the subject he was talking about was as strong among mothers as among teachers. "What is child-study?" Is yet a legitimate question. A solid basis must be provided upon which to build child-study. He said we cannot have a revolutionary change; what we need is true workers. Sociology has been thus far associated with child-study because they must be intimate relations. One great field for childstudy investigation is to emphasize the truth that the child is a member of society. Human influences reach the child. In New York state a study of children's hopes has been carried on, and a large body of material has been collected. More recently a study of the effect of environment upon the child has been made.

Mr. Thurber then read answers which had been received to the question, "What I want to do when I am a man or woman." He pointed out the difference between the answers received from children living in the Adirondack region and children living near a New York summer resort.

Some of the answers received from the children in the Adirondack region were as follows:

A little boy says: "I want to be a guide and take city people hunting and fishing, and I want to take a gun so I can shoot bears, but if I have none, I shall climb up a tree." A little girl says: "I would like to wash in a hotel and wait on the table in the dining room."

The children also write with delight upon farm labor. A boy says, "I want to live on a farm because country air is better than city air. I shall buy a farm of about 200 acres, and I shall buy horses, cows, sheep and pigs. I want a house with twenty rooms. Then I will make lots of money and get rich."'

Some of the answers received from children living near the New York summer resort were as follows:

A boy, age nine, says, "I want to be a carpenter because then I can make more money. I will he rich and have a horse. I will marry a rich lady. I shall have thirty slaves working for me, and be as rich as any other man in the world."

Another boy says, "I want to be an artist so that I can earn lots of money, and I want to get m rried to a duchess." Some of the children want to be school teachers so that they can write on the blackboard and give out lessons, and punish naughty children with a ruler.

Professor Thurber said that he introduced these papers to show the effect of environment. He said that the reason, perhaps, that so many of the children near the summer re sort expressed the desire to marry a rich lady, is because Miss Vanderbilt was married at about this time. Childstudy ought to be under the state department of public instruction. Child-study would lead to a better understanding between parents and teacher, and this to a better understanding between teacher and child.

In speaking of correlation, he said that no one study can be taken as a center, but that Colonel Parker came very near the truth when he said, "Make the child the center of study."

A few words were said about the rural schools. They are declining, and so serious is the problem that the National Educational Association has appointed a special committee to investigate the condition of rural schools and recommend remedies. Professor Thurber said the rural schools will be better the moment they are more interesting, and they can be made more intereresting by taking advantage of the interests which lie near at hand. In a country school should be taught botany, biology, physical geography, etc. the teachers must be found that can do this.

But

The discussion was opened by Mrs. C. A. Miner. She wished to know the best plan for carrying on this childstudy. Professor Thurber answered that he thought the best way was for the state to provide for this work. Where this can not be done, then a special institute instructor should be appointed in each state, and institutes organized in which a whole week shall be given to the subject of child-study. If no institutes can be held, then the round table plan is the next best thing.

Mrs. L. D. Harvey, in referring to the hopes of children, said that a child's hopes change within two weeks, and how can material then be found to work upon. Mr. Thurber said that it was pretty safe to say that at ten years of age a certain type of thought prevailed, at twelve another type, and so on, which of course are varied by local influences. When we strike a general trend at a certain age, that is prety reliable

Mrs. James Wilkes of Fond du Lac, said that no matter what the environment, the tendency was to wish for wealth, and she thought this ought to be discouraged.

Mrs. G V. Mears of Fond du Lac, wished to know how to begin child-study. Mr. Thurber said that some one line in which you are interested must be taken. If you have children of your own you can record what you see.

Professor Cary spoke in reference to the question by Mrs. Harvey. He said we must know what the child's interests are by working in a general way, but then comes the question what is this particular child interested in at this particular time. Each parent and each teacher must become a student of the child. Sometimes the teacher or parent can not get at what interests the child, but that is what we are looking forward to so that we can unlock those interests.

Miss Hall thought there was danger that the child might become conscious of this investigation; and also that a child will not respond as freely to one person as to another.

Miss Mary Tanner of Stevens Point, thought if each teacher is to study each individual pupil, the first thing to do is to make the classes smaller, instead of having fifty to sixty pupils reduce the number to twenty or twenty-five.

Mr. Cary said that one way to get at child-study was to get hold of some good literature on the subject, find out what people have done, and get suggestions for carrying on investigation.

Library Section.

F. A. Hutchins, Chairman.

Upon calling the section to order, Chairman Hutchins gave a brief history of the organization and growth of the State Library Association and invited all to attend its meeting to be held at Milwaukee, Feb. 22-23, 1897. He spoke about the interest manifested in all parts of the state in public libraries and said: This afternoon we want to take just this subject,-"How can a community in Wisconsin which has not a public library, get one?" We shall have

the pleasure of hearing on the general subject of securing a public library, Dr. Dewey, of New York, who has done more to inspire the people of the United States with the library spirit, than any other man.

Dr. Dewey-Our plan in creating a desire for a public library is to get before the people of the community, by means of the press, the pulpit, the schools and special meetings, the advantages of a public library. Once in a while you come across a man of liberality who still holds that it is not a proper thing to use public money for a free library. Such men say the same thing about free schools, high schools, and so on. But they have to admit that if the state can use its money for high schools it is right for them to use it for libraries.

Everybody wants the library. Some want it because it is a pleasant thing; some because it will be useful to their employees; and some get a broad idea of it.

When I send out the travelling libraries, it is simply ground bait for the formation of a permanent library We call attention of the public to what has been done by the state; to the fact that the state cannot afford to get on without a public library. We show them that as a matter of fact, it is coming rapidly that a community will be just as much mortified to have to say they have no library as to say they have no schools, and that it is better not to wait to be crowded. Free books are just as essential as free schools.

Some object to a library because they are afraid of the taxes. In such cases I have reached excellent results by taking the assessment roll and the tax levy before a public meeting and showing how little it would cost on each thousand dollars.

We find the local study clubs the best means through which to stimulate interest in the formation of public libraries. They are the most active friends of the library.

Dr. Peckham-The important elements of success in securing a public library are a real earnest desire for the library, a little common sense and tact, and the ability to work. He then gave a resume of the state library law and the method of proceeding under it to secure its benefits.

Continuing he said: There are two or three ways of beginning work. There is a gentle art of making enemies. You must not think a man is not interested in the public good because you don't like his occupation. Don't go to a man and begin to find fault with his business or the manner in which he carries it on. You can't afford to arouse opposition from any one in the community. You must assume

that every one wants a library. If you are in a city go and see every member of the council about five times if you really want them to help you secure the library. When you get the matter before the council, follow it up. Keep it before the committee to which it is referred. Don't let them forget it. Attend to all the details. I insist that where two or three people are really in earnest they must succeed.

Mr. Billie-I want to ask, Could the library association do something to improve the patent insides of our country newspapers.

Mr. Hutchins-The country newspapers reach a great many people, and it would change the current of thought of a great many if the patent insides could be improved. It seems to me that is a matter for the press association, rather than for the library association. The editors of newspapers in Wisconsin, I have found, are particularly open minded when you approach them on the subject of good literature. In trying to build a library you need the continuous help of the newspapers. Don't make a strike for a library and forget it the next day. Keep right after it all the time. nish the editor with plenty of copy. Have a system about it. Dr. Dewey-It is all wrong to encourage newspapers to encroach upon the function of books. We may argue upon the unsatisfactory quality of the matter furnished, the poor paper and the small type, but that doesn't do any good. As long as there is any money to be made out of it, they will do it.

Fur

The cure is to furnish better newspapers for the money. We are going to see the time when we shall see newspapers endowed just as we endow colleges and universities.

Mr. Hutchins-The value of the library must be gauged by those books that are read; not by those which its shelves contain. How are we going to get the children of the coming generation to read the best books of the library? It is the great business of the teacher to see that the children to whom she gives the power to read, are given also the desire to read the best books.

Miss Mary E. Edgar, of Madison, read a paper on "How I Read the Lady of the Lake with a Seventh Grade Class " Supt. Dudgeon told of the work done in the grades in the schools of Madison to indicate a taste for good literature. In closing he said: The great value comes from the spirit of the work, and the spirit of the work comes very largely from the interest and enthusiasm of the teacher in the work. I believe there is nothing in the schools of Madison that results in so much good as the work in literature.

Kindergarten Section.

Martha V. Collins, Chairman.

The kindergarten section met in the Grand Avenue Congregational church parlors with an attendance of two hundred. Mrs. Mary Barker, Supervisor of Kindergartens in Superior, read a paper on Child-Study in the Kindergarten:

SYNOPSIS.

Much neglected

Child-study a modern ethical science. in the past. -Cause of neglect.-Co-operation in its present pursuits. Experiments of the day upon children from birth upward and value of these experiments.-Child-study not a fad. What must a student of child-nature study? Race history-Babyhood of the race-babyhood of the child.Primitive man's pursuits and tendencies found mirrored in the child.-Locating of the germ of civilization.-Development of the nation from the family unit. Cause of universal warfare among primitive men. Agriculture a civilizer. -Commerce as a means of mental activity. The effect of terrestrial conditions upon a people's mental and moral development. A nation's mental advancement shown by the monuments of Art. Science. Architecture. Literature. Philosophy and forms of government they build.-Control of the individual leads to control of the aggregate, hence forms of government.-Child-study in the kindergarten dependent upon well informed teachers. Concentration and consecration demanded of the true student of child nature. -Individual work absolutely necessary. A knowledge of children's diseases, psychological phases, general and particular, required.-Individual environment and inheritance of the child most important as a factor in the study.

A spirited discussion followed, led by Miss Bloss, of Oshkosh. She said: The solution of the problem of education seems to be the study of the child. Parents should be invited to co-operate in this work. In every child we are presented with a new problem. Hundreds of children suffer from the ignorance of parents. In conference classes we should consult in regard to clothing and environment. A close relationship should exist between the kindergarten and the family. No permanent help can result if the kindergarten does not understand the conditions of ife.

Supt. W. H. Elson, of Superior, said that the kindergartners should be familiar with race history and with the home life of the child. To the kindergartners belongs the credit of having interested parents more deeply in the cause of education.

"Freedom in the Kindergarten" was the subject of a paper by Laura Alice Denman, supervisor of kindergartens, Fond du Lac. She advocated greater freedom in all the work of the kindergarten, but deprecated giving dictation to very young children. The kindergartner must look beyond the day's work and consider the effect it will have upon the character of the child. It is wrong to try to show a child how to play instead of allowing him to express thought himself. Create in the child a desire for expression; fill him with the thought and there will be no trouble in getting him to express it. All the work of the kindergartner should be unified and directed to the accomplishment of a definite purpose. The paper was freely discussed. Several did not agree with Miss Denman in the notion that dictation should not be given to the smaller children. Many thought that freedom should follow a short dictation.

In the absence of Miss Allen, who was to have presented a paper on Mothers' Meetings" Miss Doyle spoke briefly on the subject. Some of the difficulties in the way of Mothers' Meetings in many of our cities grow out of the fact that in so many instances the mothers are unfamiliar with the English language. If the effect of the kindergarten upon the child could be determined, it would be of the greatest help to the kindergartner.

Miss Doyle's remarks were followed by the relation of experiences of many of those present.