HE United States Bureau of Education is constantly giving us, in its successive reports and circulars of information, material of the highest value not alone for professional educators but for all American citizens. We wish that these reports had far more attention from the general public than they do have. We wish especially that our people throughout the country might "read, mark, learn and inwardly digest" the leaflet which has just been issued by the Bureau, on "English Methods of Teaching American History." We took up this general subject in these pages last August, in noticing the misconceptions which are almost universal among our people as to the feeling of England concerning the American Revolution both at the time and since. We dwelt upon the fact that the best English sentiment was with us while the Revolution progressed, and English sentiment has been with us, almost unanimously, from that time to this. We have to go to the British poets, to Byron, to Burns, for the noblest panegyrics upon Washington, and the English historians, Green, Gardiner, and the rest, tell the story of the American Revolution precisely as we desire to have it told. "Above all," we said, "the boys and girls in English schools are taught this history from their text-books in the right way, in the way which makes them love and admire us and our fathers, instead of hating us. We wish that every one might read the 'Citizen's Reader,' that splendid little book by Arnold Forster, which circulates by hundreds of thousands in the English

public schools, and see how the American Revolution is treated in the two or three pages devoted to it there. Consider the infinite difference which it makes whether boys and girls are brought up upon such history, or upon such a view of England as most of our own text-books promote in touching the Revolution." Much of the ill-will toward England which undeniably exists in great sections of the American people and which the mischief-making politician can confidently appeal to springs from a false view of what the American Revolution was and what the history of England was in connection with it. The feelings of jealousy and anger which were born in the throes of the struggle for independence are indiscriminately perpetuated. Our children grow up with the feeling that "red coat" is the very badge and synonym of enmity to America. They are trained and fortified in it often by false and superficial textbooks. The influence of false history and of crude, one-sided history is enormous. It is a natural and logical step by which children pass from many of our schoolrooms to the back yard, there to set up images of "Britishers" and fire at the whites of their eyes; and it is natural that feelings so born should die hard and at times became a dangerous factor in the national life. So important is the whole influence of popular historical views, that we do not think it too much to say that a vast amount of the persistent ill-will toward England of which from time to time we became conscious among our people, as compared with the almost universal kindliness of English feeling toward us, is to be explained by the very

different spirit in which the history of the American Revolution is taught to the boys and girls in the schools of the one country and of the other.

We called attention, when speaking upon this subject at midsummer, of the visit to America at that very time of Samuel Plimsoll, the well known member of the English Parliament, whose name is immortalized in the term "Plimsoll mark," which is given to the safety load-line of British ships. Mr. Plimsoll said to the New York newspapers: "I have come to this country to see if I cannot find the cause of the unjust dislike the Americans have for the mother country. That feeling is so uncalled for that there must be some cause for it,-fancied cause, I think. We in England have no such feeling toward America. We have only sympathy and admiration for her. It seems strange to me that you should allow the ill feeling caused by a war of 120 years ago still to exist. You must remember that nine-tenths of the English people were opposed to the war at the time, and that the remaining one-tenth, the governing class, was divided within itself on the subject. Why let the acts of a daft old king who was in retirement for insanity two or three times cause an everlasting animosity toward toward the England of to-day, which has no more to do with that time than the United States of to-day has? I believe the prejudice starts with the children and is taught to them from school histories that misstate facts; and in these histories I think the remedy lies. I have gathered together all the histories that are used. in the board schools of England. There are thirty-four of them. I examined them carefully, and I did not find the slightest unkind allusion to the United States in one. And so I have come to this country to exam

ine the school histories used here. I have been told, and believe, that most of them are unfair; that they foster a wrong feeling toward the mother country. I hope to live long enough to bring this to the attention of thinking men, so that a reform can be begun. If we begin with the children, I think the rest will work out itself."

It is the collection of extracts made by Mr. Plimsoll, which is now published by the Bureau of Education. The pamphlet is so important, and is likely at best to win its way so slowly to the attention of our people, that we feel that we can put these pages to no other so good use at this time as that of making them give to our readers an idea of the scope and character of these extracts. The extracts presented in the pamphlet are from twentyfour books of English history used in the schools of the lower grades. The histories, we are assured by Mr. Plimsoll, were collected without any discrimination as to those that were favorable or unfavorable, and no effort to sift them has been made in this compilation. We have here therefore a full and true picture of the way in which the history of the American Revolution is taught to the boys and girls of England. It is impossible in the space at our command to give many of these extracts or to give long passages from them. We shall, however, choose such passages as give a true idea of the whole, taking as our first two those which stand first in the pamphlet. The entire body of extracts fills more than thirty closelyprinted pages of the Bureau of Education report. If our reference to it prompts teachers of history or others. to procure the report and study it carefully, we shall be very glad.

The first extract given in Mr. Plimsoll's collection is from a little reading book in history called "Our Kings and Queens," published by Thomas.

Nelson & Sons in 1893. The work is evidently a mere outline, and the passage relating to the American Revolu tion is very brief:

"A quarrel now began between our colonies in America and the Government at home. An attempt was made to force the Americans to pay taxes on tea and other articles carried into the country. This they refused to do. When several ships, containing taxed tea sent from England, arrived in Boston Harbor, some of the people, dressed as red Indians, went on board and threw it into the water. The Government sent out soldiers to force the Americans to pay taxes, and war began, which went on for nearly eight years. The Americans raised an army to defend themselves. Their leader was George Washington. Then they declared themselves independent of Great Britain, and formed a union of thirteen States under the name of the United States of America. In 1783 the war ended and a treaty was made, in which Great Britain had to agree that the United States should be a separate country. Since then the colonists, or Americans, have governed themselves. They have no king or queen at their head. Instead of a monarch they choose one of their chief men, who is called the President, to be at the head of the Government. The first President was George Washington."

Nothing could be fairer than this. And nothing could be fairer than the fuller account which immediately follows, from a reader published by the same house, entitled "The United Kingdom":

"The seven years' war left North America in British hands. Now began a quarrel with our American colonies which caused most of them to separate from the mother country. The Government at home claimed the right of taxing them without their permission. The late war had cost a great deal of money, and as much of it had been spent on behalf of the colonies, Grenville thought that they ought to help to pay it. A stamp act was passed, by means of which he hoped to raise what he wanted in America. The Americans answered that they were willing to give money of their own free will, but that they would not be forced to pay taxes which they had no share in levying, as they had no members in the British Parliament. Grenville resigned and the stamp act was repealed. Pitt, who was now Earl of Chatham, had warned the Government against the stamp act, and told them what would happen. He was strongly against taxing

colonists at all; but the ministers, who had not yet learned wisdom, placed new taxes on tea, lead, glass, and other things which were sent to America. This soon made matters much worse. Chatham left the ministry, and two years after the Duke of Grafton gave way to Lord North. It was not because the tax was large that the Americans were unwilling to pay it, for it was very small, but because they considered that the home Government had no right to tax them at all. The King was more to blame than any of his ministers. He would not give way in what he thought was his right as Sovereign of the colonies. Chatham said to the Lords that it was folly to force taxes in the face of a continent in arms. Burke bade the Commons take care lest they broke that tie of kindred blood which, light as air, though strong as iron, bound the colonies to the mother land.

"It was now ten years since the passing and withdrawing of the stamp act. Everything had been tried to bring about a settlement, but the foolishness of the King made all efforts vain. War began and went on for nearly eight years. The King found that he could get Lord North to do much as he wished, and so he kept him in power during the whole American war. The first fighting took place at Lexington, near Boston, between a few British soldiers and some American riflemen. The colonists, who were used to shooting deer in the forests, soon proved their skill, and they now shot down men with deadly aim. The British lost more than twice as many men as the Americans. The Americans next besieged the British under General Gage in Boston, and a battle took place on Bunker Hill near the town, where the Americans had thrown up earthworks. They were forced to retreat, but they did not lose heart. They now saw that they could hold their own when they met the best British troops on equal terms. The famous George Washington now took command of the American Army. He had done good service for the British in their struggle with the French in the seven years' war. he had but one thought, one desire, and that was to secure the freedom of his country."

Now

These two extracts alone give a just idea of the spirit which animates all. In many of them the course of thought and often the words are the same as in the second extract given, the writers clearly drawing from common sources. Many of the accounts are much longer and completer. For these it is impossible for us to make place; but here are three admirable and thoroughly representative brief

extracts. The first is from a reader called "The Story of England":

"In 1765, trouble began with our colonies in North America. The prime minister, Mr. Grenville, had the stamp act passed, in order to raise money there on stamps which had to be bought from the government, and put on to deeds and other documents. The thirteen colonies, as they then were, containing about 2,000,000 people, spoke out strongly against this. They said they had no members to represent them in Parliament, and that, as British subjects may not be taxed without their own consent in Parliament, they ought not to pay taxes to the British Government at home. In 1766 the stamp act was repealed, but another was passed declaring that Parliament had the right, if it chose, to tax the colonists. An act was passed in 1767, putting duties on tea, glass, paper, and other articles of use, and riots then took place in the colonies. In 1769 the Virginian house of assembly declared that the colony could be legally taxed only by its own house. Still George and his ministers would take no warning. Lord North became prime minister in 1770, and Lord Chatham in the House of Lords, and the great Irishman, Edmund Burke, in the Commons, spoke strongly in favor of the colonists. Lord North then took off all taxes except that on tea, but this he kept to show the rights he claimed for the home country. In all these doings George backed his ministers with his usual dull obstinacy, which he took to be the firmness of a great ruler. In 1773, a party of men at Boston, in America, went on board some ships in the harbor and threw the cargoes of tea overboard. Another great speaker in the Commons, Charles James Fox, joined Burke and Chatham in supporting the cause of freedom; but North and the King could not be moved. Then in 1774 twelve of the thirteen colonies sent men to a meeting at Philadelphia, and they drew up a declaration of rights, which was another strong warning of what was to come. At last, in April, 1775, the war of American Independence broke out. At Lexington, near Boston, a force of colonial riflemen attacked a body of British troops and gave them a severe defeat. Col. George Washington was put at the head of the rebel forces, and, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, he gained undying fame by his cool courage, firmness, and skill throughout the war. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed by a meeting at Philadelphia of men representing all the thirteen colonies, and the great Republic called the United States began to exist. In 1777, a British force of 6,000 men, under General Burgoyne, was surrounded at Saratoga by a great American army, and

forced to lay down its arms. This was the turning point of the struggle. Early the next year our Parliament gave up the right to tax the colonies and wished to make peace. But it was now too late. The French Government of Louis XVI had already made an alliance with the new State, and sent out ships and troops. At last, in 1781, another large British force, under Lord Cornwallis, was forced to surrender at Yorktown, in Virginia, and by the peace of Paris, in 1783, England recognized the United States of America as an independent power."

The following paragraph is from one of Jarrold's "Empire Readers":

"The United States of America were at that time English colonies. George III wanted the people there to pay very heavy taxes, but they refused. One was a tax or "duty" on tea. The Americans said they would rather go without tea than pay it. So when ships came bringing tea they threw it all overboard. For ten years the colonists and the Government quarreled about it, and then they went to war. George Washington was the American patriot who led their armies, and the English were defeated. On the 4th of July, 1776, the United States of America became an independent nation. William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, had done all he could to make George III and his Parliament see that it was not fair to tax the American colonists in order to pay for England's European wars. These wars had been of no use to them, and they wanted their money to defend themselves at home. If the King had been wise enough to follow Pitt's advice he would not have lost these colonies."

The third extract is from one of Longman's "Ship" Historical Readers, published in 1895:

"We have read about the Pilgrim Fathers and how they sailed away to America and founded a colony there. In the course of time the colonists grew rich and strong. Their land was ruled over by the King of England. At last quarrels arose because King George III wanted to make them pay him money that they thought they ought not to pay. The King said they must pay him so much money as a tax upon all tea they used. The colonists thought he had no right to make them pay it. So they said that, rather than pay the tax, they would do without tea. Soon after this a ship laden with tea came into the harbor of Boston. The people said, 'The tea shall be sent back to the place from which it came. We will pay no tax upon it.' One man said, 'The only way to get rid of the tea is

to throw it overboard.' So a number of men dressed themselves like Indians and rushing on board the ship they threw the tea into the sea. After this it was seen that, as neither side would give in, nothing but a war could end the quarrel. Then both sides got ready to fight. It was a sad sight to see men of the same race fighting against each other. The colonists chose a brave and good man named George Washington to be their leader. He did not want to fight against the King, but he loved freedom, and he thought that the King was treating the colonists unjustly. So he was willing to spend his money and his life in the good cause. The war lasted for about seven years. The French helped the colonists, and in the end the colonists won, and so they were free. Since that time they have had no king over them and they have become one of the greatest nations upon earth; for in the land that is now called the United States there are over 60,000,000 people, and the vast country that was at one time the home of bands of roving Indians is now peopled by English-speaking folks."

References to our common English race and expressions of pride in America as the daughter of England are constant. In the brief account of the war in "Simple Stories Relating to English History" we read: "At first the English won; but a great man took charge of the American army. His name was George Washington, and he made his soldiers as brave and clever as Cromwell did those of England in the time of King Charles. He beat the British in many fights; and the end of it was that in the year 1776 England lost America, which ever since has been called the United States. Still we must not forget that most of the people in these United States are of English flesh and blood. They speak the English tongue, and have grown to be very rich and powerful."

This account begins with the statement that "though George III was a good man, he was not a very wise one, and before he died he quite lost his reason." George III is treated almost everywhere in these English school books in a way that ought entirely to satisfy our Fourth of July orators. The following energetic statement of the occasion and out

break of the war is from a book called "Modern England":

"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."

*

Everywhere we find the highest tributes to the character and abilities of Washington:

"To Washington was mainly due the success of the colonists, and he has ever since been hailed by his grateful fellowcitizens 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 self-control. Further, a certain nobleness of thought and lofty elevation of character distinguished him from his fellows."

"The commander-in-chief of the Americans was the great George Washington, who possessed all the high qualities needed for carrying to a successful close the struggle upon which they had entered. As the war went on, all the efforts of our generals failed to win any real success against the skill and perseverance of Washington."