Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

can make myself understood in Arabic." Arabic is the prevailing language in all Syria, as far north as the chain of Mount Taurus, which divides that country from Anatoli, or Asia Minor, where Turkish is the language of the country. This expression, so graphic and so significant, has been completely spoiled in a paper on the present state of the Turkish empire, which appeared some time since in a contemporary Journal. The writer puts the above words in the mouth of Ibrahim, not at Acre, where he had still a vast tract of country before him where Arabic is spoken, but at Konieh, after his victory over the grand Vizier in the centre of Asia Minor, where Turkish is the language of the people, and where, therefore, the sentence would have been absurd, as Ibrahim had left far behind him the boundaries within which Arabic is spoken. He had crossed Taurus, and advanced into Asia Minor, in order to oblige the Sultan to give him the countries in which Arabic is the language of the people, and into which he withdrew as soon as the demand was granted. The distinction is more important than it would seem at a first glance. The power of Mehemet Ali is essentially Arabian; it is supported by Arab troops; and his dominions extend over a country in which the Arab language and race have been long predominant from the time of the Caliphs: while the Ottoman's direct dominion on that side extends chiefly over countries where the Turkish and Turcoman races who came from Tartary are become indigenous. It is, therefore, a clearly marked ethnographic as well as geographic division, and, as such, likely to prove permanent.

We have now briefly stated the various branches of geographical information, which are necessary in order

to constitute a man thoroughly acquainted with the actual condition of any given country. We do not mean to say that they can all be attained in every instance, and we do not intend to discourage our readers, if they should find that in many cases much of this information is beyond their reach; let them endeavour to obtain as much as they can of the information above specified; the more they collect, the better qualified they will be to form an opinion. But to imagine that, without taking pains, without making any of the inquiries alluded to, by means of mere vague information gathered from indiscriminate reading, from conversational hearsay, from scraps. of newspapers and travellers' sketch-books, a man can be enabled to talk pertinently about a foreign country, and pass his judgment on the people, is a fallacy which strikes us as most palpably absurd.

With regard to the sources from which geographical and political information may be derived, we may remark that professed statistical works, which are now fast multiplying in most European countries, and which give the various heads that we have noticed, ought to be consulted in preference to mere desultory and general descriptions which are deficient in classification. For each particular country, statistical works by natives of the same, where such can be obtained, ought to be preferred. And on this occasion we cannot too much recommend the study of foreign languages, as a most useful medium of correct information on foreign matters. It is almost impossible to ascertain many facts without applying to native authorities. Maps are another indispensable auxiliary for obtaining correct geographical knowledge. There has been, till lately, a

great deficiency in this respect; maps were generally bad and dear. There are now very good maps published in France, Italy, Germany, &c., of the various divisions of those countries; but they are difficult to be obtained in England, and they are expensive. The maps published by the Society of Useful Knowledge have been constructed on the best existing authorities, and their extreme cheapness makes them accessible to almost every one.

We would now, in conclusion, address ourselves particularly to writers on foreign countries, whether geographers, travellers, essayists, novelists, or contributors to periodicals. We would impress upon them the propriety, the necessity, of discriminating and ascertaining facts, before they put forth their statements; of making use of the art of a critic in examining their authorities; of avoiding generalities and the use of superlatives; and of such hackneyed epithets as "barbarous, slavish, fanatical, bigoted, lazy, cowardly," which are seldom applicable to whole nations, at least within Europe; of stating facts before opinions, and, when they have no facts to state, of not dealing in surmises and hazarded inferences. We have already exemplified our remarks on this subject in speaking of Italy; we may do it again with regard to other countries, for we think it is our duty to combat error under whatever shape it may show itself. No national or political partiality ought to stand in the way of truth, for error can never be a good auxiliary even in a good We would impress upon all writers a due sense of the responsibility which they incur by propa* See Nos. IV. and VIII. of the Quarterly Journal of Education.

cause.

gating erroneous or hasty judgments and opinions. Men should be even more cautious about what they write than about what they speak; but we fear the reverse is most commonly the case. What is said in conversation is often unheeded, and generally forgotten; while everything that goes forth in print is sure to attract the attention of many, perhaps of thousands, and to be remembered by some. Hence the mass of prejudices, already, one would think, sufficiently great, is daily increasing. And that prejudice will bring forth practical mischief, who can doubt? In these times, when most people read something, the danger becomes much greater. In countries where a great proportion of the people take part in political questions, and have a voice, although indirect, in the legislature, who can calculate. the consequences of erroneous impressions spread among them concerning other countries? It is not the first time that nations have waged destructive wars against each other through irrational prejudices which they had imbibed from their parents or teachers. At all events, war has ever been carried on in a deeper spirit of atrocity when one or each of the parties looked upon the other as barbarians, slaves, or infidels. Witness the wars of Rome, those of the Turks, and others which we might mention. Men feel little compunction in tormenting and exterminating those whom they consider as a degraded race.

214

STUDY OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.

By A. DE MORGAN.

(From the Quarterly Journal of Education, No. V.)

ONE of the first things which will strike an observer of modern education is the fact, that there are now few young people, in the middling and upper classes, who do not early receive some explanations, or what are intended for such, of the phenomena of nature. Not only do most parents conceive themselves qualified to give their children the first lessons in physics and astronomy, but the works of amusement which are so constantly in the hands of little boys and girls generally contain some information on the subject. Since it is certain that the reasons and methods of arguing which are applied to sensible phenomena are more likely to obtain a hold on the mind of an infant than any other whatever, it will appear of considerable importance to all who rightly estimate the force of early impressions that the first inquiries on this subject should be answered in a rational manner. To many it appears of little consequence what a child learns, as long as he is, in the common phrase, kept out of mischief. On this head we commence with a few observations.

It is often assumed that the most important object of education, namely, the formation of character, is entirely attained by teaching the principles of religion and morality; that is, it is not suspected that the manner in which other things are taught to the child has any

« AnteriorContinuar »