nes and books. If most of our
facts come through reading it is no less true that most of our real
interest in geography and history comes not from the facts of our
text-books but from the literature we have read, the literature that
clothed those facts and made them real and living. Ask yourselves what
gave you your first real interest in the history of Scotland and see if
your answer is not, "The novels of Scott." Again, where did you get your
first adequate ideas of chivalry and the feudal system if it was not
from _Ivanhoe_ or some similar piece of literature? What makes the
Crimean War a household word in the homes of two continents if it is not
the deeds of Florence Nightingale and Tennyson's _Charge of the Light
Brigade_? Who can tell most of the Battle of Waterloo, he who has read
the facts of history or he who has read Byron's thrilling poem and the
description by Victor Hugo? Who knows the English home as it was? He who
reads Goldsmith's _Deserted Village_.

[Illustration: OLIVER GOLDSMITH
MATTHEW ARNOLD
JOHN RUSKIN
THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY
JOHN BUNYAN
THOMAS DE QUINCEY
CHARLES LAMB]

It is in furnishing those literary masterpieces that give life to
geography and inspiration to history that _Journeys Through Bookland_
gives the best of assistance to boys and girls in their school work.
Some of its selections will give facts and many of them, but the facts
form the smaller part of the contribution. History is valuable only as
it enables us to understand the present, thrills us with the
accomplishments of the past and teaches us how to live and act in the
future. No man is so wrapped up in business that he does not heed the
charm of noble deeds and fails to be moved by glorious achievement. Some
histories are literature in themselves and have the inspiring quality we
crave, but most of them are too dry and scientific to afford much
interest to the child. So the greater part of our selections are not
from the books that are called real history but from those which appeal
to the imagination and stir the soul. Geographical teaching is likewise
indirect in _Journeys_ but it is none the less helpful and inspiring. To
prove the truth of these statements we have only to present what the
books contain and show how the selections may be used.

It does not seem wise to separate the two subjects too widely, for they
are closely related and intimately interwoven in almost all reading.
There are, it is t