Civil Government in the United States | Page 4

no part of the purpose of this book to give an

account of the doings of political parties under the Constitution. But its
study may fitly be supplemented by that of Professor Alexander
Johnston's "History of American Politics."
This arrangement not only proceeds from the simpler forms of
government to the more complex, but it follows the historical order of
development. From time immemorial, and down into the lowest strata
of savagery that have come within our ken, there have been clans and
tribes; and, as is here shown, a township was originally a stationary
clan, and a county was originally a stationary tribe. There were
townships and counties (or equivalent forms of organization) before
there were cities. In like manner there were townships, counties, and
cities long before there was anything in the world that could properly
be called a state. I have remarked below upon the way in which English
shires coalesced into little states, and in course of time the English
nation was formed by the union of such little states, which lost their
statehood (_i.e._, their functions of sovereignty, though not their
self-government within certain limits) in the process. Finally, in
America, we see an enormous nationality formed by the federation of
states which partially retain their statehood; and some of these states
are themselves of national dimensions, as, for example, New York,
which is nearly equal in area, quite equal in population, and far superior
in wealth, to Shakespeare's England.
In studying the local institutions of our different states, I have been
greatly helped by the "Johns Hopkins University Studies in History and
Politics," of which the eighth annual series is now in course of
publication. In the course of the pages below I have frequent occasion
to acknowledge my indebtedness to these learned and sometimes
profoundly suggestive monographs; but I cannot leave the subject
without a special word of gratitude to my friend, Dr. Herbert Adams,
the editor of the series, for the noble work which he is doing in
promoting the study of American history. It had always seemed to me
that the mere existence of printed questions in text-books proves that
the publishers must have rather a poor opinion of the average
intelligence of teachers; and it also seemed as if the practical effect of
such questions must often be to make the exercise of recitation more

mechanical for both teachers and pupils, and to encourage the besetting
sin of "learning by heart." Nevertheless, there are usually two sides to a
case; and, in deference to the prevailing custom, for which, no doubt,
there is much to be said, full sets of questions have been appended to
each chapter and section. It seemed desirable that such questions should
be prepared by some one especially familiar with the use of
school-books; and for these I have to thank Mr. F.A. Hill, Head Master
of the Cambridge English High School. I confess that Mr. Hill's
questions have considerably modified my opinion as to the merits of
such apparatus. They seem to add very materially to the usefulness of
the book.
It will be observed that there are two sets of these questions, entirely
distinct in character and purpose. The first set--"Questions on the
Text"--is appended to each section, so as to be as near the text as
possible. These questions furnish an excellent topical analysis of the
text.[3] In a certain sense they ask "what the book says," but the teacher
is advised emphatically to discourage any such thing as committing the
text to memory. The tendency to rote-learning is very strong. I had to
contend with it in teaching history to seniors at Harvard twenty years
ago, but much has since been done to check it through the development
of the modern German seminary methods. (For an explanation of these
methods, see Dr. Herbert Adams on "Seminary Libraries and
University Extension," _J.H.U. Studies_, V., xi.) With younger students
the tendency is of course stronger. It is only through much exercise that
the mind learns how to let itself--as Matthew Arnold used to say--"play
freely about the facts."
[Footnote 3: "This," says Mr. Hill, "will please those who prefer the
topical method, while it does not forbid the easy transformation of
topics to questions, which others may demand." In the table of contents
I have made a pretty full topical analysis of the book, which may prove
useful for comparison with Mr. Hill's.]
In order to supply the pupil with some wholesome exercise of this sort,
Mr. Hill has added, at the end of each chapter, a set of "Suggestive
Questions and Directions." Here he has thoroughly divined the purpose

of the book and done much to further it.
Problems or cases are suggested for the student to consider, and
questions are asked which cannot be disposed