IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 7 / O s Ce y. Ua 1.0 I.I IIM 112.5 m _ «^'f IM III 2.2 IM 12.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1 6 •* 6" ► Vi <^ /a o ^>. % ^'-> /A 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation v^ ' -i ci-(^\^^-<-''^ y J !-4 u d Monument of Victory to those who Fell in the Northwest Rebellion of }885» Toronto. SCHOOL ROOM DECORA TION An Addrefs to Canadian Historical Societies. BY J. GEORGE HODGINS, M.A., LL.D., LIBRARIAN AND HISTORIOGRAPHER OF THE EDUCATION DEPART^lENT FOR ONTARIO. Ab we gradually grow wiser, we shall discoTer that the Eye is a nobler organ than the Ear, H\i «/. ht \ TORONTO: Wakmick Bko's and Rdtteb, Printers. MCM. Sir Isaac Brock. TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE HISTORICAL , ^ SOCIETY: Sir, Under the authority of the Honourable Richard Harcourt, Minister of Education for Ontario, and with the sanction of the Honourable George W. Ross, Premier of the Province, I desire to bring under the notice of your Society the accompanying paper, on the subject of " School Room Decoration in Ontario — Historical and Patriotic." I trust that it will receive the favourable consideration of the Members of your Historical Society, and lead to some practical results. I am. Sir, Very sincerely yours, J. GEORGE HODGINS, Librarian aiut Hisforiographer of (he Edwation Department of Ontario. ( Ex- Deputy Minister of Education for Ontario.) TORONTO, *27th of February, 190(). "(The day of the Surrender of (k-neral Croiije and his Army, and also the Anniver- sary of the Battle of Majulia Hill.) Interior of Fort Missasauga, at Niagara. Ruins of the Old Fort Missasauga, Niagara. I School-Room Decoration in Ontario. HISTORICAL AND PATRIOTIC. WHY DO BOYS LEAVE THE FARM? 'T has been often asked, why so many boys, and so many grown girls leave the farm, and seek employment in the Cities and Tf)wn8 % It i*" alleged, in reply, that the monotony of ordinary School life in the country, with the unvarying sameness of its surroundings —compared with the state of things elsbrfhere, — beome distasteful to the older Scholars, and is the principal cause of the youthful exodus from the country to the City. It is, no doubt, to a certain extent true ; but it is more largely due to the fact, that there is so little that is attractive in the Schools, or in most rural Homes, calculated to awaken an interest in anything beyond usual routine of school and home life. Rarely is there any thing in either that would create an active desire for the beautiful, or artistic, or which would produce a refin- ing and elevating influence upon the minds of the young. Great improvement is, no doubt, decernible of late years in the character and surroundings of the rural School Houses, and, in many cases, in their well-kept grounds. But, as a general rule, beyond the ordinary appliances for teaching, the school room walls, in most cases, are bare of everything that would excite any special interest in the young, or call forth either patriotic feeling, <»r en- thusiasm in our national affairs, or even in our local Canadian History. f i 6 SCHOOL-ROOM I >KVi) RATION. NATIONAL AND PATRIOTIC PICTURES IN UNITED STATES' SCHOOLS. During a recent visit to New England, I was greatly impressed, as well as interested, in finding that this state of affairs was not permitted to exist among our neighbours. There, every effort, of late years, has been ni;ide to interest children, — through their senses, — in regard to the more notable ev^ents, illustrative of the early history of the United States. Arrangements have been made largely in Boston, but also in New York, and elsewhere, for the production of striking lithographs, engraved prints and large photo- graphs, designed to emphasize momentous and menu>rable events in the National History of the American people on the minds of the larger Scholars, e3f)ecially in regard to their Military History and the Revolutionary War, and also in regard to the War of 1812. WHAT OUR HISTORICAL SOCIETIES MIGHT DO.- SUGGESTIONS. It has occurred to me that, with the aid of our now numerous local Historical Societies, the subject of School Room Decoration, with national and patriotic pictures, might be most effectively brought before the i^eople of Canada, so that we too might have our School-Rooms decorated with patriotic pictures, illustrative of our National and Provincial histories. For instance, instead of the portrait of General George Washing- ton (as in the American Schools), we might have in our Schools, that of Her Gracious Majesty the Queen ; instead of the Declaration of Independence, we might have our Magna Charta, printed in clear type ; instead of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we might have a tine picture of King Jt)hn, signing the Charter, in presence of his Barons ; instead of Paul Revere's famous Ride, wo might have a picture of Mrs. Secord's notjiblo Walk through the Woods and past the Sentries to warn Col. Fitzgibbon of the coming enemy ; for the "Surrender of Burgoyne" and Cornwallis, wo might have a picture of the Surrender ctf Hull at Detroit ; and pictures of |)he Holding of the Palisaded Fort by the "Heroes of the Longue f' '-^^-^ '£-.s^' j — ^■■i''^^^lmfl>^l#i^ The Island and British Fort of Michilimarkinac (Mackinac). SCnOOL-ROOM DECORATION. 7 Sault," or of the Defence (^f Saint John, New lirunswick by Mndnine la Tour, etL-n(>(>M DKCOJIA TTON. l'} ill lit,! Sclutol cliililron hocdnie }ic(|naiiitocl with pictures, hy socin^ iu)t;ible oiios on tlio School WiiU — a more or less ponnanon feature of their daily cMvironuient. In tlie special class-room, where the child does most of his daily work, a single piclurc, carefully chosen, nuiy exert a deeper anJ more abiding influence on him than a number selected with less cai'o. Only the best pictures — as liuskin says— shctuld be given a place on the home walls ; for they are things to live with, and t. ^-;"jf :*^i M^ y/M n- k^k a- e. H]h 8(* ^55'" -JEl 1 ly ^» '-^ -: :■ ^^*'^rni iiii , iiui !n'8 It ^^^^^^^^^^^^B^^^B^^M^B^^^Ki^MiBy^WV ** w, ^^BT^l^E^^^P^^M^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^M 2 Laura Secord Crossing. ' "■^■*^"-....w;. 1 SCHOOL- ROOM DECORATION. » Besides, let children have a glimpHe into the ideals of beauty, embodied in things visible, or visably pourtrayed, and it will react upon their daily lives and their surroundings. The influence of pictures in a Schf)ol-room is such, that they give children correct ideas of the beautiful, and will be sure to open their eyes to their surrounding conditions, bo that they will at once begin to improve them. The children of all classes spend, during the most plastic period of their lives, nearly one-half of their waking hours in the School- room ; and it is there that we must seek to surround them with refining influences, and instil into their very souls the desire for culture and refinement that shall counteract an adverse influence at home, or will supplement a good and pleasant one there. And this can be done ; and is being done to-day in a vast number of Schools. It is this movement, now on foot, that will have a strong reflex influence for good on the home, and its surroundings. It means a new and intelligent and interesting interpretation of our history as a people. And the bringing of such a spirit into public education is not a fanciful theory ; it is a great and potent reality. THE UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION ON PICTURE SELECTION. The Hon. Dr. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education, at Washington, referring to the influence of pictures on taste and imagination, says : — The greatest Works of Art should become the ones most familiar to the people. Care should be t-iken, therefore, to select for a School (Room) only these great works, to lead the pupil into an understanding of the motives of their conception, and then to point out the artistic means and devices for the expression of thought or idea conveyed, . . . The photographic art has made possible School- Room instruction in the great works of architecture, sculp- ture and painting. The greatest and best works should be selected rather than the thir , or fourth, rate ones. ■ I, I J.„J 10 aOHOGL-HiH )M DECOH A TION. \'.' SILENT BUT CONSTANT INFLUENCE OF NATIONAL AND PATRIOTIC PICTURES. Mr. Goodnough, Supervisor of Drawing in the Brooklyn Schools, N.Y., in a Report on Art Education, of which I only ^'ive the sub- stance, sa^'s : — It is important tliat a high standard he maintained. Pictures or other works of Art, on the School-Room Wall, exert a silent but constant influence on those who see them, either in the formation of good taste, or in vitiating it. . . . Pictures for the Schcjol- Room Walls should be entirely th3 (if we except the more ancient Province of Nova Scotia). Although but a short period in excess of a century and a (juarter, the country is not wanting in a varied and eventful history. The Dominion may indeed be regarded as the product of a series of independent influences, one following the other, from the time when Cabot, four centuries back, tirst looked upon the shores of the New World. In this respect it presents features similar to those which: attend the development of every community ; often a series of circumstances become harmonized into a consequent result, the origin of which it is not always possible directly to trace. There are always, however, standing V •^J ^i. SCHOOLROOM DECORATION. 17 out in prominence the great names and the important eventH to denote the forces and factors which determine history. Such we find in the incipient stages of Canada ; and the procesH of develop- ment which this country has jmssed through furnishes the record which claims our attention and yields to us memories of famous individuals whose lives challenge <»ur admiration. — Paper by Sir Siindford Fleming, Canadian Institute, Toronto, Feb., 1S93. The Queen's Rangers. that most notable (jolonial volunteer corps, wliich was first organized in the New England settlements before the British conquest of Canada by his great- grandfather, Major Robert Rogers, who was its first commanding officer, and was succeeded in 1777 by Colonel Simcoe, afterwards the first Governor of Upper Canada. One instance may be cited of the manner of fighting in those old days. The Queen's Rangers were equipped each with a firelock, sixty rounds of powder and ball, and a hatchet. The eighth para- graph of their regulations reads as follows : — " If the enemy pursue you in the rear, take a circle till you come to your own tracks, and then form an ambush and give them the first fire." Among the many interesting things recorded was the escape of Major Rogers at the rock on Lake George, still known as '* Rogers' Slide." There were many stories of hard fighting, and of the devilish cruelties and tortures to which the Indians put ubeir prisoners, and of forced marches on snowshoes. Amherst, Aber- crombie, Wolfe and Haviland were the British generals in whose operations the Queen's Rangers had an important part, in the great engagement at Fort Ticonderoga, in July, 1758, in which Lord Howe was killed, the British lost 1,944 officers and men. In this battle the Queen's Rangers were among the best troops on the British side. From Quebec to Detroit their deeds of bravery, adventurous daring, and endurance were among the most important events of the campaign. In June, 1760, Major Rogers, with his Rangers, went to Detroit, with the news of the capitulation of Quebec, to receive the submis- sion of that fortified place. 18 SCHOOL. R0( >M DECORA TION. ii If ft If II I In January, 1776, Major Rogers was appointed Governor of Mackinaw. A few years later he went to England, where he died in 1784. — Lecture by Lt.-Col. R. Z. Rogers, of Cohonnj, at Toronto, Jannre back tlie stubborn foe With loyal heai-t and weapon strong, Just eighty yeai-s ago. But not alone in battle-rield Uid heroes staunch and brave, Yield up their lives in honors cause Our country's flag to save. In savage forests deep and rlread, Beset with hardships fell ; Our fathers toiled, then sank to sleep Within each lonely dell. Their niemoiy lives upon our streams Their deeds upon our plains, They need nor shaft nor monument Nor gold-embla/.on'd fanes. u Here Died Volfe, Victorio us.' Milit;uj(.„eration«atf^„,.,.e... ,;.-,f,. Capture of Louiahourg in 1 745. 24 SCHOOL-ROOM DECORATION. In virtues link'd tlirough ages Shall their great strong lives How on Inspiring souls to nobler deetls From patriot sire to son. Theirs be the glory, oins the l