A new system of geography, for the use of schools; accompanied with an atlas ...

II Akd

SIDNEY EDWARDS MORSE, A.M.

NEW- YORK : PUBLISHED BY COLLINS k BANNA V,

•J. & J. Harper, Printers.

DISTBICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, to wit :

District eierWs Office,

BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the twenty-fifth day of November, A. D. 1822, and in the forty-Beventh year of the Independence of the United States of America, Jedidi^h Morsg, D. D. and Sidney Edwards Morse, A. M. of the said District, have deposited in this Ofiice the title of a Book, the right whereof they claim as Authors, in the words following, to wit :

*' A New System of Geography, Ancient and Modern, for the Use of Schools, accompanied with an Atlas, adapted to the work. By Jedidiah Morse, D. O. and Sidney Edwards Morse, A. M. Twenty-third Edition."

In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, " An Act for the encouragement of Learning, hy securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of su'ch Copies, during the times therein mentioned :" and also to an Act, entitled, "An Act supplement* ary to an Act, entitled, "•' An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by seeqriug the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned ; and extendmg the benefits thereof to the Arts of Designiag, Engraving, and Etching Historical antl other prints."

JOHN W. DAVIS, Clerk ef the District of Metssachusdis.

PREFACE,

The first edition of this work, which was the first book of geography of any kind ever printed in America, was prepared by the senior author, (now no more) and published at New Haven, in the year 1784. Previous to that date, the study of geography, we believe, was unknown in our common schools, except where the teacher himself prepared a manuscript text-book for the use of his pupils. Such a text-book was prepared by the senior author for the use of the literary institution in which he was at that ^ime an instructor ; and it was the inconvenience and loss of time to which his pupils were subjected in copying his ananuscript, that suggested to him the thought of publishing this work, — a work, that proved to be merely the first of a series of geographical publications, which, collectively, it is beheved, have been more extensively circulated than the geographical works of any other individual, in any age or country ; not less than 500,000 volumes having been sold, principally in this country, but partly in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and Germany, in all which countries some of his larger works have been reprinted.

At the time when Dr. Morse commenced his labours, the preparation of a system of geography, in which a description of the United States must hold a prominent place, was no easy task. There were then no maps, no books of

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(ravels, no state gazetteers, no printed descriptions of important institutions, which so much diminish the labour ©f the geographer at the present day. To obtain the materials for his works, he was under the necessity of visiting, in person, every state in the union, of making himself acquainted every where with gentlemen of intelligence, and of supporting for a long time an extensive correspondence. In this way he obtained volumes of informa* tion, which, till then, had not been communicated in any iorm to the public. The task was Herculean, and it was performed amid a pressure of professional and other cares, sufficient of themselves to have exhausted the powers of an ordinary man. To say that works prepared under such circumstances were imperfect, is only to say that one man could not perfectly perform the work of ten. That they were greatly in advance of what the country had a right to expect, is evinced by the fact, that fov thirty years they were without a rival. During this long period, they were the only works extensively used in our colleges, academies and schools ; and where, we may ask, is the country, in which the mass of the population were, at that time, better informed on the subject of geography than the citizens of the United States ] That there have been recently introduced some important improvements in the art of teaching this science, partly of European and partly of American origin, is cheerfully acknowledged ; but when the question is tried, " to whom are the public most indebted for the progress of geographical knowledge in this country," justice will not withhold the wreath from him by whom it was so hardly won— ^ the Father of American geography.

The first important advance upon the old method of in«

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struction was made in 1808, when the late Mr. Cummings, to whom the public are indebted for several valuable improvements in books for children and youth, published his School geography. This work was, professedly, on the plan of Guy and Goldsmith, and, like their geographies, was accompanied with an Atlas, and questions on the maps. In these points, Mr. Cummings made no claim to originality. He had the merit, however, of being the first to introduce from abroad this valuable improvement, an^ his work received on that account, as it deserved, an extensive patronage. Since the appearance of Cummings' geography, many others have been published, several of which are well planned and neatly executed ; and the authors of all, we believe, have followed the example of Mr. Cummings, in accompanying their works with Atlases and Questions on the maps, after the manner generally |)ractised in Europe.

The name of the junior author was for the first time associated with this work in the twenty-second edition, which was published in 1820. At that time he undertook the task of re-writing the volume on a new plan, the prominent feature of which was, " General and comparative views" of the various subjects treated of in the volume, accompanied with Remarks and Questions, designed to assist the memory and strengthen the judgment of the pupil, by teaching him to compare and CLASSIFY pacts. This plan was believed by the author at the time to be an important improvement, and his opinion has been confirmed by the fact, that other school geographies, into which it has since been introduced, have received the most decisive marks of public favour. The first edition of Mr. Woodbridge's small geography, which was^^

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Preface

published near the close of the year 1821, has the same plan, with several new features ; and in the larger geo- ;5raphy of Mr. Woodhridge and Mrs. Willard, the first edition of which was published in 1822, the same principle is applied on an extensive scale to a great variety of subjects, with an industry and ingenuity, which havebecH highly and deservedly praised.

In thus introducing the names of two authors, for whonj ^e entertain the highest respect, we feel bound in justice to them to state, that they also claim the merit of originatingi and of originating independently of each other, the plan to which we have alluded. Each of them also claims to have made the invention at a date previous to the publication oi our work. This is certainly a aingular coincidence, and most persons will probably be disposed to think that it could not have happened, unless the plan of one of the parties had in some way been communicated to the others. We feel a pleasure in saying, that we entertain no such suspicions of our fellow-claimants ; and for ourselves, we can affirm that the plan was purely the result of our own reflections, un^ aided by a single hint or suggestion from any individual, and without the slightest knowledge that any thing in the re* motest degree resembling it, had ever before been con^ templated.

The advantages of the new plan will be best illustrated by a few examples.

Take, for instaace, the subject of Commerce. Formerly, the inibrmation under this head was usually a dry catalogue of the articles of export or import in each country — Maine exports lumber, ashes, beef, and pork ; New-Hampshire exports lumber, ashes, beef, pork, and flax-seed ; Massachusetts exports fish, beef, pork, lumber, and oil ; and so on. — Now how is the mind of a child to dispose of so

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many insulated facts ? How irksome the task of committing such lists to memory ! and how unprofitable ! for even if the mind retains them, vrhat valuable knowledge is obtained of the commerce of the country? — Turn now to p. 248, and observe how this subject is treated on the new plan. We have^ in the first place, a table of the principal articles of export arranged m the order of their value ; — > next, we have remarks assigning each article to its appropriate district ; — the cotton is referred to one large section of the country ; the wheat, to another ; and the tobacco, to a third. Reasons also are assigned why particular articles belong to particular districts — the rice to the Carolinas and Georgia, because of their swampS — the beef and hides to New-England, because of her pastures — the fish and oil to Massachusetts, because of the fisheries, carried on from her long line of populous sea-coast. — Thus the pupil is taught to reason on the subject, and when facts are once connected togeiher by a process of reasoning, they are indelibly fixed in the memory.

So also, in the general view of the eommerce of the world, p. 271^ after giving a list of the various countries, with the exports from each, we make brief remarks, designed to teach the pupil to classify the facts in the table, and reason upon them. — Manufactured goods come from thickly settled countries ; because in such countries, only a portion of the population cau be employed in tilling- the ground, and the rest naturally derive their subsistence by manufacturing various articles, and carrying them to the people of thinly settled countries, from whom they receive in exchange the produce of their agriculture, mines, forests, or fisheries. By going over the table with this remark in his mind, the pupil perceives that he is not under the necessity of learning a long list of unconnected names, but that in almost every case he can form associations which will entirely relieve his memory.

Take, for another exam pie, the subject of Religious denominations. On the old plan, the only information under this head was usually a bare enumeration of the different sects. In Maine, there are Baptists and Congregationaiists ; in Connecticut, Congregationalists, Baptists, Methodists, and Episcopalians; in New-York, all thescj and Friends, Reformed Dutch, Roman Catholics, &c. We need not repeat, that a child burdens his memory, and gets little profitable i"nstruction, when he learns in this way. In our table on p. 247, we show the comparative numbers of the different sects, and then, by a few brief remarks, assign the boundaries of each. Thus we give, in

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a few lines, all the information which was communicated on the old plan, and much more ; and we g-ive it m a way which renders it easy for the memory to retain it permanently.

Take next the table of the Religions of the European states, oa p. 263. By comparing' the different states we find, that with two or three exceptions, all the northern countries are Protestant, and all the southern, Catholic. With the aid of this single remark the labor of the memory is reduced almost to nothing. A child of ordinary capacity, who has merely learnt which countries are in the north of Europe, and which in the south, will be able after a few minutes' study of the table, to answer every question which can be put to him on the subject. And here we would ask, of what use is a chart exhibiting by emb'ema the religions, governments, and degrees of civilization in different countries, when the whole objec* can be so much more effectually accoinplished by simple classijication ?*

But the "General and comparative views'' form on!} one feature of our improvement. The vsrhole plan embraces three things. 1. Outline views of the globe and its grand divisions. 2. Connected descriptions in detail ol the different countries or parts of each outline. And 3. Recapitulatory, or general and comparative views. Thif^ is the plan which the mind requires in order to the easy performance of its task. — After having described very briefly the shape and size of the earth, and its relations to other parts of the universe, the pupil should be presented witli a brief outline of the surface of the whole globe ; consisting

* If a Table were made of the religions, governments, and degrees of civilization of the principal countries of the world, in the style of the tables in thi^ volume, remarks might be added, in a few lines, so classifying the facts, that a pupil would acquire nearly all the information on these subjects contained iu Mr. Woodbridge's ingenious chart, in less than half the time necessary to acquire it from that chart J^and when thus acquired, the imjtression on the mind would be beyond comparison more durable and more satisfactory. Th: truth is, classification is the true method of assisting the memory, and wherever the subject admits of this method, all other contrivances, however ingcnioas iwe of no real value.

PREFACE^ IX of little else than the names and relative position of its oceans, continents, and grand divisions. He is then prepared to commence immediately the study of some one of these divisions — North America, for example — and here, he should be presented with another outline, exhibiting the prominent features of the country, such as the mountain ranges, the great river lines, the principal bays and gulfs, the long chain of lakes, &c. in describing all which, care should be taken to introduce no names which will not be immediately intelligible to the pupil. Such a view will prepare him to rotYie with advantage to the study of the descriptions of particulai; countries, and any further introduction to these descriptions, we conceive to be entirely unnecessary. The plan of beginning elementary treatises of geography, with general views of the animal, mineral, and vegetable kingdoms, of the various races of men, degrees of civilization of different nations, &c. we conceive, is wholly wrong, because, in giving such views, there is a constant use of the names of countries, people, and places, with which the pupil has not yet been made acquainted. The object of every introductory view, in an elementary treatise, should be to make the succeeding pai'ts of the work more intelligible. It is, therefore, highly improper to insert here what cannot be understood, till the pupil has arrived at the close of the volume.

The same observations apply to the second head of our plan — the descriptions in detail of different countries. — Here also, there is an order to be observed, there is a connection and dependence of the various heads, which make it proper that they should follow each other in a particular succession. This has been heretofore much neglected by all geographical writers. Towns, rivers, mountainSj cb,^

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nais, &c. are thrown together without any reference to the proper order of description, and thus the student is compelled to go over the account again and again, before | he can get a connected view of the whole country. We |j have endeavoured to avoid this error. For example, in. !i the account of Spain, p. 183, after naming the boundaries, ;; divisions and capes, we give a connected view of the great j mountain ranges, showing how they all spring from the Pyrenees, and diverge into different parts of the peninsiila. The rivers are desciibed after the mountains and in reference to them, because the course in which they run is de-» termined by the ridges, each great river draining the country between two of the mountain ranges. Cities come after rivers, because in describing the position of some of the cities, we have occasion to name the rivers on which I they stand. Thus, instead of a mass of names and things, i having no perceptible connection with each other, the pupil l linds that he can put them together in a regular series, and often, that he can reason from one to the other. Thus natural associations are formed, which aid the memory, P and the acquisition of knowledge in this way becomes i easy and delightful.

The Junior Author.

New-York, Nov. 1827.

Remarks to Teachers.

in yecitingthe tables included in the general and comparative views, the pnpil gliould be allowed at first to answer the questions which are asked, and such Others as the teacher may see fit to add, with the table before him. The same remark is applicable to quetitions on the maps.

In asking the questions on the maps we have often used the elliptical style. The words to be supplied, however, will generally be found in Italics at the ^mmencement of the paragraph.