Excerpt from The Foundation and Growth of the British EmpireIt is in my opinion a mistake in such a text-book to deal extensively in generalisations and the discussion of abstract principles. What is necessary to leave a permanent im~ pression on the mind of a possibly indifferent student is an abundance of vivid detail carefully selected so as to concentrate attention on the salient features of the story. In this respect it is important to discriminate between the requirements of the advanced and the elementary student. Seeley's Growth of British Policy, for example, is fasci nating reading for one who already has the facts at his fingers' ends, but it would be of little interest to the average boy at school. If, therefore, one can succeed in so handling the subject that it will be studied from interest rather than compulsion, it will be safe to leave in great measure to the teacher the task of deducing general principles and correlating the facts. A good teacher, indeed, will stimulate his pupils to do this for themselves.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.