By supplying her own dialogue she shows exactly how much she knows of the
character, and I am able to judge how far the lesson has been
assimilated. Fifteen years hence I venture to think Scottish Mary or
Queen Elizabeth will still be vivid remembrances to her; but would she be
able to tell the date of the battle of Pinkie? And would it be of very
vital importance whether she did or not? In my opinion to grasp the main
motives of history and to follow the evolution of the British nation is
far more necessary than memorising dates. Of course, a few must be
insisted on, or there would be no means of relative comparison, but these
few, accurately learnt, are better than a number repeated glibly without
any particular conception of their importance."
In the teaching of geography Miss Mitchell also put her theories into
action. As taught in many schools she thought it was a wearisome subject.
"You don't want to knock into a child's head the names of the capes and
bays of Africa or the population of Canada, but you want to give it some
conception of the different countries on the face of God's earth.
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