Reissued for use in the United Kingdom. BY H. J. MACKINDER, Lately Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science: Author of “Britain and the British Seas.” With Lantern Illustrations. ONE SHILLING NET. PUBLISHED FOR THE VISUAL INSTRUCTION COMMITTEE OF THE COLONIAL OFFICE, BY WATERLOW & SONS LIMITED, PRINTERS, LONDON WALL. 1909. ONE SHILLING NET. PUBLISHED FOR THE VISUAL INSTRUCTION COMMITTEE OF THE COLONIAL OFFICE, BY WATERLOW & SONS LIMITED, PRINTERS, LONDON W

THE component parts of the British Empire are so remote and so different from one another, that it is evident that the Empire can only be held together by sympathy and understanding, based on widely diffused knowledge of its geography, history, resources, climates, and races. It is obvious that if this knowledge is to be effective it must be imparted to the coming generation. In other words it must be taught in the Schools of the Empire. In the Autumn of 1902, a Committee was appointed by the Se

THE object of these Lectures, and of the lantern slides which accompany them, is to give to the school children of India, through their eyes as well as their ears, a true and simple impression of what the United Kingdom and its people are like. If this intention has in any degree been realised, it is probable that with some modification of the form of the lectures the interest of adults may also be aroused. The changes necessary to suit particular circumstances may be introduced in the process o

The British Empire consists of a number of lands scattered over the whole world. Some of the most important of these lands are round the Indian Ocean. In this map we see to the east Australia, to the west South Africa, and to the north India, which are three out of the six or seven great lands belonging to the Empire. Then there are smaller lands; some of them so small that on the general map of the Indian Ocean they hardly appear. We can only show their names and a dot for their positions. Such

Before we set out through the largest and most populous city of the world, let us consider what it is that we are going to look at. Let us try to understand the size of the United Kingdom and of London by comparing them with India and its chief cities. First we have a map showing the area of the British Isles compared with the area of India. We see that the British Isles are small as compared with India; but they have a far more dense population. There are more than twice as many people to the s

At the close of the last Lecture we found ourselves in one of the chief railway stations of London, from which the railways go out through the open country—twenty different lines in twenty different directions—to end on the coasts around the island of Great Britain. We might, of course, take a train from one of these stations and travel rapidly through the country; but I prefer that you should go another way, by which you will see more. Here, in this map, we have the English Channel, up which ou

The English did not always live in the British Islands. They came, long centuries ago, across the sea from the mainland of Europe. Before them there lived in the islands peoples of whom we know but little. Some of these early peoples have, however, left to us monuments, which have been preserved in the more lonely parts of the country. They were apparently temples, built with great stones, such as we see here at Stonehenge. Of the language of the people who built them we know nothing—of their ar

In the last Lecture we saw how the history of England, and the monuments which have come from it, surround the schools and the universities, and influence the upbringing of the men whom we know here in India as officers of the Army and of the Navy, as Civil Servants, and as merchants. Let us now, however, describe the early surroundings of those whom we know chiefly as the rank and file of the Army and as the sailors of the Navy. Let us consider the homes of the people outside the Metropolis—the

Five hundred, six hundred, and seven hundred years ago Britain was what Australia is now. It supplied nearly the whole of Europe with wool. As we have seen in the last lecture, the agriculture and the pasture of Britain are still important, but now, of course, Britain’s fame is chiefly as a mining, an industrial, and a commercial country. Even in antiquity there was one part of the land which was important on account of its mines. The oldest mines of Britain are tin mines, and they are still wor

Though we are so many miles away, I think you will agree that in the past six Lectures we have seen something of the two islands which are the centre of the British Empire. These islands are interesting to us because the great Empire of which we are a part has grown from them. Let us devote this last Lecture to the Empire as a whole. Let us learn how it is held together, and how it is defended, so that there may be peace and justice in all its parts. In this map we see once more that the British