d Lower
Canada by the Constitutional Act of 1791 became necessary. These dates,
so close together, emphasize the rapidity with which events moved in
that period, as well as the sequence of cause and effect. We think also
of the dates of Cartier's voyages, 1534, 1535, and 1541, merely to raise
the question as to why so much time elapsed between the second and third
voyages. When these points are properly seen, the events are kept in
place by their relation of cause and effect, and the dates lose their
value. Moreover, the relations thus discovered will do most toward
fixing these dates in the memory. It should be understood, therefore,
that dates are only a means to an end, not an end in themselves.

It is important also to know the dates of certain events when we are
studying the history of several countries, in order that we may consider
together those events that are contemporary.

There are, of course, some dates that should be remembered because of
the importance of the events connected with them, for example: 1066,
1215, 1492, 1603, 1688, 1759, 1776, 1789, 1841, 1867.

In the Junior Forms, because the pupils are still lacking in the
"historical sense," little emphasis need be put on the giving of dates.
A few of the most important may be given in Form II, but it is very
questionable if they have any significance to the pupils at this early
stage.

CHAPTER IV

SPECIAL TOPICS

CURRENT EVENTS

The study of history should not end with what is contained in
text-books, for the making of history never ceases. The study of current
events will be found to be a very valuable element in history teaching.
Teachers and pupils who are interested in the events of to-day are much
more likely to be interested in the events of the past. A knowledge of
current events will arouse curiosity in what led up to them, will
suggest a motive for studying the past, and will often supply concrete
examples for both history and civics. In fact, the teaching of civics
may be based almost entirely on current events. (See Civics, p. 52 et
seq.) The influence of a knowledge of current events on the study of
history is very plainly seen to-day in the earnest and widespread effort
to discover the causes of the war that is devastating Europe at the
present time. History becomes real when pupils understand that what is
happening now has its roots in the past and, at the same time, is
history in the making. For example, the present war w