Mosaics of Grecian historyTitle: Mosaics of Grecian History Author: Marcius Willson and Robert Pierpont WillsonRelease Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6841][Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule][This file was first posted on January 31, 2003]Edition: 10Language: EnglishCharacter set encoding: ASCII*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOSAICS OF GRECIAN HISTORY ***Produced by Robert J. HallMOSAICS OF GRECIAN HISTORY BY MARCIUS WILLSON AND ROBERT PIERPONT WILLSONPREFACE.The leading object had in view in the preparation of the presentvolume has been to produce, within a moderate compass, a Historyof Greece that shall not only be trustworthy, but interestingto all classes of readers.It must be acknowledged that our standard historical works, withall their worth, do not command a perusal by the people at large;and it is equally plain that our ordinary School Manuals--theabridgments and outlines of more voluminous works--do not meetwith any greater favor. The mere outline system of historicalstudy usually pursued in the schools is interesting to those onlyto whom it is suggestive of the details on which it is based; andwe have long been satisfied that it is not the best for beginnersand for popular use; that it inverts the natural order of acquisition; that for the young to master it is drudgery; thatits statistical enumeration, if ever learned by them, is soonforgotten; that it tends to create a prejudice against the studyof history; that it does not lay the proper foundation for futurehistorical reading; and that, outside of the enforced study of the school-room, it is seldom made use of. The people in general--themasses--do not read such works, while they do read with avidityΣελίδα 1
Mosaics of Grecian historyhistorical legends, historical romances, historical poems anddramas, and biographical sketches. And we do not hesitate to assertthat from Shakspeare's historical plays the reading public haveacquired (together with much other valuable information) ahundred-fold more knowledge of certain portions of English historythan from all the ponderous tomes of formal history that have everbeen written. It may be said that people ought to read Hume, andLingard, and Mackintosh, and Hallam, and Froude, and Freeman,instead of Shakspeare's "King John," and "Richard II.," and "HenryIV.," and "Henry VIII.," etc. It is a sufficient reply to say theydo not.Historical works, therefore, to be read by the masses, must beadapted to the popular taste. It was an acknowledgment of thistruth that led Macaulay, the most brilliant of historians, toremark, "We are not certain that the best histories are not thosein which a little of the exaggeration of fictitious narrativeis judiciously employed. Something is lost in accuracy, but muchis gained in effect. The fainter lines are neglected, but thegreat characteristic features are imprinted on the mind forever."If the result to which Macaulay refers be once attained by anintroductory work so interesting that it shall come into generaluse, it will, we believe, naturally lead to the reading of someof the best standard works in the same historical field. In ourattempt to make this a work of such a preparatory character, wehave borne in mind the demand that has arisen for poetic illustrationin the reading and teaching of history, and have given thisdelightful aid to historical study a prominent place--ofttimesmaking it the sole means of imparting information. And yet wehave introduced nothing that is not strictly consistent with ourideal of what history should be; for although some of the poeticselections are avowedly wholly legendary, and others, still, ina greater or less degree fictitious in their minor details--likethe by-plays in Shakspeare's historic dramas--we believe they dono violence to historical verity, as they are faithful picturesof the times, scenes, incidents, principles, and beliefs whichthey are employed to illustrate. Aside, too, from their historicinterest, they have a literary value. Many prose selections fromthe best historians are also introduced, giving to the narrativea pleasing variety of style that can be found in no one writer,even if he be a Grote, a Gibbon, or a Macaulay.* * * * *THE PRINCIPAL HISTORIES OF GREECE.Believing that it may be of some advantage to the general reader,we give herewith a brief sketch of the principal histories of Greece now before the public. We may mention, among those of acomprehensive character, the works of Goldsmith, Gillies, Mitford,Thirlwall, Grote, and Curtius:OLIVER GOLDSMITH, "the popular poet, the charming novelist, thesuccessful dramatist, and the witty essayist," wrote a popularhistory of Greece, in two volumes, 8vo, 1774, embracing a periodfrom the earliest date down to the death of Alexander the Great.Σελίδα 2
Mosaics of Grecian historyIt is an attractive work, elegantly written, but is superficialand inaccurate.In 1786 was published a history of ancient Greece, in severalvolumes, by DR. JOHN GILLIES, who succeeded Dr. Robertson ashistoriographer of Scotland. This is a work of considerable meritbut it is written in a spirit of decidedly monarchical tendencies,although the author evidently aimed at great fairness in hispolitical views.He says: "The history of Greece exposes the dangerous turbulenceof democracy, and arraigns the despotism of tyrants. By describingthe incurable evils inherent in every republican policy, it evincesthe inestimable benefits resulting to liberty itself from thelawful dominion of hereditary kings, and the steady operationof well-regulated monarchy."In the year 1784 appeared the first volume of WILLIAM MITFORD'S"History of Greece", subsequently extended to eight and ten volumes,8vo. It is the first history of Greece that combines extensiveresearch and profound philosophical reflection; but it is "amonarchical" history, by a writer of very strong anti-republicanprinciples. "It was composed," says Alison, the distinguishedhistorian of modern Europe, "during, or shortly after, the FrenchRevolution; and it was mainly intended to counteract the visionaryideas in regard to the blessings of Grecian democracy, which hadspread so far in the world, from the magic of Athenian genius."Says Chancellor Kent: "Mitford does not scruple to tell the truth,and the whole truth, and to paint the stormy democracies of Greecein all their grandeur and in all their wretchedness." Lord Byronsaid of the author: "His great pleasure consists in praising tyrants,abusing Plutarch, spelling oddly, and writing quaintly; and--whatis strange, after all--his is the best modern history of Greecein any language." But this was penned before Thirlwall's and Grote'shistories were published. Lord Macaulay says of Mitford: "Wheneverthis historian mentions Demosthenes he violates all the laws of candor and even of decency: he weighs no authorities, he makesno allowances, he forgets the best authenticated facts in thehistory of the times, and the most generally recognized principlesof human nature." The North British Review, after calling Mitford"a bad scholar, a bad historian, and a bad writer of English,"says, farther, that "he was the first writer of any note who foundout that Grecian history was a living thing with a practicalbearing."The next truly important and comprehensive Grecian history,published from 1835 to 1840, in eight volumes, 8vo, was writtenby CONNOP THIRLWALL, D. D., Bishop of St. David's. It is a scholarly,elaborate, and philosophical work evincing a thorough knowledgeof Greek literature and of the German commentators. The historianGrote said that, if it had appeared a few years earlier, he shouldprobably never have undertaken his own history of Greece. "Ishould certainly," he says, "not have been prompted to the task by any deficiencies such as those I felt and regretted in Mitford."In comparing Thirlwall's history with Grote's, the North BritishΣελίδα 3
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Mosaics of Grecian History by Marcius Willson and Robert Pierpont Willson
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