aper print.

Beware of hasty, strained, and imperfect generalizations. A historian
should always remember that he is a sort of trustee for his readers. No
matter how copious may be his notes, he cannot fully explain his
processes or the reason of his confidence in one witness and not in
another, his belief in one honest man against a half dozen untrustworthy
men, without such prolixity as to make a general history unreadable.
Now, in this position as trustee he is bound to assert nothing for which
he has not evidence, as much as an executor of a will or the trustee for
widows and orphans is obligated to render a correct account of the
moneys in his possession. For this reason Grote has said, "An historian
is bound to produce the materials upon which he builds, be they never so
fantastic, absurd, or incredible." Hence the necessity for footnotes.
While mere illustrative and interesting footnotes are perhaps to be
avoided, on account of their redundancy, those which give authority for
the statements in the text can never be in excess. Many good histories
have undoubtedly been published where the authors have not printed their
footnotes; but they must have had, nevertheless, precise records for
their authorities. The advantage and necessity of printing the notes is
that you furnish your critic an opportunity of finding you out if you
have mistaken or strained your authorities. Bancroft's example is
peculiar. In his earlier volumes he used footnotes, but in volume vii he
changed his plan and omitted notes, whether of reference or explanation.
Nor do you find them in either of his carefully revised editions. "This
is done," Bancroft wrote in the preface to his seventh volume, "not from
an unwillingness to subject every statement of fact, even in its
minutest details, to the severest scrutiny; but from the variety and the
multitude of the papers which have been used and which could not be
intelligently cited without a disproportionate commentary." Again,
Blaine's "Twenty Years of Congress," a work which, properly weighed, is
not without historical value, is only to be read with great care on
account of his hasty and inaccurate generalizations. There are evidences
of good, honest labor in those two volumes, much of which must have been
done by himself. There is an aim at truth and impartiality, but many of
his general statements will seem, to any one who has gone over the
original material, to rest on a slight basis. If Blaine