nation until we know its predominant beliefs. Magic
and animism are beliefs everywhere held by mankind in early stages of
culture, and they influence every action of life. But that is not all:
these beliefs retain their hold upon great multitudes of civilised men
and affect the thoughts of the most enlightened. Whilst the saying 'that
human nature is the same in all ages' seems to make no allowance for the
fact that, in some nations, a considerable number of individuals has
attained to powers of deliberation, self-control, and exact reasoning,
far above the barbarous level, it is yet so far true that, even in
civilised countries, masses of people, were it not for the example and
instruction of those individuals, would fall back upon magic and animism
and the manners that go with those beliefs. The different degrees of
enlightenment enjoyed by different classes of the population often
enable the less educated to preserve a barbarous custom amidst many
civilised characteristics of the national life.
Sec. 8. Historical reasoning must start from, or be verified by,
observations. If we are writing the history of ourselves: if of another
time or country, we can observe some of the present conditions of the
country, its inhabitants, language, manners, institutions, which are
effects of the past and must be traceable to it; we may also be able to
observe ancient buildings or their ruins, funerary remains, coins,
dating from the very times we are to treat of. Our own observations, of
course, are by no means free from error.
But even in treating of our own age and country, most of our information
must be derived from the testimony of others, who may have made mistakes
of observation and further mistakes in reporting their observations, or
may have intentionally falsified them. Testimony is of two kinds: Oral;
and Written, inscribed or printed. In investigating the events of a
remote age, nearly all our direct evidence must be some sort of
testimony.
(1) Oral testimony depends upon the character of the witness; and the
best witness is not perfectly trustworthy; for he may not have observed
accurately, or he may not have reported correctly; especially if some
time elapsed between the event and his account of it; for no man's
memory is perfect. Since witnesses vary widely in capacity and
integrity, we must ask concerning any one of them--was he a good judge
of what he saw, and of what was really important in the event? Had he
|