NEW YORK

UNIVERSALIST QUARTERLY

AND

GENERAL REVIEW.

ARTICLE I.

A Course of Historical Reading.

[Prepared with reference exclusively to American Books, or American Editions.]

THE grand object of history is, rightly using all the means, to reproduce, in daguerreotype as it were, the actual life and condition of a people at any specific period of their existence; or, if the plan embrace so much, their whole existence from infancy to old age, decay and final dissolution. The books which do not accomplish all this, are not history, but only parts or fragments of history. A bare chronological table of dynasties, the birth, reign and death of kings, of battles, conquests and revolutions; a record of the intrigues and projects of statesmen and politicians, of the life and manners of courts - these make but a small part of history; and yet, mostly, history has been written in this way, and to this extent, only. It is seldom that the plan of the historian has embraced religion, the progress of science and the arts, the interests of agriculture and commerce, and the effect of these and of the government and the laws on the national and social life of the people; education, language, manners, morals, superstitions, amusements, their dwellings, furniture, implements of labor, food, &c.—in a word, the very life of the

people in all these most important relations, the knowledge of which can alone furnish a true picture of the age and the actual condition of society.

Indeed, it is not till within a few years that any thing like history in the breadth and detail of this definition has been attempted. Carlyle has given us some fragments of this sort, single scenes from the great panorama; as, for example, his fire-pictures of the French Revolution, painted in liquid lava, flashing up from his canvass with wild red glare, a kind of Moscow in flames. Gibbon, Bancroft and Prescott have unrolled to our admiring gaze beautiful pictures, executed with exquisite skill in many respects, and with a most artistic taste in the disposition of light and shade, in the grouping and dignity of their characters, and in general tone and coloring. But they want the fiery splendor, the picturesque sketching and dramatic effect of Carlyle. We do not always, as with him, get into the very heart and life of the people, think with them, feel and suffer with them, hope and fear and rejoice with them, love with them, hate with them, and fight with them.

Taking every thing into account, the most successful attempt that has yet been made is doubtless Macaulay's England. In this truly magnificent historical painting, we have all that can be looked for in the present stage of the art. And if it were not for an occasional over-coloring of portraits, and perhaps of some scenes, there is scarcely any thing belonging to history in the fulness of its definition, that is not found in this work. The Pictorial History of England has all the materials collected, a broad canvass, every requisite color, and a well prepared pallet and pencil- but the artist is wanting.

Meditating on what such as Macaulay and Carlyle have done in regard to a few passages of history, and considering how differently these passages appear to us since they have written; we look back with a mournful and regretful feeling on the wide field of past history, which we now see might have been made so productive and beautiful, if the right men had lived at the right time, and the breadth and objects of the historic art been properly understood. How many events would loom up into light and order, that now lie in darkness and confusion, without visible

connection with any thing preceding or coming after them. How many passages in human affairs, now comparatively barren of instruction, might have been made rich in lessons of highest wisdom, if the materials, now perished forever, had been properly appropriated, and their relations and influence clearly set forth.

The origin of Nubian and Egyptian civilization, and its relation to that of the East and then that East itself, the land of the mysterious old Hindoo and his Sanscrit tongue, with its strange cosmogonies, religions, philosophies, traditions and temples, which have outlived the memory of their birth-time, and over all which hangs such a profound gloom and silence:

The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and their establishment in the land of promise, with the theocratic government of the Mosaic Law; the condition of this people under the new order of things, and the points of attraction and repulsion compared with that of the Egyptians :

The rise of the Assyrian power, the origin and growth of the civilization of these early tribes; the conquests of Cyrus, and the establishment of the Persian power, and its influence on the people and the time:

The origin, growth and peculiarities of the Grecian states, their governments, laws, philosophies, literature and civilization:

The conquests of Alexander, and especially the genius of the man, and his plans with regard to the East, gigantic and wonderful enough for one so young, as may be seen from the few and dim glimpses we can get from those who were with him:

The beginnings and progress of the Roman power, the changes in government and laws, the genius and spirit of the people, the secret of their strength, how it was exhausted, and the final death struggles of that great gladiator of the nations:

The irruption of the Northern tribes, their distinctive features, their religion, love of independence, and sensitive individuality; their laws and customs, and such government as they permitted, and their influence on the present civilization of Europe and America:

The origin and peculiar characteristics of Christianity;

the influence of its doctrines and spirit on the Romans and Barbarians, and the reflected influence of their superstitions and rites on the simplicity of the Christian doctrine and worship:

The cause and growth of Mohammedanism and the Saracenic dominion, and a comparison of the civilization and social condition of the people of the East under the Koran, and those of the West under the New Testa

ment:

And then what a multitude of other events of more recent date, but of the first moment in their influence on the welfare of our race- as the Crusades; the fall of Constantinople, and the Revival of Letters in the West; the discovery of Printing, the Compass, the Telescope; the Reformation, and its influence on society contrasted with that of Catholicism; the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, and its effects on the commerce of the world; the discovery of America, and its influence on European politics and manners; the American Republic, its constitution and unparalled growth; the French Revolution, its lessons and effects on Europe and the world ;

How immense the difference, if on the spot and at the time of those great dramas, in every successive scene of them, the true historian had lived and written; giving us, not what we have now, meagre sketches, a mere outline of the exterior aspects of each, but opening into the very heart of them, and counting the pulses of it; leading us into the midst of the people then and there, and letting us see their faces, take them by the hand, talk, and feel, and act with them. What lessons we should learn, and what warning and wisdom and instruction would be gathered by all, philosopher and peasant, rich and poor, ruler and subject. Each one of these events has its own peculiar lesson, doubtless; and yet its connection with the rest must not be forgotten. All are to some extent distinct, independent pictures, marked by peculiarities of design, color and touch; but if our stand-point is properly chosen, it will be found also that they are all groups more or less related, a series of connected designs in the great historic panorama. But no more in this direction.

What I have written is designed to show the student that he should enter upon his study with a just view of its