Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-12-01
For the Spirit ofthe Age.
"Prescott's Robertson's Charles ""

Instruction than history. Every man
hould grow up with the great events of
oast ages, everything that marks the pro-
yress of the human race, as clearly and
irmly in mind, as the events of his boy
hood. He should know how the mighty
nations of the old time rose; what brought
upon them decline and ruins and how men
have attempted to deal with social and po-
Iitical questions that still agitate the COM
The man of experience IS better
prepared to meet the common emergencies
Of life, than the man of no experience and
historical knowledge may be called expert
ence on a grand scale. A thorough ac-
quaintance of the past, is one of the per-
of the present; as we'll as a sure
guard against many notifying and disas-
trous failures in political and social econo-
my. All our progress comes OF after
thought, and if all record and all memory
of the past were blotted out, we should
have to begin over again, and work slowly
up once more to our present position. No
one can tell what over-work those fanatical
Arabs and those Goths and Vandals made
for posterity, when they burnt the libraries
and records Of the world of old ! To lose
or forget history, is to lose so much time
out right. 1t might as well have never
been.
No age is perfect in itself. 1t is but a
branch, a section of the great tree of time
whose roots were planted in Eden, and it
can not thrive apart froia this. Cut off
our glorious Revolutionary record and who
could measure the disastrous effect upon
our national character. Washington and
his fellow patriots Are this day more essen
tial to our nationalwell- being, than during
the stormiest perioa Of the war. ENGLAND
could not afford I'd lose her Alfred and
Cromwell +; Switzerland her William Tell
nor the world any ef the great men who
have fought the noble fight Of progress for
humanity.
The man who can popularize the study
Of history, without lowering its moral tone.
or detracting from its austere integrity.
should be regarded as a public benefactor.
A genuine historian is no less important
than a noble statesman, and quite as rare.
His works should be in every school library
in tho country, to the exclusion of those
dangerous cheap textbooks, which are
printed by the million, to the great injury
Of true knowledge. Arrangements, cpl
tones and outlines of history are always
worse than useless, because they present
every thing in a partial view and therefore
in a wrong and confusing one. No true
estimate Of the great events of history can
be formed without the knowledge of those
OF less note which connect them and make
the chain continuous and traceable. The
shortness Of time IS no objection to this
view, for it is not necessary that all this
knowledge should BE- obtained at school
The greater part Of mans knowledge, be-
yond what is merely elementary, may be
learned after he hassaid good-byet to school
house and teachers 4; and history, the most
interesting and as VIC have Just seen one of
the most important branches of knowledge.
is at the same time the easiest of all to ac-
quire, besides giving its W reward all
along. All history is valuable especially,
however that Of the great and wise nations
who have directedthe progress of the world.
We began this article for the purpose OF
adverting to the works of Mr.. Prescott. and
especially to the late edition of Robertson's
Charles v, with an account of the ~cloistel
life OF the Emperor, by the American His
~torian. These histories are so well knowr
that It may seem a work of supererogatior
to call our readers attention to them; We
sometimes people need to be reminded
even of the best things<and with which
they seem to be familiar. For our owl
good we like to say a word now and thel
of works of such a stamp. We are strucl
; with admiration whenever we think q
; them. The field which Mr.. Prescott ha
! chosen for the scene Of his labors. are hnse
with difficulties that MOULD turn the mr.
: pose of a weaker man. The materials fo
t MS work were scattered every where from
Mexico round to Spain, in jealousy guar
e ded public archives OF obscure private re
positories +; yet he has Iraked them tooeth
er, with a patience and industry which
unexamPled. some good genius seems t
have favored him ]; for keys that had nc
turned for centuries flew around for hin
and allowed him to Take their lonp-oua,
ded treasures. And |when all this was az
compllshed, there retnained the still han
der task of arranging and h~armonizing a
e this confused, entahgled, contradictory ms
y terial Into a well-woven, clear and trutl
yIfu1 history. An inirmity of the sight rel
e dered the difficult task almost s~uperhumar
d Yet it was done, and the works produce
d under such disadvantages come nearer t
the idea Of history than any other moder
l. attempts. They all treat of great event
such as would naturally enlist the symp;
thy Of the writer on one side or the other
but it is no slight triumph that Mr.. Pre-.
colt has related them in a true histor
d spirit, calmly in their c%olors, with no MOI
exhibition of partizsnship or prejudice tina
Is a mirror could show. Yet they never lac
N fire nor interest. 1t shows a consummat
v mastery over his materials, that he can d.
:" pict character, and relate stirring event
os in such a clear, calm manner, that the re,
:" der never misses the right, without a hi
es from the historian. His narrative flows q
Of in one unbroken stream men and even
pass before our eyes with the reality Of Ii
" and We are at liberty to draw our own co
lis illusions. He tells and rarely stops to m
~ralize. He has the rare arts of making Vi
es id pictures with words, and describes
he march, a battle, a landscape, with life-lil
~ reality