The Memphis union appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1862-1862, 1862-08-07
WHY HISTORY SHOULD BE he.
WRITTEH.

WA1TPEAs
In the study of history we are led to con-
clude that--for the following among other
reasons-it should be rewritten:
First, it canonizes martial heroes too much.
Is, there any good reason, for example, why
the son of PHILIP should be called ALExAx-
DER the Great2 If one murder makes vii
lain, ought thousands to make the hero
Ought man to be immortal becauses he mo
nopolizes all wickedness And yet the pages
of history are full Of eulogies in honor of the
valorous deeds of martial men, whose fame
rests solely on their brave feats in war. They
scarcely tell US of anything else than their
many bloody wars, their great battles, their
great victories, the number of their captives,
and the number of their slain. The mind
thrives by what it feeds on, and this has fred
many with q ruinous ambition TO run the same
sanguinary career. History should be re-
written, 50 that the horrors of war may be
properly depicted, and the characters of men
of blood properly drawn, in the light of the
great model, the Prince of peace.
History should be rewritten, because it ira
duces the martyrs of liberty. Nearly all
histories except those written on American
soil are subject to this indictment. Who has
given us such history as we should have of
the Waldenses, or of the Lollards, or Of the
Huguenots, or Of the Covenanters, or of the Pu-
ritans Are they not traduced and calumni-
ated, noble representatives as they were for
the right and the truth, in the volumes that
weigh down the shelves of French and Eng
fish libraries? Who has written as we would
like to read, full unvarnished history of the
wrongs of Poland, of ROBERT EM,LErr and
other martyrs of the Emerald Isle1 o, how
history, written under the shadow of thrones,
has belied the noble Maygsrs of Hungary
and the martyrs of liberty in fair Italy aud
sunny Greece 1t is time that the martyred
dead had righteous verdict in their favor.
But again. History should be rewritten,
because it favors monarchy too much. Most
of the histories that we put in the hands of our
youth were written by those who were either
hostile to republican institutions or Indifferent
20 them. When we read in them few sen-
fences favorable to liberty, we exult over these
choice periods and draw mark around them,
and treasure them up il cur memories, and
feel comforted by them while we read hun
dred pages more which are written to reproach
republics, and fortify monarchies. Reyes jure
diUinO is sentiment that should be expungcd
from all our text books Of history.
History should be rewritten because it ID
TOO slow to recognize the hand of Divine Pro
ivdenee in human affairs. We refer to Hill
DRETH's United States as defective here The
same criticism may be passed against other
histories which are now held in high esteem
rs the classics of the world. Note GIBBoa
HUME, and RoTTEcK. We crowd their mar.
gins with religious cautions against the covert
inddelity, and then we take them into oul
families and place them in the hands of oul
children. No wonder that SO many of oul
public ruen are SO INSCRIPTIONS and apparent.
)y SO regardless of the Supreme Ruler. The
histories they have read have ignored the AL
mighty, and they have never been taught t.
trace the relation between transgression and
retribLtion. We need and must have more O
our histories written after the model of D'Au
BIGSE, somewhat after the manner of MAcAU
LAY, but more after that of BANCROFT.
But once more, history should be Rewritten
because it has too little philanthropy in it.
has canonized martial heroes whose chief boss
was the number they had slain, and It has tot
often mentioned without the least enthusiasm
names whose eulogies should be written will
letters of light. 1t fingers with delight arount
a CoRTEz and PIzARRo, making them heroes
of romance for centuries, and it passes over in
silence those nobler and truer men who with
out royal protection, almost alone, through .
"night OF toiP embracing years of the sever
est suffering and privation, went forth beyonc
The New World into the broad Pacific, to civ
iize and christianize with an open Bible tn
lost islands of the sea. 1t is often lavish of it
praise on men whose lives were a burden t.
Others, and whose death relief. But the tim
has come when we demand histories redolen
of goodness and OVERLOOKING with humanity
All honor to the men who will meet this de
lnand. All honor to those who will give u
biographies and such chronicles Of the past .
will abound with the epic and the dramas
will represent God in action as well a. man, il
The history of the world.
A NEW IRos-CLAD VESSEL FOR CALIroI
NIA.-The keel blocks of 3 new iron-clad vessl
for our Pacific coast service were laid in Ii
yard of Mr.. Colwell, Jersey City, on Monda