Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1864-12-17
rhA Matsrials Of History.

posssss, in comparison With these OF former ages -
uodo,ps tru,ted 20 tradition Tor every part OF his
psrrstive fhuoyddes tells us that he gathered u.s. u
tbs Krsatsr part non converting With actors IN lne
drama; LVy tsok bis from the re' d. OF noble no
man f,hailes, the most lJiog Of al RECORDS 'ahSs
g. a, ra.,ss uhat be say aud did; even TAeAus vas
obl,sd 10 Trust TO the evidence Of parsons Who hAa
,sso e,ptsupaFary with the deeds done. FOr modern
Esr,h history, writers have generally trusted 10 PaF
IAN ,ntsry records, or, in the remote Ags, to sues
.on,smIo ,sry aeeOuns "a they could gs' access 70
"A ,bsy usrs generally IS rude As their age, and ls
,,,stvorthy ss trsdinon. A. later period, private
,on,n.ls--fks those VI PsPJs and E'slya-sH rded
v.,u.hls maGsriss All lLsSs sources, h0"eVer' med-
arm b,stonaas say, acre tOsblS, eS@PATed with The
s,,,a ADD PERENNIAL stream Of sohtomP0Ary history
,n,, a,,s through ILs newspapers. Aud evan the
Ds,D.usrs. uhlls they gave Ino t1AeE BODY oil tho
lima ala not prssant that broad aud tru'hiS V'eS O.
.,.ut,sspsoially military eVants-unta armies began
= IA hsssd with the pFsssBoe Of tho cOfFet Psn1ehb
AZ ,s,sOspsrs, Of which Rascal sAs The Pro'0'yPe-
W. ara Of a fsrsnt epnion. We are IA 'hrSS To
,,Da that the ruth Of history has been uueh eorfnP
=. h. ,s,so.os,s buI Aosl All. by nlitsrJ O0rTsA
oond.uts Iadssd, bAs bsoSsHs almost imP'Ssioe q"
-
20 NAV sush An IN pOr,AII PArt 10 the nslaiaoI1ro O.
hstoTJ,
s,onoss 70, instAues any nan we're 70 srts tho his
n S.poleon froa the hsh ueWsPapers-ss, ~ The
Ia. ssot, dit-HhAt = story &c should have oi Al
what . raes Of hssOes and sa'Hts the + gish would
hsi What sslerasi0u OF towards aud n'so'eAniS,
aha Pserell Sup pse man we're 60 write Ihe hie O.
u.,,v C1sV from The Democratic saspapeEs, or ot
,,,,s,,I Andrew Jackson from the Wing \ pTOl,y
,.i, Of ,cOuudres poslsrsy sCuld See In those t"c
v,sat,psn and u a,nOhing Patriotl Bni, above all,
suupCss history Of this we're written from Size
Tsrk.s Ie.spapersi The Ne- York Hsrald .ays ! r
columns present The most valuable materials Tor LAA
nu,p,se ever collected. Well know what sort of u
ts,al, they are. But SUPP them to form tue oHl,
,oures from which the historians OF tho var could de-
rive matter for history
Again. suppose We hult - the great history maker
ssors.ar, anton aud the Telegraph 1. may DO said
,naaad th.t the ecuns Of both sides DO weighed
and somparsd and the truth raced By the udieiou
historian or at least an approximation to the tIu h.
So then i. comes 10 this that history, where
tsral, are most abundant is but Ingenious eOr etuTe
affair all and the more ingenious the guess tho Apter it
il n
ia N sFh the Elements Of urh writer's Plp,srcA
and Liyy Who uHOts centuries after tie events Ibsy
p.rr.ts and narrEto confidently ~ though they had
tbsm,eyes been sttoFs Il 20 weigh the c1udotDg
Evidence Of two contemporary newspapers. !: Is but
smashing AFTER I'll, and the nos: ingenious gusss is a.
al. 10 be as WrO0g as the dullsst.
r,a vaI-kuoSn anecdots Of Sir Walter Raleigh r.
vsry expressive OF the truth with regAri to history.
Fhs exact facts it seems 10 us never be
,,insa The ssEsrai truth that such sn6VsnI occurred
=, soeh time and such . place. may be arrived 81
nth tolsrabls certainty But the ruth OF dc
t.s can never be satisfactorily established aud thu
il aop.llV rue Whethor the occurrence took place yes
,s,sav or thousand years ago. Tio passage OF u-
hs across the Alps look Pie 2ls years before the
birth of Christ Tho battle OF Waterloo was fought
,o,y nine years ago last Jans Yet ~ incident
thu one ia disputed With much al Of the other,
and x,o, truth Of both seems utterly unattanabe
Eaouga probably, to satisfy the mind o. the general
rs.der NAV be known of both. Hannibal did CIR
t,iul, GROSS the Alps somswhsrs and he did inVit,
Issy Where he crossed It, AMI how, may not be ma
tersl except TO IAs CVsr.cuous. Napoleon certainly
was defeated At Waterloo aud lost his crown 10
SEQUENCE. Il may not be uniuPortant to future 90
ratioas 10 know Why he was dssllsd; whether he WA
badly served by bis Generals, beaten fairly
All that is important to know, may be, that hs va
beaten, and etrAiny that is oil the present gsnerso
bss ascsrtainsd Although OF books have been
written on the subject the minds Of men remain di
vidsd nov Just in The same proportion that they we're
= month after the battle.
There have occasionally occurred in7tarcosin Hhch
by nav discoveries exposures have been mlds Of tn
trina yalus of these ourAl histories. The literary
vorld had been sorsly sG eio.ssd by hsehaVsll's
'Prlnss for three centuries, the pure consisting in
apdiuT GU. what vas his Of o. 10 vrising it, Nun
bar. Of books pamphlets and essays usrs written BY
men Of the highest distinction, who all tried their
SKIM in guessing. CARDINAL PJls Lord Bacon
Frederick the Great, and ths late Lord MAeAr'Ay all
had theories upon the sIbj1es. UpOn the fAee the
book appears 10 be manual OF tyTannI; but the
whole life Of MsehiaVelh had been protest sgAlns,
tyranny. he had, mlrsOVsr, been tortured aud ban
isssd oy tyrant for his knOEn love Of freedom ana
actually vrots the box while IN exile. Y.rous we're
she sooisotures, ard ingenious the theories. ont
plrty maintained tllSt be wished 10 lay king Graf
opsn to the world Hst the world might hate it, anG
beware OF t. Another thought he meant . ss,r'
apon the coGdust OF tyranls, tolsEaLlJ grave Joke
90 DO sure, tUt joke notwithstanding. Another
Thought be was earnest, aud denounced him as
Jesuit, thosgh, We believe the BOOK was written be-
fore Loyols VAS barn. hE. kscsulsy thought his
object bsins to fEse Italy from the presence OF the
much hated Zsdsseh be held any means juitiApble,
and remarks that the PrineiFlSs OF the book were
precisely tsoss Of the lIaiAns generally OF the sse il
VIII il we written. Tue world left 10 Ghosst
ostHssn tho multitude OF ecI scutss ltii about h-
teen Tssfs $50. shsn Orisils ls,sr Ut EssLsvsii
vas dseOVsssi. which cleared up the sasls myslsIy
He tsi goun sired OF exile and wished &c ra:uEn to
70 s,ss. Hs WEots shis book therefore and address