The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1877-06-13
THE TRUTH OF HISTORY.


from every source that he might give to the
world, and especially to England, true
history of his country. But writing from
the standpoint of an Englishman, he gave
in many instances honor to the British
crown where but little was merited. He
could not well be impartial where patronage
yelled his eyes, or where prejudice warped
his judgment. The truth of history was
thus made to suffer in his representations in
order that the dignity of the ruling dynas-
ties of his country might be sustained. So
also will it be in the history of cur own
land. Whenever it is written the stand
point of the historian will be as visible as
those of other countries; for here we have
party spirit and radical biases which more
or less influence our historical writer's, as
we'll as our politicians, and whenever the
full effort is made to bring out American
history, the pen of Partially will be found
visible. In our history, as already written,
some men are lauded to the skies as states
men and patriots who only acted in their
Official relations with mere ordinary decency,
while hundreds of better men, who were
far more self sacrificing, and whose services
to their country were of a much higher
grade OF patriotism, have only been family
named. Like one of our own Indiana his
torians, who has published history of his
church--the littleness Of prejudices and the
egotism of selfshness in the historian eat up
and destroyed his hberahty, and left him to
feed only on the husks OF partiality, and
consequently the book itself is but an his
torical abortion. Where an author attempts
to build pedestal to stand on himself when
it should have served for others, he evinces
a weakness which demonstrates his total in
capacity.
Some men may write we'll on law, theolo-
gy or medicine, because these sciences come
within the range of their especial educations
and professional callings, but to write his
tory so as to vindicate the truth, and do JUS
tice to such as deserve to be named on the
roll of honor, requires higher grade of tai
ents than most writers possess, as well as a
thorough education in the higher circles of
sentiment and liberality, where neither self
nor sect, or party spirit or sectionalism have
any place or acknowledgment. 1t is strange
how openly and impudently partizan
writers misrepresent the facts of his
tory, merely to sustain party purposes.
They often seem lost to truth and hardened
in the infamy of defamation. Their party
spirit is malignant, even when it is search
ing among the bones of the grave. No mag
nanimity distinguishes their pens when
sketching the characters of such as have not
exactly come up to their own standard of
excellency; they offer no apology for ordi
nary weaknesses, and damn with faint praise
all who were known to be political or even re-
ligious antagonists. "It must be admitted"
said a Stalled clergyman once, in an essay
on usefulness, "that the good which John
Wesley did was-considerable!' All yes,
it was consderable-more than world of
such pigmy authors as he would accomplish
in an age.
The fact can not we'll be disputed that the
majority of our histories are written and
published for the benefit of the book trade
more than for the truth of history Authors
are paid to write for specific purposes; to
build up temple of fame for themselves,
or to bring certain characters to such
temple, to crafty the ambition of dilapi-
dated posterity who finger in the shadows
of certain antedeluvian officials who were
made great by the force of circumstances
instead of through any personal abilities, or
by any acts of humanity. Benefactors of
their race always deserve to live in his
tory, and those who have gone out
among men to labor on a liberal scale
to build up the civilizations of men should
live on history's page, be classed among the
good and smbalmed among the great. But
to attempt to place men in the same
distinguished category who never had
anything but official greatness, and
even that force dupon them by
fraudulent circumstances, is historical per-
version which amounts to crime, because
it contradicts the truth of history and
makes a mockery of all moral principles.
The supposition in this country is that the
burning ire of party spirit will not always
burn, that the rolling years will carry away
the fuel of conflict, and that the fires will
go out But will men forget fraud? Will
history fail to notice perjury and theft, and
will the page of the historian add falsehood
to infamy for the sake of establishing official
greatness? The facts of party dishonesty, by
which national crimes have been committed
and the people have been robbed of their
rights, should be held up faithfully before
the eyes of the people as punishment Of
evil doors and as warning to the present
and all coming generations, that the wrong
may stand condemned and the right remain
forever indicated. Let us then always
have the truth of history, If it is only for the
power Of its invncible and all-goyerning ex-
ample