Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-07-22
The Philosophy of History.
By DR.. f. 3. Robinson.

provements of mankind. It is a
record of the underlying principles of
social progress and the hard fought
contests for human liberty. It is the
index to the record of our race. 1t
explains what the manner of life and
mode of thought have been among
men in the past. It braces intellectual
progress, the scientific labors and pre-
vailing opinions Of men. It weighs
mems theories. 1t tests the utility of
their laws. It shows that the wisdom
of the present is the out growth of
the past. It deals with man fashioned
to reason from the hands Of his maker
endowed with intuitions and powers
qualitatively Identical with his creator.
1t deals with gifted being who by
the exercise and discipline of his
powers is capable of indefinite expan-
sion and growth. Within the field of
history must be gathered the knowl-
edge whether man has progressed
physically, Intellectually or morally.
1t deals with the laws of growth, of
progress, of evolution and discipline.
Such philosophy can't be founded
on merely isolated events or few
separate facts, but must rest upon the
leading motives and impulses of the
race. 1t must comprehend the princi-
pies which the race have fostered and
developed.
Origin.-The philosophy of history
is of recent origin. Like all other
PHILOSOPHERS it had its rise in thought
full men. It is the product of refec-
tive minds. Men had learned by
observation that the growth and pro-
gress of the race is governed by law
and saw that such philosophy was
possible. Most of the philosophy of
history have been written within the
last century yet in that 100 years,
with the impulse of modern thought
it has cultivated broad field of
philosophy.
GropOh-The philosophy of history
deals with the processes of growth in
individual and race. Through growth
the race gets its liberty. This world
is pre-eminently place Of growth and
discipline. 1t is field wherein man
can develop his powers. The condi-
tions of growth and discipline are
Gods first gift. They are implanted
in mans very nature and out Of them
are the issues of life. The philosophy
Of history points to the unmistakable
lines of progress in humanity. 1t is
a philosophy of a quilted evolution,
one part grows out of another part
with varied and additional increments.
For countless generations one social
state has arisen off of another Of a
corresponding character. The growth
of one age is transmitted to another.
Every age feels and ministers to the
succeeding one. In the evolution of
the human race progress has not
issued from blind chances but from
well ordered conditions. Progress
PROCEEDS on law, order, design. True
man is endowed with liberty of choice
and powers to execute his choices yet
liberty is implanted in his nature on
the conditions Of growth and develop
ment of his powers. Law and liberty
go hand in hand and are co-existent in
mans soul. Liberty is the result of
the highest growth and self-control.
Though man has grown slowly in the
past, though ignorance and darkness
have often enshrouded his mind yet
we find many fragmentary truths
momentory flashes that indicate the
grand possibilities of his future.
| Records-The philosophy of history
analysis records. Every man makes
his own record. Even his words, says
one, becomes records in Gods court.
The lives of nations live Embedded
in the records of time. The world
ages have been full of life and motion.
The energies of life have gone forth
in the past as they go forth now, and
history is the record of the on-goings
of human nature. The flow of unre-
corded life has flooded many primeval
plain. In the mere figure of Egyptian
mummy there are few records for the
unobserving man and still less interest
is excited in him from the imprint of a
rain drop on rock. But let the
historian study the mummy and from
the records of it's dark shrunken form
flows world of thought. Let the
Geologist examine the imprint of the
raindrop and with the quickness OF
thought he is transported to the scene
of its action. Every nation has left
its records and they stand as unmis-
taxable evidence of character and
conditions. The earth itself has left
its records in its shells and fossils in
the structure and composition of the
layers of its crust. The philosophy Of
history is the translator of these
records. Through the medium OF
records we are transported to the very
scenes of ancient thought and action.
In the various departments of history
We see the many forms in which
human nature may expend itself. In
the civil history of nations we see the
rrro 9uol 1auolonn,ont &c oo1or,o,o,4