New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-01
MR.. FROUDE.
THE HISTORICAL METHOD OF MR.. FROUDE.
OF FREEMAN, OF NJ RENAN-SOME
CONSIDERATIONS OF STYLE.
III


ton what it is tina, University wants in or trop
a Professor of History Not. certainly, a mere
painstaking pedagogue: not man TO teach the
elements Of historical knowledge: not q college
tutor; not crammcr 3 The late Regius Professor
Of History in the University OF Oxford might
fulfil some, if not all, Of these descriptions and
duties lie had the German spirit in one OF It's
least desirable forms. The present Professor Is IN
respect a slave to any one of these forms le
is one who believes that if the letter killeth inc
spirit maketh alive: and that the spirit in which
History is taught and studied is the thing most
important of all
John Stuart Mill said tnat no reading ever uio
him much good except OF books which he chose
for himself after he had passed his majority Many
other men might truly say the same. What then
could be q higher duty than 10 impant IN the
minds of young men who are approaching ther
majority right notion OF what to read, ana
how TO read? The mere outlines of history, the
general course of events, are soon learned At'er
that, it is matter Of selection. None, OF none
except students and historians by profession eau
hope to master the particulars Of every periou'
and Of every state and people. To none IS each
equally important.
sbYct that each is equally important is the lesson
of Freemans teaching and writing. Anything tha'
ever happened anywhere is important because 1t
happened and orc event is nearly as important
as another. if not quite. Not thus. imagine, Is
Mr.. Froude likely TO impart his lesson 10 the
students of the University of Oxford. He has
shown in practice. as Freeman showed, what IS MS
conception of history and Of the teaching of his
tory The letter killeth. the spirit maketh alive
Freeman was for the letter: Mr. Froude is for the
spirit To create an enthusiasm for historical
knowledge, to set the student on the right road,
mt bnfCr him a Ri oh
torical method. to teach BIN in word, the philos-
Ophy of hstory,-arc such aims as these better or
worse than an cndeayol to determine the exact
number of the killed at Philirpi. 20 pour out
the viais of your wrath on the writer who says
Beckett was three feet from the altar when he
was murdered whereas in fact he was three feet
and hale
Among the most critical of modern historians
is VI. Renan. lie quotes Aristotle saying
There is no scientific knowledge except of what is
general Then he adds on his own account;
"Does history ITSELF history properly so called.
the history of what occurs in broad daylight, his
tory based on documents, escape from this rule
No, indeed. We have no accurate knowledge
about any detail. 1t is the general outlines which
are important, the great facts and results which
would remain true even though all the details
should be wrong"
Renan himself man who has taken immense
pains 10 be accurate, is not on the side of the
pedants lie is not for the letter; the letter,
historically speaking, does not exist lie explains
ebewhere-I have not the passage al hand AMI
can give only the substance Of this own method.
In dealing with period renio'c as that with
which he dealt in the Life of Jesus, and with ref
erence to events which, at the time attracted no
general attention, minute accuracy Is impossible.
Probabilities are all you can aim at. II in writ
ing the Life of Jesus you limit yourself TO what
Is known atsolutely--to facts positively ascer-
tained,-your biography will not extend beyond
q few lines. For the rest. you must he content
with approximations to the truth. You cannot
say that particular event happened in a par
ticular way. What you can do is 10 set forth
several ways in any one of which it may probably
have happened You makc the best use you can
Of such evidence as is accessible.
The influence Of the teacher in a great Uni
Fersity is as potent as that of the thing taught.
i Mr.. Froude is, first of all, a personality; man
with that persuasive charm Of manner which be-
longs more often to the woman than 70 the man.
lie is also great writer. The journal which has re-
vied him for generation now speaks Of him as
quite the greatest historical writer il not the
greatest prose writer of any kind. that England
POSSESSES That is Of itself fascination to the
young: and also to the old. The saying that the
style is the man himself. long attributed to Button
vaguely, has at last been traced to his Discourse
ON his reception at the French Academy. Like
most sayings most readily remembered. il goes
rather far truth is doubled in order that
half Of it may be remembered. Style is an en-
preston of the man perhaps none is more in
fallible indication of the man. You like the man
or you dislike him, as You read You form a
notion, often unconscious yet definite. OF what he
is of his character Of his habit Of thought. even
of his person. If he has any beauty Of character
Il will express itself; it does in Mr.. Froudc :
style
Read a page Of Macaulay; it is abrupt, haHd
peremptory. aggressive The sentences start of
with Jerk like that Of railroad train with an
unskiful engineer, and stop with jerk. Read
q page Of Mr. Froude: it is the movement OF the
flowing tide Both these writers use the short
sentence: and with these widely differing results
Macaulay has thousand merits; the merits oil
clearness directncss, vigor, and many more Mr.
Froude has them ALL and he has charm beside
So was il, and is it. in actual life. Macaulay, as
we honor him in books and from the revercnt BIZ
ography of him by his nephew, and from the social
traditions Of London lived and talked as he wrote
There was ever O touch of arrogance OF Impotence
81 oycr-masterfulneSs. lie did not talk. he dis
ourscd his chair at the dinner-able was a pulpit
or sometimes saddle, from which the words rang
out with the intolerable tone of command lie
was respected lie was liked by some of those who
knew him intimately: and he was too often or
feusive to the general company
In actualsIife as in The printed page ire con-
trast between Macauay and Mr.. Froulc if almost
complete OF all that is beautiful an" gr"cei"i
pf all that is summed up in the word charm" %hich
is more than beauty and more than grace NJ
Froude has us much us man can DC pcfnli''eo 10
have II he could impart it 10 young oNlord ne
,you,d h, the bcnefactor of the University. But
no could no more impart it than he could teach
tbes. Young gentleman how to write as he does
The secret of style is individual: the individual
bimself can give little account Of the matter.