The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-22
THREEFORMS OF HISTORY
LECTURE BY DIR. LYMAN ABBOTT on
THE BIBLE As LITERATURE.
Traditions Respecting the Flood
What an Assyrian Tablet Many
Thousand Years Old Tells Us.

Brooklyn Eagle.
At Plymouth Church. Sunday evening.
DR.. Lyman Abbott continued his series of
lectures on the Bible as literature. He
said:
History may. for our purpose this even
Ing. be divided into three general catego-
ries: Epic. philosoDhic and factual That
word. the Century Dictionary says. is rare,
but IL is just the word / want tonight.
By factua1 history 1 mean history which
ccrcerns itself only with facts. 1t is more
or less painstaking and scrupulous in its
endeavor to state those facts with exact
accuracy. But that is all that it cares
about. 1t gives them no Interpretation. 1t
does not consider their significance. 1t
will search for long while to be exact
to a date or accurate as TO a minute cir
cumstance; but what the circumstance
mears, what is it's bearing on human his
tory what is It's significance in human life,
the mere ch,Snicler or analyst does not
care. BY philcsophic history / mean that
history which is written to trace out the
growth of the human race, or the growth
of some particular nation, 10 show it's de-
velopment from germ to completion, or its
development in some single epoch, as the
growth and development of the reforma-
ton. By epoch history 1 mean history that
is written for poetic. not a philosophic
purpose; which takes the great events
which have been brought TO the historian
and molds and shapes them, not for the
purpose of giving the exact fact, nor TO
trace the growth of the race of the nation,
but to illustrate certain developments of
human character This last historian is
not particular about dates. He will often
exclude them altogether. He is not palms.
taking and accurate as to his facts: he is
not anxious to get the facts with exact
ness; but he groups the incidents together
in a story adapted to bringing out clearly
the trait or quality of character which he
wishes to emphasize.
These three forms of history are not
sharply Disseminated in literature, as l am
sharply discriminating them tonight
They are woven together in ali well recog-
nized history: all three elements are COM
bined in different proportions. The histo-
rian will be partly epic partly philosophic,
partly factual; but more emphasis will be
laid the the other characteristic,
according to the bent and mood of mind of
the writer Freeman is chronicler. He
bestows infinite pains on giving minute,
accurate information as to the facts of
the past. Macauldy is philosopher 1
philosophy is true or false. He writes his
history not for the purpose or giving US
exact and accurate information as to each
event with microscopic scrupulousness, but
for the purpose of illustrating his under
standing Of the political growth of the En-
glish nation throughout a certain period.
Froude is an epic historian. He treats his
characters dramatically. and whether 1t be
Mary. Queen of Scots, or Henry VIII, or
Erasmus, or Thomas a-Becket, he tells his
story so as to make it an interesting story
ard for the purpose of illustrating traits in
human character and life.
EARLY HISTORY is EPIC.
Now, the early history of all nations is
epic history. 1t is not written for the pur-
pose OF giving exact, microscopic informa-
ton respecting the facts. The ancient his
torian paid ne such attention, devoted no
such time and energy TO the investigation
of the facts as the modern historian does.
He is not philosophical. The ancient his
torian knew nothing about the development
OF the human race. nothing about the de-
velopment of the individual nation. The
Greek historian had no conception of an
evolution of the Greek nation; the Roman
historian none of the evolution of the Ro-
man nation. They found in the past
tain legends and stories, gathered them to-
gether and retold them for the purpose of
illustrating types and traits of character
in the heroes OF past history. And If we
go back of these historians, back of Taci-
tus and Thucydides, We come to time
when it is no longer possible to discrimi-
nate between the epic poetry and history.
The man has written without considering
at all whether he is writing fact or fiction.
He thinks as little about it as a child in
the nursery telling a story to his brother
child. 1t is partly fact and partly fiction
story founded on fact. The earliest Greek
history is to be found in Homer. Not his
tory, you say; poetry. True. Epic poetry.
or historical epic-aS you like; for the
plorations of DR.. Schliemann have shown,
beyond all question, that there was
cient Troy and that battles went on about
il, and that the story of the ''Iliad' is fic-
ton founded actual fact, though the
facts did not take place exactly as Homer
describes them.
All ancient history thus starts in legend
That is, it starts in epic poetry in history
written by men, not for the purpose of Civ
ing exact scientific information about the
events. but for the purpose of illustrating
types of national character. The early
Greek history is legend. The early Roman
history is legend. The early story of the
middle ages Is legend. The early story of
England repeated in the stories of Arthur
and the Round Table, resung by Tennyson
in our time, is legend. Our own early colo
NAL history is legend. Who can tell how
much CT the charming story of Pocahontas
is truth and how much Is fiction? Who
can tell how much of the 'CourtshiD of
Miles Standish' is poetry and how much
Is history? Was there some one there,
wonder, to take down the conversation?
A NATURAL QUESTION.
Now the question naturally occurs to the
student of literature, Is there any such ele-
ment of epic history in the Hebrew, ltera-
ture? 1t is everywhere else The begin
nings of Greek history, OF Roman history,
of European history. OF American history.
are epic poetry. Are there no beginnings
of Hebrew history? When we take up our
bibles (not Bible). these books that are
bound together in a library of Hebrew lit
erature. we find in the very first pages
what on the face of it reads just like epic
history 1t does not read as though 1t were
written for a scientific purpose. written by
men whose object was 10 give with micro
scopic accuracy the exact facts or the par
ticular dates. 1t reads like stories written
by a man or men whose object was 10 illus
trate traits of character: whose aim was
dramatic. not philosophic- In the first
d rfesalx- In an,