The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-06
THE SUN. SUNDAY, JUNE Q, 1897.

any historical question without an appeal to
the sources OF without taking into account tho
character of the actors in historical events. The
instructinR power Of history goes back In con-
siderable part TO the sources; not that these toll
NIL their own stories; they need to DO. arranged.
reset in order by tho. historian, who, on
the solid piers Of their assurances, spans
his continuous bridge OF narrative. There
nrc, moreover. two sides 10 history-the out
ward cvonts in their succession. with which
secondary historians, alone can deal, and the
inner spirit, which 10 revealed only by tho
sources. Prof. Hart submits, by way OF nlustra-
tion, that, II wo could not know both things, 1t
would be better to know how Mary Dyer jnsti-
fed herself for being a Qunkeress than how her
trial was carried on. Tho source, In fine. throws
an inner light on events; secondary writer's
may go over them. coliatc them, prepare them.
sometimes supplement thom. but can never
suporsedo them. As for entertainment, all
readers OF tho narrntives'os discovery will con-
cur. with tho editor OF this volume in pronounc-
ing them the Arabian Nights OF history for their
mnrvcls Of adventure. Thus tho quict,
~unassuining tale OF the conquest Of the
great country Of Peru by a handful of
Spanish adventures and the story OF Poca-
hontns arc parts Of tho worlds library OF roman
uolitcrature. Other pieces please by their quaint
ness, such ns Harrison's account Of England
In 1886 and John Josselyn's malicious, descrip.
ton OF New England in 1874. Others Of tho Sc.
loctlons given in this volume are milcstoncs in
the growth Of u national literature. Even
grabbed and misspcllcd English. like that OF an
extract from a book printed In Antwerp. sug.
gcsts the growth Of tho language. whilo other
excerpts are examples of good and racy English,
and constitute n real addition to the readable
hnnka II % avtdopt u1ap that N p,til Tn orhna1a
and colleges may get n foothold in tho world
Of colonial thought by perusing properly
chosen and relevant extracts from colonial
sources. The author thinks that n good exercise
might be to ask a pupil TO work up from tho
material collected In this volume the condition
Of slaves. or the nature OF colonial schools, or
tho dealings Of the colonists with Indians, or
the methods OF royal control. Such q repertory
OF original documents as this book contains
may serve MS a beginning to the ambitious stu
don't, but 1t will have missed its design IL II do
not lead him to wish for the full texts, from
which the extracts have been taken. 1t should, of
course. be borne in mind that sources, considered
alone, are one.sidcd. because they lack perspcc-
tive and comparison Of views and because they
leave great gaps. On tho other hand, secondary
works. examined alone, arc also one-sidcd. be-
cause they tell us about people instead Of
letting the people tell us about themselves. In
Prof. Harris opinion. tho ideal method Is to
read, first, n brief sketch OF Colonial history.
and In connection with it some illustra-
tive extracts from sources. Then. to take
UP a fuller historical work, and mako n
larger collateral uso OF sources. The caution,
however. is not superiuous that. valuable
as original records are. they must be used
intelngently or they will mislcad. Obviously,
they are not all OF equal authority or value. To
s.-- 80 49, --.l- ---
sources is TO invite errors. seeing that the
sources themselves are sometimes untruthful.
How is the tyro to know that the New Hamp-
shire Indian decd printed by Hazard In his
Collections" was a forgery. made to sub
s~tantiatc land Claimsi !. Now and then, a
writer bears internal evidence of malice or un-
truthfulncss. rs in Morton's "Rovels OF New
Canaan in which the authors animus against
the Pilgrims Is plain enough. Again, without
warning. how Is one to know that Edward
Randolph was sent to the colonies in 1878 with
the mission Of finding something wrong. and
was bound to justify his employment Even
when contemporaries had the same desire to
tell the truth. they had not all the same oppor-
~tunities for seeing things or the same Enack Of
describing them. Capt. Underhill was a. man
whom nobody In his time beloved; but he was
In the midst OF tho Peqrot war. which
he describes. and Prof. Harris Judgment is
that he probably spoke nearly tho truth. Alex
ander W.. on the other hand, In his Bull OF Dc
marcation, was influenced by tho hearsay OF the
Spanish and Portuguese Ambassadors. Nearly
all tho pieces in this volume are chosen from tho
writings Of cyewitncsses. but there is a wide
difference between the twittcring observations
of Gabriel Thomas on New Jersey and the keen
eye and truthful pen OF Francis HigRinson. Al
lowences are also to be made for national preju-
H. NJ