Birmingham state herald., 1897-01-12
OUR LETTER BOX.
A1ARAMAas HISTORICAL RECORDS.

Should not the legislature do some thing more than it bs doing to preserve the historical records of Alabama? It is well known that there Is not a library, public or private, that contains all the official manuscripts and documents, to say nothing of the books and pamphlets, political, religious and otherwise, that have appeared in the past which might be called the literature of the, state. The so-called histories of Alabama now writ ten are anything but satisfactory, and the sources from which afcomplete g. his- tory must be drawn, if ever written, are fast becoming inaccessible or actually passing out of existence.
 Of the several histories of Alabama, so- called there is first in order of existence, if not importance, A. J., Piekett's History of Alabama, and Incidentally of Geor- gia and Mississippi. From the, Earliest Period" Charleston, s. C., 1857. Upon the hypothesis tha4sthe territory, the sur face of the earthswthln Alabama's pres boundaries in the state.s existing from time immemoriel. he commences with the earliest records of white men within the bounds, gives an account of the eveflast- ing De Soto expedition, .153a-4 43, inserts De Bry's illustrations in Brevis Nara tis, of life among the Timucuans on the St. Johns river in 1565 to illustrate Indian life among the Choctaw-Muscogees on the Alabama in 1540, much about ancient Florida, ancient Louisiana and the old "southwest;" ;" but. with the exception of the last three chapters, it contains little or nothing on Alabama. Ala bama is something more than 8 certain spot on the earth's surface. It is made up CD of certain territory with established limits, @ of an Ang1o-Saxon and African popu- lation, and (3) of certain institutions both public and private, that had no organized existence, muchlessr history, as an organ- ization, until 1877, when, by authority Of congress, Alabama territory" organized itself. Everything that happened to the Indians, the Spaniards, the French, the British and the Americans within the present boundaries of Alabama prior to 1877, is merely preliminary or introduc- tory to the history of the state. So, while planter, or farmer at leisure, Pickett was ambitious to favor his countrymen with @ history of Alabama, we are only under obligations to him for spirited intro duction to such a work.
 Another work, not quite so pretentious, but far more satisfactory, is Hon. w. Brewers Alabama, Her History, Re- sources, War Record and Public Men, Montgomery, Ala, 1872. This book Is not only out of print and out of date, but, except the first nine chapters of "Outline History" it is more a medley or olla po- rida of historical data, than a readable narrative. As .a book of reference US dates are only approxtinate the pohtlcal and religious colofing of It's biographies are not sharply draw n, 4andAthe snort comings of it's characters or heroes are seldom mentioned Of the 712 pages Of which the volume consists, only S9 are narrative, 37 of 5these.'beipg. a rehash or Pickett's introduction; the balance, ex- cept the portion devoted to the states war record, being principally taken up with short biographies. The War Rec ord is by far the best part of the book; and if 1t (really the first attempt at history of Alabama) should be criticised at all, it is the philosophy of the author, that continually crops out, rather than its faults of construction or arrangement. "The peaceful era through which the state has passed" says the author, in his preface, leaves scant material for the an- nalist. It is with the glowing incidents of war and turbulence that the stately structure of history is reared" Or, in other words, nothing but 'the glowing incidents of war;" or the most striking features of civil administration" is worthy of the, thistorian's pen If this view be true, what is history proper but an annal? With such a philosophy of history, which is born of the social and individual non-progressiveness of the black belt sor a naongrel Nstate, is 1t strange the author should treat with con- tempt the causes and philosophies or things that enable the scientific observer in white, progressive community or state to mark and follow the peaceful currents of industrial and social affairs, influenced as they always are, by nat ural and artificial environments that lead to evolutions and revolutionary in so- ciety, and Of which true progress and true history IS born? In community stationary, without perceptible change, without libraries, books and documents, that stand like so many mile posts along the highways of individual and social life to consult, there can be no intellectual hi iSfn A. tional research or true philosophy; notn- ing but the literary driyel of poverty and stagnation, as poetry without merit, oratory without point, sermons without sense and fiction without moral or truth. fate being the sum total of all philoSo- phy and religion. So, making allowance for all these drawbacks. no one knows so well how faithfully Mir Brewer has performed his work as one who, as stu- dent, has followed him, step by step, over the whole field, and 1t is safe to say there is not well-informed Alabamian, who has grown up within the last twenty years, but owes the author debt of gratitude for the best historical work on his state yet produced.
 Besides these works, there is Berney's Handbook of Alabama" and the Memo rial Record of Alabama" Madison, Wis, 1893. that relate to the state as a whole. The second edition of Berney is very con-
 venient, but often disappointing as
 book of reference, since IL QOeS not coH- tain the full statistics of the state, thing
 we would think a handbook at least should contain. The, memorial record
 contains many historical memoirs, of
 more or less value, with lot of cheap biography, which has no more historical importance than hastily but well edited newspaper. Every article, like that of Thos. H. Clarke's on the Religious His
 tory" of the state, betrays haste and Ia elk of research, the author seemingly be- ing content to string the most accessible facts together and call it history. For stranger to read MT. tClarke's article he must naturally conclude that the Bap- lists and Methodists had but little to do with Alabama 8 development as state, and that the Roman Catholics largely gave shape and color to the states social and political institutions. when in fact at the date of the states organization 1S1D the Catholic population being generally Spanish, Indian or French. and not long ago enemies of the Americans, there was probably not an organized society of Ro man Catholics in Roman Catholic church in the whole territory. an insg nifcance then that has characterized them in numbers and influence ever since. not numbering today in the whole state | 4AA FIyl--