The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-14
MIR. FIsKE'S LECTURE,

In the New Haven University Exten-
 sion Center Course.
 The conscience of the world is still | haunted by Authority" When Autho~ l ity speaks, busy world stops to listen l And more especially is the world eaSei to listen to the historical author, the
 authority of history, the tongue and pen | that speaks of time and peoples past
 and presnt. The New Haven Univer- sity Extension Center association held
 another of its meetings last evening in the First Methodist Episcopal church. l The audience was large and pronounc- | edly intelligent. The president of the association, A. Maxcy Hitler, in a few | appropriate words introduced the lec- | turer as a past master in the art Of writing history, and his subject. 'The | Old and New Way of Reading His tory"
 Tn Hon. John Fiske of Cambridge,
 Mass, eminent historian, on rising to
 speak recieved an appreciative recep- ton. MT. Fiske is man of burly fl3- ure with an easy conversational style
 of speaking, cocise and humorous, and made of a "dry" subject an intensely
 interesting lecture As illustrating the old method of dealing with history, the
 lecturer quoted the historical concep- tion of Henry VIII, as Blue beard, whereas this notion in the light of mod
 ern research has been dspelled and though the domestic tragedy remains the same, in several cases the king was more sinned against than shining. So, with Edward I. of England, man much like our Washington in force of character, but who has been blackened by history as heartless tyrant.
 The lecturer also proved that no such historical personages as William Tell and Gessler ever existed, the story be- ing older than the Christian era. / In continuing to analyze the differences be- tween the old and new way of treating history, the lecturer asserted that the old way was for the historian to copy from a preceding one, ad infinitum; whereas the modern craze for facts drives the present day historian to the original fountain-head for his informa- tion--to laws and edict, records, letters, reports of commanding officers, log books, etc. The best means of study ing the character of the nations his- tory makers is through their corre- spondence. Facts, not fancies are de- manded of the historian of to-day. Two of the many humorous illustrations used by the lecturer may be cited. The late Charles Darwin was peculiar stckler for facts, and yet as a boy he was much given to deliberate false hood. He tells of one occasion, when youngster how he gathered and hid large quantity of apples and then told how he had made great discovery of stolen fruit This, the famous natural ist confessed was but a childish desire to raise excitement The lecturer con- pared this habit to the old method of history. Again, as a sample of editing, century ago. the editor of Washington's letters made some strange and humorous changes of the text, as, for instance, when Washington said things were in a devil of state" his editor made him say they were in l "deplorable condition"
 MT. Fiske traced history from it's ear Hest beginnings to the present day, | briefly touching on the priceless value | of monastic relics, ancient poems and | dramas, and though he emphaticall | dec.ared that the new ways were bet ter than the old ways for getting at | historical truth, he warned the searcher after knowledge and truth to forget | not to profit by the old masters"