New-York tribune., 1909-06-05

pany.
That our debt to the Greeks in history, no less
than in poetry and letters, in art, philosophy and
mathematics. is intellectually great forms the
theme of Professor Bury's lectures delivered last
year at Harvard and gathered together IN
book form. The Greeks were not the first. he
SAYS to chronicle human events. but they were
the first TO apply criticism. And that means they
originated history. The first Greek writers to
write modern history treated Of Greece only IN
csdentallv. There was no constant unity or fixed
centre 10 which the aims and actions Of the sew
eral states could be subordinated or related, and
even the Persian invasion, one of the few occa-
sions on which most Of the Greek cities were
affected bv a common interest. was described as
a mart OF Persian history, though with Hellenic
sympathy The myths and traditions concern
ing their own land and people lying at the base
of the epic poems passed fmperceptibly INTO the
nrrner regions of fact. but the moment the study
Of NEUROLOGICAL tradition began to assume a
critical character it turned upon the deeds ana
institutions of other states. and history began.
Thus the Persian conquest was the mainsprins
of q vast Intellectual movement. The earliest
writers were OF course. credulous and uncritical'
and exact chronology did not exist much before
Greek art and letters reached their prime
With Herodotus we come to the first great
name among Greek historians. Predecessors ne
had but they merely blazed the way. He was
one OF those fortunate innovators who attain IN
their lifetime a distinction which the passage
of centuries is allowed TO dim His work
was cast in perfect architectural unity and pos
sesses a symmetry achieved by consummate
skill without apparent violence, constraint or
forrnaiity Homer was his master, and without
obvious limitation the first great wielder of prose
studied and caught the secrets OF his masters
effects Like the poet, the historian introduced
digressions and episodes; like him. he MADE ms
characters speak. In short. that which was epic
.n him was the object of producing Work
which like Homer, should attract and hold the
minds Of men. He sol ght TO entertain his read
ers He conceived work Of art and found IN
style the medium Of expressing it. The struggle
Of Greece with the East had for him deeper
than political significance. II was the contact
and collision of two different types Of civiliza-
zion. And his broad generalizations. his pano-
rzuic views his culture and his insight gave his
work the character OF a history of civilization
Although not an Athenian by birth, he was so
srnbued with admiration for the democracy OF
Athens that he gave currency and authority 10
a story which embodied Athenian tradition and
justified Athenian empire and with such cum
ming and tact that il has lasted TO this day.
Herodotus made considerable use Of older
writers. collecting and preserving valuable ma
artist and man Of letters that make him living
TO Us II his criticism had been more penetrat-
ing and less naive he could not have been
second Homer
Before the death OF the father Of history the
first truly critical historian Of the world. Thu
cydides had begun to compose The empire Of
Athens new thing in the history Of the world,
an empire governed by a democracy, appealed
TO a scientific mind. and Thucydides took up his
pen. not 10 celebrate but to elucidate. He OBJ
served in order to understand. It was stroke
Of genius TO form the idea OF recording the his
tory Of the Peloponnesian at the moment
Of its outbreak Contemporary history thus
initiated Further in confning his work to the
war and the relations Of the militant states
without depressing into geography or general
culture or other things he became the founder
OF political history, understand it. He set
up q new ideal Of historical research His aim
was not 70 entertain his readers or to acquire
popularity for himself, but to construct a record
which should be permanently valuable because
Of its truth. There is for US great value in the
fact that his work was left unfinished as
comparison OF the unrevised portion with the
rest throws illumination on the methods Of the
worker. II the first fundamental principle of
his ideal was accuracy the second was rele-
vance While Herodotus was discursive and
artfuIly aggressive. Thucydides pursued his sub
feet steadily and kept to his argument. The
latter also used speeches. but not for purposes
of art-they were employed TO explain the facts
and elements of situation. well underly-
ing motives and ideas. They had the further
purpose of serving the objective dramatic
method OF indicating character-producing the
illusion that the actors showed themselves TO
the reader Independently of the author. He
wrote not as partisan patriot. He al
lowed every party TO state their case as strongly
and persuasively as possible. and what we may
hope to discover is rot what political views the
historian held but what was his attitude Of mind
ir observing political events.
Study of his methods leads to the conclusion
that his object is TO examine and reveal political
actions from an exclusively political point of
view OF course he is aware of ethical consid-
erations. but he recognizes the controlling
nature of expediency and in his treatment and
his implications he comedies with the funda-
mental postulate Of MachiavelIi, the supremacy
Of reasons of state. The work Of Thucydides.
saws Professor Bury, marks the longest step
taken by a single man toward making history
what il is to-day. ''Out of the twilight in which
Eerodotus still moved wondering. he burst into
the sunlight, where facts hard, not TO
der, but TO understand With the Greeks his
toT4cal study never acquired the scientific char
acter which 1t reserved for the nineteenth
century to impress upon 1t. But within the
limits Of the task he attempted Thucydides was
q master in the craft of investigating contem-
porary events and il may be doubted whether
within those limits the nineteenth century would
have much 10 teach him. And so his unfinished
posthun1ous work had immediate and far
reaching result in establishing political history
At this epoch history and geography furnished