Arizona republican., 1914-03-01
SOCIETY

ing-Miss Hall, or Col. Parish. or some other citizen-will place the people of i Arizona under obligation by producing i the text book which is so generally de- manded. WI ile the facts necessary will soon be available in such form as to greatly facilitate the compilation of a school history it is very important i indeed that the author should have the peculiar qualifications which are called
 for in the writing of a practically fault
 less history for school use.
 1 A history of Arizona for study in the schools may be prosy recital of facts.
 not interesting to. children, and a bore
 to read, or the same facts may be set forth in such way as to make the study of the book a delight; it all de- ! bends upon the spirit and the gifts of
 the author, and his understanding of i what a readable and useful school his : tory should be
 First of all, of course. the proposed ! history must be as accurate as possible.
 absolute accuracy in any history being impossible. Next in importance are | style and viewpoint, and it is not easy
 to say which of these is the more es- i sental
 1 Unless a book is written in an en- gazing style, the study of it will be
 dreary task for children; and they are
 sorely afflicted already with the neces
 sity of studying grammars and geo.
 graphies and histories, extremely dull
 and conducive to sleep, written by per sons of minor qualifications in the
 matter of style.
 By viewpoint is meant the under
 standing and attitude of the historian
 to the matter with which he is dealing
 He must not be intent upon sustaining
 some pet theory of political be-
 lief of his own, and it is necessary that
 he should have studied his facts so
 closely and understandingiy as to have
 laid before us the reasons why things happened
 Although the school histories in gen.
 eral use lay most of their emphasis on dates, the precise date of an event is l A'Dt llNdA So llpOl ldHl as the reason 1 why it took place.
 | In their studies of history the mem
 bers of the Friday club. after covering
 in the course of some years. several
 standard histories of several countries 1 would unanimously say that they got i most entertainment and instruction ! from 'Watson's History of France"
 and from his Life of Napoleon And i this IS because he undertakes to ex- | plalh' Tn vigorous way, why things ! happened. His narrative is good, but
 not so good as Guizot's-in fact. where
 ne confines himself to narrative he 1 often closely para phrases Guizot-but
 he shines brilliantly in his comments 1 True, his work is marred by his mani 1 rest bias in favor of the doctrines of
 the populist party and by his constant
 endeaVor to support these doctrines by
 drawlng lessons from the events of French history, and to this extent he is
 not an ideal historian But conceding i ms faults in this regard, it is admitted | most readable and the most valuable 1 histories of France and of Napoleon. l And this politician of Georgia surprised 1 the world by producing two histories
 or surpassing merit because he knew l that in order to write a history which l the reader will follow with enthusiasm
 and want to keep in hand, like novel.
 until il is finished, the author must i have happy style and must write un-
 derstandlngly and must explain events 1 entirely differently from the dry as dust form in which our histories are
 usually served to us
 One of the most nearly ideal his | tories of all, bearing in mind every requirement is Lord Roseberrv's Napoleon: The Last Phase" covering
 the years of the emperor at St. Helena: i for the former premier of Great Britain has. in that book, set forth in a style
 which is thrilling, the principal hap penings during the exile and with his | narrative has interwoven a brilliant and convincing study of the man and of the reasons which led to his down. fall
 Any history can be made captivating 1 if in it's writing there is the touch of genius; and it would be possible to write a history of Arizona, for use in the schools, which would set a new ! mark for school histories, and give to the school children positive pleasure from it's study. It is not to be expect
 ed that our needed school history will
 be written by another Watson or
 Roseberry, but it is d reasonable de-
 mand that it shall be so written as to please and entertain as well as in- struct