The student, who wishes to pursue his historical inquiries with becoming racy, must make himself master of the details of geography, and of the princi ples of statisticial calculations; must more over be versed in all the minutia of chro nological researches. In the settling of dates, be will at once evince his labour and his ingenuity. For the correct ar rangement of the order of events, he will not shrink from the task of poring over pedigrees, or examining coins.
It has been well observed, by the pro found Pinkerton, that, by the study of me dals alone, Vaillant "was enabled to as certain, in a very grear degree, the chro nology of three important kingdoms of the ancient world, namely, those of Egypt, of Syria, and of Parthia." Such are the principal sources from which may be derived a knowledge of his toric truth. To enumerate all the mate rials of history would be an almost end less task ; but in order to make due pro fit of these materials, wherever they may occur, the student ought to be animated by the spirit of philosophical inquiry, — " Incredulity," says Aristotle, " is the foundation of all wisdom." Without the giftof diserimination, the historian dege nerates into a chronicler of fables ; with out the faculty of deducing useful conse quences, he is degraded into a registrar of barren facts. To distinguish truth from falsehood in the obscure records of former times, or amidst the misrepresen tations of factious malignity in more mo dern periods, requires no small degree of sagacity. Voltaire hasjustly observed,
that in order to be qualified to seize the proper objects of history, a man must not be acquainted with books alone. He must have a minute knowledge of the human heart, and be qualified to analyze the pre judices and the passions of men. He will give due weight to circumstances and situations. He will not estimate the cha racter of a despot by the panegyric of a courtier ; nor will he pass sentence of con demnation on a prince, who has resisted ecclesiastical claims and restrained the power of the clergy, because he is vilified in the chronicles of a monk.
The enlightened student of history will not direct his chief attention to the frivo lous anecdotes of a court, but to the cir cumstances which stamp the character and decide the destiny of a nation. He will inquire what has been its radical vice orits predominant virtue ; why it has been powerful or weak by sea or land ; what has been the improvement or the dete rioration of ita trade and commerce ; wherein consist the excellencies and the defects of its civil and municipal institu tions; what have been the constitution, and what the influence of its ecclesiasti cal establishments. He will trace the in troduction of arts and manufactures, and observe the changes which have taken place in manners and in laws.
Such are the materials and such the ob jects of history, than which, next to our relation to the deity, no more important topic of inquiry can be presented to the human intellect.