Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/12

vi economy are only beginning to take hold upon us. Our history clearly points out that our geographical position may well dispute with the genius of the people the merit of making us what we are; and our geographical position and our mineral wealth are blessings for which we cannot thank ourselves.

The slow building of a constitution which finds no parallel in the world is the most distinctive, as it is the largest, feature in English history. But this does not render it a mere monotonous political dissertation. The movements of the people are broken in upon by wars from without, and tumults and revolutions from within. Great actors and great thinkers come upon the sight, and for a moment nothing else is seen. How all these pressed on, or modified, or retarded the destiny of the nation is matter of difficult but most instructive research. How the various units of the great mass, which history can seek out, acted under the changing circumstances of the time, and moved under the diverse influences of events, of passion, and of principle, is matter pregnant with instruction to each of us. Nor is there instruction for the head alone. The whole of the complex nature of man is wrought upon. History thrusts upon the stage at once, or in quick and continued succession, tragedy, and comedy, and farce; and, as we weep, and laugh, and wonder, we must not forget that we are in the theatre, not of fancy, but of truth, and that every event, however slight, every entrance and every exit, possesses a real meaning and a real importance. It is often difficult, sometimes perhaps impossible, to discover this meaning and this importance; but even when we cannot perceive the connection between individual actors and the conduct of the plot, the individual cannot be utterly devoid of interest and instruction. An unimportant personage or a slight event may bring before us the spirit of the times, and the progress of lesser transactions, which are so apt to be forgotten in the great action of the moment. To the statesman, no doubt, the study of English history is of special importance, and he learns from it the genius of our constitution, and finds in it precedent, example, and warning peculiar to himself. But we all have an interest in the state, though it be not such as his, and we all find in that history precedent, and example, and warning. As every day adds to our knowledge of the past, it should add to our wisdom for the future; and if we do not profit in heart and head by the experience which the ages have gathered for us—if we do not grow, as they would have us, not only in wisdom, but in humility, in moderation, in humanity—we have to blame, not these unerring teachers, but ourselves.