Page:Muhammad Diyab al-Itlidi - Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalîfahs - Alice Frere - 1873.djvu/19

viii his heart, you will begin to understand more of his generation and his circumstances than all the mere history-books of the period would teach you."

Thus spoke Dr. Kingsley, when, as Professor of Modern History, he delivered his inaugural lecture before the University of Cambridge. His advice is sound, but good advice is seldom the worse for wear. And in the present day, when, for the most part, every one, whether educated or uneducated, is content to adopt the thoughts of anonymous writers, how can it be possible to "see with eyes" and "feel with the hearts " of those old-world giants of thought and research? In European history, moreover, the vast change which has taken place even during the last few centuries, not only in the physical and religious distribution of power amongst nations, but in customs and habits of thought, and even language itself, raises a barrier against the assimilation of the modern with the ancient mind. In Oriental history, however, particularly the history of the Arabs, this barrier need not stand in the way of an earnest student. Language, habits, mode of life, amongst the Arabs of the desert are little changed from what history represents them to have been more than twelve