Page:Prolegomena to history- the relation of history to literature, philosophy, and science (IA prolegomentohist00teggiala).pdf/127

 guided me while working at this history, I have hardly a word to say. I know of no others, except those that proceed naturally from the supreme principle of regard for historical truth and faith. That I write from the standpoint of a Bohemian is a fact for which I could only be blamed, if it rendered me unjust either to the Bohemians or to their opponents. I hope, however, that my sincere craving for truth, my respect for all laws, divine and human, my zeal for order and legality, my sympathy with the weal and woe of all mankind, will preserve me from the sin of partiality. With God's help, these principles will continue to guide me in my task."

Of late, however, historians, like Mandell Creighton, have come to see, what Bradley pointed out thirty years ago, that "a history without so-called prejudications is a mere delusion." The perception of this fact must of necessity bring the historian to inquire anew, and with a more open mind, into the nature and office of historiography. Now, the result of such an inquiry shows, in the first place, that historiography stands in a unique relation to the spirit of nationality. The historian is memory's mouthpiece for his countrymen; and history is the inspiration of the patriot. So conceived, history (that is, historiography) is a form of literature, a genre which claims a high seriousness in its devotees, and which evokes a deep response in the hearts of men. Furthermore, the result of an inquiry into the nature of historiography reveals it as standing in an important relation to the highest aspirations of the human spirit. The historian, from considering the history of his own country, passes on to describe the rise and decline of empires; he presents, in his ultimate synthesis, momentous occurrences that have affected