Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/40

 4 Readings in European History has come down to us of the events and conditions which he discusses ? For example, a little book or essay on Charlemagne might be written after reading Hodgkin's Charles the Great, West's Alcuin, and one or two other easily acces- sible books on the subject. On the other hand, the writer might turn to the great French and German treatises on Charlemagne's reign and acquaint himself with all the articles which have appeared on the subject in histori- cal magazines or in the transactions of learned societies. Every conscientious historian would wish, however, to go still farther and see the evidence with his own eyes and draw his own conclusions. He would turn to the sources themselves and carefully read the Annals of the Monastery of Lorsch, the life of Charlemagne by his secretary, Einhard, and the so-called Annals of Einhard. He would also scrutinize all the numerous laws passed in Charlemagne's reign and consult all the writers of the time who refer to the emperor or to public events. In this way he would master all that the past has handed down to us upon this subject and would know all that is to be known about the matter. The most reliable his- torian, therefore, is one who examines the sources for himself, but who at the same time takes advantage of the suggestions, criticisms, and explanations which have been made by other scholars who have also studied the original documents. No improvement in the methods of historical instruc- tion in our high schools and colleges bids fair to produce better results than the plan of bringing the student into contact with the first-hand accounts of events, or, as they are technically termed, the primary sources.