Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/43

 The Historical Point of View 7 enemies and ascribed their conduct to evil motives when they were acting quite consistently and according to what they considered the truth. His opponents, on the other hand, treated him with equal unfairness and pro- claimed him a wicked and profligate man because he refused to accept their views. We meet precisely the same unfairness nowadays, as, for instance, in the case of a municipal election, where each party speaks only evil of the other. It is, however, not so hard to look impartially at the motives and con- duct of men who lived long ago as it is to be fair-minded in matters which interest us personally very deeply. By cultivating sympathy and impartiality in dealing with the past we may hope to reach a point where we can view the present coolly and temperately. In this way really thoughtful, historical study serves to develop the very fundamental virtues of sympathy, fairness, and caution in forming our judgments. 1 Even as lately as a hundred years ago the path to the Former sources of European history was still a thorny one. The ^ the w^y manuscripts of historical importance were often scattered of usin s. manuscript about in innumerable small collections, chiefly in the sources, monasteries. The documents were stacked up in dark rooms, damp cellars, and dusty garrets. They were often carelessly transcribed, full of blunders, and illegible except to those specially versed in the art of deciphering ancient handwriting. There were usually no catalogues and nothing to guide the investigator to the material of which 1 A fuller discussion of this matter will be found in the excellent introduction to Historical Sources in Schools (a report drawn up by Professor C. D. Hazen and others for the New England Teachers Association), The Macmillan Company, 1902, 60 cents.