4 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



The invention of some form of writing enabled them to supple- 

 ment a pictorial representation of these notable events by inscriptions 

 giving an explanation. The eastern ruler seldom shrank from an 

 effort to immortalize himself by the inscription or portrayal of his 

 deeds of cruelty even in imperishable stone. Yet the truth of the 

 record was considered a matter of the utmost importance. Rawlinson 

 tells us that Darius states "his great fear that it may be thought that 

 any part of the record he has set up may be falsely related" and that 

 he has abstained from narrating certain events of his reign "lest to 

 him who may hereafter peruse the tablet, the many deeds that have 

 been done by him may seem to be falsely recorded." This counsel 

 of perfection, it would seem, was honoured more in the breach than 

 in the observance. The biographical element, however, was still 

 strongly predominant. 



To the actors, engrossed in this ceaseless warfare with the forces 

 of nature or with other men, the influence of the rivers, mountains, 

 forests, and plains, and other natural features of the country in aiding 

 or impeding them, was taken so much as a matter of course that they 

 seldom even referred to it. Consequently it has not always received 

 the attention it deserves. It can only be ascertained by close and 

 patient study. 



Macaulay has recorded that when he first visited Rome, he 

 hastened to the place where the Pons Sublicius once stood, to make 

 sure how well his ballad of Horatius agreed with the topography. 

 His biographer relates that he took care to see Glencoe in rain and in 

 sunshine; that he paid a second visit to Killiecrankie; that he spent 

 two full days at Londonderry, taking pains to sketch a good plan of 

 the streets, walking alone or in company four times round the walls 

 of the city. In one of his letters, referring to a change of plan as to 

 his history, Macaulay says : 



"I must visit Holland, Belgium, Scotland, Ireland, France. . . . 

 I must see Londonderry, the Boyne, Aghrim, Limerick, Kinsale, 

 Namur again, Landen, Steinkirk." 



Many other great historians have been tireless students both of 

 geography and topography. 



Still more difificult to establish and yet of equal importance are 

 the psychological and economic impulses responsible for the wandering 

 of the nations and most great national and racial conflicts. Without 

 a knowledge of their psychology, how can their history be properly 

 understood or written? How can the facts be justly appreciated? 

 How can the characters of the chief actors be fairly estimated? The 



