IX 



SCIENTIFIC METHOD AS APPLIED 

 TO HISTORY 



(THE VERY REV. T. B. STRONG) 



THE previous Lectures in this course have dealt with 

 the question of the application of scientific method in 

 various branches of the investigation of the natural 

 world. The majority of these separate sciences, as we 

 call them, have for their object the establishment of 

 laws of nature, or of general principles which will render 

 possible the proper interpretation and the intelligent 

 anticipation of the processes of nature. My present 

 task is the very difficult one of inquiring how far the 

 investigation of history may be pursued on scientific 

 principles. This task appears to me difficult because, 

 while much is said nowadays of the importance of a 

 scientific conception of history, I do not think there is 

 anything like the same agreement about the character 

 of scientific history as exists in the case of most other 

 sciences. 



All science, we may say, consists in strengthening, 

 solidifying, and rendering conscious and coherent the 

 ordinary processes of knowledge. The scientific man 

 makes no claim to an absolutely separate method of 

 acquiring information, as if he had some exceptional 

 gift of inspiration. He claims to clear away fallacies, 

 to bring into clear light the real principles by which 

 all men's knowledge is acquired, and to use these in 



