24 OLD AND NEW WAYS OF TREATING HISTORY 
one vast and superb picture shows each element co- 
operating with the others, is the well-known “ History 
of the English People” by John Richard Green. Both 
Green and Freeman were friends of mine, and I am 
tempted to relate an incident which illustrates their 
different points of view. Freeman’s conception of 
history was more restricted, though within his nar- 
rower sphere he took a vast sweep. Most people 
remember his definition, “ History is past politics and 
politics are present history.” One day he took Green 
to task in a friendly way: “I say, Johnny, if you'll just 
leave out all that stuff about art and literature and 
how people dressed and furnished their houses, your 
book will be all right; as it is, you are spoiling its 
unity.” Fortunately this advice went unheeded. The 
poetic quality of Green’s genius controlled that im- 
mense wealth of material without injuring the unity 
of the narrative, and gave us a book that represents 
the highest grade of historical work in our time and is 
likely to live as a classic. 
In the first half of the nineteenth century some 
confused attempts were made to treat history like a 
physical science, and trace the destinies of nations to 
peculiarities in climate and soil, ignoring moral causes. 
There was also an inclination to underrate the work of 
great men, and ascribe all results to vaguely conceived 
general tendencies. Against these views there came a 
spasmodic reaction which asserted that history is noth- 
ing but the biographies of great men. The former 
view was most conspicuously represented by Buckle, 
the latter by Carlyle and Froude. Concerning the 
point at issue between them, it may be said that since 
general tendencies are manifested only in the thoughts 
