2 INTRODUCTION. 



That which has made facts and events capable of being 

 chronicled and reviewed, that which underlies and con- 

 nects them, that which must be reproduced by the his- 

 torian who unfolds them to us, is the hidden element of 



2. Thought. Thought, and thought alone, be it as a principle 

 the only' of action or as the medium of after-contemplation, is 



moving 



principle, capable of arranging and connecting, of combining what 

 is isolated, of moving that which is stagnant, of propel- 

 ling that which is stationary. Take away thought, and 

 monotony becomes the order. 



3. This assertion may seem bold to many, who would look 



History of 



Nature, how rather to the grand phenomena of Nature than to the 



to be under- 

 narrOW limits of man's activity. A few remarks will, 



however, suffice to show that my proposition is not 

 opposed to the view which they take. , It may be 

 urged that, independent of human life altogether, the 

 earth has a history, the planetary system has a develop- 

 ment, and that, according to modern theories, evolution 

 is the principle which governs inanimate as well as ani- 

 mated nature ; that rest and sameness are nowhere to 



4. be found, everywhere change and unrest. But change 



Not intelli- 



gibie with- and unrest do not necessarily constitute history. Motion 



out mtel- 



and change would be as monotonous as absolute rest, 

 were they merely to repeat themselves endlessly, did the 

 whole movement not produce something more, and were 

 this something more not greater or better than the 

 beginning. But greater and better are terms which imply 

 comparison by a thinking beholder, who attaches to one 

 thing a greater value than to another, judging by certain 

 ideal standards, which are not in the objects or process of 

 nature themselves, but are contained only in his own think- 



