History. 131 



mav be applied, though not to an equal extent, to 

 the finest Roman models. The best historical works 

 of modern Europe are certainly entitled to more 

 credit, with respect to authencity. It is not meant 

 to be asserted that they are free from misrepresen- 

 tation and fable, with which they all, in different 

 degrees,-- abound; but merely that they contain 

 much less of these than their predecessors. The 

 reasons of this superiority are obvious. The an- 

 cient historians could only consult manuscripts and 

 traditional records. The former were compara- 

 tively rare, difficult of access, liable to mutilation, 

 and other injuries, and not easily corrected, when 

 erroneous, by collations with many others which 

 detailed the same facts. The latter is a source of 

 information so obviously imperfect and fabulous, 

 that no prudent writer, in ordinary cases, would 

 receive materials from it with confidence. The 

 stores of information open to modern historians, 

 are more numerous, rich, and authentic. The 

 art of printing has multiplied records beyond all 

 former example. The increased intercourse be- 

 tween distant countries, and the facility with 

 which documents may be collected from every ci- 

 vilized quarter of the globe, also present a new 

 and most important advantage to the modern com- 

 piler of history. Accordingly, this class of writers] 

 in the course of the century under review, admitted 

 less fiction into their narratives; stated truths in a 

 more luminous, connected and satisfactory manner; 

 and went, in general, more deeply, and success^ 

 fully into the relations of political causes and effects, 

 than any of their predecessors/ 



-c This remark is meant to be a general one ; but it admits of some ex- 

 ceptions. The histories of Clarendon and Burnet, in the preceding 

 century, may be considered as vying, in point of authenticity, with the best 

 subsequent works of the same kind. They are both said to be partial ; but 

 fi'hat book, or what mind was ever completely free from partiality * 



