340 History, [Chap. XVII. 



receive materials from it with confidence. The 

 stores of information open to modern historians 

 are more numerous, rich, and authentic. The 

 art of pv'mt'wg has multiphed records beyond all 

 former example. Tlie increased intercourse be- 

 tween distant countries, and the facihty with 

 which documents may be collected from every 

 civilised quarter of the globe, also present a new 

 and 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 man- 

 ner ; and went, in general, more deeply and suc- 

 cessfully into tlie relations of |)olitical causes and 

 effects, than any of their predecessors*. 



We have at least one instance on record of an 

 eloquent Greek historian attending the Olympic 

 games, for the express purpose of publicly recit- 

 ing his history to the assenil)led multitude. It is 

 natural to conclude that a work formed with a 

 view, to such an exhibition would be rather an 

 agreeable poem, accommodated to popular preju- 

 dices, and addressed to popular feelings, than a 

 faithful rer^ord of facts, foi' the instruction of poste- 

 rity. The historians of the present day lay their 

 authorities before the reader, and their caution is 

 excited, and their fidelity rendered more vigilant, 



•^•' This remark is meant to be a general one ; but it admits of 

 some exceptions. The histories of Clarendon and Burnet, in the 

 preceding century, mny be considered as'\ying, in point of aut/ien- 

 fici/i/, with the bcht subsequent works of the same kind. They 

 arc botli said to be partial j but what book, or v/hnt mind, wa? 

 ever completely free from partiality? 



