126 Timekri. 



Few people in the colony take any interest in its literature. In our 

 library we have a fa ; r collection which, when carefully studied, helps us to 

 get a real picture of former conditions and to find out the antecedents of 

 what we have to-day. Much interest can be felt in tracing the beginnings 

 of things as the}' are and their gradual development. However slow the 

 progress it has been real, but we need not boast too much or think our- 

 selves so very superior to our ancestors. If we had lived in their day we 

 should have probably acted as they did. Some of their doings appear 

 wrong in our eyes, but as' we can only judge by results, we have to say 

 that there was never any real evil. The great fault of the world in 

 general is the putting up of standards of right and wrong which are only 

 valid for a time. We should go forward and never try to get back, throw 

 over all fixed standards, and take the lessons of the past to hetrt. Old 

 laws have to be changed as we progress and we must remember that the 

 question, " What is truth P" is still unanswered. The truths of to-day 

 must be modified to-morrow : we can hold them, but only tentatively. 



The lines of historical study for our colony may be formulated in a 

 tentative way as follows : — 



First. — It is necessary for the historian to know the country so as to 

 understand what the people were like at different times. We are all crea- 

 tures of circumstances and must study the surroundings that once 

 developed the native Indian, then the negro and lastly the East Indians, 

 Chinese and coloured people. It has been stated that, given particular 

 circumstances and peoples nothing different could be possible. People, we 

 can see to-day tell as plainly something of their ancestors — as for the 

 country it is practically the same. It follows therefore that with our 

 knowledge of the present we can get a fair idea of the past with the 

 assistance of the early voyagers. Every traveller must be consulted by 

 the historian who however must correct their statements by his advanced 

 scientific knowledge. 



Second : — In connection with what he gathers from the earliest 

 travellers he should find out how and when certain plants were intro- 

 duced. For example cotton and tobacco were fouud here but coffee and 

 the sugar-cane were brought by white men. The whole plantation sys- 

 tem was base! on sugar, coffee and cotton aud therefore these products 

 must be considered by every historian. Here also we have to take 

 accounts of the fact that Dutchmen were accustomed to empolder land 

 and that East Indians were adepts at rice growing. 



Some will say this is not history and yet it cannot be ignored. It is 

 a curious fact that whereas we have our coastlands empoldered, Surinam 

 has done hardly anything in the same way. The fact appears to be that 

 as Surinam was British at first its development was not on Dutch lines. 

 If the historian is to deal with the origins of things as they are he can- 

 not afford to ignore racial and national habits and customs. Those who 

 simply deal with events and exclude everything else will never understand 

 the why and wherefore of things. Local conditions mean much and often 

 give us the keys to problems otherwise insoluble 



