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keep alive the memory of their past history. I have lived for 

 many years in the vicinity of such a town, and therefore I can 

 form a judgment of the degree in which traditionary history 

 can be accurately transmitted. 



Let us take a period of twenty-eight years after the close of 

 the great French war. Would it have been possible for an his- 

 torian to write an accurate history of it from oral tradition ? I 

 take this particular time, because it constitutes the interval which 

 separates the composition of St. PauFs four chief Epistles, from 

 the Resurrection. If we add to these the twenty-two years 

 of the war, the whole interval will be greater than that which 

 separates the composition of the latest of the synoptic Gospels 

 from our Lord^s pubHc ministry. I have no hesitation in 

 affirming that, at the time I have mentioned it would have 

 been possible to have composed a generally correct history of 

 all the chief battles from the local traditions of the place, 

 although there would have been considerable variations in 

 minor details, which would have afforded a number of specious 

 objections for critics, who were anxious to invalidate it. They 

 were habitually talked of in all ordinary society, and the 

 chief events were thoroughly known. At the time I speak of, 

 there was probably not a boatman in the harbour who could not 

 give an account, more or less accurate, of the different actions 

 in which each ship had been engaged, which he had heard 

 talked of, over and over again, among his friends and acquaint- 

 ances. These narratives wxre of an essentially popular character, 

 and the accounts of them in books and newspapers had nothing 

 to do with their formation. The only changes which they had 

 undergone were those natural ones which came from the desire 

 of individuals to exaggerate their own importance. While 

 such numbers of men who were personally present in them 

 were alive, it would have been impossible to have introduced 

 into this kind of oral history any number of mythical or 

 legendary traditions affecting their general character, without 

 the danger of certain refutation. I have taken this example, 

 because it seems to me to present a strong parallel to the 

 position of the Christian Church for the fifty years which 

 followed the Resurrection. 



But in proportion as those who were present in them have died 

 off, the popular interest has become less vivid, and the knowledge 

 of them less accurate. A general fading of them from the popular 

 recollection has now taken place. A very inconsiderable number 

 of persons are now alive who took part in any of them. To get 

 accurate knowledge, it would now be necessary to institute 

 careful inquiries of what men had heard from their fathers, and 

 their grandfathers. Still a certain amount of accurate informa- 



