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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 Trench 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. Paul’s 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 public 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 were 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- 
