HIS 
HIS 
spines, which render it similar to the bristly 
shell of a chesnut, or to a hedge-hog in 
miniature. The larva of the hispa is un- 
known. 
HISTER, a genus of insects of the order 
Coleoptera. Antennae clavate, the club so- 
lid ; the last joint compressed, decurved ; 
head retractile within the body ; mouth 
forcipated ; shells shorter than the body, 
truncate ; fore-shanks toothed, hind-shanks 
spinous. There are twenty-four species. 
The most common European species of the 
hister genus’ is H. unicolor, which is of a 
glossy coal black colour, and of a slightly 
flattened shape. It is often seen in the 
gardens, but its larva is unknown. 
HISTORIOGRAPHER, a professed his- 
torian, or writer of history. An historian, 
of all authors, spreads the most ample 
theatre ; he erects the greatest tribunal on 
earth; for it is his office to sit supreme 
judge of all that passes in the world, to 
pronounce the destiny of the great ones of 
the earth, and fix their character with pos- 
terity; to do justice to virtue and worth, 
in bestowing eternity upon great and good 
actions, and fixing an everlasting mark of 
infamy on bad ones; to instruct all people 
and nations, and direct the conduct of ages ; 
he therefore ought to be endowed with 
many great and uncommon qualifications. 
He must be a person of consummate know- 
ledge of men and things, of sound judg- 
ment, uncommon sagacity and penetration, 
experienced in matters of state and war, 
of great integrity, firmness of mind, free- 
dom of sentiment, and master of a pure, 
clear, nervous, and exalted style. An his- 
torian whose province it is to speak to kings 
and princes, to the great men of all ages 
and countries, and to be the common mas- 
ter and instructor of mankind, must not 
only write with purity, simplicity, and man- 
ly sensd, but with dignity and elegance : he 
must reject all that is vulgar and low in 
style, make the majesty and sublimity of 
his expression comport with the dignity of 
his subject ; must by an exact choice and 
propriety of words, a natural disposition of 
phrases, and a prudent moderate use of 
figures, give weight to his thoughts, force 
to his language, and imprint a character of 
greatness on all that he says. He mnst at 
the same time represent things with an air 
of gravity and prudence, and not give a 
loose to the heat of imagination, or vivacity 
of wit ; but discreetly suppress every thing 
that shall seem idle, languid and unprofit- 
able, and give every thing that just figure 
and proportion which is consistent witn 
propriety and decorum. He must endea- 
vour at a noble simplicity of thought, lan- 
guage, design, and ordinance, and care- 
fully avoid all profuseness of false conceit, 
strained expression, and affected pompous- 
ness so inconsistent with the gravity, dig- 
nity, and noble character of history. In a 
word, he must write so as to be intelligible 
to the ignorant, and yet charm the wise ; 
form and express such ideas as are great, 
and yet shall appear very common, and in- 
termix no other ornament with his narra- 
tion than what the modesty of truth can 
bear. He should be above the reach and 
power of hopes and fears, and all kinds of 
interest, that he may always dare to speak 
the truth, and write of all without prejudice ; 
religiously observing never to abuse the 
public faith, nor to advance any thing upon 
common fame, which is always uncertain, 
but upon undoubted memoirs and faithful 
relations of such persons as have hada hand 
in affairs. He must always be upon his 
guard against the bias and affections of those 
who supply him with matter, and must not 
credulously give his assent to the historians 
that went before him, without enquiring 
narrowly into their character, and what in- 
fluence they may have been under when 
they wrote, in order to make a just estimate 
of their weight and credit. 
An historian, as to his matter, should 
choose subjects great in themselves, and 
such as are worthy of public fame and re- 
membrance; and should make himself so 
far master of his matter, as to be able to 
cast it into what form he pleases, and to 
strike upon all his subjects the colours they 
are naturally disposed to bear, in order to 
make his lessons profitable to posterity, by 
regulating the heart and spirits of men, 
animating them to great and virtuous ac- 
tions by illustrious examples, and caution- 
ing them against vice, folly, cruelty, and 
injustice, by laying open the fatal conse- 
quences resulting from them. The course 
of his narration must proceed in the order 
of time in which the facts happened, in a 
pure, grave, uninterrupted series, such as 
may not improperly be compared to a great 
river flowing with composed majesty and 
stately smoothness; and when it falls in 
his way to introduce little occurrences, they 
must be so artfully interwoven with the 
great, in the thread of the narration, as to 
offer a seasonable entertainment and relief 
to the reader from the fatigue that too se- 
dulous an attention to the great requireth. 
