Page 3 Advertisements Column 3

Evening Star, Issue 12101, 6 November 1908, Page 3

, " is.-.resonant. with the voices of people enlightening:; or affecting to enlighten, the the worid from/pulpits or.platforms; day by day the newspaper presses pour forth'untold miles of printed -true-or. untrue, good, bad, or indifferent ; and of all tnis appaliing'mass'of words ;it-is safe to say that not a tithe would be uttered if the speakers and writers, or the audiences for whom: they cater, had more historical knowledge, or anything of the historical spirit. I k P r ° foundl y t ,^ at a working of the past should form part of, the necessary equipment, not only of all publiQjspeakers and writers,’ ‘but of the audiences whom they address; for experience is the mother of wisdom, and history is, after all, but the record of the experience of the human race. Now, there- is no better training for judging the value and significance of the news published day by day than a training in history. Indeed, the greater part of

■ unintelligible without' some know* *?"g® w tPeihistorical sequence of events of 'which it item. How is the reader to face the .vast and anxious problemof the future of lndia, M he be utterly ignorant of'lhdian coriditions and of-Indian history; or % yet vaster and more aniuonfc.probfefe of thffTjvhole relations of European dviUsatioh with the renasamt EmJ, if, he know nothing of thp genius and immeihonal cultertef the 'brawn’ and races? he must, to the best of his ability. if the experiment of Imperial democracy, utterly-new' to the worid|s experience, is to succeed. The whole- Englishspeaking is now governed by democracy'in ; one form or another; ,it embraces within its limits the greater portion of the habitable globe, and it powerfully affects the fortunes af the rest; and every, voter in this democracy is sovereign and ruler to the extent of his vote, and to that extent is responsible for the proper

of great affairs. Thatiswhylamkpassionate advocate of an .education that'shall be .worthy of the N name.aneducation thatshall really educate, that w d| lead .people .out of a .state' of 'mind .that leaves them a prey to every charlatan.,. ' ' • ' are ordinary' people to acquire .’a. knowledge of history f That was a question that met me everywhere dnringmy lecture tours. , The .Historians’ History of the World is an attempt to . meet-this diffi-. c «lty- How far is it likely to do so ? ' , •t'i, av ® no hesitation in saying that for the ordinary I* 13 ® The Historians’ History of the World will form in itself a historical library better than he could possibly .hopfeto get together at .a much greater cost. I shall certainly find these yqlupies very useful for my own .purposes; I therefore have no hesitation inrecpmmending them cordially to otheis.”— From an appreciation of the Htstorians‘ History of the World, byW. Alisscn Phillips, the author of “Modern Europe''

“Politics are vulgar when they are not liberalised by History” |T is a profound truth that was summed up in this memorable phrase by Sir John Seeley, who had the more right to speak since the practical effects of his own work have/been very tangible. That imperial consciousness, in which the attitude of the British world to-day differs so markedly from that of a generation ago, is largely traceable to the impulse given by his brilliant study “ The Expansion of England,” In great crises modern nations have recognised the practical value, nay the necessity, of historical reading. Wheq Prussia lay humiliated at the feet of Napoleon after Jena, the study of history formed an important part of the national movement which in two generations was to end a predominance the French had enjoyed for six centuries. The Prussians conquered in ’7l because they knew more, knew more of themselves, of others, of the whole course of history, than did the French, for world histories had followed one another in an unbroken succession from the German press. There are no less than.;.nine world histories of prime importance and and great popularity in Germany—indeed the very earliest, Schlosser’s. has now reached its twentieth edition (iSyols). Apublic brought up on such reading, when the crisis came, was filled ■with ideals which were not illusions. In their turn, the French after Sedan pnt history in the front rank of the agents which go to make efficiency. The problem before the British Empire is the greatest that has ever faced a race, and the more challenging because its wise solution lies in the hands, not of a few', but of each individual in the sovereign democracy. m > > HSg/ [I/ THE DUKE OF ALVA, the most successful general of his time; in his government of the Netherlands shewed himself the perfect and absolute tyrannt. He boasted, probably with exaggeration, that he had executed 18,000 inhabitants in six years. (Vol. XIII., "Netherlands “J The Web of History, “ Ignorance of history is a wilful waste of experience.” It is only from the knowledge of what has occurred that'man can hope to perceive what will occur and judge aright of policies and consequences. The commonest of all sayings in regard to history is that it repeats itself, it is indeed ever the same story, and it is this sameness under infinitely various guises which lends to history its surpassing fascination, and renders it the most potent agent of enlightenment. Land tenure; the relation between the state and the individual, whether as regards taxation, the fostering of industries, or the adoption of measures for the inducement of personal good conduct; the status of religion ; the attempt to “ level-up ” between the rich and the poor ; federation ; defence—these things, present in the minds of all at this election time in a country which has figured in the world drama for barely two generations, are precisely the material of history throughout all ages and in all countries. The Oldest Complaint in the World, To imagine that political problems here and now are something cut off and radically different from those which have been wdsely or unwisely faced or solved in the past, is in itself the beginning of political error. If the Historians’ History of the World did no more than relieve its readers of this blindness, the benefits would amply repay the labour of its production. What has a more “ modern ” souud than the complaint of decadence in a civilisation which has already reached its prime ? It is the oldest complaint that has come down to us. The Historians’ History of the World quotes from an Egyptian document known as “ the oldest book in the world,” written some 4000 years 8.C., to show tha,t thoughtful Egyptians of that time regarded civilisation as being past its zenith. They were tired of the degenerate days in which they lived, and looked back to the good eld days when the Egyptians, as it seemed to them, were a great people. Of Egyptian history—the most distant from ourselves of which we have record the Editor-in-chief of the History says “ When one considers the ancient resident, of the valley of the Nile as a human being, with desires, emotions, and aspirations almost precisely like our own ; a man struggling to solve the same problems of practical socialism that we are struggling for to-day—then, and then only, can the lessons of ancient Egyptian history be brought home to us in their true meaning and with their true significance.” Socialism 800 B.C, “ Amongst the earliest traditions in Greek history are the laws given to Sparta by Lycurgus. Finding a prodigious inequality in wealth, he had all the old divisions of land cancelled and new ones made, that all might be equal. To the same end he practically eliminated the use of money by changing the coinage from gold and silver to ir«n, so that ay*e of oxen was required to remove the equivalent of £3O. He instituted public tables where all ate in common of the same meal such as was appointed by law. Has the most advanced socialism ventured further ? The record of the Greek states is one long commentary upon the subject of federation and its central episode, the thirty years’ war between Athens and and Sparta, is the struggle between the imperial ambitions of a democratic naval power and the disruptive forces of conservative particularism. The accumulation of land in the hands of a few is the central theme of Roman history from the Carthaginian war to the time of Caesar—and so through all the ages, chapter throughout the volumes of the History, the reader sees the same humanity facing similar problems. The History carries the vivid and detailed record down.to the latest legislation in Australia and New Zealand, to which countries it devotes 40,000 words. It was, indeed, this necessity, to every man and woman, of historical reading that, at the end of his task filled the Editor’s mind. - *‘|We greatly mistake,” he writes in his Introduction, “ the purport of our story if it does not, on the whole, make for broader views, for Truer humanitarianism, for higher morals, personal and communal—in a word, for better citizenship in the fullest and broadest meaning of the term. Indeed, to attain the plane of the best citizenship, historical studies are absolutely essential. No one can have a competent judgment regarding the affairs of his own country without such studies; no one is a fair judge of the political principles of the k party he supports or of the one that he opposes, who has not prepared himself by a study of the political systems of the past. l Had I begun earlier and spent thirty years in reading history ,’ said Schiller, ' I should be a very different man and far better than I am} Echoing these words, we may say that the outlook for every constitutional government would be brighter, if every youth and every man who exercises, or is about to exercise, the responsibilities of a voter, and every woman whose advice aids or stimulates a father, brother, husband, or son towards the performance of his civic duties, could spend, not thirty years, let us say, but as many weeks, in studying the history of nations. Little fear that students who have made such a start as this would willingly stop these. They would have gained enough of insight to be keenly interested, and it would require no urging to send them on ; for the panorama of history, once we gain a little insight into it as it unfolds before us its neverending variety of scenes, can hardly be viewed otherwise than with unflagging interest.” rTJ AXEL OXENSTIERNA, The famous Chancellor of Gustavus Adolphus, the great Swedish King and champion of Protestantism. (Vol, XVI., ‘ ‘Scandinavia.") Among the distinguished men who have expressed their appreciation of the Historians’ History of the World statesmen are particularly in evidence— Lord Curzon, Lord Milner, Lord Cromer, the Right Hon. R.B. Haldane. The late Grover Cleveland, who was twice President of the United States, not long before his death expressed himself in the warmest terms as to the value of the History, and in the same strain the Hon. W. Pember Reeves, late High Commissioner for New Zealand, wrote of the benefit that would result from the wide circulation of the work. A booklet, reproducing the opinions of many emin-. ent men, will be sent post free to any reader of this announcement who wishes to see it. And the great quality of history is that, with all its practical usefulness, it makes also the most entertaining reading. Mr. Alison Phillips, author of “ Modern Europe,” in writing eloquently of the political service performed by the History, truly remarks that the real stories of history surpass the finest fiction in interest, and that even the genius of Scott could add nothing to the historical figures of Louis XI. or Richard and Saladin. n CHRISTIAN 11. OF DENMARK. One of the most violent opponents of t Reformation. It was against his regii in Sweden that Gustavus Vasa rebelled the grandfather of Gustavus Adolphi (Vol. XVI., "Scandinavia.''), Of the 2800 line drawings which illustrate the text of the History, those reproduced in this page shew the excellent use made of portraits. The portraits selected are of four men concerned in the great religious upheaval of the Reformation, Besides the 2800 pictures in the text, the History includes over 200 full page plates. \ ERASMUS. The moderate mover in the Reforn of whom Grotios said that “he si shewed the way to a reasonable Re tion.” (VoL XIII,, "Netherlands,''), The want of a world history was the most obvious English literature. In filling this want, in bringing histo to its proper place as the most popular of all subjer Historians’ History also supplies the knowledge, the training, for which the times most urgently call. It is a I all men and women, and, at the subscription price. Ac c book ever published. The subscription list can only rema a short while longer. |f yo u have not received a sobsc form and examined the descriptive pamphlet, you write for both TO-DAY. INQUIRY FORM. To THE TIMES (London), H.Z. Office; 2 Harris Street, Wellington. Please send me, post free, the 84-page pamphlet describing the “ Historians’ History of the World, n and form of subscription at present introductory price. Db6. Name Address..