HISTORICAL DIFFICULTIES AND CONTESTED EVENTS. L’histoire n’est le plus souvent, et surtout à distance, qu’une fable convenue, un _qui pro quo_ arrangé après coup, et accepté. (SAINTE-BEUVE, Nouveaux Lundis. Tome 6ᵐᵉ, p. 8.) Les vérités se succèdent du pour au contre à mesure qu’on a plus de lumières. (PASCAL). HISTORICAL DIFFICULTIES AND CONTESTED EVENTS. BY OCTAVE DELEPIERRE, LL.D., F.S.A. SECRETARY OF LEGATION TO THE KING OF THE BELGIANS. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1868. [_The right of translation is reserved._] TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE 1. THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES (B. C. 306) 13 2. BELISARIUS (565) 23 3. THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY (640) 31 4. POPE JOAN (855) 40 5. ABELARD AND ELOISA (1140) 49 6. WILLIAM TELL (1307) 67 7. PETRARCH AND LAURA (1320) 93 8. JEANNE D’ARC (1430) 105 9. FRANCIS I. AND COUNTESS OF CHATEAUBRIAND (1525) 116 10. CHARLES V. OF SPAIN (1557) 128 11. THE INVENTOR OF THE STEAM-ENGINE (1625) 139 12. GALILEO GALILEI (1620) 148 APPENDIX TO THE NOTICE ON WILLIAM TELL 161 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 167 INTRODUCTION. The age in which we live seems remarkable for its appreciation of men of renown, and for the homage rendered to them. Societies that are still in their youth are liable to be dazzled by the superficial wonders of historical tradition, and to allow their admiration to be easily taken captive; but an epoch ripened by experience, and by a long habit of literary criticism, should rather reserve its enthusiasm for ascertained facts, and for such deeds of renown as are beyond the pale of doubt and discussion. Thus we find in the present day a marked predilection, not only as a matter of general utility but also from a sense of justice, for a keen research into every doubtful point of history. Nations as well as individuals need the maturity of time to appreciate at their real value the actions and the traditions of past ages.