Proceedings of the New York Historical Association [1906]New York State Historical Association. Meeting
History
Proceedings of the New York Historical Association [1906]
New York State Historical Association. Meeting
New York (State) -- History -- Periodicals; New York State Historical Association -- Periodicals
Others give us the religious interpretation of history. They tell us of
those epochs when great masses of men, impelled by a wave of religious
enthusiasm, moved to fiery zeal, their imaginations touched, their moral
sense deeply stirred, have become knights of the faith, missionaries
armed with fire and sword; the scourges of God. Such causes impelled the
Saracenic invasion of Africa and Europe, and the Crusades.
Other historians have studied the great migratory movements that have
swept vast bodies of men away from their native environments, and
precipitated new elements into history. Such were the migrations of the
tribes of Northern Europe, and of the Asiatic hordes, which were a
powerful element in the overturn of the Roman Empire.
In late years there has been an increasing interest in the biographies
of the great men who have moved the world. No view of history is more
interesting than this study of personalities. It has sometimes been
pushed to an absurd extent, in the attempt to reverse historical
verdicts, to rehabilitate tarnished reputations, and in the exaggeration
of hero-worship. The relation of great men to their times has been a
fascinating theme for the historian to dwell upon in every age.
All these, and many more inquiries, are worthy of the most painstaking
study. We cannot know too much about them. They are all a part of "the
moulding together the great mysterious incorporation of the human race."
But the moral lesson of history is larger than any exceptional episodes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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