INDEX OF QUOTES
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One of the most admirable things about history
is, that almost as a rule we get as much information out of what it does not
say as we get out of what it does say. And so, one may truly and axiomatically
aver this, to-wit: that history consists of two equal parts; one of these halves
is statements of fact, the other half is inference, drawn from the facts.
To the experienced student of history there are no difficulties about this; to him the half which is unwritten is as clearly and surely visible, by the help of scientific inference, as if it flashed and flamed in letters of fire before his eyes. When the practised eye of the simple peasant sees the half of a frog projecting above the water, he unerringly infers the half of the frog which he does not see. To the expert student in our great science, history is a frog; half of it is submerged, but he knows it is there, and he knows the shape of it. |
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