Excerpt: ...is not, however, essentially powerless to establish facts of short duration and limited extent (those which are called particular facts), such as a saying, a momentary act. It is enough that several persons should have been present when the fact occurred, that they should have recorded it, and that their writings should have come down to us. We know what were the words which Luther uttered at the Diet of Worms; we know that he did not say what tradition puts in his mouth. This concurrence of favourable ...
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Excerpt: ...is not, however, essentially powerless to establish facts of short duration and limited extent (those which are called particular facts), such as a saying, a momentary act. It is enough that several persons should have been present when the fact occurred, that they should have recorded it, and that their writings should have come down to us. We know what were the words which Luther uttered at the Diet of Worms; we know that he did not say what tradition puts in his mouth. This concurrence of favourable conditions becomes more and more frequent with the organisation of newspapers, of shorthand writers, and of depositories of documents. In the case of antiquity and the middle ages historical knowledge is limited to general facts by the scarcity of documents. In dealing with contemporary history it is possible to include more and 204 more particular facts. The general public supposes the opposite of this; it is suspicious about contemporary facts, with reference to which it sees contradictory narratives circulating, and believes without hesitation ancient facts, which it does not see contradicted anywhere. Its confidence is at its greatest in respect of that history which we have not the means of knowing, and its scepticism increases with the means of knowledge. VI. Agreement between documents leads to conclusions which are not all of them definitive. In order to complete and rectify our conclusions we have still to study the harmony of the facts. Several facts which, taken in isolation, are only imperfectly proved, may confirm each other in such a manner as to produce a collective certainty. The facts which the documents present in isolation have sometimes been in reality sufficiently near each other to be connected. Of this kind are the successive actions of the same man or of the same group of men, the habits of the same group at different epochs separated by short intervals, or of similar groups at the same epoch. It is no doubt possible that one...
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Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. Clean from markings With owner's name inside cover. In good all round condition. No dust jacket. Medium 8vo. Green cloth binding with gilt lettering on backstrip. Minor shelf wear such as bumped corners and slight fraying at ends of backstrip. Publisher's stamp on backboard. Interior is secure, clean and clear with some light foxing. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 600grams, ISBN:
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Seller's Description:
Very Good- No Jacket. 350 p. incl. index, appendices. 1912 reprint; originally published in 1898. VG-; black cloth boards, some bubbling on front, gold lettering on spine. Tail of spine bumped. Some foxing. PO signature on ffep. Some notations in text, but not many. Overall decent condition. A classic introduction to the study of history. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall.
