rs of antiquity has a little waned of late in favor with the
world. If this indeed be the case, so much the worse for the world....
When Homer and Dante and Shakespeare are neglected, then will Herodotus
cease to be read."

There we have the secret of his hold upon the minds of men. He knows how
to tell a story, said Professor Hart, in the discussion previously
referred to, in Cleveland. He has "an epic unity of plan," writes
Professor Jebb. Herodotus has furnished delight to all generations,
while Polybius, more accurate and painstaking, a learned historian and a
practical statesman, gathers dust on the shelf or is read as a penance.
Nevertheless, it may be demonstrated from the historical literature of
England of our century that literary style and great power of narration
alone will not give a man a niche in the temple of history. Herodotus
showed diligence and honesty, without which his other qualities would
have failed to secure him the place he holds in the estimation of
historical scholars.

From Herodotus we naturally turn to Thucydides, who in the beginning
charms historical students by his impression of the seriousness and
dignity of his business. History, he writes, will be "found profitable
by those who desire an exact knowledge of the past as a key to the
future, which in all human probability will repeat or resemble the past.
My history is an everlasting possession, not a prize composition which
is heard and forgotten." Diligence, accuracy, love of truth, and
impartiality are merits commonly ascribed to Thucydides, and the
internal evidence of the history bears out fully the general opinion.
But, in my judgment, there is a tendency to rate, in the comparative
estimates, the Athenian too high, for the possession of these qualities;
for certainly some modern writers have possessed all of these merits in
an eminent degree. When Jowett wrote in the preface to his translation,
Thucydides "stands absolutely alone among the historians, not only of
Hellas, but of the world, in his impartiality and love of truth," he was
unaware that a son of his own university was writing the history of a
momentous period of his own country, in a manner to impugn the
correctness of that statement. When the Jowett Thucydides appeared,
Samuel R. Gardiner had published eight volumes of his history, though he
had not reached the great Civil War, and his reputation, which has since
grown with a cumulative force, was not fully establis