casional coincidence--Cases where different observations
of the same fact are not independent--General facts
the easiest to prove 199

Different facts, each imperfectly proved, corroborate each
other when they harmonise 204

Disagreement between documents and other sources of
knowledge--Improbable statements--Miracles--When science
and history conflict, history should give way 205

BOOK III

_SYNTHETIC OPERATIONS_

CHAPTER I

GENERAL CONDITIONS OF HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTION

The materials of Historical Construction are isolated facts,
of very different kinds, of very different degrees of
generality, each belonging to a definite time and place,
of different degrees of certainty 211

Subjectivity of History 214

The facts learnt from documents relate to (1) living beings
and material objects; (2) actions, individual and collective;
(3) motives and conceptions 217

The facts of the past must be imagined on the model of those
of the present--Danger of error especially in regard to
mental facts 219

Some of the conditions of human life are permanent--The
study of these provides a framework into which details
taken from documents are to be fitted--For this purpose
systematic lists of questions are to be used, drawn up
beforehand, and relating to the universal conditions of life 224

Outline of Historical Construction--The division of
labour--Historians must use the works of their colleagues and
predecessors, but not without critical precautions 228

CHAPTER II

THE GROUPING OF FACTS

Historical facts may be classified and arranged either according
to their time and place, or according to their nature--Scheme
for the _logical_ classification of general historical
facts 232

The selection of facts for treatment--The history of civilisation
and "battle-history"--Both needed 236

The determination of groups of men--Precautions to be
observed--The notion of "race" 238

The study of institutions--Danger of being misled by metaphors--The
questions which should be a