THE WHOLE TRUTH

The art of history writing is one which has gone through countless phases. There has been the tribal story handed from generation to generation by word of mouth or drawn on the walls of caves. Later came the sagas of the heros, more myth than fact. Some nations like the Jews have kept great records of their wanderings, but if remained for the last few centuries to make of history a science.

History as it is written in the present is yet very different from the history of a generation or two ago. Professor David S Muzzey of Columbia in a lecture Sunday at Repertory Hall emphasized the fact that history has to be constantly rewritten. "You could not study a text-book in physics written sixty years ago without making yourself ridiculous," he stated. "No more can you study a text-book of history written sixty years ago on the American Revolution. Historical scholars are continually discovering new material."

As an example, the known history of Washington of a decade past was far less than that of the present day. Biographies containing new facts and exposing new angles have recently been written. The leader once considered the head of an ordered, unified whole has now become the great binding force in an aggregation of thirteen turbulent units. He is no longer the majestic, legendary figure of the old schoolbooks, but a human being with the usual quota of human frailities.

The new history writing sometimes tends to emphasize the weakness of the great men of the world. It exposes the foibles to the contemptous gaze of the present in a reckless fashion which often fails to make allowances for the greater qualities. The true history of the present day seeks for a mean which presents both sides of the picture, that difficult blend of light and dark which composes the ideal color.