Mosaics of Grecian History

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Title: Mosaics of Grecian History
Author: Marcius Willson and Robert Pierpont Willson
Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6841] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on January 31,
2003]

Edition: 10
Language: English
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OF GRECIAN HISTORY ***

Produced by Robert J, Hall

MOSAICS OF GRECIAN HISTORY
BY MARCIUS WILLSON AND ROBERT PIERPONT WILLSON

PREFACE.
The leading object had in view in the preparation of the present volume
has been to produce, within a moderate compass, a History of Greece
that shall not only be trustworthy, but interesting to all classes of
readers.
It must be acknowledged that our standard historical works, with all
their worth, do not command a perusal by the people at large; and it is
equally plain that our ordinary School Manuals--the abridgments and
outlines of more voluminous works--do not meet with any greater favor.
The mere outline system of historical study usually pursued in the
schools is interesting to those only to whom it is suggestive of the
details on which it is based; and we have long been satisfied that it is
not the best for beginners and for popular use; that it inverts the natural
order of acquisition; that for the young to master it is drudgery; that its
statistical enumeration, if ever learned by them, is soon forgotten; that
it tends to create a prejudice against the study of history; that it does not
lay the proper foundation for future historical reading; and that, outside
of the enforced study of the school-room, it is seldom made use of. The
people in general--the masses--do not read such works, while they do
read with avidity historical legends, historical romances, historical
poems and dramas, and biographical sketches. And we do not hesitate
to assert that from Shakspeare's historical plays the reading public have

acquired (together with much other valuable information) a
hundred-fold more knowledge of certain portions of English history
than from all the ponderous tomes of formal history that have ever been
written. It may be said that people ought to read Hume, and Lingard,
and Mackintosh, and Hallam, and Froude, and Freeman, instead of
Shakspeare's "King John," and "Richard II.," and "Henry IV.," and
"Henry VIII.," etc. It is a sufficient reply to say they do not.
Historical works, therefore, to be read by the masses, must be adapted
to the popular taste. It was an acknowledgment of this truth that led
Macaulay, the most brilliant of historians, to remark, "We are not
certain that the best histories are not those in which a little of the
exaggeration of fictitious narrative is judiciously employed. Something
is lost in accuracy, but much is gained in effect. The fainter lines are
neglected, but the great characteristic features are imprinted on the
mind forever." If the result to which Macaulay refers be once attained
by an introductory work so interesting that it shall come into general
use, it will, we believe, naturally lead to the reading of some of the best
standard works in the same historical field. In our attempt to make this
a work of such a preparatory character, we have borne in mind the
demand that has arisen for poetic illustration in the reading and
teaching of history, and have given this delightful aid to historical study
a prominent place--ofttimes making it the sole means of imparting
information. And yet we have introduced nothing that is not strictly
consistent with our ideal of what history should be; for although some
of the poetic selections are avowedly wholly legendary, and others, still,
in a greater or less degree fictitious in their minor details--like the
by-plays in Shakspeare's historic dramas--we believe they do no
violence to historical verity, as