The Study of History: Its Uses, Importance, and Value today
[Notes: Uses of history-readig-romantic pleasure-broadening our mind and enla rging our sympathies-history, a mirror to us reflection of past errors and their dangerous consequences. (French Revolution)]
The uses of history are many. The study of history gives us pleasure. There is much in the annals of a country which is as romantic and interesting as anything in novels and fictions. We cannot read the stories of brave knights, great kings, daring adventurers and discoverers without interest and pleasure.
The study of history broadens our mind and enlarges our sympa-thies. When we go through the great deeds done by our ancestors and the stories of the achievements of other nations, our mind becomes peopled with many great and noble figures; and we feel deeper interest not only in our own people, but in all mankind.
The history of the past explains the present. The present is born of the past. We cannot fully understand our present customs, thoughts and ideals, and institutions if we do not know how they have come to be what they are. History is like a mirror to us. It reflects our past errors and the dangerous consequences they brought in, just as a mirror reflects the figure of a man. This reflection serves as a warning to us and keeps us always on guard against these errors. The French Revolution, the product of man's error, is a warning to all mankind. Thus history educates us about the present in the wisdom of the past.
