torches, and the applause and the opportunity, spoke up

from that of the element he is to manipulate. Here a very important consideration will be the

principles to which the author refers, the bearing and motives of the actions and events which he

describes, and those which determine the form of his narrative. Among us Germans this reflective

treatment and the display of ingenuity which it occasions, assume a manifold variety of phases.

Every writer of history proposes to himself an original method. The English and French confess to

general principles of historical composition. Their standpoint is more that of cosmopolitan or of

national culture. Among us each labours to invent a purely individual point of view. Instead of

writing history, we are always beating our brains to discover how history ought to be written. This