Expeditions to Egypt found a key to hieroglyphs; State papers
were arranged to the hand of the scholar; archives, like those of
Simancas, were thrown open. The progress of Truth, through the extension
of education, unmasked ancient prescriptions and prejudices: thus, where
the chronicle remained, philosophy was transformed; and it became evident
that the history of man in all times must be written anew, with far
greater light to guide the writer than the preceding century had enjoyed.
Besides, the world of readers became almost as learned as the historian
himself, and he wrote to supply a craving and a demand such as had never
before existed. A glance at the labors of the following historians will
show that they were not only annalists, but reformers in the full sense of
the word: they re-wrote what had been written before, supplying defects
and correcting errors.
GEORGE GROTE.--This distinguished writer was born near London, in 1794. He
was the son of a banker, and received his education at the Charter House.
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