[Points: Importance—storehouse of wisdom—formerly too much importance was attached to kings and conquerors—bad effects—modern histories how to benefit by studying history.]
History is a very important subject of study. In fact it is said to be the storehouse of wisdom. But the benefit to be derived from it depends upon how it is written and how we study it.
Formerly History was mostly a record of the reigns of kings and their conquests. Very little was said of the life of the common people. This led to a wrong idea among the people that kines and great men were the only persons worth studying, and other persons and things were of no importance to society. This naturally gave a despotic outlook to kings and conquerors and made the people meekly submit to them as their duty. But really History is the story of creation through the ages. And creation means 'all men, great and small, as well as everything else that concerns them-their arts and literature, manners and customs. In short, it is the story of civilisation.
Modern histories are written on this ideal. They touch no only the achievements of great men but also give pictures of common life and the state of things in the countries concerned. They further point out how and why nations rise and fall, and how the lives of the individuals of a nation are bound up with one another in weal and woe. These act as morals of History to inspire and guide all mankind.
Unfortunately there has grown up a tendency among certain people to twist history to suit particular interests, theories and view points. In their blind faith, in their own beliefs, they misrepresent the facts and misinterpret them. In reality they are no better than propagandist literature. As such they are unworthy of the name of History and do more harm than good.
To derive proper benefit from History we must bear the above lines in mind. We should study every book with great care and try to go deep into the lessons of the facts stated in it with an unbiased and free mind. We should not condemn a thing outright simply because its facts and interpretations are against our cherished ideas. We should consult other authorities to know who are right, -we or the authors of the books we do not like.
