Page 44 - La Société canadienne d'histoire de l'Église catholique - Rapport 1961

42 WISCONSIN IiISTORICAL COLLECTIONS.
is there -8.nyf,l'1ing else capable of eliminating from the chaos of
'nascent civf]iz, 'tio~s the characteristic and providential cones,
'unlike ia every- ,ne~ple, about ~hich the facts of subsequent
developnlent are ~r~~talliz~. nations, like individuals,
And
arc not inha hk~ secret of their greatest strength,
they have determinedr heir true bent alld mission; thc line along
which, for Ihe most par%, their energies shall be expended, not
only from the imprcsstonr of instinct, but also from the careful
atudy of their recorded adi~ '~~"lent3-
"The final consideration we lvis11 to urge for the institutiorl of
theso historical libraries, directr.'~, by the States, or indirectly,
through the channels of persona enterprise llssisted by the
governme~t, is intimated in some ell, q~ent words of Dr. ALES-
ANnm: Qur national tendency, so lrar as wc have any, is to
slight the past, and over-rate the present. Tho influence of this
,defect upon our development is incalculable. But instcad of
ping on to reckon up the consequences of evil now in ques-
'tion, let us rather draw attention to the fact that it not of
euch s nature as to be corrected by the lapse ot* time, but must
increase with the increase of ignorance and lazy pride; espe-
ciJly when fostered by a paltry national conceit*, and flattered
by those oracles of human progress, who declare that history is
only fit for ~nonks.' There is no little painful truth sumn:ed up
in this extract. To counteract the injurious tendency indicated
in it, ie one of the most pressing needs of our times. To do
this cffictually, ercry minister should inquire more assiduously
and reverently of tho oracles of Church history; statesmen in
all humility ehoukd more and more submit thcmsclves to the
wisdom of the secular records. Our schools and colleges should
give to historic studies a much greater rclativc importance than
they now nre permitted to assume in thc sccreditcd curricula.
And then the most important of all, the Statc shoultl havo at
hand the material to supply the demand for l~istoric information
. ,., ,.