Henry of Monmouth, Volume 1 | Page 2

dramatical excellence only to himself. The Author may
also not unwillingly grant, that (with the majority of those who give a
tone to the "form and pressure" of the age) Shakspeare has done more
to invest the character of Henry with a never-dying interest beyond the
lot of ordinary monarchs, than the bare records of historical verity
could ever have effected. Still he feels that he had no alternative. He
must either have ascertained the historical worth of those scenic
representations, or have suffered to remain in their full force the deep
and prevalent impressions, as to Henry's principles and conduct, which
owe, if not their origin, yet, at least, much of their universality and
vividness, to Shakspeare. (p. vii) The poet is dear, and our early
associations are dear; and pleasures often tasted without satiety are dear:
but to every rightly balanced mind Truth will be dearer than all.
* * * * *
It must nevertheless be here intimated, that these volumes are neither
exclusively, nor yet especially, designed for the antiquarian student.
The Author has indeed sought for genuine information at every
fountain-head accessible to him; but he has prepared the result of his
researches for the use (he would trust, for the improvement as well as
the gratification,) of the general reader. And whilst he has not
consciously omitted any essential reference, he has guarded against
interrupting the course of his narrative by an unnecessary accumulation
of authorities. He is, however, compelled to confess that he rises from
this very limited sphere of inquiry under an impression, which grew
stronger and deeper as his work advanced, that, before a history of our
country can be produced worthy of a place among the records of
mankind, the still hidden treasures of the metropolis and of our
universities, together with the stores which are known to exist in
foreign libraries, must be studied with far more of devoted care and
zealous perseverance than have hitherto been bestowed upon them.
That the honest and able student, however unwearied in zeal and

industry, may be supplied with the indispensable means of verifying
what (p. viii) tradition has delivered down, enucleating difficulties,
rectifying mistakes, reconciling apparent inconsistencies, clearing up
doubts, and removing that mass of confusion and error under which the
truth often now lies buried,--our national history must be made a
subject of national interest. It is a maxim of our law, and the constant
practice of our courts of justice, never to admit evidence unless it be the
best which under the circumstances can be obtained. Were this
principle of jurisprudence recognised and adopted in historical criticism,
the student would carefully ascend to the first witnesses of every period,
on whom modern writers (however eloquent or sagacious) must depend
for their information. How lamentably devoid of authority and credit is
the work of the most popular and celebrated of our modern English
historians in consequence of his unhappy neglect of this fundamental
principle, will be made palpably evident by the instances which could
not be left unnoticed even within the narrow range of these Memoirs.
And the Author is generally persuaded that, without a far more
comprehensive and intimate acquaintance with original documents than
our writers have possessed, or apparently have thought it their duty to
cultivate, error will continue to be propagated as heretofore; and our
annals will abound with surmises and misrepresentations, instead of
being the guardian depositories of historical verity. Only by the
acknowledgment and application of the principle here advocated will (p.
ix) England be supplied with those monuments of our race, those
"POSSESSIONS FOR EVER," as the Prince of Historians[1] once
named them, which may instruct the world in the philosophy of moral
cause and effect, exhibit honestly and clearly the natural workings of
the human heart, and diffuse through the mass of our fellow-creatures a
practical assurance that piety, justice, and charity form the only sure
groundwork of a people's glory and happiness; while religious and
moral depravity in a nation, no less than in an individual, leads, (tardily
it may be and remotely, but by ultimate and inevitable consequence,) to
failure and degradation.
[Footnote 1: Thucydides.]
In those portions of his work which have a more immediate bearing

upon religious principles and conduct, the Author has not adopted the
most exciting mode of discussing the various subjects which have
naturally fallen under his review. Party spirit, though it seldom fails to
engender a more absorbing interest for the time, and often clothes a
subject with an importance not its own, will find in these pages no
response to its sentiments, under whatever character it may give
utterance to them. In these departments of his inquiry, to himself far the
most interesting, (and many such there are, especially in the second
volume,) the Author trusts