Synthesized answer
Rusden's temporal proximity to the "actors" of colonization means that "witness after witness has vanished" and "no precise record has been made of the manner in which they wrestled with their difficulties" [1]. This loss of direct witnesses means that incorrect narrations might be accepted without distrust [2]. However, this proximity also provides an advantage because the "atmosphere of an epoch is a part of it, and he who breathes it must indeed be dull if he be in no degree imbued with the spirit of the time" [4]. Rusden's personal experiences can restrain him from accepting mis-statements from those with only a party purpose [3].
Regarding the judgment of momentous events, Rusden states that distinguishing "those which are momentous from those which are insignificant in principle, may be as easy for a distant investigator as for one who lives on the spot" [2]. However, he also notes that "To know how men's minds were disturbed by events which might seem trivial to strangers abroad, is given only to those who have moved upon the scene" [2]. The passages indicate that conversations with those who were colonists and their descendants have revealed hopes and fears, explaining…
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From the book
← History of Australia ( 1897 ) by George William Rusden Contents → 1454194 History of Australia 1897 George William Rusden HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA. VOL. I. [ The Right of Translation and Reproduction is reserved. ] HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA. BY G. W. RUSDEN, AUTHOR OF "HISTORY OF NEW ZEALAND." SECOND EDITION. IN THREE VOLUMES, VOLUME I. Melbourne: MELVILLE, MULLEN & SLADE, 202 Collins Street. London: 12 Ludgate Square, E.C. 1897. Melbourne: McCarron, Bird & Co., Printers, collins street west. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. The actors in what has been called the heroic work of colonization…
witness has vanished, and no precise record has been made of the manner in which they wrestled with their difficulties. In default of such a record, incorrect narrations might be accepted without distrust, and quoted without misgiving. Persuasion of many friends that I should prepare a correct narrative, and a desire on my own part that it should be prepared, have produced the following work. It is the result of long residence in Australia, and of acquaintance with some of those who assisted the early Governors in the task of controlling men and subduing the earth. I have seen one generation…
dst whose judgments may be found a clue to the tangled labyrinth into which investigation must often lead the historian. There is danger lest one who has lived within a portion of the time he chronicles should himself fail to preserve a just discrimination; but, if he has not been himself immersed in party quarrels, if his desire be to probe the facts and declare the truth, his personal experiences are so far advantageous that they may restrain him from accepting ignorant or wilful mis-statements made by those who have only a party purpose to serve. How long the aborigines of Australia had…
ere colonists in the eighteenth century, and with many thousands among the generations which succeeded the first comers. Such conversations have revealed the hopes and fears, and explained many of the turmoils of the past. Men's motives become known to their contemporaries. Often they make no attempt to conceal them, and they could not conceal them if they would. Friends betray what enemies long to discover. The atmosphere of an epoch is a part of it, and he who breathes it must indeed be dull if he be in no degree imbued with the spirit of the time. History should be a picture of the past,…
it is not enough to make mere assertions. It is incumbent to fortify each position by cumulating circumstantial proofs. The world, moreover, exacts, in modern days, details which greatly lengthen books, and such a process has the approval of one of the most sagacious of men. In marshalling the facts which prove how much error has been accepted as truth with regard to the pilgrim fathers of Australia, I have allowed the actors to speak for themselves as much as possible. An author may labour to incorporate as the coinage of his own brain the wit or sense which emanated from those of whom he…
More questions about this book
- Rusden asserts his aim is to provide a "correct narrative." What specific criteria or methodologies does he present that, in his view, would make his account uniquely "correct," and what challenges might this claim pose to historical objectivity?
- The author highlights his unique access to "confidential letters" and personal experience "on the scene." How do these sources and perspectives, according to Rusden, deepen understanding of historical events beyond official records, and what potential biases might such intimate access introduce?
- Rusden differentiates between the "authentic information" of official reports and the "opinions" requiring knowledge of writers' characters. Explain how this distinction might guide an historian's interpretation, and where the boundary between "fact" and "opinion" could become ambiguous even within "authentic" sources.
- Rusden implies that only those "who have moved upon the scene" can truly grasp "how men's minds were disturbed." How would you explain the strengths and limitations of this assertion as a principle for historical inquiry, and what alternative methods might complement or challenge this claim today?