Page:The Science of History and the Hope of Mankind.djvu/23

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ITS SCOPE AND FUNCTION



able to the discovery and formulation of universal principles and fundamental laws that may be generalised out of the facts and phenomena of the world. History has, thus, on the one hand, been able to supply out of its general stock special facts and materials for an altogether new branch of learning, viz., Political Science, and has thus contributed to the richness and variety of human knowledge. But these specialised activities have, on the other hand, withdrawn the attention of scholars from the study of the hopes and aspirations of man, the progress and decay of civilisations, and the ultimate gains and losses of humanity.

Man is not wholly a political animal, and therefore the state alone is not the sole indicator and standard in regard to human happiness and misery. No

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