MANALIVE
SIR,—My attention has just been drawn to the article in your current issue by Mr. Christopher Hill on 'The Church, Marx and History,' in which he states that 'the late Mr. Dawson was not a great historian' I do not wish to assert that I am 'great,' but I do most emphatically deny that I am 'late,' and I feel doubtful whether a writer who is unable to discover the truth in a contemporary matter of fact which is
easily ascertainable is competent to survey the vast field which he has embraced in his article.
It seems to me that there is no more sense in, asking. like Mr. Hill, 'What is the use of history?' than in asking what is the use of memory. An individual who has lost his memory is a lost individual, and a society that has no history and no historical consciousness is a barbarous society. It is as simple as that.—Yours
Hermitage, Raleigh Road, Budleigh Salterton
[Christopher Hill is away; but perhaps we may offer apologies to Mr. Dawson on his behalf—and on our own.—Editor, Spectator.]
Previous page
