“The historian should be fearless and incorruptible; a man of independence, loving frankness and truth; one who, as the poet says, calls a fig a fig and a spade a spade. He should yield to neither hatred nor affection, nor should be unsparing and unpitying. He should be neither shy nor deprecating, but an impartial judge, giving each side all it deserves but no more. … Continue reading What makes for a good historian?

In 1739, John Wesley made a famous declaration: “God in Scripture commands me, according to my power, to instruct the ignorant, reform the wicked, confirm the virtuous.  Man forbids me to do this in another’s parish; that is, in effect, to do it at all, seeing I have now no parish of my own, nor probably ever shall.  Whom then shall I hear, God or … Continue reading “I look upon all the world as my parish”