criterion of
history is truth; motive
in its being true

Adapted from the passage:

There is nothing that more divides civilized from semi-savage man than to be conscious of our forefathers as they really were, and bit by bit to reconstruct the mosaic of the long-forgotten past. To weigh the stars, or to make ships sail in the air or below the sea, is not a more astonishing and ennobling performance on the part of the human race in these latter days, than to know the course of events that had been long forgotten, and the true nature of men and women who were here before us.

Truth is the criterion of historical study; but its impelling motive is poetic. Its poetry consists in its being true. There we find the synthesis of the scientific and literary views of history.

In English Social History by George Macaulay Trevelyan (Longmans, Green: New York and Toronto, 1942).

To weigh the stars,

or to make ships sail in the air or below the sea,

is not a more astonishing and ennobling performance on the part of the human race in these latter days,

than to know the course of events that had been long forgotten,

and the true nature of men and women who were here before us.

As written in Wikipedia, “What is perhaps most frequently forgotten, or ignored, is the skill of his literary craftsmanship. Trevelyan was a born writer and a natural storyteller; and this, among historians, is a rare gift … If one quality is to be singled out, is should be this, for all historians he is the poet of English history.”

There will come a time when what happened to the United States in the early 21st Century.

Someone will bit by bit reconstruct the mosaic of the long-forgotten past and say, “What happened here …”

I am reminded of the story of the feller interviewing the old businessman and asking, “You worked during the three martini lunch era? What was that like?”

And the businessman replied, “I can’t remember much but I’ll tell you this, nothing happened in the afternoon!“

no longer will fool
be called noble nor scoundrel
highly respected

Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.
The fearful heart will know and understand,
and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
No longer will the fool be called noble
nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
For fools speak folly,
their hearts are bent on evil:
They practice ungodliness
and spread error concerning the Lord;
the hungry they leave empty
and from the thirsty they withhold water.
Scoundrels use wicked methods,
they make up evil schemes
to destroy the poor with lies,
even when the plea of the needy is just.

Isaiah 32: 3-7 (NIV).

Some biblical scholars say that this passage of the Bible is in full accord with the prosperous and happy times of the reign of Hezekiah. (Commentary on Isaiah 32, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible).

According to Wikipedia, The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges describes verses 1 to 8 as “the ideal commonwealth of the Messianic Age” and dates this section “to the close of Isaiah’s ministry, when his mind was occupied with the hope of the ideal future.

I can see how the text fits in with Isaiah’s other chapters that due cover the Reign of Hezekiah.

And as someone who grew up in the Evangelical Baptist Church, I can easily see how the Prophet Isaiah was looking to a time when The Kingdom of Righteousness would exist on earth through the Reign of Jesus someday.

For myself, today, so many answer boxes are filled in on a test to apply this scripture to where we are that to me, Isaiah is offering a word of hope for today.

Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.

The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.

No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected.

For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil:

They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the Lord; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water.

Scoundrels use wicked methods …

they make up evil schemes …

to destroy the poor with lies …

even when the plea of the needy is just.

Regardless of when this happens, Mr. Barnes also states:

… there would be a proper estimate put on moral worth, and when illiberality, hypocrisy, and falsehood would be no longer held in repute and when the character of the nation would be that of a people which devised and executed large and liberal purposes.

Needing some help, I turned to my good friend, Google’s AI Tool, Gemini and I asked … when barnes notes uses this term … that of a people which devised and executed large and liberal purposes … What did he mean by liberal?

I have used my AI friends a lot of questions and always get lightning responses but this asking about Barne’s note brought Gemini to halt and it took a long time to answer …

Gemini said:

In 19th-century commentary—such as Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible—the word “liberal” is used in its older, classical sense rather than its modern political context.

When Barnes wrote about a people who “devised and executed large and liberal purposes,” he meant generous, noble-minded, public-spirited, and magnanimous.

In his commentary on Isaiah 32:8 (“But the liberal deviseth liberal things”), Barnes explicitly defines liberal as:

Generous & Benevolent: Driven by a desire to promote the welfare of others rather than self-interest or avarice.

Broad-Minded & Large-Hearted: Thinking on a broad, selfless scale rather than being narrow-minded or petty.

Public-Spirited: Planning and executing actions that serve the greater good of society or the kingdom.

In short, Barnes meant “liberal” in terms of open-handed generosity and noble intent, contrasting it with being covetous, selfish, or miserly.

Generous & Benevolent.

Broad-Minded & Large-Hearted.

Public-Spirited.

As opposed to:

Being covetous, selfish, or miserly …

Like I said, I felt the verses could be applied to today.