Perhaps few persons are aware how often they imitate this great
historian. Thus, says the _Edinburgh Review_, "Children and servants are
remarkably _Herodotean_ in their style of narration. They tell every
thing dramatically. Their _says hes_ and _says shes_ are proverbial.
Every person who has had to settle their disputes knows that, even when
they have no intention to deceive, their reports of conversation always
require to be carefully sifted. If an educated man were giving an
account of the late change of administration, he would say, 'Lord
Goderich resigned; and the king, in consequence, sent for the Duke of
Wellington.' A porter tells the story as if he had been behind the
curtains of the royal bed at Windsor: 'So Lord Goderich says, 'I cannot
manage this business; I must go out.' So the king, says he, 'Well, then,
I must send for the Duke of Wellington--that's all.' This is in the very
manner of the father of history."
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